2045: Quote Mine
| Quote Mine |
 Made by: Sir Bacon |
Explanation[edit | edit source]
To "quote mine" means to remove part of what someone says in order to make it seem as though they mean something that they don't. All kinds of people do it to all kinds of people, either to make them seem to be on their side, or to make them seem like terrible people. The quote "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" may or may not have been said by Leonardo da Vinci; as Anselm said it, it was indeed part of a larger quote: "Stop being so God Damn humble … You know God damn well that … that humility is defiance … simplicity today is sophisticated … simplicity is the ultimate sophistication today." The quote as-is was used as an old slogan for Apple computers.
The "mine" in the term evokes the idea of mining, as a miner removes ores, gems, or other materials from a mineshaft. The explosion is because "mine" also has, among other meanings, the meaning of "to plant mines (i.e. a device intended to explode when stepped on, touched, or approached) in an area." Since the quote has been mined, it explodes partway through being spoken.
The author writes:[edit | edit source]
This strip is something of a gamble, in addition to being surreal and punny. Namely, it's a gamble that most of you are already familiar with the term Quote Mine, otherwise the punchline falls flat. I figured this was a safe bet considering all the links to TVTropes in previous SRoMGs, and if you've seen one Trope page, it's probable that you've seen a lot of them.
Original strips: 1984-08-12, 2002-01-30.
Transcript[edit | edit source]
Jon: Leonardo da Vinci once said "Simplicity is the ultim-..."
SFX: POW!
{Jon and a large chunk of the table are now gone. Garfield addresses the viewer}
Garfield: Looks like that quote was mined.
