Quote mining

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Quote mining is a perjorative term that expresses objection when a quote is used against person quoted.

According to TalkOrigins.org, quote mining is 'the use of a (usually short) passage, taken from the work of an authority in some field, "which superficially appears to support one's position, but [from which] significant context is omitted and contrary evidence is conveniently ignored"'.

The origins of the term are unknown, but it appears to date from the late 1990s.[1] It is not recognized by any dictionaries. It's most common use is by evolutionists to oppose the use of quotations of evolutionists by creationists that tend to discredit their theory.[2]

Many people, especially in the legal and political fields, use quotes by others against them. There is nothing objectionable about this practice, and the term quote-mining could apply to nearly every legal proceeding and political campaign.

References

  1. ↑ According to TalkOrigins.org, the first known use was in 1996.
  2. ↑ The anti-creationists web-site TalkOrigins.org TalkOrigins.org claims 3636 out 4270 Google hits.

External Links

See also