Odious v. Odorous

Note: I usually talk about my own art but I'm also intersted in literature and whatnot. This is kind of an English nerd rant, but I hope that you find it humorous.

Recently I began reading an article on Spirituality.com about comparisons. I believe that the gist of the article was that one shouldn't compare oneself to others in various capacities. It was written by a high school student, so the concerns were looks, sports, speaking up in class, etc. These are valid, and as someone who tends to compare myself to others but would like to break that tendency, I was interested in what this person had to say, but I stopped reading early on.

The author of the article mentioned Shakespeare, and quoted a line from Much Ado About Nothing. I like Shakespeare, but I hate Shakespearean quotes out of context. In this case, the writer pondered why Shakespeare would state so clearly that "comparisons are odorous." She then goes on to discuss why comparisons are smelly. As a lover of literature and language, this bothers me on several levels.

I do not mean to insult the author. I think that our society's practice of quoting things out of context is quite common, and quite unfortunate. I also heard a college professor misquote the same line. She asked our painting class to not compare our paintings. "You all know what Shakespeare said about comparisons, right? Comparisons are odious. They stink." Well, at least the high school author got the quote right.

I think that it is important to note that Much Ado About Nothing is a play. Shakespeare put words into a lot of characters' mouths. I don't know that he would have like to have been quoted as if he had said all these things as truths. A play isn't exactly a collection of philosophical ponderings or a self-help book (although I suppose it could be).

I think that the context for this quote is quite important. The character in the play who says the famous words, "Comparisons are odorous," is Dogberry, Master Constable on Messina. He is a middle-class character among lords and ladies and he would very much like to be on their level. He says things that he thinks will be impressive, but stumbles over the words. In this case, he was trying to say, "comparisons are odious," which was phrase that would have been well known through its use by a few writers of Shakespeare's time, including Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote.

This sort of humorous mis-speaking is called a malapropism, but is also known as a Dogberryism, due to the character making so many mistakes like that.

I wish that people wouldn’t make grand statements when they don't know what they're talking about. The English language is complex and wonderful and should be used with care. Literary references shouldn't be misquoted left and right. Did you even read or see that play?

Thanks for reading. I just had to get that annoyance out of my system. It's been there since last Spring when that professor quoted Shakespeare in all seriousness, and was further irriatated by that article. Also, thanks to my mom and sister who helped me find the quote in the play so that I could feel confident that I was quoting it correctly in my complaint.