Garble (g hard)

properly means to sift out the refuse. Thus, by the statute of 1 James I. 19, a penalty is imposed on the sale of drugs not garbled. We now use the word to express a multilated extract, in which the sense of the author is perverted by what is omitted. (French, garber, to make clean; Spanish, garbillar.)

“A garbled quotation may be the most effectual perversion of an author’s meaning.”—McCosh: Divine Government, p. 14.

⁂ One of the best garbled quotations is this: David said (Psalm xiv. 1), “There is no God” (omitting the preceding words, “The fool hath said in his heart.”)

· ·

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.