# Source of quotation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 17, 2000, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455 "2000-09-17T03:18:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2000, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/1 "2000-09-17T03:18:14Z")
I THINK this is a general question at the moment, but it could just as easily be MPSIMS - I don’t know, I’m afraid. Anyway, a friend has asked me to find a source for a quotation that he renders as “speed the stranger home”. He thinks that it is from the Koran (apologies, but that is the spelling with which I am most familiar.) So, I have looked but have not found. Although I shall continue to look, I wondered whether anyone recognises this. Any suggestions gratefully received! BUT, a small problem - just because he thinks it is from the Koran does not mean that it is - could be from anywhere, really. After all, everyone was brought up with some kind of proverb saying “be good and hospitable to strangers, foreigners, etc.” So, although I shall be looking for it, I really would like to know whether it strikes a chord with anyone… ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2000, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/2 "2000-09-17T03:28:25Z")
I have no idea, but thank you for saying “quotation” and not “quote.” There is hope yet. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2000, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/3 "2000-09-17T03:35:59Z")
I suppose I can do a small hijack at this point? (Actually version No. 1 said “mall hijack” and I shall give that concept some thought later.) Well, thanks Friedo, but what is so exciting about “quotation”? ---
**Author:** ![GKittridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e274bd/32.png) [@GKittridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GKittridge)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2000, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/4 "2000-09-17T04:50:38Z")
Bram Stoker uses it in _Dracula_. When Jonathan Harker is at Castle Dracula, asking to leave immediately, Dracula says, “You English have a saying which is close to my heart, for its spirit is that which rules our _boyars_: Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest.” Not much help in finding the origin, I realize, but now we have a different phrasing which might help in your search, and the possibility that it is an English expression and therefore not from the Koran. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2000, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/5 "2000-09-17T05:02:53Z")
From [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com): > [@](#): > > . . . The noun _quote_ is well established as a truncation of quotation, though many critics regard it as unduly journalistic or breezy. As such, it is best avoided in formal literary discussions. The use of the noun was acceptable to only 38 percent of the Usage Panel in the sentence _He began the chapter with a quote from the Bible._ But the usage is less objectionable in informal contexts or in reference to less august sources; the word was acceptable to 53 percent of the Panel in the sentence _He lightened up his talk by throwing in quotes from Marx Brothers movies._ . . . I’d say that SDMB is sufficiently distinguishable from the Bible\* that “quote” is okay. - [sup]No need to respond with lame joke taking issue with this; your time is better used shooting fish in barrels.[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2000, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/6 "2000-09-17T05:06:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Celyn \* > \*\* Well, thanks Friedo, but what is so exciting about “quotation”? \*\* It’s one of my pet peeves. “Quote” is a verb, i.e. “I am going to quote what you said.” And “Quotation” is a noun, i.e. “Here is a quotation from _War and Peace_.” ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2000, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/7 "2000-09-17T05:16:48Z")
Yes, I do agree with you about quotaions. But, S.D.M.B. easily distinguished from the Bible? Hmmm. Differing authors, at different times, with differing opinions? Yes, I can see massive differences here. (Smiley is intended in spirit, but not done, because I haven’t learned to use them yet.) ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2000, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/8 "2000-09-17T05:25:34Z")
Thanks to GKittridge for the Bram Stoker idea. I really do think that this is a quote that, if it exists, could be from pretty much any source, so all ideas are good; e.g. if it was Bram Stoker, then it might be someting English or Irish, which cuts it down a wee bit. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2000, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/9 "2000-09-17T05:32:35Z")
“Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest.” —Alexander Pope: from the translation of **Homer’s Odyssey** (1725). Sorry, I don’t have access to the original Greek. 🙂 Tris ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2000, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/10 "2000-09-17T05:32:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Celyn \* > \*\*what is so exciting about “quotation”? \*\* Pendants get hung up on those sort of things. Sophocles? [Speed this stranger to the gloom](http://170.158.138.5/staff/Anello/tt/reading/oedcolonus.html). Translation by F. Storr, BA, 1912. So, maybe ol’ Storr was playing off an old English saying. There’s a comment in Matthew Henry’s Commentary on First Kings, that sound vaguely similar: “O let the stranger, in a special manner, speed well in his addresses, that he may carry away with him to his own country a good report of the God of Israel” ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2000, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/11 "2000-09-17T05:38:50Z")
RM MENTOCK - I have only now seen your message, and haven’t followed the link yet, but that looks interesting. And as for pendants… huh. ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2000, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/12 "2000-09-17T07:05:53Z")
If that “huh” was a “huh?” I think he meant “pedants.” I guess this makes me one… ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2000, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/13 "2000-09-17T08:10:57Z")
Space Vampire, yes, but of course it was a joke about pedants, and about “pendants” hanging about. But, I am yet no wiser in my quest! Eek! Silly though it might seem, this is a genuine question. I await the arrival of wisdom, although I would setle for knowledge. (Whether I am qualified to distinguish between the two, is, of course, a different matter.) Please help, Ms/Mr. Vampire, and all people, bloodsucking, vegan, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2000, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/14 "2000-09-17T15:49:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Celyn \* > Silly though it might seem, this is a genuine question. I await the arrival of wisdom, although I would setle for knowledge. Was it me, Pope, or Homer that you didn’t beleive? Tris ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2000, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/15 "2000-09-18T02:21:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Triskadecamus \* > **Was it me, Pope, or Homer that you didn’t beleive?** That’s not nice. That’s like asking which OP did you read. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/source-of-quotation/33455/16 "2000-09-19T22:59:37Z")
Connection problems have prevented me from coming back to the board to say thanks for all your help. So, thank you all, and I shall have to decide whether to pretend I worked it out all by myself, or whether to be honest.