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(and feel free to comment! My older posts are certainly no less relevant to the burning concerns of the day.)

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Little Known Facts #2: Plagiarism

Little Known Fact: the word "plagiarism" was originally the first completely made-up word inserted into a text by an early printer to trip up a rival who was copying on the sly. Prior to that, the word had no meaning.

That printer's name? Ben Franklin.

Occasionally these days, people use entire made-up stories for the same purpose.

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