doesn't mean what you think it means

Posted on December 12th, 2006 by Scraps.
Categories: Words, Untruths, Books.

We picked up Tragically I Was an Only Twin: The Complete Peter Cook from the library, a marvelous collection that deserves a better post than it's going to get right now. Right now I'm just going to complain about the subtitle. "Complete" is an unambiguous word. "Collected" often gets used with deliberate ambiguity by the publishing industry -- to my mind "Collected" ought to be a definitive edition, either complete or as close to complete as the author wanted it to be, and anything less ought to be called "Selected" -- but at least when a far-from-definitive collection is called "Collected", the publisher can say that there's no lie in the word. Not so with "Complete". To begin with, this collection doesn't include Bedazzled. Okay, a whole movie script would perhaps make the book unwieldy. It must at least be a complete collection of his shorter pieces, right?

No, not close. The introductions make it clear that this is a selection: "It's a collection of Cook's finest writing . . . Of course* it's not a compendium of everything he did . . . Cook produced far more comedy than you could fit into one book. But it is a pretty comprehensive summary..." That's fine, except for the word "Complete" on the cover and spine. I don't think a blatant lie should be excused with a shrug just because it's marketing and we all know what marketing's like.

* Feh.

5 comments.

BT

Comment on December 13th, 2006.

There's also "The Essential..." if the publishers need some wiggle room.

Obviously, "Collected" is hazy -- your interpretation of what it ought to mean is a good one, but I wouldn't expect everyone to be so scrupulous. I'd expect the emptor to caveat pretty thoroughly around that one.

But I absolutely concur that "Complete" is a swindle if applied to "pretty comprehensive summary."

LauraJMixon

Comment on December 17th, 2006.

Hey, Scraps -- I just found this site. I love the design. Looking forward to reading more of your posts.

Scraps

Comment on December 17th, 2006.

Hey Laura!

The design is mostly the Vistered Little theme, so the creator (Nik Iliadis) gets the lion's share of the credit for that; I just tweaked it a little, mostly to keep the sidebar from showing everything on every page. And the wallpapers are mine (though a couple of them are modified from other people's art).

LauraJMixon

Comment on December 17th, 2006.

I've selected the third wallpaper from the left. Just fyi.... ;) But I also like the floating comment tablets.

If you get a chance, come drop by at eatourbrains.com. It's a group blog Steve set up with some other writers. I'm an occasional poster there.

Scraps

Comment on December 17th, 2006.

I've already linked to it on the front page, in fact.

Cheers!

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