Yesterday, a certain Christian book publishing CEO tweeted something which made me think, “Did he really just say that?”
Of course, he didn’t really just say that, but 140 characters can be just enough to say something which can be completely misunderstood or misinterpreted.
The tweet said:
I would never have predicted that a bio of Bonhoeffer would be our bestselling book. 600 pages. $29.99: http://ow.ly/1WO4z
Now, obviously he was marveling at how well the book had sold and was showing how unpredictable the book market can be…. but my head doesn’t work quite like that. I immediately read it slightly differently and wondered if he was really saying:
I’m CEO of a publishing company yet I have no idea which books will sell well and which won’t.
Did he really just say that?
Did he really just admit that he doesn’t know or understand the industry?
No?
Well maybe then he was saying:
Our books are selling so badly that even a bio of Bonhoeffer is outselling them all!
Was it really a veiled reference to the poor quality of the other books they published this year?
I’m quite certain that my misinterpretations are just that – misinterpretations. Bonhoeffer’s biography is currently the 286th best selling book on Amazon – which is pretty impressive.
But who wants to interpret something accurately when you can have much more fun misinterpreting it?
So my question to you today is this:
What have you read recently which can be amusingly misinterpreted?
Share with us today, we could all do with a laugh!
Personally I was misinterpreted in something I wrote. I said, "If I hold this in much longer I'm going to pop." I had numerous people tell me that thought I wrote, "If I hold this in much longer I'm going to POOP!"
I'm glad I didn't tweet about pooping.
I've read and re-read that comment and I can't see how it can be interpreted any other way that I'm going to poop!
LOL
That was my first thought too. But if that's the worst you got, that's hardly anything! Mine was misintrepeted so bad that it is too graphic for me to share here. 🙂 True story.
Just wait. If Duane Scott doesn't answer my question about Tacky, I'll tell you something interesting. I will leave it up to you whether it was misinterpreted.
OK, since I have NO IDEA what you're talking about, I'm looking forward to some responses here 🙂
Now Lainie is holding other people’s blogs in hostage because I don’t answer? We’ve got issues.
I’m headed to my blog to answer her question about Tacky.
Right now…. crazy lady.
Good choice, Duane. Good choice. We'll wait and see how good your answer is.
I never said I wasn't crazy, but it's kind of like a mad-scientist type of crazy. You know, minus the science part.
Aaannddd you're still in jeopardy. That was bold, retweeting this and all.
OK… What is going on with you two today?
Some English chap thought I was tweeting about painted poop yesterday.
Really? Painted poop. Yuck!
Pretty vicious misinterpretations of the CEO's tweet!
Peter, what do you have against him, or book publishing or whatever? Or is it the irritating corporate flackery?
I have nothing against him per se… he's just smarter, more successful and better looking than me, so I have to try to knock him down a notch or two 🙂
Hope it was clear, this is meant in good humor!