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What's your favourite story from history that is actually false or exaggerated? (lemmy.ca)
submitted 11 months ago* by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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My favourite is the story that there was mass panic over a radio broadcast of War of the Worlds where everyone thought a real alien invasion was happening. I heard this story as a kid and really thought this was a cruel prank played by the radio station.

In reality, they made it clear at the beginning of the broadcast, and twice during, that it was fictional. Not that many people were listening and most of the people who were, were aware it wasn't real. A few idiots freaked out and it somehow turned into a story of mass panic. It was propaganda by newspapers to discredit radio.

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[–] [S] 44 points 11 months ago (9 children)

The quote is "let them eat cake". It's true, she probably never actually said that but it makes a good quote to use when rich people say out of touch things. For instance, when Trump said something about kids getting one doll for Christmas instead of two.

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  • [–] 17 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    I had a French teacher who claimed that "let them eat cake" was a bit of a mistranslation and that "cake" was just a different, maybe fancier, type of bread.

    Like the situation was more like someone said "Marie, the people don't have any baguettes to eat." And she replied "Well then let them eat brioche"

    Still probably apocryphal, but I think maybe a little more believable if it were true while still showing the tone-deafness.

    It also just feels very French to me.

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago (1 child)

    Making it seem softer feels like rich propaganda to me and i wouldnt be surprised if it was these days

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago

    I actually looked up the actual (alleged) French quote, and it's "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche"

    So I actually hit the nail on the head, it's literally "let them eat brioche"

    Still can't really be attributed to Marie Antoinette, and it's not unlikely that the entire anecdotal was just made up entirely

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  • [–] 6 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    The home secretary in my country said during Covid that everyone will have to be more financially conservative during Covid-related lock-downs. She said that then three ball gowns are enough, you don't need more than that.

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  • [–] [S] 9 points 11 months ago

    Reminds me of a story I heard where McDonald's or some other fast food company was giving their workers tips on saving money and their tips assumed their workers were rich enough to have servants

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  • [–] 3 points 11 months ago

    That's so funny. I feel ridiculous enough owning one (the reason I own it was because I went to a weird university where fancy white-tie events were common and most students probably went to at least one of those in their time there. )

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