sageflation
/ˌseɪdʒˈfleɪʃən/nounVerified NewThe inflationary assignment of maxims to famous sages, multiplying quotes attributed to figures who never said them.
The pool of quotable Einstein has grown substantially since his death, because attribution to a sage is a quality stamp. Unattributable wisdom gravitates to the biggest names, and the corpus of great thoughts is now mostly mislabeled.
Etym. — sage + -flation — the supply of quotes inflates while the sages stay dead.
Novelty check: NEW · checked 2026-11-08
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