My mom has been quoting Charles Caleb Colton for so many years. When I was in elementary school, I had class with this one girl who always felt the need to copy me. When I came to school with a new folder, lunch box, or set of pencils, the next day she arrived with the exact same materials. It used to drive me insane! It happened all the way until middle school. Finally, we got separated and went to different schools. I was sure that would be the end of my copy cat encounters… I was SO wrong.
Photo Credit: Giphy.comAs it is quoted in my blog’s title, today, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Although I understand the logic behind this, I cannot help but still feel angry when I see other people copying me in some way. I do not mind if people see my fashion/style and recreate it. That’s cool. (I am not saying I have a sense of fashion… but I do have my own style.) I do not mind if a person reuses some of my infamous and ridiculous lingo. What’s the point of making up words if you don’t expect them to become a part of the English language, right? BUT, there is one thing that I cannot stand… when people directly imitate my blog in some way, shape, or form. My blog is my creative outlet. Naturally, I am protective of it and want it to remain what it is: MINE.
Thankfully, no person has directly copy and pasted my material. Instead, people have taken my concepts, thoughts, opinions, and even photos. They then “spin” things to appear as if they had an original thought. Why is it so hard to accept when people imitate us? It really is a form of flattery… but is it sincere?
By definition, sincere (adjective) is “free from pretense or deceit; proceeding from genuine feelings.” It seems that essentially “stealing” is not free from deceit. Given that definition, I believe that the oh so famous quote should be rewritten. I do not entirely agree when people say imitation is a “sincere” form of flattery. Most of the experiences I have had involve a person doing it to try and one up me or to be better than me. Most of the experiences I have had involving this issue also was another woman.
This brings me back to the jealous/envious debate. Perhaps imitation is a form of flattery because a person is envious or jealous of another person. That doesn’t flow as well, though, does it? Imitation is an unfortunately annoying form of flattery. There it is! That sounds much better!
From this point forward… I shall no longer say that imitation is a sincere form of flattery. Ohhh, no no no. Instead, let’s all say this:
Imitation is an unfortunately annoying form of flattery. -Kristin Baione