Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Book ·317 of 348
"Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink."
They never said that.
What people say
"Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink."
What was actually said
"Water, water, every where, / Nor any drop to drink." Samuel Taylor Coleridge — The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798)
Why it stuck
"Nor any" scans differently from "and not a" — readers modernise the archaism and smooth the meter. The stock form is Victorian paraphrase.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.