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The Guardian's misquote of '1984' unwittingly starts 'tiny train world' meme

All aboard to tiny train world.

Jerico Mandybur

on January 26, 2017

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Need a daily reminder that the internet is a post-ironic cesspit of misinformation, in-jokes and cynicism? You came to the right place.

You may have noticed that George Orwell's dystopian classic 1984 is (dare we say it) trending again, for some strange reason that may or may not be related to the messed up state of politics and current obsession with "fake news."

Anywho, The Guardian quoted Orwell’s treatise on totalitarianism in a column on Thursday and it was hella sage. But also, hella wrong.

As an example of our current climate where the "facts are what we say they are," the piece quoted the following passage in full:

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"Welcome to Tiny Train World," the piece ended.

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Except that's not a quote from 1984. It's just a Twitter joke made by a comedian shared far and wide for it’s utter ridiculousness. Unfortunately, it was incorporated into The Guardian's piece as fact. #welcometotinytrainworld

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"We mistakenly attributed a spoof quotation to George Orwell. As soon as we became aware of the error we immediately updated the article,” a spokesperson for The Guardian Australia told Mashable via email.

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Unfortunately, the parody version can still be found on the piece's MSN re-post in its original form.

Hey, the internet is a shady place. The publication isn’t the first to jump a carriage to tiny train world and they won’t be the last.

But it does serve as a kind reminder to always, always check your facts, and not the alternative ones.

[h/t AV Club]

UPDATE: Jan. 27, 2017, 4:18 p.m. AEDT The MSN story has also been duly updated to reflect The Guardian's amendment.

Jerico Mandybur

Jerico Mandybur is the editor of Mashable Australia. Previously, she worked as a digital editor at SBS, Oyster Mag, MTV and ASOS. Tweet her at @jerico_m.