“Seven almonds” stories

from a July 2, 2016 NY Times article, “Obama After Dark: The Precious Hours Alone” by Michael D. Shear:

To stay awake, the president does not turn to caffeine. He rarely drinks coffee or tea, and more often has a bottle of water next to him than a soda. His friends say his only snack at night is seven lightly salted almonds.

“Michelle and I would always joke: Not six. Not eight,” Mr. Kass said. “Always seven almonds.”

There were jokes about this at the time, that Obama was so precise as to only have seven almonds. However, in a followup article on July 28 of 2016, Michael D. Shear quoted Obama clarifying:

But in an interview broadcast on Thursday, NBC’s Savannah Guthrie put the question directly to Mr. Obama, who seemed eager to set the record straight.

“This is an example of the weird way that the press works,” Mr. Obama said, chuckling.

“Michelle and Sam Kass, who was our chef here, one night they were talking about me and teasing me about how disciplined I was, that I didn’t have potato chips or I didn’t have a piece of cake. And this is when Michelle said: ‘Yes, and he just has seven almonds. That’s it,’ to really drive home the point that I needed to loosen up a little bit.

“And Sam relayed this joke to The New York Times in the article, and somehow it was relayed as if I was counting out the seven almonds.”

In the interview with Ms. Guthrie, Mr. Obama acknowledged the point that Mr. Kass made during our interview: that what impressed him about the president’s nighttime habits was the discipline he has in getting through hours of difficult work without unhealthy snacks.

But Mr. Obama insisted that he’s not quite so disciplined that he counts out seven almonds every time.

“All my friends were calling up, and they’re saying: ‘You know, this seems a little anal. This is kind of weird,’” Mr. Obama told Ms. Guthrie. “And I had to explain to them, no, this was a joke.”

Asked whether he would allow himself to eat 10 or 11 almonds once he has left the White House, Mr. Obama said, “Absolutely.”

As the interview ended, he added with a smile, “I am so glad I had this opportunity, because this has been really weighing on me.”

He did offer an endorsement, noting, “You know, almonds are a good snack; I strongly recommend them.”

So this is a story about a humorous exaggeration or joke being taken as literal truth and printed in The New York Times.

When converted to print, the tone of a joke or semi-humorous remark is often lost.

How much of history and “the news” consists of “seven almonds stories”? Statements or anecdotes taken literally when in fact there was a shade of comedy about them that’s lost in when repeated, retold, set in type? Relay a story somebody told you and some nuance of it is already lost.