unfair interpretation of a meaning

[slobalot]

Is there a word or phrase that describes when a person has made a distorted or unfair interpretation to the contents and meaning of a sentence?

[BobK]

Is there a word or phrase that describes when a person has made a distorted or unfair interpretation to the contents and meaning of a sentence?

Lots: 'Twist someone's words', 'put words in someone's mouth'. One that always amuses me is when people say their words have been 'quoted out of context' - one can see what they mean, but 'quote' is a strange word in that context. A quote is, by definition, words taken out of their surrounding text, and the surrounding text, in one view, is the con-text. I'm often too literal-minded for my own good, but it seems to me that a 'quote taken out of context' is a tautology.

b