Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Book ·195 of 348
"My precious."
They never said that.
What people say
"My precious."
What was actually said
"My precious." Gollum — The Hobbit (1937) / The Lord of the Rings (1954–55)
Why it stuck
Correct — but the Peter Jackson voice (Andy Serkis) is the reference everyone actually hears. Tolkien's Gollum in print hisses the word differently across sentences; the film fused them.
Tolkien's Gollum also says "my preciousss" and "precious" alone. The fused "my precious" is effectively a Jackson canon.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.