Are you irritated by popular misconception?

by TD 6 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  TD

  
  

  Maybe this is a sign of advancing age and I shouldn't let it irritate me.... (But it does anyway..)

  When popular misconception gets repeated long and often enough by the ignorant, it eventually becomes accepted truth.

  For example, the Great War of 1914 - 1918 was not the first "World War" by any yardstick you might wish to compare various armed conflicts by. "World War I" was a term invented after the fact by journalists, and repeated long and often enough that it became accepted truth. Today if you even suggest otherwise, (Especially to a JW) it will take a good, hard "nose rubbing" in a history book to settle the argument that ensues.

  Here's an example from where I live:

  In the desert southwest, the wind shifts in mid to late Summer and starts blowing up from the South. This seasonal shift in the wind is called the "monsoon."

  This southerly wind also brings moisture that manifests itself in especially violent thunderstorms. People, especially those that have moved in from other areas often mistakenly call the thunderstorms themselves, "Monsoons."

  For example, someone will say to you at work: "Did you get any rain from that monsoon last night? Our streets were flooded!" Responding by saying, "The Monsoon is a season, you Dolt!" isn't exactly the best way to greet a workmate who is only trying to be friendly. --Besides, the meaning of the word is slowly shifting as more and more accept and repeat the incorrect usage.

  Eventually what is incorrect will become what is correct.

  Is anyone else irritated by this phenomenon, or is this just the complaint of a grumpy old curmudgeon?
• 

  Theocrat

  Is anyone else irritated by this phenomenon, or is this just the complaint of a grumpy old curmudgeon?

  Option B.
• 

  Gregor

  Grumpy Old Curmudeons (GOCs) have a right to live too! Don't ever be ashamed of being a GOC.

  But, yes. You may be a GOC. We all have our pet peeves. The reference to WWI has simply become a shorthand way of refering to that hellacious war. Interesting, it was not called that until WWII put it into that context. Before that, of course, it was called the "Great War". Today, many people refer to the world wide acts of terror by fundamentalist Islam as WWIII. I guess only the context of time will tell if it is true.

  I too, am somewhat of a GOC, when I see the degradation of the language skills (written and spoken) of young people today who are supposed to be educated. It has been shown that these skills are also how we "think" and reason. Kind of, like, you know, scary.
• 

  under_believer

  Option B.
• 

  Theocrat

  haha troll...you would like that wouldn't you.

  The way I see it as far as your church sign goes: at least you're willing to pay attention to something that Jesus says.
• 

  TD

  Option B.

  You're probably right....

  On the other hand; What if.....

  You're at the Kingdom Hall on Sunday and the speaker is pronouncing the name "Darius" as Dare-EE-Us. About half the audience subsequently follow suit and whenever the name comes up, they say Dare-EE-Us too. Bit by bit, the others follow until you are the only one in the whole congregation saying it correctly. You know what syllable receives the accent and why, but nobody else seems to.

  As fate would have it, you are assigned a student talk that contains the name, "Darius" and you're counseled from the platform for saying the name wrong.

  Nothing?
• 

  Theocrat

  You're probably right....

  On the other hand; What if.....

  You're at the Kingdom Hall on Sunday and the speaker is pronouncing the name "Darius" as Dare-EE-Us. About half the audience subsequently follow suit and whenever the name comes up, they say Dare-EE-Us too. Bit by bit, the others follow until you are the only one in the whole congregation saying it correctly. You know what syllable receives the accent and why, but nobody else seems to.

  As fate would have it, you are assigned a student talk that contains the name, "Darius" and you're counseled from the platform for saying the name wrong.

  Nothing?

  Well personally I would pronounce the name "King Dizzle Shizzle" and have the audience follow suit with that.