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It is unfortunate that it's not even surprising that the NYTimes no longer requires writers to actually know the real meaning of sayings they invoke. Nor that e
by TheRealPomax 7y ago
It is unfortunate that it's not even surprising that the NYTimes no longer requires writers to actually know the real meaning of sayings they invoke. Nor that editors don't catch misuse anymore. "Folk wisdom holds the trade-off between breadth and depth to be a cruel one: “jack-of-all-trades, master of none” [...]".
Cool, cool... the saying continues, though: “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one”.
- rifung 7y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_of_all_trades,_master_of_none https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_of_all_trades,_master_of_... seems to imply they are correct and you are wrong actually. Or at least the one you use is not the original.
- TheRealPomax 7y agoyep, that's been the conclusion so far, but you don't get to delete you comments after it's become a thread, and you don't even get to edit it after a few hours, so that comment is there to stay, apparently.
- danielg6 7y agoI’ve never heard your extended version before. I wonder how common it is versus what you’re criticizing...
- TheRealPomax 7y agoA fair thing to wonder, but then you might also not know the actual original is just ""Jack of all trades" without the "master of none", part, which got added much later and completely changed whatever the original meaning was.
- danielg6 7y agoUhh... no? I knew that. My point was that _you_ were wrongly criticizing the reporter for not knowing the “original” meaning of a phrase. _You_ were wrong about your extended version being original and you’re also wrong about it being common. I was trying to be nice and let you know you were wrong by using the phrase “I wonder...” I wasn’t actually “wondering” lol. Based on your recent comment, it seems like you were offended or maybe you just don’t understand how these things work at all.
- TheRealPomax 7y agoI wasn't, I do, and this is getting weird =) I've only ever heard people correct the phrase to the longer version, so clearly we just live in completely different linguistic worlds. Bubbles are a good thing to bust through, so: thanks.
- danielg6 7y ago“Completely different linguistic worlds?” That must explain it, and you’re welcome.
- sdwa 7y agoThat's not the "full saying". It's an alternative, in my experience far less common, version of the one used by the author.