4 ms·

I'm pretty sure "getting something wrong" is an idiom that started with people using the verb "to get" wrong.

by burkaman 3y ago

gadders 3y ago
How so?
- burkaman 3y ago
  It just doesn't match any dictionary definition of "get" I can find (but it is defined as an idiom https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/get%20right https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/get%20right), and idioms generally come from colloquial non-standard usage. I mean it's kind of dumb argument, we might as well say that all of English is "wrong" because it didn't exist when the first dictionaries were published.
  - gadders 3y ago
    >>I mean it's kind of dumb argument, we might as well say that all of English is "wrong" because it didn't exist when the first dictionaries were published. But surely there has to be some agreed meaning of words? Otherwise in mathematics you might as well just claim that "addition" is the same as "division" because a bunch of people just defined it that way. This redefining of words based on errors and ignorance just seems like one more example of the pernicious influence of post-modernism.
    - burkaman 3y ago
      > But surely there has to be some agreed meaning of words? Yes you're right, and the dictionary documents that agreed meaning, but some of those meanings will gradually change over time. It's not new, and it certainly isn't post-modern. You can easily find examples, here's a short list: https://ideas.ted.com/20-words-that-once-meant-something-very-different/ https://ideas.ted.com/20-words-that-once-meant-something-ver.... I think the first three here ("nice", "silly", "awful") are particularly noteworthy. > redefining of words based on errors and ignorance How else could they be redefined? Occasionally someone invents a word on purpose, but that's relatively rare, and none of the languages people actually speak were intentionally designed. For all of history, people just spoke to each other and sometimes they got a word wrong or said it a little weird. That's where all languages and almost all words came from. There's nothing wrong with feeling annoyed by a particular word or usage, we all feel that sometimes, I just think it's useful to recognize that basically every word was in that transition phase at some point in the past. https://www.etymonline.com/ https://www.etymonline.com/ is fun to explore this stuff, it is often surprising. More examples from this very comment: - We make a distinction between "inventing" and "discovering", but "invention" used to mean "discovery" - "phase" only referred to phases of the moon until the mid 19th century - "weird" used to be a lot cooler, and mean something like powerful, magical, fate-determining - "document" used to mean "to teach with authority" etc.

I'm pretty sure "getting something wrong" is an idiom that started with people using the verb "to get" wrong.

gadders 3y ago

How so?

burkaman 3y ago
It just doesn't match any dictionary definition of "get" I can find (but it is defined as an idiom https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/get%20right https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/get%20right), and idioms generally come from colloquial non-standard usage. I mean it's kind of dumb argument, we might as well say that all of English is "wrong" because it didn't exist when the first dictionaries were published.
- gadders 3y ago
  >>I mean it's kind of dumb argument, we might as well say that all of English is "wrong" because it didn't exist when the first dictionaries were published. But surely there has to be some agreed meaning of words? Otherwise in mathematics you might as well just claim that "addition" is the same as "division" because a bunch of people just defined it that way. This redefining of words based on errors and ignorance just seems like one more example of the pernicious influence of post-modernism.
  - burkaman 3y ago
    > But surely there has to be some agreed meaning of words? Yes you're right, and the dictionary documents that agreed meaning, but some of those meanings will gradually change over time. It's not new, and it certainly isn't post-modern. You can easily find examples, here's a short list: https://ideas.ted.com/20-words-that-once-meant-something-very-different/ https://ideas.ted.com/20-words-that-once-meant-something-ver.... I think the first three here ("nice", "silly", "awful") are particularly noteworthy. > redefining of words based on errors and ignorance How else could they be redefined? Occasionally someone invents a word on purpose, but that's relatively rare, and none of the languages people actually speak were intentionally designed. For all of history, people just spoke to each other and sometimes they got a word wrong or said it a little weird. That's where all languages and almost all words came from. There's nothing wrong with feeling annoyed by a particular word or usage, we all feel that sometimes, I just think it's useful to recognize that basically every word was in that transition phase at some point in the past. https://www.etymonline.com/ https://www.etymonline.com/ is fun to explore this stuff, it is often surprising. More examples from this very comment: - We make a distinction between "inventing" and "discovering", but "invention" used to mean "discovery" - "phase" only referred to phases of the moon until the mid 19th century - "weird" used to be a lot cooler, and mean something like powerful, magical, fate-determining - "document" used to mean "to teach with authority" etc.