Metaphorical inversion

[gfish]

It occurred to me to me today that saying "small world" when you see a weird coincidence is not only trite, it's exactly backwards. Weird coincidences aren't suprisingly common because the number of objects that can interact in the world is very small. They're common because so much stuff is going on, because the world is so much more insanely complicated than anyone can possibly imagine. The number of interactions is so astronomical, long odd events are constantly happening all around us.

It's a big world after all!

Comments

[randomdreams.livejournal.com]

I'm a proscriptive descriptivist: yes, the language is malleable, which is exactly why we have to hammer it back into shape when it begins to bend.

[vixyish.livejournal.com]

Hee hee hee.

My second paragraph was actually aimed at Fishy, because whenever I point out that WORDS MEAN THINGS he goes BUT LANGUAGE IS MALLEABLE and we're off. :)

[randomdreams.livejournal.com]

Why am I not surprised to hear the alliances on your part and his?