{"id":8656,"date":"2022-09-07T04:36:51","date_gmt":"2022-09-07T04:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=8656"},"modified":"2022-09-07T04:41:39","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T04:41:39","slug":"a-little-knowledge-is-a-dangerous-thing-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/a-little-knowledge-is-a-dangerous-thing-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"A Little Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"
Are you looking for a way to say that people often overestimate how much they know? You could point out that \"a little knowledge is a dangerous thing\". Discover where this famous saying came from, what it means, and how to use it in this post.<\/p>\n
The phrase \"a little knowledge is a dangerous thing\" warns against the fact that people who have learned a little about a particular subject frequently overestimate how much they actually know<\/u>.<\/p>\n
In this sense, knowing a little about a subject can be more dangerous than knowing nothing at all<\/u>, as at least people who know nothing are aware how little they understand.<\/p>\n
\"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing\" is now the most commonly-used variation of this saying, but the original, \"a little learning is a dangerous thing\", has the same meaning.<\/p>\n
Are you curious how the phrase \"a little knowledge is a dangerous thing\" might be used in practice? Take a look at these examples:<\/p>\n
The saying \"a little knowledge is a dangerous thing\", now so commonly used that it is often referred to as a proverb, originated with the English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744).<\/p>\n
The original phrase, \"a little learning is a dangerous thing\", first appeared in Pope's 1709 An Essay On Criticism<\/em>. The concept, however, had already been discussed by the English philosopher Francis Bacon earlier.<\/p>\n It is no surprise that this phrase, which originated centuries ago has proven to have such staying power \u2014 the fact that a little knowledge is indeed a dangerous thing has deeply been explored by scientists since that time<\/u>, and the idea behind the saying has been found to be true:<\/p>\n This concept has come to be known as the Dunning-Kruger effect<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The saying \"a little knowledge is a dangerous thing\" can serve as a warning to anyone who feels confident after learning a little.<\/p>\n You could also say:<\/p>\n While there are no phrases that convey the exact opposite, the following come quite close:<\/p>\n The correct saying, \"a little knowledge is a dangerous thing\", means that knowing a little about something can cause people to overestimate their abilities, sometimes with devastating consequences.<\/p>\n Some people might take the phrase \"a little knowledge is a dangerous thing\" to refer to the dangers associated with being generally uneducated. The phrase refers specifically to beginning learners, and indicates that it is necessary to keep learning before putting knowledge into action.<\/p>\n You can use the saying \"a little knowledge is a dangerous thing\" to refer to any situation in which someone overestimates their abilities or knowledge after beginning to study that topic<\/u>.<\/p>\n If your friend feels confident about fixing a generator after watching a YouTube<\/em> video, for instance, you could counter with \"a little knowledge is a dangerous thing\".<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Are you looking for a way to say that people often overestimate how much they know? You could point out that \"a little knowledge is a dangerous thing\". Discover where this famous saying came from, what it means, and how to use it in this post. \u200b\u200bMeaning The phrase \"a little knowledge is a dangerous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8656"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8656"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8659,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8656\/revisions\/8659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Phrases Similar to a Little Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing<\/h2>\n
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Phrases Opposite to a Little Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing<\/h2>\n
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\u200bWhat Is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n
\u200b\u200bWays People May Say a Little Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing Incorrectly<\/h2>\n
\u200b\u200bAcceptable Ways to Phrase a Little Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing<\/h2>\n