Re:Does the Future Belong to Generalists?
by legerdemain on Wednesday April 26, 2023 @10:52PM
(#35722763)
The extended "original" versions of several idioms, including this one, were created in the 21st century. See, for example, this: https://english.stackexchange.com/a/508907
Re:Does the Future Belong to Generalists?
by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF on Thursday April 27, 2023 @04:11PM
(#35733905)
> But it seems more likely that the extra-long version was a very recent formulation, perhaps influenced by the memory of a concerted effort by educators in 1930 to alter the old adage to suit a new objective.
That does indeed seem likely. Admittedly, I see myself as a generalist so I have a bias towards the new version even if it's not the historical sentiment. Thanks for the read!
It amuses me that the opening paragraph contains this phrase because I understand it to be longer:
> A jack of all trades, master of none, is often better than a master of one.
The longer version speaks in favor of generalists over specialists and the short version is often used as a sentiment (such as in this case) of the opposite; that generalists are somehow worse than specialists because they "master" nothing. Funny how language changes like that.