![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloI wish they- by whom I mean journalists and politicians- wouldn't use "myth" to mean "falsehood" or "misconception". A myth isn't either of those things. It's a truth- but not a prosaic truth; it's a truth about the inner reality of things....
I'm not satisfied with that definition, but then the point of any word is that it stands for a quiddity that cannot be expressed adequately by any other words. There is no such thing as an exact synonym. A myth is a myth is a myth just as a rose is a rose is a rose. Accept no substitutes.
One good thing about it: if the misuse of the word occurs near the beginning of an article- or in a headline- you know you can stop reading right there.
I'm not satisfied with that definition, but then the point of any word is that it stands for a quiddity that cannot be expressed adequately by any other words. There is no such thing as an exact synonym. A myth is a myth is a myth just as a rose is a rose is a rose. Accept no substitutes.
One good thing about it: if the misuse of the word occurs near the beginning of an article- or in a headline- you know you can stop reading right there.
