The phrase ignorance gone to seed invokes an agricultural metaphor. Picture a field that is so far gone it’s no longer flowering and is now beyond the point of further cultivation. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Ignorance Gone to Seed”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, my name is Jan. I’m calling from Madison, Wisconsin.
What can we do for you, Jan?
Well, when I was a little girl, I can remember my grandfather using this statement often, and I never understood what it meant.
He used to say something was, ignorance gone to seed. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody else say that in my lifetime. And I was just curious if that’s something people say or if that was just his special little thing.
Ignorance gone to seed. What did you understand that he meant by that?
Nothing until I was much older. But something was really stupid. So something stupid happened and he would just say, oh, that’s ignorance gone to seed?
Yeah, usually about somebody that had done something.
Oh. Right.
So I have a theory on this. Now, gone to seed is an expression that exists in English, and a lot of people say that. And it means that something has kind of moved beyond the point of cultivation. Like if a yard goes to seed, it means you’ve stopped mowing it, and all the grass has gone to seed, and you’ve got these tall stems with seeds on them, and, you know, the whole thing is a mess. There’s no trimming. There’s no clean edges, nothing like that.
And if you’re talking a person or a business or anything else that’s gone to seed, it’s kind of the same idea. The maintenance work just simply has not been done.
However, ignorance gone to seed is really interesting because it makes it sound like, boy, not only have they bloomed and fruited, but they’ve gone to seed. Like, they are in the full flower of ignorance. Everything has happened. That plant is robust. That’s what I took it to mean when I finally was able to figure something out.
Yeah, a very vigorous kind of ignorance, I would imagine. Like the dandelion plant that gets away from you, you know?
I think it’s great now, though. Fibrous stems and these brittle leaves are crazy.
Yeah. Ignorance gone wild. Ignorance gone wild. Ignorance. It’s a good one.
Jan, I recommend keeping that one. That’s a good one to hang on to.
Yeah. Ignorance gone to seed. I like it. Thank you so much for your call. Really appreciate it.
Okay. Thank you. Take care now. Bye.
Call us to talk about language. The number is 877-929-9673, or you can send an email to words@waywordradio.org.
