12.18.2005

"Nationally known"

I was listening to an interview recently, and the interviewee was introduced as "Nationally known author and speaker...". I don't like to post names of people I don't particularly respect, but in this case, I totally forgot who that "nationally known" person was.

Which helps support my main point: often, "nationally known" does not mean what it is meant to be. If someone truly is "nationally known," then many of us would know who the person is. Even if we haven't read their "bestselling" books or haven't attended their "nationally known" seminars, we would at least recognize their first or last name, or we would know what they do, at least vaguely. As in, "He's that guy who gives car advice," or "She's that goofy baker."

That would be funny if some "nationally known" person was at a well-publicized function, introduced as such, and no one knew who the heck they were.

2 comments:

Mahndisa S. Rigmaiden said...

12 19 05

Hey MJ: Thx for wishing me well while I was ill (still recovering):) This is a pet peeve of mine, sort of like in high school. There were the so called popular kids, but who determined their popularity was beyond me cuz I didn't know who they were until my senior year (call me out of it...) This is the same principle-cliques determine who is known or not, but you must be part of the clique to see who the clique has chosen to be tagged for popularity! Ha! I ramble now. As usual, a good post:)

Anonymous said...

Interesting...I never thought about this concept within the school context.