This is guest post from my friend Jon Arena. He’s guest posted here before about a grievance we can all relate to – annoying concert fans. Today, he gives people who add to the definition of a word the reaming they deserve. Take it away Jon.
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INSANE.

We’ve all heard it countless times, whether from pastors, politicians, coaches, or really smart celebrities — “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” It is? Since when? When I look in the dictionary, I find the following:

-A deranged state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder (as schizophrenia)

-Such unsoundness of mind or lack of understanding as prevents one from having the mental capacity required by law to enter into a particular relationship, status, or transaction or as removes one from criminal or civil responsibility

-Extreme folly or unreasonableness

I should point out now that I can’t remember the last time I actually flipped through the pages of a physical dictionary and learned (or verified) the definition of a word. How far we’ve come!!!

I’m not going to pretend to have mastered the English language and all of its wonderful subtleties, but I also don’t make speeches hinging on completely fabricated definitions.

Can you imagine what this culturally accepted definition of insanity would look like in a courtroom?

“As you know, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client is pleading insanity in this case. He murdered his first victim and, of course, she died. He murdered his second victim, and again the deceased died. He was certain that murdering his third victim would not result in loss of life, but once again was astounded to discover that his victim passed away. You see, he was expecting that sooner or later, one of his murder victims would actually live. My client is obviously insane. Thank you.”

I heard a college basketball coach this weekend whining about how his players weren’t rebounding like they knew they should, and how this was an obvious example of insanity. Even if the “new” definition was actually correct [and I think I’ve established that it’s not], it still doesn’t make any sense to use in that situation. Do you think your players actually believed that by not rebounding, they would score more points and hold their opponents to less points? If so, you have a bunch of morons playing for you.

Just once I would love for a post-game press conference to include the following:

“Uhhh, coach, a few minutes ago you said that ‘the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’ Do you realize that that is demonstrably false?  Do you think it might have been better to describe your players as ‘stupid,’ ‘dull,’ or ‘unintelligent,’ as opposed to ‘insane’?”

Recently I expressed my frustration about this trend to my good friend John Joseph Osborn, and he quipped that my continued frustration was insane.  I didn’t find that joke funny at all.

Agree? Disagree? Are there any other words/definitions that frustrate you?