the distance between words and wisdom
An aphorism is literally a distinction or definition, from the Greek αφοριζειν "to define".
It is a very concise statement of a phenomenology expressing a 'general truth or wise observation', often in a clever way.
A gaffe is a verbal mistake, usually made by saying something that is 'true, but inappropriate'.
In statistics, a "mistake" is the difference between a computed, estimated, or measured value and the true, specified, or theoretically correct value.
So a gaphorism is a repurposed aphorism.
Gaphorisms recognise linguistic wisdom, but add to, or change their meaning or direction to give them new relevance.
Consensus reality is based on embedded semantics; we love to reduce complex ideas and emotions to bullet points and jargon, ostensibly to aid in the transfer of meaning. Eventually, the meaning blurs and fades, but the words remain and the associated wisdom clings to them like the smell of dying roses.
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