“Are those trivets?!?! That’s a genius idea for kitchen wall art.” Pinterest, self-explanatory.
https://lnkd.in/eQnURdfq
“This is kind of genius.” Facebook. The name of a video of a couple dipping nachos into a cheese-and-bean mixture in a kitchen sink, mming and ohmygodding the whole time.
https://lnkd.in/eJBccQqt
“Whilst of course I’m not condoning this, I can’t deny it’s kind of genius.” LinkedIn. A post about a burger joint renaming menu items so they can be expensed (a veggie burger is listed as ‘Wired Earphones With Mike’, and so on).
https://lnkd.in/er7HzzGT
The casual use of the word ‘genius’, which denotes something so rare that your mouth should feel strange forming the sound for lack of practice, is a rust-wasted gauntlet across the face of texts operating at the limits of art, a travesty of standards, a gaudy reflex rooted in second-degree narcissism, as in, “I love this cool thing and also my love of this cool thing, and to express this latter love, I will now call this thing hot!”
By definition, precious few creations in this life may be called genius, and that’s how it should be, lest the currency of adoration for high art become so radically devalued as to skulk about in caves and crypts. [Shoutout to NFTs.] When everything is ‘genius’ and ‘genius’ is everywhere, merit is defined by modish popular opinion, and consequently nothing truly outstanding is recognized as such.
And so, use it advisedly. (That means don’t use it. Unless you really need to. When in doubt, call 1-800-NO-IT-ALL.)
Contrarian Agrarian: I don’t have much to add to the discussion except that to say that I agree with the above, largely because the only person I’ve ever known whom I’d call ‘genius’—and I’m talking about what’s in my wheelhouse—is a milkmaid who was just phenomenal at her job. She was punctual, hard-working, responsible, had a helluva can-do spirit, was an inspiring leader and someone who spread joy all around her.
She was the epitome of a milkmaid. A perfect milkmaid. A genius milkmaid, you could say. Then again, she may have been too good to be true, as her name was ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented’.
Go figure.
