I recently read a column which claimed (rightly so, it seems!) that Americans have become "dumber". I wondered when (or if) that definition of "dumb" has been accepted and found the following discussion from AHD in dictionary.com:
"Our Living Language: In ordinary spoken English, a sentence such as 'He is dumb' will be interpreted to mean 'He is stupid' rather than 'He lacks the power of speech.' 'Lacking the power of speech' is, however, the original sense of the word, but it has been eclipsed by the meaning 'stupid.' For this change in meaning, it appears that the Germans are responsible. German has a similar and related word dumm that means 'stupid,' and over time, as a result of the waves of German immigrants to the United States, it has come to influence the meaning of English dumb. This is one of dozens of marks left by German on American English. Some words, like kindergarten, dachshund, and schnapps still have a German feel or are associated to some extent with Germany, but others, like bum, cookbook, fresh (in the meaning 'impertinent'), rifle, and noodle have become so thoroughly Americanized their German origins may surprise some."

Interesting. I've always wondered how the word "fresh" came to mean "impertinent".

Now to why Americans may be becoming more ignorant, at least in the subject of history. The following were found on recent surveys (not all results are from the same survey so some of the respondents are "Americans" and some are "college students"):
1. 18% of Americans thought Germany was our ally in WWII.
2. 9% of Americans thought Japan was our ally in WWII.
3. 53% of college students could identify Florence Nightingale with nursing.
4. Only 3 % of college students knew that the battle of Waterloo was fought in Belgium.
5. 35% of Americans thought the following Karl Marx dictum came from the Constitution: "From each according to his ability to each according to his needs." Another 34% said they weren't sure.
6. 43% of Americans thought the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution ended the war in Korea, and only 29% knew that it permitted President Lyndon Johnson to expand the war in Viet-nam.

Now try asking some Americans as to which side the Russians supported in the Second World War - or even when the conflagration started and finished!

Richard English

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Now try asking some Americans as to which side the Russians supported in the Second World War

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Yes, that question was asked; I didn't include all the questions. If my recollection is correct, only about 20% of the respondents got it correct.

While the date of WWII was not asked, the date of the Civil War was asked. A great number had the Civil War occurring between 1750 and 1800!

It is rather frightening. But as an exercise to test yourself (chosen to be equally fair to our USn's and our Europeans), how many countries you could name in South America? If you do well on that, how many of the capital cities of those countries?

I have to admit, I don't think I would do well on any tests such as these. And I think about all those people that Jay Leno asks questions of on The Tonight Show. I have always wondered if they ask 150 people and then pull out the 20 silliest to air, or are these the responses as they come in?

I agree; I have thought of that also, Morgan. However, my understanding was that these were formal surveys. Unfortunately, the columnist didn't report her sources--and I hate that. Shufitz, while the author was writing about the importance of understanding history, I see your point. I can name most of, but not all of, the countries in South America--but few of the capitals. My New Year's resolution is to brush up on my history and geography!

Have we all accepted that "dumb" means "stupid" then? I sure don't, and I never let my kids say "dumb" when they meant "stupid" (or "shut up", though that's another story!).

I have to confess - all of them.

But, you see, I used to be a travel agent and I am now a trainer and City and Guilds examiner for the travel industry!

But ask me anything about sport (any sport) and you will find my knowledge vacuum!

Richard English

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Originally posted by Richard English:
I have to confess - all of them.

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Me too I'm afraid. (Capitals included) My excuse is that on my travels I visted most of them. The only countries in North, Central and South America that I didn't get to were Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana and El Salvador. I could kick myself for that last one as I had the chance to spend a week there and didn't take it. Instead I spent the most boring week of my entire nine month trip on Roatan. As I'm not a beach person, my eyes are too weak to allow me to dive without an expensive facemask with optical insets and I was at that stage of my trip so far over my budget that I had temporarilly given up beer it wasn't the greatest decision I ever made.

Purgamentum init, exit purgamentum

Read all about my travels around the world here.

I missed three: Guyana, Surinam and French Guiana and could only remember the capitals of three countries. But I've never been anywhere near South America! Am I forgiven?

Now try asking some Americans as to which side the Russians supported in the
Second World War
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That's easy! THEIR side!

Yes, museamuse, you are forgiven!

For my failings, one of my New Year's resolutions is to improve my mind, and I have vowed to learn more about history, geography, and poetry. Yesterday I purchased Barbara Tuchman's "The First Salute" which also contains a fair amount of geography. For example, I had not known that the Dutch Island of St. Eustatius in the West Indies was the first foreign state to recognize the American flag. In fact, I hadn't even known precisely which islands made up the West Indies.

For my failings in poetry a friend lent me "Best Remembered Poems", edited and annotated by Martin Gardener. It has 123 poemes, including beauties such as "The Tyger", "The Raven", "Jabberwocky", "To a Skylark", and "O Captain! My Captain!"