• dohpaz42@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      30
      ·
      2 days ago

      It’s only weird when you correlate “great” with only being a good thing. In and of itself , “great” is neither good nor bad. It simply describes a thing as more than average or normal.

      e.g. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were both great tragedies. They were also very bad things.

      e.g. Having a calm and rational discussion on the Internet is a great idea. It is also positive and reaffirming.

      • qarbone@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 day ago

        Yeah, “great” is about “magnitude”, not “quality”. They aren’t called the “Great Lakes” because they’re super awesome, but because they are fuck-off massive. It’s like the adjective “grand”.