Word for dangerous semi-knowledge, equivalent of German "gefährliches Halbwissen"

Question

In German, there is a phrase like "dangerous semi-knowledge" gefährliches Halbwissen. Wiktionary definition:

a degree of superficial knowledge that becomes dangerous or deceptive because it has one trust one’s own amateurish judgment

I can't think of any equivalent in English. Any ideas?

That's one of the senses of "common knowledge" -- "facts" that aren't true but are commonly accepted by far too many people. — John Lawler, Sep 21 '23 at 19:45
I have deleted my answer after posting on SE German Language. It turns out that "Halbwahrheit" exists, and is the obvious equivalent of "half-truth", whereas there is no equivalent single English noun to "Halbwissen". — David, Sep 21 '23 at 21:08

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 21 '23 at 08:20

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In English, we'd say that someone who behaves in that way exhibits the Dunning-Kruger effect: from Wikipedia, "In popular culture ... a claim about general overconfidence of people with low intelligence", although as the article points out, the original paper discussed competence in a professional environment rather than generally.

We might also say that they "know just enough to be dangerous", although that isn't really a stock phrase.

There's also a well-known quotation:

A little Learning is a dangerous thing

Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism (1711).

answered Sep 21 '23 at 08:20

Tevildo

1,193

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Pope's original quote is probably better known as: a little knowledge is a dangerous thing – Mari-Lou A Sep 21 '23 at 10:23
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@Mari-Lou A There doesn't seem to be a great difference in their idiomaticity. I learned the 'learning' variant. – Edwin Ashworth Sep 21 '23 at 10:28
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@EdwinAshworth that's probably because you were born in an age where trains ran on steam... :P P.S I'm not far behind. – Mari-Lou A Sep 21 '23 at 10:33
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@Mari-Lou A You're a tender? – Edwin Ashworth Sep 21 '23 at 11:01
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@EdwinAshworth Very funny, yes. I might be described as looking like a tank :) – Mari-Lou A Sep 21 '23 at 11:13
On a side note. Germans often use it as a disclaimer to say they are aware their understanding or knowledge might be limited – Portree Kid Sep 22 '23 at 10:55
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@PortreeKid English doesn't really have a stock phrase to express that. You could say something like "superficial knowledge" or "knowledge only of the basics", but there isn't one phrase that everyone would use. – Tevildo Sep 22 '23 at 15:47
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@PortreeKid - The disclaimer here is 'as far as I know' for competent people; incompetent people totally believe in themselves. – HippoSawrUs Sep 26 '23 at 04:55

Word for dangerous semi-knowledge, equivalent of German "gefährliches Halbwissen"

1 Answers1