Or so went the lie in 1576. Today, some 435 years after it was coined by G. Pettie in Petit
Palace, we know it as something else: what you don't know can't hurt you. It is remarkable that four centuries after its creation and despite time-dependent shifts in the English language, this idiom is still with us and used with infuriating frequency. It is objectively false. Break from four centuries of lingual tradition. Stop saying it.
The-idiom-that-shall-not-be-named (you know which), and its nasty cousin, "ignorance is bliss," are really quite central to our lives as students here at Colgate.
On one hand, we use them to justify decisions that we make in our personal relationships. Our social lives often seem to include nasty elements of who-knows-what-about-whom. Perhaps your best friend doesn't need to know what went down last Saturday night between you and his or her special someone. Or maybe Professor Yo-Yo should keep thinking that your Friday morning hangover was, in fact, a surprise case of the common cold. After all, what they don't know…
