Meaning:
A situation, or set of circumstances, where there's an extraordinary
convergence of multiple factors, such as tensions building up, to create
several simultaneous and dramatic events. (Usually in the negative sense.)
Background:
The first known use of the phrase dates back to 1850, when the Reverend Lloyd
Withington describes a meteorological event, and the subsequent rainfall as
follows: `A perfect storm of thunder and lightning all over England (except
London) doing fearful and fatal damage'.
There was also a more recent storm in 1991 given the moniker `Perfect storm'
by the author and journalist Sebastian Junger, in his book The Perfect Storm,
published in 1997. The book describes how the convergence of weather
conditions beforehand were `perfect' for the formation of such a cataclysmic
storm. This was when the phrase truly came into popular use.
Today, the term is not used to refer to meteorological events alone. For
instance, the outbreak of World War I could be seen as a perfect storm of
alliances, political assassinations, and nationalism.
Alternative words for this phrase include: catastrophe, disaster, trainwreck,
fiasco, omnishambles. However, these alternative words don't do as much to
depict the convergence of multiple factors to produce such a powerful and
dramatic result.
- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]
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I haven't listened to Joe Rogan since Spotify but his first two podcasts with
Sebastian Junger were among my favorites. In his book Tribe: On Homecoming
and Belonging, Junger brought up Ben Franklin's observation that while many white
Americans, men and women, joined the Indian tribes but no Indian chose to live
among the newcomers.
Junger grew up in a rich neighborhood, took up journalism, missed the sense of
bond after the wars (Iraq and Afghanistan) in the modern American society, and
hated isolating suburban middle-class McMansions. He got PTSD but never took
depression drugs. In his words: "The depression is mine," or something like that.
I haven't read Perfect Storm the book and would like how Junger came up with the
title. At 52 he picked up boxing. Now that's something I can aspire to.
