Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from ...

IDIOM’S DELIGHT 31
friend about what to call meteors during various parts of their
travel. I said they are meteorites when they hit the ground. He
asked, “What if they hit a house and stop on the second floor?” I
countered that the house is in direct contact with the Earth, so it’s
still a meteorite. He rebutted by asking, “What if it hit an airplane
and stopped?”
I had to scratch my head over that one. Is it a meteorite when
the plane lands? What if the plane crashes? At this point we decided
we were being silly, and decided to just go outside and look
for meteors. That may have saved our friendship.
Anyway, meteors start off in space and then fall to the Earth.
They appear dramatically, flashing into our view, and burn out suddenly
as they descend through the atmosphere toward the ground,
sometimes leaving a long trail of glowing ash behind them. They
start off bright, then fade away.
Enter bad astronomy. I was reading a major metropolitan newspaper
one day and was amused when it referred to a Russian official’s
“meteoric rise” in the political structure of that country. Of
course, the reporter meant that the official appeared out of nowhere
and made a quick, brilliant rise to the top of his heap. The
real meaning of the phrase, however, is just the opposite: were we
to be literal, the official would have made a sudden, eye-catching
appearance in the political arena and then quickly burned himself
out as he descended the ranks. He may have left a trail behind
him, and even made quite an impact in the end!
DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
I had the misfortune one morning to wake up to the radio playing
the song “Dream Weaver.” I’ll admit I used to love that song when
I was a kid, but as a friend of mine likes to say, “We are not
responsible for songs we liked when we were 15 years old.” Anyway,
as the tired, hackneyed verses went on, one in particular
caught my ear: “Fly me away to the bright side of the moon, and
meet me on the other side.”
Of course, there is a bright side of the Moon, and you can go
to it. But if you sit still, you can only be there for two weeks, max.