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I read "USA intellectualism: a mile wide, an inch deep", what's the meaning?

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Welcome to EL&U; your question in its present form is off-topic (it is not about language, but about culture; and even that is in a problematic form of an over-generalization, probably, or maybe not, taken out of context). Can you please try to make it about language i.e. in short - what is the word/phrase that you don't understand (plus you need to show why dictionary did not help). – Unreason Dec 14 '11 at 15:02
It was a graffiti I saw in a picture on a google's results page 1 year ago. – quantme Dec 18 '11 at 7:02

closed as off topic by RegDwighт♦ Dec 14 '11 at 15:17

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2 Answers

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It doesn't matter whether it's intellectualism or something else, what you need to understand is the meaning of "depth" and "width" in the context of knowledge or expertise.

A depth of knowledge or understanding, is knowing all the fine detail and nuance of the subject.

A wide, or broad, knowledge, is knowing the basics, but on a wide range of subjects.

So, if I can write "hello world" in 100 programming languages, my knowledge is broad. If I can write a complex program in Java, my knowledge is deep.

If I can play "Jingle Bells" on any instrument, badly, my expertise is broad / wide. If I can play a difficult piece, beautifully, on guitar, my expertise is deep.

"USA intellectualism: a mile wide, an inch deep": A mile is very wide, compared to an inch. They are saying that US intellectuals pontificate on all kinds of subjects, but the are not looking at the details.

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"Deep" in this sentence refers to the amount of thought and information contained in one's ideas. "Wide" means variety.

So the idea expressed in this sentence is that Americans as a whole have many ideas or positions, but those ideas are poorly thought out and not backed by evidence, reality, etc.

Is it true? That is a different question.

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variety now I can figure out the meaning. – quantme Dec 18 '11 at 7:14

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