conventional wisdom

conventional wisdom

noun
something that is generally believed; prudence.

Origin:
1965–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Conventional wisdom is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
Main Entry:  conventional wisdom
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  the ideas, opinions, or understanding that are considered to be generally accepted by the public
Example:  See how many of these sayings you can complete to test your conventional wisdom.
Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

conventional wisdom

A widely held belief on which most people act. For example, According to conventional wisdom, an incumbent nearly always wins more votes than a new candidate. This term was invented by John Kenneth Galbraith, who used it in The Affluent Society (1958) to describe economic ideas that are familiar, predictable, and therefore accepted by the general public. Today it is used in any context where public opinion has considerable influence on the course of events.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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