Contrary to popular belief
“It's not popularly believed.”
The phrase "contrary to popular belief" signifies things, which, contrary to popular belief, are not contrary to popular belief. Also contrary to popular belief, it does not signify things that actually are contrary to popular belief.
History of the phrase[edit]
Humble beginnings[edit]
The phrase was first used by Org, while mammoth hunting, in the form of "grunt, grunt-grunt snort grunt". This actually meant "Me tired. Me hungry." but was mistaken for "you're supposed to aim for the left nostril, you morons". Witnesses say that a spear subsequently hit Org, contrary to popular belief, not in the left, but right nostril.
Tour de France[edit]
It then made its way into the vocabulary of French aristocracy in the form of "tu aller fsogder, tu aller orjer, tu aller monder gouver" meaning you're all wrong, you all suck, you all should just give up. From there, it descended into the people in the form of "Vive la France" meaning, contrary to popular belief, not "Let's go on a conquering spree", but "I disagree". From their the aristocracy readopted it in the form of "contrez une stupide personnes opinoines", meaning, "why is everyone around me a dumbass?"
Across the Strait[edit]
The phrase then decided to cross the English channel. Due to seasickness, it got transformed into: "you bloody chavs, you're wrong, you moronic dumbasses!!" This spread into the U.S. However, in 1920, representatives of the newly formed Humane Society objected that that phrase was discriminatory against animals and got Congress to change "you bloody chavs" to "you fucking niggers". Then, in 1950, it was claimed as racist and changed to its current form.
The phrase in literature[edit]
Contrary to popular belief, this phrase is not often used in literature. The only literary works in which it was found are:
- It was used in an Uncyclopedia article
- It was commented on by Oscar Wilde, in Uncyclopedia
- It was commented on by Oscar Wilde, in his book about Grey-tone portraits. (contrary to popular belief, the portraits were not of Dorian, but by Dorian).
Contrary to popular belief code[edit]
Some people believe that the phrase contains all information that is, was, or will be. This is called the contrary to popular belief code. Originally people searched for meaning in the phrase without a code, leading to the creation of books commenting on the phrase. Then, when that means was exhausted, someone translated the phrase into Hebrew and realized that they could predict assassinations of country leaders with it.