Lest ignorance become your trail of tears

[GoodTaste]

I tell him to keep learning something new, especially scientific knowledge, to know the idea "Never too old to learn", lest ignorance become his trail of tears in life.

Source: English writing practice by me.

The question here is whether the phrase "trail of tears" is correctly used.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I tell him to keep learning new things and to remember the saying "You're never too old to learn", lest ignorance become his trail of tears in life.

Source: English writing practice by me.

The question here is whether the phrase "trail of tears" is correctly used.

It's not wrong.

However, it would remind lots of us Americans of our own Trail of Tears, a tragic event in our history. So we only use that phrase when we talk about that event.

 

[GoesStation]

Do not use this expression for a trivial matter. It represents a shameful, murderous atrocity. Any other use is offensive to the memory of the thousands of innocents who perished while being driven from their homeland.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Right. It's sort of like a reference to the Rape of Nanking. The stories are very different, but both have ugly associations.

 

[GoodTaste]

Do not use this expression for a trivial matter. It represents a shameful, murderous atrocity. Any other use is offensive to the memory of the thousands of innocents who perished while being driven from their homeland.

That is exactly why this thread has come to exist. My intuition told me at the very beginning that this phrase could not be used lightely. It has particular historical implications and now it is clear that it should be reserved to honor the innocent people who had perished on the trail.