# RIP Mohsen Amir-Aslani

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mohsen-amir-aslani/700411>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [October 4, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mohsen-amir-aslani/700411 "2014-10-04T22:09:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 83

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**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mohsen-amir-aslani/700411/83 "2014-10-05T21:57:38Z")

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> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> Emphasis added. You see, there are degrees of unpopularity and Frank would have us think that it’s simply a binary situation. But for the word “popular” to be meaningful, it must mean that the most people prefer it. A government that stuffs the ballot box cannot be said to be “popular” in any meaningful sense of the word.
> 
> It may not be so unpopular that people are willing to start a revolution, but that’s not the same thing as being “popular”.

Are you sure you know what the word “popular” means? Because it doesn’t mean “overwhelmingly popular” or “most popular”. Red Hot Chili Peppers is a popular band, but they aren’t beloved by over 50% of the population, for example. The iPhone is a popular phone, but it doesn’t have 51%+ of the market for cel phones.

Popular doesn’t mean “most people support it”, it just means a lot of people support it.

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