> > > According to what I've heard, Murphy's law is greatly misunderstood.
> > > People think Murphy's law says "things always go wrong". That is not what it says at all.

> > I always thought Murphy's Law was simply "Anything than can go wrong, will go wrong."
>
> I'd put that more as "If it can be done wrong, it will sooner or later be done wrong". The element of human stupidity has to be involved.

Given that Michael's version of Murphy's law is the one used almost exclusively in popular culture, it's a losing battle to insist on a different definition. Kind of like how "I could care less" is the opposite of what is meant, but has too much momentum to be stopped disirregardless.

(You're right, of course, that the original meaning, the jargon meaning, and the most useful meaning are all what you've said.)