The mistaken etymology became a trope after it was used by John F. Kennedy in his presidential campaign speeches and has been widely repeated in business, education, politics and the press in the United States.

Sinologist Victor H. Mair of the University of Pennsylvania states the popular interpretation of weiji as "danger" plus "opportunity" is a "widespread public misperception" in the English-speaking world.

[5][2] The American public intellectual Lewis Mumford contributed to the spread of this idea in 1944 when he wrote: "The Chinese symbol for crisis is composed of two elements: one signifies danger and the other opportunity.

"[6] However, its use likely gained momentum in the United States after John F. Kennedy employed this trope in presidential campaign speeches in 1959 and 1960, possibly paraphrasing Mumford:[2] "In the Chinese language, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters, one representing danger and the other, opportunity.

[11] Former Vice President Al Gore has done so numerous times, such as in testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, in the introduction of An Inconvenient Truth, and in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance lecture.