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SaidAchmiz comments on Cargo Cult Language - Less Wrong
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Certainly they can answer the question. The indication of cargo cult language, as I conceive it, isn't necessarily that the speaker can't answer the question, but that it's asked in the first place (cf. my third example); in other words, there's a suspicion that the actual meaning of the word/phrase the speaker used does not match what they intended to say (because they don't actually know what the word/phrase means).
Under that interpretation, "it often isn’t clear whether the speaker really knows what he’s saying and means to say it or is simply parroting." is a false dichotomy.
The speaker can know what they mean to say, accidentally say something different, and not be simply parroting. They may even be understood because e.g. using accuracy and precision as synonyms is common vernacular.