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All of johnaldis's Comments + Replies

Where to Draw the Boundary?
johnaldis60

I think what I mean by "Aha, this the meaning of the word flooble" is: "I use the word flooble in everyday life, and I feel comfortable with it. But until now I've never been able to 'play Taboo' with it. Now I can give a substantive definition of how I use it. This will be useful if I need to unpack my utterances for other people (or, conceivably, computers). Also, when people near me in 'language space' use the word flooble, we can compare definitions and possibly dissolve arguments."

So "the meaning" here isn't a definition ... (read more)

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0DanielLC
Why don't you just say "No milk products or eggs"? Also, now I'm curious. Do you just happen to be allergic to both milk and eggs, or are you allergic to something they both have in common? If it's common to have an allergy to both, that would be a good reason to call them both dairy. Although I'm not sure it's good to use allergies as part of these definitions, since it's dangerous to have the imprecision of common definitions when dealing with allergies. If the only sensible thing to do is say that you're allergic to dairy and eggs, then defining dairy to include eggs just means you'll end up being redundant.
1wedrifid
Really? If you say "no dairy products or eggs" people will argue? This seems to imply each of: * They don't understand what a dairy is or where eggs come from. * They don't understand how logic works. (The flexibility of "Or" is usually a convenient way to express things colloquially while also being technically correct.) * They think their misunderstanding of both is sufficiently important as to justify arguing with the correct usage.
Where to Draw the Boundary?
johnaldis00

I think what I mean by "Aha, this the meaning of the word flooble" is: "I use the word flooble in everyday life, and I feel comfortable with it. But until now I've never been able to 'play Taboo' with it. Now I can give a substantive definition of how I use it. This will be useful if I need to unpack my utterances for other people (or, conceivably, computers). Also, when people near me in 'language space' use the word flooble, we can compare definitions and possibly dissolve arguments."

So "the meaning" here isn't a definition ... (read more)

Reply