ownedgirlie
Posts: 9184
Joined: 2/5/2006 Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: Mercnbeth looking it up in the dictionary, "argue" and "discuss" have identical meanings. is your definition of argue more along the lines of "fight"? (where there is a competition of sorts, with each contending with each other in a win-lose scenario.) or more closely described by the word "bicker"?(to engage in a petty, bad-tempered quarrel.) Hi beth, You make a good point (as usual), although argue has various meanings. It can be synonymous with discussion, but it can also mean "contentious dispute." When I see questions about "argue vs. discuss" I tend to think "contentious dispute" vs. "conversation of opposing opinions." Perhaps that's what others here are thinking, as well. "Arguement" itself can be quite a benign word, and I've used it as such before, only to be challenged by those applying the "contentious" definition to it. I suppose it's a case of choosing words for your audience carefully. An "arguement" can simply be a variable in a mathematical equation, after all. :) So the confusion is that argue is both synonymous with fight and discuss. But I'm glad you brought up the less than considered meaning, as it's something I forget from time to time, myself. As it stands, I am not allowed to be argumentative with my Master, meaning bitching to him and picking apart things he says (I used to try that a lot). I am not allowed to fight with hi m. I am allowed to discuss opposing points of views to him, in fact, I am required to.
_____________________________
Good is the enemy of great.
|