philosophy
Posts: 5284
Joined: 2/15/2004 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: NeedToUseYou I think it's because no one ever defines the meaning of the word. There is not one meaning. There is the meaning a 100 years ago, there is the meaning in common usage, there is variation based on location. This holds true for "the right", "the left", "conservative", "liberal", etc.... Now, one can argue that there is really only one meaning, but that's not true, because as soon as a new meaning becomes accepted by a large portion of the group in question then it becomes the meaning for all practical purposes, thus why we have arguments, even if under one meaning the word would not even apply. I'd propose when starting a thread about some word that has several popular meanings that one simply define the definition they are using at the beginning. Common popular usage trumps text book definitions, at least in the realm of the common man, of which this forum is composed, call it ignorance, which it may be, but with time, the corrupted meaning becomes the new meaning. .....actually that's a very honest response. i don't entirely agree with your central thesis (that common useage trumps text book definitions), but i'd like to sincerely thank you for a thoughtful and articulate response.
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