Cheerskep: I wasn't aware of the "there are no synonyms" contention (this is
what you get for allowing just anyone access to the listserve). Your
argument is clear now. You did too good a job being the devil's advocate.
(How did we get to the 'no synonyms" argument?)
Don't give up on the play - consider re-writing a line or two.
Geoff C
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: gift/talent/aptitude/skill/ etc
Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2008 11:14:16 EDT
Imago writes:
"Cheerskep, you pick bad examples of linguistic overlap."
I'm sorry Imago feels that way. My aim in this thread was, among other
things, to deny the famous universal, "There are no synonyms."
I clearly bungled my argument because both Imago and Geoff came away
thinking
they refute it by citing some (German) words for which everyone agrees
there
is indeed no English synonym.
I offered 'und', 'Zigarre, 'Seife', 'Zahn', 'Schuh' for which I claimed a
bilingual German-English speaker would give one-word translations ('and',
'cigar', 'soap', 'knife', 'shoe'). I'd hoped to employ the usual method of
refuting a
universal -- offering acceptable counter-examples. But mine were so
unpersuasive, they were considered and dismissed without comment.
When I supplied the following list of words, I evidently blew it again with
Imago. I'd bent myself to convey that I was asking for the opposite of
arguments why there are some synonyms there. I said I was asking for
descriptions of
insightful "nice distinctions" between them:
gift
talent
aptitude
skill
capacity
craft
But I obviously screwed up my explanation of what I was after, or Imago
would not have said, "Cheerskep, you pick bad examples of linguistic
overlap."
I confess I find all of this regrettable.
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