----- Original Message ----- From: "J. van Baardwijk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2002 5:34 PM Subject: Re: Intellectual output from the Arab World
> At 16:36 03-10-2002 -0500, Dan Minette wrote: > > >Let me get this straight. English is a second language for you and you are > >claiming that the definitive source of English (OED) is wrong and you are > >right in defining an English word? > > I am applying this horrible little thing called logic here. If X = Y, than > -X = -Y. The fact that a lot of people accept that X = Y but at the same > time believe that -X = -0.5Y does not make their interpretation valid. > > > >So, do you also claim that the catwalk on an oil rig is misdefined because > >cats don't walk on it; software is misdefined because it actually isn't > >soft or a ware, a miser is not a tightwad because he isn't drunk? Or a > >photograph is not a snapshot because there is no gun involved? > > Your analogy is flawed. While there is an opposing word for "Semite" (the > word "anti-Semite"), there is no such thing as "anti-catwalk", > "anti-software" or "anti-photograph". > Nope! Your logic is flawed. There is no language (spoken language) on earth that conforms to mathematical precision. Definitions are what they are, no matter how imprecise or nonsensical they seem to be. xponent Words Maru rob _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
