On 12 sep, 23:35, Owen Duffy wrote:
Roy Lewallen wrote :

...

-- Be careful with the English language, in which fat chance and slim
chance mean the same thing, a wise man is admired and wise guy
shunned, and a bag lady and bag man are very different in ways other
than just their gender.

Ah yes, one's nose runs, and feet smell!

Owen

I agree with you Roy in several items, when we try communicate with
words and we not share the exact word meanings we end up inmersed in
the Babel course. Moreover, we later build bigger ideas based in that
misunderstood words, then it is not rare that at the end of the
process we can not agree almost nothing.

But there is a problem, explain our concepts writing in a paper it it
is not ease too, any dictionary it is circular referenced, verbal or
written definitions use words, then such circularity it is inherente
to written language in some point we will need to point to an object,
event or phenomenom and say to our partner: you see "this is a house",
"that is a river". That way we learn languages when we born, linguists
call them "ostensive definitions".

Because that, I pointed -in early post- we could end up having to
define all words we use. Here we call that process "socratic tests",
because a teacher could ask and ask definitions recursively to the
extent we were not able to explain even what is a mom.
Also, in some point we need support us in standard accepted
definitions of terms with its limitations at risk of failing to have a
common language, often authoritative definitions serve to this pupose
even although they are incomplete.

I do not would say I hate to waste my time arguing about apparently
senseless things because what to me may seems nonsense can be really
important and I am not capable to see it, but I agree that comes a
point where I tired and renounce (and there are much things that are
really suspiciously foolish). However I recognize that drop the bone
too early sometimes not conducive to resolving difficult issues, it is
all a matter of "balancing" :)

Thank you very much.

Miguel

PD: Nice examples of english meanings, when we tell: "ese es un hijo
de su madre" we are not talking about kinship relationships :)