• pinkdrunkenelephants@sopuli.xyzOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Now tell us what the word “though” means without a dictionary. Or “is”. Or “entity”, or “put”. Define every single word you used to my satisfaction, and I will concede my point.

      • Dr. Quadragon ❌@mastodon.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        @pinkdrunkenelephants Let’s do it the way I proposed in my message here: https://mastodon.ml/@drq/111177928748371050

        and take the practical approach to this.

        Whom would me defining every word you throw at me benefit? Who will be better off?

        Me? No. You? Well, it will satisfy your facetiousness, and short term, yes, maybe. But in long term, you’ve learned nothing and never wanted to. Us together? Nah, you’re clearly going to turn this into a competitive situation. Society? Nobody cares.

        So, I will have to decline.

        • pinkdrunkenelephants@sopuli.xyzOP
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          What do you mean by benefit? What does “better off” mean? Who gets to define it?

          Well, it will satisfy your facetiousness, and short term, yes, maybe. But in long term, you’ve learned nothing and never wanted to. Us together? Nah, you’re clearly going to turn this into a competitive situation. Society? Nobody cares.

          That’s the point I’m making. It’s why we don’t let people dispute terms in debates and why we turn to dictionaries and other authoritative sources if there actually is an issue – it stops people concern trolling to get around the law.

          • Dr. Quadragon ❌@mastodon.ml
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            @pinkdrunkenelephants Yes, but it’s important to remember that dictionaries are not god’s gospel. It’s not some kind of revelation about Life, Universe and Everything. And it’s not even a naturally occurring phenomenon. It’s still just a book (or rather, a database) some dudes or lasses wrote some time ago using their accumulated experience. It still comes from humans. It’s still just a fragment of someone’s consciousness.

            And being, as we (hopefully) know, determines the consciousness. And being is an immensely complex and ever-changing thing. So no dictionary is accurate, ever. So we have lots of them, and all context-dependent.

            So it is useful to re-evaluate the definitions you think you know.

            Take the same makeup, for example. If someone wants to ban it, they’d better fucking give everyone a clear idea what do they mean by that. Suppose, I’m going to a football (or soccer, depending on who you ask) game and paint my face in the colours of FC I’m a fan of. Am I a criminal now?

            • pinkdrunkenelephants@sopuli.xyzOP
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              I didn’t say god’s gospel, I said authoritative sources, and they ought to be, because there has to be an arbitrary stopping point for such disputes that both parties have to concede to, otherwise debate in good faith is not possible.

              Using definition disputes in such a manner as you propose would prevent the implementation of any law.

                • pinkdrunkenelephants@sopuli.xyzOP
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  3
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  The dictionary. That is the point of a dictionary. Its very nature is to be the authoritative source of what words mean.

                  You can choose to accept that, or if you choose to dispute it, we’ll assume you’re debating in bad faith, end the discussion, and this court will rule in your opponent’s favor.