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I've noticed that some people refuse to accept the defintions listed in the dictionary and offer their own explanations. Case in point I was having a debate with a friend of mine and I told him he didn't understand the meaning of a word. I grabbed the dictionary and showed him the definition. He said that the dictionary isn't the absolute truth and continued to insist that his defintion was the correct one. What do you make of this?
I've noticed that some people refuse to accept the defintions listed in the dictionary and offer their own explanations. Case in point I was having a debate with a friend of mine and I told him he didn't understand the meaning of a word. I grabbed the dictionary and showed him the definition. He said that the dictionary isn't the absolute truth and continued to insist that his defintion was the correct one. What do you make of this?
Your friend may be smarter than you
What was the word?
EDIT: I'd also like to know which dictionary was used?
EDIT2: I'd also like to recommend this book, which was one of the most interesting books I've ever read.
I've noticed that some people refuse to accept the defintions listed in the dictionary and offer their own explanations. Case in point I was having a debate with a friend of mine and I told him he didn't understand the meaning of a word. I grabbed the dictionary and showed him the definition. He said that the dictionary isn't the absolute truth and continued to insist that his defintion was the correct one. What do you make of this?
Words like 'racist' have seen an expansion definition. it used to mean a belief in the superiority or inferiority of a particular race. Now the word's meaning encompasses what some might describe as racial insensitivity. Some might say that's bias on the part of the editors, others might say that the dictionaries are merely catching up with current usage.
In most cases, Skinny Puppy, I agree with you. Many people think "insinuate" means "to imply" when it really means "to insert", for example.
However, there have been many "discussions" on this forum over the legal meaning of certain words, and someone trying to "prove" their point will throw in a Merrimam-Webster definition. This happens a lot in birther threads. I know there are many words that mean something different than the M-W defintion, in a legal sense of the word. This is also true in health care.
Did he say the dictionary's definition was wrong, or did he just say his definition of the word was an additional one the dictionary was missing?
And I'll echo: what was the word?
I don't recall, it was awhile ago. He insisted that the definition was wrong. This was just one example, I've often seen people do it in political conversations.
I've noticed that some people refuse to accept the defintions listed in the dictionary and offer their own explanations. Case in point I was having a debate with a friend of mine and I told him he didn't understand the meaning of a word. I grabbed the dictionary and showed him the definition. He said that the dictionary isn't the absolute truth and continued to insist that his defintion was the correct one. What do you make of this?
He just didn't want to own up to the possibility of his own misunderstanding. This is common with folks whose knowledge and use of words are shaped more by the quirks of present-day social convention than by prescriptive guidelines. Religious fanatics tend to be the most egregious offenders.
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