Re: [tlug] [REMINDER] "Defending the Creative Commons"

[Matt Doughty <wyndigo@example.com>]

On Sun, Dec 15, 2002 at 08:03:27PM +0900, simon colston wrote:
> On Fri, 13 Dec 2002 16:49:02 +0900
> Matt Doughty <wyndigo@example.com> wrote:
> 
> > On Thu, Dec 12, 2002 at 09:48:48PM -0800, Brett Robson wrote:
> > > 
> > > 
> > > I understand my girlfriend when she confuses 'a' and 'the', and gets
> > > countable nouns completely screwed (she has many money), but my mother
> > > doesn't understand her. We rely on a commonality for understanding,
> > > you can just make stuff up.
> > 
> > Not true at all.  That is how things get into the vernacular.  Language
> > is adapted and changes with the times and the world in which we live. 
> > It adapts.  I suspect he is using the term to represent process of
> > designing, and implementing. 
> > 
> 
> Surely it has got to be true.  Without such a commonality each person's
> interpretation of a particular word could be different, which leads to
> misunderstanding.  Language does evolve (which is both necessary and very
> interesting) but if the speaker chooses to use a word in a new way then
> the speaker risks being misunderstood.  People end up 'suspecting' the
> meaning rather than 'understanding' it.
> 

I clearly didn't snip enough previously.  People making up new uses for a
word can be done, and is exactly how language evolves.  The new meanings
are often tangential as opposed to orthoganal, but never the less they
are new meanings.  Yes, we all really on an agreed upon commonality of
meaning for the lion's share of comunication.  Yes, you can't make up
words and their meanings in a "humpty dumpty" sort of fashion.  Now for
the reality check.  The meaning of words change because someone, somewhere
starts using the word to mean something other than it dictionary definition,
though generally in a way related to that orginal definition.  If this didn't
happen then the meaning of words would never change or adapt.  Also you are
living in a different world from the rest of us if you believe that 
communication hinges on everone having the same understanding of the words
they use.  People misuse and misunderstand the meanings of words all the time,
but life goes on.  I have people known people to misunderstanding the meaning
of a word for years, but because their misunderstood meaning was close enough
to the actual meaning they never realized they didn't really know the word.
Communication does not, and never has, been dependent on everyone having the
exact same definitions for words.

--Matt