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

[ccd <ccd@example.com>]

Matt Doughty wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 16, 2002 at 03:14:05PM +0900, simon colston wrote:
> 
>>All I objected to was the suggestion that 'we rely on a commonality for
>>understanding' was 'not true at all' but it obvious that you don't think
>>that.
> 
> 
> Ah yes, I'm guilty of hyberbole yet again. ;)
> I didn't mean to imply that their is no need for commonality.
> 
> 
>>Re-read what I posted and you'll see that you are living in the same world
>>as me.  I'm not saying that people should refrain from using
>>words in new ways.  I explicitly stated that the evolution of language is
>>necessary and, of course, the only way that can happen is by someone
>>somewhere creating a new definition for a word whether by design or
>>accident.  The problem is that by using a new meaning the speaker
>>increases the chance of being misunderstood.
>>
> 
> 
> I read what you said to mean "yes language does evolve, but you really shouldn't
> use words in new ways if you want to be understood".  I took this to mean you
> viewed such new usage as a inherently bad thing. It seems that we are in 
> basic agreement that it is necessary evil, but the speaker should be aware of
> the dangers of such redefinitions. Glad to see we live in the same universe. ;)
> 
> --Matt  


To add my two yennies: I grew up pretty much self-educated. I had a killer
vocabulary (now rendered completely useless by alchohol) that stemmed only
from the books I'd read. My writing was superb: lucid, well-thought out,
and satisfying to simply read. Poetic. But when I spoke, not a single 
person understood me. Why? I couldn't pronounce half the words that I 
knew so well.

So, I learned how to pronounce half the words I knew, and replaced the 
rest with expletives. ;)

Your homework assignment is this: repeat the word "leisure suit" to your 
self mantra-style. Notice anything strange that occurs from this.

Do the same with the word "rural".

Lemme know how it goes :)
-christian




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