Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[Dannyalcatraz]

I skipped over this by putting two pages of important terms right in the intro.

Legal Drafting 101, baby!

 

[CleverNickName]

 

[prabe]

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I must not miss the point I must not miss the point I must not miss the point

 

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[overgeeked]

Trying to explain to people that the legal definitions of words aren't always the same as the dictionary definition is always a fun time.

The more fun version is explaining that scientific definitions of words aren’t the common ones. Theory as one example.

 

[Ryujin]

The more fun version is explaining that scientific definitions of words aren’t the common ones. Theory as one example.

The common definition of theory is closer to the scientific definition than is the usual derogatory use in the sentence, "Well that's just a theory!"

"Yeah, that's not really the cutting jibe that you think it is."

 

[Thomas Shey]

Not just legal terms, but pretty much any technical jargon, i think.

Yeah, early on in the history of common computer usage, library usage for the word "software" was for media, what later came to be called "firmware" in some places. Since that usage predated the computer usage there was a period when libraries weren't in a big hurry to abandon it.

But personally I've found that most of the time no amount of explanation really helps. They'll just say, "Well, when I say it I mean [X] ..." as if that somehow negates the real definition. To my mind, that stems from the same weird attitude that "My opinions are just as relevant as your facts" which has infected so much discourse over the last few decades. It's disheartening.

While that's sometimes the case, you also see cases where people will cling to idiosyncratic uses of terminology because they're used to other people attacking any term they use at all that isn't well established (whether because they think they're fighting for clarity of because they dislike the concept being presented and want to sink it at all cost), and they're unwilling to redo a two sentence explanation every time the reference it.

 

[RealAlHazred]

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Obama!

 

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Obama!

 

[dragoner]

You jest, but there are threads on this very forum where people attempt to write their own dictionaries in order to win an argument.

"Well that's just one definition of (commonly-used word.) But if you go back to my first post, you'll see that I wrote my own unique definition of (commonly-used word), and while it's not recognized by anyone except myself, I will insist that everyone use it exclusively in this discussion. Because otherwise, my argument doesn't work."

No jest, pages 13-14 of kosmic; and that is cut from 5 pages instead of only 2. How I shrunk it from 468 pages to 354. Though if it were 3 64 page digest size books, it would go, and I thought about three letter sized 200 page books. The main value is an inexpensive full 354 page bookmarked and hyperlinked PDF. Enough of how the sausage is made though.

I know you are right, people do make up their own definitions for words, and it is frustrating.