[ExI] New Bioscience Company Raises $15 Million to Revive Woolly Mammoth

William Flynn Wallace foozler83 at gmail.com
Thu Sep 16 20:12:41 UTC 2021


I love precision in language.  Far too many misunderstandings in
communication.

Now, if you will join me in helping to stamp out 'steep learning curve' as
meaning a difficult task, when in fact it means the opposite, I will die
happy.    bill w

On Thu, Sep 16, 2021 at 3:03 PM Anton Sherwood via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> > On Thu, Sep 16, 2021 at 2:51 PM Anton Sherwood wrote:
> >     Yes, by all means let's use any old word that more or less resembles
> >     what we mean, everyone will know what we mean.
>
> On 2021-9-16 12:00, Dave Sill via extropy-chat wrote:
> > What part of the following is unclear?
> >
> > "The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary
> > and the Oxford Dictionaries regard the form /comprised of/ as standard
> > English usage."
>
> Does that mean that preferring more conservative usages, when they
> preserve useful distinctions, is NOT allowable?
>
> > There's ample room for ambiguity in proper English. Assuming that
> > everyone is using the same dictionary that you're using is a good way to
> > introduce it.
>
> Hence, a careful writer will not rely only on the most liberal
> dictionaries when choosing words.
>
> What ambiguity do I introduce by refusing to use 'comprise' as a synonym
> for 'compose'?
>
> > Usage changes over time. Railing against it is silly and futile.
>
> I know it's futile to seek to change how the masses speak and write; my
> remarks are intended for the minority who aspire to more precision.
>
> "Read liberally, write conservatively," to paraphrase a computing proverb.
>
> --
> *\\*  Anton Sherwood  *\\*  www.bendwavy.org
>
>
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>
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