Warp wrote:
> Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>> So just who exactly defines what is the "correct" meaning of a word?
> 
>   Dictionaries at least. And that's not just being pedantic. If you want
> to write official text which is unambiguous and understandable by everyone
> who speaks the language, you'll have to stick to dictionary definitions
> and avoid use parlances which only a small segment of the population might
> understand (especially if the rest may understand it wrongly).

And you avoid the appearance of poor education, because sticking to 
dictionary definitions makes it easy to avoid usages to which those who 
don't know what they are talking about are prone.

There is the caveat that the dictionary writers are not familiar with 
the terminology of some fields (philosophy, I am told, is one such 
field), and consequently for the correct definitions of such terminology 
one should turn to a glossary written by experts in that field.

Regards,
John

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