290

submitted 1 year ago by nebula42@lemmy.world to c/196

89 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] lugal@sopuli.xyz 10 points 1 year ago

the "usage defines meaning" argument is flimsy at best

So what else does? I never understood how you can reason the objective meaning of a bunch of phonemes. If usage doesn't define meaning, you can look up the meaning in a dictionary. But if it's a good dictionary, it deduces the meaning of the word by its usage. There is ultimately no other way.

[-] Phil_in_here@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 year ago

But then a good dictionary is ultimately personal, contextual, regional, and ephemeral, making it ultimately useless.

I will never recognise 'suposably' as a proper English word. But my children might, and so to their children, until it universally is a correct, proper word. That's the scope of the tide of language.

Its a necessary battle between the old ways and the new, one that I know I am ever drifting to the wrong side of. When some people use the word wrong, they are wrong. When everyone uses the word wrong, they are right. The old guard dies and the new gaurd rises.

[-] lugal@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 year ago

Well put. That's not to say that dictionaries are useless. I use them alot but not in my native language since that's where I know the words. In English, which is my second language, dictionaries are close enough to help me around most of the times. It's like a map. The map isn't useless because a new road is build or a cabin is no more. You can still use the map but don't trust it over reality.