[QUOTE]Originally posted by magician
[B]

One of Lewis Carrol's characters (in "Through the Looking Glass", I believe; I cannot recall which book, nor which character, exactly) said "When I use a word it means exactly what I intend it to mean, no more, and no less."

 

From now on, everybody uses the word "grape", instead of rape.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by magician
[B]Mine is principally a probabilistic argument: if one choice of word makes your meaning clear and another makes it ambiguous, choose the former.

 

i've never heard that term before

 

Cuz you eat it, not hear it.

 

okaaaaaayyy

 

Using this as a cogent example, do you know the meaning of the word "cake" in this quote?

(By the way, I see nothing intrinsically wrong with a broad vocabulary, a deep understanding of etymology, and the use of obscure, or archaic meanings for words. However, should your intention be to communicate an idea to another, none of these is likely to increase your probability of success.)

 

At the risk of being labeled pedantic, it's properly "'em" not "em'".

(Being wrong isn't nearly so bad as being caught, n'est pas? )

 

Actually, it's not possible to "know" the true meaning of the word "cake" in that botched quote , only the idea the full quote represents (and only in context, which has been my whole point).

Yes, 'em.

Forgive me Master, I shall try in arra not to duplicate that errare, however, communication did occur so success is mine all the same.

Andrew

 

what is it with these words?