However, when the
intended meaning or application has been given or is obvious according to context, it is
quite distracting to quible about an alternative meaning of a word.
I agree.
But when the intended meaning of the word may be clear to the writer but NOT clear to the reader, it is not a quibble to try to clarify what has been meant.
I have found that a considerable portion of the arguments here on SI, as in life, boil down to people using the same word differently, or using words (traitor, liberal, conservative, are classsic examples here) imprecisely or overbroadly. What could, at least potentially, be interesting discussions of principles or ideas turn into mutual recriminations because the disputants refuse to even seek agreement on the terms they are using.
Quibbling, I agree, is counterproductive to good discussions. But clarifications where agreement on terms is temporarily lacking is, IMO, not only useful but essential. |
