Re: CHAT: models and miniatures

On Fri, 7 Sep 2001, Andreas Johansson wrote:

> This would seem to imply that technical (and often original) meanings of
> words that're used in another sense by the general public aren't true. For
"girl"
"cupboard"
"computer"

I could go on.  The meanings of words can change, and insisting upon an
obsolete and/or idiosyncratic meaning is its own punishment.

> IMHO, if there is a "true" meaning of a word it is whatever the
> speaker/writer intends it to mean - quite independently from what meanings
> various people associate with it.

   "There's glory for you!"
   "I don't know what you mean by 'glory,' " Alice said.
   Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don'tÑtill I tell
you. I meant 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you!' "
   "But 'glory' doesn't mean 'a nice knock-down argument,' " Alice objected.
   "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone,
"it means just what I choose it to meanÑneither more nor less."
   "The question is, " said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so
many different things."
   "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty. "which is to be master--that's
all.'"