Yes, but if you're trying to communicate to other people, you can't focus on what you yourself consider to be the meanings; you need to focus on how other peopl

Yes, but if you're trying to communicate to other people, you can't focus on what you yourself consider to be the meanings; you need to focus on how other people understand the words. I suspect that your use of "compulsory" would be better understood if you used the word 'compulsive' instead. "Compulsory" generally means "required", "not optional", and I think that may be why people misunderstand your descriptions. See, e.g., http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/askaboutenglish/2010/06/100608_aae_compulsive.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/a...