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> I offer no advice on how to write this kind of stuff, but i'd like to bring up the point that my situation , as someone who is paralyzed, is totally different

> I offer no advice on how to write this kind of stuff, but i'd like to bring up the point that my situation , as someone who is paralyzed, is totally different than the situation of someone who is clinically depressed. Thanks for writing this in such a non judgemental way. I really didn't care much about such imprecise language but I too am starting to wonder if something needs to be done - and where. This and similar wordings are what my teachers would refer to as a literary tool (not sure of the correct English translation but it should suffice.) But it seems a lot of people doesn't understand (and some won't understand) this. This holds true for both writers and readers. Recently someone said something about a certain well known country being apartheid, so I pointed them to the encyclopedia (not Wikipedia) that describes apartheid. It didn't work. Journalists had said apartheid so apartheid it was. Was it apartheid? Only in the same sense where the bank "robs" someone by not adjusting interest rates in a timely manner: as a way to spice up language.

hutzlibu 5y ago
It is important to not forget, that natural language do not work like programming languages. They are not clear and precisely defined. Context matters a lot. And allmost no 2 people define one given word exactly the same. So I do have my trigger words, too, where I try for people to use them in the right way, but it is pretty much an uphill battle and in my experience usually not worth the time fighting it. Just accepting that words have different meanings for different persons ... and most importantly - go out of discussions, when it is not about the topic anymore, but people fighting over the meaning of words.
TulliusCicero 5y ago
> I really didn't care much about such imprecise language But it's not imprecise, it's just metaphorical. Someone saying they're in hot water does not literally mean they're currently standing in a cookpot or hot tub.
coldtea 5y ago
I don't think anything is needed. People just like to fuss over language too much, when its clear (from the context) what was meant.

hutzlibu 5y ago

It is important to not forget, that natural language do not work like programming languages. They are not clear and precisely defined. Context matters a lot. And allmost no 2 people define one given word exactly the same. So I do have my trigger words, too, where I try for people to use them in the right way, but it is pretty much an uphill battle and in my experience usually not worth the time fighting it. Just accepting that words have different meanings for different persons ... and most importantly - go out of discussions, when it is not about the topic anymore, but people fighting over the meaning of words.

TulliusCicero 5y ago

> I really didn't care much about such imprecise language But it's not imprecise, it's just metaphorical. Someone saying they're in hot water does not literally mean they're currently standing in a cookpot or hot tub.

coldtea 5y ago

I don't think anything is needed. People just like to fuss over language too much, when its clear (from the context) what was meant.