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> …flashy new generation of young outlaws… I know i’m fighting a loosing battle but outlaw is not just an interestring sounding synonym for criminal. Being an
by krisoft 5y ago
> …flashy new generation of young outlaws…
I know i’m fighting a loosing battle but outlaw is not just an interestring sounding synonym for criminal. Being an outlaw means that the state has declared you to be outside of the protection of the law. Have you seen the movie The Purge? Like that, but only affecting you. Anyone, the police, your grandma, other criminals, that guy on the street can just knock your head in and they won’t even get a scolding. Being declared an outlaw is a terrible fate, and naturally no modern state practices it.
- function_seven 5y agoThe term has been literally decimated. Irregardless of original meaning, it is now loost.
- ManuelKiessling 5y agoConsidering the original meaning of the term „decimated“, that other term probably has not been decimated, at least not literally.
- mikestew 5y agoI do miss /.'s "whoosh", even if the rest of the place has gone to hell. But I'm firmly convinced that the commenter you're replying to is all too aware of the definition of "decimate", and the word's abuse at the hands of others. The rest of the sentence seems to make that clear, but could be missed by non-native English speakers.
- function_seven 5y agoHa. The hill I'm ready to die on is never using the '\s' tag. If it's not apparent enough without it, then maybe it's not worth writing at all?
- mmcdermott 5y agoI can understand that. The only slight distinction I see is that if you make a sarcastic statement in real life, there are a number of other cues to inform the listeners of sarcastic intent. Tone of voice and body language would be the main ones, but prior knowledge of the speaker is also key. None of those survive into a digital space and so I think having some sort of convention to replace its loss seems reasonable.
- ithinkso 5y agoIt's not a slight distinction, the smirk is missing and is replaced by the '/s' It awfully similar to humming or 'pretend percussion with your fingers' of the song you're hearing in your head. It's basically spot on for you but most of the time no one else has a clue what the hell are you trying to pretend to play
- puchatek 5y agoExcept in this particular case several people picked up on the sarcasm without the /s. I would say "omit at your own risk".
- teddyh 5y agoNo sarcasm can be apparent enough for everybody, according to Poe’s law.
- ManuelKiessling 5y agoGot me! I’m indeed not a native speaker, but I didn’t want that to stop me from giving it a try.
- mig39 5y agoI think you missed the sarcasm. "Irregardless" "Literally" "loost" ...
- labster 5y agoI think I would have gone with “irregardless of what it once was, it did loose it’s original meaning.” But all’s swell that ends swell.
- teachrdan 5y agoIt's literally half of one, six-dozen of the other.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- da_chicken 5y agoThat's only one definition for the word. Most dictionaries include more than one definition, and those meanings are not less correct.
- bryanrasmussen 5y agowords often do not retain their original meaning. No modern state practices declaring people outlaws therefore if the word outlaw retained its original meaning the only reason we would have to use it would be in history books as an antiquated term, but it is used quite often. Thus outlaw has new meanings, the most common one is criminal, but some people seem to go with a meaning very like that of Tom Robbins, from Still Life with Woodpecker: "The difference between a criminal and an outlaw is that while criminals frequently are victims, outlaws never are. Indeed, the first step toward becoming a true outlaw is the refusal to be victimized. All people who live subject to other people's laws are victims. People who break laws out of greed, frustration, or vengeance are victims. People who overturn laws in order to replace them with their own laws are victims. ( I am speaking here of revolutionaries.) We outlaws, however, live beyond the law. We don't merely live beyond the letter of the law-many businessmen, most politicians, and all cops do that-we live beyond the spirit of the law. In a sense, then, we live beyond society. Have we a common goal, that goal is to turn the tables on the 'nature' of society. When we succeed, we raise the exhilaration content of the universe. We even raise it a little bit when we fail." I personally hate that usage, because I knew a guy who would go around with a self satisfied smirk declaring that he was an outlaw because he sold a bit of weed and believed in freedom whereas other people who were doing drugs were just criminals. I expect he probably got busted and ratted out all his friends, because I have a low opinion of outlaws I guess.
- teddyh 5y agoThat definition still seems to define “outlaw” as a kind of revolutionary, albeit with different, more nebulous, goals than the traditional kind of revolutionary.
- zdragnar 5y agoI am of the opinion that words should retain their original meaning. Without that, we will forever struggle to understand our history.
- stan_rogers 5y agoThat's just being silly. (Feel free to try to figure out exactly what silly has meant over the ages.)