43 ms·

>Seems like an amazing move by Elon You and I have very different definitions of the word "amazing"

colechristensen 5y ago
> amaze (v.) > "overwhelm or confound with sudden surprise or wonder," 1580s, back-formation from Middle English amased "stunned, dazed, bewildered," (late 14c.), earlier "stupefied, irrational, foolish" (c. 1200), from Old English amasod, from a- (1), probably used here as an intensive prefix, + *mæs (see maze). Related: Amazed; amazing. "amazing" never meant "this is of surprisingly high quality and good"
- UrsaMedius 5y ago
  It means that today.
  - colechristensen 5y ago
    You say, in response to somebody using it to mean something else. There is a strange circular logic to saying words mean something new because they are commonly used in a new way and at the same time telling somebody how they're using a word is wrong because it doesn't match this new meaning.
  - robonerd 5y ago
    Justifying a prescriptive attitude with descriptivist arguments is farcical.
- fluster 5y ago
  Here's another dictionary (https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/amazing https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/amazing): 1. Causing great surprise or wonder; astonishing. 1.1 [informal] Startlingly impressive Did pointedly ignoring common usage add anything here?
  - colechristensen 5y ago
    >Did pointedly ignoring common usage add anything here? Yes, there are plenty of words going though the natural process of dilution. Providing some backpressure is, I think, useful to the language to preserve the richness of meaning. I'm responding directly to a discussion about the meaning of a word not interjecting into another conversation with a "well, actually..." When you're writing a dictionary, words mean what people use them to mean. I'm not writing a dictionary.
    - palmetieri2000 5y ago
      Except that your 'well actually' still exists because you ignored the much more common usage when you made your point and didn't mention anything about your valiant effort to preserve etymological treasures until questioned?
      - heromal 5y ago
        Damn, get the body bag
- ineedasername 5y ago
  It does, now. NLP sentiment classifiers assign it a positive rating with a very high confidence. However it may still be use in some limited contexts, or historical contexts, its modern day usage is almost always with a positive connotation.
  - colechristensen 5y ago
    If you read the Lord of the Rings, you'll see quite a few usages of the word "amaze" not at all in the sense of "dude, that's amazing". It is not like reading that is some archaic text exclusive to english scholars. I think it is good to be reminded of the higher quality meaning of words that are falling into bland generic meanings. Words do change and there's nothing wrong with that, but some changes are better than others and the degeneration of specific strong meanings to generic common place ones isn't something that should be celebrated.
    - ineedasername 5y ago
      Celebrated or don't celebrate. Language evolves, meanings change, recognize it when it happens or you become the pedantic boring person at a meeting or party trying to explain, "No, 'begging the question' does mean what you think it does. It's a type of fallacy, not some segue into asking an obvious question.
      - colechristensen 5y ago
        I'm responding to somebody questioning another's definition of a word, not correcting someone for using a term wrong.
        ineedasername 5y ago
        Then you misunderstand my point entirely. It's no longer wrong to use "beg the question" in this way. It is now part of everyday vernacular. It is now one of at least two correct ways of using the phrase. Language is weird that way, it's not set in stone, so if the "wrong" thing gets used enough and hits critical mass, it becomes a correct usage. Look at the Great Vowel Shift, or how creoles, pidgins and patois develop and evolve. Language isn't static, and in the case of "amazing" its current vernacular usage has changed to almost always have a positive connotation.
- flycaliguy 5y ago
  Just wait until you see what we've done to awesome.
- cwkoss 5y ago
  Lol, you know an online debate is spicy when people start pulling out dictionary definitions
  - TMWNN 5y ago
    To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, dictionary definitions are the last resort of someone flailing for an argument.
    - nzp 5y ago
      Not if the argument is essentially about dictionary definitions. FWIW, if I had to imagine someone saying something is amazing without any context my understanding would tend towards the “old” meaning.
  - frumper 5y ago
    I've been in some spicy meetings where people pull up definitions on their phone. Those were amazing.
    - cwkoss 5y ago
      Haha, do you remember what the word was?
      - frumper 5y ago
        One was trying to decide whether to call the first version of something. Revision 0, revision 1, or version 1 followed by revision 1. The users that we were making the application for didn't care one bit what we called it, but the programmers sure had a lively discussion with a lot of eye rolling in the room.
michaelcampbell 5y ago
Other than the ability to amaze?

> amaze (v.) > "overwhelm or confound with sudden surprise or wonder," 1580s, back-formation from Middle English amased "stunned, dazed, bewildered," (late 14c.), earlier "stupefied, irrational, foolish" (c. 1200), from Old English amasod, from a- (1), probably used here as an intensive prefix, + *mæs (see maze). Related: Amazed; amazing. "amazing" never meant "this is of surprisingly high quality and good"

UrsaMedius 5y ago
It means that today.
- colechristensen 5y ago
  You say, in response to somebody using it to mean something else. There is a strange circular logic to saying words mean something new because they are commonly used in a new way and at the same time telling somebody how they're using a word is wrong because it doesn't match this new meaning.
- robonerd 5y ago
  Justifying a prescriptive attitude with descriptivist arguments is farcical.
fluster 5y ago
Here's another dictionary (https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/amazing https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/amazing): 1. Causing great surprise or wonder; astonishing. 1.1 [informal] Startlingly impressive Did pointedly ignoring common usage add anything here?
- colechristensen 5y ago
  >Did pointedly ignoring common usage add anything here? Yes, there are plenty of words going though the natural process of dilution. Providing some backpressure is, I think, useful to the language to preserve the richness of meaning. I'm responding directly to a discussion about the meaning of a word not interjecting into another conversation with a "well, actually..." When you're writing a dictionary, words mean what people use them to mean. I'm not writing a dictionary.
  - palmetieri2000 5y ago
    Except that your 'well actually' still exists because you ignored the much more common usage when you made your point and didn't mention anything about your valiant effort to preserve etymological treasures until questioned?
    - heromal 5y ago
      Damn, get the body bag
ineedasername 5y ago
It does, now. NLP sentiment classifiers assign it a positive rating with a very high confidence. However it may still be use in some limited contexts, or historical contexts, its modern day usage is almost always with a positive connotation.
- colechristensen 5y ago
  If you read the Lord of the Rings, you'll see quite a few usages of the word "amaze" not at all in the sense of "dude, that's amazing". It is not like reading that is some archaic text exclusive to english scholars. I think it is good to be reminded of the higher quality meaning of words that are falling into bland generic meanings. Words do change and there's nothing wrong with that, but some changes are better than others and the degeneration of specific strong meanings to generic common place ones isn't something that should be celebrated.
  - ineedasername 5y ago
    Celebrated or don't celebrate. Language evolves, meanings change, recognize it when it happens or you become the pedantic boring person at a meeting or party trying to explain, "No, 'begging the question' does mean what you think it does. It's a type of fallacy, not some segue into asking an obvious question.
    - colechristensen 5y ago
      I'm responding to somebody questioning another's definition of a word, not correcting someone for using a term wrong.
      - ineedasername 5y ago
        Then you misunderstand my point entirely. It's no longer wrong to use "beg the question" in this way. It is now part of everyday vernacular. It is now one of at least two correct ways of using the phrase. Language is weird that way, it's not set in stone, so if the "wrong" thing gets used enough and hits critical mass, it becomes a correct usage. Look at the Great Vowel Shift, or how creoles, pidgins and patois develop and evolve. Language isn't static, and in the case of "amazing" its current vernacular usage has changed to almost always have a positive connotation.
flycaliguy 5y ago
Just wait until you see what we've done to awesome.
cwkoss 5y ago
Lol, you know an online debate is spicy when people start pulling out dictionary definitions
- TMWNN 5y ago
  To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, dictionary definitions are the last resort of someone flailing for an argument.
  - nzp 5y ago
    Not if the argument is essentially about dictionary definitions. FWIW, if I had to imagine someone saying something is amazing without any context my understanding would tend towards the “old” meaning.
- frumper 5y ago
  I've been in some spicy meetings where people pull up definitions on their phone. Those were amazing.
  - cwkoss 5y ago
    Haha, do you remember what the word was?
    - frumper 5y ago
      One was trying to decide whether to call the first version of something. Revision 0, revision 1, or version 1 followed by revision 1. The users that we were making the application for didn't care one bit what we called it, but the programmers sure had a lively discussion with a lot of eye rolling in the room.

michaelcampbell 5y ago

Other than the ability to amaze?