This becomes apparent when studying another language as well. Words don't map cleanly because, ultimately, definitions are arbitrary and decided by tradition an

This becomes apparent when studying another language as well. Words don't map cleanly because, ultimately, definitions are arbitrary and decided by tradition and shared understanding. I still had problems with this, though, because I took the "assuming the other person has exactly the same understanding of the word as we do" to the other extreme and got pedantic in my conversation, frequently side-tracking to explain every important concept. Since I read Conscious Business, I've changed to more of what you describe and only detour when we seem to be butting heads on something unexpected.