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Most of the dictionaries I just Googled disagree with your assessment. It looks like unique has multiple definitions and while unique can definitely refer to so
by Kranar 4y ago
Most of the dictionaries I just Googled disagree with your assessment. It looks like unique has multiple definitions and while unique can definitely refer to something "being without a like or equal", other definitions include "unusual or special in some way" as well as something "rare and distinguished".
Like most arguments about words, it mostly comes down to context.
- yodon 4y agoThere are also dictionaries that say the definitions of infinite include "great or very great." I don't think most people at HN would accept those sloppy definitions of infinite any more than we should accept those sloppy definitions of unique. Unique has a clear meaning. People frequently use the word unique in a sloppy manner to mean something different than unique, just as people frequently use the word infinite in a sloppy manner.
- Kranar 4y agoYes people, including those on HN, use the word infinite to mean very very large as opposed to the mathematical definition of infinite as a set that contains a proper subset with equal cardinality. Doing a Google search for uses of infinite on HN will reveal just as much, for example people complaining about websites with "infinite scrolling", or that the Fed has printed an infinite amount of money recently, or that software can be copied infinitely many times, or someone claiming that their friend has an infinite amount of memory. In all these cases, they are using the word infinite to simply mean very very large.