4 ms·

If I say I have been to McDonald's all across the country, that does not mean I have been to EVERY single McDonald's restaurant. Just various ones across the co

If I say I have been to McDonald's all across the country, that does not mean I have been to EVERY single McDonald's restaurant. Just various ones across the country

freedomben 2y ago
> If I say I have been to McDonald's all across the country, that does not mean I have been to EVERY single McDonald's restaurant. Just various ones across the country Sure, but I would argue that you're speaking imprecisely then and using a cliche or phrase that isn't technically accurate at best, and is actually misleading at worst. And when requested for clarity, you should say, "well almost all." Either that or we have different definitions of what the word "all" means[1]. If someone said "I have been to all the states in the US" would you expect that they have been to AK and HI? [1]: The MW definition matches my understanding: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/all https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/all
- ghaff 2y ago
  Yes. If someone said they had been to all the states I’d expect they had been to Alaska and Hawaii. On the other hand McDs all across the country I’d interpret as having been to a lot of McDs in different states with a wide geographical distribution.
- porridgeraisin 2y ago
  You're only hurting yourself by looking up a dictionary for these sorts of things. Words have varying contextual meaning that can range from the dictionary definition to it's polar opposite. Just take the best possible interpretation and move on. Almost nobody cares about your "technically accurate".
- moosedev 2y ago
  Note the “all” in the example binds to “across”, not “McD’s”. “All McD’s” - quite precise; literally all the McD’s. “McD’s all across the country” - a much looser group, implies various McD’s spanning roughly coast to coast (hence “all across the country”), but not necessarily including the westernmost and easternmost McD’s - just a decent distribution of west-to-east, perhaps with no giant gaps (like missing the whole Midwest).

If I say I have been to McDonald's all across the country, that does not mean I have been to EVERY single McDonald's restaurant. Just various ones across the country

freedomben 2y ago

> If I say I have been to McDonald's all across the country, that does not mean I have been to EVERY single McDonald's restaurant. Just various ones across the country Sure, but I would argue that you're speaking imprecisely then and using a cliche or phrase that isn't technically accurate at best, and is actually misleading at worst. And when requested for clarity, you should say, "well almost all." Either that or we have different definitions of what the word "all" means[1]. If someone said "I have been to all the states in the US" would you expect that they have been to AK and HI? [1]: The MW definition matches my understanding: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/all https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/all

ghaff 2y ago
Yes. If someone said they had been to all the states I’d expect they had been to Alaska and Hawaii. On the other hand McDs all across the country I’d interpret as having been to a lot of McDs in different states with a wide geographical distribution.
porridgeraisin 2y ago
You're only hurting yourself by looking up a dictionary for these sorts of things. Words have varying contextual meaning that can range from the dictionary definition to it's polar opposite. Just take the best possible interpretation and move on. Almost nobody cares about your "technically accurate".
moosedev 2y ago
Note the “all” in the example binds to “across”, not “McD’s”. “All McD’s” - quite precise; literally all the McD’s. “McD’s all across the country” - a much looser group, implies various McD’s spanning roughly coast to coast (hence “all across the country”), but not necessarily including the westernmost and easternmost McD’s - just a decent distribution of west-to-east, perhaps with no giant gaps (like missing the whole Midwest).