Here's the thing: The English language is polysemous. Computer science jargon even more so. Meaning that any particular term can often have many gradations o

Here's the thing: The English language is polysemous. Computer science jargon even more so. Meaning that any particular term can often have many gradations of meaning. So "X means Y" does not necessarily imply "X does not mean Z". Especially when Y and Z are similar concepts. I suppose we could lament the inherent ambiguity of the jargon, but the truth is that for the most part problems only result when ambiguous language is used in combination with an argumentative person armed with equal measures of pedantic zeal and failure to grasp the fundamental characteristics of natural language. Without that element, for the most part any reasonably knowledgeable person should be able to figure out which of the particular meanings is at play from context. For example, even though the term "high level language" is used in multiple ways, the statement "C is not a high level language" is not all that ambiguous, even when considered in isolation. As long as you're willing to grant that the person making the statement is not an idiot, then it's trivial to determine that they weren't using the "everything but machine and assembly language" definition.