+George Wiman says:
'Most fundamentalist videos I have ever seen, at some point, elevate the phrase "Now, the DICTIONARY defines [word] as…" I think they place the dictionary right next to the bible somehow. A dictionary is a good starting place when you have no idea what a word means, but it is not a good basis for arguing about topics.'Yes.
Worse, treating the dictionary as holy scrip handed down from some divine lexicological mount completely misses the point of words. They are a consensual convention on some sounds to mean some stuff. They change over time, as well as acreting new meanings. What "nice" means today is different from what "nice" meant two hundred years ago. And even where changes are more subtle than significant, they're still a matter of what people agree to.
That's not bad or good, or moral or immoral. It just is. Words are, in that way, the equivalent of clothes and fashion, both there to serve some practical purposes and to convey meanings, but changing over time and place in material and in custom.
It's important in discussions about thorny issues — such as religion — to check on the shared meaning of words — "End Times" or "sin" may mean very different things to two people, and beyond a surface definition these are word about which entire books have been written. But while a dictionary is useful to get a first pass on words, how they are (at a high level) used today, and their origins — that's about it.
Using a dictionary is like leaning over a friend at a party and saying, "Who's she?" about a woman across the room. "Oh, that's Bob's girlfriend," you get told. So, yeah, now you know something, and something very useful, and if you refer to "Bob's girlfriend" later in the evening, people will know who you are talking about. — but obviously there a ton more to that person. How they met. What their favorite pastime is. Whether she's cheating on him, or vice-versa, or have an open relationship. Plus your friend may not know that she's much more famous in other circles as a brain surgeon. And in six months "Bob's girlfriend" may refer to someone else altogether.
Words — referents — are like that. Life goes on. They're useful, invaluable, but they're not cosmic verities. They're incomplete, malleable, and suited for endless argument.
Don't get me wrong — I love dictionaries. Love 'em. And I can be as pedantic as the next guy (or moreso) in pointing out an incorrect usage of a word, per the current dictionary. But that's trying to establish common communication, not using the dictionary as Law, Civil or Holy.
A dictionary is a great start, and invaluable for that, but that's all. Treating it as the be-all, end-all for understanding a word, let alone something that expresses the one, true, eternal, God-dictated, Platonic-idea meaning of a word is a comforting delusion for folks who want to use words as clubs.
Reshared post from +Andreas Geisler
I don't mean to be a dic about it or anything, but here goes:
Dictionaries are ONLY for the ignorant.
Now, don't get me wrong: We're all ignorant about some things, and the dictionary is useful for starting to learn about things we are ignorant about, but NO dictionary is meant to replace encyclopedias, textbooks and monographs. The dictionary definition is like the plastic three-wheeler without the pedals. It is not the real bike. It's not even the real bike with training wheels. It's a gourd-damned walking tool shaped somewhat like a bike.
Get the real bike. Don't demand that people with real bikes use your toddler tools.
