And how is that meaning determined?
From the stem ‘compute’ plus the suffix ‘er’ and the rules of word formation. Whatever ‘compute’ means, a ‘computer’ does it.
If and when my partner and I have children, I will be responsible for them just as much as she is. Yay gay marriage!
(Though actually we’re not married; still, we could be now, and probably will be eventually, and the movement for gay marriage has undoubtedly affected the ability of some same-sex partners to be parents just like some opposite-sex unmarried parents - we wouldn’t have had this option even five years ago).
Gay marriage helps procreation, so you have no point.
And how was that determined?
What delights me about Melchior’s argument is how isolating it is. He’s just claiming that he cannot comprehend language and is trying to demand that we act like we can’t understand language in order to humor him.
It’s like watching someone try to hold back the tide by putting up a hand and screaming at it to stop.
ETA: Or rather like someone faking deafness in the middle of a conversation.
And how is the meaning of the stem “compute” determined? What determines the link between signifier and signified?
Etymology
Right. Etymology. ‘the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history.’
Some one at some time cataloged words based on their usage to assign their meaning. That act of cataloging words was a human endeavor. Word meaning are not like the physical laws of the universe for us to reveal, not create, and are therefore immutable. Words meanings have and do change over time, often to lose archaic definition and included expanded uses. Once that happens and the newer usages get cataloged it becomes part of the current meaning of the word.
The word root and history doesn’t change, but the current uses very well may.
If esteem and patience can be depleted, at least metaphorically (and I have good reason to suppose that they can), I fail to see why honor can’t be.
So what word do you use to describe two individuals who are the same sex, have undertaken a marriage ceremony, consider themselves “married” and are considered such by friends, neighbors and the government? How would you describe that situation and that couple, if not married?
Nonsense. It can be lost or restored, but not ‘depleted’. ‘Depleted’ refers to physical things (ore, fuel, money, etc.)
Energy, courage, reputation, honor. Works for me.
Remind me not to read anything this guy has “translated.”
Ooh, convenient.
“marriage” comes from the verb “marry,” which ultimately derives from Latin marītus “husband”, which in turn comes from mās “male.”
So, just going by etymology, a marriage between two men is obviously more valid than involving a man and a woman. Q. E. D.
I would not think of them at all. More or less cargo-culteees I suppose. Going through the motions but the result is not the genuine article.
Just etymology? That sounds like you’re claiming that words have fixed meanings that don’t change over time. Would that be a correct interpretation of your position?
No, the word ‘computer’ also means ‘digital electronic computer’. Dictionaries don’t stop at 1961. English has since evolved.
I agree, I think of honor as a binary state, you have it or you don’t. However, I disagree that only physical attributes can be depleted. Non-discrete items can be depleted and patience would fall under that category- you have have a lot of patience or just a little. You can start with a lot of patience and have it be used up, hence depleted.
But who cares- hardly relevant to this conversation.
That would put you in the minority in the USA. And since usage determines language, you are incorrect about the meaning of the word “marriage”.
Not up to speed on the concept of illocutionary speech acts, are you?
What does the genuine article look like? Is the “genuine article” most importantly defined by the types of genitalia of the people involved?
So, two people who live apart, barely speak, have had sex once and produced no children are the genuine article when one has a penis and one a vagina?