LogFAQs > #884845739

OhhhJa posted...

darkknight109 posted...

Once again, learn how a dictionary works. They're not encyclopedias.

Please enlighten me. I was under the impression that dictionaries listed words in alphabetical and defined their meaning. If you want to list definitions to bolster your argument be prepared for counterpoints as why your definition may give way to some possibilities you didn't consider. Replying with lrn2dictionary is not a proper argument. I think you're just upset that I managed to show you how absurdly open ended that definition is

Dictionaries are not meant to be exhaustive definitions. Again, look at the dictionary definition for apple that I posted above - rose hips would meet that same definition, even though rose hips and apples are clearly different things. Here's some more examples:

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/pencil?s=t
Pencil
3. anything shaped or used like a pencil, as a stick of medicated material;

"So now pens are pencils? Are crayons pencils too?"

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/car?q=Car

​A1 a road vehicle with an engine, four wheels, and seats for a small number of people

"And I guess that means forklifts are cars. So are golf carts. ATVs too, depending on how liberal you are with your definition of "road vehicle". Oh, and who knew you could turn a tandem bike into a car by just adding an engine and training wheels?"

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/piano

a musical instrument having steel wire strings that sound when struck by felt-covered hammers operated from a keyboard

"Wait, so I can just attach some hammers to a keyboard, have them hit wires and that's all I have to do to make a piano? Wow, that's easy! I don't even need to tune it or anything!"

If you want to get pithy, you can poke holes in nearly any dictionary definition. That doesn't mean they aren't correct - after all, a Nazi *is* someone with extremely racist views - it just means that dictionaries aren't meant to be absolutely exhaustive in their definitions.

And, once again, you're cherry-picking. If you don't like that definition, I gave three more up there that you're welcome to use instead. Hell, the only reason I posted those in the first place was because some people in this topic were apparently under the erroneous assumption that only members of Hitler's Germany could be Nazis, which is simply incorrect, as all of those definitions prove.
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Kill 1 man: You are a murderer. Kill 10 men: You are a monster.
Kill 100 men: You are a hero. Kill 10,000 men, you are a conqueror!