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To: Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Hey LumberJack, this guy, not meaning to has summarized the situation precisely. There is no stardard meaning to words. They start out meaning one thing, and usage changes so that they mean something else entirely. Back in the 1950's I attended a lecture on this topic and they gave an example using the word 'nice'. This word started out meaning 'precise', as in 'making a nice distinction. In those days, folks liked precision, so that to be 'nice' meant to have a quality which people liked. Then people started wanting to be cool, so nice started changing its meaning to be something which was sort of prissy. In these days of computer morphing it might be better to say that words have a meaning at one time, but this meaning changes over time, as they 'morph' into other meanings.

I guess that depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is, right?

Its a living, breathing document, right?

120 posted on 12/17/2001 9:21:57 AM PST by Lumberjack
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To: Lumberjack
Its a living, breathing document, right?

No it is a living, breathing word, not a document or a law. Words change in meaning. The Bill of Rights says that Freedom of the Press shall not be infringed. Would you like it if the courts would say, heck it says the press, we can censor the TV, radio, and internet all we want?

123 posted on 12/17/2001 9:30:02 AM PST by Lucius Cornelius Sulla
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