Words and Meanings
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Word: a sound or combination of sounds forming a meaningful element of speech, usu. shown with a space on either side of it when written or printed.
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Meaningful: full of meaning; significant.
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Meaning: what is meant by a word, action, idea, etc.
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Meant: past and past part. of MEAN.
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Mean: have as one's purpose or intention; have in mind.
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[Oxford Dictionary]
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I enjoy my independent thought and speech. When in discussions, I do not let others monopolize my words. When I apply meaning to a word, that word has that meaning. Dictionaries can contradict a meaning I applied to my word, but that does not remove the meaning I applied. You may refuse to accept the meaning I applied, but that does not remove the meaning. In a relative sense, I am the ultimate authority over my words. No dictionary is more authoritative than I am when it comes to my words.
If I mean the concept of financial freedom and decide to assign that meaning to the word 'potatoes', then 'potatoes' means financial freedom. The meaning has been applied no matter how ridiculous you think it is, and no matter how many oppositions there are against it. Then, if I say "Many people fantasize about potatoes.", that sentence would mean "Many people fantasize about financial freedom.". Whether you understand financial freedom is the meaning behind the word 'potatoes' does not affect the meaning.
If my goal is to communicate my concepts to others, then I should consider using a dictionary. A dictionary can be used as an effective tool to serve as a median standard between your concepts and the understandings of others. If many people already group the concept of financial freedom with the phrase 'financial freedom', then it can be effective for me to use the phrase 'financial freedom' in my speech to communicate the concept of financial freedom.
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Suppose when you acknowledge the word 'apple', you often think of a particular type of fruit, but not a vintage bicycle. Now suppose I do often think of a vintage bicycle when I acknowledge the word 'apple', but neither of us are aware we have this difference. If I say, "I used one of my apples to get to the grocery store today.", you will probably be confused. You might think, "How in the world could that particular type of fruit help get him to a grocery store?". If you ask, "How could an apple help get you to a grocery store?", I might reply, "Because it has wheels. Did you forget how apples work?". Use your imagination to consider how the confusion would likely increase. Dictionaries serve as tools we can use and learn from. In our discussion, you could present a dictionary and refer to how it defines the word 'apple': "See this? This dictionary contains a collection of common meanings people assign to words, so we can have a standard to communicate by. It has a couple of definitions tied to the word 'apple', but none are similar to how you are using the word.". From here, I could conform to the language as presented in that dictionary, or perhaps I could present a dictionary of my own that supports my language.
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Cat.
That is believed to be the first word I ever spoke on this earth. The word 'cat' can have many meanings. It has my meaning. I meant 'lasagna' when I wrote it. Dictionaries provide meanings people commonly assign to the word 'cat' as well, such as "a small, soft-furred, four-legged domesticated animal, Felis catus.". However, a concept different from either of those can come into your mind when you perceive the word. Every single word can have multiple meanings, and every single collection of words can have their own multiple meanings.
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While dictionaries serve as great tools and deserve to be studied often, some people worship dictionaries to the point they do not respect individual intentions. I have seen one person propose it is ridiculous to figure a word has a particular meaning if only one person assigned the meaning to it. That proposition is against individual pioneering of language. If you are the first and only to assign your own nuanced meaning to a word, then you are precisely the object under attack, and it is proposed to be ridiculous for anyone to figure you just assigned your own nuanced meaning to the word.
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Since every single word can have multiple meanings, many problems arise in communication. There are many ways we can approach the discussions we have.
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The concepts we can apply to words are not limited to what dictionaries contain.
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If dictionaries are the ultimate authority over your words, then you are letting other people mean your words for you.