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[Capntastic]

Don't mind me I'm just here for the second-hand high school class on linguistics

[DG]

I don't... understand... how to participate in this debate

Here's how to play: Posit an untenable argument and then defend it against prevailing sentiment for as long as you can.

Current record holder: mross

[Loud Whispers]

I consider myself to be a well-versed traveler of the Internet. Allow me to show you how to enter this discussion in an eloquent manner:

Normally I'm opposed to greentexting outside of its natural habitats, but this was a bit funny

[Soadreqm]

Meaning... is description. This is not to be contested: it seems logical enough. Words refer to concepts, they describe your world. But is it what you need? You are... different, inside.
This word functions, and has meaning, of a sort. It refers to a quality, and describes a gesture; it served its purpose as best it could.
And now, it is obsolete.
Its meaning is lackluster, its purpose has become redundant, and it will be forgotten. It was a "good" word, but it had no power. It was a slave to prescriptivism.
I wonder if you are destined to continue using awful adjectives. Will your repertoire fade in the shadow of greater eloquence?
You are born of language, the very essence of that which assigns meaning to symbols. You have power, if you wish it.

"Wait! I have one final question: What can change the meaning of a word?"

THE QUESTION IS MEANINGLESS.

"Nonetheless, before there is an ending between us, I will hear your answer."

THEN THIS IS MY ANSWER, AND YOU ARE THE PROOF. *NOTHING* CAN CHANGE THE MEANING OF A WORD.

"If there is anything I have learned in my travels across the Forums, it is that many things may change the meaning of a word. Whether regret, or love, or revenge or fear - whatever you *believe* can change the meaning of a word, can."

THEN YOU LEARNED A FALSE LESSON, BROKEN ONE.

"Have I? I've seen language move cities, make men stave off death, and turn an evil's hag heart half-circle. This entire Fortress has been constructed from words. Language damned a woman, whose heart clung to the hope that another loved her when he did not. Once, it made a man seek immortality and achieve it. And it has made a posturing spirit think it is something more than a part of me."

YOUR DEFIANCE WILL HURT YOU MORE THAN ANY WOUND IN THIS PLACE. BELIEF CANNOT CHANGE THE MEANING OF A WORD.

"I think it can. I think belief could even unmake me, if I described it *enough.*"

YOU DO NOT POSSESS THE ELOQUENCE FOR SUCH A THING.

"So you admit it's possible."



I am sorry for contributing to this clusterfuck. I just can't resist a reference.

[Nyan Thousand]

I consider myself to be a well-versed traveler of the Internet. Allow me to show you how to enter this discussion in an eloquent manner:

Normally I'm opposed to greentexting outside of its natural habitats, but this was a bit funny

Sometimes it's the only way, my friend.

[anomaly]

hey guys; I went to college; you can tell by; all of the semicolons I use;

Also Way; to derail any thread ever; use "objectively" incorrectly in any possible instance;

and of course;

>implying

[Loud Whispers]

hey guys; I went to college; you can tell by; all of the semicolons I use;

Also Way; to derail any thread ever; use "objectively" incorrectly in any possible instance;

and of course;

>implying

The semicolons are making a plaintive gesture.

[Nyan Thousand]

hey guys; I went to college; you can tell by; all of the semicolons I use;

Also Way; to derail any thread ever; use "objectively" incorrectly in any possible instance;

and of course;

>implying

"Well I'll go to college and I'll learn some big words
and I'll talk real loud, goddamn right, I'll be heard
You'll remember all those guys that said all those big words he must've learned in college." - Modest Brock, Isaac Mouse