• aname@lemmy.one
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    3 months ago

    Theory meaning “unproven assumption” is one of the definitions in Merriam-Webster so it is not a new definition.

    You’re just angry word means something you don’t want it to mean. Just like the literally-figuratively crowd.

    • rtxn@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      If you consider gross misuse (i.e. mixing up “theory” and “hypothesis”) to be a valid form of etymology (e.g. making new words), I have a question to axe.

      (I apologize to linguists’ families who now have to clean up bodily fluids and/or arrange a funeral.)

    • unalivejoy@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      To be perfectly fair, you can’t “prove” or “disprove” a theory. You can only discover new evidence that supports the theory or another competing theory. Multiple competing theories can be equally accepted as correct.

      • Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca
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        3 months ago

        The issue is people using exactly that definition to reject science. We also have a theory of gravity, but gravity itself is an observation. Evolution should be too, regardless of our theories about it.

        Also, String Theory isn’t doing anyone any favors.

    • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      I think anyone who uses the word “literally” to mean anything other than “in a literal sense” is a moron who never actually thinks about what the words coming out of their mouth mean, and I always will.

      • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        People who do not seem to understand that language is different than they wish it to be, are the actual morons. Not only morons, but pampas morons. Language is messy, imprecise, and always in flux. Language is a construct of the collective of its speakers, not you alone, nor anyone else. This is why we have specific lexicons for various industries, and academic fields. Even those are constantly being updated, and revised.

        • gandalf_der_12te@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          3 months ago

          Language is […] always in flux

          And, more importantly, I will use language as I please; I don’t have to justify my use of words to anyone. That is why I don’t see why people complain about using words “the wrong way”. Even if it is, I will still insist on my right to produce whatever gibberish my mouth is willing to put forward.

          Edit: In other words, right to be wrong.

            • gandalf_der_12te@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              3 months ago

              In fact, not even everybody has to understand it. If I say something that I think is true, but in a language that only I can speak, then it would be okay for me to say it anyways, even if nobody understands it. That is because while it’s important to always speak the truth, it’s not always important to be understood by others.

      • flora_explora@beehaw.org
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        3 months ago

        You hate on people that use literally this way, but you do the same thing yourself…

        Moron is a term once used in psychology and psychiatry to denote mild intellectual disability. The term was closely tied with the American eugenics movement. Once the term became popularized, it fell out of use by the psychological community, as it was used more commonly as an insult than as a psychological term. It is similar to imbecile and idiot.

        Wikipedia

        But unless the people that use “literally” in the colloquial sense you are actually using a term that is tied to eugenics and the idea that disabled people are inferior. Maybe you should have thought about the words that come out of mouth?

      • kaffiene@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        The use of literal to mean figurative has been common for hundreds of years (literally). If it’s good enough for James Joyce, it’s good enough for you