tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon May 22 08:18:34 1995
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Re: coffee
>Date: Sat, 20 May 1995 11:10:17 -0400
>Originator: [email protected]
>From: [email protected] ( JOEL P ANDERSON)
> > >Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 17:42:26 -0400
> > >From: Joel Anderson <[email protected]>
> > > > vaj mu' chu' <milk> wIghajnIS.
> > > "chISmoHwI'" mu'vam DamuSchugh, vaj jaS mu' yIwIv
> > Why are we talking about bleach all of a sudden?
>I wasn't. I was talking about whitener.
> > See the problem with huindsight-words?
>No - I don't. Anyway, whats a 'huindsight' word?
It's a typo; I meant "hindsight".
And you've displayed my point precisely. You weren't talking about bleach.
You were talking about something else. So you invented a coining which
made perfect sense IN HINDSIGHT. To you. And not necessarily to anyone
else who read it. I note that *two* independent people thought it was
bleach.
A hindsight-word is what I call a word/coining that only makes sense once
you already know what it is (admittedly, it may be describing itself).
Such words are not very helpful in a sentence, since someone who happens
not to know it already will be totally confused (as I was). And if you
rely on people already knowing what you're going to say before you say
it... well, why say it at all? Your word left me confused as to what you
meant. I thought "bleach", maybe "white paint" would have been a more
obvious guess. But neither was right. And I'd have no way of knowing
that because I happened not to be privy to your thoughts when you invented
it. A word that has to be explained is not helpful as a word. The point
is to express yourself, not confuse your listener. And if you have to
express yourself in a long, drawn-out annotation, what have you
accomplished?
~mark