Posted by alexandra_k on May 23, 2005, at 19:13:02
In reply to Re: or...., posted by gardenergirl on May 23, 2005, at 18:15:04
>I can hold both concepts at the same time...being civil according to Babble and being civil according to society are different uses of the word and have different requirements.
An ambiguity at the level of semantics (a word having two different senses or meanings) can be resolved at the level of pragmatics (context).
So, for example 'follow the law' is semantically unambiguous, but precicely what counts as following the law varies depending on the context of which country you are in.
In the same way 'civility' has a standard meaning...
adequate in courtesy and politeness
often suggests little more than the avoidance of overt rudeness(Miriam Webster)
I don't understand why this seems to be so very much to ask for...
poster:alexandra_k
thread:491889
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20050517/msgs/501902.html