Oct 1 2008, 8:13 am
In response to Jerico2day
|
|
Kurma
 |
Is this actually true http://www.giftcardrescue.com/gcr/merchants
|
Xooxer wrote:
Um. But it's not. It really depends on the context and how it the question was read. Even if Lummox's response answered more appropriately, my response was perfectly acceptable and true. Let's define 'any' here: any: at least one Now let's examine Kurma's question: Is it possible to purchase a Byond membership with any type of gift card? Translates to: Is it possible to purchase a BYOND membership with at least one type of gift card? to which the correct response is "yes." You guys seem to think 'any' means 'all'--it does not or at least, it doesn't have to. | |
CaptFalcon33035 wrote:
Even if Lummox's response answered more appropriately, my response was perfectly acceptable and true. Let's define 'any' here: Your response was true only according to that reading of "any", which may not have been the correct one. In fact contextually, since he said "any type of gift card" instead of just "a gift card" or "some type of gift card", the "all" reading is actually more apt. That said, I think he meant it the very way you interpreted in it, but that wouldn't have been clear to others reading the thread in the future. He used an ambiguous phrasing whose best interpretation was not the one he meant nor the one you inferred. But whether or not you guessed right, the situation definitely did not call for an unqualified answer because of that ambiguity. Because "any" could mean "all", a simple "Yes" was wrong. When the question has semantic ambiguity, failure to address that ambiguity in the answer can make a big difference in how that answer is interpreted. Lummox JR | |
Lummox JR wrote:
Your response was true only according to that reading of "any", which may not have been the correct one. In fact contextually, since he said "any type of gift card" instead of just "a gift card" or "some type of gift card", the "all" reading is actually more apt. That said, I think he meant it the very way you interpreted in it, but that wouldn't have been clear to others reading the thread in the future. He used an ambiguous phrasing whose best interpretation was not the one he meant nor the one you inferred. You don't know that. You're only assuming that, because you're /assuming/ that he meant all gift cards, rather than the only gift cards that have any chance at purchasing a membership (which is pretty much only Visa in terms of convenience) WHICH he could have very well been referring to from the start. I'm also distraught because you also assumed that I didn't know myself. But whether or not you guessed right, the situation definitely did not call for an unqualified answer because of that ambiguity. Because "any" could mean "all", a simple "Yes" was wrong. When the question has semantic ambiguity, failure to address that ambiguity in the answer can make a big difference in how that answer is interpreted. Whose to say it was an ambiguity? We do not know all of the factors--we know only a few. You and I are both certainly not qualified to determine whether or not it was an ambiguity--we can only guess. The thread-starter is the only one who truly knows. | |
