# Humpty Dumpty words



## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Back in the dark (pre-PC) ages of computers there was a text based game called Adventure in which you were quite likely to find yourself in 'a maze of twisty little passages, all slightly different.' It strikes me that the definition of 'tonal' and all its variant forms could easily be substituted for 'passages'. Everyone seems to have a slightly different definition of the words, and sometimes more than one, i.e. narrow and broad. Effectively they are Humpty Dumpty words...

_"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean-neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master-that's all."_

Now I have no problem whatsoever with this as they are not scientific terms in which they have a provable meaning, the problem arises when two (or more) people get into a heated discussion wherein each is using a different definition and beating the other over the head with it WITHOUT ever agreeing a common reference point for the discussion. Now if the object of the game is just to have a lot of heated discussions, then they serve the purpose, but if we are trying to come to some common understanding, then a bit more care is needed to set a basis for the discussion ... PLEASE!!


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