I think, Boris, that what you intended was as in the definitions given in your quote from the Merriam-Webster dictionary: that is, what you said was intended to persuade rather than to be a contrary opinion, which is what normally one gets in an argument in the vernacular sense! I agree with Doug that the meaning of the word "argument" has lost some subtlety in common usage: however in context it can still retain its original meaning of "a line of reasoning", as in "The second debater's argument was that 'Women are, in fact, equal to men'".
John in Brisbane -----Original Message----- From: pdml-boun...@pdml.net [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of Doug Franklin Sent: Wednesday, 28 July 2010 10:31 PM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Re: Slide copier for Pentax On 2010-07-28 5:41, Boris Liberman wrote: > I used "argument" as a synonym to "reasoning"... In no way did I imply > an argument as in: "a reason given in proof or rebuttal" or in " > discourse intended to persuade". All quotes of course are from the same > Merriam Webster page. > > The more English language I know/learn the more increasingly difficult > it becomes to use it. That's a perfectly valid use of the word argument, Boris, but many Americans would use the word discussion, or maybe something else. At least in the US, the word "argument" has overtones of disagreement, though it really shouldn't, based on historical usage. I'm not sure how that fits with usage in the UK. -- Thanks, DougF (KG4LMZ) -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
