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Topic: Imprecise language

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	review
		language creates and separates communities: a characteristic of language that means that the way language is used helps people think of themselves as sharing membership in a group and helps them think of others as outside of their group.
		language frames experience, a characteristic of language that means that the way we talk about things affects the way we think about them, and what we expect.
		language is imprecise: a characteristic of language that means people often use language that is not very specific, when more specific language is available.
	www.humboldt.edu /~act/HTML/tests/language/review.html (551 words)

	Language (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-17)
		A language is a convention according to which certan material objects, to be referred to as linguistic objects, define certain actions, which are referred to as their meanings.
		A language is formal, or formalized, if the rules of manipulation of linguistic objects depend only on the `form' of the objects, and not on their `human meanings'.
		The language of descriptive science must be concrete and precise; formalization of syntax by itself does not play a large part, but rather acts as a criterion of the precision of semantics.
	pespmc1.vub.ac.be /LANG.html (728 words)

	Towers of Babel
		Human language is imprecise and malleable and exists in hundreds of different kinds segregated by region, countries and culture.
		In this language the words have to be binary digits burned into the memory cells of a computer, in very strict adherence to rules of it structure and position.
		We generally write compilers in the same language as the language it compiles (A C Compiler, is written in C).
	cactus.eas.asu.edu /PARTHA/Columns/2002/06-10-babel.htm (1488 words)

	SOURCE
		Imprecise language and deliberate confusion of important ethical and legal concepts are clouding our understanding of controversial end-of-life issues.
		Euthanasia is "a deliberate act that causes death undertaken by one person with the primary intention of ending the life of another person, in order to relieve that person's suffering."1 Throughout, I use the word "euthanasia" to include also physician-assisted suicide (although I recognise that in some situations, not discussed here, they must be differentiated).
		The language used in some of the resolutions passed by AMA delegates at the meeting can be interpreted several ways, thus creating confusion as to whether delegates had moved from opposing euthanasia absolutely towards approving it.
	www.chninternational.com /death_talk.htm (3236 words)

	IRMI - Insurance and the Law of Unintended Consequences
		Because they were required to do so by law, the insurers changed the words in their contracts into language that people with a fourth grade education could understand.
		Precise language interpreted by hundreds of years of court decisions was disposed of and replaced with imprecise, easy to read language.
		The law of unintended consequences came into play, and instead of protecting the consumer, the imprecise language resulted in thousands of lawsuits determined to impose penalties on insurers for attempting to enforce ambiguous "easy to read" language.
	www.irmi.com /Expert/Articles/2005/Zalma04.aspx (1126 words)

	Was the Bible Written in 'Street Language'?
		This foreign element in the language was largely due to the fact that the authors were steeped in the language of the Hebrew Old Testament, either through direct acquaintance with the Hebrew or through their familiarity with the Septuagint, which for the most part reproduces Hebrew idioms quite literally.
		It is the common language ennobled by an infusion of Jewish and Christian meanings for many words, and by many borrowings from the language of the Old Testament, chiefly from the Septuagint version.
		There is a strange and awkward element in the language which not only affects the meanings of words, not only disturbs the grammar and syntax, but lurks everywhere in a maze of literary allusions which no ordinary Greek man or woman could conceivably have understood or even detected.
	www.bible-researcher.com /language-koine.html (6812 words)

	wrong word
		Try to use language that is vivid and precise; a paper that relies on vague and abstract language will be colorless, anonymous, and dull.
		Imprecision can also result from using generally related terms as if they were synonymous--by failing to distinguish, say, between "irony" and "sarcasm" or between "efficiency" and "effectiveness" or between "disinterested" and "uninterested." Such mistakes often arise from misuse of a thesaurus.
		Before you use technical language, make sure it is intelligible to your audience and appropriate to the discipline and subject.
	www.yale.edu /bass/wp/ww.html (1500 words)

	Understanding Dyslexia
		The word dyslexia is derived from the Greek "dys" (meaning poor or inadequate) and "lexis" (words or language).
		Their problems in language processing distinguish them as a group.
		This means that the dyslexic has problems translating language to thought (as in listening or reading) or thought to language (as in writing or speaking).
	library.thinkquest.org /11799/data/dys.html (649 words)

	The Jakarta Post - The Journal of Indonesia Today
		If the language learning is allowed to deteriorate to the point where it no longer resembles or at least reasonably simulates reality, then its practical value is lost and ultimately it is no longer really useful to learners.
		Because her teachers had chosen not to be current with their teaching of the language she had been equipped with a form of the language that was really outmoded.
		Often the language is imprecise or faltering, it is not always strictly grammatically correct; there are many hesitations, changes of direction, improvisations and fillers.
	www.thejakartapost.com /yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20040214.E03 (1103 words)

	Asia Times Online :: Middle East News - Freedom's just another word
		It was always much more likely that they would empower Islamic fundamentalists of the exact sort that the US had felt so threatened by in the first place, after September 11, 2001, precipitating the counter-violence of the wars against the Taliban and Saddam Hussein.
		The logic of the "war on terror" and its extensions, the attempted assimilation of Afghanistan and Iraq, was and continues to be largely based on imprecise language.
		Western democrats are limited by their own experience, by their ideology - yes, by their very language, which cannot accommodate the concept of responsible government imposed by tanks and an unelected monarch.
	atimes.com /atimes/Middle_East/HK17Ak01.html (1863 words)

	The Gow School for Dyslexia and Learning Disabilities: FAQs About Dyslexia
		Dyslexia is not a disease (it has no cure) but a specific language difficulty characterized by problems in expressive or receptive, oral or written language.
		Imprecise or incomplete interpretation of language that is heard
		Intensive language remediation is based on retraining the younger person, stressing the sounds of individual letters and combinations of letters.
	www.gow.org /page.cfm?p=47 (1354 words)

	Grading Standards
		Often the language is imprecise, too general, vague, at various times.
		Sometimes students for whom English is a second language have really excellent ideas, but their struggles with language are holding the paper back from clarity and wholeness.
		It's also possible that this paper neglects to complete a significant requirement of the assignment--e.g., perhaps it examines only 1 text when it was required to analyze 2, or it explores an experience but does not really link it to a specific reading, if the assignment required that.
	userpages.wittenberg.edu /laskeland/grading_standards.htm (1226 words)

	Fernando Lozano's Blog: What makes programming languages easier?
		Programming language keywords are symbols with no relation to their usual meanings, same with function and method names: they are just like logical operators.
		It sounds like he is already committed to Python as a language, and Jython allows him to use his language of choice but also gain the advantages of being built on the solid engineering of the JVM and leveraging that.
		What I'm saying is not which language is better, Java or Python, since everyone has their favourite and it is more likely based on emotion than logic (case in point: Paul Graham's famous rant about how Java programmers all suck has everything to do with emotion, and nothing to do with logic).
	weblogs.java.net /blog/flozano/archive/2005/10/what_makes_prog.html (1825 words)

	Policy Language: Sweat the Small Stuff
		The difficult issue was causation—the injuries were caused by negligent storage of the anesthesia, which the insurer conceded was covered under its general liability policy, followed by the later performance of an allegedly excluded professional service when the patients were injected with the anesthesia.
		However, the Court was also required to address coverage for a claim of “negligent supervision” against the mother of the defendant minor, for allegedly failing to exercise reasonable care to control her son and prevent him from intentionally harming others.
		An insurer defeated in a coverage suit which turns on fine-point distinctions of language may defend against a “bad faith” argument by demonstrating that its argument was a reasonable, albeit unsuccessful, interpretation of its policy.
	www.whitewms.com /CM/Publications/Publications360.asp (1123 words)

	Andrei Zmievski: My name is not really Andrei (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-17)
		There is a disconnect between the orthography (spelling) of English and the phonemes (sounds) of the language.
		What you really want is transcription which maps the sounds of the source language to the script of the target language.
		This is fairly easy for an efficient language, one where the sounds have one-to-one mapping to glyphs, and becomes progressively more difficult for less efficient languages.
	www.gravitonic.com /blog/archives/000157.html (1152 words)

	Andrei Zmievski: Comment on My name is not really Andrei (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-17)
		How ironic is it that the most imprecise language is the one we use with which to communicate to one-another?
		It's not English, the language, that is "defective" - but its orthography, or the way that language is put into symbols, very much so.
		Many other languages have at one point or another gone through a spelling reform, in which ambiguities, redundancies and outright wrongs have been corrected.
	www.gravitonic.com /blog/scripts/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=157 (626 words)

	About All collection costs” does not mean attorney fees : From 60,182 members
		Imprecise language, as the Fourth District Appellate Court reminds us, can result in unintended consequences.
		Many jurisdictions have concluded that imprecise language, such as “costs of collection,” does include attorney fees.
		While noting that the majority of jurisdictions presented with the issue have taken an expanded view of such contractual language, the Fourth District stated that it is taking a narrower reading of statutory and contractual costs and fees shifting provisions.
	www.debtconsolidationcare.com /forums/ca-costs.html (844 words)

	Abstract, Concrete, General and Specific Terms
		There are many ways to label or classify language as we learn to better control it—by levels, such as formal, informal, colloquial or slang; by tones, such as stiff, pompous, conversational, friendly, direct, impersonal; even by functions, such as noun, verb, adjective.
		Approaching language in these terms is valuable because it helps us recognize what kinds of language are more likely to be understood and what kinds are more likely to be misunderstood.
		But we must understand how imprecise their meanings are, how easily they can be differently understood, and how tiring and boring long chains of abstract terms can be.
	grammar.ccc.commnet.edu /grammar/composition/abstract.htm (2143 words)

	CIRE Magazine :: Word Rights and Options Provisions Carefully to Avoid Contract Confusion
		Clarifying the Concepts Although the language used to define them is similar, an option to purchase, a right of first offer, and a right of first refusal are distinctly different legal concepts.
		Conflicting language in the lease that incorporated elements of both a right of first refusal and an option to purchase resulted in a protracted legal battle, and Stuart failed to obtain the purchase option she had anticipated.
		Although this case was remanded to the trial level to determine whether or not the Winbergs adequately exercised their first right of purchase, the court inferred that the sale to the third party should be voided if the trial court ruled in favor of the Winbergs.
	www.ciremagazine.com /article.php?article_id=333 (1033 words)

	Big Ten Rules - Writing Unambiguous Requirements -Tyner Blain
		When we use a complete technical outsourcing model, we have to consider the possibility (or certainty in some cases) that the primary language of the readers of the MRD is not the language it is written in.
		An analysis of the reading-level at which a document is written can be helpfull in identifying if the language is likely to be challenging for readers with limited vocabularies.
		When the language is both precise and understood, we still face challenges in ambiguity by failing to provide all the information.
	tynerblain.com /blog/2006/06/12/writing-unambiguous-requirements (1003 words)

	Sorites paradox - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The problem is essentially one of philosophy of language, wherin terms may be relative and indefined, as opposed to problems in mathematics —wherin all terms by nature have some definition —even if it is only as a variable.
		The paradox is a normal aspect of any attempt to insert imprecise terms into mathematical-like logical formula, or likewise to apply logic to concepts which by definition are imprecise as to be undefinable.
		The usefulness of language is the consensus we share on the definitions of terms.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Paradox_of_the_heap (1376 words)

	Technology of the Perry Rhodan Universe
		As the widest spoken language group among humanoids in the galaxy Arkonide is also one of the galaxy's most powerful pieces of technology.
		Of those colonies which have lost Arkonide as their language most of them have adopted an alien language rather than speaking a dialect of Arkonide that it too changed to recognize.
		It is a difficult language to learn in its entirety and is not very useful for expressing abstract ideas but it can be modified for almost any racial background and it has formed the basis of much intra-galactic communications.
	www.perry-rhodan-usa.com /web1998/STechno.htm (1447 words)

	SSRN-Comparative Law and Language by Vivian Curran
		This essay examines the centrality of translation to processes of language and meaning construction, and links translation to comparative law as a model for the study of similarity and difference, the universal and the particular.
		Like language, inevitably imprecise and perpetually in flux, comparative law can not be frozen once and for all, to be captured for future application if only it is developed with sufficient acuity and insight.
		Comparative law shares with language the pitfalls of miscommunication and misunderstanding, as well as the potentials of learning to see, to communicate and to shed light in that elusive, inevitable, shifting and ever-reconfiguring space that, like language, it occupies between the same and the other.
	papers.ssrn.com /sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=851506 (441 words)

	Simon Peyton Jones: papers
		In a recent paper, Peyton Jones et al proposed a design for imprecise exceptions in the lazy functional programming language Haskell.
		The main contribution of the design was that it allowed the language to continue to enjoy its current rich algebra of transformations.
		We present an alternative semantics for a lazy functional language with imprecise exceptions which is entirely operational in nature, and combines well with other extensions, such as I/O and concurrency.
	research.microsoft.com /~simonpj/Papers/imprecise-exn-sem.htm (179 words)

	recursiveProgress: Piling on: "The importance of [the word] identity"
		As long as I've involved myself in this developing technology/process/business of (digital) identity, I've been troubled by the imprecision of the language.
		Imprecise language leads to imprecise thinking, which, in turn, leads to no good in the end.
		But, while technical standards are being developed and fought over, no such coordinated effort appears to be happening with the lexicon or taxonomomy of identity.
	timothygrayson.com /blog/archives/000767.html (422 words)

	Basha Systems
		Contract language that appears precise to a lawyer is hopelessly imprecise to a programmer.
		For example, definitional language might be moved to a central location.
		Since Marc and Rita had developed a common language and approach, the conversations were brief and focused.
	www.bashasys.com /documentassembly/documentassembly06.html (2151 words)

	Precise Contract Language--Again
		Agreements should be drafted in such a manner so that, as much as possible, there is no room for any interpretation of the agreement in any manner other than as the attorney drafting the agreement on behalf of her or his client intended.
		The issue on appeal was limited to the reasonableness of the geographic limitation and in that regard, the imprecision in drafting played a key part in the litigation.
		The plaintiff agreed to a reformation of the language to be limited only to the “U.S. states,” meaning that the plaintiff was willing to modify the provisions to be so limited.
	www.ivanhoffman.com /language2.html (1790 words)

	Specifying Systems: The TLA+ Language and Tools for Hardware and Software Engineers - $35.99 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-17)
		TLA+ is the language developed by the author for writing simple and elegant specifications of algorithms and protocols and for verifying the correctness of a design.
		The language already has proved to be a valuable aid in understanding and building concurrent and distributed systems.
		I initially thought that this language should be some sort of abstract programming language whose semantics would be based on TLA.
	www.informit.com /title/032114306X (1623 words)

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