History: Powell's Principle of Non-Gluteality

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An argument sometimes applied to Lojban semantics by Robin Lee Powell, which goes something like this:

X (a Lojban construct) could in principle mean any of Y or Z. But if you use X to mean Y, you'd be an ass. The listener should assume that you are not being an ass, and that you really mean Z.


Arguably, this is a rediscovery of Grice's cooperative principle.

History

Information Version
Tue 16 of Dec, 2008 11:46 GMT arj from 213.236.208.22 More specific description 2
Wed 09 of May, 2007 16:23 GMT arj from 129.241.210.194 1