I liked this approaching aspect. Good one. We all knew, even kittamaru understood the point, but none could express it so mathematically clear.
MR said that "nearly infallible" is impossible - my point is to determine if that is accurate (as he claims) or not (as I claim). Which is what I had thought as well. Lol, fair enough! T'would seem, then, that its usage determines the criteria for correctness. The particular usage that spawned this thread was: and It appears to be, at least in my understanding, an attempt to re-define words to fit the desired narrative. Hm, a fair enough assessment, if a bit more black and white than shades of grey, but I like it
nearly infallible if infallible = perfect then I am a shooter I hit at least 98% of my targets I ain't perfect(infallible) but I do come close "nearly infallible" seems easier to think of than "almost perfect" (the army went with "expert"--------) (the meaning of which remained unexplained) ok so I'll go with "My marksmanship is nearly infallible" with no regrets ---------------------------- ain't no black and white, all is/are grey scales.
Full is full. It's either full or not. Can a glass ever be "nearly full"? Oh, the ridiculousness of it! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I can go with nearly full If say a container holds 100 litres and there are 99.99 litres in the container I have no problem accepting it as nearly full It only suggest a closeness to a full state Something can be almost impossible which stands for with a bit more effort it will be possible suggesting it has been done but very infrequently However it does not work in reverse so to speak Almost possible seems to indicate a knowledge of how it done which begs the question well why hasn't it been done? Damn I broke my own rule I was only going to make one post here New rule Will only make 2 post here Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Can you ever be near new York City? Of course the glass can be nearly full - not full but near to full.
Let's change a bit, can the qualifier "nearly" be used with infallible? It's like "nearly genius" or "nearly honest" if used to describe a person. Appears quite improper. If at all it is ok to use qualifier here, then should it not be "almost infallible"?
What I think we are all struggling to articulate is that some adjectives are "non-comparable". Infallible and unique are examples. That means you cannot have "more" infallible or unique, or "very" infallible or unique. https://simple.wiktionary.org/wiki/non-comparable_adjective But you can perfectly well have "nearly" infallible or unique, as that is not a comparative construction. It is simply that the thing in question is very close to being in a state such that the term can be applied, or that the inaccuracy implied in applying it is small.
I do not know why baldee feels that nearly full is a problem, full represents quantity here. We can say nearly full or almost full. It's like nearly empty or almost empty....much more prevalent than nearly infallible.
Baldeee doesn't have a problem with it. You seem to be missing the Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! that was included to signify (at least I hoped it would) that it was clearly intended as sarcasm.
Near genius OK ✓ Near honest NO X Best near honest is ~ approx little dishonest New rule only 3 post here Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I tried that once circa 45 years ago when I handed the policeman my drivers licence with a $100. bill attached. (for speeding---my 3rd that year---at the time 3 speeding tickets within 1 year = lose your drivers licence) He didn't want it and returned the $, while blocking the view of his partner, and saying: "Put that away and don't try that again". So, I went to court and gave $50. to a lawyer who whispered something to the judge who admonished me to slow down and dismissed the case. If the time I spent going to court was worth $50. then I came out even. I did not think offering the cop the $100. was dishonest, just expeditious. EDIT - fixed LaTeX formatting. -Kittamaru
Honesty is necessarily approximate. There is no way to accurately measure it, so "nearly honest" is a valid approximation.