this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2024
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For me, it may be that the toilet paper roll needs to have the open end away from the wall. I don't want to reach under the roll to take a piece! That's ludicrous!

That or my recent addiction to correcting people when they use "less" when they should use "fewer"

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[–] [email protected] 120 points 3 weeks ago (45 children)

The "is a hot dog a sandwich" and similar discussions are solved with the mighty sword of language and not some rigid taxonomy about fillings and bread.

Imagine a set of food items on a table, hot dog amongst them, but not other pseudo-sandwiches. I ask you to "Please pass me that sandwich." If there is but a moment's pause in your mind before you reach for the hot dog, even if it's as you surmise I must be speaking about the hot dog as there are no other sandwich-like items available, then it is not a sandwich.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

But hot dogs aren’t sandwiches they’re tacos. It perfectly logical to describe a hot dog as an American taco. If there were no taco items on the table and you asked for a taco I’d think you were being funny, but I’d pass you the hot dog.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Without pause? You're telling me that if you saw a table with xiaolongbao, hamburger, duba wot, pizza, Caesar salad, ice cream, hot dog, soondubu, and potato chips on it and I said "Please pass me that taco." you would hand me the hot dog without any hesitation? Even a fucking moment's worth?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Pause long enough to go “that’s different”, then hand you the hot dog, because only one of those items is a taco, even if it’s not commonly called a taco.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Then it's not a fucking taco. If it were a taco, it would be readily apparent what I meant. You have to parse my request and try to interpret what I could be meaning by taco as I'm using it in an incorrect way.

Language is meant to communicate meaning and if the language I use obfuscates my meaning it's being used incorrectly. It isn't clear that I meant hot dog when I said taco, hence your hypothetical pause.

So you're WRONG, but I do appreciate your honesty, thank you let's play again sometime

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

So if there were scrambled eggs and caviar on the table. You say pass the eggs and someone without hesitation hands over the caviar are they wrong?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Out of the two, does one look at caviar and truly think "eggs" first? Before eggs ?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago

They are a tie for me, because I think of them as salty fish eggs.

A sushi place had an egg roll (sushi, not egg rolls) and I thought it was the little fish eggs thing but was actually scrambled egg in a rectangle. My disappointment was immense.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Hm, I think I'd pass you the scrambled eggs first, but I may hesitate and or ask for clarification. This example is a little different because there is some element of ambiguity involved. The intent in the experiment is to create a situation with zero ambiguity other than the "wrong" answer. I think you've created a different situation, more akin to there being a tuna sub on the table along with the hot dog and asking for "the sandwich" which isn't nearly as good a test for this purpose.

For your test, there'd have to be nothing egg-like besides the caviar. At least for it to be using the same methodology the test I created uses.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

I think it is a great example of expectations.

The hotdog and sandwich thing is silly because tacos are commonly thought of as a Mexican/Hispanic food and hot dogs are a US thing. Like how a chicken wrap and a chicken soft taco are different things even though both can have the same tortilla and chicken, with different vegetables and spices/flavorings. Chicken wraps are often cold, but can be served warm without becoming a taco!

It is a convoluted, arbitrary mess that only works because most people just go with the flow and don't really think about things beyond the surface level.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

Tacos are sandwiches...

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