Re:Zynga May Have Just Laid Off 100+ Employees From Its Aust...
by meepmorp on Sunday November 04, 2012 @06:43PM
(#4741538)
> Are you telling me it's unfair to refer to an authoritative source as to the meaning of a word?
Unfair, no. A sign that the argument is weak, yes. Particularly in this case.
Also, use is meaning. Dictionaries are authoritative only in the sense that they capture current use at the time of publication. Even in that case, they're often lacking in some word senses and/or connotation because they don't exist in the writer's dialect.
>By defining Farmville as a "game", you could just as easily define twiddling numbers on an Excel sheet as a "game".
Are you twiddling the numbers as a form of play? Then yes, that'd be a game according to the definition given above. Games don't need to be challenging, or even all that entertaining.
Or a sign that your opponent is redefining words to fit their argument instead of using the commonly accepted one. Are you telling me it's unfair to refer to an authoritative source as to the meaning of a word?
In any case, there has to be some kind of definition or else the word becomes meaningless. By defining Farmville as a "game", you could just as easily define twiddling numbers on an Excel sheet as a "game". Where do you stop? Is Farmville a game just because it has a pretty skin?