The sense of this Latin phrase is best applied like this:

Speaker A: "I like xxxx better than yyy." (That's MY taste."

Speaker B: "No, I think yyy is the best."

Both of those statements are demonstrably true. The operative part is "I like" and "I think". Both true. No disputing it.

Each speaker can (and will, ad nauseam,) explain why that is his taste, and perhaps the "reasons" are also matters of taste.

The problem comes when the speakers cast the above meanings in absolute terms: Speaker A: "XXX is the best kind of whatsis," leading Speaker B to counter that, on the contrary, "YYY is by far the best whatsis." But all they have done is to again state their taste, probably without recognizing the distinction.

Dave Oesterreich
Dave Oesterreich