The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #162917   Message #3886008
Posted By: Jackaroodave
31-Oct-17 - 01:41 PM
Thread Name: What is Happening to our Folk Clubs
Subject: RE: What is Happening to our Folk Clubs
"I think the 54 definition is irrelevant to this discussion. . . ."

It's not really relevant to the point I was trying to underline: We generally don't depend on definitions to understand or use words correctly.

For example, children learn to use the word "chair" appropriately with ease and often without instruction, but it's very difficult for anyone, even lexicographers, to give a definition of "chair" that would include all chairs and exclude all non-chairs.

So the challenge to provide a definition is an empty one. The knowledge and experience of experts, on the other hand, is of use, and it's entirely possible that their definitions may not match their actual usage.