Ambiguous Quote by Tyler Burge

“A crassly arbitrary method can be avoided only when it is accepted that etymological statements are historical and not authoritative and that semantic statements…

— James Barr

“And one of the commonest forms of fallacious reasoning arising from ambiguity, is that of arguing from a metaphorical expression as if it were…

— John Stuart Mill

“Once the tyranny of literalness is rejected, all relevant considerations for giving a rational content to the words become operative.”

— Justice Frankfurter

There are clear cases in which understanding literally applies and clear cases in which it does not apply; and these two sorts of cases…

— John Searle

However well equipped our language, it can never be forearmed against all possible cases that may arise and call for description: fact is richer…

— J. L. Austin

“Any proposition containing the word "is" creates a linguistic structural confusion which will eventually give birth to serious fallacies.”

— Alfred Korzybski

As I say, I'm a discourse advocate. What form it comes is less important to me than the fact that there is discourse.

— Jim Lehrer

Uncommon expressions are a disfigurement rather than an embellishment of discourse.

— David Hume

So-called "natural language" is wonderful for the purposes it was created for, such as to be rude in, to tell jokes in, to cheat…

— Edsger Dijkstra

True brevity of expression consists in a man only saying what is worth saying, while avoiding all diffuse explanations of things which every one…

— Arthur Schopenhauer

Its very variety, subtlety, and utterly irrational, idiomatic complexity makes it possible to say things in English which simply cannot be said in any…

— Robert A. Heinlein

If the rules of a language are followed, words usually make sense. But these very rules can stir the impulse to rebel. We're obliged…

— Joanna Scott