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TornadoCreator said: Congratulations, you both know how to use a dictionary and misappropriate definitions in order that nuance is lost. In modern vernacular, especially when discussing the psychology of play, a toy is more than just "something a child plays with", and look at that definition for a moment. Have you ever seen anything more gauche and adorably outdated. For fuck sake, one of you actually quoted Merriam-Websters definition which claims "something that is very small" is a toy. By that definition, a baby carrot is a toy, as is a penny, an elastic band, a pebble, and an ant... depending on what you consider "very small". It's a sad and pathetic trope on the internet for people to start quoting a "source" rather than make a logical and reasoned argument for their position, it's even more pathetic when the thing they're quoting is a dictionary. For fuck sake, I can quote a dictionary definition right now that states marriage is specifically between "one man and one woman" but something tells me "it's in the dictionary, so nyeh" isn't going to convince any gay marriage advocates is it? You can find a quote to back almost anything you want and we all know how to use Google. Do either of you have anything that disproves my position that a console is not a toy, and by that I mean something other than a dictionary definition that couldn't also be used to justify both a baby carrot, and a prostitute's mouth as being a toy. |
Unfortunately language is not always logical, and consequently can not be formed solely from axioms and deduction. Many words, such as toy, have multiple connotations and meanings. One such meaning is something from which an adult finds amusement. This is substantiated by the standardized collection of definitions we call dictionaries. You started a semantic debate, and it is only proper to address a dictionary to substantiate the point that toy in this context, is a proper use of the word.
What you posted wasn't any better than posting a dictionary definition. You defined multiple terms in the form of a dichotomous key, without any source to substantiate the usage of the widespread word "toy" fitting your standards and only your standards. Because language is not deductively contained, we must use induction (observe how a word is used by poeple) to resolve definitions.
As for the webster's definition, like I said, words have multiple definitions:
this was one of them,
something that an adult buys or uses for enjoyment or entertainment
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