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by choko 1355 days ago
Using the term "people" or "men" or "women" without a quantifier is misleading. I could say "people think the earth is flat" and it doesn't matter if it's one person or one billion people but the difference is very important.
1 comments

> Using the term "people" or "men" or "women" without a quantifier is misleading

If I say "people have two legs" and you reply saying what about amputees, that's a debate tactic, not a misinterpretation. If I say "people are amputees" that would be a false statement.

> I could say "people think the earth is flat" and it doesn't matter if it's one person or one billion people but the difference is very important.

The term "people" by itself means people in general. Not all people, and not one person in a billion.

English is neither a mathematics nor a programming language, and should not be treated as such.

Seems like you moved the goal posts a bit there. Your first comment indicates "people" could be any quantity, now it seems you mean that "people" means people in general, which indicates a majority of people? It's important to be precise in language if you want your thoughts understood.
> It's important to be precise in language if you want your thoughts understood.

I can't help but conclude you understood me perfectly, and are just being argumentative.