When someone starts getting insulting, the conversation is over. You started getting insulting and, did to boot, start doing the exact thing you accused me of. Being autistic about something.
I simply pointed out that the statement, as presented, is self cancelling. You're taking it places that I never even cared to go. You are right, I can't increase your IQ points, but you've certainly decreased mine.
You're right, I got annoyed. But that word was simply a placeholder over something like "arrogantly," which is a descriptor. Replace "autistically" with any other word, and there is still a valid point to be made in what I said. You just dropped a side of ad-hominem with no meat on the plate.
We're literally arguing two different things, which is why this conversation will never go anywhere. You're arguing about the semantics of grammatical structure: I'm saying that despite this, the statement still holds enough wisdom to not simply write-it-off altogether. Or am I misreading the situation?
Yes. You are misreading it.
As I said. The statement, as presented, is self-cancelling. That's why I hate it.
For the purposes of this argument, the fact that it does mean something that doesn't reflect the grammatical structure of the sentence isn't important - it's not what I'm attempting to point out. I understand what it means, and what it's supposed to convey, it's just one of those things I read and go ugh because my mind wants to see it's absolute meaning instead of it's intended meaning.
Fair enough. But a lot of these saying are written specifically to convey said (sometimes complicated) wisdom in the most simplistic way possible; and in this sense: it is very effective. A lot of things are written, more-so, to be impactful rather than sensical. Apple's famous "Think Different." slogan comes to mind. In fact, I'm pretty sure there's a technical term for this practice, that they teach in high school, that I've long-since forgotten.
My point, in is essence, if I had to boil it down to such: would be that language can be used as an artful tool, just as much as any other medium. You can use its structures and methods (arguably improperly) to create new and valid things. The construction of metaphors is a practice in doing exactly this— not necessarily in the deconstruction of grammar, but in the purposeful manipulation of meaning.
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