Alien Franchise Reboot.... How would you feel about one???

[SiL]

I never said that 

But it's a figurative term... Figurative terms can't be expressed patently because their meaning depends entirely on the context they are being used in.

Using a phrase figuratively doesn't mean it doesn't have a fixed meaning. You wouldn't describe a film about wide open spaces as claustrophobic because even figuratively, that's wrong. Unless you were being poetic, but that's a whole other ball game.

And lexicographers work meticulously to accurately depict terms as they are defined by the majority of the people.

Yes, and you're saying we need to wait for their approval. We don't.

[System Apollo]

But it's a figurative term... Figurative terms can't be expressed patently because their meaning depends entirely on the context they are being used in.

Using a phrase figuratively doesn't mean it doesn't have a fixed meaning. You wouldn't describe a film about wide open spaces as claustrophobic because even figuratively, that's wrong.

I don't understand where you are going with this? First of all we are talking about terms, not phrases. Second, terms aren't recognized from individual to individual, how could they be fixed. I don't have to remind you of the word faggot do I? And before you state that you know, actually research it.

And lexicographers work meticulously to accurately depict terms as they are defined by the majority of the people.

Yes, and you're saying we need to wait for their approval. We don't.

No, I didn't. I am saying that they have more insight on how a word is defined than you do and I do.

[Local Trouble]

I don't have to remind you of the word faggot do I?

[System Apollo]

I don't have to remind you of the word faggot do I?

http://media.giphy.com/media/ULyYV5amK2eYM/giphy.gif

! No, no, no, I didn't imply it as an insult, I used it as an example.

Abstract and Concrete Terms
Abstract terms refer to ideas or concepts; they have no physical referents.

[Stop right here and reread that definition. Many readers will find it both vague and boring. Even if you find it interesting, it may be hard to pin down the meaning. To make the meaning of this abstract language clearer, we need some examples.]

Examples of abstract terms include love, success, freedom, good, moral, democracy, and any -ism (chauvinism, Communism, feminism, racism, sexism). These terms are fairly common and familiar, and because we recognize them we may imagine that we understand them—but we really can't, because the meanings won't stay still.

Take love as an example. You've heard and used that word since you were three or four years old. Does it mean to you now what it meant to you when you were five? when you were ten? when you were fourteen (!)? I'm sure you'll share my certainty that the word changes meaning when we marry, when we divorce, when we have children, when we look back at lost parents or spouses or children. The word stays the same, but the meaning keeps changing.

If I say, "love is good," you'll probably assume that you understand, and be inclined to agree with me. You may change your mind, though, if you realize I mean that "prostitution should be legalized" [heck, love is good!].

How about freedom? The word is familiar enough, but when I say, "I want freedom," what am I talking about? divorce? self-employment? summer vacation? paid-off debts? my own car? looser pants? The meaning of freedom won't stay still. Look back at the other examples I gave you, and you'll see the same sorts of problems.

Does this mean we shouldn't use abstract terms? No—we need abstract terms. We need to talk about ideas and concepts, and we need terms that represent them. But we must understand how imprecise their meanings are, how easily they can be differently understood, and how tiring and boring long chains of abstract terms can be. Abstract terms are useful and necessary when we want to name ideas (as we do in thesis statements and some paragraph topic sentences), but they're not likely to make points clear or interesting by themselves.

Concrete terms refer to objects or events that are available to the senses. [This is directly opposite to abstract terms, which name things that are not available to the senses.] Examples of concrete terms include spoon, table, velvet eye patch, nose ring, sinus mask, green, hot, walking. Because these terms refer to objects or events we can see or hear or feel or taste or smell, their meanings are pretty stable. If you ask me what I mean by the word spoon, I can pick up a spoon and show it to you. [I can't pick up a freedom and show it to you, or point to a small democracy crawling along a window sill. I can measure sand and oxygen by weight and volume, but I can't collect a pound of responsibility or a liter of moral outrage.]

While abstract terms like love change meaning with time and circumstances, concrete terms like spoon stay pretty much the same. Spoon and hot and puppy mean pretty much the same to you now as they did when you were four.

You may think you understand and agree with me when I say, "We all want success." But surely we don't all want the same things. Success means different things to each of us, and you can't be sure of what I mean by that abstract term. On the other hand, if I say "I want a gold Rolex on my wrist and a Mercedes in my driveway," you know exactly what I mean (and you know whether you want the same things or different things). Can you see that concrete terms are clearer and more interesting than abstract terms?

If you were a politician, you might prefer abstract terms to concrete terms. "We'll direct all our considerable resources to satisfying the needs of our constituents" sounds much better than "I'll spend $10 million of your taxes on a new highway that will help my biggest campaign contributor." But your goal as a writer is not to hide your real meanings, but to make them clear, so you'll work to use fewer abstract terms and more concrete terms.

Friedlander, John. Year N/A. Abstract, Concrete, General, and Specific Terms. Grammar Guide.
Friedlander (http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/abstract.htm)


Also, check out this neat Ebook; The Figurative Language: It's Origin and Constitution.
(https://books.google.ca/books?id=PL0OAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&dq=are+abstract+terms+figurative&source=bl&ots=aIux9wBjm5&sig=K0ePHeCn-BYspQJb80cvnO25Wb8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjolcfQrszRAhUS9mMKHWcbAoc4ChDoAQgdMAI#v=onepage&q&f=false)

[SiL]

Reboot isn't abstract or figurative. It's got a nice, clear, understood meaning. Nice source, but meaningless.

[SiL]

He's not calling anyone a faggot, he's saying the word has evolved a hell of a lot over the years and went from describing a bundle of sticks, to a pejorative term to elderly people (As in, they were about as useful as a bundle of sticks; useless, a dead weight, an inconvenience), to eventually gay people, and ultimately inconsiderate Harley riders.

[Local Trouble]

Brits who smoke tend to suck on fags.

[Nyarlathotep]

Brits who smoke tend to suck on fags.

That's always cracked me the f**k up lol.

[SiL]

Brits who smoke tend to suck on fags.

Brits smoke so many fags it's not funny. Then they toss them on the street and it's just messy.

[Scorpio]

And they still smoke in the 22nd century.  Ripley being a pack a day woman, sometimes right to the filter.  No wonder her daughter died of cancer (if what Burke says is true).

You'd think more would be smoking weed like Fifield instead of tobacco.

If a reboot happens I want to see them all smoking weed.

[Nyarlathotep]

Brits who smoke tend to suck on fags.

Brits smoke so many fags it's not funny. Then they toss them on the street and it's just messy.

Stop it. 

[Local Trouble]

Brits smoke so many fags it's not funny. Then they toss them on the street and it's just messy.

Lots of Brits post here.  I wonder if any of them smoke.

[System Apollo]

He's not calling anyone a faggot.

Why did I even bother...

[Olde]

Most likely all the regulars on AvP Galaxy suck long, hard faggots. Thank you everybody, and good night.

[SiL]

No, see, the Brittish term is fag, not faggots. Now you've just gone and insulted everyone.