Re: TECH: word "only"

[Chris Handley <CHandley@GANDALF.OTAGO.AC.NZ>]

>
> I reckon 1, 2 & 3 (on one reading of 3) are the same. 2 is: there are
>exactly two cookies eaten by me (in this particular event of eating). 3 is:
>there is exactly one eating (at this particular implicit time) such that
>the eater is me and the eatee is two cookies.
>
As far as the explicit claim, yes I agree. What is being argued here are the
implicit claims.

2 => I did not eat the salami, the remains of the cold chicken or even the
rest of the cookies (although that is debatable, they may well have been the
last, but the implication is that there were still some left).

3=> I did not _do_ anything else, in particular I did not kiss the
chambermaid or seduce the duke's daughter. 'two' could be replaced by 'some'
or even 'lots' without substantially changing the claim.

If you don't believe me, listen to your teenage children!


======================================================================
Chris Handley                                     chandley@otago.ac.nz
Dept of Computer Science                       Ph     (+64) 3-479-8499
University of Otago                           Fax     (+64) 3-479-8577
Dunedin, NZ
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