[MD] cloud of probability

[John Carl]

John earlier:
>   I've challenged you to go a bit deeper and consider where dictionaries
> come from,
>


>
> dmb says:
>
> In any case, the dictionary is just a record of what words mean when people
> use them. A dictionary does not create definitions so much as it records
> them.



John:  Here's my point - writers are the source of meaning.  Dictionaries
are compiled by those who read what writers write.  When a writer sits down
and uses a word in a certain way, he is actively creating the definition,
the context and the meaning, based upon his own nebulous flux of
understanding and an attempt to create understanding in his reader.

Writers don't follow the rules, Dave.  Writers MAKE the rules.  Successful
writers create works which others agree is good, and then down the road when
enough people come to a consensus about this or that work being good,
dictionaries are compiled.

John