• surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    I can tell you have a bachelor’s of engineering. Not because I think you’re being elitist. But because you haven’t yet figured out that words are fluid and don’t follow strict rules like systems do.

    English is hard.

    I have a B.E. as well. It took me years to word good.

    • FiniteBanjo@feddit.online
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      1 day ago

      You’re on Lemmy so you’d be better off learning Mandarin or Russian.

      Words which indicate a minimun amount of trained and proven competence or authority, such as Doctor or Police Lieutenant, are not things you can just claim willy nilly.

      • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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        15 hours ago

        If I say the word Dr. Dre, do you know who I’m talking about? If the answer is yes, then you understand that the word doctor is not always about the medical profession.

            • FiniteBanjo@feddit.online
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              8 hours ago

              Okay go down to the hospital and tell everyone you’re a medical doctor. I want to see how far you make it.

              • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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                4 hours ago

                “Medical” doctor. You’ve moved the goal posts.

                Computer engineer. Software engineer. Train engineer. The qualifier is what let’s you differentiate. Your claim is that the generic term only covers a subset of how people use the word.

        • FiniteBanjo@feddit.online
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          20 hours ago

          I can respect that but you need to propose a new term for structural and electrical engineers to replace it if that’s where we draw the line.

          • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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            15 hours ago

            You’re continuing to prove my point. Words can have multiple meanings. Words change over time. The definition of a word is whatever people use it as.

            If tomorrow every bus driver becomes a transportation engineer, and everyone starts calling them that, then that’s what engineer means.

            If you cannot accept the above, you cannot properly participate in English.