In high school and college, I enjoyed reading C.S. Lewis and Jacques Barzun, two very different European men. Lewis is a famous storyteller and strong Christian apologist. Barzun (1907- 2012, 105 years!) grew up in an upper class Parisian family. I read aloud to a blind Johns Hopkins University professor who held Barzun in disdain for writing on too many topics, a sign to him that the man could not be an in-depth scholar.
One of Barzun's books, "Science: The Glorious Entertainment"(1964) includes his mention that the number of terms, especially names, in the modern world was not keeping up with demand. He used the example of "plastic", which to many generations, meant "flexible". Then, we started applying the word to rigid objects made of certain rigid materials. He didn't like a word that meant "hard" and also "soft".
I recently read somewhere "no tax on tips". I felt I understood "no tax" but I thought the writer was stating that if I call my local tax authority and give them a "tip" that so-and-so isn't paying taxes, there would be no tax on my call to the IRS. That sounded a little off. Then, I realized that the writer was explaining that the tip I give my waiter would not be taxed.
I am confident that human imagination and artificial intelligence can defeat this disturbing problem.
