Don't Like/Not Good
- Thread starter Reldar
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Haw-haw-haw-hawI don't like Reldar's definition of "dislike".
Chew on that for a while.
Man of Honour
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No matter how many Newcastle Browns I drink I'm still not getting this nonsense.
![[FnG]magnolia](/styles/overclockers/avatars/9.png){kind=avatar}
Caporegime
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True, it was childish of me.
Do you preface any conversations which use the words 'like' or 'do not like' with an advisory that you are using a strictly orthodox interpretation of the words?
I understand what you mean. Debating the semantics does not aid communcation though.
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Well then it appears we are full agreement except:
If you don't like Steve then you don't hold a positive opinion of him. Whether this implies you hold a negative opinion of him or not is up to the listener. I would class both implications as 'legitimate', whereas you rule out one over the other; ironically the one that I would say would have the lesser claim if pushed to pick one over the other.
This is not correct.[FnG]magnolia;18458944 said:
If you don't like Steve then you don't hold a positive opinion of him. Whether this implies you hold a negative opinion of him or not is up to the listener. I would class both implications as 'legitimate', whereas you rule out one over the other; ironically the one that I would say would have the lesser claim if pushed to pick one over the other.
Yes. Yes it does mean this. It means exactly that.
No, if you say you don't like Steve, this means you dislike him. If you want to clarify specifically that you just have no positive feelings, you have to say 'I neither like nor dislike Steve'. Alternatively, as someone has already suggested 'I am indifferent towards Steve'. There is a reason why the word 'indifferent' exists...
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Correct is defined as: "free from error; especially conforming to fact or truth..." (Link).
Hence the scale here is not personal, or relating to me or you, but is impersonal and based on correctness, i.e. from a scale reaching from very incorrect to completely correct, with some varying scale of accuracy or inaccuracy in between.
When I say this is not correct I am not addressing my interest at all in the matter, I am talking in impersonal absolutes. To tie this into the arguments above, I am ruling out the argument being 'correct' but I am not ruling out that there may be some element of truth in the argument nor am I ruling out the argument being completely wrong.
So in essence, if you're going for the smart**** angle - at least get it right.
No, I'm sorry you're still incorrect.
You are assuming the negation of "correct" is "incorrect" (or "not correct"), when (according to your own logic) this isn't the case.
Or are you really disputing that the antonym of "like" isn't "dislike", or that "dislike" and "not like" don't mean the same thing? For most people and most common usages, they mean the same thing, and to not like something is to have negative feelings towards it. You can argue that this shouldn't be the case until you are blue in the face, that's fine, but arguing with the common use/misuse of words is pointless, much like "decimate" and "methodology" have come to be totally misused, but generally accepted with their new meanings.
Caporegime
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Leave it, Mr^B. The guy is spergin' over something that most people would just accept.
Something is either correct, or it is incorrect, (it could be partially either, but it would have to be qualified as such).
As such negating one always implies the other.
You can either Like, Dislike or be indifferent to something.
As such negating any only implies one of the other two.
I don't dislike =/= I Like
I am not indifferent =/= I Like
I don't like =/= I dislike
It is common useage to use I don't like and mean I dislike, but that doesn't mean that's the only useage, seeing as it is in fact the less clear of two options.
You either like something, or you don't like it (it could be partially either, but it would have to be qualified as such).
As such negating one always implies the other.
See where the problem is...
One will usually qualify impartiality (in a literary sense) with a double-negative (as per your example).
However arguing that "not like" doesn't mean the same as "dislike" is a bit of a strange one to me. I'm really struggling to find an example where I can substitute the two and change the meaning/intent of a statement.
As such negating one always implies the other.
See where the problem is...
One will usually qualify impartiality (in a literary sense) with a double-negative (as per your example).
However arguing that "not like" doesn't mean the same as "dislike" is a bit of a strange one to me. I'm really struggling to find an example where I can substitute the two and change the meaning/intent of a statement.
There's a difference between being able to use something else to make it clearer, and stating that it's plain out wrong.See, we do agree. Argument over nothing!
There's a difference between being able to use something else to make it clearer, and stating that it's plain out wrong.
I never said it was wrong.
Soldato
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The problem is not one of semantics, the problem is one of petulance, especially prevalent on the internet and commonly seen in keyboard warrior syndrome.
So why is there "don't like" and "dislike" if they mean the same thing? To like something is positive, to dislike something is negative, however the absence of one doesn't indicate the presence of the other. You don't automatically dislike something because you don't like it, or hold positive views towards it.
That's like saying, if you're not going up, you're definitely going down, or if you're not going left, you're definitely going right.
To say "I'm not going right" doesn't automatically mean I am going left, I could be going straight on, or not moving at all.