"Words are our tools, and, as a minimum, we should use clean tools. We should know what we mean and what we do not, and we must forearm ourselves against the traps that language sets us."

-- The Need for Precise Terminology, Austin (1957, 7 8)

It follows that, for effective and efficient communication, people should have, or at least understand, the same precise terminology. Such terminology is crucial for the advancement of basic, theoretical, and applied science, yet too often there is ambiguity between scientific and common definitions and even...

"Words are our tools, and, as a minimum, we should use clean tools. We should know what we mean and what we do not, and we must forearm ourselves against the traps that language sets us."

-- The Need for Precise Terminology, Austin (1957, 7–8)

It follows that, for effective and efficient communication, people should have, or at least understand, the same precise terminology. Such terminology is crucial for the advancement of basic, theoretical, and applied science, yet too often there is ambiguity between scientific and common definitions and even...