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This comment and the replies to it really give a glimpse into the psyche of the more pedantry-prone members of HN.

For me, if someone says X, and a literal interpretation of X would be impossible/ridiculous, I naturally assume the more generous interpretation Y. I would find it bizarre to believe that X was intended.

Some people however cannot escape the interpretation X, and find the statement bizarre fullstop.

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> For me, if someone says X, and a literal interpretation of X would be impossible/ridiculous, I naturally assume the more generous interpretation Y. I would find it bizarre to believe that X was intended.

I naturally assume it either doesn't know what it is talking about, or is trying to be manipulate through intentional misuse of words.

Words have meaning. You don't get to arbitrarily decide to change that meaning. I'm not defending the extreme pedantry, but at some point word use is just flat wrong, and that is the case with the original post.

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