Why can’t people say “some foos are bar” or “foos tend to be bar”?
I mean, of course they can, but sometimes they won’t. People aren’t careful with their language and it’s uncharitable to assume that people mean what you think their words should have meant instead of what they most likely actually meant.
I also think you have a different prototypical case in mind than I do. I’m thinking the kind of nitpicking where someone says something like “fire is hot” and someone responds “nuh-uh, there’s a special type of fire you can make that is actually cool to the touch” or something like that.
I mean, of course they can, but sometimes they won’t. People aren’t careful with their language and it’s uncharitable to assume that people mean what you think their words should have meant instead of what they most likely actually meant.
I also think you have a different prototypical case in mind than I do. I’m thinking the kind of nitpicking where someone says something like “fire is hot” and someone responds “nuh-uh, there’s a special type of fire you can make that is actually cool to the touch” or something like that.
Fair.