I disagree with that interpretation, perhaps because of a meta-ambiguity about which of two questions we’re discussing:
Which of two example wordings should the teacher have used?
Was there anything wrong with what the teacher said?
These are obviously related but by no means the same. You seem to be assuming that the dispute is about the former (which, as you say, we all seem to agree on); my understanding was that it is about the latter. Specifically, I interpreted you as believing that the teacher’s wording was so unacceptable as to warrant correction, and this is what I disagreed with and presented arguments against. I suppose that, yes, that means we were arguing about your strength of feeling, but that’s exactly what I was trying to do. If I seemed to claim that I was arguing about anything else, that was a miscommunication.
I appreciate that you made a point of distinguishing between disliking the nature of this particular discussion and disliking this kind of feedback from me in general.
ETA after discussing in IRC: Also, you seem to be relying on the premise that less ambiguity in language is universally better, and for the reasons outlined in my previous comment I don’t think it’s that simple.
Which of two example wordings should the teacher have used?
Was there anything wrong with what the teacher said?
...You seem to be assuming that the dispute is about the former (which, as you say, we all seem to agree on); my understanding was that it is about the latter.
My assumption is that if A is preferable to B, then there is “something wrong” with B. The level of “wrongness” implied by this mere fact depends on how preferable A is to B, which in turn depends (among other things) on how easy A is to implement.
I suppose that, yes, that means we were arguing about your strength of feeling, but that’s exactly what I was trying to do
My assumption is that if A is preferable to B, then there is “something wrong” with B.
I use a fan to keep my room cool. An air conditioner would do a better job, but what I have is a fan. I don’t see anything wrong with using a fan.
To which I ask: why?
For the same reason anybody argues about anything—I disagreed with you, and was looking to either convince you of my reasons or learn new facts which would convince me of yours. But you seem not to want to argue about this, and it’s rapidly becoming more stressful than enlightening, so I’m happy to drop it.
I disagree with that interpretation, perhaps because of a meta-ambiguity about which of two questions we’re discussing:
Which of two example wordings should the teacher have used?
Was there anything wrong with what the teacher said?
These are obviously related but by no means the same. You seem to be assuming that the dispute is about the former (which, as you say, we all seem to agree on); my understanding was that it is about the latter. Specifically, I interpreted you as believing that the teacher’s wording was so unacceptable as to warrant correction, and this is what I disagreed with and presented arguments against. I suppose that, yes, that means we were arguing about your strength of feeling, but that’s exactly what I was trying to do. If I seemed to claim that I was arguing about anything else, that was a miscommunication.
I appreciate that you made a point of distinguishing between disliking the nature of this particular discussion and disliking this kind of feedback from me in general.
ETA after discussing in IRC: Also, you seem to be relying on the premise that less ambiguity in language is universally better, and for the reasons outlined in my previous comment I don’t think it’s that simple.
My assumption is that if A is preferable to B, then there is “something wrong” with B. The level of “wrongness” implied by this mere fact depends on how preferable A is to B, which in turn depends (among other things) on how easy A is to implement.
To which I ask: why?
I use a fan to keep my room cool. An air conditioner would do a better job, but what I have is a fan. I don’t see anything wrong with using a fan.
For the same reason anybody argues about anything—I disagreed with you, and was looking to either convince you of my reasons or learn new facts which would convince me of yours. But you seem not to want to argue about this, and it’s rapidly becoming more stressful than enlightening, so I’m happy to drop it.