I answered your empty correction with an empty correction. If your want a more substantive conversation, provide more substance.
You're right that I'm making two completely different claims.
The first is that I'm using (and implicitly defining) the word correctly. My usage is in no way similar to abuses of the word "literal." I'm using the word correctly in one of its standard, well-established senses. This is inarguable, regardless of what the dictionary says.
The second claim is that the distinction you're drawing is wrong. Let me state my point more clearly and strongly: it's not only wrong but shows a profound misunderstanding of language. You seem to think that if one word means one thing, a different word must mean something else. I can't for the life of me fathom any other reason why you would have posted the "corrections" you posted. (The only alternative to this interpretation, as far as I can tell, is that you really think that the meaning I've assigned to "predict" is wrong -- and that isn't worth arguing over, because the meaning is correct.)
Regardless of what argument you think you're making or what logic you think you're following, the very fact that you think logic comes into play at all shows profound misunderstanding. There is no logic. There is just a word and its sense. That's it. Logic does not dictate sense.
I couldn't care less whether you've muted the conversation or whether you say you won't respond. That kind of defensive posturing isn't even worth acknowledging, but I'll take the opportunity to acknowledge it just so that I can point out that it is deeply sad and deeply silly.
You're right that I'm making two completely different claims.
The first is that I'm using (and implicitly defining) the word correctly. My usage is in no way similar to abuses of the word "literal." I'm using the word correctly in one of its standard, well-established senses. This is inarguable, regardless of what the dictionary says.
The second claim is that the distinction you're drawing is wrong. Let me state my point more clearly and strongly: it's not only wrong but shows a profound misunderstanding of language. You seem to think that if one word means one thing, a different word must mean something else. I can't for the life of me fathom any other reason why you would have posted the "corrections" you posted. (The only alternative to this interpretation, as far as I can tell, is that you really think that the meaning I've assigned to "predict" is wrong -- and that isn't worth arguing over, because the meaning is correct.)
Regardless of what argument you think you're making or what logic you think you're following, the very fact that you think logic comes into play at all shows profound misunderstanding. There is no logic. There is just a word and its sense. That's it. Logic does not dictate sense.
I couldn't care less whether you've muted the conversation or whether you say you won't respond. That kind of defensive posturing isn't even worth acknowledging, but I'll take the opportunity to acknowledge it just so that I can point out that it is deeply sad and deeply silly.