Posted by Jukka K. Korpela on 06/04/07 08:20

Scripsit Ben C:

> We're talking about the meaning of two semi-technical terms:
> "em" and "extended ASCII".

No, "em" is a technical term in typography (and CSS), and "ASCII" is a
technical term in computing (and there is no such thing as "extended
ASCII").

> Words mean what people use them to mean

Using technical terms in wrong meanings is simply wrong. No amount of
language philosophy changes this.

> if documents are found on the web including the Wikipedia that use
> terms in a particular way then that is factual evidence about how
> they're being used.

And if we can find 2+2 = 7, then there is evidence that this expression is
really used. It is still an incorrect statement.

> But Bernhard Sturm, who
> is a typographer and also a reliable source, has suggested that the
> "em" is a unit of width after all.

He claims to be a typographer. If he still wants to claim that "em" is a
unit of width, then I won't trust him on any matter.

> So there are facts on both sides.

No, an incorrect statement does not become a fact just because it is written
by someone who purports to be an expert. If a mathematician writes 2+2 = 7,
it's still not a fact.

--
Jukka K. Korpela ("Yucca")
http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/

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