The literal reading of the phrase doesn't line up with the meaning of how it is generally used.
This opens anyone who reads or uses the phrase at face value to be in unnecessary disagreement and argument with someone who has unintuitive contextual knowledge.
words and phrases have meaning bc people give them meaning, not bc dictionaries do. a high school isnt a school thats high, ice cream isnt cream of ice, a hot dog isnt a dog thats hot, etc
none of those are literal, but we agree that it has a 2nd meaning when combined together
It's true that usage supersedes th books. Just kind of a shame when we decide to settle on stuff that's easily confusing, misleading, or contradicting. Not everything has to be literal - that's boring and not my point. At least accurate would be nice. We can do better.
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This opens anyone who reads or uses the phrase at face value to be in unnecessary disagreement and argument with someone who has unintuitive contextual knowledge.
But the definition of this simple phrase seems to be wide open to disagreement, and I imagine that's intentional.
none of those are literal, but we agree that it has a 2nd meaning when combined together