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                                              January 15, 2007
                                                              
There's a silly joke slipped in                               
in passing John Dickson Carr's                                
"The Dead Man's Knock" (1958).                                
                                                              
A character remarks in passing                                
"I observed, yes.  But I didn't see."                         
(p. 171).                                                     
                                                              
This is a reversal, of the famous                             
Holmes remark "You have *seen*, but                           
you have not *observed*."                                     
                                                              
The point being -- I would say --                             
that you can use precisely opposite                   
language that has the same meaning.             DENOTE


  In the case of the Holmes remark,
  it establishes a technical language
  without going through any explicit
  set of definitions.
     
  It draws a distinction between two    
  elements, and makes it clear what is                 
  meant by both of them... but in          If you don't watch what's    
  another context, that distinction        going on with these implicit,
  evaporates.  There's little inherent     temporary definitions you can
  in the conventional definitions that     get tangled up really easily,
  relates to the technical definition.     particularly if you're up    
                                           against a sleazy debating    
                                           partner looking for          
                                           cheap-shots...               

                                                             

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