>The claim that words mean nothing but what speakers intend to
>mean by them is dead wrong.  People sometimes fail to say what
>they mean.

Are you saying that words have an objective meaning?  Why is it then that
two dictionaries can't even agree on a word definition?  What about the
fact that definitions can get altered every year?

>It is also true, however, that some words and expressions are
>polysemic, or ambiguous.  This doesn't entail that they mean just
>anything, or that they mean whatever the speaker wants them to
>mean, but it does entail that they have more than one meaning.
>The word "paleo", as applied to diet, is like that.

The definition of Paleo seems to change constantly according to what I have
read on this list.

Katrina.