For example, if you say that “feed” isn’t a real word because there is a better way to say “issued someone a fee,” but the real word is “feed” as in “to provide with nourishment,” what would that error in judgment be called?
For example, if you say that “feed” isn’t a real word because there is a better way to say “issued someone a fee,” but the real word is “feed” as in “to provide with nourishment,” what would that error in judgment be called?
If you said “feed” meaning “issued someone a fee”, I think someone would be correct in claiming that “feed” is not a real word, meaning a word having that particular definition and in common usage. There is no word with that definition in common usage. Words aren’t just arrangements of letters, after all, they also have pronunciations and meanings.
Now, if we were playing Scrabble, and I tried to argue “feed” wasn’t a real word, I’d be wrong, because Scrabble is only concerned with spellings.
Not in this context, since to fee isn’t a verb.