Dwell On It

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘glory’,’” Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course you don’t – till I tell you. I meant ‘there’s a nice knock-down argument for you’!’”
“But ‘glory’ doesn’t mean ‘a nice knock-down argument’,’” Alice objected.
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in a rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean different things.”
“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master – that’s all.”

…

‘Would you tell me, please,’ said Alice ‘what that means?’

‘Now you talk like a reasonable child,’ said Humpty Dumpty, looking very much pleased. ‘I meant by “impenetrability” that we’ve had enough of that subject, and it would be just as well if you’d mention what you mean to do next, as I suppose you don’t mean to stop here all the rest of your life.’

‘That’s a great deal to make one word mean,’ Alice said in a thoughtful tone.

– Through the Looking-Glass.

Humpty may be the master of his words, applying whatever new meaning he sees fit to old and established terms, but it limits his audience, essentially, to himself alone. If he just starts making up his own words at will, or applying unusual meanings to common words, he effectively stifles any useful discussion.

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