Question about learning deco procedures

[Magnus Lundstedt]

That one is actually pretty black and white if you follow the actual definitions of the word, provided that definition comes from Oxford... If it comes from Merriam-Webster, they allow "physical activity engaged in for pleasure" to count, in which case scuba would be a sport

My take is that words don't have meanings, words have usage.

If a large amount of people use a word in one way, it is correct, dictionarys is descriptive, not prescriptive, and they are not up to date.


But my own definition of the word sport, it have to include smoke from burnt rubber or gunpowder. ;-)

 

[stuartv]

I generally define sport as something that you do for fun, where you can get hurt. If you can't get hurt, then it's just a game, not a sport. I'd call scuba a sport. Whereas, for example, golf is just a game.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

I am specifically asking about deco dives that are within recreational depth limits.

Too long, didn't read replies. What you said above doesn't exist. Decompression dives are inherently technical dives, because they are obligatory decompression, rather than the optional safety stop in recreational dives. It doesn't have to be depth related.

Fastest way I know to doing technical dives is OW, AOW, Nitrox, Advanced Nitrox, Decompression Procedures. Probably looking at about $1K in courses if memory serves.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

My take is that worlds don't have meanings, words have usage.

If a large amount of people use a word in one way, it is correct, dictionarys is descriptive, not prescriptive, and they are not up to date.

Lol, didn't expect to respond do a post about words, but I think you're completely wrong. Words have established meanings, in fact they are defined (i.e., made definite) in dictionaries. Ppeople ignorant of those meanings frequently misuse them, to the point that colloquialism become acceptable uses for those words, whose original meanings have now been changed by ignorance.

P.S. assuming you meant words, not worlds, in your first sentence. Otherwise, disregard.

 

[boulderjohn]

By the actual, literal definition of "sport", scuba diving is not a sport.

Which definition? Do a rue search and you find a lot of variety.

 

[KevinNM]

Funny how the OED says:

sport diving n. the sport or recreational activity of swimming underwater with breathing apparatus; scuba diving; cf. skin-diving n.

 

[DanielRJones]

Too long, didn't read replies. What you said above doesn't exist. Decompression dives are inherently technical dives, because they are obligatory decompression, rather than the optional safety stop in recreational dives. It doesn't have to be depth related.

Fastest way I know to doing technical dives is OW, AOW, Nitrox, Advanced Nitrox, Decompression Procedures. Probably looking at about $1K in courses if memory serves.

Wow you shoukd have read some replies before posting thay

 

[Magnus Lundstedt]

Lol, didn't expect to respond do a post about words, but I think you're completely wrong. Words have established meanings, in fact they are defined (i.e., made definite) in dictionaries. Ppeople ignorant of those meanings frequently misuse them, to the point that colloquialism become acceptable uses for those words, whose original meanings have now been changed by ignorance.

P.S. assuming you meant words, not worlds, in your first sentence. Otherwise, disregard.

You assume right about my spelling error, edited now.

But dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive, and the established meanings change with usage, therefore the dictionaries change over time.

 

[KenGordon]

Too long, didn't read replies. What you said above doesn't exist. Decompression dives are inherently technical dives, because they are obligatory decompression, rather than the optional safety stop in recreational dives. It doesn't have to be depth related.

Fastest way I know to doing technical dives is OW, AOW, Nitrox, Advanced Nitrox, Decompression Procedures. Probably looking at about $1K in courses if memory serves.

You ought to read the replies. They contradict you, with a sideline into what people mean by a ‘technical’ dive.

 

[TrimixToo]

You assume right about my spelling error, edited now.

But dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive, and the established meanings change with usage, therefore the dictionaries change over time.

The descriptive vs. prescriptive debate is a very old one. I tend a bit toward the prescriptive side because it's easier to interpret older written text when we use words consistently. For example, while many dictionaries now accept "compose" as an acceptable sense of "comprise," the utility of the latter, once perfectly good, word has been compromised by descriptivism. However, I am painfully aware that about half of educated people disagree.

" “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in 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 so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that's all.”" - Lewis Carrol in Through the Looking Glass