Long story short — with trolls on the bricolabs list, Jaromil suggests:
You see: if you want to create an un/common ground of discussion among very different people, minimalism is your friend. So to say, keep your shit together. :^)
‘nuf said.
But the whole issue goes back to language. sotto voce:
Yes, the existence of a shared protocol within a social system (community, network) is a strange necessity that is demanding that we comply and yet provides the (only!) possible conduit for connection. This goes for English as it goes for IP (Internet Protocol) and for the metric system. All function similarly to control us and our expressive energies in specific ways, pathways. There is no connection without some kind of such protocol. Some are more flexible and forgiving than others that are rigid and very *unforgiving* while at the same time, flexibility carries the risk of mis-communication. This presents us always with a paradox.
And, yes, perhaps I have a bit more restricted (but also deeper) understanding of English, as a native speaker. But having lived in second-language situations most of my adult life, when I am in such a situation, I always give respect to the fact when others are using ‘my’ protocol, as I hope is returned when I am using theirs.
Whenever a new protocol is picked up to be used, the user should be aware that great damage may easily occur (in the communicative act) when the protocol is not used ‘correctly.’
History is littered with the bloody results of such mis-understandings!
If the Battles of Trafalgar and of Cape St Vincent had gone differently, indeed we would not be mostly speaking English on this list. Pero la vida es un camino extraño, eh?