The chapter notes that many authors don t give specific definitions for the words they use. But wouldn t defining each potentially ambiguous word lead to a boring, lengthy piece of writing?
Yes. Too much emphasis on defining your terms could lead to much tedious writing and speaking. Fortunately, for most arguments, there are only a few key words or phrases that need lengthy clarifying definitions. These are the terms or phrases in which the lack of a specific definition makes it impossible for you to agree or disagree with the reasoning. As you get more practice in identifying ambiguity, you will get increasingly efficient in recognizing the key terms and phrases. Note, incidentally, that our phrase increasingly efficient could be clarified with a lengthy definition, and indeed, a more specific definition could be helpful to you. But we think you can still benefit from our claim in this context without a more specific definition. In other contexts, it may make good sense for you to demand a better definition of efficient prior to being influenced by a claim using that term. Our point is that writers and speakers should clearly define KEY terms and phrases, but not ALL am
