That definition could apply to a whole sentence (or novel), or a sound like “pfft.” Or it could be an initialism, a movie rating, or an analyzed string of DNA. All these and more are letters arranged in a way as to convey thought.
Ah, well that explains away one of the examples… You must be right! (I’d argue that the analysis of DNA is a thought/type of understanding, rather than the essence of a living thing, but that quickly gets towards another linguistic argument of Sausserian structuralism vs post structuralism.)
That definition could apply to a whole sentence (or novel), or a sound like “pfft.” Or it could be an initialism, a movie rating, or an analyzed string of DNA. All these and more are letters arranged in a way as to convey thought.
An analyzed string of DNA is letters arranged to convey a living creature; not a thought. 😌
Ah, well that explains away one of the examples… You must be right! (I’d argue that the analysis of DNA is a thought/type of understanding, rather than the essence of a living thing, but that quickly gets towards another linguistic argument of Sausserian structuralism vs post structuralism.)
I’m not taking any of this seriously, but if others want to continue taking it that way I’ll play along :p