Perhaps so, but I give a fair amount of importance to making clear distinctions between what I BELIEVE is true and what I KNOW to be true. With respect to future events I try to distinguish between what I HOPE happens, and what I FORECAST is most likely to happen (assuming I have analyzed the situation and made a forecast). If there is a conditional relationship in an assertion one wishes to make (i.e. if A then B, or if not ... etc.) then I believe it is important to make it explicit.
I don't know if that is what you been by "street language", or whether you have something else in mind. In any event stylistic differences don't bother me.
To me the language with which people express themselves is a reflection of the clarity (or lack of it) in their thinking. There are too many people who confuse their beliefs with verifiable, eternal truth and their preferences for the future with what they KNOW (or more accurately FORECAST) will occur.
With respect to the specific question you asked;
Quote: How's he any different from you in that respect?
Exactly in the terms I identified above, is my answer.
(I will readily concede that Cyclo is by no means the worst of the offenders here - indeed he is a good deal better than many)
As you undoubtedly know, it is very difficult to have a reasoned discussion with a person who routinely fails to make these distinctions; who routinely relies on ill-defined comparisons with vaguely described alternatives; or who regularly descends to insults and personal attacks whenever confronted with disagreement or challenge. I have my own failings in this area in that I frequently become impatient with what I regard as sloppy thinking or overinflated self-importance. However, I generally am very clear about the distinctions between what I KNOW, what I BELIEVE, and what I EXPECT.
