Language doesn’t exist in isolation, it exists in the presence of other people. Speaking requires placing yourself in the other person’s mind; and listening requires figuring out what the speaker is trying to communicate.

There are four conversational maxims that people use when cooperating in conversation, to make it meaningful and purposeful.

1. Maxim of Quantity – Be as informative as is required, but no more.
2. Maxim of Quality – Be truthful, and avoid saying something you believe is false.
3. Maxim of Relevance – Be relevant and appropriate to the goal of the conversation.
4. Maxim of Manner – Be clear, and avoid both ambiguity and wordiness.

Most conversations break apart when they stray away from these maxims, mainly because we assume the other person is actually attempting cooperate. Whenever someone does violate these maxims, we attempt to infer the reason why: Are they trying to not hurt my feelings? Are they hiding something? Are they being dishonest? Are they trying to be misleading and argumentative? The precise rules of a conversation do change depending on the person and context. Speakers unconsciously agree to certain rules every time they interact, giving new meaning to words, based on how it is used in the conversation, where you are when using it, and why you are using it.

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Most people do a great job of understanding and communicating. Other's not so much, and they attempt argue against the words you use instead of how you are trying to use them. Personally, I have too many writing assignments to focus my attention on, to be putting that much effort and precision into an online forum. I suspect the same is true for others. These posts are neither being submitted for publishing, nor for a grade, nor for income. They are meant to simply express people's opinions, and discuss them casually not professionally.

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Nyar tries to mathematize language consistently. You are not allowed to use words such as "all" "never" "often" "many" "most" and other grammatical determiners, unless you ascribe a number and a measurement for them. He also refuses to accept that "Never" and "Always" don't always mean "never" and "always." Something most people grasp from an early age.

Cyber often hides behind what she hasn't said, and complains when you naturally try to fill in the gaps. She also dislikes generalities because they do not apply to her specifically, ironically enough.