I maintain that any writer of a book is fully authorised in attaching any meaning he likes to a word or phrase he intends to use. If I find an author saying, at the beginning of his book, "Let it be understood that by the word 'black' I shall always mean 'white,' and by the word 'white' I shall always mean 'black,'" I meekly accept his ruling, however injudicious I think it.
I believe that authors have the right to assign any meaning they choose to the words they use in their writings. If a writer clearly states at the outset that certain words are to be understood in a specific, perhaps unconventional, way, I accept this interpretation without resistance, even if I personally see it as misguided. The author's authority over the definitions in their work takes precedence over my own understanding.
"I maintain that any writer of a book is fully authorised in attaching any meaning he likes to a word or phrase he intends to use. If I find an author saying, at the beginning of his book, 'Let it be understood that by the word 'black' I shall always mean 'white,' and by the word 'white' I shall always mean 'black,' I meekly accept his ruling, however injudicious I think it."
