form

The sentence:

The very form of the adjective "scientific" might give pause to those who would force the word to cover such topics as the skill of boxer, or a knowledge of the theory and practice of the sacraments.

What exactly does "form" mean here?

I read through the exchange generated by this post and feel bound to comment. Taka, just because you see something written or hear something said in English (or in any language for that matter), it doesnt follow that it is coherent and meaningful. Although I agree with the sentiments expressed in the paragraph from which you obtained the sentence, and feel that for the most part it is quite well written, I feel that this sentence is very poor, and in particular the part to which you refer. In it there has been an erroneous use of the word "form" simply because the writer couldn't think of a clear way to express him/herself.

If native speakers on this forum can't make head or tail of it, then maybe you should start to suspect the integrity of the language itself rather than the people who are having trouble with it.

Perhaps the writer was trying to say something like "a careful analysis of the dictionary meaning of the word "scientific" might give pause to those who would make use of the word when describing such topics as...etc."

[Taka]

Thanks for the comments, wunaide.

I know that not all people write perfectly. But as it's in my textbook as reading material, I didn't think it was an erroneous type of writing.

The editor of my text is a Japanese, so he/she might have thought like "OK, this writing is kind of complicated. So let's use this stuff for the advanced."

Speaking of coherency and meaningfulness, could you please help me out of this problem?

http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8722

It's from the same writing, and I'm in deep trouble understanding it. But you've made me realize that it might not be anything about grammar, but about his/her sloppy writing style.

I'm looking forward to your comments.

(P.S Is English your frist language?)

[Taka]

Cas, I think I have to apologize. There was a communication breakdown because of my misinterpretation.

When I asked:

Originally Posted by Taka

What do you mean "I get my full share and then some"?

you said:

Originally Posted by Casiopea

more mental gymnastics

Then I thought you meant "You don't understand it, huh? That's another mental gymnastic for you. Enjoy. LOL". I took it as a sarcasm, which led me to some kind of resentment.

But actually, you meant something like "I live in Japan. As I'm in a foreign country whose culture, language are totally different from mine, I'm always exposed to mental gymnastics, which is very though", right?

I'm so sorry. I was inconsiderate of your feeling.

Sumimasen-deshita....

[Tdol]

I've told her before about sneering.

[Taka]

Originally Posted by tdol

I've told her before about sneering.

What do you mean? Did she sneer at someone other than me?