A friend is not the same as a contact or a connection. I feel sure that you are now going to post a text that suggests otherwise."Make friends" is widely understood. Could I say "make connections" and "make contacts" in the same spirit?
You could, with the different meaning of the key word, of course."Make friends" is widely understood. Could I say "make connections" and "make contacts" in the same spirit?
If speakers want to convey the meanings I have underlined, they would be advised to use those words. There seems to be little point in saying one thing when you mean another.So could:
a) "He went to the party to make business connections."
b) "He went to the party to make business contacts."
mean he went there to make business friends or establish working relations?
That's a strange conclusion to jjump to after I wrote, "If speakers want to convey the meanings I have underlined, they would be advised to use those words. There seems to be little point in saying one thing when you mean another."Then, aa), bb), cc), and dd) are all acceptable?
A reasonable dictionary will tell you that both 'connection' and 'contact' have more than two meanings, including those involving acts and people.
It doesn't to me.Post #7 APPEARS to IMPLY that the aa), bb), cc), and dd) are acceptable.
Then, "make contacts/connections" should be read in the "make friends" sense, not "establish communication/relations"?