Trigger words: arguing semantics
Indicator sentences: That's not what people mean when they are talking about a "semantic argument."
Negotiation parts: When people use that term, they mean that rather than debating the merits of the point that the person was making, they are instead fixating on how it was phrased and the minor technicalities of what they were saying. At the right time, this is important and productive. But much of the time, and almost always in /r/changemyview, a semantic argument is a tool people use to distract from the *real* point. [STA-CITE]>That's not what people mean when they are talking about a "semantic argument." [END-CITE]I understand this. But I'm saying it is a misuse of the term semantics, and I think they should say something else like, your argument is just trying [STA-CITE]>to distract from the real point. [END-CITE]I'm looking for something that would convince me to accept that using the term semantics in a way that contradicts itself is justifiable. This is ironic, and I am not trying to be a jerk, but right now you are making a semantic argument. This might get confusing! Basically, the point is that calling out an argument that distracts from the point is a cop-out. Whether or not you call that "semantics" doesn't really matter.
Trigger words: semantics (2)
Indicator sentences: I think you might be confused about the meaning of the word "semantics".
Negotiation parts: As a field it is indeed about meaning in general, but used in context, it invokes these meanings. merriam-webster.com [STA-CITE]>the meanings of words and phrases in a particular context [END-CITE]Dictionary.com [STA-CITE]>the meaning, or an interpretation of the meaning, of a word, sign, sentence, etc.: Let's not argue about semantics. [END-CITE]Thefreedictionary.com [STA-CITE]>The meaning or the interpretation of a word, sentence, or other language form: We're basically agreed; let's not quibble over semantics. [END-CITE] This use of the word semantics isn't against the meaning of the word, it's literally the dictionary example of one of the uses of the word. And in context there's no confusing it with a reference to the broader field of semantics. You can maybe make an argument that it would be a bad word to choose when talking to "you" since you seem to have some confusions about it, but the majority of people have no confusion over its use. As I've said in other places, it's in the specific context of saying "that's just semantics" dismissively that I take issue with. I'm not denying that there are plenty of contexts where this or similar phrases are appropriate. I gave somebody a delta specifically for pointing out one such example.