Boulderhead - that actually makes it a great analogue to patriotism vs nationalism: similar, but not exactly the same, so not interchangeable.
What then is the difference? You want to go by definition, black in white, read it and weep.
But I'm not going to play the "how similar does a synonym have to be?" game with either of you –
Lol, that’s quite a laugh considering you are the one now splitting those hairs. Synonymous no longer means synonymous, despite the fact our beloved dictionary says so, hmmm. It is most interesting to see someone who enjoys hammering so loudly and so frequently about dictionary definitions reduced to saying something like that.
…they can't be used interchangeably and I will split no more hairs on exactly what the difference is.
And here is of course what it amounts to; you have completely avoided any meaningful attempt to demonstrate an actual difference. In fact, it is readily apparent
you are the one who has invoked the hairsplitting game. I am encouraged you have decided to stop, as it was a [not so] clever tactic from the start, haha.
The hairsplitting is getting on my nerves, but well gosh, it looks like I can have it both ways!
If it’s getting on your nerves then be more careful in the future to not make unsupported claims and expect people to simply bow and nod. As for thinking you can actually have it both ways; not really, the rest of your post had nothing to do at all with the synonyms spoken of earlier, recall you refused to ‘play that game’.
Additionally, you made the claim that suicide
is generally illegal but have only provided one [poor] example. I was not aware that general rules were derived from single observations, but then I'm not much a scientist either, haha. Now, I understand you are highly Americentric from previous discussions and so I have decided I will bow and nod to the correctness of your assertion as soon as you actually support it by showing a majority of the North American States do in fact hold it to be illegal. By taking the time to support what you say you may demonstrate fact is on your side as opposed to simply claiming they are.
Boulderhead, the definition from Blacks that you posted says nothing at all about whether suicide itself is illegal or not, so it does not support your assertion that it says it is not.
Well then why not show where the PA code says it is?
Try some of these for starters;
The United Kingdom decriminalized suicide and attempted suicide in the Suicide Act of 1961.
By the early 1990s only two USA states still listed suicide as a crime, and these have since removed that classification. Increasingly, the term commit suicide is being consciously avoided, as it implies that suicide is a crime by equating it with other acts that are committed, such as murder or burglary.
Taken from;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide#Legal_views_of_suicide
In America until recently suicide was a criminal offense in most jurisdictions, often characterized as a crime of moral turpitude.
Recently, however, almost all states, Utah among them, have decriminalized suicide and attempted suicide.
Taken from; http://www.utahbar.org/rules_ops_pols/ethics_opinions/op_95.html
Until then, anyone found guilty of attempted suicide in Canada – and in many other countries – could face jail time. The federal government decriminalized suicide and attempted suicide in 1972.
Taken from; http://www.focusonals.com/the_fight_for_the_right_to_die.htm
Oh yes, patriotism and nationalism remain synonymous (by definition, of course).
I have some problems similar to what you briefly mentioned, so maybe we can even help each other.
