the.com/specificity
The difference between 'I'll call you' and never hearing from them again.
means The quality of being precise and exact rather than vague — naming the particular detail instead of waving at the general idea.
from Traces back to the Latin 'species' (a particular kind, appearance, or form), which also gave us 'species' and 'special.' 'Specificus' was coined in Medieval Latin by grafting '-ficus' (making) onto that root, literally meaning 'making a particular kind.' English borrowed the adjective 'specific' in the 1600s for anything precisely defined, and the noun 'specificity' followed as a more technical, abstract cousin — the measurable quality of being exact rather than general.
- vague vs specific
- 'Let's hang out' dies; 'Tuesday, 7pm, tacos' lives
- writing rule
- a name beats a noun, always
- science version
- how well a test avoids false alarms
- the irony
- the more specific, the more universal it feels