From: dnomhcir@gmx.com   
      
   D  writes:   
      
   > On Wed, 7 Aug 2024, Richmond wrote:   
   >   
   >> oldernow  writes:   
   >>   
   >>> On 2024-08-07, Richmond  wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> You say we revise meanings, but what actually happens   
   >>>> is meanings change gradually. So over time a meaning can   
   >>>> change, but that's not the same as a subgroup of people   
   >>>> getting together and deciding to define a word. Even   
   >>>> having defined a word its usage will remain the same,   
   >>>> and its usage is what truely defines it. There are many   
   >>>> examples from law I should think where the legal meaning   
   >>>> of a word is different from its general usage.   
   >>>   
   >>> I think that's even more insidious than generally accepted,   
   >>> in that individuals perform the assignment/revision of   
   >>> meaning to word symbols in real time, including in the   
   >>> simplest of conversation, which to me is the main source   
   >>> of communication contention.   
   >>   
   >> I noticed recently that Richard Dawkins defined sex as male if there is   
   >> a Y chromosome, although sometimes he says 'biological sex'. The word   
   >> sex, as in the state of being male or female, was used in 1382 in John   
   >> Wycliffe's Bible translation. Chromosomes weren't discovered until the   
   >> 19th century.   
   >>   
   >   
   > Dawkins?!? I'm honored and consider myself in great company! I use   
   > that definition too! =) Great minds think alike, as the saying goes!   
      
   "Just looking at the presence of a Y chromosome on its own does not   
   answer the question of whether someone is male or female,” says Prof   
   Alun Williams, who researches genetic factors related to sport   
   performance at the Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of   
   Sport.   
      
   "It’s obviously a very good marker, as most people with a Y chromosome   
   are male…but it’s not a perfect indicator."   
      
   For some people with DSD, the Y chromosome is not a fully formed typical   
   male Y chromosome. It may have some genetic material missing, damaged or   
   swapped with the X chromosome, depending on the variation.   
      
   When it comes to being male or female, what is usually crucial is a   
   specific gene called SRY - which stands for ‘sex-determining region of   
   the Y chromosome’.   
      
   https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crlr8gp813ko   
      
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