Wednesday, 24 June 2015

meaning - Explicit vs Specific

Recently I asked on the personal productivity



Is there specifically a reason why there isn't an ADHD tag?



The context here, being that people with ADHD have issues with productivity, and that the ADHD tag didn't exist on the site. Searching the meta didn't show any reasons for this. I thought it might be possible that dealing with ADHD might not be on topic on the site.



Then afterwards I was considering whether explicit would have been a more appropriate word to use here.



Explicit (when not being used to denote adult content) is usually used as a contrast to implicit, making it clear that the thing was said out loud or put in writing.



eg.




I gave you explicit instructions not to engage.



The manual explicitly states not to turn the computer off at this stage.




Merriam-Webster gives this definition:




very clear and complete : leaving no doubt about the meaning



openly shown




Dictionary.reference gives a better definition:




fully and clearly expressed or demonstrated; leaving nothing merely implied; unequivocal:




Specific on the other hand, tends to denote detailing, or to distingush one item from another.



eg.




She told me to specifically press the red button, then the green button.



The boss told us that he wanted us specifically to work on the project. (Implying that he didn't want other teams working on the project).




Which word would have been more appropriate for my question, and what's the difference?

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