specific and abstract labels

Calling ordinary things with more abstract or more specific labels sounds odd in ordinary situations. If I offer you a ride because I’ve brought my Tesla X, I’m showing off. If I tell you I’ve brought my vehicle, I’m being silly. If I ask you to put the animal out instead of the dog, I’m implying the dog is wild and beastly rather than docile and friendly. Languages have those more abstract and more specific labels for good reasons, but for everyday use, the middle level, the level of apple, car, and shirt, is preferred.

Parts form a bridge between perception and action, they are clues both to recognizing the object, and to function, to what they do or what we do with them, to our interactions with them.

categories and taxonomy

linked mentions for "specific and abstract labels":

1. categories and taxonomy
   linear structure who, what, and where set of categories from the literary philosopher Jorge Luis Borges example of poetic categories—taxonomy of the