Full Idea
We must allow ordinary speech to use inexact terms, as it does not seek after what is really true but what is supposed to be true. We speak of digging a well or weaving a cloak, but there is no well or cloak when they are being dug or woven.
Gist of Idea
Ordinary speech is not exact about what is true; we say we are digging a well before the well exists
Source
Sextus Empiricus (Against the Logicians (two books) [c.180], II.129)
Book Reference
Sextus Empiricus: 'Against the Logicians', ed/tr. Bury,R.G. [Harvard Loeb 1997], p.305
A Reaction
Nice examples. The imprecision is reduced if I say I am creating a well, because that implies something that is not yet complete. If I say I intend to dig a well, is that imprecise because the well does not exist?