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Full Idea
Ostensive definitions look simple (say 'this stick is one meter long', while showing a stick), but they are effective only because a complex linguistic and conceptual capacity is operative in the background, of which it is hard to give an account.
Gist of Idea
Ostensive definitions look simple, but are complex and barely explicable
Source
Anil Gupta (Definitions [2008], 1.2)
Book Ref
'Stanford Online Encyclopaedia of Philosophy', ed/tr. Stanford University [plato.stanford.edu], p.3
A Reaction
The full horror of the situation is brought out in Quine's 'gavagai' example (Idea 6312)
Related Idea
Idea 6312 We can never precisely pin down how to translate the native word 'Gavagai' [Quine]