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Full Idea
Could I not know the use of an expression and fall in with it, mechanically, but without understanding it?
Gist of Idea
Could I successfully use an expression, without actually understanding it?
Source
William Lycan (Philosophy of Language [2000], Ch. 6)
Book Ref
Lycan,William G.: 'Philosophy of Language' [Routledge 2000], p.94
A Reaction
In a foreign country, you might successfully recite a long complex sentence, without understanding a single word. This doesn't doom the 'use' theory, but it means that quite a lot of detail needs to be filled in.