Like I posted above at #18, desiring the "common man" as my audience is a gene that has apparently been ripped from my DNA. The entirety of my life experience is carefully examining trends and sprinting as fast as I can in the opposite direction.
While off topic (sort of), I feel this explanation (please read this entire thread sometime) very well done. Kudos to @GDJMSP.
you could spout gibberish all day long and get the same response... although I am not sure where gibberish and your last definition are different
Perhaps, but by being a hyper-contrarian, I may suffer from lemming fur from the ventral side of lemmings on my clothing, but I shan't be crushed on the rocks below.
Johndoe2000$, posted: I was actually replying to the thread title." DEFINE CLEANING", not writing an essay. and I've noticed that some used the word "item" to describe what is being cleaned. Are people, pets, etc... considered. Items? YES! We clean them all. My foot, a dog's tail, a babies head, a car tire, etc.. We are trying to come up with a UNIVERSAL definition of a word. Dictionary = Free from dirt or filth; free from defect or blemish; pure or non adulterated. Note that in the dictionary definition no mention is made of the dog's tail, feet, tires, or babies! That's what we seek, a short, concise, simple, and universal sentence that covers EVERYTHING. That's not wacky. That was the challenge. Johndoe2000$, continued: To appease the grammar powers that be, CLEANING IS... removing foreign objects/ materials. Now do I at least get a passing grade? There is no passing grade, you are the teacher. IMO, this approach is much better for your students: "CLEANING IS... removing foreign objects/materials." (from an item )
I have faith you'll figure it out. That's because at the end of this challenge, I'll bet we will all be in agreement with something posted right at the beginning which IMO is the best and most universal so far.
I'm just a student and I understood/agree with your definition of cleaning. Since there is still some action here, I'm going to wait a little longer to post what I thought up. Where is @GDJMSP he is a great teacher.
Have all the fun you want, but I did EXACTLY that. In other words: There's nothing wrong with America that can't be solved by requiring all high school graduates to be conversant in the Laws of Thermodynamics before being granted a diploma.
mikenoodle, posted: "You could spout gibberish all day long and get the same response... although I am not sure where gibberish and your last definition are different." Since you are acting as the class instructor, what do you think about this definition? Cleaning - A process by which an item is liberated from any debris, dirt, or other unwanted material or finish. I like it. It is close to mine or anything I've posted so where is the "gibberish" in this thread. Curt's replies don't count.
So the guy who uses "liberated" accuses me of gibberish. Oy vey. So you aren't conversant on the Laws of Thermodynamics? Sad, really.
This was written in reply to this: You're the teacher in this thread, @Insider. I'm merely the "A" student sitting in the back of the class.
Everything. Cleaning is a process by which many living organisms interrupt the otherwise relentless flow to more and more entropy. In fact, I'd call it, and I did, the definition of it. Alas, as the 2nd Law teaches us, all they do is accelerate entropy elsewhere.
And neither scare me one little bit. One is inevitable, and the other, if it happens, nobody needs to care. Instant vaporization is the BEST outcome in that case.