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rlk said:To beat the broken skeleton of a decomposed horse...
Analogy:
I like trees and forests and even know that there are Coniferous and Deciduous Trees. There are only a few species that I'm familiar with however, maybe a Pine and a Spruce and a Maple and an Oak. I have no specialized scientific education. Now I go into another forest where there are lots of different species of trees though they are superficially similar. Can I identify all of the specific species correctly? I go to the West. I've seen a lot of Pines, can I now tell you which tree is a Hemlock, Douglas Fir, Sequoia, etc. etc. or an Aspen, Birch or Poplar? I'm not going to be able to write a Field Guide. All those things with needles are only evergreens to me even though I'm a real Tree Hugger.
This is exaggerated for effect, but illustrates why just because a lot of hats are classified by a lot of people as Fedoras, that doesn't make for an effective (or correct)definition. "I know one when I see one" only works if you know enough before you begin to look.
Hats ain't trees. Trees are of a particular species by nature, not by human definition. Gotta do the reproduction thing, etc. A hemlock knows hemlock pollen from spruce pollen, whether we do or not, or no matter what we call it.
It doesn't work quite the same way with things of human manufacture, such as hats. What is or is not a member of that particular category of hats called "fedora" is entirely up to the speakers of the language. Some (such as many of us here) will have a more refined understanding, for sure, but we don't get to decide for everybody else.