• Mr_Blott
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    9 hours ago

    College is free, uni isn’t

    Not our fault just one country uses the word incorrectly

    • LandedGentry@lemmy.zip
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      8 hours ago

      I don’t understand why that matters ultimately? The point is “free” is not a good word for it, whether it’s college or university. It’s not “free” and we don’t call anything else we pay for with taxes “free.” All it does is create an easy attack vector for detractors and misrepresent it.

      • Vinstaal0@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        I feel like it depends on your translation and how you define “free”.

        I like to compare it to the differences between expenses and costs. Which is something people often confuse. Expenses are talking about the outflow of money and costs are talking about the effect of it on the bottom line.

        “Free” education is free, because it’s not an expense it can be considered and indirect cost. It might never be something that is paid if you never pay taxes for whatever reason.

        People also consider their social security income free because they don’t need to do more for it than filling in a form often online

    • half_fiction@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      8 hours ago

      You’re missing the point. They’re saying it’s not free, it’s funded by the government/tax dollars.

      Also languages develop regionally and sometimes use different words. It’s so 2010 to assert regional differences are “wrong.” Gag me with a spoon.