The context here is colloquial speech
In which case, the meaning does not become ambiguous as the context is generally assumed to be understood.
( rofl harris, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 13:03, 1 reply)

Hey, if you're happy for the listener or reader to have to have a second of thinking "aaah, he doesn't know what random means, he is using it in the silly way that idiots do", I'm happy to indulge you in your colloquialism.

"Random" is a particularly stupid one though, as it is actually used in a way that misunderstands the term, rather than, say, being deliberately used in an opposite context, in the way that "wicked" or "sick" have been. Random still means something very specific, and no other term is in common usage to cover what random actually means, so yeah, I get slightly niggled at its misuse.
(clinteastwoodbradfield, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 13:09, closed)

Quite. I do understand that the meaning of words evolve and change naturally. But where do you draw the line between being pedantic and being concerned about losing use of defined, useful words?
(tomegranate, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 13:13, closed)

Meaning is not lost in this case
As is the case for all colloquial speech, context is everything:

"I chatted to a random girl at the bar" - I talked to a girl with whom I had not previously been acquainted.

"I saw a donkey in the street. How random" - I saw a donkey in the street. How unexpected.

Where you draw the line depends on your audience, and most definitely if used in formal speech.
( rofl harris, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 13:37, closed)

But it has an intended meaning that confuses what random actually means. It is possible to talk to a random girl in a bar: "right, I dare you to chat up the next girl who comes out of the girls toilets" is an example of how that could occur.

Brevity improves most sentences, and I think "I was talking to a girl in the pub" clearly implies that the girl was previously unknown. Adding "random" muddies the waters, either by confusing people as to what random actually means, or by making people have to do a slight bit of working out that you didn't actually mean "random"
(clinteastwoodbradfield, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 13:57, closed)

Actually
'"I was talking to a girl in the pub" clearly implies that the girl was previously unknown. ' is horsehit.

It could also very well mean that the girl is unknown to the person being spoken to at that point, but not unknown to the person saying it.

'I was talking to a girl I didn't know in the pub' vs 'I was talking to a girk you don't know in the pub'.

If you weren't being such a pain in the arse, i really wouldn't be bothering with this, but you're clearly unsuited to B3ta. Or at least this section of B3ta this week, and I have nothing better to do in the office this afternoon.

I'll go back to my original point, the very question itself talks about the note on the rubble. The example given is not random, it is not intended to imply random in it's pure definition and if you are going to rail against it in the context it is clearly used and intended and against every answer that doesn't fit the way you think random must only be used, you are in for a long and frustrating week.

In fact, stick around, it'll be fun to watch you suffer.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 15:14, closed)

"the example given is not random, is clearly not intended to imply random" and there, in a nutshell, is my problem with the term. Not with B3ta, not with the individuals posting in the spirit of the thread, choosing to ignore that they are doing the equivalent of posting "it rained on my wedding day" in a QOTW about irony, but with the attitude of "well, we know it doesn't mean what we are using it to mean, but it doesn't matter anyway" - it's just a bit lazy, some people think it does matter a bit, and the QOTW could easily have been called "coincidences" or "bizarre"

To be honest, I am as bored as you this afternoon, but I don't need to get personal about it. As I said, It is just something that niggles me. I even tried to get in to the spirit of it to start with but the sheer quantity of non-random random stories irritated me to a slight extent.

I like a lot of the stories already, I think the theme isn't a bad one at all, just don't like the silly title
(clinteastwoodbradfield, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 15:27, closed)

It's a word.
Not a 'term' or 'phrase'...

...OK, I am doing it on purpose now. Let's draw a line under it.


...Grandad...
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 15:32, closed)

I
I get slightly niggled turn into a interminable dullard and overwhelming cockbite at its misuse
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Thu 21 Apr 2011, 13:15, closed)