Unless the rules explicitly expand, narrow, or completely redefine a word, that word retains the meaning it has in idiomatic English. #DnD
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) November 1, 2016
Unless the rules explicitly expand, narrow, or completely redefine a word, that word retains the meaning it has in idiomatic English. #DnD
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) November 1, 2016
This from the man who rules that you cannot kill a Vampire in Mist Form by casting Create or Destroy Water to destroy fog in a 30 foot radius, because – despite fog and mist being the same thing (one is just denser than the other) and frequently being interchangeable in “idiomatic English” – he argues that the spell specifically mentions fog, NOT mist, and therefor can’t affect mist.
I honestly don’t think someone who can’t recognize their own lack of internal consistency should be in charge of writing the rules of D7D. You don’t need to be 100% correct all the time, but you at least need to be willing to admit when you make mistakes, and correct your inconsistencies.