Hey,

I was discussing semantics with a work colleague and the issue of what to a word that one uses to refer to an object. I remember a brief statement of which a philosopher made but I am not sure of the exact wording or who said it, but I believe it was Descartes, and it went something along the lines of; "I call this bench a bench but the name doesn't stick."

Does anyone know who actually said it and what the actual statement was, and are there any references?