Ground Or Floor?

Laying on the ground and floor is a great hobby of mine. Now, some may suppose that I was a little redundant right there by saying 'ground or floor'. Aren't those synonyms that mean the same thing? Yes, they are synonyms, but no, they most definitely are not the same. They are both generic terms, governing many specific types of that hard stuff that keeps you from falling in to the abyss. 'Ground' includes all those substances that are out of doors, and usually occur naturally. Examples would be grass, dirt, sand, rock, and generally any type of terrain you might encounter, with the notable exception of water masses. 'Floor', on the other hand, includes such substances that one would find indoors, such as carpet, wood, concrete, linoleum, and other such materials that one might run across in a building. Simple enough, right? Well, not so fast. Here the astute reader who is prone to question simple definitions may come up with some questions. What about pavement, roads, and sidewalk which are outdoor yet man-made? Would a road be considered floor or ground? Notice the fact that all the indoor floors are man-made is purely coincidental. What matters mostly is that it is ex fores, out of doors, and intended to be used thusly. You would never consider acting like you were in a building while in the middle of the street. Pavement and asphalt and other such things of like nature are assuredly ground.

Another question may be posed: What if we take wood flooring and place it outside for a porch, or use stone or brick for a patio? That would be considered floor. Why? Because it is put there for use other than the basic utility of a ground substance: specifically, as a sort of outdoor room so to speak, an extra living room, but without walls or roof (though in the case of the porch there may be a roof as well). What if we had a crude hut built with just plain ole dirt for the floor? What would you call the dirt? It's just like the dirt outside, but the only difference is it's covered by a structure. That is still just a floor. That's why we call it a dirt floor.

As you can see, it is the purpose of a substance that makes it either ground or floor. In general, floors are indoors while ground is outdoors, except with a few exceptions such as porches and certain patios. And that, my friend, is why you can say you enjoy laying on the ground and floor without being redundant.