"Ом" (ʿāmm) ifodasini harfiy ma'noda ishlatilganda, o'zi nazarda tutgan narsalarning barchasiga nisbatan to'liq umumiy bo'lgan ibora deb ta'riflash mumkin. 52 Biroq "ʿāmm" iboralari majoziy ma'noda ishlatilganda muayyan narsalarga ishora qilishi mumkin. "Xoss" (khaass), aksincha, cheklangan miqdordagi narsalarga qo'llanadigan so'z uchun ishlatiladi; masalan, agar kimgadir o'nta kambag'alni ovqatlantirish buyurilsa, bu ibora "xoss" bo'ladi. 53

The ‘aamm could be defined as an expression which is completely general in whatever it refers to when used literally. 52 However, ‘aamm expressions may refer to specific things when they are used figuratively. The khaass, on the other hand, is used for a word which is applied to a limited number of things; for instance, if one were ordered to feed ten poor people, that expression would be khaass. 53

Shuni e'tiborga olish kerakki, ba'zi 'aamm iboralar boshqalariga qaraganda kengroqdir. Masalan, erkaklar toifasi o'z ichiga oladigan insonlar toifasidan kichikdir. Insonlar toifasi esa sutemizuvchilar toifasidan kichik, sutemizuvchilar toifasi hayvonlar toifasidan kichik va hokazo. 54 Agar 'aamm ibora boshqa, undan cheklangan 'aamm ibora yoki khaass ibora bilan cheklangan yoki tor doirага keltirilgan bo'lsa, bu jarayon takhsees deb ataladi, cheklovchi ibora esa kengroq toifaning mukhassisi deb ataladi.