2 According to Steven Pinker, a linguist and author of The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature, whatever language we do speak is the joint creation of millions. Pinker tells us language works because it reflects the world as we jointly experience it. Language does not just convey reality; it also has social functions. Pinker explains that because of our concern for our relationships, we frequently fail to say what we actually mean, opting to use indirect or ambiguous speech instead.
In your opinion, is it ethical to conceal words under veils of politeness and innuendo? Is it ethical to be calculatingly ambiguous? Would you, for example, use indirect speech to help another person save face? Would you use it to negotiate an agreement or treaty? Are some things better left unsaid?
Understanding Meaning’s Meaning
In talking to others, we often assume too quickly that they understand what we mean. There are many reasons, however, we may not be understood as we want to be. Simply put, the words we use can create barriers to understanding. In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, Humpty Dumpty and Alice have the following conversation:
“I don’t know what you mean by ‘glory,’” Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiles contemptuously, “Of course you don’t—till I tell you. I meant, ‘There’s a nice knock-down argument for you!’”
“But ‘glory’ doesn’t mean ‘A nice knock-down argument,’” Alice objected.
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
When presented with the word “bark,” are you more likely to picture a dog or a tree?
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We can make words mean whatever we want them to mean. Nothing stops us—except our desire to share meaning with others.
Meanings are Both Denotative and Connotative
We may experience a problem in communication if we consider only our own meaning for a word. Although we know what we mean, the crucial question is: What do our words bring to mind for those with whom we are communicating?
When we think about what language means, we must think in terms of both denotative (objective or dictionary) meaning and connotative (subjective or personal) meaning. Although each word has a dictionary definition, your own experiences influence the meanings you assign to words. That is, your connotative meanings vary according to your own feelings for the object or concept you are considering.
Meaning is Dated
Every noteworthy event, particularly catastrophes, catapults words into everyday speech and dictionaries. September 11, 2001, was no exception. When the American Dialect Society met to decide the top or newly reconditioned words of the year, “9/11” was voted the expression most likely to last.
Not all words’ meanings persist, however. For example, in the 1940s, if you were well dressed, people might say you looked spiffy. In the 1960s, they might say you looked swell. A few years ago, they might say, “You’re on fleek.” What we used to refer to as awesome now is termed dope.8 Words lose their luster for other reasons too. For example, at Princeton University, the term for the leaders of residential colleges was changed from master to head, at least in part because of the former term’s associations with slavery.9
Words come and go from dictionaries. Now that many Internet-inspired expressions have crossed over into everyday use, the Oxford English Dictionary approved the addition of the following acronyms to its latest edition: OMG (oh, my God!), LOL (laughing out loud), and BFF (best friends forever). Also added was ego-surfing (the practice of searching for your own name on the Internet).10
Skill Builder
A Time Capsule for Words
1 Briefly define each of the following terms:NetHooking upCougarRapColbert BumpSpamMcJobStraightCrack
2 Show the list without definitions to your parents, older relatives, or older friends, and ask them to provide definitions for the words.
3 Compare your meaning for each term with the meanings given by others. Why do you suppose their meanings differed from yours?
4 Pretend it is now the year 2030. On a separate sheet of paper, create a new meaning for each word listed.
Many “old” words acquire vivid new meanings every decade or so. Viruses today are not just germs spread from person to person, but malicious software that can spread instantaneously from one computer to computers globally.11 Consequently, when we use a word that referred to a particular object at a particular time, we should attempt to determine if it still means the same thing now.
Meaning is Locational
Words’ meanings also change from one region of the country to another. For example, what would you envision having if you were to stop for a soda? For an egg cream? What each word brings to mind probably depends on the region of the country you grew up in.
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In some parts of the United States, soda refers to a soft drink, but in others it refers to a concoction of ice cream and a soft drink. In some sections of the country, egg cream refers to a mixture of seltzer, syrup, and milk, but elsewhere it conjures up the image of an egg mixed with cream.
Do you have examples of situations where place influences the meaning of words?
Experience Influences Meaning
We assign meanings to words based on our past experiences with the words and the things they represent. Consider the word cancer, for example. If you were dealing with three people in a hospital—a surgeon, a patient, and a statistician—how do you imagine each would react to this word? The surgeon might think about operating procedures or diagnostic techniques, or about how to tell a patient that he or she has cancer. The patient might think about the odds for recovery and might well be frightened. The statistician might see cancer as an important factor in life expectancy tables.
Experience also influences whether it is appropriate for us to use jargon or slang.
Jargon
A specialized vocabulary of technical terms that is shared by a community of users, such as the members of a profession, is called jargon. For example, whereas physicians commonly use medical terminology when communicating with other doctors, it is probably inappropriate for them to assume that their patients would understand such terms. In fact, 9 out of 10 adults report finding the medical advice that their physicians provided to them incomprehensible. As a result, federal and state officials advise public health professionals to simplify the language they use to communicate with the public. Instead of warning a patient of hyperpyrexia after a