Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Thoughts On The Meaning Of Words
By: Donovan Baldwin
I think that most of us agree that words have meanings. The problem I have seen over my seven-plus decades on this Earth is that we tend to assign more meaning to certain words, nouns and verbs, and words that agree with our thoughts.
I don't know how many times I have seen big blow-ups over some statement, that was quoted over and over, but, without all the words that came with it, "what if", "could it be", "I suppose it's possible", and, "maybe", just to name a few.
People wonder, people speculate, people theorize possibilities (It's sometimes called "thinking", even "thinking out loud"...hmmmm.)
Anyway, they often do this, we all do this, without really meaning that the speculation whidh follows the modifying phrase, "maybe", and so on, be taken as our final and absolute say-so on any given subject.
Headlines, whether in the "news", or printed on images, are short to grab the reader's attention, and provoke interest. They seldom are meant to instruct or define.
So, if you see something on a social media site, or in the news, that sounds like a headline...it probably is...and, it's goal is NOT to inform, but, to hook your interest.
However, if you want to know the facts behind the headline, you'll have to do some "due diligence" and find out what actually was said or intended.
Do this a few times, and you might be surprised how many headlines don't really tell the truth.
I think that most of us agree that words have meanings. The problem I have seen over my seven-plus decades on this Earth is that we tend to assign more meaning to certain words, nouns and verbs, and words that agree with our thoughts.
I don't know how many times I have seen big blow-ups over some statement, that was quoted over and over, but, without all the words that came with it, "what if", "could it be", "I suppose it's possible", and, "maybe", just to name a few.
People wonder, people speculate, people theorize possibilities (It's sometimes called "thinking", even "thinking out loud"...hmmmm.)
Anyway, they often do this, we all do this, without really meaning that the speculation whidh follows the modifying phrase, "maybe", and so on, be taken as our final and absolute say-so on any given subject.
Headlines, whether in the "news", or printed on images, are short to grab the reader's attention, and provoke interest. They seldom are meant to instruct or define.
So, if you see something on a social media site, or in the news, that sounds like a headline...it probably is...and, it's goal is NOT to inform, but, to hook your interest.
However, if you want to know the facts behind the headline, you'll have to do some "due diligence" and find out what actually was said or intended.
Do this a few times, and you might be surprised how many headlines don't really tell the truth.
Labels: donovan baldwin, headlines, meanings of words, news, social media, telling the truth, words