WORD power

by Terry 23 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Terry

  While I agree with alot of your post I have to point out that communication is dependant on the forum. For instance on a "chat" board wouldn't you agree a casual, free form, communication structure is common and expected? Where as a term paper would have an entirely different feel?

  That's a tough one.

  The word "chat" certainly suggests informality. But, "discussion" has a bit more of a serious tone.

  I'd say it has to depend on the seriousness of the subject matter. For an example I'd use this general rule. When somebody makes a statement that has far-reaching consequences and that statement misleads; then, it becomes serious.

  But, on mere opinion topics---it is just air chasing after air after all.

  When I jump on a topic I very often forget to be personable. What comes through is a lazy and unforgiveable tone of chiding, chastising or fault-finding. With a bit of extra effort I could say the same things and it wouldn't chafe nearly as badly. It requires energy to craft a thought and leave the humanity in. Words by themselves can be very cold and hollow. The humanity has to be mixed in like a chef seasons soup.

  T.
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  LittleToe

  I, for one, like the personable "Terry". I don't always agree with what he says, but it's always though-provoking.

  Keep up the good work, for although we often cross swords I wouldn't have it any other way. You're truly appreciated
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  tijkmo

  yer..wot e sed
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  Rod P

  Gee Terry, I've always admired your command of the English language. And some of the topics we have all bandied about can be rather trickey at times, requiring some rather subtle shades of meaning. Attention to small details can lead to new breakthroughs in thoughts and ideas.

  Another thing, "Truth" in whatever form is "profoundly simple, yet simply profound". There is a true story about a man who discovered this "truth". He heard the slogan "You are what you eat." It sounded true to him, but he wanted to know exactly how and why that was true. He enrolled in some University courses, studying biochemistry, nutrition and the chemistry of food. He spent the first six months learning a whole, strange, new vocabulary surrounding these subjects. They became the tools by which he began to comprehend a world he had never seen or heard before. After a year or so, he found that he was able to comprehend and plummet the depths of the orginal premise "You are what you eat." The only problem was that while he could wax eloquent for hours on this topic, very few could understand what he was saying, except for his colleagues immersed in the same subjects as he was. However, after working with this subject matter for an extended period of time, he found he was able to distill this technical jargon into much simpler language.

  When he was first introduced to the simple concept, he grasped it from a position of naivete. As he pursued this "truth" and plummeted its depths, he emerged on the other side with a profound insight of the same "truth". It is quite refreshing and revealing when you hear the words of someone who understands a "profound truth" at a profound level, but has the ability to distill it down into a simple explanation that all (most) can comprehend, while revealing and implying the profound nature of that simple truth.

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  My dad once taught me an important lesson about vocabulary: This was very important to me, so I memorized it:

  "In promulgating your esoteric cogitations or articulating your superficial sentimentalities, beware of platitudinous ponderosity. Eschew all conglomerations of flatulent garrulity, jejune babblement and assinine affectations. Let your conversational communications bear a clarified conciseness, a concatenated cogency, a compact comprehensibility, and a coalescent consistency."

  Freely translated: "Don't use big words when you talk!"

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  Sign posted:

  "Pedal habiliments artistically lubricated and illuminated with ambidextrous facility for the infinitesimal remuneration of five cents per operator."

  In other words: "Shoe Shine Five Cents" LOL

  Rod P.
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  Terry

  I, for one, like the personable "Terry". I don't always agree with what he says, but it's always though-provoking.

  Keep up the good work, for although we often cross swords I wouldn't have it any other way. You're truly appreciated

  Awwwwwwwwwww....shucks...........
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  bikerchic

  I ain't very good with words, but I still manage to get my point across. I hate reading or speaking with someone who uses big words, well even those tiny ones that I don't understand. I really want to ask them to please speak english so I can understand them. I guess that would be speak lower english or just dumb it down for me.......

  Reading is a bit easier at least I can look up the big words in the dictionary and get a proper understanding of what I'm reading but honestly they could have used an easier word and saved me the bother.

  I just don't care for all that hypergibulating which means people who try to impress you with words.

  Just me I know I'm weird.

  K.I.S.S.
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  Confession

  Anyone reading my posts will find I frequently comment on the subject of human temperament. Our differences fascinate me. The present understanding is that we are all born with a "temperament," that our life's experience brings "character," and the merging of the two results in our own distinct "personality." Similarly it seems clear to me that different people possess different fixations. Were we born with it, or was a deep impression made upon us in youth? Either way, we focus on certain things more and other things less.

  As a child it was clear to my teachers that I was preoccupied with all things verbal. It's still clear to my friends, many of whom like to tease me over my use of words with which they're unfamiliar. I imagine that this preoccupation was what caused me to make my career in broadcasting, then later as a writer. While my writing has been primarily confined to advertising, I've spent many years learning how to create campaigns that are both different and verbally engaging. (At least to me.) But I'm convinced that what is underneath this fixation is less a peculiar love of words--and more a deep desire to be understood. Sure, I've come to love words, but only as a means to an end. I've been aware since my late teens that nothing is more stimulating (to me) than my reflecting on something not usually expressed, articulating it thoughtfully, and (this is the really good part) receiving nods, smiles and appreciative comments in return.

  Ironically, as an Idealist, I'm also preoccupied with authenticity. I simply hate the idea of my coming across as affected. Therefore, although I will occasionally use words others don't know, more often I am trying to express complex thoughts as simply as possible.

  Terry, I share your thoughts on how most people express themselves today. I'm constantly surprised at how few people are capable of putting words together well. As you wrote, we all make mistakes, but when every third word is misspelled, and when there is no adherence to the basic rules of grammar, it can be shocking. It seems clear to me that many of these people are not unintelligent; they just don't place importance on such things. And perhaps it's because, for one reason or another, they were not emphasized strongly to them when young. Or perhaps because they don't have the same need I have: to be understood.
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  prophecor

  Great topic, Terry.

  Words, to me, are like tools. Being a mechanic, I recognize their importance. They are no less important to me, than the tools I use in real life. If I'm not effectively conveying my message, if I have to repeat myself over and over again, then I'm spending more energy than would be necessary, if I'd have channelled my thoughts properly, the first time.

  Words can have a sense of rhythm and cadence when thoughtfully strung together. They have energy in them. I'm often amazed at the Hip Hop culture who use rap as a means of communicating there ideas. With no skill required in order to sing a tune, they can spew words with rhythm and form that almost defy imagination. Though I'm no fan of rap music by any means, I respect there ability to shape and formulate words, attach them to beats and rhythms and breath life into them.

  Words, they can bring about a laugh, they can move us to tears, they can inspire confidence, provoke you to anger, encourage you to kill. They're supposed to get us to think. In the hands of the right person, they have the power to bring about change, for good or bad.

  Look what happened when we once read the literature from the WTBTS.

  Words cannot be overlooked, when they are, we have lost our audience and our message may just have well been spoken into the air.
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  Podiatrist

  Didn't Confucius say something along the lines of "He who has mastery of the words has mastery over people's minds" ??? Anyone knows something about it??
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  Narkissos

  Ivan Illich, in an essay called "Vernacular Values," discusses the politics behind the standardization of language. Nebrija's Castillian grammar, the first grammar of the vernacular tongue, appeared in 1492----the year in which the Jews were expelled from Spain, and in which Columbus set off upon his voyage of discovery. The standardization of the unbound and ungoverned common speech became a tool of discrimination and a weapon of conquest.

  There are -- at least -- two opposite forces struggling within "word power": centripetal vs. centrifugal, unity vs. dissemination (cf. Babel)... formal censorship vs. creation?