No I can do that! Iam just not as smart as you.

Dear evolution,

That's unfortunate.

However, Thank You for your wise words and,
Goodbye, Zaijian, Bonsoir, Adieu, Auf Wiedersehen, Arrivederci,
Do Svidanya and Adios...

Don't be like that Foxy! I would miss your insights very much so. To be open minded, is to be human, and no one can blame you or anyone else for that. This is what this site is all about, and its not a case of you verses me, but more on the lines of what the best for human kind. May your god be with you. If you are a island of right, then we must be all wrong.

Be happy and love all that you see, it doesnt mean we have to like it.

Dear evolution,

I'm not trying to "be like that." I think that there has been a misunderstanding here. You gave the topic of this thread as "words."
And I took it seriously. I gave you several examples of how words predispose us to make particular interpretations of reality. Which was what I thought you wanted.

Yet you asked, "Is that all you've got?" I didn't realize that this was some sort of competition . I thought you wanted the forum's
contributors thoughts on the topic. Which is what I gave you.

Language to me is the keystone to culture. Without it, culture could not exist. Culture, by definition, is shared, and without the medium of the spoken word, complex patterns of thought, emotion, knowledge, and belief could not be passed from individual to individual or generation to generation.

When an animal dies, everything it has learned from experience perishes with it. But language gives human beings a history - access to the social experience and accumulated knowledge of the generations that have gone before.

Equally important, language enables us to give meaning to the world.
Events in themselves have no meaning: we impose meaning on them by interpreting the evidence of our senses. Without language, all but the most rudimentary forms of thought are impossible. With language we can apply reason to the world. We can think logically from premises to conclusions: we can categorize; we can order our experience; we can contemplate the past and the future; the abstract and the hypothetical; we can formulate and utter ideas that are entirely new. Nearly all that we learn in human culture is learned through language in social interaction with others.

It is through language that we become cultured and thus fully human.

But, if you still don't understand what I was trying to say, or you really think that I'm "smarter than you," well that I can't do anything about.

Happy New Year and may 2008 be a good year for us all!

Words - their meanings, etymology, changing status, altered meanings - all are a passion of mine.

Teaching in a university where English is a second language therefore is a constant learning process for me and gives me insights I never had before. I learn lessons about the difference between spoken and written English words almost daily and have come to realise just how language barriers are erected.

In my own University I noticed how the Chinese students never intermingled with the Westerners and learned of the bias on both sides which prevented this. The Chinese, it was believed, were elitist, stand-offish and uninterested in integration. The Westerners in turn were thought to be exclusionary, unfriendly, rude and uninterested in integration. Yet talking to groups from both camps did not support these views and both sides genuinely showed curiosity and a willingness to integrate.

To simplify - it could all be said to be the fault of outdated text-books!.

I have students in class who, when describing a mate, will refer to them as "comely" or "amiable". Food is always "delicious" or "tasty",
and the response to any greeting whatsoever is "I'm fine thanks and you?"

Imagine then when one of these kids walks up to a group of Western peers and, in response to a laconic "What's happening?" or "G'day" responds, formally and politely "I'm fine thanks, and you?" Then goes on to compliment one on their comely appearance, thanks another for their amiability in inviting them to a delicious meal and earnestly starts searching in a hip pocket for change when asked to "Gimme Five".

As a consequence I have learned that to teach language without teaching culture as well has done many of these people a disservice and that the differences between spoken and written words must be driven home clearly.

Sad that words are unwittingly helping erect barriers rather than overcoming them.

Hi Foxy, you gave the right examples and its my fault for the misunderstanding, I just didn't understand what your little story was about, so I better get right to the point. Where will it all end to the multiple meanings for words. Will the dictionary grow in size or will it become smaller as time goes on. And also, how can one make a clear interpretation of what we read on the net, without the added advantages of the human face?

And as you maybe aware, some threads on here fall into disarray because of the lack of human expressions to go with the words.
I don't think text messages is such a hot idea either, so where will it all end and what will be the chosen tongue of the future?
Maybe abbreviations could be the new words, cause the dictionary is getting a little thick.