Words Matter
So one of my least favorite things is when I am debating with someone and they say "well that's just semantics," as though the meaning of words and what words you use is not important to the overall debate itself. But of course, semantics is incredibly important.
The meaning of words as we use them is constantly changing, but vital to what makes a society. Sociologists have studied how different groups create meaning and that what makes it a cohesive unit. So the value and meaning of words can make boundaries and create a culture.
An example of the punch that a word can hold is in this recent news story.
http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSL2868601720080229
An Israeli official, speaking about what they were going to do to people in Gaza if rocket fire from there did not stop, said that a "shoah" was going to happen to them. I was stunned when I heard the news story on the radio.
I became familiar with the word "shoah" when I was asked to write curriculum for the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. That was an organization in Southern California that was started by Steven Spielberg after Schindler's List to document survivor's stories of the Holocaust. I went down to Universal Studios about 6 years ago and worked with other teachers and even got to meet Steven Speilberg. By that point they had interviewed on tape about 50,00 survivors, and created DVD's and documentaries of some of the stories. The organization still exists, but now is part of USC. http://college.usc.edu/vhi/
This organization now works to document other genocides such as Rwanda and through education try to overcome prejudice, intolerance and bigotry. They still use the word "Shoah" in their title, which has been the Hebrew word for the Holocaust. According to dictionary.com, it comes from the Hebrew word for calamity or disaster.
So semantically, someone who was in the Israeli military used a word for the Holocaust as a threat. Wow.
My second example of word meaning is from our esteemed commander in chief.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080226/pl_afp/useconomybush_080226224122
About two weeks ago he declared at a press conference that we were not in a recession, but rather in a slow down.
Now I am teaching economics right now so I feel I need to educate our president. The normal goal of our economy is to be in growth, or what they call "expansion." A recession is when the growth slows down. That is, the economy is still growing but not growing as fast. In contrast, a depression is when the economy declines.
Now technically economists don't usually call it a recession until the slowing down happens for two quarters or more. So although I would like to correct our President Bush for saying we are not in a recession but a slow down by saying that a "slow down" IS a recession, it won't actually be a recession unless his "slow down" lasts for 6 months. But I was not impressed with our leaders grasp of economic definitions.
So dangit - semantics matter!! What words mean can change things completely. So pay attention.
The meaning of words as we use them is constantly changing, but vital to what makes a society. Sociologists have studied how different groups create meaning and that what makes it a cohesive unit. So the value and meaning of words can make boundaries and create a culture.
An example of the punch that a word can hold is in this recent news story.
http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSL2868601720080229
An Israeli official, speaking about what they were going to do to people in Gaza if rocket fire from there did not stop, said that a "shoah" was going to happen to them. I was stunned when I heard the news story on the radio.
I became familiar with the word "shoah" when I was asked to write curriculum for the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. That was an organization in Southern California that was started by Steven Spielberg after Schindler's List to document survivor's stories of the Holocaust. I went down to Universal Studios about 6 years ago and worked with other teachers and even got to meet Steven Speilberg. By that point they had interviewed on tape about 50,00 survivors, and created DVD's and documentaries of some of the stories. The organization still exists, but now is part of USC. http://college.usc.edu/vhi/
This organization now works to document other genocides such as Rwanda and through education try to overcome prejudice, intolerance and bigotry. They still use the word "Shoah" in their title, which has been the Hebrew word for the Holocaust. According to dictionary.com, it comes from the Hebrew word for calamity or disaster.
So semantically, someone who was in the Israeli military used a word for the Holocaust as a threat. Wow.
My second example of word meaning is from our esteemed commander in chief.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080226/pl_afp/useconomybush_080226224122
About two weeks ago he declared at a press conference that we were not in a recession, but rather in a slow down.
Now I am teaching economics right now so I feel I need to educate our president. The normal goal of our economy is to be in growth, or what they call "expansion." A recession is when the growth slows down. That is, the economy is still growing but not growing as fast. In contrast, a depression is when the economy declines.
Now technically economists don't usually call it a recession until the slowing down happens for two quarters or more. So although I would like to correct our President Bush for saying we are not in a recession but a slow down by saying that a "slow down" IS a recession, it won't actually be a recession unless his "slow down" lasts for 6 months. But I was not impressed with our leaders grasp of economic definitions.
So dangit - semantics matter!! What words mean can change things completely. So pay attention.
posted by Portia | 3/09/2008 11:03:00 PM
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