Not in a Vacuum

Here’s an interesting observation:

Language is often not literal…

Recently, while I was visiting a friend, he asked me if I was thirsty.

His exact words were ‘Are you thirsty?’ but he was not simply inquiring about my current state of hydration; he was offering me a drink.

We often speak like this.

We say one thing … a line, a sentence, a word… and by these, we infer a meaning far beyond the words which are actually spoken.

We say that we will crush our opponent in a game of chess.

We say that an idea blows our minds.

…And people understand.

My brother has never run away, afraid for his life, when I’ve threatened to crush him in a game of chess, because he knows I do not mean it literally.

Likewise, when I say that something blows my mind, no one has ever been concerned for my safety, because everyone knows the phrase is not meant literally.

Language truly seems to often not be literal.

It is rife with images, metaphors, stories, hyperboles, references, quotes, and inferred meaning.

We often mistakenly think these stylistic devices are reserved for poetry and songs. In reality, we are all poets, masters of language, wielding rhetoric as we craft masterpieces in our thoughts, in our speech, and in our writing.

This lack of literalism makes language very powerful, as it allows for infinite expression. At the same time, it also makes language quite complex and challenging to understand correctly, since one word, phrase, or sentence can have multiple meanings. Even the slightest difference in voice intonation can change how a word is understood.

As masters of language, we are generally able to decipher what is intended by the one communicating, despite the multiple meanings their words could convey.

Think of how dramatically the meaning of the line “I will crush you” changes when I utter it while holding a chessboard compared to when I am wielding a sledgehammer. The former is an invitation to a friendly competition; the latter is a violent death threat.

How can the exact same line differ so much in its meaning?

Perhaps it is because language does not exist in a vacuum. Its meaning is bound to the context within which it is being used; it is bound to who the speaker is, who the listener is, what the intended purpose is, and what genre is being utilized to convey the message.

Here is a fun little experiment you can try:

Listen to others talk.

Pay attention to how much of what they say is meant literally and how much extends beyond the words themselves.

To what extent is a line impacted by the setting within which it is spoken?

How would the meaning of the words change if they were uttered by a different person?

What if they were directed toward a different listener?

What if they were whispered, yelled, scoffed, or written? … how would that change the meaning?

What if the intent behind the words is changed? … what bearing would that have on their meaning?

I have found that the more I try to understand language, the more fascinated I become by its complexity. It amazes me that we humans are able to grasp language and use it to describe not only the world around us but also abstract thoughts and concepts that cannot be seen.

The bottom line is this:

Language does not exist in a vacuum.

We are all masters of language, and we often use it in an unliteral sense.

Context and the four other factors I mentioned play a major role in how we understand language.

Interested in language?

Click here to read about how language determines thought.