smbdoll
Member
|
Rawr and Such
By Circe
Language is a funny thing. Speech is the primary way we communicate and communication is considered a foundation of society. However, not only are there multiple languages and dialects across the globe, but there are even different manners of speech within a country or a community. How do we function, considering that we can barely understand each other? I offer you the following: a charming anecdote.
I was at work, emailing back and forth with one of my co-workers regarding a planning meeting we were having that afternoon and at one point, I responded with nothing more than "Woot!" Their reply was "I have no idea what that means." My first inclination was to send them a link to a bunny with a pancake on its head. What I did instead was explain what it meant and then sit and think about how ironic that exchange had been. Granted, my response came from the hours I spend moderating the forums, which has increased my familiarity with internet jargon - I remember my first days on the forums when I was so confused as to why people kept exclaiming "wow" oddly. Turns out it was WoW, as in World of Warcraft. Knowledge really is power, friends.
As time went on and as I spent more time interacting with forum members and cleaning out threads, I learned more about the various internet speech patterns. I learned about their particular brand of slang and the 1337 style, and some of it has apparently seeped into my every day vocabulary. That made me wonder why we develop alternate diction. Does it really make sense to try to communicate in so many ways? Not just Russian versus Swedish versus English, but the myriad of colloquialisms that exist. How can we expect to understand each other on a basic level if we don't speak the same language?
Allow me to offer an alternate perspective. Diversity is an amazing thing; it lends variety and tolerance to the world. Diversity in language is just another way of adding more spice to life, another facet of our uniqueness as a species: different kinds of human beings that communicate and interact in different ways. So an ability to respond with "Quite so!" in addition to "Right on, jive turkey!" or even still in Randy Jackson style, such as "Holler, Dawg!" expands your ability to interact. But, I contend, being unable to do so does not limit your ability to interact.
Yes, being versed in only one or two manners of speech limits the ways in which you can communicate. But life isn't all about language. The tired cliche used by mothers around the globe says that actions speak louder than words. So a broad and genuine smile is a legitimate response to someone using terminology that is beyond your ken. Helping someone with their groceries is itself enough of a conversation if they speak a language foreign to you. Perhaps you can't reply with a "de nada" when they thank you for the help, but the action of helping more than makes up for the language barrier.
Clearly being unable to understand someone when they say "FTW!" isn't comparable to trying to interact with someone who speaks only Ukrainian, but it all lends to my theory that language is both primary and secondary to the big issue: understanding. Society is made up of people, and people are different. Maybe we speak the same language, eat the same food, or frequent the same stores. But those are superficial similarities that say nothing about who we are as individuals.
Language absolutely is the primary method of communication, and communication is a major building block of a community. But "rawr" and other such terms do not possess enough power to tear down a society providing there is a foundation of support and empathy beneath it. Overall, my point is that understanding someone goes deeper than an ability to hear and translate their words. That as long as we recognize the spirit of actions and can discern intention from behaviors, language becomes secondary.
|
Printable Version
Icon Legend
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread
