Say Hi

Here’s food for thought.

Even as writers, we take often take words for granted. We can assume that everyone interprets words in the same way, that each word has  the same flavour for everyone.

In this article on the MIT Press Reader, professor of linguistics Tom Roeper explores how children acquire language, especially abstract language like “hi”.

“There seem to be “ideas” or “emotions” that we experience with some clarity but that do not easily lend themselves to particular words. An adult or a child may emotionally recognize what corresponds to charm or megalomania or altruism or indifference without words to express it. It is an adult culture that has found words for them.

“Perhaps adults likewise experience many poignant feelings, which never will be captured in individual words. Poetry is really a kind of meaning that darts between words but is never really expressed. This is where the saying “You have to read between the lines” comes from.”

Definitely worth a read.

Photo by Alyssa Stevenson on Unsplash