21st Century Agora: fading meaning

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

fading meaning

I was just thinking about the discussion at the end of Tuesday's lesson about the overuse of certain words making them lose their meaning. I got to thinking that a big contributor to that loss is songs. Artists these days are using (I guess you could call it) "profane language" to not only convey their message in the lyrics but I guess intensify their emotions. I've noticed that more and more songs are being labeled "EXPLICIT" in the more popular songs. We're noticing these words less and less. There was a time when people would have never thought using these words in songs and I'm assuming, in some cases, their song may have been banned from production. I think the process of the word losing their meaning is definetly coming into effect. Not only profanity but also words that used to have a much deeper meaning. Take the phrase: "I love you". What does love really mean now as when someone says "Oh I love him", does that mean I love love him as in deep, passionate, head-over-heels love? Or is it the I-love-him-so-much-he's-like-my-brother kind of love? I think it's not only the meaning is becoming weaker but also more ambiguous. In addition, our society is becoming more ignorant and not really listening to what's being said so they either don't notice it or just don't care.

2 comments:

Magister P said...: You make a good point in observing one of the areas in which profanity is losing its punch because of its ubiquitous use...music. You are also correct to observe that society seems to be paying less attention, whether through ignorance or apathy, to words. This is particularly unfortunate, for it is our use of language that sets us apart from other animals, as we have seen. To disregard one of the features that make humans unique is a great loss.

So, what would you suggest? Should we have more censorship in an effort to preserve the power of certain words?; December 17, 2007 at 12:09 PM
Alley said...: I think censorship might actually cause more people to use the words even more. It's reverse psychology. Some people may not use the words but many people, even with censorships are aware of what the words are. I still think that despite lack of censorship today, to some people those words still have great power in their meaning it is the younger generation that is influencing the waning power of these words. We, as a generation, use these words carelessly not thinking about their actually meaning. It's what your parents always tell you think about what you're saying. If there is an awareness created about the actually meaning of those words I think people would be more of aware of the actual strength of the words they're using.; January 6, 2008 at 10:30 AM

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21st Century Agora

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

fading meaning

2 comments:

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