by Cheryl Lacey, DSJ, Thought Starters On Education, ©2023
(Aug. 1, 2023) — How many times have you been in a conversation only to become confused when a word or phrase is used differently from the way you’d expect?
Here’s one!
Cool.
I bet there have been times you’ve used it to describe something trendy, rather than the weather.
How about sick?
Most parents would take this to mean ‘ill’. Your children probably use it instead of fabulous. Both meanings are correct. It’s all about context. And you have to get context right to communicate effectively.
Almost everything we do involves language.
Every day we’re immersed in words and the concepts and ideas they represent. Without them, human interaction would have little meaning.
It’s not that common
What might appear logical can often confuse, especially when meanings change. Communication breaks down and there’s unexpected conflict.
You can probably relate to the following situation:
For years students took ‘readers’ home from school to improve their reading and local libraries were a source of great interest, especially for research and borrowing non-fiction books. Now, ‘readers’ refer to the person reading, ‘non-fiction’ books are ‘factual texts’ and students borrow ‘take home’ books from school libraries and classrooms.
Read the rest here.