i (heart) words

I confess to having a secret love affairs with words. Etymology, nuance & subtext, history and music are all contained in a simple combination of syllables and sounds. Even in everyday conversations, the words selected reveal so much more than a literal reading of them would suggest. I think that this is why I love to study new languages for often the history of a people is embedded in the development of the vocabulary.

Not only do people use language to communicate with one another, thereby creating community but also to exclude outsiders. One of the first things that seems to happen within a group of people living/working closely is that they begin to use code words and shortcuts, seemingly to make communication more efficient. Subconsciously it is to create an exclusivity, to define the parameters of their world so that new entrants must take the time to learn their language before gaining admittance.

All of this has been sparked by my discovery of a website/email call World Wide Words. The author, Michael Quinion, writes each week about topical words, weird words, words becoming obsolescent and, my favorite, a section titled sic in which subscribers contribute examples of words used incorrectly or in a way that communicates things the author did not intend. (E.g., "An Associated Press news item dated 3 October surprised Norman C Berns: "Sampson said fossils of duck-billed dinosaurs once lived throughout the northwestern part of North America." Mr Berns now feels there's more to evolution than he ever imagined.")

Through language you shall know your culture.