Tales of the new country, part 2
I arrived here in the fourth grade with not a word of english in my head. Actually, I knew some basic swear words, because it was considered cool to be able to swear in english, despite the fact that obscenity was much more of an art in eastern Europe. (Ah, the phrases we had; the cadences of each nad every offensive syllable...) At any rate, I was not able to string a sentence of english together those first few weeks of school, but I tried hard. Six months later, I was more than fine. But I am reminded of one time early on that I approached a classmate and asked her to explain this strange word in the book. It was "until". Now, I still have no clue how I would explain this word to anyone in a non-convoluted way, especially to someone with a limited command of the language. So I spent months in an until-less haze of non-meaning.
The more I've learned about this language, and indeed others, the more it has become clear that our supposed consensus on the meanings of words does not really exist. As we get to more and more basic words, they become more difficult to define, but there even small differences in meaning can have a great impact on how one views the world. What is your personal definition of "is"? I often find that arguments are not really arguments at all when you get to that basic indeterminate level of meaning. Does God exist? It depends on what you mean by "exist".
Consider: "the dead do not know the value of clean sheets."
The more I've learned about this language, and indeed others, the more it has become clear that our supposed consensus on the meanings of words does not really exist. As we get to more and more basic words, they become more difficult to define, but there even small differences in meaning can have a great impact on how one views the world. What is your personal definition of "is"? I often find that arguments are not really arguments at all when you get to that basic indeterminate level of meaning. Does God exist? It depends on what you mean by "exist".
Consider: "the dead do not know the value of clean sheets."
posted by A. D. at 9:18 PM
2 Comments:
Your thing to consider reminded me of something creepy my mom said to me randomly the other day. She was like, "Just so you know, we're[my parents] changing our will, so everything is split evenly between you and your brother, plus you get enough to pay for the rest of your university. I also want you to know, if anything happens to me, you can have my jewelry. I want you to have my jewelry. You don't have to bury me wearing my ring. You can have it. I don't need it. You don't need to worry about burying me wearing my ring like Eve [an aunt] did with Beth [her mom]. I don't need it when I'm dead. You can have my jewelry, if anything happens." Yes, she sounded just like that. And this is totally out of the blue. I don't see my mom for over a month, and when she comes to visit, she tells me she doesn't need her jewelry when she's dead!
Well, at least she's not repressed about death. One time I told my mother that I signed an organ donor card and she went apeshit. She doesn't want me considering the possibility of my death, or brain-death.
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