Tricky Linguistics

English is tricky. Many times we have attempted to teach computers human language, and it has failed. I remember my father telling me at a young age about a computer they were working with that spewed every time with the sentence “time flies like the wind, fruit flies like bananas.” The twisted, clever, manipulative means of the English language are seemingly boundless, and this may work as both boon and barrier to understanding. In the hands of the skilled writer, it can be as much a sword as a scythe as a plowshare. 

I’ve seen this. A writer plays at the edges of things, manipulating the frills on the fringe of the garment and deftly contorting the webs of weaving. But this obfuscation, this vague toying with greys and hues can confuse the audience, and invites in duplicitous meaning. Intentions are skewed by the bemused, and in the uncertainty – worse, the confident misunderstanding – of the creative work.

I’ve seen this, and I struggle with it myself. Dancing on the borders is attractive; it lends a dangerous, capricious, playful, attractive tension to a piece, though delusion seeps through the cracks and seams. 

It’s a tricky language, and it can be hurtful if not careful used, or inadvertently cruel. 

I was contemplating this capacity for misunderstanding, wondering how often my own words are misleading. I don’t have a lot of works, none of which are particularly important or well-read, but I love the fringes and crave the double meanings, and I wouldn’t change my writing style to accommodate simplicity.

This same truth holds true for speaking, or actions. The more investment a person has in a situation, the more likely, it seems, they are to make hasty assumptions on intuitive leaps. I was reading an article that made a few bold statements, and they were quickly misconstrued into very hurtful replies. The problem being that topics such as depression, anxiety, hurt, psychological disorder, and the like are dangerous topics for any writer to make bold claims upon, as everyone has some connection to these things, and strong opinions abound. Whether or not each person has suffered from depression personally, it is quite likely that each reader has encountered someone dear to them who does struggle, and maybe continues to struggle. I think the writer should have framed the topic as a discussion rather than a dictatorial claim to knowledge and truth.