it's all just WORDS!

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Most people would recognize this quote from Shakespeare’s famous play, Romeo and Juliet. There is great truth, though, in these words from the balcony scene. I wish to examine it not in the context of names but that of words. For what is a name but a word for something?

And what is a word? Is it something we write on a page? Nope, it’s not – they are meaningless scribbles on a piece of paper that we assign a sound, a meaning to. Writing is not necessary to communicate. This is why there are so many alphabets in history and in the world even today – the Chinese, Arabs, Hebrews, English...all have their own alphabets, and authors of fantasies – J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Paolini, Allison Croggon – create their own alphabets for their languages and fictional peoples. We had words long before we had a written record. No, the value of words is not in the scripts with which we write them.

Is it, then, in the sounds our mouths make? We cannot even claim that this is what makes a word. Many languages exist to say the same day-to-day things around the globe – the Germans say, “Gute morgan,” (I’m questionable on the spelling of that, since I know no German beyond those two words), the Mexicans and Spanish say, “Buenos dias,” the English say, “Good morning,” – but they all simply wish to greet someone at the beginning of the day. These are just sounds that we make with our mouths to mean something. Where is the value?

If the value of words lies not within the scripts we write nor within the words we speak, where IS their value? For there is great value in being able to communicate well; count me far from discrediting the ability to share ideas and notions. I’m a Mass Communications major, for heaven's sake; I’ve no wish to say that communication is unimportant. I write and I sing, I speak and I record. Where is the value of my work if it does not lie within what I write or what I speak?

Any mass communications department is closely related to the fine arts department. These two are interconnected, entwined with each other. It takes imagination to sculpt, to paint, to write, to sing, to film a sequence for a television show. But where is the value in any of it?

The value of our words, be they written or spoken, lies in the meanings they portray. Whether you say “table” or “mensa” or “mesa” or whatever word it is you use to describe a table, someone will know what it is you are trying to convey. There is a reason they say a picture is worth a thousand words: sight is easily understood by all. We use our words to convey a meaning. Our written words could be twisted and skewed in light of whatever the reader may be feeling; something written to be sarcastic could be taken literally.

Thus, tonality and body language are a huge part of ANY language. We use our words to describe our surroundings, our thoughts, our dreams. These meanings are deeper than little squiggles on a page or a few sounds spoken. They contain the value we assign them.

However, others may not assign the same meaning to a word that we do. Our body language or tonality, or just little squiggles, could be misinterpreted for something opposite the actual meaning. Our words hold power, but that power could easily be misused. We have to guard our words carefully, and ensure that we explain ourselves in the clearest way possible. The power in words should not be taken lightly.

-enna