"Well, we won't quarrel about a word," said the other, pleasantly. "Why on earth not?" said MacIan, with a sudden asperity. "Why shouldn't we quarrel about a word? What is the good of words if they aren't important enough to quarrel over? Why do we choose one word more than another if there isn't any difference between them?
From The Ball and the Cross, by G.K. Chesterton
This quote reminds me of an online conversation that was a watershed moment for me in my understanding of language and truth. A number of years ago, I watched an email exchange take place on a parenting email list where one person insisted she was a vegetarian even though she ate various meats not infrequently. They went back and forth several times, until the so-called vegetarian stated that she was the one using the word, she could define it however she wanted to define it. All of a sudden the absurdity and the absolute chaos implied by her statement hit me, and I found myself entertaining the previously ridiculous idea that there could be absolute knowledge in something that wasn't physically measurable.
Relativism! The scourge of modernity, I'm quite convinced. So interesting, I think people do this with religious words all the time.
ReplyDeleteGreat quote! My husband and I were just discussing this morning whether a certain translation should be: "She was sent," or, "She has been sent." It's amazing how different the two are, given that they say almost the same thing. Words are important!
ReplyDeleteIt does make a difference, doesn't it! But yet, sitting here, I'm having a hard time trying to quantify the difference. I know there is one, but I'm not sure how I would explain it. Food for thought!
DeleteI've found it very hard to ever engage anyone in friendly discussion about what they mean by a certain word - I don't know if it is that they feel inadequate to the challenge of trying to explain what I agree are often hard things -- so they get defensive and try to make me fee that I am being fussy about unimportant things. I love this quote!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever had a good conversation about the meaning of a word either. I wonder if part of that stems from the fact that we seldom really think about what the words mean, we just assume we know what they mean because of our long familiarity with them... but yet when pushed we realize that we don't know as well as we think we do! I know I have had that happen, and I try to be much more purposeful about the words I use and how I use them since then.
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