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Originally Posted by JinnKai
This is akin to a similar thread you had where you wanted to redefine what love means to people. Words have their meanings as we use them, and they are not necessarily their semantic (dictionary) definition. It's a definite skill to find out what a word CONNOTES to other people, and "that's stupid" implies "you're stupid" to a lot of males and females, even if this poll shows the opposite.
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I agree with you that words have connotations, and such connotations are important in the use of a word or phrase. In this case what we're arguing, precisely, is why some people give "that's stupid" the connotation of "you're stupid". It's not at all in the literal meaning or of the phrase, it's a connotation that some people have artificially created to follow. Also, is the matter of semantic use of the word/phrase. Semantics are driven by the context, and context is of utmost importance when discussing the implications of words. People's personal connotations aside, there is no implied "you" when saying "that's stupid".
Personally created and held connotation is the only thing that turns "that's stupid" into "you're stupid", and is 1. not universally accepted as the connotation of the phrase, and 2. not the responsibility of the speaker to attempt the monumental task of considering every possible connotation that anyone could randomly think up for any word at any time.
Just because some emotionally fragile people who take everything as a personal attack use bad logic and irrational thoughts to create a connotation for a word or phrase other than it's
intended and implied use, does not mean their appraisal of the word/phrase is accurate in any way. It just makes them people who make up new meanings/connotations for words for no reason except to fit their emotional instability.
Note, again, that this is NOT accounting for those who use the term for almost everything, those who call everything under the sun "stupid". These are personality pathologies having nothing to do with the word, but the person stuck on using it.
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The most mature option, I believe, is not to bemoan how ridiculous it is that people feel this way, but to become aware of how people will WRONGLY interpret what you've said and avoid saying things that can be misinterpreted. Granted, people will always misinterpret you, but you can minimize it by avoiding phrases, especially cliche ones like "I love you" or "that's stupid."
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Just for the record, I don't often use the phrase "that's stupid"- I hardly use it at all, in fact. I personally use other forms of disapproving speech that are not quite so harsh, unless it's unavoidable, but I still maintain my stance on the use of such a phrase, for those who do use it.
While I agree that it is sometimes better to simply forego using those words that could cause an issue of misinterpretation, I would also like to note that there comes a time where one must draw the line and not pander to the emotionally-driven linguistic eccentricities of a minority, letting them bastardize the language to their own ends. Sometimes you just have to say, "no, it does NOT mean that, you've created that meaning for yourself, and no amount of whining and bitching at me will MAKE it mean that."