Election Day is an important event in political life of every country. In the United States it was held on November 6, 2012.
Here is an amazing speech about the transformation of the meaning of the word PRESIDENT. It makes us start wondering how words and reality influence each other. Who knows what interersting facts can be discovered next time when we have a closer look at common words that we use every day?
I can endorse wholeheartedly the fact that reality and history change words, not the other way round.
ReplyDeleteHaving taken the given example into consideration, I am utterly perplexed that we should neither take ordinary words for granted nor neglect them. Words are our heritage and the more words we are conscious of, the richer we become. Such fortune people as you and me, who have an overwhelming opportunity to learn languages and pick up foreign words, must analyse them and go deep studying their roots.
Reality does affect words and their meanings. Under some circumstances a word is treated with grandeur, but under other circumstances the same word might provoke hatred and fury. Initially the word president was underestimated in comparison with its current significance. What if the House of Representatives hadn't brought forward this word at the discussion with a deliberately evil intention to prevent Washington from getting drunk on power? Perhaps, but for that event this word would have still meant the same...or it would have changed the meaning radically due to other circumstances. No one can be sure about it, can they? But the fact that "president" has gradually grown is undeniable!
To sum up, there is nothing on Earth that happens just by chance. Every change and movement is based on some groundwork which influences the final result. The circulation of words and their meanings is one of the most conclusive examples.
Thank you for posting, Karina! Judging by your conclusions, we can assume that language learning helps us notice a lot of interesting phenomena around us. Isn't that great?
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