I was walking to my Step Training class today when a couple of guys were talking in front of the indoor pool at the Spartan Complex. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help but hear some of their conversation. One of the guys said, “It’s cool.” Immediately, it reminded me of the second discussion question we have for our class, so here I am using that as an example.
In my head I was wondering what he meant when he said “It’s cool,” because it could have been a totally different interpretation. He could have meant the weather was cool today or in a “That book is awesome” or “It’s alright or okay” type of cool. “It” could have been a different “it” from what I perceived from what I heard, like what I mentioned, the weather, or something that he cooked or baked and waiting for to cool down if applied to a different situation.
I just realized from this assignment how most of us use such vague or ambiguous language. The funny thing is we don’t even notice it until we really analyze it closer and really pay attention to it. I guess this happens because we assume that the people we talk to already know what we’re talking about, but to others it could have been a different interpretation.
Hi JillyBeanz08! I really liked your example of vague and ambiguous sentences. I found it interesting how you stepped away from the assignment for a minute to point out the fact that vague and ambiguous sentences have become such a prevalent part of our society. Most of the time, we can understand the meaning of the "slang" terms we use with our friends, peers and family. People from out of the country, however, or even people from different areas around the United States may not understand these terms that are so well known in young society today. I found your analysis of this topic interesting.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your example of a vague statement. While I'm not one to eavesdrop it is inevitable that I overhear peoples conversations. While walking around campus there are conversations happening everywhere whether its a group of people or somebody just on the phone. While on campus I always hear a part of somebody's conversation that makes me wonder what they are talking about. The other day I overheard, "she was absolutely crazy." This made me want to know what they were talking about because they could have been talking about anything, but it's just another example of of vague statements are so commonly used.
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