Flightster

Fancy Pumpkins, Instructive Food and Correct Word Usage

• by Colin Wright
• on November 2nd, 2010
• 1 Comment

As a professional communicator, I’m acutely aware of the importance of using the correct word when I’m trying to explain something, be it a simple request or a complicated philosophy.

But ever since I started traveling, I’ve been more aware of the fact that using the right word isn’t as always as easy as it seems like it should be.

The same word, for example, can have very different meanings based on the context and intention of the speaker or writer. One person’s ‘handsome’ can be another person’s ‘appealing.’

Nowhere is this more apparent than in advertising.

In Bangkok I’m constantly blown away by the interesting new uses that grocery stores and food cart owners come up with for common words that are generally overlooked in the marketing sphere in the US.

I’m accustomed to cereal being described as ‘healthy,’ ‘crunchy’ and ‘delicious,’ but never before have I secretly coveted a ‘royal’ cereal, or one that contains more ‘smiles.’ I’ve seen cart food described as ‘inspiring,’ ‘occasional’ and, my personal favorite, ‘instructive.’ What one is expected to learn from deep-fried fish chunks, I’m not sure, but it’s nice to know they are trying to keep education alive.

When it comes to describing oneself, this tendency is even more inclusive.

You may not know this about me, but I am a big proponent of online dating as a way to meet people as you travel, and though it’s usually a good place to establish some common ground and make some new friends (or more than friends), the use of language can often lead to more confusion than clarity.

It’s not unusual for women to describe themselves as ‘royal,’ ‘pristine,’ and ‘candy,’ which I can only imagine means they are ‘wonderful,’ ‘uncomplicate’d and ‘sweet,’ but the implications that come with the alternative word usage is intriguing.

Even in ones’ own language, it’s not easy to always use the correct word to represent what you mean to say.

Consider, for example, if you were to say that a place is ‘amazing.’ You’re trekking around the world, you stop in Finland, and it’s amazing. You tell all your friends it’s amazing. Finland is amazing, folks.

But what if you were to use a synonym, something that could easily be translated from another language to mean the same thing, but literally isn’t? ‘Astounding.’ Let’s say you tell everyone that Finland is astounding.

Well that’s a completely different creature! Though they may literally have very similar definitions, the vibe you get from ‘astounding’ is that something is much more shockingly over-the-top, whereas ‘amazing’ implies it’s great, but not something that will make your head explode with its awesomeness.

What about ‘beautiful’?

A landscape in New Zealand can be beautiful, but is it also ‘pretty’? How about ‘attractive’? Handsome? Lovely? Charming? Gorgeous?

It would be easy to call New Zealand beautiful, but handsome would be a bit of a stretch.

Charming, on the other hand, plays a nice balance between being literal and personifying the environment. From a writer’s standpoint, it may be a better choice, as it implies beauty while also taking note of the subtle elements of the landscape, referring to their charm, not just their aesthetics.

If you’re doing any kind of communicating – from speaking to travel writing to just talking to friends – getting the right word is vital, and even if you aren’t intending to convey (transport? impart? tell?) the information to a third party, making sure you are able to distinguish between different meanings is an important part of being able to enjoy an environment or experience to the fullest.

After all, our memories are dependent-on and limited-by the language that we have available to us, and the more words we have to use, the more colors we have to paint the mental picture with.

So while you travel, take note of the non-linear translations that are used by people who learned your primary language as their second or third; they may innovate in ways you wouldn’t have thought of, making connections and conducting experiments with the words without even intending to do so.

I myself have been undergoing a word-symbolism renaissance, traveling as I have through a reality where pumpkins are sold based on how ‘fancy’ they are and jeans are heralded as being the ‘most pantsed’ of any competitor in the immediate area.

The words we use have specific meaning, and though they may be somewhat interchangeable in many cases, if you really want to be clear and convey additional meaning with your words, make sure you utilize (employ? exploit?) the right one.

Colin Wright

Colin Wright is a minimalist, branding expert and serial entrepreneur. While running his blog Exile Lifestyle ,his branding studio Colin Is My Name and his e-publishing business ebookling. Colin travels the world (moving to a new country every 4 months), meeting up with amazing people, giving talks (to audiences ranging from tech industry professionals to college students to Catholic school girls) and hunting down new and interesting experiences.