He happened to come to my workplace one day to bring me an important document, and she was there. He thought I meant that she was high-maintenance and snobby, so for the longest time, he refused to meet her. I had told him that she was “fancy,” which to me meant well-dressed and groomed. This article reminds me of the time I tried to set my brother up with one of my coworkers. In this case, “observant” meant “annoying.” However, she spat out the words and gave me a slicing look, so I knew I had overstepped my bounds. Normally, that would have been a compliment, because I do pride myself on noticing small details. She angrily stated, “Well, aren't you observant?” Most of them put up with me, but one time, I offended my best friend. When you use a word that normally means one thing, but you are clearly being sarcastic with it, then it takes on a whole new meaning.įor example, I had a bad habit of correcting my friends' grammar. The connotation of a word can vary, depending on the context in which it is used. I could actually see a sputtering, churning river full of bubbles in my mind, whereas “raging” would have made me think more of the water as dark and mad, which isn't what the author meant at all. One writer referred to an extremely sunny day as “electric,” rather than simply “bright.” Another one referred to a river as “boiling” rather than “raging,” and this made it so much more appealing to me. I like it when they refer to the night as “ebony” rather than “black.” It improves the meaning so much when they use more descriptive, stronger terms. I always prefer it when writers find ways to use words or phrases that differ from the normal cliches. Good use of connotations can make a piece of prose beautiful. I guess I should have considered the fact that “eccentric” is not generally a negative connotation and used a stronger word. She ended up having to get a restraining order against him. She told me that a more appropriate term to describe him would be “disturbed.” Within a month, she was trying to get away from him. I told her not to say I didn't warn her, but she just thought I was too normal to appreciate eccentricity. My sister had been begging me to set her up with my attractive male friend, and I told her that he was a bit “eccentric.” She took this to mean interesting and exotic, so that made her plead even more. January 5, – I had a similar mishap involving connotations, but mine was the reverse of yours. I think that the marketers should be ashamed of themselves for this and other egregious examples of mangling the English language, but in advertising, if it helps the bottom line, that’s all that matters. Things that are new evoke one sensation and things that are improved evoke another.īoth of these sentiments are positive, and immediately we find ourselves reaching for our wallets. They are trying to push all the buttons at once. Marketers inherently know that this phraseology makes no real literal sense, but they are playing for your emotions. As an English major, however, I find myself somewhat repulsed by some of these examples.Īfter all, what exactly is meant by the term “new and improved”? If a product is new, is it really improved? If it’s improved, is it new? I think this is just an example of political correctness gone amok.Īdvertising is rich with examples of words that have connotative meaning. Now the fact is, the word “gay” has certainly undergone some changes in meaning in the past 50 years, but it still can mean “happy.” However, what it means and what it connotes (today) are two different things. It was the famous line that read, “don we now our gay apparel.” I heard of a teacher who removed the word “gay” from a Christmas carol because kids were giggling. January 6, - I think that there are worse connotative sins than the ones that you mentioned.
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