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Whats In A Word? More Than You Realize
What's in a word? Apparently more than we might want.
For others, the ability to express yourself in the most
meaningful way.
I have written articles before on how bizarre the English
language can be and for that matter; many languages have special
challenges with interpreting meanings.
There is one word in China that I heard has about 40 different
meanings, (one source said the two words have over 80 meanings)
depending on usage and emphasis. That word is Wu Li. Gary
Zukav (author of "The Seat of the Soul") talks about it in his
book "The Dancing Wu Li Masters.
For the book "The Dancing Wu Li Masters", it means patterns of
organic energy or physics. Other more popular meanings are:
My Way
Nonsense
I clutch my ideas
Enlightened
For those who study both metaphysics and quantum physics, like
myself, I find it interesting that it carries physics and
enlightened as meanings.
In English, we have many words that people will interchange
yet have different meanings, which can further confuse the
receiver of your message.
Two such words are, effective and efficient. Effective is
doing the right thing, that which you set out to do. Efficiency
is doing whatever you set out to do well.
You can have one without necessarily having the other. Most
people understand doing the right thing but not well, yet they
get caught up on understanding how you can do the wrong thing
well, efficiency without effectiveness.
Imagine you are on a sailboat traveling across the Pacific
when you are informed:
We have some good news and bad news. First, we have picked up
a great wind and can get back on our time schedule; however, our
compass broke and we haven't the slightest idea where we are.
So, they are traveling very efficiently, but not very
effectively.
Even the spelling of words can cause grief and
misunderstandings. I remember when I was in elementary school and
the teacher would just say, sound it out. However, that doesn't
always work. There is the whole issue of synonyms and homonyms,
as well as the issue that we have this habit if breaking the
rules in order to have more expression and growth in our
language. (Growth by the way is important).
Yet, one of the most enforced rules that I had to remember in
schools was:
Use i before e (from here on it gets complicated)
except after c
or when sounded as 'a' as in neighbour and weigh.
But does it stop there, noooo.
Some more exceptions that don't seem to follow any of the
above are:
Counterfeit
either
foreign
forfeit
Height
seize
leisure
efficient
(and ironically or suitably) weird
Many more words can be spelling traps for people. They sound
similar and many people are not sure where to put them.
Some common ones are:
Affect -a verb -to influence
Effect- a noun - a result, a verb- bring to pass
Allude -refer indirectly to
Elude - slip away
Can -ability
May- permission
Farther -physical distance
Further - abstract relationships of degree
Imply - A speaker implies
Infer - A hearer infers
Such as- examples
Like - resemblances
You can see why good communicators are in a high demand for
many corporations and businesses. It is never too late to invest
the time and effort into your self and master your ability to
communicate on a higher level.
All the Best!
Maria Boomhower
The Master Communicator
To get a free report on Communication Mastery, go to:
http://www.falconfreedom.com
http://www.mariaboomhower.blogspot.com
P.S. If you like what you're reading in this ezine,
you'll love the book, "Overcoming Barriers to
Communication." It's a manual that helps you overcome the
challengers that start with Intrapersonal to Interpersonal and on
to Mass Communication. Overcoming Barriers to
Communication
MORE RESOURCES:
Learning the language of cookingCentre Daily Times, PA - 7 hours agoYoshimi Fujiwara dishes out a helping of dressing during an English as a Second Language-Through-Cooking course at Jane Jantzer-Wilson's house in State ... |
Language - Google News
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