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Mar. 9th, 2004
Something of substance... maybe
Mar. 9th, 2004 03:12 pmSo the Cat is home sick today. Hadn't wanted to do this, I don't get paid sick time at work, and I really need the money. However, when I got up this morning I was fine, until I had been walking around for five minutes, and then the head was hurting, and then there was the coughing. So I woke up the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mightyafrodite and called in to work and went back to bed. Originally I thought I would make it in to work later in the morning, perhaps by 1. Yeah... that happened.
At least I got one thing accomplished today. The bbs here in Ann Arbor that I serve as secretary for had a meeting last Friday night. Finally got the minutes posted online. The fun thing is walking that boundary between what really needs to be made public in the official minutes, and what doesn't need a lot of detail on. It's fun. And apparently I walk that line well, which is why they keep electing me secretary... See, there are seven people on the board that are elected for two year terms, the election are held every year- one year for three board members and the next for four. So every year there are elections for Treasurer, Secretary and President. There's one guy- that if he's on the board- is treasurer by acclamation. He's just that good. My first year I got out of doing anything, then the second year I accepted my nomination for secretary and won. Yay. Then I was re-elected, and re-nominated. This last year I missed the first board meeting of the year- and I said if they really wanted I could be secretary again. So I was elected in by acclamation. Both a feather in my cap and a bit of a bother for a lazy cat. ;)
At one point in my journal here I made reference to the fact that I don't like to suffer in silence. To go along with that- I just want to state, again, that I HATE being sick!
Lessee, what else is going on in my little world. Well, had a bit of a spat with the roomie last night, but had that pretty much cleared up by the time we each hit the sack. So no issue there. But it does bring up something.
Language. While we 'share' a common language as a group of English speakers (and Japanese speakers share a common language and Bantu do, etc.) it's my assertion that language is one of the most personal 'things' there is. Those of us who speak English don't always understand one another. There are times when I've been speaking to someone, and judging by the response I get I'm quite convinced that I must have been speaking a foreign language to them.
That's what it comes down to, and why I say language is so extremely personal. The words we use, the choice of combinations get used because of the contexts in which we know them. Certain words may have a negative connotation for person A, but not for person B. So when person A uses them to be negative and person B doesn't see this- there's a slip in communication. I see slips in communication happening around me all the time. Especially in role-playing, two characters will be having a conversation and I can see where the misses in understanding are occurring. I see them, and the people in the conversation don't. Which makes me realize that these slips are happening when I'm in conversation as well.
Even in writing these slips go one, how else could two people read the same passage and get two totally different ideas from it?
Okay, so this probably isn't the first time someone has thought of this, and therefor it's not at all original. But it's been floating in my head and I wanted to jot it down.
Hmm, also as far as communication goes, and styles, etc. To me it seems as if there is a 'natural' mode of speaking, of word choice, something that we don't even think about. One of the things I have noticed with my Beau and myself is that we speak practically the same language. That is, my natural mode and his are highly similar and compatible. Very, very rarely does a conversation come up in which one of us feels the need to explain more than once- because the other understands, and actually does understand. Whereas with some of my close friends it gets frustrating sometimes to talk to them because I can see where the slips in communication are going. Or like with DK- when I'm trying to be funny and she takes it seriously, or I'm off on a verbal flight of fancy and she has to poke the logic holes in it because she apparently doesn't realize that I'm off on a flight of fancy and that I don't actually mean to try what I'm talking about.
This isn't coming out anywhere near as coherently as I had hoped. Oh well. But shall I revise a cliche? The one that states 'Common sense isn't.' and make it 'Common language isn't.' ? Hmm. Just the musing of a headachey and cold-having Cat.
mightyafrodite and called in to work and went back to bed. Originally I thought I would make it in to work later in the morning, perhaps by 1. Yeah... that happened.At least I got one thing accomplished today. The bbs here in Ann Arbor that I serve as secretary for had a meeting last Friday night. Finally got the minutes posted online. The fun thing is walking that boundary between what really needs to be made public in the official minutes, and what doesn't need a lot of detail on. It's fun. And apparently I walk that line well, which is why they keep electing me secretary... See, there are seven people on the board that are elected for two year terms, the election are held every year- one year for three board members and the next for four. So every year there are elections for Treasurer, Secretary and President. There's one guy- that if he's on the board- is treasurer by acclamation. He's just that good. My first year I got out of doing anything, then the second year I accepted my nomination for secretary and won. Yay. Then I was re-elected, and re-nominated. This last year I missed the first board meeting of the year- and I said if they really wanted I could be secretary again. So I was elected in by acclamation. Both a feather in my cap and a bit of a bother for a lazy cat. ;)
At one point in my journal here I made reference to the fact that I don't like to suffer in silence. To go along with that- I just want to state, again, that I HATE being sick!
Lessee, what else is going on in my little world. Well, had a bit of a spat with the roomie last night, but had that pretty much cleared up by the time we each hit the sack. So no issue there. But it does bring up something.
Language. While we 'share' a common language as a group of English speakers (and Japanese speakers share a common language and Bantu do, etc.) it's my assertion that language is one of the most personal 'things' there is. Those of us who speak English don't always understand one another. There are times when I've been speaking to someone, and judging by the response I get I'm quite convinced that I must have been speaking a foreign language to them.
That's what it comes down to, and why I say language is so extremely personal. The words we use, the choice of combinations get used because of the contexts in which we know them. Certain words may have a negative connotation for person A, but not for person B. So when person A uses them to be negative and person B doesn't see this- there's a slip in communication. I see slips in communication happening around me all the time. Especially in role-playing, two characters will be having a conversation and I can see where the misses in understanding are occurring. I see them, and the people in the conversation don't. Which makes me realize that these slips are happening when I'm in conversation as well.
Even in writing these slips go one, how else could two people read the same passage and get two totally different ideas from it?
Okay, so this probably isn't the first time someone has thought of this, and therefor it's not at all original. But it's been floating in my head and I wanted to jot it down.
Hmm, also as far as communication goes, and styles, etc. To me it seems as if there is a 'natural' mode of speaking, of word choice, something that we don't even think about. One of the things I have noticed with my Beau and myself is that we speak practically the same language. That is, my natural mode and his are highly similar and compatible. Very, very rarely does a conversation come up in which one of us feels the need to explain more than once- because the other understands, and actually does understand. Whereas with some of my close friends it gets frustrating sometimes to talk to them because I can see where the slips in communication are going. Or like with DK- when I'm trying to be funny and she takes it seriously, or I'm off on a verbal flight of fancy and she has to poke the logic holes in it because she apparently doesn't realize that I'm off on a flight of fancy and that I don't actually mean to try what I'm talking about.
This isn't coming out anywhere near as coherently as I had hoped. Oh well. But shall I revise a cliche? The one that states 'Common sense isn't.' and make it 'Common language isn't.' ? Hmm. Just the musing of a headachey and cold-having Cat.