LIKE TO HATE
Do you hate me?
Do I hate you?
Has hate's true meaning now become untrue?
Do I like you?
Do you like me?
Or does that rely on the word "agree"?
We live in a world that seems too keen
To manipulate words to what we want them to mean.
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Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh
Wed 24th May 2023 07:38
Much food for thought there MC.
May I suggest that words have no inherent meanings, save those which are attatched or ascribed to them by cultural conventions, determined by time and place, which are recognised by both speaker / writer and hearer / reader?
For instance: I have a book which was printed only ten years after the end of the American Civil War, about the Negro gospel Jubilee Singers, their music and history.
In it are several instances of the use of the word "nigger" (and printed in quotes) used when referring to them and describing the discrimination they suffered whilst touring the USA.
If in 2023 I were to write such a book using those same words in the very same context, it's likely I would receive abuse from certain quarters for doing so.
I "hate" dark chocolate = it's not to my taste.
I "hate" the politician who caused my gran to die on a hospital floor=I'd like to give him a good kicking.