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Tip 115: Make semantics a big concern. |
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People often use a disclaimer such as "well, that's just semantics" to downplay the importance of their word choice. Don't you get a completely different message from each of the following versions? |
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"Robert is meeting with the lawyers this afternoon." |
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"The lawyers are meeting with Robert this afternoon." |
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"The lawyers and Robert have scheduled a meeting this afternoon." |
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"Both Robert and the lawyers are getting together on this issue this afternoon." |
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Who initiated the meeting? Is it formal or informal? Will the decision be official or not? Is Robert in trouble? Much of the interpretation comes from the word choicesemantics. |
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"How was the seminar?" Answer: "Not bad." Isn't "not bad" a different message than ''quite good"? |
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Entire businesses have renamed their employee titles because of the crucial importance of semantics to convey new management philosophy: from "salespeople" to "consultants" to "associates." Semantics is no small matter. |
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Tip 116: Remember that personal experience affects interpretation. |
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I grew up on a cotton farm in the south, where we defoliated for boll weevils and other vermin regularly. As a preteen driving across country with my family on vacation, someone pointed out the car window to a "flea market." I glanced at the warehouse-looking structure, expecting to see a breeding lot for fleas. |
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When I use the word "storage facilities" in Houston writing workshops, people interpret "oil tanks." In Silicon Valley, they think disk space. |
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Tip 117: Remember that meaning comes from context. |
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When a patient in the mental hospital says to you "I want to go home," you don't necessarily take it seriously or try to help get the paperwork and permissions completed. However, when a college student is talking about "going home" for the holidays, you feel supportive and offer encourage- |
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