Words

OK, I must be totally bored or something at the moment, but I was sitting here thinking about words. Who actually comes up with words and how does everyone get to know what they mean??? I mean they are universal and have the same meanings choose what language you speak. Who decides what words should exist and what shouldn't???? :confused: :p

Shakespeare was the first to use many common english words. "Eyeball" is one that comes to mind.

Originally posted by FTO Girl
OK, I must be totally bored or something at the moment, but I was sitting here thinking about words. Who actually comes up with words and how does everyone get to know what they mean??? I mean they are universal and have the same meanings choose what language you speak. Who decides what words should exist and what shouldn't???? :confused: :p

I have thought about that several times my self and still have no clue as to how all of these ideas got put together to create a language but I'm glad they did because writing down grunts probably wouldn't be a very good way of comunicating those ideas.:confused:

Originally posted by gdalton


I have thought about that several times my self and still have no clue as to how all of these ideas got put together to create a language but I'm glad they did because writing down grunts probably wouldn't be a very good way of comunicating those ideas.:confused:

How very true!! :D :hehehe:

HA!! :D I do this too. Every so often, I will be in a very spacy state-of-mind, and I'll read a common English word, and wonder for a split second "what the hell does that mean?" Then I remember what it means, and I then wonder "how did such an jumbled collection of syllables ever come to represent a word?" Language is a funny thing like that.

I remember my 7th grade teacher used to enjoy saying several words in class that he thought had a neat ring to them. He used to stand in front of the class and say "Ba-NANA... Ba-NANA... Radia-TER... Radia-TER... " It was funny, and I think that was one of the first times it occurred to me that there were people besides me who looked at words with kind of a cock-eyed ( :bloated: ) mentality sometimes.

yeah Shakespeare got credit for inventing like a 1000 words or something like that....


well he invented alot of the words we use today

Again, I just studied this in Oral communications...

Words actually have nothing inherent about them. Chair doesn't have any relevancy to the actual object of a chair. The only reason why we can communicate is that a set group of people decides upon a single "noise" to represent an object or action. So long as those people continue to agree to that "noise" as a representation, communication can work. But when you enter another group of people with another "noise" for the same object, conflict occurs.... Translations are created, and there ya go! :)