It is interesting to note that sometimes it could be the case of double entendre, The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as 'A double meaning; a word or phrase having a double sense, especially as used to convey an indelicate meaning [emphasis added]. In these cases, the first meaning is presumed to be the more innocent one, while the second meaning is risqué, or at least ironic, requiring the hearer to have some additional knowledge. A frequently used example of this would be in the thriller, The Silence of the Lambs, Dr Hannibal Lector states he is, 'having an old friend for dinner' - the normal interpretation for this will be him inviting a friend to share an evening meal, but awareness of the character's cannibalism suggests that he intends to eat the friend as the meal. (Quoted from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_entendre)
Some other examples of humorous/ironic double entendres will include, Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant, and Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half. These were extracted from actual newspaper headlines and when read out they really do sound misleading!
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I agree with your definition of perception. Most of the time, misunderstanding occurs when different people have different perception on something and did not clarify with one another.
ReplyDeleteNice green-fingers example lol.
A very intriguing thought indeed. Differences in perceptions is what actually differentiates people.
ReplyDeleteEvery person thinks and reacts differently to circumstances. This makes every individual unique and special in their own way. It is also through differences in perception that we are able to make advances in various aspects of life. A person might be satisfy by a certain entity, whereas another might percieve it differently and thus seek to improve and change it. This brings about positive tidings such as technological advances and inventions that greatly improves our standard of living.
Conversely this difference in perception can bring about major conflicts. Small skirmishes and large wars have been fought as a result. This has brought about devastating results in the form of loss of lives and massive destruction.
It is thus prudent to look at all sides of an issue before approaching it. This will definitely avoid further misunderstandings and resolve the problem before it gets worst.
Lol, I love the "Elephants, please stay in your car."
ReplyDeleteThe same thing happens with chinese names, although sad to say, i cannot remember any examples.. The idea is since we base it a lot on sound only, and many chinese words have the same sound, we end up intending to name our children auspiciously but end up messing them up for life.
I received a comment in the staff room today. I had brought my baby hamsters to school and another teacher was telling a colleague "Hey! Charles had babies!" Misinterpreted it sounds very very horrible and we had a good laugh.
ReplyDeleteWell, humans perceive things in much the same way. Immanuel Kant postulated that there are universal filters of consciousness that we are born with. These filters of consciousness determine the way in which we perceive things and construct knowledge. For example, we all have an intuitive understanding of space and time.
ReplyDeleteAs for the slight differences, they can be accounted for by the cultural prejudices and societal norms of the environment in which we grow up in.
Your example doesn't really demonstrate that we perceive things differently, but rather, it demonstrates that misunderstandings can occur because some terms can be quite vague, especially when taken out of context. While it can be argued that cultural prejudices affect our understanding of language, based on your example only, it seems like a far stretch to say that cultural prejudices affect perception.
In fact misunderstandings occur most often when people are unsure about certain things, yet refuse to clarify. It's rather strange to see people blaming each other for misunderstandings when both parties refuse to take the initiative.
ReplyDelete-Anonymous->Personally I feel that people percieve things differently mainly due to the way they were brought up, and most defintely culture. Cognitive Schemas are formed based on what we learnt when we were toddlers/infants, how we actually derive conclusions, and draw closures are definitely based on these schemas! So it's not really that far-fetched to link cultural prejudices to perceptions!
-Romulus-> Perhaps you are right with regards to each and every individual being unique, I think it's virtually impossible to find 2 different people who think exactly alike. Heck, even twins have problems with that... As for misunderstandings/differences in thoughts cumulating to war, haha that's rather extreme though not entirely impossible.. Man have been known to pick up arms and wage wars for lesser reasons like a football match.. For example, Honduras, and El Salvador read this and tell me your thoughts if you don't believe me =D http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/sierra/soccer1969.htm
ReplyDeleteHumans are weird haha!
-CharlieMoo-> LOL mutated kids! hahaha then again yes misunderstandings can really lead to such comic moments huh? Funny things words are... =)