S if for...Semantics

Ok, so, how can I put this?

You are wrong. I am wrong. We are wrong. We’re all wrong. About everything.

But...somehow...we are actually all right too.

Crazy isn’t it?

You see, I know this because of semantics. Semantics being the study of meaning in language.

Those first few lines above I wrote down a few days/weeks ago. I forget exactly when. But I’ve seen something today that made me want to revisit this S and finish it off. Because S is for...Semantics is a MASSIVELY IMPORTANT S.

Reality is, and it’s a strange one to come to terms with, I have loads of unfinished articles. And I always will do. There’s simply isn’t enough time in the day to do them all and get them all put out there. So, I have to succumb to that fact and sacrifice a lot of what I write. Then I have to select what I specifically want to scribe about, stick my neck out, and share it.

Get your S’s out!

Get your S’s out!

GET YOUR S’s OUT FOR THE LADS!

Get your S’s out for the lads!

So, what did I see today?

I saw an email from Twitter about Terry Crews(best known these days for acting) facing backlash for apparently saying, “We must ensure that #blacklivesmatter doesn’t become #blacklivesbetter.” Many...

Those dots were the end of what I could see on the email by the way. I didn’t actually read a full article. Have a word! FUNFACT for the pub quiz, those three dots, ‘...’, are called an ellipsis; it comes from Ancient Greek. Good old Ancient Greek.

AAAAANNNYYYWWWAAAAYYY... (ellipsis)

Firstly, I don’t know Terry Crews.

No shit Chris, you don’t know Terry Crews?

But secondly, regardless of if I did or didn’t know Terry Crews, I think Terry Crews is a badass. He’s talented and he’s funny, and that will do for me.

So, Semantics.

Most people couldn’t give a shit about semantics. Possibly because they’ve never heard of it.

FEAR NOT FOR I AM HERE!!!

You really should know about it. However, most people just want to go about life and swan along skating across the surface. Because to operate in a headspace that acknowledges semantics takes...

...wait for it....

EFFORT!!!

Wait, what, Effort? No! Booooooo!

Again, I know this because I know how much of a fucking drag it is trying to operate at this level. Why can’t life just be simple? Well boys and girls, and those choose to identify otherwise, that’s why I choose to focus on words that begin with the S is for...Same letter.

Because it’s S is for...Smart and S is for...

You guessed it! SIMPLE!!! Yaaaaaayyy!

Because I too can‘t always be arsed, and I too just want to get S is for...Shit done.

What I believe Terry Crews is attempting to address is a very technical and complex segment of philosophy, psychology, linguistics, and SEMANTICS! Taaah-daaaah!

I mean, I should probably read the rest of the article to confirm what he’s talking about. But I’m going to go out on a whim here and say that I’m probably right. Because I’m pretty sure he’s addressing the nuances of semantics. But with an audience as broad as it is long, there’s a lot of fuckers out there who simply aren’t going to get where you are coming from.

So, the easiest way for me to put it is this. Don’t get wrapped up in the debate. It’s pretty much a waste of fucking time. Always, always, always look to find a happy medium and move past (passed or pas? meh whatever) the debate. Unless someone is being a major douchebag, of course. Acknowledge the semantics of it all, but also acknowledge that whatever you, we, someone is discussing in that moment is also wrong. It’s only ‘right’ for that moment. So, do what you need to do, then fuck it off and move onto the next thing.

Ok, here’s my magic trick. Just to prove to you all that I know we are all wrong, and right at the same time. Which is why it’s important to deal with the moment and then move on.

Below is a sentence.

‘Everything is the same.’

That’s written in English.

Oh yeah, the clever clogs amongst us know where I’m going with this.

And below is, ahem, THE SAME SENTENCE translated into a bunch of other languages which mean EXACTLY THE SAME THING!

Tout est pareil

всичко е едно и също Alt er det samme

सब कुछ एक ही है Tutto è lo stesso

Quae est eadem

Kotahi nga mea katoa

É tudo a mesma coisa

எல்லாம் ஒன்றே

Mae popeth yr un peth

So, which one is ‘right’?

I mean, they are all different, right? But no wait, they all mean the same thing so they are the same, right? They are differently the same? They are the same in different ways? Samely different?

OH JUST FUCK OFF!

Something someone supposedly said

“The thing about talking about human rights is that when one bears in mind the sharp end of it, one does not want to worry too much about semantics.” - Tom Stoppard

Songs

Words - Boyzone