In 1949 a fictional novel by George Orwell was published.  It was called “1984”.   The story presented the world as George perceived it might be in the year nineteen eighty-four based on his observations of the current state of things.

His vision of a world populated by totalitarian states which were presented to the populous as utopia’s was frequently used during the decade’s of the fifties, sixties and seventies as a warning of what was to come.

While the totalitarian states predicted in the novel did to not come to pass the use of language as propaganda throughout the tale always fascinated me.   That is not necessarily what you meant but how you said it.  This is a practice that continues today, that is how we label things somehow changes the meaning and  makes them more acceptable.

What’s in a label?

Recently I called a para-medic an ambulance driver and quickly learned how inaccurate this was.  The lady in question told a tale of how she had been called to an accident where one of the police officer’s on the scene was holding a witness for her care before questioning them.   The officer introduced her “The ambulance driver will check you out now”.   She followed that with “And when I am finished the police car driver will have some questions for you”.

For me this is a humorous  tale with a purpose.  The reality is para-medic does describe the role far more accurately than ambulance driver which was the traditional title as I was growing up.  The work performed by these first responders (an alternate and as I understand it, acceptable title) has changed drastically since my youth, both their capabilities, skills and success ratio’s.

Semantics Matter!

I have always been fascinated by importance of meaning behind the words and how the meanings morph over time.  For example the term “gay” to describe homosexuals has gathered negative connotations to the extent I have recently seen commercials on television deriding it’s use.   Originally intended to describe a particular sexual orientation, a negativism was associated with the word because the practice was viewed as deviant.  Being a homosexual is now largely an accepted practice by society.  Today, to describe that sexual behavior in politically correct terms using homosexual is much safer although in fact the two words do generally refer to the same things (albeit one does have a negative spin).

Should semantics matter?

Language is how we communicate.  The need to assign nuances to our words is paramount, so short answer – Yes semantics matter and in my opinion this needs to be the way it is, so societies can continue to mature  communication practices and grow clarity when exchanging information.