Communication, Meaning and Misconceptions

1.Why talk about language.- 2. Things and what you call them: are you talking about words or animals?.- 3.Do not take words too seriously - shouldn´t we really?.- 4. What does the word really mean? Look it up in the dictionary!.- 5.Meaning is imprecise - it will always be so!.- 6. Words are symbols and not signals - help and 'help!'.- 7. One more comment on words and definitions - stop complaining!.- 8. Define wisely or widely but not wildly - be reasonable!.- 9. Classifications cannot be right or wrong - Bach in Brazil.- 10. Words and emotions - "this drives me nuts".- 11.Framing - calling a dog an animal friend.- 12.Descriptions, inferences, and evaluations - how do you know this film is wonderful?.- 13. The dangerous verb 'be' - He lied but he is not a liar.- 14. Linguistic freedom, justice, democracy, and inequality - do we need a standard?.- 15. On the ladder of abstraction - about houses and structures.- 16. Hate speech - "he should be shot".- 17.Fake news - "fierce clashes in Peru".- 18. The power of advertisement - the best car ever.- 19. Miscellaneous - a little more for doctors, lawyers, and others.- 20. Poor Whoopi Goldberg.- 21. Conclusion: Beware of Words.

Karol Janicki is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Bergen, Norway. His recent research interests have focused on language and conflict, lay people's language problems, language and education, general semantics, applied cognitive linguistics, and socio-political aspects of language.