There are limits on all things. We can feel this in the capacity of our muscles when working out, our brains when we’ve thought too hard, or when something snaps or breaks when it was pushed beyond its limits. Words have a variety of limitations and they can become more or less noticeable depending on how you choose to use them. I have experienced aspects of the limits in words, but I do not know of all their limits, nor of all the ways to work around them. However, I know of two main limits, the use of words between people, and the limit of their use in art. The first is self-explanatory, you could say something, and it means something entirely different to the other person, but this can become more and more confusing depending on what words are used with what person. The second, can be convoluted without stepping back and thinking about what other forms are available other than words. Mainly, I think about writing in comparison to physical medias such as drawing or painting and music. These all play a part in finding the limitations within words.
A long time ago I had something akin to an online argument where I was trying to say that words had exact definitions, while the other person said that words mean different things to different people, even if they’re the same words. In the end, I think there is some amount of truth in both of these sides. In my case, I was thinking about how people must have some amount of mutual understanding as to what the words mean in order to communicate at all. This is true, if this were not the case, even people using the same language would have no idea what others were talking about, making the use of language pretty useless. Although this might be true, what is similarly true is that not every word is required for communication, and in many cases, it is only when deeper and more intricate conversation is taking place do we realize how different our views or definitions of words can be.
In some situations, one person might forget the definition of a word, or many words, and then they forget what the word actually means, but they remember contexts in which the word is used. So then, they associate those situations to the word, rather than what the word means, and thus, they don’t need to know the word to see where it could be placed and used. There are many cases where we use words where they could just as easily not be there, but we add it to give further and more meaningful understanding. “I like reading” is simple and direct, however, “The flavor of literature I most enjoy is of which the author directs the reader into a mystical wonderland of illusion” is much more exact and specific. Many people, and I’ve definitely done this, have used words they didn’t know the meaning of to describe an action or thing for the sake of it being more rather than less, which can bring confusion to the listener if they want to ask a question which is based on the word the speaker didn’t quite understand. In the worst case, the speaker has forgotten, or never learned, the definition of the word, but they feel they know what it means, as they have associations of certain experiences to that word. Based on that, if someone points out they have used the word incorrectly, or that they don’t understand the word, they will be frustrated and upset.
I think some words cannot be used in this way, or else communication does become broken. Suppose something simple like “I am.” If the speaker assigned “I am” to “kill” then obviously, communication would be totally wrong and incorrect, unless both parties had the second meaning. Language is only as good as our ability to see the labels in the same light. So, when that doesn’t happen, or when we have different definitions for words we both want to use, we will be confused when the other party uses it in a way that we believe makes no sense. There are also the cases when both parties might understand and have a mutually agreeing definition, but where that word is used and to what end is different, so there is then a disagreement.
Recently, I had something like this happen to me. I was having a conversation with two friends, and I had wanted to use the word “intent” but the words someone else suggested made more sense for how I was describing something. The words they suggested were “devotion” and “dedication.” I was talking about people doing the things they want to, using their will, or something like that, but I was corrected in a particular way. They had suggested that “intent” shouldn’t be used because it refers to what is intended, and what is intended might run off course. With “devotion” or “dedication” there is a consistent fight to do what you want to do, and you must do it, because it you have something deeper within you to do that thing. There is some feeling of honor, you must do it for something or someone greater. When I think of “intent,” I don’t disagree with their definition, but once I started thinking about the word a little more abstractly, my meaning associated with that word had become different from my friends. Emotionally I had gone somewhere else when thinking of word. This is a limitation of words.
You might want to express an idea with individuals who understand the words you use, and you have all the same definitions, but how you emotionally are connected to the word alters its definition without you quite realizing it. I believe this to be what the other person was trying to tell me all that time ago, and I understood then how they were correct, but I only recently have understood to what extent. It can make deep and meaningful conversation all the more difficult. The solution is to break down what the person is saying, and you have to ask if what they mean is truly what they mean by using other words to define the word they used. If not, keep picking and prying, making sure you truly understand, because they might say something that you think means X, but it actually means Y. This sort of problem occurs in writing all the same, but the writer can prepare for this in some ways.
Before entering what the writer can do, and how the limitation of words applies to writing, I want to establish how words are comparatively scaled relative to drawing and music. I don’t mean to say that any of these are better or worse, but each has their own benefits and downsides, and it’s up to you to decide which one helps you create what you want above all else. In a conversation between my friend and I, I basically agreed with them in that words are the least abstract, drawing the second most abstract, and music the most abstract. I didn’t exactly ask him to explain his reasoning, but in my own mind, I have some ideas why this is the case. For one, words are on many levels associated with us and our own worlds and meanings, and in many cases, these can be very direct. Sure, as we’ve seen, words can be all over the place depending on our lives, and we can have discrepancies in what they mean, but they generally have to follow some guideline otherwise they don’t mean anything. Drawing can usually have some associations to us and our lives, and many drawings are like this, but they can reach levels of abstraction where we don’t know what is going on. Some might not like these types of drawings, but they are undeniably abstract, and their meaning could go any which way. For music, some same ideas follow, like we have words or things that are common and we associate with, but if those associations are broken, all we have is some sound. Sound we might like, or dislike, and we might know why that noise is the way it is, or not.
This is relevant because in the limitations of those arts, the listener or viewer is not thinking “this doesn’t align with what I think,” rather, they’re more likely to think “this doesn’t make any sense.” With words, we like to have confidence in what we say or how we think, and so when there is a difference between what someone has written and what we think a word or phrase means, there is more frustration or negative feelings than the other forms of art when it comes to things more abstract. When ideas are provided in the form of words, we want things to be exact and clear, for if they weren’t, we would ask for them to be clearer, we would want more and further detail. We would poke and pry to find out why certain words were used, why others weren’t, and perhaps how certain words should have been chosen over others. In the other two forms of art, this rarely happens. With abstract works of physical art, no one thinks that “this scribble here should have been a scribble there” or when listening to music it isn’t “this note should have been played instead of that note.” Of course, when an artist or musician looks or listens to their medium, they will think in those ways, but in the context of normal people, this doesn’t happen. However, with writing, normal people will attempt to critique despite not being writers. So, when we introduce something like writing rather than conversation, these issues become amplified and the limitations of words becomes far more noticeable.
If I want to write about an idea that revolves and is centered around a particular word, and that word is already in English, and people already use it for certain contexts, when I try to use that word, they already have a meaning associated with it. I would then have to go and describe what the word I want to use in this very special context I have created. Even then, that might not be enough. In fact, there is an idea that I want to present which is exactly like this, and every single time I have presented the idea to other individuals, even when trying to specifically define the word for a particular context, they are never quite willing to adjust their definition, even momentarily. This, unfortunately, is what it is like dealing with words. Due the fact people are associating feelings and moments with words, and even if they have the correct definition labelled in their head, they can lose sight of it, and then only have their feelings as the definition of the word. When you want to present a new definition, they will be unwilling to accept it, because they believe they already have the correct words which describe the more complex word.
In some cases, you can define what the word means in the new context, and someone will understand, but they might be unwilling to accept it still! Understanding is half the battle, because you still have to break through the fact, they have all their biases associated with the word. Due to these biases, they cannot see through anything other than their own perception, and because this is the case, they cannot see anything other than what they want to see! Unfortunately, in order to maximize communication, there are times when a new word must be created in order to establish a new meaning, and even when an existing word would have done fine, because people have feelings connected to that word, no one would quite understand how else this word could be used other than what they are willing to say it could be used as.
It becomes relevant to mention the other two forms of media, drawing and music, because in either of those, you might be able to present the same idea in a far more abstract form, and people would be accepting of it. Due to their higher abstraction, individuals lack the ability to create synaptic connections between their personal feelings and experiences, in a very clear and exact way, to whatever is being presented. No one has told them how to define the thing they are looking at or listening to, it is seemingly new and fresh to them. Some might say that in writing, by going through and describing an abstract idea, going through all its parts, and redefining words, then a reader could then understand, but in many cases, I still disagree.
You could provide an idea, redefine words, and explain every aspect of your new definition, back it up with evidence, but it would never be enough. Words that evoke emotional responses cannot be redefined quickly, they can be altered, but over long periods of time. In the short term, even in the scale of an essay or short novel, the amount of time describing and defining would still not be enough for many individuals. In some cases, it is acceptable, in others, it is not. Like said already, in many cases, an entirely new word must be created in order to avoid any possible connection the person might already have. The reality is, not every particular individual can just create “new words.” We have rules in order to keep a certain number of words in circulation so that we don’t all start speaking our own esoteric languages, and once again, this is why the other two forms of creation can get away with further abstraction. Of course, I mean within a particular language, we consistently use the same words, and if didn’t, things would diverge into different aspects of that main language. To be fair, this has already happened, but if everyone started branching away again at an accelerated rate, we would have more languages. Language is required in the modern world, on just about every level, but drawing and music are not. Not to say they aren’t important, or they aren’t relevant, because they most definitely are both of those, but for the majority, they aren’t required in your ability to communicate with other people.
Another limitation of words, perhaps not words themselves, is the structure in which words are to be used. This varies from language to language, but the common idea is to have a grammatical structure for words. Certain words are assigned certain labels, and we do this so we know what words come when, what those words mean in relation to other words, and so that those words can be quickly understood. This becomes a limiting factor because this means using certain words for tasks they aren’t built for is impossible, you have to use particular words in certain positions otherwise they lose their meaning. Comparatively speaking, artwork or music does not require all this labeling, at least not for the viewer and listener, and so the producer can go in just about any direction they like. There is no defined rule or structure for the way they wish to present their ideas or feelings.
This also means how the creator thinks while in the midst of their writing is impacted by a ruleset. They have to think in the context of particular rules which will govern how they share information. Sure, everything has rules which must be obeyed, but it is a case of there being more or less rules than something else, and words, or writing, has more rules than something like drawing or music. As a result of many rules, the limits of how information can be presented in also fitted into those. It becomes more difficult to explain or share something of a higher abstraction when you are stuck following many different rules. On top of rules, you have to make sure what you present does not end up being compared or associated with an individual’s personal experience or bias which would end up losing the purpose of the writing.
It’s not like I dislike words, I just know that they have limitations. All things have limitations, and it’s a matter of how many, not whether or not they have them. Despite words having limitations, especially in the definitions of words and the grammatical structure words are to be used in, I think there is room within them to wiggle around. You can stretch the meaning of words, and at times, you can use the fact that people have feelings or experiences that define certain words to your advantage. If you know that a majority of people feel a certain way when a certain word is used in a certain way, you can then use that word in order to provoke a specific emotional response. If done well, this can have positive outcomes, but if not, it could be disastrous.
All art forms have limits to their use, and that’s okay. It’s a matter of what those limits are and how they impact the creator. With drawing and music, there is enough room for the creator to work into abstractions not available to words. For the writer, they must use words in a clear way, and they must follow a structure so that the words being used make sense. Sometimes the writer can use words to evoke emotional responses, but they have to be careful with this. I admit that with more time and experience with drawing and music, I might realize that they don’t have as much abstraction as I originally thought, or I might have a breakthrough with words, but right now, I find that words are the least abstract, and the most exact, out of the three mediums. However, that does not stop words from being beautiful, or any less impactful. Rather, I believe this makes them the most impactful, because they can have the power to change or alter the most amount of people in the most direct way. I love words, but I have to learn how to use them in ways that will make sense for the majority of people, otherwise, it will lead to confusion and frustration to both the writer and the reader.