Equivocal Language In Abc's Fresh Off The Boat

People unintentionally fail at playing charades everyday by visually illustrating what they are trying to convey when they are speaking. People do not solely rely on words in communication with others, just as they do not fully rely on gestures to get their point across. In fact, the most skilled speakers use a wide variety of components of both verbal and nonverbal communication. A good way to observe this mixture of communication is watching interactions, and a convenient method to do so is to observe conversations in television shows. ABC’s comedy Fresh Off the Boat illustrates the Huang family dynamics through the use of clever communication motifs in the characters’ conversations throughout the episode, Time to get Ill in which the father, Louis, and his sons, Eddie, Emery, and Evan are left to their own devices after the

By observing the interactions within the scene where the Louis sits the boys down to tell them their mother is sick, it is clear that the study of communication is a vast one, but the use of equivocal language, denotative meaning, volume, and affect display are most prevalent in this short clip. Adults are particularly good at saying one thing, but meaning another - youths are even better at doing so. Imprecise sayings that have underlying meanings or can be interpreted several ways labeled as equivocal language. Equivocal language is defined as using words in a way that can be interpreted in many ways. Practical examples of the use of equivocal language are found in speeches given by many public figures, such as politicians. In Time to get Ill, equivocal language is best used by the eldest son, Eddie, who uses it to convince his family to take advantage of his mother’s cold. In his argument, Eddie claims that not having his mom around is an “opportunity.” Eddie cleverly uses the term “opportunity” instead of “good thing” because