Words Don T Mean What They Mean By Steven Pinker

The idea of overcompensating in kindness when talking to someone has always existed in society, from the beginning of time. It was once a matter of life or death and has now turned into a matter of satisfaction and contentment, in our everyday lives. This idea has become a topic of conversation once the new millennium began. A very known professor named Steven Pinker wrote his opinion on this matter in an excerpt, “Words Don't Mean What They Mean” from, “The Stuff of Thought”. He argues that the societal need for over sophistication when in conversation has caused a trend of indirect speech making a person's true intent difficult to understand, which was achieved through his use of well known allusion and diction. At the beginning of his

For instance, Pinker uses the movie, Tootsie, starring Dustin Hoffman and Jessic Lange to convey how indirect communication leads to a misunderstanding. When Lange confids in Hoffman as a woman, she explains what she longs for in a man to say to her. This isn't actually what she wants someone to say, she just wants someone to be honest with her in what they want. Hoffman doesn’t understand that, so when he approaches her appearing as a man, he fails in making her happy. By Lange not being straightforward in her wish for people to be honest and straightforward with her, Hoffman misunderstands her and tells her, almost verbatim, what she told them earlier on. This also alludes to Pinkers statement that, “hypocrisy is a human universal” as Lange is being a hypocrite by wanting someone to be honest and then not being honest in what she actually wants herself. This failed communication leads to many issues between the two characters which could have been avoided, if Lange hadn’t over-explained her desire with an example she didn't even want. Another instance that is brought up that alludes to Pinker’s argument is Resolution 242, succeeding

He also uses lots and lots of diction which express the confusion that the unneeded sophistication of speech causes. For instance, when referring to Resolution 242, he describes the ideas presented as confusing and “ambiguous”. Ambiguous is another way to say open-ended or open for interpretation, which is one of the main ideas that he gets across in his writing. By using this word, he is explaining how indirect speech is often unreliable in purpose, due to the many possible interpretations different people may have. This was seen with the resolution where the two different parties interpreted the withdrawal in different ways. This ambiguity can lead to even more conflict and confusion or never end it; this happened with Resolution 242. Throughout the excerpt, there are many, many words that Pinker uses to describe both the causes and effects of indirect speech. He claims that people over sophisticate their speech to prevent others from an “infectious” world and that people will “sheathe [their] words in politeness and innuendo and other forms of doublespeak”. The words ``infectious” and “sheathe' ' go hand in hand with one another, which is really where Pinker closes off his argument of the societal need for over sophistication and indirect speech. He explains the cause behind people trying to “sheathe” their phrases in kinder and