Possibilities and Pitfalls

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As William Shakespeare writes, “All that glitters is not gold” (Shakespeare II.VII.65). This was one of the many phrases the Prince of Morocco, one of Portia’s suitors, uttered as he was choosing from the caskets her late father had made in The Merchant of Venice. Surely, the Prince had to choose from three caskets: one which was silver, the other gold, and the final lead. Being the knowledgeable suitor, the Prince of Morocco quickly eliminates the gold casket, claiming that not all things that are shiny, extravagant, and attractive are valuable. From this, it can also be understood that superficial attractiveness does not always mean flawless. This concept of artificial beauty corresponds directly to language. As the language develops, it happens so that along with it it picks up both beneficial pleasures and hidden dangers. This essay will provide the analysis of how the language, being such a significant ingredient within our daily lives, development is leading to both positive and negative social impacts. One real possibility that language allows is that it connects us with one another, while one pitfall is the loss of value and changing of true meanings of words over time.
Playing a universal role, language is able to facilitate communication between people of different backgrounds and allows them to be able to feel/understand one another even with different connotations. Being expertises of language, both Thomas Nagel and Leslie Savan believe that language has an element of connection within it that allows for different people to relate/connect with one another regardless of their primary connotations due to their previous experiences. To start off, Thomas Nagel was an American philosopher. His main interests consisted of t...

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...reference people that have gone above and beyond just going to war. Words are losing their true definitions/meanings within language. Both the terms warrior and love (being only 2 out of many) which once meant so much and held strong significance are just being used in language without a purpose.
Language plays a major role in our lives today. It allows us not to just communicate with one another, but it allows us to play around with it, mend it, and potentially manipulate not only it, but one another. It has become simple for us to discuss taboo topics without feeling uncomfortable, connect with one another with pop language,make bad news sound somewhat beneficial and express our emotions/feelings clearly and concisely; however, it has also lead to mistranslations/miscommunications based on connotations, concealed truths, and loss of true significance and meaning.

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