everybody's doing it, so i'll jump off the cliff
up-goer five text editor - using the ten thousand most common words in the english language. warning: if you have any love for language, this thing may make you weep in despair.
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words are important because they are what we use to speak and write ideas to share with other people. words are not the things themselves. they are things that stand in for what we mean when we use them. the word "desk" does not mean only one desk; it also means all possible desks. this is how a word becomes an idea of a thing and can be used in many ways.
words can be grouped together so that we can share ideas that have many parts. the way we order the words in these groups is how we make meaning. when the words in a group are in a different order, the meaning changes or goes away so that there is no meaning. that is bad because people can't understand each other and no ideas can be shared.
there are some words that sound the same as other words and also look like them. it can be hard to tell which of these words to use when you write because they are so like each other. it's important to know which word to use at which time in order to make the group of words that you are writing have meaning. some people think that this is not important, but they are wrong because using the wrong word changes the meaning of what you write from what you wanted it to be.
there are also words that have more than one meaning. a word might mean a thing and also mean to do a thing. "fly" can mean a small animal and also something the animal does. you know which meaning is being used because of the other words in the group and their order.
in groups of words there are also things that are not words but are still important for making meaning in writing. they are marks to tell you where to pause in the group to understand one part of an idea, and also where one idea stops and a new one starts. it is important to know these marks and know how to use them so that you can share your ideas and people will understand them the way you mean them. if you don't use the right mark or you use it in the wrong place, the idea that you are sharing changes.
so here is what you know now: words can be used for more than one thing and can also mean more than one thing; the order of words in a group is important to make meaning and so is using the right word; the marks you use in a group of words are also important for meaning. if any of these things is not right then you will not be sharing the ideas that you want to. and sharing ideas is why we have words in the first place.
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it's possible some of my brain cells actually died during this exercise.
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This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth. If you feel inclined, comment there.
*
words are important because they are what we use to speak and write ideas to share with other people. words are not the things themselves. they are things that stand in for what we mean when we use them. the word "desk" does not mean only one desk; it also means all possible desks. this is how a word becomes an idea of a thing and can be used in many ways.
words can be grouped together so that we can share ideas that have many parts. the way we order the words in these groups is how we make meaning. when the words in a group are in a different order, the meaning changes or goes away so that there is no meaning. that is bad because people can't understand each other and no ideas can be shared.
there are some words that sound the same as other words and also look like them. it can be hard to tell which of these words to use when you write because they are so like each other. it's important to know which word to use at which time in order to make the group of words that you are writing have meaning. some people think that this is not important, but they are wrong because using the wrong word changes the meaning of what you write from what you wanted it to be.
there are also words that have more than one meaning. a word might mean a thing and also mean to do a thing. "fly" can mean a small animal and also something the animal does. you know which meaning is being used because of the other words in the group and their order.
in groups of words there are also things that are not words but are still important for making meaning in writing. they are marks to tell you where to pause in the group to understand one part of an idea, and also where one idea stops and a new one starts. it is important to know these marks and know how to use them so that you can share your ideas and people will understand them the way you mean them. if you don't use the right mark or you use it in the wrong place, the idea that you are sharing changes.
so here is what you know now: words can be used for more than one thing and can also mean more than one thing; the order of words in a group is important to make meaning and so is using the right word; the marks you use in a group of words are also important for meaning. if any of these things is not right then you will not be sharing the ideas that you want to. and sharing ideas is why we have words in the first place.
*
it's possible some of my brain cells actually died during this exercise.
--
This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth. If you feel inclined, comment there.