What image do you get when you hear the word ‘drug’? Write a word or phrase that is associated with the term ‘drug’? When I asked participants to answer these two questions at a workshop on critical thinking, they came up with varied answers. Here are some of the answers to the second question: drug addict, opium, heroin, chemical substance, mule, tab, OD, medicine, drug abuse, cannabis, dope, powder, narcotic, mojo, hard stuff, drug store, poison, ganja…. For most participants, the word ‘drug’ was a negative term or had negative connotations. Quite surprisingly, some of them did not even know the broadest meaning of ‘drug’: a medicine or chemical substance that has biological effects on humans and animals.
On another occasion I asked a group of students to share the thoughts that came to mind when they saw the term ‘feminist’. Here are some of their definitions of ‘feminist’: Bold woman who fights for the rights of women, A woman who loves freedom, A woman who wants to control men, A carefree female, A woman who drinks and smokes, A woman who considers all men male chauvinistic pigs.
It is true that the words ‘feminism’ and ‘feminist’ are used with negative connotations. Everyone interprets ‘feminism’ and ‘feminist’ in a different way. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (1895) the meaning of feminism is ‘advocacy of the rights of women (based on the theory of equality of the sexes)’. Many good words, like ‘feminism’, have become derogatory terms because of their connotative meanings.
A connotation is defined as ‘a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that some word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning’. In the English language there are many words that invoke certain ideas or feelings in a person. For many students the term ‘uniform’ has negative connotations of punishment and denial of rights and freedom while for others the same term has positive connotations of equality and oneness. In some societies the term ‘sales representative’ has a negative connotation and they replace it with a new job title ‘marketing executive’, which has a positive connotation. Job titles that are creative and have positive connotations are on the rise in the business world as it is believed that positive job titles enable employees to connect with people and motivate them better. A word may have a positive, negative or neutral connotation. It is important to know the connotative meanings of words we use in different communication situations. Look at these four words: thin, slim, skinny and slender. All four are synonyms of the word ‘lean’. Do they all have the same connotation? No. Thin and skinny have negative connotations, when we say someone is thin or skinny, it is not a compliment. Slim and slender mean thin in an attractive way and these words have positive connotations.
He showed the words ‘chocolate cake’ to a group of Americans and recorded their word associations. ‘Guilt’ was the top response. If that strikes you as unexceptional, consider the response of French eaters to the same prompt:’celebration’
— Michael Pollan