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 the participants to answer these two questions at a workshop on critical thinking, they came up with varied images and 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 and ganja. For most of the participants, the word ‘drug’ was a negative term or had negative connotations. Quite surprisingly, some of them did not even know the broad meaning of ‘drug’: a medicine or chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention or diagnosis of diseases or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being.
On another occasion, I asked a group of students to share their thoughts on 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 and many more such examples.
It is true that the words ‘feminism’ and ‘feminist’ are being used with negative connotations. Everyone interprets ‘feminism’ and ‘feminist’ in a different way. According to Oxford English Dictionary (1895) the meaning of feminism was advocacy of the rights of women (based on equality of the sexes). It is true many good words, like ‘feminism’, have transformed into 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 the word’s or phrase’s explicit or literal meaning”. In the English language there are many words which invoke certain ideas or feelings in a person in addition to its original or explicit meaning. For example, for many students the term ‘uniform’ implies negative connotations of punishment and denial of rights and freedom and for some the same term has positive connotations of equality and oneness.
In some societies, the term ‘sales representative’ has a negative connotation and therefore they avoid using it and use the 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 to perform better.
A word may have a positive, negative or neutral connotation. It is important to know the connotative meanings of words, which we use in different communication situations. Look at these four words: thin, slim, skinny and slender. All these four are synonyms of the word ‘lean’. Do they all have the same connotations? No. Thin and skinny have negative connotations and 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.
— rayanal@yahoo.co.uk