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The article doesn't mention the way that word placement changes the meaning of sentences. From a video I recently saw but can't recall, consider these sentences
by aazaa 6y ago
The article doesn't mention the way that word placement changes the meaning of sentences. From a video I recently saw but can't recall, consider these sentences:
- Although John is a nice guy, he beats his dog.
- Although John beats his dog, he's a nice guy.
- John is a nice guy, but he beats his dog.
- John beats his dog, but he's a nice guy.
These are all plain English sentences, but will be interpreted quite differently. For the moment, try to set aside the moral judgement on dog beating and consider what the author's opinion of John is in each case.
For example, readers tend to latch onto the last part of a sentence. So putting the nice guy part last tends to support John. Whereas putting the dog beating last tends to undermine John.
Same facts, almost the same words, but different messages.
- nicbou 6y ago> For example, readers tend to latch onto the last part of a sentence. Everything before "but" is often bullshit. "I'm not racist, but". "No offense, but".
- alexpetralia 6y agoIs it? It seems like a qualified statement which emphasizes the unequal weights of two opposing views. How about: "There are multiple ways to solve this problem, but this is best one." Isn't that better than: "This is how we should solve it"? I see no problem with qualifying an assertion with a lesser weight.
- mynegation 6y agoMaybe not the best example, as it is hard to imagine someone being nice and beating the dog, but the point still stands if you pick up something less extreme: "John is a good friend but forgets my birthday every year".
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- brianmcc 6y agoGreat real world example. IMO it's a really powerful "language pattern". Another example: "Boris Johnson is a woefully inadequate Prime Minister but he was kind of funny 20 years ago on Have I Got News For You". It's almost like weighing Negative Fact #1 against Positive Fact #2 and suggesting to the audience that the scales are now more or less level so let's move on. Obviously the 2 facts are a long way from being really "equal", and how one applies the offset (minor bad vs major good, major bad vs minor good, etc) should be influenced by what one is trying to achieve.
- MauranKilom 6y agohttps://xkcd.com/2146/ https://xkcd.com/2146/
- stared 6y agoFor all intents and purposes "but" is a negation, which goes backwards. "He is a nice guy, but..." ~= "He is not a nice guy, because..." One interesting things is that when you look at sentiment of words in reviews, the word "but" glows (in red).
- hoorayimhelping 6y agoIs it? "I haven't ever gotten professional training, but I think my driving ability is above average because I analyze what I do."
- wlll 6y agoI'm struggling to read those as being different. UK English reader.
- mynegation 6y agoNon-native speaker here. I read it as an emphasis on the second part. First sentence makes a point that John deserves judgement, the second one that he deserves leniency, on the net balance of his qualities.
- graeme 6y agoIndeed there’s no difference. There’s a possibility of different emphasis, but it would depend on a wider context.
- NoOneNew 6y agoYea... they all mean the same thing. I think they're trying to split some imaginary hairs.
- inopinatus 6y agoI had the same response as you. I’ve come to accept that not everyone’s brain is wired the same.
- zimpenfish 6y agoNative English UK Reader here and whilst the words have essentially the same meaning, I would definitely have a different take away from these two: - John is a nice guy, but he beats his dog. - John beats his dog, but he's a nice guy. For me, the difference is that the second one carries more of an implication that the speaker doesn't consider dog beating all that problematic since even though John does it, he's still a nice guy. Also, to me, the first one is more judgemental towards John than the second.
- samatman 6y agoThis is even summed up in a bit of wisdom: in a sentence containing the word "but", you may safely ignore everything which comes before that word.
- segmondy 6y agoPronunciation changes meaning too. "i didn't say he stole the money." this doesn't say much, but when a word is stressed takes on a new meaning, so one should be careful to capture the stress in writing. I didn't say he stole the money. - someone else said it, not me i DIDN'T say he stole the money. - you think I said it, it wasn't me. i didn't SAY he stole the money. - I never said such a thing, might have suggested it's a possibility, but never said it. i didn't say HE stole the money. - I said someone else stole it. i didn't say he STOLE the money. - I might have said he took it, like borrowed, but definitely didn't say he stole it, who knows? i didn't say he stole THE money. - not the money in question, another money. i didn't say he stole the MONEY. - he stole something else besides the money. So the same sentence can mean something very different and to really make sure the reader get's the meaning, will need more context than in spoken language.
- szszrk 6y agoI always find it weird that English texts and speach tend to emphasis different word in sentence that I am used to in my mother tongue. In Polish it's simple, just like in your example, the word that is in bold is the one you are trying to get attention to. But in practice I hear often in English media and books something completely else, where a word next to it has the accent/emphasis, not the one that is CLEARLY arising from context. I tried to consult that with local English teachers and people coaching others in communication in that language, but they just had no idea what I am talking about. In your example it would be: "i didn't SAY he stole the money" when it's perfectly clear from context that the person denies such situation ever had place and was not involved in it in any way. In TV it's just weird, but maybe I'm dumb, or person speaking is weird. But in books it's stated with bold font or "<<word>>" and the context is clear. I saw that espacially in books from 1940-1970, modern reeditions from UK and US have all those bold text left intact. Very awkward for a non native speaker.
- fanf2 6y agoI think there's also a difference between the way I (an English person) would place the emphasis in a sentence compared to the way I hear Americans speak. One thing that frequently makes it more difficult for me to understand is an adjective/noun phrase with the emphasis at the start, so the important part (the noun) is nearly swallowed.
- wenc 6y agoYes, inversion is often a useful trick. Harsh: We really like your proposal but we don’t have the resources. Soft: We don’t have the resources, but we really like your proposal. Another trick is to not just say, "I disagree" when you disagree. Validate first, then express disagreement. For example: "I hear you and see where you’re coming from. I have a different view." This lessens defensiveness. This might all sound very silly, but these are actually brain hacks in order to have constructive conversations. Depending on your culture, you might have a different sensitivity to direct speech. If you're sensitive, your lower brain (fight-or-flight mechanism) is activated when you perceive someone is critical toward you. The idea of rearranging language is to defuse that lower brain (fight-or-flight) tendency and move the conversation to the upper brain (executive function), so instead of fighting at a pure feelings level, ideas can be exchanged (and disagreements can be had) at a more abstract level.
- rbonvall 6y agoThis is probably the video you saw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLPCdDp_LE0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLPCdDp_LE0 (Judy Swan, Scientific Writing: Beyond Tips and Tricks)
- jwuphysics 6y agoWow, is that the auditorium in the CMU Gates building? I remember pulling all-nighter "homework parties" in there!