Words have traditionally been the backbone of intelligent
communications. Some researchers suggest that humans began using spoken words, anywhere
between 50000 and 70000 years ago. Words then were often just a collation of
sounds, but they seemed to have served their purpose. How they managed their
communications in their worlds so long ago can only be imagined!
Today, in the second millennium of the common era, as
per Ethnologue, which is a language catalogue and resource site, there are
around 7111 languages in the world (not including dialects, sign languages)
with an estimated 840 million words.
And with such a surfeit of languages and words, our
world should naturally (if not certainly!) be a very interesting one for those
of us who will only take some time from our busy routines, to peek into the
world of words.
The word that has randomly popped up for this month is ARGUMENT.
Notwithstanding the fact that its choice as a
qualifier, by renowned economist and philosopher Amartya Sen’s for his book’s
title (The Argumentative Indian) brought a sense of notoriety and fame
to my countrymen, this word also happens to be a potent descriptor of how
communities have progressed - in making progress from simple individual beliefs
to colossal institutional power-centers.
And in facilitating such a progress, an argument exposes
the deepest frustrations; only that they are often well-hidden in the phrases
used. One can literally feel the heat of an argument rising, as the
French do when they say la moutarde me monte au
nez (mustard is climbing up my nose)!
Yet, in some cultures, people do their very best to be
tactful and discreet, if only to keep themselves out of trouble from pursuing
their line of argument. In many other cultures, there is also the tendency,
while arguing, to describe unpleasant things in foreign terms, as though that
will take away the sting of what is being said. In many parts of the
world (including several parts of my own motherland, India), there is no
shortage of colorful verbal insults to embellish an argument. May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits
is a wonderful Arabic way to retreat from a losing argument!
And god-forbid if the argument turns physical!
As when things get too hot for the Tamil film hero
whose fans will look out for him to do the parandhu
parandhu adikkarathu routine
(fight by jumping and flying in the air)!
There is plenty of wisdom that helps those that want
to circumvent an argument. Sample a few - The
only way to get the best of an argument is to
avoid it (Dale Carnegie) - Silence is one of
the hardest arguments to refute (Anon) –
Argument is meant to reveal the truth, not create it (Edward de Bono).
And then there are many witty ones to make light of
the gravity of the situation! As when you hear these in the course of an
argument - I’d agree with you, but then we’d
both be wrong! Let’s not argue about who’s right; let’s just agree that I am!
I am willing to pledge my last Rupee and state that none can ever deny the fact that arguments are an indispensable and rich tradition of debate and reasoning in a culture and society; and that the intellectual discourse from arguments play a vital role in shaping democratic values and facilitating social progress.
Did I hear someone argue that I am wrong?
