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.
This time, the random word that has surfaced is EXACT.
The word has many interesting twists to its use which
may astound most simple folks. Consider the following:
There is no exact estimate of the number
of people who were impacted due to that earthquake!
The family astrologer had given very exact
predictions on the political ascendancy of the businessman’s only
daughter!
The insurance investigator insisted that an absolutely
exact copy of the original drawing was needed.
Often, as many of us have encountered, there is also a
twist of a different kind!
This happens when somebody attempts to exact a
price from us by demanding something that we possess. How much we
succumb to such extortions will exactly depend on our negotiation
skills!
Occasionally, relationships break because one party is
fastidious about being exact in transactions and in
communications, much to the irritation of the other party. In such cases, there
is exactly no way to prove who is responsible!
My friend’s girlfriend borrowed Rs.100 from him when they
had started dating. After three years, when they separated, she returned exactly
Rs.100. My friend lost all interest in that relationship!
