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 PART.
Under its seemingly innocuous surface, this simple
word is a powerful reminder of how human beings bonded or fought with each
other over the millennia. It is perhaps the primary reason for the rise of the
movement to mainstream DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) in all human
endeavors.
Just look at the following examples for the word’s
usage and it becomes evident as to why the whole is never a sum of the parts,
but much more!
Piston rings are part of the engine system; for every
part of pesticide, use ten parts of water – here the inference is that a part is one of the
pieces, areas, periods, things, that together with others forms the whole of
something; some, but not all of something.
She played the part of Marie in the film. - a role or character in a play or a film.
Are you from the coastal parts? – here the reference is to a region or area.
She hates being parted from her child while at work. – the suggestion here is to leave or go away from
somebody; to separate people or things.
His lips were slightly parted; She parts her hair in
the middle - to indicate a separation of closely-aligned parts.
He is part German part Swede - not completely one thing and not completely another.
And then there are these other words that not only draw
their roots from the word part, but give it a strength of additional
character.
Partial – not
complete; portion of something; somewhat fond of;
Partisan – strong
supporter; prejudiced in favor of a particular cause;
Particular – singled
out member or class in a larger group; in contrast to a universal quality.
All put together, humans have a mostly mixed emotion when it comes to the part about parting ways. To many it may evoke a sense of melancholy, but to others it is a matter of joy, finally!
Why did the numbers zero and two, part ways? Because
someone came between them. (0-1-2)!
To those with a philosophical bent of mind, though:
Nothing is part of everything and everything is part
of something.
And to those amongst us who are itching to set the
world on its correct path:
The trouble with problem-solving is that we seldom make
the shift from being part of the problem to being part of the solution.
