Saying the same thing, in a different way
I was talking with my son the other day, he was trying to explain to me what happened to him at school. Due to his diagnosis of autism it can impact his speech most time. He explains with his hands, details, and sometimes the exact wording. As he explains I have to actively listen with all my senses. While I’m processing what he’s saying in my head I’m replacing the description , and examples , with words.When I repeat what he said to me I say the words he I think he’s looking for, sometimes,he gets frustrated with me. I think , “I’m saying it differently than how he understands it.” To ease his frustrations with me I explain to him people can say the same thing, in different ways. It made me remember growing up in the south, and how people had these explanations for why something is the way it is. How folks, (I’m showing my country today) greeted each other, how they interpreted it then responded/reacted to each other.
Conversation on social media and music culture in the last few weeks have followed this same vibe. Misunderstandings due to cultural and social language barriers.
Tyla- South African singer/pop artist used a word (colored) to describe herself.She spoke about it in British Vogue . In black America colored is associated with negative emotions.
In South African culture it doesn’t mean the same, her context is “mixed”.
The way words are used will make a person say “where are you from?”before they even respond to what was said.
Miscommunication is one of the biggest issues of disagreements and misjudgment. Most assumptions are formed by perspective.
From a marketing standpoint
When perspective is defined one way but it’s not defined in the same theme as another group, it can back fire hurting the brand. Tyla new album suffered because of it. The conclusions a person’s already has can sway how a person feels towards any service or product. What people know of words is from their experiences.
We all saying the same thing, it’s just in different ways.
For instance the continent of Africa has over 1500 languages , each country has its own language plus more. In Zulu language-sanibonani bafowethu nodadewethu -translates hello my brothers and sisters. Zulu, as well as other nations in Africa greet each other with kinship- words like isis( sister), bhuti( brother), mfo. More examples:
• Shona (Zimbabwe): Mukoma (older brother), Munin’ina (younger sibling), Baba (father), Amai (mother).
In American culture, calling someone brother or sister is not always received in a positive manner. Instead, words like my guy, homie, G , brah etc., are considered kinship ; depending on the state. As I dive deeper into the connection between languages, I’ve noticed language is a mixture of what once was and what is now. How we say a phrase/word is more important now days than it was before. Some phrases are translated differently not by some random occurrence; it’s created by the culture.
