A Word With No Definition

 Language is a wonderful thing for a variety of reasons, but one of my favorite things about it has always been how we as people can utilize language outside of its original confinements. The creative potential language has is entirely comparable to that of a blank page and a pencil, or an empty canvas on a drawing software. Language is merely a tool that human beings have developed in time to communicate with each other, themselves, as well as in order to express themselves in ways exceeding the necessities of conversing. Literature is as much as of an art form as illustration or painting; in Finnish, we sometimes even call literature "sanataide", translating to "word art". 

But since the definitions exist, there must be some kind of a reason for them, right? 

In order to fully describe and explain the phenomenon of hyperboles and exaggerations in different situations compared to the original definition of the words that are being used, I would have to go on a long tangent on different genres of text, their purposes, and how to differentiate them from one another. But I'll be kind and spare you of that exhausting linguistic nonsense.

To put it shortly, words can appear in different roles and functions in different types of text, and they are usually bound to the context of said text. For example, when you're reading a news article on an accident that recently happened in your region, the text says, "Both of the passengers in the car died, while the driver survived from the accident with minor injuries". In this context, the word 'died' appears in its actual definition: two people have passed away, lost their lives. Now, you're reading the Instagram comment section on a famous artist's post, and one of the comments says, "oh my god I LITERALLY DIED when they posted these pics wtaf!!!!! <333" Here in this context, the phrase 'literally died' appears as a hyperbole: its purpose in the text is not to factually describe real life events, but rather, to convey strong emotions the speaker is experiencing.

Okay, but...why does this matter?

Sometimes, we run into situations where hyperbolic usage of certain words and terms becomes problematic. Some of these words include descriptors of discrimination and oppression, slurs, and terms meant to describe abuse – particularly in the case of words whose factual definitions have become less known and almost forgotten by the general public, and the only thing left of them is their hyperbolic shell.

definition.

 'Bullying' as a word has become so abstract and misconstrued that there are a lot of people out there who genuinely think it does not have a clear definition. My observation is that this is a result of excessive hyperbolic use of the word and the insufficient explanation as to what bullying even is. It's a mixture of both linguistic and educational happenings. 

A lot of us heard the teachers at our schools say something akin to this: "If you ever feel like you are being bullied, that is all that matters." While this is a very important point of view to stress – particularly to kids and teenagers – there's some nuance lacking in this statement. While we should always believe the victim first and foremost, we also cannot ignore the problem of exploitative language and the consequential invalidation of the term as a descriptor of abuse in general. 

By ignoring the factual definition of bullying and giving all agency to the alleged victim, we are giving off the impression that anything can be bullying, if you just feel like it is. The victim's perspective as the victim needs to ALWAYS exist in relation to the question of WHAT BULLYING EVEN IS. If the kids don't know what the fuck the word even means, they will not know when they are being bullied or when they are acting as the bully. Educating kids and educators alike on the definition of this descriptor of abuse is just as crucial as listening to the victim. 

In more simpler terms, you feel like you are being bullied because you KNOW what bullying is and what it feels like. 

But when the word itself only exists as an empty hyperbolic buzzword in the language of everyday people, it gets increasingly difficult to have your voice heard as the real, not alleged, Victim.

Bookmarking dictionaries,

ichigonya