Language is Fluid and Sometimes have Coded Meaning

The beautiful thing about language is meaning can change over time or be coded to mean different things at the same time. Take for example the word ‘bad.” If someone says, “This apple is bad.” Our first interpretation is the apple is probably rotten and unfit to eat. However, when coded it has the opposite meaning.

Coded language has been with us for centuries. For example, during slavery, not every revolt was overt or violent. A nonviolent revolt could be a slave would choose to run away. A covert revolt could be a slave deliberately breaking a tool. These individuals would be labeled as bad people by his owner. When telling the other slaves about the bad slave the remaining slaves would nod or even voice agreement. However, the agreement was coded. The other slaves actually saw the “bad” slave as praiseworthy. He was a hero. Some words today that have an inverted meaning are bad, sick, wicked, etc.

In more recent times here is another example of meaning changing over time For example, before the Nazis took ownership of the swastika and associated it with the death of millions it was used by many indigenous people in North American and in Hindu and Buddhist cultures. For some indigenous people the swastika represented whirl winds. For Hindus, it meant well being or health. Today, most people have decided never to used the swastika as a symbol within their culture.