Every word denotes something, and connotes something more.
Its “denotation” is what it denotes – that is, what it means in its most straightforward, minimal dictionary definition.
Its “connotation” is what it connotes. That’s where things get interesting.
The connotation of a word is its flavor, its feeling, its emotional texture. It’s what the word suggests, without actually saying. It’s all the things we associate with it.
To make the most of any word, we must of course know its its definition or denotation. But we also must know its connotation. The best dictionaries not only define a word – they also discuss what it connotes.
“Wall Street” literally means a particular street in New York. More broadly, it means the American financial industry, including its largest banks, investment firms, insurance companies, hedge funds, and the like, regardless of location.
Given these denotations, the term “Wall Street” has further acquired connotations of wealth, power, prestige, and privilege.
Sadly, those aren’t its only connotations. In the wake of Bernie Madoff, computerized high-speed stock trading, Citizens United, subprime mortgage shenanigans, and a consequent global recession – “Wall Street” by now also connotes greed and corruption.
We can think of a word’s bare-bones denotation as just that: its bare bones. Its skeleton. Its connotation is the flesh that gives it form and life, that makes it sing and dance.
That allows it to truly communicate.
I’ve read that in English, there are countless words that denote identical things – but no two that have exactly the same connotation.
Words with substantially the same meaning are called synonyms. I’m not sure it’s really true that no two share identical connotations. But I can’t think of any that do, so I suppose such synonyms are rare, if they do exist.
Here’s an example: china and porcelain. These words both refer to a translucent glazed ceramic used in making dishes. In terms of literal meaning, these words are perfect synonyms and can be used interchangeably.
Not so their connotations! The word “porcelain” suggests high quality, beauty, elegance, refinement. Typically expensive! Whereas “china” can be any old dishware of the same material.
Unless it’s “fine china”, in which case we might as well call it “porcelain”. The very fact that we feel a need to specify “fine” proves that china doesn’t carry the same high-end connotation as porcelain.
Bertrand Russell illustrated connotation with what he called the “conjugation of an irregular verb”: “I am determined; you are stubborn; so-and-so is a pig-headed fool.”
Determined – stubborn – pig-headed. More or less synonymous. Very, very different connotations!
Better communication can start with knowing precisely what the words we choose connote.
(This article is part of my series on words that are #worth1000pictures.)