Make Like a Tree and Bark
Have you ever thought what it would be like if we didn’t agree on words?
Sometimes, there’s a battle over what to call things. Some people think it should be called one thing and others another. Often, sooner or later, one will win out, though not necessarily the most logical.
Sometimes, it’s no big deal. Consider soda. Or cola. Or pop. Or soda pop. See? In different areas, it’s called different things. For the most part, we understand each other, but most stick with our preferences.
Can you imagine that happening in other areas? Consider the tree. Do you think, way back when, people argued what to call the parts of a tree? Maybe one group thought the green things should be called leaves, while the stuff on the trunk of the tree should be called bark. And then another group thought the stuff on the trunk of the tree should be called leaves and the green things called bark.
What if those two groups persisted with their preferences to this day?
One guy yells to his neighbor: “Can’t you get your dog to stop leaving!?”
The neighbor replies: “I did! He’s on a leash!”
The other guy yells back: “He’s still leaving!”
The neighbor replies: “No, he’s not! Can’t you hear him barking?”
The other guy yells back: “I wish he would bark. I wish you’d bark too!”
The neighbor replies: “Woof! Woof!”
There’s a lesson in there about communication and the importance of consistency in language. The bigger lesson is, of course, that you should be worried and afraid if your neighbor ever tells you your tree is barking.
“There’s a lesson in there about communication and the importance of consistency in language”
Agreed!