Connotations aside, many names can be nice

Title: Connotations aside, many names can be nice

Author: Brandon Rogers
Date: 26 May 2011
Class: Theory of Knowledge
Category: In Class

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            An article assigned by my TOK teacher was called “Connotations aside, many names can be nice” by Brandon Rogers. In this article, he explored word’s connotations and its pronunciation and sound. He stated that many words with negative connotation could be pleasing to the ears such as “Chlamydia” or “militia” etc. He claimed that he could have named his children using these names if he was only evaluating the sound of the names. With this, he asked the question of, “Do words have to mean pretty things to sound pretty?” (Rogers, par.2).

            Personally, I think words can sound pretty without meaning pretty. For example, although the word “halcyon” has a positive meaning, I do not find this word to sound pretty. [Connection] Instead, this word reminds me of the character, Hulk, from the movie. These words sound similar to the ears; however they have completely different connotations. One implies peace, whereas the other draws an image of a green monster. Another example could be of the word, “Chlamydia”. Although this word refers to a sexually transmitted disease (STD), I believe it is pleasant to the ears. While reading this article, I did not know what this word “Chlamydia” was referring to. This made me think of the foreigner’s reactions. I began to think, [Knowledge Issues] how would a foreigner be able to distinguish a word of positive connotation to another of a negative one? Do all people have the same “gut feeling” or “sense” of which word is positive and which is negative, regardless of race and nationality? [Connection] When preparing for the SAT, people tell me to use my gut feeling when determining the fill-in-the-blanks for the vocabulary section. In other words, I had to decide the word with the appropriate connotation. [Knowledge Issues] However, seeing that I thought the words “Chlamydia”, “militia”, “Artillery” and “Citronella” and many more to have positive connotations, are my gut feelings reliable to determine which words have positive or negative connotations? Is it fair and right for people to tell others to rely on your senses to complete the SAT fill-in-the-blank questions? Who decides what is considered as having a positive connotation and which is to have a negative connotation?