Words like SPRING, and another placeholder experiment of mine.
It starts like this, which I'm sure is equal parts non-surprising and random.
It begins — the mindworm
I was driving past the name of a house: SILVERSPRINGS.
It got me thinking*.
ONE: Take the word SPRING.
Got that in your head?
ONE (again): Wait, no, not that kind of SPRING.
Think about it — there's another kind too.
…there it is.
Yes
— ah, no.
You found another kind again.
Hadn't even thought of that one. Nice but —
ONE (for the final time): Keep thinking. There's another use of that word.
Maybe more than one. Sounds like we have three by now. Three potential meanings of SPRING.
It moves up a gear — algebra?
So, let's start with those three.
Got them?
(I could spell out my three, but where's the fun in that?!)
TWO: Now, let's pretend this was algebra, and label them, A, B, and C. Got it?
TWO POINT FIVE (My job not yours): And I'll draw an invisible imaginary triangle.
TWO POINT SEVEN FIVE (Your job now): Can you see it?
And now I'm seeing triangles
THREE: And we'll label its points A, B, and C.
THREE POINT ONE: Up there in A is the first meaning of the word SPRING that we found.
(I know, yours might be different to mine and it's disconcerting not to know whether it is or not, but try not to worry. Just play along.)
THREE POINT TWO: In B is the second meaning we found. Well, I found, and you found, quite separately.
(They may even be exactly the same. I bet you're intrigued now. I know I am.)
THREE POINT THREE: And over there in C (or down there, or back there — depending how you imaginary-labelled my imaginary invisible triangle) is the third one.
(Okay, I do realise you might not have made it to a third. That's no reflection on your thinking skills, and besides if you've read this far, just bear with it a moment longer and imagine you had come up with a third meaning. Say, a type of cheese, a phase of the moon, or the Anglo Saxon word for library… All hypothetical placeholders…)
A, B, C.
It won't stop — is NOTHING irrelevant??
FOUR: Okay, now. In the middle, what do the three have in common?
Think carefully!
You might have to use your hands to gesture, or your body to demonstrate some kind of phenomenon or non-verbal 'thing' produced from your own world of 'things' and non-verbal hunches.
Now.
FIVE: Imaginary-write that word in the centre of my imaginary invisible triangle, so, you have A, B, C, and the one in the middle. If it is indeed non-verbal, you'll have to draw a symbol, or make up a new word, or just leave a mental asterisk that links to the gesture you came up with.
Seeing stars now — they may be asterisks
SIX: Now, ask yourself and answer me this: How does each of those (A, B, C) bring more to the table than the middle word alone. What's included in each of those three — contexts, other words, associations, uses etc — that is directly, indirectly or even tenuously related to the one in the middle.
Don't worry, I'll wait. You have three to do. It's a fair amount of work, I know. But I have coffee. And you have the world of other things you can click away to instead, let alone the alternative choice of getting your own coffee and taking this thing seriously.
Who was I before all this started?
SEVEN: Wow. A year has passed. Seems like it anyway. Not because you were slow, but because of how much mental territory has been covered since we were reading step SIX together. We should take a moment. Officially, that's step seven. Hmm.
EIGHT: And in what ways does all this extra information add richness and texture to all the others, in quiet ways no one would normally bother mentioning.
I'm sorry, is this an A level paper?!
NINE: While we're there, can you see how this might get extended, even today, based on a new invention, someone's publicized future plans, a recall on a product, or a new book title involving the word? That's one thing if it's on the BBC website. But also, what about in your own head. Your future plans. A product you'll use. A book you'll read, or write, or pass in a charity shop, or set on fire during a campaign rally you'll sign up for in six month's time, and carry out the following week because of someone you haven't met yet who you think makes a really good point, and turns you into a book-burning campaigner.
(That might be such a long stretch for you that I've lost you now. If so make up something cheese-related that's a bit easier to stomach.)
And homework now?!!
TEN: And now… read my post on metaphors.
BONUS: let me know whether any of this rings a bell with you. Only if you want to.
Like I said, I was just driving. * And actually, later that day I drove past another house name: SILVERBOW and, to be honest, we might have been having the exact same conversation after that one.…
Can we try it with a different word now?
…
