Words Have Meanings !

I received yet another e-mail challenging my position that the Constitution, and indeed all founding documents, are most emphatically not living documents that must change in accordance with the needs of the society they govern. The person, who shall go unnamed here, insisted that societies needs supersede the wishes and ideas of a “bunch of old men” from the distant past. This in spite of the fact that these old men were some of the most astute and able thinkers of any period of history. Collectively, they probably have never been bested for their raw intellect and wisdom.

The unnamed also insisted that words evolve to mean different things to different people. I took umbrage and pointed out that if that really were the case, we would probably degenerate into a mute society, as eventually, words would have no common meanings at all and each person would ascribe whatever meaning he or she desired. Of course, our neighbor, who has a different lexicon, would be unable to make heads or tails out of what we were saying. The modern day equivalent of the Tower of Babel.

Of course this won’t happen. We will continue to generally give words common meanings that we can then use or abuse to our detriment. BUT, having said that, I would make an exception as to the written word. Once a thought or idea is put to paper (or parchment, or stone, etc.) the words are forever locked into the meaning in common usage of the time, evolution of the vocabulary notwithstanding. An example is in order I think.

I am old enough to remember a classic musical of the 1960’s, “West Side Story”. The story line and such is not really important to my point. Suffice to say it is a story of star-crossed lovers. A “modern” Romeo and Juliet if you will. At one point in the musical, Maria, the female lead played by Natalie Wood, sings a spirited song called “I Feel Pretty”. The lyrics as written were:

“I feel pretty, oh so pretty.

Oh so pretty and witty and GAY!”

OK. HOLD ON! Maria … GAY? Is she singing about being of the non-hetero genre? No, of course not. At the time the musical was written, gay meant happy, spirited or joyous. It had absolutely nothing to do with her sexuality. So in the context of the musical, the word gay means something totally different than it does today. Should the writers and creators of the music let their efforts become the property of a group who has usurped the word gay? I say NO! The written word is forever associated with the meaning in use at the time. Period, end of lesson.

I agree wholeheartedly with Justice Antonin Scalia. The Constitution is NOT a living document. Rather, it is an ENDURING document. His words, not mine. Believe me I wish I had come up with the line.

E-mail me when people leave their comments –

You need to be a member of Command Center to add comments!

Join Command Center

Comments

  • In what way Skeeter?

    My position is that while the spoken word can be bastardized and the meanings twisted (ask Bill Clinton) once something is put to paper, parchment or stone or vidseotape etc it forever locks the meaning into whatever the lexicon of the day is. The meaning of the work can no longer be "interpreted" by any other standard than what the author of the work intended. That intent is determined by how the author defined the words used to express his or her ideas. Current usage is meaningless in that context.
  • Amen brother! But, be careful not to be perceived as someone speaking from both sides of your mouth. You sure are come off that way.
  • I agree with you, Carl, and Justice Scalia. Put simply, we have essentially three choices - 1) anarchy; 2) rule of man, or; 3) rule of law. Anyone who promotes the fallacy that the law is subject to interpretation (obviously by some... man) is simply revealing that his choice is (2) 'rule of man'. One then only needs to remind him that the entire recorded history of the world has proven that the 'rule of man' rarely ever works for anyone other than the rulers. And that is why America chose (3) 'rule of law'.
  • Bravo..
This reply was deleted.