A head of office was asked by a subordinate whether he planned to\nvisit the home of Fulan, an office driver who had just returned from\nhospital after an accident. The first time he was asked, the head\nreplied, \u2018We\u2019ll see later.\u2019 The second time he said, \u2018Let him rest\nfirst.\u2019 Finally he said, \u2018You all go there, represent me.\u2019 All his\nanswers pointed to one thing: no.<\/p>\n
At another time and place, a car was hit by a train and its\npassengers died. Everyone understood that the operator could not be\nblamed because trains run on dedicated tracks free from other\nvehicles.<\/p>\n
There is a prefix \u2018ter-\u2019 in the word \u2018tertabrak\u2019. According to\nIndonesian grammar, that prefix implies an unintentional act. Strangely,\nthe word \u2018tertabrak\u2019 is still considered insufficient to represent the\ntrain accident incident, so another term emerged: \u2018tertemper\u2019.<\/p>\n
The car hit by the train was not Fulan\u2019s car. I am not applying the\nscience of forced correlation to link the two different stories \u2014 one is\nmerely fictional and the other is a real event.<\/p>\n
Besides, it is not the accident itself that I wish to highlight here,\nbut the way we use language. Word choice can determine whether a\nspeaker\u2019s intention is interpreted the same way or differently by the\nlistener or reader.<\/p>\n
The word \u2018tertemper\u2019 does not exist in the KBBI (the official\nIndonesian dictionary). It is a special term used by KAI (Indonesian\nRailways) in its official statements and reports. Its meaning is the\nsame: hit. I do not quite understand whether its similarity in form to\n\u2018tertampar\u2019 (slapped) indicates a semantic relation.<\/p>\n
From the story about Fulan and the car hit by a train, we can see how\nhumans are faced with a dilemma when using language. We find it\ndifficult to choose between speaking honestly even if bitter, or lying\nsweetly.<\/p>\n
In certain situations, speaking frankly is indeed riskier than\nboasting.<\/p>\n
I used to be pleased when a friend said \u2018you are a bit more handsome\u2019\nthan the boss. Even though perhaps what he meant was that the boss\u2019s\nhandsomeness was greater than mine. Fortunately, my boss now is a\nwoman.<\/p>\n
In everyday communication, we often say things that should not be\ninterpreted literally.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/softening-words-does-not-change-the-facts-1787658833", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }