Words, for better or for worse

A flow chart demonstrating the use of conditional statements

Words, do they mean things?

What is with people who take words, that are clearly defined, and then misuse them by attaching their own definition? The purpose of language is to communicate concepts between two or more people. Those people don’t necessarily know what the other is thinking. Bear in mind, words are the building blocks of all language and are defined. They are defined so that when used, those words have meaning, and that meaning is clear.

The great no no

You can’t use the sentence “I was committed.” to mean something it doesn’t. That sentence does not mean, for example, I had a great deal of enthusiasm for it, at the time (“it” being the thing you were allegedly committed to). The reason is “committed” is generally defined as a word meaning a determination to take an action. If you have left the possibility of changing your mind open, you literally haven’t committed to anything. This makes the above statement a lie of sloppy language. At best you’re only kinda committed, or committed on a conditional basis.

Conditional statements masquerading as commitments

As stated in the above case, conditional commitment is not commitment at all. Under those circumstances, a person is essentially saying ‘I am committed to action X as long as all the conditions for me wanting to take action X remain. Else, I will take action Y.’.

The answer

Finally, the why of it. People make these sorts of statements for the purpose of making themselves seem like better people. No one would think you a good person for saying. ‘I’m gonna do what I want when I want and how I want.’ Where is the nobility in that? Instead, they make it seem as though they were committed and then something outside their control changed that. Really, the truth is, they changed their mind and don’t want to own up to it.

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