uxarguP07

Of Course You Know What "Breakfast" Means -- Don't You?

Even when both the Source and Receptor share the same language an Unsuccessful Communication Experience can occur when they use a very common word such as b-r-e-a-k-f-a-s-t. Before you continue, think about what the word "breakfast" means to you and write down your "bundle of associations" (what, when, where, how, etc.).

Now compare your "bundle of associations" with those of a Jamaican.

In Jamaica the word "breakfast" has several different meanings: First, middle-class Jamaicans eat breakfast in the morning, but it is a much more substantial meal than in the United States. Their lightest meal is called "supper" and is eaten in the late evening -- sometimes after 10 P.M. On the other hand, poor Jamaican farmers eat their lightest meal early in the morning, but they call it tea. For them "breakfast" is a medium-to-heavy meal served at midday.

How did your "bundle of associations" compare with those above? If a poor Jamaican farmer invited you to "breakfast" would you show up at the right time? Would you have had a Successful or Unsuccessful Communication Experience with the Jamaican farmer?

CORN

American Maize

The symbols c-o-r-n have different bundles of associations attached to them by different cultures. Below are examples from three cultures.

(1) British -- corn = wheat

(2) Scots -- corn = oats

(3) Americans -- corn = maize

Not knowing these differences, an American government agency during World War II received a request for "corn" from the British government. Since “corn” to the Americans meant “maize,” they shipped maize to the British. The British were expecting "wheat" which was to be used in the European famine relief. Needless to say, the British were not happy with the American maize they received. Both groups used identical symbols -- c-o-r-n; but their cultures had very different bundles of associations attached to them. This bit of linguistic ignorance cost tax-payers a few million dollars to repair.

Bible translators have the same problem that faces government agencies. Below is an English (British) translation of Matthew 12:1 (King James Bible):

At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.

Now let's look at an English (American) translation of the same verse (New International Version):

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.

The bundle of association that most of you probably attach to the word "corn" -- the "corn-on-the-cob" -- bundle, won't work for a story taking place in Israel in the first century CE because American maize didn't grow there. As a matter of fact, it wasn't until the discovery of America that the rest of the world was introduced to maize. The American Indians introduced their European travelers to it. However, the British readers of their own King James Version of the Bible had the correct bundle of associations. It was only when Americans attach their bundles of associations to the British translation of the Bible that the picture becomes distorted.