Why does it look like it?

[Classik]

I don't mean to post this thread in order to unnecessarily litter this website with threads.
However, I think my post is an Interesting one. This is a question I have been asking since childhood. Infact, it was my friend that started it.

I came to know why. But I want to see what you think about it.

Here is/are the questions (I know it sounds ridiculous - yet some people can't answer it):D

e.g Why does a cup look like a cup - and you call it a cup? If Something looks like it you simply compare or relate it to a cup. The name, 'cup', perfectly matches a cup

you can't call a car a 'football',
Calling a 'book', 'bicycle' sounds stupid.
Why does a shoe look like a shoe? Etc...
My childhood wonders :D

 

[Rhea]

Our brains seek patterns and generalizations.

The reason for this is that as we evolved any ability to quickly classify threats resulted in better safety (evolution didn't care if we killed off some allies by mistakes, it only cared that we took out the threats, or avoided them).

So therefore when we generalize, classify, stereotype, we are performing an act that would be beneficial to our safety in the long millions of years of hand-to-mouth living.

This ability to classify objects as belonging to a group would not only aid in instant judging of predator threat, but also in selecting food, shelter locations and materials and, eventually, tools.

 

[HisSheep]

If you ask a surgeon, he’ll tell you that you need surgery.
If you ask a Chiropractor, he’ll tell you that you need an adjustment.
If you ask a psychiatrist, he’ll tell you it’s all in your head.
If you ask an evolutionist…. :p

Actually, the word “cup†doesn’t “perfectly match" a cup if you’re a Francophone… Any more so than “tasse†suits a cup to an Anglophile…

My mother-in-law tells a great story about her attempt to get an apple while in Mexico… “appay, el appo…†The moral: apple and manzana are two very different words… Which is the more logical one?

There is no substantial inherency in language, other than onomatopoeic words, but even they don’t often span languages, though their meanings may!

The real reason for the sensation you describe: When we learn our native language as infants, we associate mental images with the sounds of words, beginning with nouns, and then adding verbs, etc…. So, in our minds, the words seem to naturally suit the object they describe.

Further inquiry: What about the English verb, “cup� How do I say that in French? “I tassed it in my hands.†Somehow, I don’t think so. French probably doesn’t use the same word for the noun and verb “cup†the way English does, but I don’t know. Anyone?

English also does this with “orangeâ€. The color and the fruit bear the same name, but in Spanish they don’t.

If it makes such good sense to to duplicate words when we make a cup out of our hands or paint something orange, imagine if we called a lemon a yellow! Would that be strange or what? Yellow just doesn’t suit a lemon, right?

I’ll just have water with yellow, please. ;)

Cool post, thanks.

-HisSheep

 

[felix]

I don't mean to post this thread in order to unnecessarily litter this website with threads.
However, I think my post is an Interesting one. This is a question I have been asking since childhood. Infact, it was my friend that started it.

I came to know why. But I want to see what you think about it.

Here is/are the questions (I know it sounds ridiculous - yet some people can't answer it):D

e.g Why does a cup look like a cup - and you call it a cup? If Something looks like it you simply compare or relate it to a cup. The name, 'cup', perfectly matches a cup

you can't call a car a 'football',
Calling a 'book', 'bicycle' sounds stupid.
Why does a shoe look like a shoe? Etc...
My childhood wonders :D

Not necessarily. If you are multilingual, you first try to identify the language and then understand what it really means.

In my native language (Tamil) தமிழ்,

• cup - (கப் means 'bad smell')
• car - (கார் means 'thick', used to refer rainy could)
• shoe - (சூ means 'go away')
• bicycle - (it too can be split into - bi (பை) means 'bag', cy (சை) means 'oh it's nasty', cle (-கில்) means 'in the').

So, the answer to your question is simple. God confused languages. When God 'confused', the scripture says what it meant.

 

[Classik]

The real reason for the sensation you describe: When we learn our native language as infants, we associate mental images with the sounds of words, beginning with nouns, and then adding verbs, etc¡*. So, in our minds, the words seem to naturally suit the object they describe.

cool answer - I realised as I grew up

Further inquiry: What about the English verb, ¡°cup¡±? How do I say that in French? ¡°I tassed it in my hands.¡± Somehow, I don¡¯t think so. French probably doesn¡¯t use the same word for the noun and verb ¡°cup¡± the way English does, but I don¡¯t know. Anyone?

English also does this with ¡°orange¡±. The color and the fruit bear the same name, but in Spanish they don¡¯t.

If it makes such good sense to to duplicate words when we make a cup out of our hands or paint something orange, imagine if we called a lemon a yellow! Would that be strange or what? Yellow just doesn¡¯t suit a lemon, right?

I¡¯ll just have water with yellow, please. ;)

Cool post, thanks.

-HisSheep

Yes! You are in order. A Chinese dude has a different name for water.
Have you heard Wasser?
I was assuming a generally shared name among a culture - although varying cultures have varying names to different tools or object. The object in your heart is what that matters. We could have different names for ball or goal.

My boss told us a funny story: A man has a name that means Something humorous in another culture. He wondered why people laughed whenever his name was mentioned in the public. In this new environment the name means penis.

 

[Classik]

'Why does it look like it'?
The reason 'it is what it is' or the names given to things have strong scientific and logical backup and values.