Changes in social attitudes can affect language. Remember
when if you described someone as being gay, it more likely than not meant they
were happy and had nothing whatsoever to do with their sexual orientation? Now
that the three volumes of the Fifty Shades of Grey occupying the Times bestseller list,
the expression “tying the knot” is coming under scrutiny. It used to be that
when a couple let their friends know they were “tying the knot," they were
getting married. Now with Fifty Shades of
Grey "as American as cherry pie," to use H. Rap Brown’s famous quote about
violence, and women openly reading it everywhere (it’s not uncommon to sit down
in a crowded subway and find women on either side of you reading
different or even the same volumes of the trilogy), the expression “tying the
knot” can no longer be taken for granted. Actually in its common usage, as
symbol of marriage “tying the knot” is an example of metonymy. Using the White House for the presidency is another example of this figure of speech in which an object is called by the name of something else which
easily associates to it. Using “tying the knot,” in the sense suggested by the
Fifty Shades of Grey revolution
actually represents a return to a more literal use of the phrase. In this case
a more evolved form of sexual behavior, involving, fetishism, submission and
pain has actual resulted in a less evolved used of language. Thus if you are
informed by a couple that they are tying the knot, it will not be considered at
all inappropriate to ask them what kind of rope they are planning to use and if
they possess enough to hang themselves with.
Friday, June 29, 2012
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