Myth #2: Words have meanings

The words we read seem to carry meaning. We believe that there is a message encoded in the text. And since we see it written there in black and white, we are usually quite confident that we are able to decode it. Let’s see why this can not possibly be the case.

Myth #1: Language is composed of words

This is as real as a word ever gets.

So you believe you communicate using words? You may wish to reconsider. For a start, there seems to be no consensus about what a word is. This is the first in a series of posts about doubting the obvious in linguistics.