THE FOREIGN NEWSCASTS ON TV

I know, who thought the doom and destruction and desolation and degradation from the daily broadcasts by NHK from Japan and Deutsche Welle from Berlin would become my muse today, but there it is. Hearing pronunciation of the word “consequences” as “con-SEE-quences” and of “reconciled” as “re-con-SEALed” turned meaning and understanding inside out and upside down. Not just the across the pond easy stuff like “CONtroversy” becoming “con-TRO-versy,.”or “a-LUM-inum” becoming “al-you-MIN-ium.” No. More like words deconstructed, and there’s that “con” again. CON. Com-Con-Col. Middle English, from Old French, from Latin. With. Together. Thoroughly. How can we know what we are saying? Do we ever? How do we begin? With moans and grunts and roars and purrs and snorts and hissing. That must be it. Words are superfluous, after all, unless we know what they mean to the person shouting out. Whispers carry threats just as easily, and are even more terrifying. This is the end.