S - How to Spot a Sneaky Snake
The Insidious Hiss of Semantic Satiation
Storytime
Have you ever had that thing happen where a word loses all meaning and just becomes a repeated meaningless sound inside your skull?
This phenomenon is called Semantic Satiation, is when a word loses its meaning and just becomes a sound, as brilliantly portrayed and defined in this clip of Ted Lasso. In talking to Rebecca about a plan, Ted over-uses the word plan until it loses all meaning. Then he gets confused by the actual pronunciation of the word when Rebecca says it in her British accent as a contrast to Ted’s Southern American drawl.
When I first saw this clip, I had to rewind it several times because I thought it was brilliant. Then I looked up semantic satiation, and the funniest thing happened to me.
The phrase semantic satiation fell victim to semantic satiation inside my head. As I contemplated it, the phrase itself lost all its meaning and just became a jumble of the various sounds of the letter S!
Semantic Satiation. Semantic Satiation. Semantic Satiation. Semantic Satiation.
See what I mean? It became a mess of S-es buried within the waves of Ms and Ns.
When I realized what happened, I about doubled over onto the floor laughing at myself.
Lesson
The S-sound is a sneaky snake that carries several meanings.
Its soft curves imply gentleness. It can give the sensation of smoothing all the rough edges and softening all the sharp tensions.
The texture of the S-sound is slippery, silky, smooth, and slick, like sliding on ice.
With just the right lisp the letter S splits its tongue in a way that can be as sharp as a scream that pierces your ear drums and makes you wince.
In words like sinister and insidious the S-sound is downright haunting, leaving that tingle down your spine like you are being stalked by a ghost.
When over-used at the end of a word, the S-sound has a dissipating effect, like the hiss of the air seeping out of a balloon.
When over-used in the middle of words or phrases, the double s can leave you with a feeling of messiness, a disorder and unrecoverable sense of chaos.
The shape of the letter S implies a meandering journey, a wandering rather than a direct route.
This is all to say that the letter and sound of S has multiple effects on the listener. If you choose to use the letter S poetically, in alliteration or consonance, be very aware, because it can have a profound effect. . . if it doesn’t fall victim to Semantic Satiation.
(yup, still lost in its meaning for me - hahahaha).
Energetic Editing
If your articles are getting off-the-wall comments that don’t match the energy you are hoping to convey, it might be that your letter and word choice isn’t matching your meaning and message.
I’ll read beyond the meaning and context of your article, into the subliminal and the subtext. I’ll share with you what I *hear* in your tone, diction, letters, and sound choices and give you subtle (yet profound) suggestions to edit for the overall energy of your piece.
This service is especially useful for
hero-posts
mission statements
about pages
If you are wanting your readers to get a better idea of who you are and what you are all about, an energetic editing is a unique and different approach to editing your writing. Think of it like branding, but instead of using a color palette and logo, I help you choose better words and phrases that convey the right energy through sound.
Did you know that I have two-other publications here on Substack?
The MindfulSense Mentor and The 🧙🏼♂️Hobbit & The 🦉Owl.
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This explains why everyone always asks me to spell my last name when I say it 🤣.
Did not know what it was called when a word loses it's meaning due to overuse! Appreciate the explanation.
My mind ALWAYS goes to the scene in King of Queens when they say "balmy" too many times when semantic satiation comes up. It makes me laugh thinking of it.
What an absolutely SenSational read! Thank you for enlightening me about semantic satiation. Every time I read one of your posts about the meanings of different letters, I become more in awe of you. It’s so incredible how you can feel letters, words, and sentences like that. With each new post, I, too, feel the words even more. This post was particularly meaningful for me because I have two S's in my name, Sonaakshi—a dash of gentleness and a hint of the sinister, or so I'd like to think...Lol. Your way of writing is as captivating as your unique ability to feel words.