Conscious Volition of Verbal Ingenuity

Both the Locke and Richards and Ogden texts discuss the ways in which words and language face their failings. The former is concerned with shifts in signification, noting that the references in which a word refers to can be narrowed or broadened throughout its duration of use: "the signification of words [...] must unavoidably be of great uncertainty to men of the same language and country" (Locke, 824), as it is impossible for meanings not to wear through use--and it is within the inconsistency of individuals' perceptions of a word's signification that most miscommunication has its genesis.

While Richards and Ogden speak of "symbols that help us and hinder us in reflecting on things" (Richards and Ogden, 1273), the authors also confront perhaps a more pressing issue--that of intentional miscommunication through "verbal ingenuity" (Richards and Ogden, 1277). These two notions can coincide, for Locke's assertions suggest an innate malleability which eases the potential for a successful manipulation of words and their "meaning." This potential for deliberate "verbal ingenuity" might also be furthered by the assumption that "whenever we hear anything said we spring spontaneously to an immediate conclusion, namely, that the speaker is referring to what we should be referring to were we speaking the words ourselves," but that this is troubling because "in most discussions [there are] greater subtleties" (Richards and Ogden, 1276) not able to be accomplished through verbal or written language, at least not to the extent of eloquence and thoroughness proffered in a gesture language.

To take advantage of this "immediate conclusion" that most listeners will make is suggested as being relatively facile, especially when the speaker is of proposed authority:  Richards and Ogden assert that "In wartime words become a normal part of the mechanism of deceit" (1277). This is evidenced in our current era in which many of those in the various news media face an abundant amount of accusations, many of which pertain to the intentional obscuring of actuality. The concept of deliberate "verbal ingenuity" seems all the more prevalent in such circumstances.