You wake up on a rainy Sunday morning, buzzing with energy. Your 14-year-old son is out playing football in the mud with his friends, so you jump in. From the window, your wife smiles and says, “That’s the youthful energy I fell in love with.” Her mother chimes in, “You fell in love with a man-child.”Both words describe one with characteristics associated with youth, but “youthful” feels like praise, and “man-child” feels like Simon Cowell just insulted your whole personality.Why?The secret lies in their undertones—a feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal meaning. It is also called connotation, which we've covered in a previous article. Now, we'll go over the definition and examples of negative connotations specifically, so you can use them to boost your writing skills.What is a Negative Connotation?Negative connotation refers to the unfavorable, unlikable, unfriendly, unsavory, or downright derogatory feeling—or undertone—insinuated by a word or a phrase that goes beyond its literal definition.How Does a Negative Connotation Affect Communication?Just as shading gives a picture its depth, connotation gives communication its depth. This depth comes in the form of mood and tone. We can express the same idea and yet have opposite meanings simply by choosing words that carry opposite connotations. Negative connotations can stir up negative feelings, such as distress, disapproval, despair, anxiety, and even dread. So when we say “choose words wisely,” what we really mean is choosing the right connotations. If you have a fair sense of connotation, you can write, speak,...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Saturday, 19 April