Labelling in context

¶ Christina has come across a fantastic quote to illustrate the importance and ramifications of good labelling. George Lakof, professor of linguistics and cognitive science at the University of California Berkeley:

Every word is defined with respect to what cognitive scientists call a frame. A frame is a conceptual structure of a certain form. Let me give you an example. Suppose I say the word relief. The word relief has a conceptual frame associated with it. Here’s the frame: In order to give someone relief, there has to be an affliction and an afflicted party – somebody who’s harmed by this affliction – and a reliever, somebody who gives relief to the afflicted party or takes away the harm or pain. That reliever is a hero. And if someone tries to stop the person giving relief from doing so, they’re a bad guy. They’re a villain. They want to keep the affliction ongoing. So when you use only one word, relief, all of that information is called up. That is a simple conceptual frame.

Taken from AlterNet: Inside the Frame.