I'm sure you've heard the words, "I love you" more than you care to hear. But what would you consider as to be "love." Is it the Hollywood version, or maybe the Disney definition? Either way, its a central part of the American culture. Love revolves around EVERYTHING. So how does society pin a Webster definition on this particular noun?
Well according to Dictionary.com, love is a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. But does this definition fit in today's society or in the imaginary world of Disney? In Disney, Prince Charming rides through the night to save the princess from eternal doom. But today's movies sheds a different definition of love. Take for example the Twilight series. In this particular quartet, love is complicated, it can be full of frustration and depression.The two definitions are foils of one another.
If you hadn't already guessed, definitions can be exemplified by arguments. Society frequently presents their take on a certain subject, like the definition of love. Formal definitions are what you find in dictionaries, whereas operational definitions identify an object by what it does or by what conditions it creates. Arguments derive from either one of these definitions whenever people disagree about what the conditions define. Definitional arguments evolve out of the occasions and conversations of daily life, whether public and private.
So the next time you take a look at an adjective, take the time to realize what the author is trying to present. The world displays a lot of different definitions in their own personal way. It's through these representations that people derive their own definitions of words from their own and other people's experiences.