Differences

I find the English language fascinating because of how easily two people can get confused while communicating the meaning of a single word. That's the kind of thing that people hate English for, but I find it incredibly fascinating, because two people can have such different meanings behind the same word, and they're both perfectly valid. And when we're having discussions about those words, we can have an internal understanding of what we think that word means, but it can be difficult to actually express that understanding. We have words, and yet at times we can't find the words to even explain those words. It's such a bizarre experience, but I think it's one that we've all experienced.

One of the places that this applies to the most is when we're talking about other people. I'm not talking stuff like if they're nice or if they're strong or what have you. Tiny things. The difference between someone being cute and beautiful. Sounds simple, right? But a person can be both cute and beautiful - what makes them each thing? What is the difference between a beautiful cute person, and a cute beautiful person? It sounds silly, but it makes a difference. Is it the actions they make that determines if they are one or the other? Their facial features? Body type? Personality?

One could argue that it's personal preference that determines how we view the different people, and that's a valid argument to make. But then why do we use the one word to describe it? After all, we find a person to be cute or beautiful, so there has to be a shared meaning behind cute and beautiful that we feel when we find them that way, right? Even if two people find two completely different people cute, there must be something about the situations that is the same that therefore makes the word still apply in both circumstances.

I'm not going to swing in and give some kind of universal definition, because I really don't have an answer. It is an interesting question, though, and as a writer, one that I will probably spend a lifetime considering. After all, if I want a character I write to appear cute in a person's mind, I should be able to tap into that shared meaning to make it possible. And obviously not everyone's going to find a character cute, no matter how hard I try to make that a thing. But the more people I can get to share that feeling, the better I will have done at accomplishing my goal. Because while I could just say that a character is cute and leave it up to the audience to visualize them in their head, that would be removing any creative freedom I myself have in actually creating the character. And if I'm not writing anything more than that they are cute, it requires the audience to blindly take my word for it. And that back and forth makes for a very bland experience.