The Word Before The Trend

Cultural change shows up in the words people use long before it shows up in sales figures or policy. People describe a new experience to each other, try out phrases, and argue over what to call it. Reading those words closely shows what people are starting to tell apart, and what they still leave unsaid. Anaïs Nin knew this from the inside. As a girl learning English in New York, she decided that "you" was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard. She grew up speaking French, which makes a speaker choose between a familiar you and a formal one. English folds both into one small word, and most listeners never notice the choice inside it. We follow how people talk about being tired, from burnout at work to brain rot after a night on the phone. Each word puts the cause somewhere and steers around words people would rather not say. The same reading works on what designers make. A fashion caption states a season's choice as fact, and Starbucks calls its staff partners while their union calls them workers. Sorting words by who says them, and what they leave out, gives designers something they can act on.

scenarioDNA Cultural Intelligence Workshop Series

Semiotics | Foresight | Narrative Intelligence