Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

50%
+0 −0
Q&A Changing the meaning of well-established symbols

Can we change the meaning of a well established symbol and use the newly defined symbol in our writing? If so how do we go about doing so? It am not talking about using a symbol in the context of ...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by AGirlHasNoName‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T11:34:19Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/44200
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar AGirlHasNoName‭ · 2019-12-08T11:34:19Z (over 4 years ago)
Can we change the meaning of a well established symbol and use the newly defined symbol in our writing? If so how do we go about doing so?

It am not talking about using a symbol in the context of its antithesis. That still relies on the original meaning. In such cases playing symbols in juxtaposition to their opposite meaning and using them in reverse context can be powerful and evocative.

I'm talking about changing the meaning entirely. Can it be done? I assume if it can that it will require a lot of establishing. My thought is to tear away the original meaning by establishing in some way it **does not mean** that, then slowly build up the new meaning. (Besides perhaps publishing a small companion essay explaining it.)

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-03-30T03:57:55Z (about 5 years ago)
Original score: 3