Statements rich in meaning.

I have been thinking about English lately, and have realized that some simple sentences have rich layers of meaning. These are not always obvious, but become so when one starts to peel away each layer.

"East Asians orient ..."

This one is rather simple in its layered meaning. First, the word "orient" originates from the Latin word "oriens" literally meaning "east". It's meaning of "to ascertain the bearings of" is the transitive verb form of the word (as it is intended on being used in this case), and (possibly) derives from a Mediaeval practice of placing East at the top of maps. Anyway, by changing out "East" with "orient", we get:

"Orient Asians orient ..."

Then we look at the noun form of "orient", which refers to areas east of Europe: Asia. (Technically, this used to mean only the area we now call the "Middle East", but now generally refers to the continent, as well as the peoples and nations in that continent.) Therefore, if we change out "Asians" (people from Asia) with "Orientals" (people from the Orient), we get:

"Orient Orientals orient ..." or, going the other way:
"East Easterners east ..."

Yes, the whole thing falls down into gibberish. However, recognizing the meanings of the word "orient" makes the phrase "East Asians orient ..." one rich with hidden repetition.


The second one is:

"The typical American likes to drink a cup of coffee."

Nothing there, right? Well, this one requires that you remember your American colloquialisms from the middle of the 20th Century. The image of the "common man," the "everyday man," the "every man," the "typical citizen" was the "Average Joe," sometimes shortened to just "Joe." Changing out "typical American" for "average Joe" gets you:

"The average Joe likes to drink a cup of coffee."

Once you make this first change, one might see where the layered meaning comes in, since it is still rather common (I think) to call a cup of coffee a "cup of joe." Changing this out gets you:

"The average Joe likes to drink a cup of joe."

If one shortens "the average Joe" to just "Joe" and "cup of joe" to just "joe", and imply the action of drinking, one gets:

"Joe likes joe."

This might be a serendipitous linguistic connection between coffee and its image of being the drink of the common man. In any case, the original statement has a rich meaning that underlines (and encircles) the connection between the everyday American and the hot caffeinated drink of Americans.