Coke. Pepsi. Bill Gates. Angelina Jolie. Nelson Mandela. Names carry
a significance that is comprised of generations of experiences, reputation and
effort. No two share a precise path of evolution, each splintered and refracted
by the experiences of the people living it. In the language of rhetoric, names
help us define the first and most essential of our earliest discourse communities, our families. In
the tradition of familial closeness, language continues to assign significance dependent
on discourse communities differentiated by name. As markers of these discourse
communities, brands, signs and labels help to define the boundaries of discourse communities by
identifying members and non-members and serving as conduits for inter-group
conflict. They allow for rivalries between companies to evolve into near
interpersonal feuds and help generations of cool (an uncool) high school
students decide who they can sit beside at lunch.
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