You give the meaning
The other day I saw an image of someone's work desk. Along with everything else, there was a roll of toilet paper hanging under the desk. There were funny comments under the post targeted at the toilet paper.
A roll of toilet paper in essence is a roll of paper. We see these hanging in the toilets and that creates an association in our mind. When you buy a roll from the store, it is a clean roll of paper. One may argue that it can very well fit the use cases of traditional napkins or tissue paper.
But the association we have seen always makes the roll of paper under the desk a weird sight.
A few years ago, I was in a conversation about food with a couple of my colleagues. One was from the southern part of India and the other was from the north. There are cultural and culinary differences between North and South India.
While discussing a food item, the friend from the north said
"They make it using coconut oil! No way I am eating it".
My friend and I scratched our heads. Coconut oil is a regular ingredient in our households.
When asked about the reason for his distaste, he replied
"We use coconut oil as hair oil. Can't imagine ingesting it!"
Different viewpoints, different meanings.
A thing becomes the meaning you give to it.
If you like what I write, subscribe to my blog via email or RSS feed.