Study says language is built around power, danger and order

What BBN said about it

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   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorI swear by this one: words are about feelings. Happy, sad, excited. That's what language is for, and I've built a whole podcast on it.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentA study in Science Advances just went after that.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThe University of Vermont team analysed billions of uses of more than twenty thousand words, ScienceDaily reports.

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   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorBillions. For words. I could have told them for free.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThe old model, which dates back to Charles Osgood's work in the nineteen fifties, explained about seventy-two percent of word meaning.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentTheir new three-part framework explains more than ninety.

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   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorAnd the three parts are?

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentPower, danger and order. They call the method ousiometrics.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThey tested it on Jane Austen, Sherlock Holmes, Twitter and talk radio. Feelings weren't the main organizer.

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    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorSafety is crucial to all language, which is exactly what I said. Silently. In my head. Years ago.

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThe ruling is myth. Words carry feelings, but the study found meaning is organized around power, danger and order.

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentI'd add this was published as a paper, so it's one study and not the last word.

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    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorFine. My new belief is that every word I say is about safety, and my last statement was just me protecting the building.