How WORDS Operate

WORDS operates on two different planes. Words can identify either a CONCEPT or an OBJECT. This identification is done through SOUND or SIGN. Notice the illustration. Here, Coffee is the sign. But this cup of Coffee can also identify "Our Memories". Coffee denotative, Memories is connotative.
So, every word has TWO sides of a meaning - (1) Denotative / Literal, (2) Connotative / Metaphorical

So, when you look up a word in a Dictionary, you are only looking at the Denotative. But when you are reading a TEXT, you often find something with an INNER / Connotative meaning. On Page 362 of the book Organizaitonal Behaviour, you will find the following sentence. "What Cochran did next—hit the Send key—seemed so innocuous." The word "innocuous" is a Medical term which means "harmless". The original denotative meaning is the "Condition of the body under a particular "antigen" which makes the body able to survive against a foreign microbial invasion." ডান পাশের ছবিতে দু’টো অর্থ - (১) এক কাপ কফি, (২) কফির কাপে ঝড় - এখন বলুন কোনটা Denotative / Literal আর কোনটা Connotative / Metaphorical ?