Linguistics Discussion 2013 and Beyond discussion

I was listening to an article about how some believe Pop-Culture is fragmenting and this affects the multi-media.

http://www.npr.org/2013/01/18/1695196...

The idea that pop-culture references are dropped in a speech, a movie or TV show and only about 2% of the audience actually understand the reference got my attention. At first I was inclined to scoff at that. Surely a TV show with 7 million viewers may take a chance on an obscure reference, but it's not good TV business to use references about another Television Show that only boasts 2 million viewers is it?

Then I thought about it and remembered what it was like when I was in the Navy and my ship pulled into France, Italy, Spain, Isreal etc. We were high school educated youngsters (I was the elder statesmen at 22) yet we were able to communicate with, what I presume to be, the under-educated (which for me is only a standard of how long you attend school and formal education, not a statment of I.Q. power) general populace of common citizens. Bartenders and cab drivers, shop keepers and waiters, bank tellers and bar flies and everyday people had to sort out what we were saying then, we had to sort out their answers. Most of what we spoke was English. Most of what they spoke was their native language, and yet, we could communicate well enough to find food, protect ourselves and find... um...more food (we were male sailors in the 1980s okay...think Austin Powers #1).

So this article got me thinking... How important is the definition of a word in the greater concept of communication? At times it's incredibly important (like the definition of money when you're getting paid) and at times, it doesn't seem so much important as communicating the concept or idea behind what we we say.

Or, it might just be Hugh's brain going off the deep end again without his floaties on.