Gang vs. club

Essay by dibeshHigh School, 12th gradeA, September 2006

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"Ding, ding, ding, let the match begin: Gang vs. Club".

The vast selection of words that a person can choose in order to relate his or her message to other people makes language versatile and great. Like most languages, the English Language has numerous words that have the same meaning; these pairs of words are called synonyms. Even if a pair of words is a synonym, their connotations can be different. An example of a pair of synonyms with different implications is gang and club. The dictionary definition of gang is "a group of adolescents who band together, especially a group of delinquents." The definition of club is "a group of people organized for a common purpose, especially a group that meets regularly." When someone talks about a gang, he is most likely referring to gang in a negative aspect whereas when someone mentions a club, it is probably being apprehended from a positive viewpoint.

Even though gang and clubs are synonyms, the connotations of the words "gang" and "club" are different because gang is viewed negatively while club is envisioned positively by society due to these words' affiliations with people and organizations respectively.

The word "gang" is mostly viewed incongruously in society because of the people that associate themselves with the word "gang." Gang members are an example of such people who advance the negativity of the word "gang." Nowadays when people think of gang, they mostly assume that it is related with crime, drugs and violence. This pessimism is due to the fact that most people perceive gang as a group of people, called gangsters, who engage in unlawful activities. These unlawful activities can range anywhere from stealing a simple object to a homicide. When such illegal activities are performed, they are almost always broadcasted on the news,