Versatile words

Listening to my coworker on the phone, saying "OK" a lot, made me think of the word. I was able to follow what each OK meant by the way she was saying it. There's the "OK" of "I'm sure what you just said makes sense but I can't process it," the "OK" of "Yep, got that one, next item...?", the "OK" of "Yep, I'll call again if I have any problems, and we're about to hang up", etc.

So...what other words are versatile like this? Where depending on how you say them it's clear to others what you mean beyond the definition of the word. Another one that comes to mind is "really".

"Really?" - "is that really true?"

"Really?" - "Oh, you think so, huh? Whatever."

"Really!" - I shit you not!

"...really..." - "very"

Yeah. I'm bored. :)

I tend to use Oh?� Oh.� Ooooh.� and OH!� Dude I don't use so much now, but did a lot in high school.� You can have an entire conversation with the word "Dude"� anyone remember the commercials?

From The Hobbit:

"Good Morning!" Said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very gren. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eybrows that struck out further than the brim of his shady hat"

"What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether i want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"

From Through the Looking Glass:
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean � neither more nor less."

The question is, "said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."

The Question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master � that's all.

we looked at "well" in my last sociolinguistics class.

we also look at "like" though it's not as versatile.

and of course.

dude.

d00d.

DOOD!

I had a friend that always wanted to know if "well" as in "Alls well" was etymologically related to "well" the hole in the ground you get water from. "Wishing well" can mean either well.

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"car key"
"the C major key"
"the florida keys"
"a key part of the story"

Hehe...seee, I wasn't so much talking about words that have many different meanings, in terms of the dictonary. I meant words that you just know mean different things by inflection and can figure them out because we're programmed to converse that way. Like my example of OK. There's really only one definition...but depending on how you say it, it changes.

ya ya, but still, its interesting that key has alot of meanings. i cant believe i left out the�key as on a�keyboard, since i was just playing the piano, and i am TYPING with a keyboard!