Double-edged swords and words

Ratna Raman

THE idea of a double-edged sword is easy to understand. A sword with double edges is made with steel sharpened at both ends. It is a dangerous weapon because there is no blunt edge. It can hurt, maim or kill when it is swung in either direction. A double-edged sword is therefore more deathly than a sword with a single edge. Sometimes, kitchen knives with thin blades tend to be double-edged. Expensive armour, double-edged swords were crafted for skilled swordsmen to use at leisure, or during war, in older times, and remained sophisticated armour.

Arguably, the double-edged sword can kill two birds at a time. It is far more effective than the crude stone that has allegedly been killing birds, two at a time, all this while. This old proverb metaphorically highlights the achieving of two objectives through a single step. However, the actual killing of two birds with a single stone is a difficult feat to accomplish since birds are living creatures that will struggle to escape.

In language, ‘double-edged’ words perform extremely sophisticated functions. Amul Advertising uses neologisms (creating new usage for an older word) all the time, tweaking spellings of words to tease and provide ironic and humorous inputs around everyday situations. Punning on meaning, Amul’s illustrated ads are known to ‘draw blood each time’ (hit the mark).

Recently, surgical strikes were announced all along the LoC. The advertisement showed Amul girls in fatigues, with guns and water pipes, while the title announced that ‘Surigical strikes, Pak a punch’. Two double-edged words are being used here. Surgical with the addition of an extra ‘i’ is highlighted to recall Uri. The neology (new word) ‘surigical’ is tweaked to capture both the cause and effect of the attack. To reiterate this, the second neology, ‘Paks a punch’, highlights the retaliation.  The subtext is of course about the irresistible power of packaged Amul butter (not about how our Army cornered Pakistan’s).

‘Surgical strikes’ is a double-edged expression that draws attention to a double-pronged act. Surgery involves the act of cutting open and subsequently stitching up thereafter. The swift incision of an unwelcome tumour restores the body to greater health. A surgical intervention cuts in order to cure. Double-edged words and phrases lend themselves to dual meanings and interpretations and can be viewed as the new sophisticated weapons in  language’s arsenal. 

Double-edged phrases lend themselves to word play and punning, thereby creating multiple meanings. However, they restrict entry to the grim narratives of death, displacement and loss that continue to be played out along the border. In such contexts, language and digital technology make for alienating representations. The Gulf War was portrayed on television screens as a complex pyrotechnics (pyro=fire, technic=art) of artillery and ammunition. The literary pyrotechnics of double-edged words effectively deflects attention from the gore and blood occasioned by military strikes and wars. The expression ‘collateral damage’ both numbs and camouflages effectively.