In NLP the use of words, phrase, sentences which have more than one meaning are called ambiguous, and they can have profound effects on people, participants and clients, in understanding and change.
Milton Erickson was a user of ambiguity in his language, and as Richard Bandler and the other co-founder of NLP, the linguist, John Grinder, modeled Erickson, thus the art and usage of ambiguity became part of NLP.
His use of stories are a form of ambiguity, in that what does story refer, to the content of the story, or what he is trying to change. I will tell stories or metaphors in my courses. My story of having breakfast in a hotel in Ankara (Turkey), and the first morning how thick the orange juice is, but each morning the waiters water the orange juice down in the dispenser, keeping the level on content the same, until there is no content, just water. Am I referring to orange juice or trainings of other course providers, where the content of the course is passed from person to person, trainer to trainer?
You can say that an ambiguous statement can be a metaphor but also an analogy, structuring the language differently and used with making the difference. An analogy is a the process of transferring one piece of information of a subject onto another subject or piece of information by giving examples.
Ambiguous words are words that sound the same but have different meanings. They may have different spellings. In English, (sorry for my foreign readings, you will have to find your own in your own language), there are many examples.
| To, too, two | To =’s the movement toward, ‘going to bed’. linking ideas (verbs, objects etc) ‘ oranges are sweet to taste’. etc. Too =’s indicating excess ‘too big’. having in addition ‘he has a computer too‘. Two =’s having a numerical value ‘she has two (2) handbags‘. |
| Paw, Poor, Pore, Pour |
Paw =’s the foot of a dog or four legged animal.. Poor =’s not having much wealth, or lacking in something, ‘his knowledge is poor‘. Pore =’s small hole, say where we sweat from. To read eagerly, ‘he pored over the book‘. Pour =’s to dispense liquid, ‘please pour me a cup of tea’ |
| Sun, Son | Sun =’s A star around which a planetary system evolves. Son =’s The male offspring of a mother and father. |
| Sea, See, C | See =’s To perceive with the eye, or mental vi sion. Sea =’s A large body of salt water. C =’s The third letter of the alphabet. |
That sentence could have many meanings, it is what the listener, who goes on a Transderivational Search to make sense of it, gets from the understanding that counts or is important.
Thus, in my article Interpretation gone wrong, the use of the word “follow” was ambiguous, and I took it the wrong way, for me the way it was not intended.