Editing Symbolic communication (section)

==== Intercultural communication ====
In [[intercultural communication]], problems with symbolic communication may start to arise. Since symbolic communication involves a shared message between a speaker and a listener, words which Items that are seen as sterile and inoffensive in one culture can be polemic or offensive in other cultures. Problems in intercultural communication may arise when people do not respect each other's cultures in their communication. Understanding what may cause offense is a key to international or even domestic travel or diplomacy when interacting with people not of one's immediate cultural settings.

In verbal communication, language barriers sometime exist. Speakers of different languages will be almost completely unable to communicate with each other unless they share some commonalities. This is because the sounds speakers attach symbols to are usually very different from sounds with similar symbols in other languages. As such, people often struggle to communicate ideas between different cultures. The opposite, similar sounds with differing symbols, can also cause problems. What might be a normal word in one culture might be a taboo word in another culture. To avoid such problems, people will often use [[euphemism]]s in place of taboo words.

[[Paralanguage|Paralinguistic]] cues such as gestures, intonation and facial expressions can aid in cross-cultural communication as they tend to be more similar to each other than words are.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fichten|first1=Catherine S.|last2=Tagalakis|first2=Vicki|last3=Judd|first3=Darlene|last4=Wright|first4=John|last5=Amsel|first5=Rhonda|date=1992-12-01|title=Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Cues in Daily Conversations and Dating|journal=The Journal of Social Psychology|volume=132|issue=6|pages=751–769|doi=10.1080/00224545.1992.9712105|issn=0022-4545}}</ref> There are, however, some gestures can also sometimes be misunderstood across different cultures.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Labarre|first=Weston|date=1947-09-01|journal=Journal of Personality|volume=16|issue=1|pages=49–68|doi=10.1111/j.1467-6494.1947.tb01075.x|issn=0022-3506|title=The Cultural Basis of Emotions and Gestures}}</ref> For instance, the thumbs-up gesture which sees frequent usage in many countries and is understood as ''good'', in other countries such as Greece or the Middle East, this gesture is a negative symbol and making such a gesture can be considered very rude.

Symbols themselves which represent ideas can hold different meanings to different communities. One notable example is the [[swastika]]. In Eurasia, some cultures see it as a symbol of divinity and spirituality. However, in the Western world the symbol was flipped and adopted by the German [[Nazism|Nazis]] during World War II and now carries ideas of racism and antisemitism. Wearing this symbol may offend people living there. In 2019, Pichayapa Natha, a member of pop star group [[BNK48]], was slammed for wearing a swastika t-shirt during a rehearsal for a concert.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/bnk48-apology-nazi-inspired-outfits-2019-1/|title=One of Thailand's biggest pop stars sparked outrage by wearing a swastika shirt, the latest in a string of Asian bands to wear Nazi symbols|first=Bill|last=Bostock|date=2019-01-31|website=Business Insider Singapore|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-10}}</ref>