I love words. I love the pictures they paint and the places they take me – if only in my mind. I love the sounds they make. There really is very little about words I don’t like… except when people use them to hurt others. People can take a word, which initially isn’t used negatively, and how they speak it will convey an entirely different interpretation. It’s like dogs – there is no such thing as a bad dog only the ‘owner’ who mis-trains. Same with words – it’s how we speak and how we use them. Basically it comes down to our motives. Do your words enlighten, uplift or do they condemn, judge?
Let me give an example. In describing people of ‘mature’ years, the words: elderly, old, senior, etc. are typically used. In an of themselves those words are colorless but far too often they are used to disparage the person being ‘tagged’ by the words. In days of yore, a person who has advanced to an age of 70, 80, 90 was typically respected and their advice sought. Today… not so much. Like youth, most of these people are dismissed by the 25-65 crowd. And yes, I realize that is painting with a broad stroke and I’m also beginning to move away from the thrust of this conversation.
How we speak, the tone we use attributes more than just the mere word(s) we speak. We can paint an entirely different picture by the words we choose and how we say them – often changing the definition and intent of the word. And don’t tell me you never realized this – of course you do, we all do. Example: sarcasm is a method of displaying our disregard or lack of respect of a person, an idea. With the idea, that is typically less personal and different than when it is used against another person. In this instance, sarcasm is most often used to belittle the focus of our comment(s). A lack of care of other’s feelings is definitely in evidence.
We should never not be aware of what we say and how it is received. Especially if our goal is communication, then being alert and aware of reception will give us invaluable information. All this goes back to our attitudes, our character, our motives. Do you ever think about why you want to say (fill in the blank) to someone (s)? Do you ever think ahead of time about how your words will be heard and received? Does this influence how you say what you say? And yes, all of that can be done in a split second. How we express the spoken word is incredibly important and in the last analysis… probably says more about who we are.
