Hello out there! I’ve been thinking on this for quite some time. I may have developed a bit of a reputation for being overly analytical based on other post I’ve made in the past, don’t hold it against me. I want to discuss the awesome power of words! Isn’t it weird that we use words so often and routinely, completely depend on them for survival and communication yet we diminish and downplay their meaning and ultimately take them for granted? Actually no, it’s not weird at all. We tend to take for granted most things that we need but also happen to be readily available. Friends, family, air, water . . . you get the point. Words are the foundation of language, our means of communication and understanding. Words come together to form sentences which are expressions of thoughts, opinions and feelings. For these reasons, it really does bother me when people aren’t more mindful of the things they say and how they say them to people. Phrases like “they’re just words” or “words ain’t never hurt nobody” are largely false statements.
The words you choose will go far in forming people’s impression of the type of person you are and often make or break a deal or budding relationship (romantic or otherwise).
Often times I wonder . . . what ever happened to being thoughtful? For some reason being crass and quick at the trigger in terms of what we say is all too common. Understand that people don’t hear what you think, they hear what you say. If you don’t do a sufficient job of communicating your thoughts with the right words, the message you’re sending will be misinterpreted. Think of your words as a large factor in branding yourself. If you’re a person that often uses big words (and not necessarily correctly), talk down to people and use a tone of superiority when you speak to them, instead of the respect and admiration you THINK you’re receiving from your peers, it’ll actually be resentment and dislike. You’ll be viewed as a pompous ass and that’s probably not what you’re going for. On the flip side, if you’re a person that’s often rude, loud, brash and uses profane language you’ll most certainly be perceived as someone that is ignorant and does not understand when and where certain things are appropriate.
Free Speech and Word Play
There have been several instances in which people have used extremely offensive language and seemed to be confused at the backlash that followed their statements. Let’s settle this here, the argument of free speech means nothing . . . and I mean nothing . . . hardly EVER. Why you ask? Free Speech is a legal issue, you can feel free to say whatever it is that you want to say and you can do so in any situation without legal consequences, unless what you’ve said has legitimate reason to be seen as inciting a riot or causing a public disturbance. With that being said, just as you or I are free to say whatever you feel, the public, the media, your boss and your co-workers all have the right to respond to what you say in the manner they feel appropriate. If your boss feels you should be fired because you’ve caused his company to look bad . .. you’re fired. If your football coach decides you need to be kicked off the football team because of your facebook status (a la Mack Brown at Texas), he can do that if he has deemed what you said to be that inflammatory and inappropriate. What does this mean in relation to the title of our post today?
It means that words can be loaded with emotion and definition. Once they leave your mouth they are open and subject to being interpreted by any and all that hear them.
It’s important to remember the sheer strength of the language we use. Each word has a meaning, a denotation that consist of even MORE WORDS. Words can be used to inspire and motivate or they can be used to diminish and demean. Please choose your words wisely and understand how they impact the person you’re communicating with.
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