. . . if you use them properly — they’ll go through anything.”― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
Words. Have you ever stopped to think what words do for you? It was words that got me a burger and not a chicken sandwich at McDonald’s the other day. And if they had given me a chicken sandwich I probably would have used words to fight for my burger. Chances are they would have accepted my words and given me what I came for. How neat is that?! When my mouth forms strange sounds clearly enough for other people to understand, they seem to acknowledge what I want.
I am not a linguist . . . My cousin is! . . . But I still don’t know anything about linguistics. But I do know a whole lot about communicating–the art (yes, it is very much an art) of interchanging thoughts, feelings, and information between two or more people. Why do I know so much? Because it’s what I do on a daily, hourly, minutely basis! We all do. So you would think that with all this practice we would be experts at perfectly expressing exactly what we feel and what we’re thinking. Right? Wrong!
Why is it that after 10 years of marriage “Honey, I love you” turns into “You never listen to me!”? Why is it that what we hear is “Wow, you look gorgeous” when what we really feel is “That dress looks awful”?
“Why is it that the children we love become so frequently the targets of our harsh words? Why is it that these children who love their fathers and mothers sometimes speak as if with daggers that cut to the quick?”--Gordon B. Hinckley
Our words bring with them a power greater than the sword, greater than militaries around the globe. Our words–even humble, even simple–roar louder than a lion while being whispered in an ear. Yet the fear is that we are much too careless in how we speak, such carelessness causing conflict, confusion, and strife. Lemony Snicket put it this way: “If writers wrote as carelessly as some people talk, then adhasdh asdglaseuyt[bn[ pasdlgkhasdfasdf.” Does that give you an idea?
Do people really sound like that? Yes, actually. Yes they do. What’s worse, though, is that rather than sounding like a broken keyboard, you can actually understand what they are saying, and most often you really don’t want to be hearing what they are dishing out. From profanity to impiety to insensitivity and stupidity, we are the victims and culprits of carelessness in our speech.
Wouldn’t it be great, then, if it simply wasn’t that way? Luckily, I think this is an easy fix–change the words we speak. It doesn’t require much more effort than that. Ok, I lied. It will take a little more effort than that. We must change the words we speak, but do so with civility on our minds and love in our hearts. In a university forum address, Mark DeMoss, author and public figure, brilliantly remarked “The First Amendment may give me the right to demonize you with public speech, but it doesn’t make it right.” Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should. It takes a great man or woman to do that.
So let’s do it! I dare us to speak better today that we did yesterday. I dare us to brighten someone’s day with a chipper “I think you look great!” (and mean it). I dare us to watch our kind, uplifting, sincere words work wonders among the people we meet. If you need some prompting, here’s a great video to get you started. Enjoy! (I hope my friends can at least vouch for me and #7. Cubs for life!!)
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