Greetings Dear Reader,
Recently I was watching the first season of Parenthood. I realize I am late to the party on this one
but other things have my primary attention.
In episode 3, The Deep End of the
Pool, Zeek Braverman played by Craig T. Nelson said something the struck a
profound cord in me. He and his daughter
are looking for car parts. He says, “I love
how they call it ‘automotive recycling’ now. What's wrong with ‘junk’? Junk's
an honest word.”
It seems our culture needs to rename everything to something
that sounds green, socially acceptable, or politically correct. This grates on me in a way that I find more
irritating every day. I just told
someone yesterday when he was struggling to find the right word that he never
needs to be politically correct with me.
He seemed so relieved.
In a world where we need honest communication we instead
shroud things in an ambiguity of minced words.
Layoffs become “reduction in force.”
I was recently told that I could not use the term “brainstorm” because
it may offend those with cerebral disorders.
Instead I was instructed to use the term “thought shower”. It is good that my inner clutch was working
because my thought response surely needed a shower.
In addition to someone trying to control what I say, I am
truly opposed to being told that perfectly honest words need to be replaced
because someone might not like the words I choose to use. I really get steamed (forgive me if I am
offending people who use steam for some arcane purpose) when someone tries to
tell me what I mean by what I say. As an author I believe in and will die to
defend authorial intent.
I am going to explore some words that I feel are perfectly
good words and that I intend to go on using.
I will try to be humorous but may drift into the curmudgeonly,
recalcitrant, and irascible. Words are
so vital to me and the way in which we interact. I tend to get very emotional about this
issue.
My goal is to honestly examine how I communicate and assure
that I am not being obtusely offensive. It is also to remember why I use the words I
do. Words have meaning. That meaning is assigned by the user. I need to assure that the words I use truly
communicate my intent and my heart.
This will hopefully be fun.
Feel free to interact and ask questions.
Feel free to disagree. Mostly remember that this journey is for me to
learn to be a better human. I realize
that “human” has “man” in it but I assure my intent is to include all genders
in that word. I do not want my love and
kindness to be hindered by words that do not communicate that. Sometimes though I might just need to come with a warning label.
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer
who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home
owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure
store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
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