Words Actually Mean Something

Words actually mean something.

You are saying, "Duh....Of course they do!", but what I challenge you to do is think with me about how powerful and meaningful they really are. Our words define us, and often define where we can go and what we can achieve is this world. Our use of words tells the world where we come from, where we have been, sometimes our ethnicity, almost always our age, and how much education we have had. How we use our words can indicate with whom we hang out, and can serve as an entre to groups and situations or a barrier as solid as brick wall.

Many occupations have special words or acronyms and if you don't know them you are D.O.A. Try listening to a group of teachers these days. Hopeless......

An anonymous friend left a very kind comment recently about word pictures. I love to try and paint a picture with my words - sometimes with more success, sometimes with less, but it is always fun to try and imagine different ways of saying a thing, perhaps picturing an event from an unusual perspective for emphasis. I attempt to do similar things in my photography, to share my perspective of the world.

If I had to guess, I would think that the first use of words, indeed the first use of language itself, was probably for naming people, places and things, soon followed by words for actions.

Words can be used to illuminate, but just as frequently they are unwilling participants in serious obfuscation. We are so used to being manipulated by politicians and advertisers that maybe we don't even notice anymore. I recently tried to read an Assembly Bill. There were over 1600 pages of legalese. I think no-one really knows what is in these things, and they are written in such a way that elephants can be hidden amongst the paragraphs and nobody the wiser until it is too late. If a law cannot be defined in three typed single-spaced pages, it is too complicated. Throw it out and try again.

Sometimes what we are promised hides what the real effect will be. California passed a law 30 or so years ago that made legal a State run Lottery. When the law was proposed, the single biggest selling point was that profits from lottery sales would be used for education. We were enchanted. Our schools would never want for anything again. Their cups would runneth over. The type, scale and scope of the lottery games was well defined. The law was made so and everyone was happy. In stepped our State Legislature. Since there was obviously plenty of money from the Lottery, State funding from other sources was cut. Our schools, which we believed would be in great financial condition are struggling, the lottery has expanded time after time, without voter approval, incidentally, and the State has recently embarked on a half-hearted advertising campaign to dissuade teens from buying "scratchers." Wait, wasn't this to help the kids? Instead they are becoming addicted to gambling? I read somewhere that the Lottery was a tax on people who don't understand math......True that...

The places where the words should be held most sacred, and I speak here of the media, are the worst of all. You can graduate today with a four year degree in Mass Communication and Journalism and not have a clue how or when to use to, two and too. The spoken word as used by the average TV reporter is as mangled and miss-used as is humanly possible. I recently was watching a news story about a local 'drive-by' shooting. A young man had been nicked by a passing bullet and was shown with his arm bandaged and in a sling as he stood in front of the family home. The reporter then proceeded to explain that the young man had "Almost escaped death that afternoon." Really? Really? Really?

I used to play a game with my kids. We would take a sentence, for example, "I didn't say he stole the money." I would have them say the sentence seven times, each time placing the stress on a different word. Of course, the meaning of the sentence changes every time. Most of us learn this through osmosis. but like so many things leaned in context we often don't understand the intricacies of our knowledge.

The devil is in the details. The Large Print Giveth, but the small print taketh away. Ever buy a house? Did you read the loan documents? If so, good on you! Do you have a clue what they said? If you know what they said, do you know what they meant? But most importantly, does it matter?

We are so anxious to believe what we want the words to mean that we don't read or listen to what they are saying. Think of that commercial selling you 24 carat solid gold clad coins. "Why with the price of gold at over $1400 an ounce, we can only guarantee our price for 10 days." I did the math. The value of the gold cladding is almost 7 cents. When gold doubles, we'll be sitting pretty, sure enough!

What a thing means to me may or may not mean the same to you, if you know what I mean....

And lookie here, we haven't even touched on plain old lying yet! Words used in the worst way, words held as shields to cheat, words whispered to steal the precious gems of the heart, words sharpened and hurled to injure and maim, words waved to fan flames, words slammed down to crush dreams, words carelessly dropped that cut souls like shards of glass.

Recall the oath one swears when called to testify? To tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Sure, as long as the lawyers ask the right questions, right? And speaking of lawyers, ever notice they are never sworn? Lawyers are not required to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Interesting, no? And these, my friend, are some of the cleverest wordsmiths on the planet.

The words I enjoy the most are those shared in the quiet times of intimacy between lovers. Words whispered for their ears alone in the small hours and quiet spaces.