Maybe it’s because my AP Stylebook is my Bible, or because I learn grammar rules as if they are the verses defending me against the Satans of the world, but I think language is important, and some individuals, including myself, use it inappropriately at times.
This isn’t a lecture about learning the rules of grammar or expanding your vocabulary, so stay with me.
Words are powerful. At a young age, we were taught the idiom about sticks and stones being the things that cause damage, while words can simply be ignored. I recognize it is important to grow a tough skin, but this saying has created a toxic way of thinking.
We have forgotten the importance of selecting the right words because, while you have the power to choose your language, you don’t have the power to control its affect on others.
Interpretation of those on the receiving end is critical to consider. There is an infinite number of ways to rephrase this column by choosing slightly different language, but with each choice comes a different connotation.
English makes it difficult to be precise, which is why we need to consider our words carefully, but many individuals do not do this, in part because we seek immediate gratification. This might be because we have grown to crave quickness from our use of technology, or, for us Millennials, maybe it’s because we are the generation of participation trophies.
Regardless, this means we do not stop to consider our words, and with technology the way it is, we feel it doesn’t matter because we have so many shields.
As a news writer at The Scout, I am able to put my words on a computer and hide behind the printing press as articles are seen in print or online. For the average non-journalism person (and, really, for us press nerds, too) a lack of physical presence on social media is protection.
If we see something that makes us mad, we sit behind our computer screens, point fingers and yell for anyone to hear. If we see something that makes us sad, we post until the entire viral world is crying with us.
Text-based media has really screwed up our communication. When you are in person, a dialogue is able to happen — back and forth communication where you can read body language and facial expressions and hear the other person’s tone of voice and perspective.
Writing about the proper use of language may seem silly since we’ve all been choosing our words since about 18 months after our first breath, but I think some lessons here stand.
Once language is heard or read, it is out of our hands and up for the interpretation of the receiver, so slow down and take time to make decisions; it does not matter if you form a well-reasoned article or opinion in three hours or three days, it matters that you’ve considered the implications and accuracy of your words.
So, if you can, poke people with sticks and throw stones in person, but for those of us who can’t, remember that everything is up for interpretation.
