by Paul Big Bear
Dear Friends,
“I love ice cream.” “I hate pickles.” Have you ever said something along this line of expression? When you speak, when you express yourself, do you ever give a thought to the power that your words carry? Love and Hate are two words that bring real power to the conversation, so we often insert them to punch up our meaning. Unfortunately to say “I love” an inanimate object is improper use of the English language, as is “I hate” an inanimate object as they are incapable of either loving or hating you in return. I truly enjoy a nice cold bowl of vanilla ice cream, or, I really look forward to a bar b q’d hot dog. To say I really do not look forward to another day of rain is a statement of your opinion requiring no response. Unfortunately we, as a society, have come to bandy these words around with little thought to how their use may affect someone.
We really should be more thoughtful of what we say, how we express ourselves. “I hate” a political party, a certain lifestyle, a new fad i.e. multi colored hair and multi lengths, tattoos, multiple piercings. The word hate carries a lot of weight and we should be more careful when wielding such power, you may make the statement “I Hate” and later find that you have included someone you profess to love by inclusion. The English language is a beautiful language, when used properly, it can invoke deep thought, laughter, joy, warmth, love, one just need to be more perspicacious in your meaning. I enjoy a good book, a good movie, a good song, or a good meal with a friend or loved one. I really dislike when I am trying to gather some important information and my pen goes dry. Do you really love/hate hot summer days, Cold winter days? Maybe we need to be more careful of how we express ourselves, for instance, how do you feel about the language used today as opposed to when I was young? It was shocking to me when I first heard the word Hell used in church. And “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” surely Changed the verbal landscape of movies, remember Jack Nicholson and his chicken salad sandwich, hold the lettuce, hold the tomato, hold the mayo, and hold the chicken salad…” you remember the line. I remember being told the use of vulgar language was the sign of a weak vocabulary. Yes language is powerful and I would like to see our language taught in school return us to a kinder way of saying things because I truly …ooops, dislike the way it has come to be used and would be very happy to hear kinder words used to express our feelings.