Words Matter
~Mark
Twain
Words
matter, whether written or spoken.
As a publisher I sometimes receive submitted
manuscripts with poorly constructed sentences, typos, misspellings and obvious
indications of ignorance of the meanings of words or, at the least, lousy
proofreading.
Maybe email
is at fault. Tweeting and texting and their lackadaisical attention to
spelling, grammar and capitalization play important roles. Or maybe it’s just
plain old indifference on the part of people more concerned with telling their
digital friends where they are or what (or how much) they drank or smoked last
night than they are in using proper language, spelling and punctuation to
convey something more meaningful and/or interesting.
Whatever
the cause of this lack of interest in the proper use of language, it is an
appalling circumstance that only exaggerates the increasingly poor
communication traits among many elements of society.
Like, I
mean, you know. You hear what I’m sayin’?
Let’s not
go their.
See what I
mean? If you don’t, you just made my point.
Sadly, the
improper use of our language is encouraged by song (and rap) lyrics, movies,
television and many role models (sports stars, movie stars and others who, for
no evident reason, are simply, stars).
Even more
discouraging is the way our language is being hijacked and bastardized by
government “leaders” who have mastered the art of what George Orwell termed
“doublethink,” a term he coined in the literary classic 1984 to describe the results of the government’s use of language. Even before the publication of 1984 which came out in 1949, he wrote: “Political
language – and with variations this is true of all political parties, from
Conservatives to Anarchists – is designed to make lies sound truthful and
murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” (From Politics and the English Language, 1946.)
To
illustrate the point about how political speech can (and does) convince many
listeners that less is more or vice versa, he included the following in 1984.”
War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
Others have
been equally disdainful of the way politicians use language.
For
example, George Will believes “a politician's words reveal less about what he thinks about his
subject than what he thinks about his audience.”
The
H-word: Hate
The heinous word
“hate” has become increasingly commonplace. “I hate that man” (or woman), “I
hate all (fill in the blanks with your least favorite political party),” “Don’t
you just hate that song?” “I hate school,” and therefore “I hate to write
themes.”
Does one actually
hate? Or does one simply “dislike” certain men or women, specific politicians
and their policies, some music and various aspects of school?
The ubiquitous and anonymous rants on the
Internet clearly illustrate the widespread use of the word by what appears to
be a large percentage of society.
When one uses a
word often enough to describe feelings, emotions or even people, one begins to
believe it. This is often true, even if “hate,” for example, is the descriptive
word used initially even though the feelings might not have been as strong as
indicated by the word itself.
Back
to Language in General
Not too long ago
I enjoyed televised “discussions,” “conversations” and “debates.” Lately,
however, many of them have become little more than shouting matches where the
loudest voice (including that of the so-called “moderator”) wins.
I suspect noted author Philip Roth
would agree. In his 1969 novel Portnoy’s
Complaint, he wrote: “My God! The English language is a form of
communication! Conversation isn't just crossfire where you shoot and get shot
at! Where you've got to duck for your life and aim to kill! Words aren't only
bombs and bullets — no, they're little gifts, containing meanings!”
Too many
“guests” on TV programs seek to impress by coming up with rambling sentences
designed to show they have some four-syllable words in their vocabulary and
little else. In fact, David Ogilvy, author of Confessions of an Advertising Man, confided that “our business is
infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.”
Television,
and its reliance on advertising revenue for survival, contributes mightily to
the demolition of proper language use. Thank God for the remote, however, for
without it we would be even more completely inundated with sound in which the
only decipherable word is the name of
the product.
“As advertising
blather becomes the nation's normal idiom, language becomes printed noise,”
says George Will.
Frankly, I’m
worried.
If the members of
the general public, or a good portion of it, are not at least minimally
educated in the proper use of language and in how it can be (and often is)
perverted for causes that range from political to social and from fund raising
to salesmanship, powerful articulate leaders will have their ways with us and
the results will benefit only them and not the rest of us.
Even that great
philosopher Robin Williams is quoted as having said “no matter what people tell
you, words and ideas can change the world.”
Unfortunately,
I tend to agree with Aesop who, in Aesop’s
Fables, wrote: “After all is said and done, more is said than done.”
I also agree with Abraham
Lincoln who said: “It is better to keep one’s mouth shut and be thought a fool
than to open it and resolve all doubt.”
So I’ll
shut up.
