2008 Woodie Awards
Think about what you say
Janet Gillett
Issue date: 4/25/07 Section: Opinion
When you look around the room, you don't know what those people's pasts consists of or the things they've experienced -- yet many seemingly innocent expressions have the tendency to give you clues.
The other night my friend said she wished someone would shoot her, a phrase most of us have used many times. This time, however, was shortly after the Virginia Tech shooting. I bit my tongue, not wanting to point it out, but she called herself on it.
I was happy she recognized her poor choice of words, because not many of us do when it comes to expressions.
The phrase I cannot stand is comparing something to a seizure, whether the person is dancing or doing whatever. My dad had epilepsy, I know what a seizure looks like and I also know that anyone who has witnessed a seizure would never use that expression. Sure we all have slips of the tongue, but at what expense?
Every time I hear this expression, even though it has been five years since he died, I remember all too well what it looks like when someone has a seizure. No it's not a pretty sight, but someone with bad dancing moves can never compare to the horror of actually witnessing a seizure.
And how is it that a one-syllable word meaning happy has come to be so resentful and negative? Gay should be used to refer to its original meaning or the population of homosexuals; yet, every day it can be heard referring to something a person deems lame. Do people realize with one word how many people they are belittling?
Even the mental illness of mental retardation has become overused and given a negative connotation to the point that health officials are thinking about changing the name of the illness so those associations will not label a child who does in fact suffer from mental retardation. Calling another person a retard is more offensive than to the person it is directed because it targets all those who have the illness and bashes them.
Language is a form of communication, so why do we manipulate it to be so hurtful and cruel?
The other night my friend said she wished someone would shoot her, a phrase most of us have used many times. This time, however, was shortly after the Virginia Tech shooting. I bit my tongue, not wanting to point it out, but she called herself on it.
I was happy she recognized her poor choice of words, because not many of us do when it comes to expressions.
The phrase I cannot stand is comparing something to a seizure, whether the person is dancing or doing whatever. My dad had epilepsy, I know what a seizure looks like and I also know that anyone who has witnessed a seizure would never use that expression. Sure we all have slips of the tongue, but at what expense?
Every time I hear this expression, even though it has been five years since he died, I remember all too well what it looks like when someone has a seizure. No it's not a pretty sight, but someone with bad dancing moves can never compare to the horror of actually witnessing a seizure.
And how is it that a one-syllable word meaning happy has come to be so resentful and negative? Gay should be used to refer to its original meaning or the population of homosexuals; yet, every day it can be heard referring to something a person deems lame. Do people realize with one word how many people they are belittling?
Even the mental illness of mental retardation has become overused and given a negative connotation to the point that health officials are thinking about changing the name of the illness so those associations will not label a child who does in fact suffer from mental retardation. Calling another person a retard is more offensive than to the person it is directed because it targets all those who have the illness and bashes them.
Language is a form of communication, so why do we manipulate it to be so hurtful and cruel?
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