As I was editing a manuscript this week, something caught my eye. I use the words "just" and "really" a lot! I started to try and eliminate some of the repetitiveness of my words, and thinking about that led my thoughts to other word-related issues. For instance, have you ever tried to comfort a friend and said something that just made things worse? For someone who uses words for a living, sometimes, I'm no good at it. Of course, with children, we are trying to train them to say things like "please" and "thank you" and "yes, sir" and "no, ma'am," and others of that type. And we are trying to keep them from using words that are mean or disrespectful or offensive. I'm sure a lot of you are doing the same thing with your children. Anyone else have the problem of just giggling whenever their children speak because of the thick accents they've already developed at such a young age? Ha! One word we're having problems with lately is "gosh." Trust me. In America, it seems like almost everyone uses that word anymore. It's definitely all over children's television programs. Have you ever thought about it? It's basically a replacement for "god" when people want to use that popular phrase "OMG," but don't want to actually take the Lord's name in vain. To me, that's just as bad. And we don't use it in our house. Unfortunately, our children can still hear it in other places and on television. When we caught our daughter testing it out, we had to say, "No." But have you ever had to explain to a preschooler exactly why a word is wrong? Doesn't it make you think more about every word we say? Which ones do we really need to use and which ones are extra? Which say what we really mean and which are too weak to really get our thoughts across without hurting someone? Which ones are just repetitions without meaning and which ones are "must haves?" I dare you this week to rethink your language. Are you always saying what you need to say?
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This is a place for me to share thoughts and ideas not just related to writing. Thoughts about what's going on in my life, about an idea I got that I thought shareworthy, or just a funny anecdote.
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