Words I Don't Like
Sep. 22nd, 2014 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kokopelleI'm not one of these people who believe each and every word has power. I do believe that many of them do, and for this reason I really don't like when people say “I hate X” and “goddamn Y”.
Why? Firstly, hate is supposed to be a very powerful emotion. Dictionary.com says:
“feel intense or passionate dislike for (someone)”
So, when someone says “I hate it when it rains”, do they really have an intense or passionate dislike? I also dislike the word “hate” because it is the basis of so many terrible acts. There is no accident that a subset of actions are called “hate crimes”. I would prefer that people say “I don't like X”. The word “dislike” is defined as:
“to regard with displeasure, antipathy, or aversion”
Now this I can understand... I can have displeasure that it is raining!
The second phrase I really don't like is “goddamn Y”. Goodness... does the user really want God to damn the target of the phrase? Dictionary.com says:
“used as an exclamation of any strong feeling, especially of disgust or irritation, and often followed by it”
That doesn't sound so bad. Maybe this is a case where I believe words have power. I believe that calling the retribution of the deity of you choice upon your family dog for jumping on you is too much.
Words... sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but words like hate and goddamn don't have a place in my life.
Why? Firstly, hate is supposed to be a very powerful emotion. Dictionary.com says:
“feel intense or passionate dislike for (someone)”
So, when someone says “I hate it when it rains”, do they really have an intense or passionate dislike? I also dislike the word “hate” because it is the basis of so many terrible acts. There is no accident that a subset of actions are called “hate crimes”. I would prefer that people say “I don't like X”. The word “dislike” is defined as:
“to regard with displeasure, antipathy, or aversion”
Now this I can understand... I can have displeasure that it is raining!
The second phrase I really don't like is “goddamn Y”. Goodness... does the user really want God to damn the target of the phrase? Dictionary.com says:
“used as an exclamation of any strong feeling, especially of disgust or irritation, and often followed by it”
That doesn't sound so bad. Maybe this is a case where I believe words have power. I believe that calling the retribution of the deity of you choice upon your family dog for jumping on you is too much.
Words... sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but words like hate and goddamn don't have a place in my life.
