tag:dreamwidth.org,2013-05-12:2014669Journey to Ixtlan(are we there yet?)kokopelle2014-09-23T03:12:35Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2013-05-12:2014669:455069Words I Don't Like2014-09-23T03:12:35Z2014-09-23T03:12:35Zdeterminedpublic0I'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”. <br /><br />Why? Firstly, hate is supposed to be a very powerful emotion. Dictionary.com says:<br /><br />“feel intense or passionate dislike for (someone)”<br /><br />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:<br /><br />“to regard with displeasure, antipathy, or aversion”<br /><br />Now this I can understand... I can have displeasure that it is raining!<br /><br />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:<br /><br />“used as an exclamation of any strong feeling, especially of disgust or irritation, and often followed by it”<br /><br />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. <br /><br />Words... sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but words like hate and goddamn don't have a place in my life.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=kokopelle&ditemid=455069" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments