My word-love was nurtured by my parents. They were linguists; lazy words, like "stupid" and "shut up" were never uttered in my house growing up. Those were considered low class and vulgar. Calling someone a "fool" was tantamount to a good strong lecture on the difference in intellectual discourse and allowing raw emotion to speak for you. One was valued, the other forbidden.
Words have been my guiding star, my compass. People who have great command of our language immediately earn my respect, even when I disagree with what they're saying. Having a literal base has been the cornerstone of my everyday, sometimes mundane existence.
Reading at an early age fostered my love for words, of course. I read books with words like "titian" and "blancmange" and "fortnight." A treasured Christmas present was on my nightstand and I loved to find words I didn't know just so I could open the blue cover of my Webster's to discover what they meant. I still remember the inscription on my dictionary: "Brenda Houk 227 Lincoln Drive Biloxi, Mississippi." Under this I wrote "Mrs. Ricky Nelson" because I just knew that I would grow up and marry him. I did not.
I married someone who loves words as much as I do. And of course our children learned at an early age that we didn't tolerate lazy ways of speaking, either. It might have been disconcerting to a friend at a baseball game to hear my 8 year old son tell him that he felt Paul Tsongas would not be a good president because he lacked stamina due to health issues, but as he laughed at my son's political statement, I beamed with pride. Another word-nerd in the making.
{The same son told me the other day, "I used to think everybody's family was like ours, but they weren't. Good friends of mine didn't watch the Clarence Thomas hearings or presidential debates or Crossfire with the Dad. They don't know what they missed." Wait - we did something right???}
I have words that I use constantly - fabulous, glorious, clarity, effusive - are but a few. And words that I admire: honor, fortitude, calm. Some words have become mine and I feel duty-bound to see that they are put out there.
We don't use good descriptive words anymore. We have become lazy, a venial sin in my household, and use words that are in vogue: awesome, cool, whatever the word of the month is. Nothing wrong with either of those until you hear/read them 432 a day. They lose something.
And "conversate" used as a verb? Please don't. Nothing wrong with the word converse. Just another example of laziness/trendiness.
Snobbish? Probably. I don't care how many degrees you have, or how many zeroes you can write behind a whole number on a check, if you don't express yourself well you are a loser in my book.
The easiest way in the world to make a good impression? Learn your language.
It begins at such an early age. I don't believe I have ever known anyone to have a stunning transformation of language skills as an adult, but I can hope.
ReplyDeletePlease. You are a wordsmith! (No pun intended.)
ReplyDeleteLaughed out loud at the 'conversate' comment. That irks me to no end. Misuse of words probably bothers me more than the use of simple ones. If you have a desire to SOUND like an intellectual, don't use big words out of context. It only emphasizes your ignorance.
ReplyDeleteMy dear mother-in-law, whom I love exponentially, even adds a drawl to her pseudo-intellectual vocabulary. She uses words like 'irregardless' in the same sentence as 'warsh'.
Thank goodness she can't see my facial expressions clearly anymore. I would be shunned permanently.