Just a "Little" Word

Well said-I agree totally! It is funny how somebody comes to this idea that simple words can and do hurt-even when that is not what was meant. My "epiphany" so to speak was when students (I am currently a school nurse) would use the word "easy". It is a word that strikes hurt and anger in a lot of other kids who have not found whatever they were talking about "easy". I hate that word "easy" as most of the time it truly is not meant to offend anyone but has caused such hurt in a lot of my kids. My hackles raise whenever I hear it now and I usually respond with something like "that must be a talent for you, you should be proud. It isn't easy for everybody".It makes me wonder what other words might be out there that could cause damage-good post, great for discussion.

Tait-- the word you're looking for but can't find on Google is mispelled. It's Schnatterhund, which means "Chatter Dog"

Quote from criegelTait-- the word you're looking for but can't find on Google is mispelled. It's Schnatterhund, which means "Chatter Dog"

Tait,You are so right. Thanks for sharing. Another important point about the "written" word is to be careful what you write, and how, because people are reading it and not able to see your face, which adds an important dimension to words. I learned this the hard way with a dear friend. Fortunately the friendship is almost completely repaired. If I have something really important to say I now make it a point to meet with the person personally. Written things can be misunderstood far to easily.Of course on AN we can't meet.

Excellent post, Tait. And I second Gonzo1...since you lose body language and voice inflection, the written word is quite important and folks should be conscientious of how easily it can be mistaken. I've taken MANY communication courses both through work and in college and no matter how many I take, there's no one correct answer. It's a given that messages will be received poorly at times but if we choose our words wisely, we better our chances that they will be taken well.Because I make an effort to sound professional in my communication at work and online, I end up taking that communication style home and it backfired on me recently when at a friends house. Spanish is their first language and they are a bit self-conscious about their English. They were only half-joking when they claimed I dumb down my speech for them. That's not the intention! I think there was a bit of truth to the comment but I wouldn't call it dumbing down. I choose my words carefully to ensure I use smaller, common words, with them rather than 3 and 4-syllable words that might be more descriptive but that's because they may not be as familiar with those. I don't think they were taking offense. They were just poking fun. But I found myself scrambling to think of something for which I could poke fun at myself and in turn make them look superior for that particular trait.The visit was a good one and we had a lot of laughs but that moment kind of stuck with me. One of those "damned if you do and damned if you don't" kind of situations. I think we constantly have to assess our current audience and tailor our communication style accordingly.On forums, I prefer to be more professional.....one of you may be my hiring manager some day!

One word that I hear too much around here is basically. "Well, basically what I plan to do is to basically put in an herb garden. Basically it will involve a basic digging job below the basic dirt level." And on and on and on and on and .... for the 20 (it seemed ENDLESS!) or so minutes we stood in the grocery line waiting to check out. AAARRRUUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!

In addition to being a nurse I am an editor; I spend too much unpaid time worrying a bad sentence or paragraph the way a dog (perhaps a Schnatterhund) worries a bone, trying to make it something it isn't. I abhor bad writing because it so often bespeaks lazy thinking. I'm not going to be mistaken for the nursing world's answer to Hemingway or Asimov, but I do try my best.You are right, there's far too much very bad writing on AN (and yes, I give ESL speakers a pass on that judgment). Alas, it's the same in every public forum. If I could wave the magic wand they took away from us when we graduated, it would be to wipe bad writing from the face of the planet. That would remove considerable occasions for wry laughter, but I could live with that if I didn't have to keep murmuring, sotto voce, "Oh, sweet lord, didn't you take 8th-grade English?" or "How the bloody hell did you get a graduate degree?"

I, too, use big words frequently, and sometimes people don't know what they mean. The other day a coworker and I were talking and I was saying that so-and-so is "passive aggressive." My coworker asked what that means...I thought everybody knew that.

A little off topic, but I worked in a military hospital (as a civilian) and the military charge nursewho had to have had at least a BSN could not spell!It was unbelievable, the misspellings in the mail messages she would send out.

Yep and another overused word is "actually"....sheesh!!!

Well a lot of bad writing, poor use of punctuation, poor word usage, misspellings, and ignorance about how to use a homonym/homophone, etc, etc come from the dumbing down of primary education in the 1980s. SMH

Tait - I really enjoyed your little article and some advise you gave on another topic. Keep sharing with us