This one may be short but I just started typing 😉 – consider what your words sound like to those around you and what your word choices say about you.

Odds are many of you heard someone say “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”………….I do acknowledge that words can be hurtful if we let them. And that it is totally up to us as to how much we let them affect us. That said – some people do use them intentionally and others unconsciously.

I totally believe that we have gone WAY overboard – the media and large swaths of humanity seem overly sensitive now and the whole cancel culture stuff around word use and tearing down monuments makes me crazy.

BUT – words do convey messages and inferences. I recently heard Larry Gatlin at a Tin Pan South event and he said something thought provoking; that a few of us discussed on the ride home – slightly paraphrasing it but the gist was ‘don’t say something is cute, say it’s clever’.

What’s the connotation or inference? At surface level the word ‘cute’ seems fine but frankly when someone says ‘that phrase was cute’ or ‘your accent is cute’ , my immediate thought tends to be ‘how demeaning’. Of course, my second and third thoughts are around – who said it, and am I being overly sensitive, but you catch my drift – I hope.

Words (and that word in particular) are all fine and I’m not into removing any from the English language or avoiding their use. Nor am I suggesting I am going to analyze every sentence and word before I say it – those of you that know me should be laughing right now.

I am saying – if you sense a funny reaction to something you said or heard – please politely inquire as to any intent. Don’t jump to conclusions and realize that your words do for better or worse sometimes have unanticipated implications (conscious or not, desired or not).  

And if you’re new to an area or group – consider what your words sound like to the audience and what your word choices say about you…………