Tag: Words

Quotes That Make You Think for Yourself

Delighted, I stumbled across Steven Yates article on”Quotes That Make you Think for Yourself,” His message is spot on to what I tout in my blog, and in my book, “Who’s Changing the Meaning?”

Yates wrote language is a tool used to steer people in certain directions. Consequently, those who understand how to utilize language to their advantage are doing exactly that. They are taking control by way of their words.

The philosopher’s quotes Yates sites demonstrate how language is can be a weapon. However, once aware, you recognize when it is being used on you. His article explores what we can control and what we need to be aware of.

5 Quotes From Major Philosophers Guaranteed to Make you Think

Your Tone of Voice Affects Social Media

Social Media sites i.e. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, are the backbone of communication. They are used for sharing information from knowledge to gossip.  Accordingly, your tone of voice determines the effects of social media. 

The Stats

According to Statista, the statistics portal, there are roughly 3.5 billion people using some form of online social media worldwide. Anyone can access an immense amount of information on the web. And access they do. Americans are on social media sites an average of 2 hours a day which equates to 5 years and 4 months in their lifetime. This is just social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

Not only are users reading the material posted, but they are also commenting on it. Folks of different backgrounds, interests, beliefs, and skills are reaching out with their opinions. Consequently, social media is a tremendous tool for people to experience and gain the knowledge they otherwise would not have discovered.

Viewpoints on Social Media

We value different viewpoints. It’s how we grow. Staying in your little world will never result in productive, worthwhile ideas. Exposing yourself to as many resources possible divulges valid and educational information.

Unfortunately, it’s these differences that cause arguments between users. For some reason, people feel they can comment on posts negatively. They attack the author with hateful remarks. They want to force their opinion. This begs the question, why do people who comment on posts think they can throw the rules of courtesy out the window? Continue reading “Your Tone of Voice Affects Social Media”

Manipulating Language

When people talk with each other today it’s common not to say what we mean. That’s not such an unheard of idea.

Honey, do these jeans make me look fat?
No.
[It’s your butt that makes your jeans look fat but I can’t say that.]

Would you like to go out again?
Yes.
[He never heard from her again.]

He’s a really great worker.
[I’m glad he’s out of my department. He wasn’t a good employee.]

It’s easier to say what we think someone wants to hear instead of saying what we actually mean. We hope to avoid hurting another person or the confrontation that might ensue. We answer by the painless way out. We want to get our way so we gloss over the truth. These are common practices in our communication and it’s considered acceptable. It’s delivering a message by using words that hide our true thoughts.

That is one way to use language to our benefit. Another way is by changing definitions of words in order to con others. People use the new definitions to deceive you and you don’t know it. It has been happening for years yet most people aren’t aware of it.

Continue reading “Manipulating Language”

They Think You Are Saying Something Else

Ever wonder why the person you are talking to didn’t understand what you said? It’s because they think you are saying something else. Since Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, the definitions of words have changed. We expect that to happen as we invent new things, as slang words are created, and to keep up with the times. Consequently, new words are needed to name them.

Adding words for these reasons is understandable. Changing definitions of words is difficult to grasp. In Webster’s first dictionary the word “definition” is described as “a brief description of a thing by its properties; the explication of the essence of a thing by its kind and difference.” The definition represents the core of what a word is. To create his dictionary, Webster looked at 26 dictionaries in different languages to determine the origin of each word. His goal was to capture the essence of the word.

Truth, Reality, and Lie

Yet definitions are changing from what we thought a word meant. “Truth” went from an “indisputable fact” to an “accepted fact.” What was once the real state of things is now whatever people will allow. “Reality” used to mean “fact” and now means “a resemblance to being real.” No longer does it mean what actually happened. Reality is what anyone wants it to be. The word “Lie” means “to make an untrue statement.” If what is true is what we allow and what happened is somewhat similar to what actually happened, isn’t that a lie? [I use the word lie since the words fake and phony aren’t in Webster’s dictionary.] Continue reading “They Think You Are Saying Something Else”

The Demise of Truth

It’s interesting to see how the word truth has changed and fascinating to see that no one noticed. We would all say that we know what truth is. But the definition has been modified and it has a huge impact on our lives. The change, done ever so covertly, has us associating truth with our original definition, not knowing that it really means something else. This was done in an effort to maneuver the way people think and how people act.

Truth, The Original

There are similarities between Webster’s definition and the one we have today. Both state that truth is the “real state of things, exactness, and a verified or indisputable fact.” The definition lets us know that truth is constant; it doesn’t change by situation or opinion. Truth is what is and nothing else.

Continue reading “The Demise of Truth”

Words Can Never Hurt Me

There is an old children’s saying, “Stick and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” When we were kids we said it after another child insulted us. It was a way to tell them that we weren’t hurt by what they said. Deep down inside we might have admitted to ourselves that what they said did hurt.

Words are powerful and can impact our lives. Proof of this just happened, which cost a person his life. But was it the person who said the words guilty of manslaughter or did the person who received the words commit suicide.

Recently, 20-year old Michelle Carter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison. This is an unprecedented case in that Carter sent texts to her friend, Conrad Roy III, telling him to kill himself. Roy, who was 18, rigged a generator to his pickup truck, jumped in the vehicle and died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The fatal incident occurred in 2014 in Massachusetts. There has never been a case of manslaughter where words alone caused someone’s death.

Continue reading “Words Can Never Hurt Me”

THEY DIDN’T HEAR WHAT YOU ACTUALLY SAID

The definitions of words are changing. Truth used to mean an “indisputable fact.” Now it means anything that will be “accepted as fact.” There are those who are aware of the change and those who are not. When you speak you don’t know what definition they are using and they don’t know your definition. Communication is becoming lost since we don’t have a common language.

In my blog, THEY THINK YOU ARE SAYING SOMETHING ELSE,”we look at the problems that are occurring today.

Verified by ExactMetrics