I’m addicted.  I am addicted to words.

Words need to be true and convey meaning.  I believe we should expand these words into good sentences, paragraphs and books. We need to keep adding to our words so that our vocabularies continue to grow.

My concern is:  I believe we are losing our words.

Our language is diminishing.  Words are silently being erased and replaced with selfies, emojis, strange spellings, and incorrect grammar. Our conversations are short and texts and tweets have taken the place of dialogues.  We have become a reactive society where honest, meaningful dialogues are rare.  Often, instead of a dialogue, monologues happen where one person dominates the space with many “ME” stories. Then it’s the second person’s turn. Also, instead of meaningful dialog there is too much unimportant chit chat using frivolous and filler words. “Any old word will do” is the norm to fill any empty space in the conversation.

Do we use the same words over and over again?

Do we ever look up words in the dictionary or find alternative words in the thesaurus?

Do we put any effort into learning new words?

Are we too busy to realize that our words are dying and they need to be saved?

Research

How many of us had to write research papers in high school and college using many sources, such as the encyclopedia, to help us with the details. Doing research is a skill set that, hopefully, is not lost on our youth and those of us who enjoy searching for answers.

What may be lost forever is cursive handwriting.  I do not agree that a printed signature is a signature.  I believe children should be taught to print and to write in cursive.

Babies are usually eager to talk especially if we talk to them. They babble at first not knowing how to say words. We need to use real words rather than baby talk back to them.  How can they learn our words if we don’t dialogue with them?  They will pick it up.  Parents need to encourage their children to read by reading to them and with them.  It is so important to have real conversations with them.

We need to help them appreciate intelligence.  No one should ever stop learning and expanding their intelligence.

Words are not as sacred as I remember in the past. There are too many lies and exaggerations and half-truths. What we say should be important. In the past a man’s word was sacrosanct.  If it was stated, along with a handshake, it was an honest bond. Having integrity was an important value in our society.

This is a cry for help before we take any more steps backwards.

I know that we have freedom of speech and can speak rudely and crudely but I think swear words can be crutches, falling back on the same favorite swear word of choice instead of using creative language that conveys the same message. My father, who was a newspaper man, and also loved good language, said to me, after hearing me say a swear word: “Don’t you think you can choose a better word?”  My father was a very good role model. He never lied or said anything that he would later regret. He was, also, very humble and full of interesting, humorous stories. He was a good listener as well. He loved learning and died a happy man at 86. His was a life well lived.

I remember sitting on the front porch in the double swing and having great conversations when I was a teenager. It was a gathering place. I remember eating dinner around our large round table and dialoging, talking and listening to my parents and siblings. There were no phones calls or interruptions. That was dinner time. We have lost dialoging about interesting and meaningful subjects. We need to listen to different points of views and feel free to state our own.

Can we bring back the best of what we lost in our past and add it to the best we have in our present life so that we can move and expand into a better world?

This is a cry for help. 

Help me save our words.

Roberta Macdonald, a speech I gave to Sunuppers,  Advanced Toastmaster Club, and was asked to share.

August 14, 2019

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