The Power of Words
May 1 question – What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
The awesome co-hosts for the May 1 posting of the IWSG are Lee Lowery, Juneta Key, Yvonne Ventresca, and T. Powell Coltrin!
Again I’m doubling up on posts…my blog, my rules.
word[wərd]NOUNwords (plural noun) a single distinct meaningful element of speech or writing, used with others (or sometimes alone) to form a sentence and typically shown with a space on either side when written or printed.synonyms:term · · expression · designation · locution · turn of phrase · [more]
I had a father who was very parsimonious with his words, but when he spoke we did listen. Story of his babysitting us on a Saturday that my mother had to work and he was serving us lunch. I guess we were playing around and finally he said, “Eat your soup or you are going to get a potch!” (Sorry I don’t even know how to spell it and neither does the computer. Make it rhyme with botch.)
My bother in all innocence asked, “What’s a potch?”
Whap, he got smacked. We all dug into our soup with no more questions. Sounds kind of mean in the retelling but it has been a family joke for years. Poor exasperated father and the hard way to learn words.
My mother’s family reveled in words and knew how to use them and knew when the wrong word was in use.
My mother said she barely kept from laughing in my neighbor’s face when they were discussing the neighbor’s having sold their house and some good luck that went with it. The neighbor said that it was, “Some constellation.” My mother swallowed that laugh so hard, she saw stars.
Mom’s family was famous, or perhaps that should be infamous, for puns. At the spring garden series at the ‘Opera House’ that my mother and aunt attended, at some point the speaker was talking about ferns. My aunt said to my mother, “With fronds like that, who needs anemones.”
And don’t start the puns in a family group, it becomes a master class in how long can people keep riffing off the first pun.
My take on the ‘power of words’ is centered around the playful use. Well, mostly, except the potch. Don’t ask.
word[wərd]NOUNwords (plural noun) a single distinct meaningful element of speech or writing, used with others (or sometimes alone) to form a sentence and typically shown with a space on either side when written or printed.synonyms:term · · expression · designation · locution · turn of phrase · [more]
