The Other Side of the Coin

Today, I want to talk a little about language. I happened onto a twitter fight (one of the few things I find twitter is still good for is watching people talk past each other at 140 characters) yesterday where one of my twitter friends – someone I respect but with whom I find myself often disagreeing – had said something about how soda pop was poison. Which got another of my twitter friends – someone else I respect but with whom I find myself often disagreeing (I must be a very disagreeable person), really really upset.

Why?

Well, that’s a good question. I can’t answer for my twitter friend. I can tell you that I thought it was a gross and inappropriate use of language.

Let’s talk for a moment about what language is – a means of communicating ideas and feelings. It’s better at communicating ideas than it is at communicating feelings, but it succeeds when we describe things and ideas with the right language. I looked up the word “evoke” today, and that pretty much gets at what I’m thinking. To “evoke” something is to “call up or produce memories or feelings. To elicit or draw something forth. To call up, cause to appear, and summon.

Language is a powerful tool. It evokes, provokes, invokes. In fact, if you subscribe to the bubba theory of quantum mechanics, it’s potentially one of the most powerful tools in the universe. (I kid a little about the bubba theory of quantum mechanics, and I love Travis Taylor’s stuff that he did with John Ringo – if you get a chance, find yourself a copy of the Looking Glass books – Through the Looking Glass, Vorpal Blade, Claws that Catch…, or go watch a couple episodes of Rocket City Rednecks. Those guys are scary smart. And hilarious.)

Heck, if you’re a fan of the Bible, it’s all over there. How was the world created? Language. Two of the Ten Commandments have to do with language – not taking the name of God in vain, and not bearing false witness. Christ taught that ”(n)ot that which

goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.“ Meaning to say, what we say is more important than what we eat. We are what we say. And that has an impact on the world.

So when you say pop is poison, well… that’s evocative, and it raises -invokes- the specter of some wealthy Uncle Moneybags type holding down little kids and pouring the hated demon soda down their throats while cackling to himself maniacally and going through their pockets for loose change. But this isn’t about soda. It’s about the language used.

Here in the US, the right to free speech is held almost sacred. Any infringement on that right is immediately decried, and it should be. That right is important.

But that right, any of our rights, also come with a certain amount of responsibility. We have a responsibility to use words accurately and well. Running with what I said above about the Bible, I’d up that to saying it’s a sacred responsibility. And one that we will someday answer for.

Just as people who choose to bear arms have to do so responsibly, people should be aware of the responsibility – the awesome responsibility – they have about the way they speak.

After all, that quantum physicist with the heavy accent I reference above implies heavily that the words you speak have an impact, not just on the people around you, but potentially on the very world itself.

So talk carefully.