One day walking into the kitchen, I
see my old roommate Jose wiping down the counter. He says to me “This
counter is disgusting!” And my first thought is “Is it really
that bad?”
People, seem to use such extreme
language for common, mundane and ofter inconsequential events. I, for
one, am starting to get annoyed with it. Not enraged or furious, just
annoyed. When people exaggerate deliberately it's called lying but
people speaking with phrases like “the best ever” and “you
won't believe” have become the standard mode of communication. No
deception is intended, but the true nature of the matter is over
stated.
Why do I what this to change? I think
that these vivid words have been abused and have lost the responsive
value they use to have. If we choose to use more appropriate language
for every given situation as oppose to the big, dramatic over the top
style that's become so common to us, we'd have a better grasp of
degrees of emotion.
I have a hard time deciding what is
the appropriate level of emotional response to most things I'm
unfamiliar with. The worst of these is with love. I've had a few
conversations about the range of emotions involved in different
states and depths of relationships. One frequent piece of advise I've
been given is to control and not be controlled by my emotions. That's
difficult to achieve when you feel verbally assaulted with harsh
language that would make a marriage councilors “trigger words”
list.
The other reason I care about correct
language is because I love the many shapes and forms and colors that
human emotion comes in. There so little depth in extreme language if
it's the only form of description you use. When some one posts about
waking up late for work, then locking their keys in the car, the
phrase “worst day ever” will come up. When I think about my worst
day ever it's probably the day my grandmother died. See the
difference? I want every body to express themselves but there needs
some standard of proportion for any of it to have an effect.
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