Saturday, January 18, 2014

Words.

I like words.  There is a power with the right word.  Anyone can say "I hate you" but when you go the extra mile to say something like "I despise and loathe your very existence" there is more power and emotion in what you said.

Ask a poet, they know that the right word can make or break their latest piece.  Part of the magic is picking the right word and the rest is putting it in the right order.  I pay attention to grammar and spelling because without the correct form then our words mean less.  Sometimes they mean nothing because the meaning is lost if the spelling and grammar are bad enough.

I know English is hard to learn (it's considered the hardest language to learn in the written form) but so is anything else worth knowing, doesn't mean you can't try.  I saw a joke on the internet about how English doesn't borrow from other languages, it follows them into dark alleys and knocks them unconscious then rifles through pockets looking for spare words.  Since our language is... free/open minded/slutty we have some odd things going on.  Coyote is an Indian word, as is caucus (not Latin like most people believe), barre and ballet are French, bock (as in beer) is German, touche is French (it means "to touch"), and even "law" came from Old English via the Vikings.

Our language, much like our kitchen, takes on aspects from all over the world.  And like our cooking it has more flavor because of it.

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