Thursday, April 28, 2011

Needless Wordology

Right so today my blog is going to be a bit off the cuff, a little extraneous, maybe even superfluous to requirements. I am going to start by expounding upon the theory (that I am making up as I go along) that people who are intelligent, educated, or simply read a lot (none of which implies the other is present) have a particular tendency to use large words in various places in their daily discourse, in order to flaunt their assumed superiority in these matters over their erstwhile companions. Of course this habit is, to some extent, endearing in those who can pull it off well; but in the majority of people it makes them seem pretentious (an adjective I tend to overuse), obnoxious, or even obstreperous. The usage of such florid verbosity does not add, nor take away from their personality (or lack thereof) but simply confuses the hell out of the person listening. That is, unless the other person is also a wordmonger. The suffix '-monger' does not always denote a negative trade, but in this instance, I would lump a 'wordmonger' in with the likes of 'Warmonger' and 'Fleshmonger' in the negative camp. I would not use the term 'wordsmith' which implies a certain mastery of craft (I would not use it to describe myself, certainly.) Words are powerful. Words have life. They are not simple objects to be flung around in pursuit of superiority. At some points in everyone's life, a short period of time should be taken to reflect in silence. Allow your words to rest. Nobody has an infinite amount. We have as many as we need. For some that may be thousands, in the case of politicians, lawyers and other types who use the power of words and their inherent malleability on a daily basis to earn their salaries. Others may have no words at all. Lost child soldiers in Central Africa; illiterate farmers; mountain tribes in Nepal; and even the dispossessed in our own society, the homeless, the unfortunate, the sick, the elderly. These people have no words to describe what they suffer. Maybe it should be up to those of us who have the words to take a rest from using them for our own gain, and to use them to promote awareness. Some of the organisations which I want to use my words to promote include:
Simon Community of Ireland:
and especially Galway Simon:
Invisible Children:
and finally VCD Nepal:

Thank you. peace and love. not just from me, or for me. but from everyone, to everyone.
Dermo

1 comment:

  1. I have no idea why the link button never seems to work for me. all those organizations have easily found websites if you google them.

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