We cast our spells by way of words --
Each sound, sacred. Its magic blurred
By mundane ways and untrained ears --
Failure to feel one's way to tears.
So, we're lost upon silent seas
Even when one could hear with ease:
Because boundless is speech's spread,
And boundless, still, within one's head.
Some seek their way to the magic
By means that are truly tragic,
When all they really need to do
Is listen as it passes through.
What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?
This is a trick question that can only logically have one answer. It’s more of a logic / linguistic test than a prompt.
First of all, it can’t be a skill that one has, is secret, and that one blabs about on the internet.
So, the only “secret skill” that one could discuss wishing that one had on the worldwide web must be the ability to keep a secret.
Not really a problem area for me as, being a introvert, I’m pretty tight lipped by nature.
If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?
I would ban the word ban because banning is not a thing that should exist. It is not an impulse one should have.
Every so often I run into a sentence that blows my mind a little bit. Here are a few recent examples:
We may be in the universe as dogs and cats are in our libraries, seeing the books and hearing the conversation, but having no inkling of the meaning of it all.
William james
One must read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles to be an educated man.
Old chinese adage (As Translated by ha jin in The Banished Immortal)
Poetry is an echo asking a shadow to dance.
Carl Sandburg
Distrust of grammar is the first requisite of philosophizing.
Ludwig wittgenstein
He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that.
John stuart mill
36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem by Nam Le
Everyday Shakespeare: Lines for Life by Ben CrystalWhat’s your favorite word?
I like the German word “Schadenfreude,” meaning to take joy in another’s misfortune.
I like the idea that a person can be so in touch with their dark side that they can express that bit of pettiness in a single word. So much of language is obfuscation and deceit. Southerners use four words (i.e. “God bless his soul”) to say a person is an idiot, and – even then – the meaning is masked.
Schadenfreude is authentic, and we need more authenticity in language.
If you had to give up one word that you use regularly, what would it be?
THE. Having a definite article contributes to an overly developed sense of specialness and entitlement, bordering on the narcissistic [or should I say, “bordering on A narcissistic” ? ]
Seriously though, I’d like to believe I’ve already jettisoned words with no value-added, or attempt to do so.
Carlin discussed a huge list of euphemisms and weasel words contributing to the weakening of the language, but I try to only use those words to poke fun at the people who use them – e.g. “pre-owned.” Those words function to point out attempts to be manipulative, and so I wouldn’t eliminate them, because that’s an important function.
What is a word you feel that too many people use?
“Pre-owned” or any other weasel word used to: a.) make people feel better about a decision they shouldn’t feel bad about in the first place. b.) squeeze more money out of the pockets of dimwitted sheeple. Especially when the people developing / using the term were the ones who (re: item “a”) established the psychological taint in the first place, and (re: item “b”) used said taint to manipulate more money out of purchasers of the competing product. [And – having maximized that manipulation – decided to back over the original victims to shake out some more dimes.]
As far as I’m concerned, users of “pre-owned” and similar weasel words should be treated, legally, in the same way as con men who bilk special needs kids or simpletons out of their life savings (because as far as I can see, that’s all they’re doing.)
Sun, Rain, Wind,
& other agents of wear
that tear down ancient stones
one grain at a time,
eroding symbolic rocks
carved with symbols
that meant something
to people in days of yore.
And they mean something
to people today,
but whether those meanings
match is another question...
Because our understanding
of past perspectives
is ever eroding:
just like those rocks,
but - unlike rock -
thoughts and beliefs
were wisps writ in a
malleable art: language.
We cling to traditions & lineages,
but everything is erased.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 