Monday, September 29, 2008

The Power of WORDS

It has occurred to me that not all words have the same effect on all people. I know....you are clapping in wonderous fascination from the ingenious revelation produced by the intricate inner workings of my mind. But seriously....hang in there. I'll try to keep this blog interesting. Anyway, I came to this ground-breaking conclusion while sitting here at my computer, wondering what on earth I might write for this week's blog. I was actually thinking about some of my favorite words, and how they most likely don't make sense to most normal people. Allow me to demonstrate a few of these so you're all "on the same page" here with me:

Three of Andria's favorite words; most of which she uses on a daily basis:
~"Gem": a positive expressession of admiration or delight for someone or something. Example: My roommate always keeps the dorm tidy. What a gem!
~"Sketchy": a negative term can mean "suspicious", "strange", "scandalous", or "immoral". Example: Sometimes, the couples that hang out on campus after midnight can engage in somewhat....sketchy activities.
~"Fruitcake": a relatively negative word that generally means someone is a somewhat narcissistic, foolish person. Example: David Hasselhoff....is a fruitcake.


Now that you've delved into the odd world of Andria's vocab, I can move on in my argument. If I were to use these words with a complete stranger who knew nothing about me, they would most likely be confused and think I'm a weirdo. If I were to use them on a friend or classmate, they may find it funny, charming and/or adorable. (Or at least, not completely ridiculous.) I think that in writing, word choice is one of the most critical components to driving your points straight into the reader's heart; if your words don't captivate and fascinate, all you'll be left with is a string of boring words with no meaning. To me, word choice is a combination of not only the literal words you put on paper, but the audience that will be reading them. You must always keep your audience in mind when picking your words, or you may not be able to get your ideas across.

9 comments:

Jenn said...

Agreed, David Hasselhoff = Fruitcake

Catherine said...

haha loved all of your examples. so true.

Kurt H said...

Psh, David Hasselhoff is awesome. Great examples though! Even the untrue one about the mastermind that is Hasselhoff. (Someone's never seen Knight Rider apparently....)

Sabeys said...

gem :)

Seriously, though, good point! I developed the habit of saying "holy canoly" last year... and let me tell you, I got some pretty odd looks from strangers.

Anonymous said...

you make a good point of how we each have our own little phrases that mean a lot to us, but that people who don't know us wouldn't understand. I like it.

White: Comms 101 said...

Yeah, you do use those words a lot :) You used some great examples though, good job!

P.Mo said...

lol David Hasselhoff! Yeh, he is kind of sketchy. What a jem of a blog!
I have also heard "fruitcake" used as a term of endearment, though. As in, "o, I love you, you little fruitcake."

Unknown said...

I liked this. Words in our own vocabulary seem to define us in a way.

Roxanne said...

I always call scary people sketch! I love it! Your post was funny i enjoyed reading it :)