Words Words Words
01-02-2015
Words Words Words
“I’ve always been interested in words and how people use them. I spent most of my career in businesses where it was all about people and words— such as
automobiles, hotels, and other related ventures where what you said (or didn’t say) was of great importance. Getting it wrong might cost you customers or
business and goodwill.
Too much texting: “But I’ve noticed with some younger people—maybe it’s because they use a kind of shorthand when texting and emailing and watch laptops in the classroom instead of listening intently to their teachers as we used to—aren’t always familiar with what seem, to me, to be simple, common, everyday words.
Misunderstood words: “I’ve had a couple of instances lately with kids about the age of my grandchildren (not saying!) who are extremely clever, doing fantastic in school and always have—but when we were chatting, I got a blank look now and again when they didn’t know what I meant. Now, I believe in plain talk. These weren’t unusual or remarkable words. They were simple, everyday words. They may not be so familiar in texts and emails, but serve a useful purpose, and I think they have a place in everyday language.
One of the words that didn’t compute was SEVER. The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the first known use of sever as the 14th century, in Middle English from the Anglo-French severer and from the Latin word separate. You can sever land and property and tree limbs or other limbs, but let’s not talk about that. Good news, remember? So that’s my first word of the week: SEVER as I thought it was an
intriguing idea for a regular blog segment.
Take a look here
As one of the founders of MemorialDiaries.com, I have a deep interest in helping people to find it, so we’ll make it interesting and have at least a word a week to
talk about and, perhaps, pass on to any stray grandchildren who happen to be close by... I’d like to do my bit to ensure that our future generations, the ones who
will be working hard to pay taxes and keep our countries healthy/know all the words they may need to get ahead. So please pass it on: sever means to remove or to become separated—see the full explanation at Merriam-Webster. Don’t sever your relationship with your grandson just because he’d rather be texting than chatting to you—at least he’s writing!
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