Haley Haskin
- Apr 15
- 2 min
Haley Haskin
- Mar 14
- 14 min
Haley Haskin
- Sep 23, 2023
- 2 min
Haley Haskin
- May 18, 2023
- 1 min
- Haley Haskin
A Silly Little Blog About Words
Let’s do a quick exercise. I want you to think of your favorite movie, your favorite place to travel, and your best friend.
Do you got ‘em?
Okay, now that you have those three things, rank them in order of importance, putting them in the categories of most important, somewhat important, and least important. Go.
I’m guessing your ranking looked something like this:
Least important: favorite movie
Somewhat important: favorite place to travel
Most important: your best friend
Would you say that you like these things? I guess so. Would you more than likely say that you love these things? Probably! I mean, I know that If someone suggested watching Perks of Being a Wallflower, I would say something along the lines of “Yes, I love that movie! Let’s watch it!” If someone asked me where I like to travel, I would probably say something along the lines of “I would love to travel Europe!” And if someone asked me how I felt about my best friend, I would definitely say that I loved them.
Yet, I think we can agree that these favorite things we just ranked, while they all bring us happiness, bring us different amounts of happiness based on their level importance. So now why is it that I would use the same word to describe the happiness I get from settling down with my favorite movie as the word I use to describe the happiness I get from spending time with my best friend? That word being love.
Love
I think we have become numb to what this word actually means, because we use it so widely to describe things all the way from food, to clothes, to technology, to experiences, to people, to spirituality. And putting all of that responsibility on one word, is a lot to ask!
Did you know that the Ancient Greek language actually has four different terms for love for this very purpose? To avoid the concept of love being misused or watered down, each term has a specific meaning and scenario for which it should be applied.
Agápe is the highest form of love. It is the sacrificial, unconditional love that God has for man, and that man has for his children and spouse.
Éros is a passionate, erotic, romantic love. It is intimate, an appreciation for the beauty within a person.
Philia is loyal and virtuous. It is the brotherly love you have for your friends and family.
Storge is a warm and comfortable love. It is the empathetic love felt by parents for their children, and can also be what is felt when trying to forgive and love an enemy.
The Greeks had it figured out! This way no one got confused, and no words sounded over dramatic, because there was a word for each context. Can you imagine how much more meaning the word love would have to your significant other, had you not just used the word to describe cookie dough ice cream? (@myself).
Other Stuff
This same watered-down word usage applies to a lot of other words as well. What about the opposite of love? What about hate? What about amazing or delicious or beautiful?
Do we hate being lied to as much as we hate brussel sprouts? Or do we hate brussel sprouts as much as we hate being lied to? (Brussel sprouts are actually rather good by the way if you try them; @myself again).
And if everything tasted delicious, then that means hotdogs and hamburgers taste just as good as a $100 steak! If everything was amazing, that means the cute puppy video you just watched is just as jaw dropping as the Grand Canyon!
Beautiful
And on the word beautiful. Is it odd that whenever someone possesses a lot of attractive or positive traits, we tend to describe them as a beautiful human? They could be physically pretty, yes. But why are they not a smart human, or a successful human? Why not genuine? Charming? Funny? Kind? Courageous? Perceptive? Dedicated? Compassionate? Why is the word beautiful used as a coverall for all of these qualities? Why do we use an adjective based on exterior to describe the interior? You could argue that internal traits make someone “beautiful on this inside.” Maybe so. But then why not use appropriate words to describe those internal qualities instead? This blanket adjective, beautiful, squishes the unique variations of humanity right out of our perception, and enforces the belief that being beautiful is the only way to be an attractive person. It neglects to recognize the vast variety of qualities that can define an individual. Qualities that can make a person different than just beautiful, but interesting, enjoyable, sensational. Qualities that make beautiful sound sort of dull and average, and not much of a thoughtful compliment at all.
A Call To Reconsider Your Vernacular
Though I am not faulting our society for any of these word usages, I do think, how cool would it be to have a stronger vernacular than we do? I imagine if we used more specific and honed in adjectives to describe our feelings and experiences, there wouldn’t be the need for many words at all, just quality ones. It is the whole idea that less is more. Think of how much more educated and articulate we would sound! It is an interesting thought to ponder indeed.
Now, usually in these blogs I propose a solution at the end to better lifestyles, and hearts, and communications, and whatnot. But fixing the vocabulary of the entire English-speaking population is a grandiose endeavor that I do not plan on tackling tonight. So let my challenge to you be this:
Step 1: Think of a word you use all the time.
Step 2: Pull up on an online thesaurus and look up your word’s synonyms.
Step 3: Don’t say that overused word of yours all week. Use these synonyms instead.
My word for this week will be grungy.
Synonyms are: disheveled, rundown, dirty, unkempt, scuzzy, grubby, grimy, scummy, shoddy, unwashed, dilapidated (wow, that’s a good one!)
Well, this is very exciting! The word “grungy” will not deepen the same old ridges in my brain one time this week. I can’t wait to learn what new ideas these different words will spark by association in my brain. Happy sentencing, everyone!