The Words We Use

I have a tagline for the creative writing side of my life – “words can be doves or bullets, choose wisely”. I try to be careful with the words I use. Yet sometimes (and I know from experience) a word might ‘hit’ someone the wrong way.

In a workshop I said that academics like to shout about their work – I meant in an excited, proud of what they’ve achieved kinda way. However, one of the attendees disagreed with the word, they felt it conveyed the wrong emotion.

There’s also using colloquial words or slang when talking to those whose first language is not English, or even UK English. I discovered this through a conversation with my Italian friend. I said I was “popping to the shops” and he was so puzzled. Because, to me, that meant I was simply going to the shops – but for him it was an unusual word to use in that context.