The Power of a Single Word

The Power of a single word

            Most of the time we say words, without realizing, the actual meaning that come across. We might not actually mean the definition of the word it actually means, according to a dictionary. In today’s society we have become very lazy, by using hurtful words to mean something else that we mean to say and since everyone else uses those short cuts we just think that it is ok. A very personal example will be my first story, then the story of Aimee Mullins

          I was very, very bad about using inappropriate slang. I have a handicapped parking sticker, so legally I am handicapped but I joke about that word all the time because I work so hard, go to college full-time, have a work-study job, live on my own. So I ask am I really handicapped? But I am in some physical ways, but I can still do most things that I need to do to get through the day. But I realized that I feel that way because I never try to do things that I know I would fail at, I know that I cannot drive so therefore I do not try to drive, In that sense I am really handicapped. In everyday life I can do everyday life things: washing the dishes, getting dressed, showering, putting clothes on, putting my shoes on, showering, walking, and talking. That is why I do not consider myself handicapped, because being handicapped in my mind is when you cannot do anything for yourself. But just like everything else in life there are different levels of handicapped severity.

          According to Webster’s handicapped means “having a physical or mental disability making participation in certain of the usual activities of daily livingmore difficult.”(websters)   I never thought much about it until I watched Aimee Mullins speech on, how hurtful words can be (Mullins,2009) so I had the meaning of being handicapped, as something much worse than it actually is. Watching Aimee’s’ speech was very humbling to watch.(Mullins,2009)

          I use to throw the words “that’s gay” or “look how gay” but I did not mean it really. But the last time I threw that word around, I was in one of my professors office for his student hours, I had drawn a picture of something that we had learned about during class. I thought the picture was sort of stupid and I said without realizing what I was saying, “look how gay the picture I drew is.” He is in fact gay, but he did not say anything to me right then. So we went over my questions that I had, Right before I left his office he told me that I should watch what I said because he knows that I did not mean what I said but to people who do not know me, they might get offended. I was completely clueless so with my jaw on the floor, because I am very fond of this teacher, and to think that I had said something that would hurt him in anyway broke my heart, so I had to ask “What exactly did I say?” With a smile he told me gently “before you showed me your picture you had drawn, you said want to see how gay?” my heart broke right then I felt so small, because I try to be the bigger person and never put anyone else down. But he forgave me or simply has forgotten about what happened. Or maybe he has not, but I will never forget about it.

          To tie this into the theme of my blog channel are similes, “it is a direct comparison of dissimilar things”( Expert village. 2008) Just be careful what you are comparing and meaning are what the actual word means, not what you mean by saying that word. This term is the main one that gets a lot of people in trouble. Instead of saying look how stupid or juvenile my picture, I drew is, I said look how gay and that is not actually what I meant.

 

Works Cited

Gardner, Andrea. (n.d) The Power of Words [video file].

Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU

Mullins, Aimee. (2009) The opportunity of adversity [video file].

Retrieved from

http://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_the_oppurtunity_of_adversity.html

Expert village. (2008) Word Choice for Public Speaking: Using Similes in Public Speaking

[video file].Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzHVbO37CtI

Miriam Webster (2013) handicapped [web page].

Retrieved from  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/handicapped