The other day I was teasing my 3-year old, Liam, telling him I was going to put him in diapers.
“I don’t wear diapers,” he said indignantly. “Diapers are for babies!”
“Oh, that’s right,” I said. “You wear pull-ups.”
“Yeah!” He said. “I wear pull-ups. They’re for big boys.”
The point is that words are important. To the hearer, they signal different meanings – even when they are talking about the same thing. We have to be aware of the words we use and how they are received.
What words are you using? Are there better ones you can use? And do you think about how your audience is receiving those words?
Food for thought.
no. i suck. i just violated this truth this morning and ruined everything.
well, not everything. just one conversation.
anyway, good point.
I think we all do that more often than not. Thankfully we also know the word “reconciliation”!