Word Choice


In today’s society, choosing words carefully has become more important than ever. Social media combined with polarized political spheres create a society in which saying one thing can have waves of consequences. I avoid tweeting things political or controversial exactly for this reason; I see tweets that start a storm of replies and argument in which I want no part. Nonetheless, I still find myself choosing my words carefully all the time on social media whether it is struggling for the perfect Instagram caption or a snapchat story.

One recent experience consisted of giving out a birthday tweet to a good friend (female). Choosing the pictures for the tweet wasn’t hard, but I was very much hung up on the tweet itself. This was my predicament: how do I express love for a friend without unintentionally implying love as attraction? Sending the wrong message might make it awkward or really embarrassing for me. Because of the prominent use of indirect language to be more polite and respectful, humans have become excellent in their ability to “listen between the lines” (746). This was exactly what I did NOT want to happen- portray anything between the lines.

After much deliberation, this was my final product: “Happy bday [Ann]!! Lots of love to you and your dad’s homemade pizzas- hope you have a splendid day @[Ann].” Judging by her response, a friendly “aw, love you too!”, my message was delivered in the intended way.

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 18, 2018 at 2:15 PM

    Very relatable Wonyoung! I think many people, including myself, spend a lot of our time thinking before we speak because anything can be twisted or taken in the wrong way. I also thinks it's funny that you said "lots of love to you" and she replied with "love you too." Even though most can understand there is no romantic relations between you two, the use of "love" literally implies that. It's very interesting that society has morphed love into having different meanings. Good post!

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