The power of words

 
“Words—so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.”

I love the dictionary. The thesaurus is a close second. And, of course I have some great quote books. Words are a marvelous gift and vocabulary is so much darn fun! Nothing makes me more giddy than a well-written sentence or a clever retort. Yes, words are wonderful.

One of the most important things about words is the power they hold. They can inspire, belittle, motivate, or alienate. Well-chosen words can move you to make an unnecessary purchase or save for a rainy day. They can shape your mood so you feel good or bad. They can impact whether your business runs in the black or the red.

Words. Just 26 letters that, when put together in assorted ways, can start wars, create opportunities, break hearts, or change lives.

How much thought do you put into your word choice? Do you make the most of every letter, every syllable, every sentence? Do you waste your words? Miss opportunities? Or, do you embrace the power of each and every verbal or written communication? Every thing you say, type, or scribble brings with it the chance for success.

Are you using your words to make things better? To create happiness? To inspire positive change? If not, why?

*WORD NERD BONUS: If you like words as much as I do, you might have fun with this quiz. You have 12 minutes to guess the top 100 words in the English language. Click HERE to get started. Good luck!

22 comments:

  1. Word play is one of the greatest signs of wit!

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  2. Word play is one of the greatest signs of wit.  Every whit of it at least ;D

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  3. I took the Word Nerd Challenge...and only guessed fifty-seven of the one hundred words.

    Lovely post about the power of words. Have you ever seen this YouTube video? http://youtu.be/Hzgzim5m7oU I hope the link works. It decided to act all buggy a few seconds ago.

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  4. I got 52 out of 100 and want to slap myself after seeing the ones I missed. Though I am pretty sure I typed two of them in. Should have been simple, but put a time limit on it and yikes! 

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  5. I couldn't agree more! That's why I enjoyed the show Frasier so much. Such witty writing.

    Thanks for stopping by, Billy! ;-)

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  6. Oh geez. Was that supposed to make me cry? Because it totally did! Wow, great piece. Thanks for sharing it, Erin ;-)

    Fun challenge, huh? I felt silly when I saw some of the words I missed. D'oh!

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  7. Ha ha. I know. I felt silly when I saw the ones I missed, too! Oh, well, keeps the brain sharp ;-)

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  8. I forgot to warn you about the video. Sorry! It still makes me cry, and I've seen it several times.

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  9. I'm getting weepier as I age. I'm sure I'll cry every time I see it, too!

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  10. How about this using every letter in the alphabet in a sentence: "THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG"

    I try to use my words in a positive way, wanting someone to have gained some value or feel better after reading what I have written. I don't have the same talent as a lot of these people kicking around in the blogosphere who are 'real' writers but I enjoy having something that is being read. I think that is kind of cool if the truth be told. 

    My writing style is probably closer to my talking style as opposed to giving a lot of thought to structure and developing a story. Probably not the best of platforms, but it's all I know for now.

    That's my story today and I'm going to stick with it.......

    BTW - no tests, I'm trying to watch baseball and football right now........:)

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  11. If you write, you're a "real" writer. ;-) Don't cut yourself short, Bill.

    I'll let you slide on the test. Vocabulary can't compete with football. 'Tis the season for passes and punts!

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  12. Amber, aloha. Like you, I love words.  Because I do, that is why I so appreciate your skill as a word weaver.  When you write, I want to read.


    Your use of words enchants, entices, entertains, excites and even educates me.

    Plus, anyone who can teach a dog how to blog, is pretty amazing in my book.

    Look forward to playing the Word Nerd Bonus tomorrow or Tuesday. 

    Best wishes for a fabulous week ahead.  Until next time, aloha.  Janet

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  13. Hmmmm the words in this post are also put up nicely! :) Really we take this point of view, about the things we do or use daily! Short but sweet :) :)!!

    One suggestion is, your menu color's on the top is very light, which is not contrasting the background of it, which makes it hard to read! just a tip if you could re-color it! :)

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  14. I'm a great reader, quite a good speaker, but not such a great writer. Would love to write with your eloquence. However, I do hope whatever I write NEVER hurts anyone.

    I'm sure the words "mother", "love" and maybe "grace" are in the top 100 words (I haven't peeped yet ) ;-)

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  15. You're so kind to me, Janet. THANK YOU for that ;-)

    I'm so glad our paths crossed in cyberspace.

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  16. Thanks for stopping by to read and comment! Much appreciated.

    Do you mean the title of the blog? It's that color because the letters are meant to look like Scrabble pieces. It shows fine on the computers I've used. You're finding it difficult to see on your end?

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  17. How very nice of you to say, Vanessa. That truly means a lot to me.

    As for mother, love, and grace. Hmmm. I don't know. Sadly, I don't think the word grace is in very many people's vocabulary these days. The world and its people could certainly benefit by more grace, though ;-)

    Thanks for visiting, Vanessa! Always a pleasure to see you.

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  18. no no!! not that one! your title i really loved it!
    I am talking about the top menu!
    HomepageAboutServicesTestimonialsBuzzContact and ConnectBest of WDW
    This one! This is very light compared to the background of your blog!

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  19. Thanks for the clarification, Kelvin. I'll have to check that on another computer. On mine, the tabs are brown and the text is pale peach. Very good contrast. Maybe that's not coming through on your end, though.

    I'll do some investigating. Thanks for the heads up ;-)

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  20. My pleasure Sweets. Always time well spent visiting your blog xx

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  21. Hmm sorry to be troubling you like this! its coz in those tabs there is an image that has to load behind the text, but its not happening sometimes, and the color behind it is transparent so! 

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  22. Ohhh, gotcha. Good to know. Thanks for the heads up, Kelvin!

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