WORDS
One needn’t be an English major to appreciate the beauty of our language. It adapts easily to new things, even when it faces the resistance of purists who don’t want it to change.
Take “irregardless” as an example. (And I certainly wish someone would.) Like it or not, it’s a word. Admittedly, a nonstandard one, but it sounds to some ears—mine included—like silk on sandpaper.
Then there’s the curious case of “affect” and “effect,” two words some folks have trouble using correctly. Rather than figuring it out, the solution seems to be to use “impact” all over the place. Consider this. If economic sanctions affect the Russian economy as we hope, then the desired effect will have been achieved. Or, if economic sanctions impact the Russian economy as we hope, then the desired impact will have been achieved. Sets my teeth one edge.
I work assiduously to avoid this conundrum in writing. There’s always the chance a reader will trip over the words and then check out of the narrative to consider whether or not the usage is correct. So enter the revised sentence: Hopefully, the economic sanctions against the Russian economy are efficacious.
While “efficacious” is a bit of a fancy word, its literal definition is to affect the desired effect. Same thought, fewer words, clearer construction. Words are a beautiful thing.
Not that we should cancel the use of “impact” as a transitive verb. I’m not for canceling any word, which is why the Florida “Don’t Say ‘Gay’” bill fell hard on my radar.
Meanwhile, in Putin’s Russia, “attack,” “invasion,” and “war” are not to be used in describing the “operation” in Ukraine. Of course, the actual words that are forbidden are Russian, not English, but they would probably be unrecognizable to most of us, even if I had a Cyrillic script keyboard.
The truth is we should almost always talk about anything that those with power are trying to preempt from the conversation. That goes for individual words, but also for those lovely collections of words called “books.”
Putin’s attempts to cancel Russian thinking through rather draconian measures against news and social media are somewhat offset by the withdrawing of all sorts of companies from his country. When Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Starbucks all withdraw, most people are going to notice. Those in the Russian privilege bubble may not miss them, but one can bet they noticed when Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Hermes pulled out, too. Sort of luxus interruptus.
It’s hard to imagine that the Russians don’t know that their government is cracking down to prevent information from getting to them, particularly since there are those with living memory of such previous measures. If we had woken up in America during the Trump years and found that our government had shut down MSNBC, we should all have been outraged. Similarly, we should object if Fox left the airwaves, although Tucker Carlson going away would be no loss to legitimate political discourse in this country.
Words, singularly and collectively, are important. If they weren’t, folks from Putin to Ron DeSantis wouldn’t try to control them. While the pen may not be mightier than the sword when that sword is on one’s throat, it (the pen, that is) is something democratic leaders as well as despots respect and sometimes fear.
If we are truly living in momentous times as so many think we are, our own words have significant import in shaping what might be called collective thinking. The Ukrainians are putting the action behind their words at great personal risk. Some Russians are taking perilous steps in the right direction, and hopefully many more will soon join them.
Ensconced on the other side of the globe, having a Big Mac, or a latte, or a Coke and a smile, we in America somewhat despair at not knowing what we can do. Well, we can throw money at it, which is pretty much our solution to just about everything. But we can endeavor to be thoughtful in what we say and use discernment in what words we use.
Additionally, we can diligently look for those words that never were true, with lies inside but small enough to hide. Or better yet, just let the Monkees sing it to you while I try to come up with a couplet using “nuance” and “séance.”
