Whatever happened to language?
Apparently proper use has been abandoned!
Many of you have reached out to us saying how much you enjoy these emails. We’ve ALSO been asked, “What’s with the Stupid Quotes section?”
They are fun. We believe it’s important to include in this weekly email something that makes everybody laugh a bit. We hope you’ll look forward to receiving it each Friday as a source of inspiration and entertainment.
On a serious note, language seems to mean less and less. Words are used to obfuscate, to cover up what is meant, to avoid what should be said.
People use words and phrases that mean NOTHING. For example, basketball players are described as “long” and having good “vision for the basket”. That really means they’re tall, have long arms (good thing for basketball) and they can shoot.
Or they speak complete nonsense. The New York Times described a football player as “incandescent”. People use the phrase “having said that” to COMPLETELY NEGATE their previous comment. (“I think you’re a terrific person. Having said that, I can’t stand you!”)
Areena’s mission is to make people’s lives better. We can only do so if we embrace what’s wrong. In order to do that, we’ve simplified our process into three steps.
Step One: Identify issues in our communities.
Step Two: State those problems in the clearest manner possible.
Step Three: Fix ’em!
We need to be honest. We need to be direct. We can’t be afraid to embrace the problems of the world because otherwise nothing will get done. We need to say what we mean, clearly, and then do what we say!
Art Gurwitz
Founder, Areena
Author
