Words are like tools: we must know their limits and how to use them. A hammer, for example, is used for driving in nails, but not for cutting wood or writing a letter; a saw is indispensable for cutting wood, but not for driving in nails or rowing a boat. Some people are artists with words, while others are clumsy and unskilled.

     Today, there is a great over-use of swear-words, to the point where they have little shock-value. Some people swear in almost every sentence, which indicates a poor vocabulary. While it might be understandable and excusable, in certain circumstances, to use a strong word, to use them too frequently is like using bombs to kill ants, and when a situation arises where a strong word might be justified, the user has none left, having used them all on trivial matters. It is hard to imagine that when the film, Gone With The Wind was being made, the well-known line, "Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn", only with great difficulty escaped the censors, ‘damn’ being considered a strong word in those days, whereas today, except to the very prim, it means almost nothing!

     Skillful use of words makes for good communication and clarity of understanding, while poor use leads to misunderstanding, bad feelings, and often to violence.

 

"If you don’t know

how to say

what you mean,

how shall you

be able to mean

what you say?"

From the film: The Last Emperor.