Words can change the world.
I believe in the power of positive thoughts and words. I respect words and I choose them very carefully because unlike some believe, I know that they are more than just words.
The above video is an interview with Japanese author, Masaru Emoto who claims to have concrete evidence of just how powerful words are. I hope you find this as thought provoking as I did. Enjoy the video. I’m off to buy some jars.
We’ve all witnessed a parent a brimming with pride because their baby has spoken their first word. A baby’s first word is usually mama or dada and this only adds to the parents excitement as they see some significance in this. Sorry to burst any parental bubbles, but research has discovered that it is the repetition of sounds in the words mama and papa that help the baby recognize the words and in turn say them.
In a study conducted by Judit Gervain, words were recorded and then played for 22 infants. Brain scans taken while the babies were listening to the words revealed that brain activity only occurred when they heard the words with repeating sounds. Words like nana, moo-moo, cha-cha along with mama and dada all created great activity in the infants brains, some who were only days old.
It seems like the whole world is subconsciously aware of this. Nearly every language has repeating sounds in their ‘baby talk”. Now it seems like we are left with the proverbial chicken and egg. Have babies adopted to adults or have adults adopted to the babies?
I don’t suppose you can love words without loving punctuation marks. Like the perfect accessory, they just make words better. Punctuation marks are one reason why I love to blog and read blogs. Finally! Punctuation marks are being used (albeit incorrectly 75% of the time) for what they should be…communicating.
I always hated abiding by punctuation rules in school. I felt like the strict rules inhibited communication and didn’t really reflect how people talk. I love the reckless way punctuation marks are used on the web to aid in effectively communicating tone and ideas. They reflect real speech, real communication. If you only knew the restraint I was using not to have an ellipses between every other word…
Now, I’m not suggesting we throw out our grammar handbooks because I’m sure that would like end the world or something and send English teachers running in horror. I’m just saying that when I read a blog that has a run-on sentence but perfectly conveys what the writer is trying to say, I feel all is right with the world.
And, I’m sure Aristophanes of Byzantium who is credited with inventing punctuation in 200 BCE would agree with me. I can’t imagine he created punctuation just so students around the world could get red marks on their papers.
There’s a saying- You should excogitate before you speak. Oh wait, the saying is -you should think before speak. I get that confused sometimes, since excogitate means to think.
And since today’s word begins with the letter E, I would be remiss not let you know that the letter E appears most often in the written English language. And if for any reason the letter E can not fulfill its duty as the leading letter, the runner up T will be crowned.
I wonder what da 4words think about dis nu generation of words. I wonder if they r disappointed. I wonder if they think dis nu generation is a buncha sell-outs, not caring how they r spelled jez 2 b cool.
MayB they r proud. Dis nu generation has gone places they cud only dream of like iPhones, video games, and laptops. I wonder if they watch, from their dusty newspapers and books, with admiration as this nu generation travels around da net at da speeda lite.
Lots of people enjoy reading, playing a good game of scrabble, or improving their vocabulary. But then there are other people who take their fondness for words to a whole ‘nother level. Those people are wordphiliacs and I, myself, happen to be one of them. You might be reading this and wondering if you qualify for such a title. Here are a few questions to ask yourself. If you answer yes to any of them…welcome to the club.
- Have you ever read the dictionary for fun?
- Do you consult the thesaurus for casual emails to friends?
- Do you get excited when you step into a Barnes and Nobles?
- Do you have a favorite word?
- Have you been attracted to or not attracted to someone based on the words they’ve used?
- When you find the perfect word to express yourself, do you feel an overwhelming sense of joy?
- Do people hate playing scrabble with you because you take the game to “seriously”?
- Have you ever gone through “book withdrawal” when you haven’t read anything good in a while?
- Do you like this blog?
Who knew, I guess cats can be wordphiliacs too…
