Coincidentally, today’s first reading was Isaiah 50:4, “The Lord has given me a well trained tongue, that I may speak to the weary a word that will rouse them.”
Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. A decline in the proper use of language directly correlates to a decline of grammatical languages. In declined languages, recourse to the informal voice is almost de rigeur and use of the subjunctive in its most advanced grammatical forms has all but disappeared. In English, a collapse of understanding between formal and informal language has led to an overly casual use of language and to resentment of a presumed right to familiarity with people one barely knows. All of this conveys a collapse of respect — of others, of oneself, and of language and culture themselves.
It’s difficult to determine whether dress style or speaking style is worse?
I would almost think speech since a well-dressed person speaking trash is like being hit blindly— you would’ve never seen it coming and therefore somewhat unfair. Akin to approaching a golden retriever that has a growl of a Doberman pinscher.
Whereas there is no disguising someone who’s looking like trash. Great article.
Thank you for promoting thoughtful articulation. It is uplifting to read that others care about the conversational traffic we try to navigate with care. To refine our language is something needed in today’s discourse.
A marvellous piece, thank you. If I may add to it in a small way, I think it is clear that Tolkien depicted the power of language, and how it can be corrupted, in his classic The Lord of the Rings. Arguably, this was his main motivation. Where the elves may be said to have the highest form of speech, the inhabitants of Mordor speak the lowest. But ironically, we learn that the language of Mordor is actually just a corrupted form of elvish. Just as darkness is the absence of light, all evil is really just a shadow and a corruption of the good. The question then is how do we keep out the corruption?
I’ve always been attracted to beautiful speech. Though I’ve never had much of a golden tongue myself, there’s been an appreciation for a firm command of the English language. The older I get, the more I respect someone who can sharply articulate a thought with few words.
Agreed. Precision and concision of language take time and effort to cultivate. In one of Blaise Pascal's letters, he wrote apologizing for its length, saying "I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter."
Funny, for the longest time I have been accused of being too formal and using "big" words but I thank my parents for encouraging us to use the correct words and a habit of furious reading. I once had a professor tell me to keep a dictionary near by when I couldn't understand a word I was reading. Grateful for that advice! I still have a hard time with the shortened wording/emojis/ symbols on text messages.
Speaking well is living well! Well written, absolutely blown away! I appreciate the receipts you cited as well, and I'm appalled that there have been scientists publishing academic papers on swearing?? Of course, they would be in favour of it. For me, the veracity and/or goodness of a certain practice always ties back to its spiritual repercussions. Is it saving or damning my soul? If it's not helping my sanctity, I don't care how well it "helps" my pain tolerance or physical performance. It's not good for you.
Thank you for this article. You always make me want to be a better person. When one limits oneself to thinking only about the problems over which one has no control, the controllable go unaddressed. Speech and dress are a wonderful place to start. Imagine if suddenly today everyone began speaking and dressing with class what bigger problems would find quick solutions.
Don’t forget about the poor grammar, punctuation and spelling in the written word. There is a least one person, posting here on Substack, that does not capitalize the first word of the sentence. I don’t waste my time reading that drivel. Grammar and spelling . . . well, that’s a book.
Not capitalizing the first letter in a sentence seems particularly bad because writing tools do that automatically, so it’s likely intentional disregard.
The written word could also benefit from what we’re doing here, but we could only cover so much ground in a single article unfortunately!
Oh, yes, I agree that not capitalizing is intentional. But, it is too difficult to read and, quite frankly, comes off as lazy and/or stupid. I think I made a comment to the writer and then possibly blocked them so I don’t waste my time even opening the article. If I remember correctly, I was nice. I don’t need internet confrontations. 😂
Very well written and completely on point. I especially resonate with this:
"This culture of edgy-cool often uses obscenity as a shortcut to power, emotion or presence. It says “I am very serious, I care intensely about this.” Unfortunately for those people, linguistic inflation is real, which means that when everyone employs vulgarity, its impact lessens, desensitizing people to that sort of language."
The shortcut has become so commonplace that the long way around is virtually unknown now, at least it some corners. It limits the ability to articulate more fully.
I also wrote about swearing in a post called "Well Why the &!*#$ Shouldn't I Swear," here: https://substack.com/@susanbarico/p-189428455 Our actions mark our souls, invisibly; their effects live on inside us. When we frequently swear, we are staining and muddying ourselves internally. No one is helped.
So true. In the past few years I have noticed that rude behavior in public has skyrocketed. When did it become appropriate to hang giant flags with profanity directed at your political opponents from your house? The issue of beautiful speech reminds me of a line from Rumi (I’m afraid I don’t remember the exact quote) to the effect that any utterance should pass through three gates before it leaves your mouth: 1. Is it true? 2. Is it useful? 3. Is it beautiful?
Coincidentally, today’s first reading was Isaiah 50:4, “The Lord has given me a well trained tongue, that I may speak to the weary a word that will rouse them.”
A wonderful synchronicity right there!
Johnny Rotten, of all people, never used profanity in his song lyrics because “it gives people an excuse to not listen to you.”
I never would have guessed he’d be the one to promote that concept, but when you’re right you’re right!
That’s interesting. Certainly if an album carries the “E” badges, I’m much less likely to listen.
Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. A decline in the proper use of language directly correlates to a decline of grammatical languages. In declined languages, recourse to the informal voice is almost de rigeur and use of the subjunctive in its most advanced grammatical forms has all but disappeared. In English, a collapse of understanding between formal and informal language has led to an overly casual use of language and to resentment of a presumed right to familiarity with people one barely knows. All of this conveys a collapse of respect — of others, of oneself, and of language and culture themselves.
We can recover from this.
It’s difficult to determine whether dress style or speaking style is worse?
I would almost think speech since a well-dressed person speaking trash is like being hit blindly— you would’ve never seen it coming and therefore somewhat unfair. Akin to approaching a golden retriever that has a growl of a Doberman pinscher.
Whereas there is no disguising someone who’s looking like trash. Great article.
Thank you for promoting thoughtful articulation. It is uplifting to read that others care about the conversational traffic we try to navigate with care. To refine our language is something needed in today’s discourse.
Its rewarding to hear that others care as well. Thank you for your kind comment.
Thank you, such a wonderful article.
100% agree. Terrific article! 😊
Thank you!
A marvellous piece, thank you. If I may add to it in a small way, I think it is clear that Tolkien depicted the power of language, and how it can be corrupted, in his classic The Lord of the Rings. Arguably, this was his main motivation. Where the elves may be said to have the highest form of speech, the inhabitants of Mordor speak the lowest. But ironically, we learn that the language of Mordor is actually just a corrupted form of elvish. Just as darkness is the absence of light, all evil is really just a shadow and a corruption of the good. The question then is how do we keep out the corruption?
I’ve always been attracted to beautiful speech. Though I’ve never had much of a golden tongue myself, there’s been an appreciation for a firm command of the English language. The older I get, the more I respect someone who can sharply articulate a thought with few words.
Agreed. Precision and concision of language take time and effort to cultivate. In one of Blaise Pascal's letters, he wrote apologizing for its length, saying "I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter."
Funny, for the longest time I have been accused of being too formal and using "big" words but I thank my parents for encouraging us to use the correct words and a habit of furious reading. I once had a professor tell me to keep a dictionary near by when I couldn't understand a word I was reading. Grateful for that advice! I still have a hard time with the shortened wording/emojis/ symbols on text messages.
Speaking well is living well! Well written, absolutely blown away! I appreciate the receipts you cited as well, and I'm appalled that there have been scientists publishing academic papers on swearing?? Of course, they would be in favour of it. For me, the veracity and/or goodness of a certain practice always ties back to its spiritual repercussions. Is it saving or damning my soul? If it's not helping my sanctity, I don't care how well it "helps" my pain tolerance or physical performance. It's not good for you.
Excellent post and something I needed to hear. Thank you.
Thank you for this article. You always make me want to be a better person. When one limits oneself to thinking only about the problems over which one has no control, the controllable go unaddressed. Speech and dress are a wonderful place to start. Imagine if suddenly today everyone began speaking and dressing with class what bigger problems would find quick solutions.
Don’t forget about the poor grammar, punctuation and spelling in the written word. There is a least one person, posting here on Substack, that does not capitalize the first word of the sentence. I don’t waste my time reading that drivel. Grammar and spelling . . . well, that’s a book.
Not capitalizing the first letter in a sentence seems particularly bad because writing tools do that automatically, so it’s likely intentional disregard.
The written word could also benefit from what we’re doing here, but we could only cover so much ground in a single article unfortunately!
Oh, yes, I agree that not capitalizing is intentional. But, it is too difficult to read and, quite frankly, comes off as lazy and/or stupid. I think I made a comment to the writer and then possibly blocked them so I don’t waste my time even opening the article. If I remember correctly, I was nice. I don’t need internet confrontations. 😂
Very well written and completely on point. I especially resonate with this:
"This culture of edgy-cool often uses obscenity as a shortcut to power, emotion or presence. It says “I am very serious, I care intensely about this.” Unfortunately for those people, linguistic inflation is real, which means that when everyone employs vulgarity, its impact lessens, desensitizing people to that sort of language."
The shortcut has become so commonplace that the long way around is virtually unknown now, at least it some corners. It limits the ability to articulate more fully.
I also wrote about swearing in a post called "Well Why the &!*#$ Shouldn't I Swear," here: https://substack.com/@susanbarico/p-189428455 Our actions mark our souls, invisibly; their effects live on inside us. When we frequently swear, we are staining and muddying ourselves internally. No one is helped.
So true. In the past few years I have noticed that rude behavior in public has skyrocketed. When did it become appropriate to hang giant flags with profanity directed at your political opponents from your house? The issue of beautiful speech reminds me of a line from Rumi (I’m afraid I don’t remember the exact quote) to the effect that any utterance should pass through three gates before it leaves your mouth: 1. Is it true? 2. Is it useful? 3. Is it beautiful?