Non-violent language

Words create images in our minds.  Some may be beautiful and pleasing, such as meadow or chocolate sundae, while others trigger negative emotions and frightening thoughts.  The latter group would include stabbing or humiliation. However, it should be noted that, in some cases, heavily laden words are used to describe perfectly innocuous concepts, far from their violent roots.

The oil source rapeseed is a prime example.  Rape is an act of dreaded act of violence and not a pleasant thought.  However, rapeseed oil is available in most supermarkets and is no less acceptable than its cousins, corn or palm oil. It comes from a plant group that includes mustard and, according to the Wikipedia, is the second most important source of protein in the world. While not exactly romantic, this rape is at least beneficial.

On a larger scale, riots are scary since they involve random, irrational and mass violence.  People only riot when matters have become truly bad economically or politically. The exact result is unpredictable but always destructive. Curiously, people refer to an amusing scene or set of events as a riot, meaning funny from beginning to end and worthy of telling to others. In most cases, the greatest damage involved is a bit of harm to a person’s ego. This riot is much milder than that of the source word.

Anybody that has the experience of walking in poor part of a city has feared being mugged, i.e. beaten and robbed.  It is a traumatic experience both physically and psychologically.  Yet, if the weather is muggy, it does not attack you physically.  Granted, the hot, wet air does not move, causing a person to sweat profusely and take many showers.  Still, such weather conditions are annoying, not threatening. All that a person loses is water.

Boys in elementary schools are not known for their social skills (and, in many cases, do not

significantly improve with age).  They tend to resolve issues directly, by punching.  A fist in the face leaves a mark, above and below the surface. For many adults, seeing a video of children fighting brings back unpleasant memories. However, both children and adults enjoy drinking punch, a cold spiced fruit drink, a rather different story.  In fact, the word punch in this case comes from Sanskrit and means “five”, referring to the five elements in it. Visually, this liquid punch is much more positive.

Torture is a scary thought, a torture in itself. Even if few have had to experience it, it is the stuff of nightmares. Strangely, tortuous, a similar sounding but differently spelled word, carries its stigma.  Alas, the latter word means very curvy, as in a road.  For most people, the way up to the mountain cabin may tortuous but does not strike great fear in them.

In a similar vein, in Anglo-Saxon society, cursing is disrespectful and unacceptable behavior.

This attitude does not mean that people do not do it but it is looked down upon, often selectively as George Carlin expressed so well in his routine The seven words you can’t say on TV.  Interestingly, the word cursor, with an “o”, produced almost 100 million results on Google. There is no shame in writing that word because it refers to the marker of the current position on the screen.  However, when people can’t find it, they have been known to become cursers, especially when their children are not in the room.

There is a strange dichotomy in the word accessory. In a criminal court, being an accessory to a murder or robbery is not much better than actually doing the deed. For example, the driver of a getaway car in a robbery is equally guilty in many legal systems. So, it is a word that many people in jail do not want to hear.  By contrast, women of all ages seem to enjoy buying an accessory to their wardrobe, which includes a scarf, belt, hat or any other object that will enhance it.  In contrast with their jail cousins, mainly male, most women smile when the thought of an accessory comes up.

So, words do have a direct impact on our mind through the images they create.  Some words carry highly negative connotations. Yet, like people, a few can reform and do good deeds, improving if not erasing their negative record. Once violent, these words do not have to remain violent.

Images from Pixibay