The Case for Clean Language

There was a time when clean language was the norm and swearing was unusual. Boy, how the tables have turned! Nowadays, the words that would have gotten kids’ mouths washed out with soap or given ladies “the vapors” are commonplace in popular media, the workplace, and in our homes. Frankly, I don’t like it.

Now, I’m certainly no prude. I have definitely used profanity more times than I’d care to admit. And I’m not taking a religious or biblical view of it, either. There are many interpretations and controversies lying in wait there. But I do bemoan the effect the decline of language has had on our culture. The English language (and, I’d daresay, all others) has sufficient words available to describe anger, frustration, hyperbole, and so forth without resorting to “coarse language.”  

The great wits like George Bernard Shaw, Winston Churchill, and Oscar Wilde were able to create scathing insults without resorting to unacceptable terminology. Being adept at using the F word as a noun, verb, adjective, and an adverb does not really impress one’s audience with his or her command of the language! And, speaking of “his or her,” there is little differentiation between the sexes in the use of bad language, either.

This decline did not happen overnight, of course. Over the years, the line of acceptable language has moved almost imperceptibly. There were some major leaps, such as George Carlin’s “7 Dirty Words.” But, for most of us, we just heard and said more of the stuff that was formerly forbidden. Location used to matter: we could say certain things in the locker room but not at the dance. Those lines have been erased, as well.

Is there a way to put the genie back into the bottle and clean up our language? It’s a very tall order, but we each have the willpower to clean up our own act if we choose. Why not give it a try? Make an effort for a day, then a week, to avoid swearing. It could become a habit. You might have to become more creative in your use of the language. And you’ll stand out. Even if some may mock you, I’d be pretty sure they’ll secretly admire you.

Feeling Left Out?

Have you been in a conversation where others used jargon or acronyms, but you had no idea what they were talking about? Were you too embarrassed to ask? Did you prefer to remain ignorant? I’ve experienced this from childhood to adulthood, and the feeling is no less pleasant today. Kids, being kids, tend to be more obvious about pointing out an unfortunate peer’s lack of knowledge.

When I was in about 5^th grade, a new term phrase entered my world: “make out.” (To kiss and hug passionately. It may mean more now, but it was relatively tame back then!) At recess one day, I innocently inquired of a classmate about this strange idiom’s meaning. She wasted no time informing the rest of the class of my ignorance in the loudest way possible. I vowed then and there to never be put in that situation again. Of course, there was no internet then, so my research had to be a bit more involved, but I found out what I needed through trusted sources.

Unfortunately, this happens with grownups, too. Esoteric terminology is used by some people the same way those fifth-graders did: to hurt others, or, at least, to feel superior to them. The clique, the in crowd, the private club – these and many more human groupings seem to thrive on the separateness their language creates. This kind of thing can lead to an attitude towards “others” that makes it easier to slip into hate.

Sometimes, speakers may merely be unaware of the listener’s ignorance. After a long time of speaking to others with a similar foundation in their area of expertise, they may forget that there are plenty of folks without that knowledge. Then, jargon becomes a straightforward barrier to communication. If the listener is confident enough to admit his or her ignorance – and the speaker is considerate – then some explanation and definition will probably take place. In group settings, it is beholden on the speaker(s) to make sure the whole audience is on the same page.

So, what is the bottom line?

1.  Don’t tolerate the use of language solely to separate your group from others and prove your superiority. Of course, you sometimes need your own language to share knowledge about a craft like quilting or a hobby like coin collecting. But don’t use it as a bludgeon.
2. If you are communicating with people who may not know some of your terminology, be careful to include definitions or explanations – in a glossary or within the text of your speech or article.
3. Never embarrass someone who is not as fully versed in the jargon as you are. Consider the Golden Rule, and do what you would hope someone else would do for you in a similar situation.

The Death of Journalism? - Part 2

Last week, I talked about the changes forced on the profession of journalism. I focused on the “external” factors of limited time, limited staff, and the 24-hour news cycle.

Now it’s time to take a hard look at the journalists, themselves. When I worked in TV news, as a film and video editor and producer, one of the high expectations placed on journalists was objectivity. I learned, however, that there really is no such thing. No human being can be truly unbiased. When you work in a place – and a profession – where most of your peers hold the same world view, subjectivity becomes invisible. In other words, when everyone wears the same “rose-colored glasses,” opinion and truth can become synonyms.

Don’t get me wrong: a good journalist works to overcome this bias - if he or she is aware of it. The expansion of electronic news sources over the past few decades has not heralded an increase of objectivity. Instead, news outlets representing one political stripe crop up to counteract the biases that they see in other news organizations. Fox News is a classic example, created to offset the liberal views of the “mainstream media.” TV news viewers can pick the news that makes them feel good; to support their own biases, rather than to be informed. Like many conservatives, I don’t consider Fox News “fair and balanced.” Rather, I see and hear news that is presented from a conservative perspective. As Jeff Sorensen says in his Huffpost Detroit blog, “Confirmation bias blinds people to the bias because it supports their point of view.” It’s nice if you want to say “See, I told you!” But that is not helpful if you want to be an informed citizen or carry on a reasoned debate.

At one time, internalized standards like honesty and integrity were among the values for which journalists strove. Of course, some still do. But the temptations and the pressures of time and money make it very difficult. Our culture, having become unmoored from commonly-held Judeo-Christian values, has a difficult time expecting or enforcing those standards. Consequently, journalism, as a calling, is endangered - if it isn’t dead already.

The Death of Journalism?

“I think it would be fun to run a newspaper.”

                               - Charles Foster Kane in “Citizen Kane”

Nobody is having much fun running a newspaper today. We all have heard the stories of small newspapers folding, bigger newspapers being consolidated, and the largest newspapers struggling for readership in this day of electronic media.  But is there a much larger death to consider: that of the craft of journalism, itself?

Journalism has always included an element of interpretation; of adding the experience and background – plus the research – of a journalist to the mere facts of a news story.  But, with 24-hour news, the viewer is being asked to do the interpretation – without benefit of any of these. 

The first time this really came to my attention was, of all things, during the 1989 World Series. Shortly before game 3 was to begin in San Francisco, the area was hit by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake. The play-by-play announcers were suddenly thrown into the role of reporting breaking news. When a fire broke out on the horizon, one commentator speculated on the location. He was wrong – by miles. But the word went out on national television, and panicked relatives flooded phone lines to find out if loved ones in that area were okay. By the time the error had been corrected, the damage was already done.

Since that time, there has been live coverage of car chases, SWAT operations, terrorist attacks, and may other such events, where the announcers and the viewing public were put in the position of trying to figure out the who, what, when, where, and why together. This is not journalism. It’s really not even reporting.

We are talking about a profession that has been forced to change with the times; a profession that is having a very hard time doing it. Newsroom staffs are being decimated. Time is the master, and quality suffers. In 2012, the Pew Research Center (at that time known as the Project for Excellence in Journalism) estimated that the median length of a local TV news story was 41 seconds. And that was for stories with video. The median “reader” was 22 seconds! Today, obituaries for journalism come from all political sides, conservative and liberal, alike.

And I’m not talking about honesty and objectivity. Not yet. (I’ll get to that next week.)

Stand Tall

I just finished Amy Cuddy’s book, Presence. It is an excellent follow up to her TED talk, given in 2012, which has now had almost 33 million views. If you haven’t seen the video, you should stop what you’re doing and watch it right now. For many people, the video has been life-changing. It is listed on the TED website as one of the 11 must-see talks.

We all know that confidence is the secret weapon in many situations: a job interview, giving a speech, playing a sport, asking for a raise, performing a solo. But, as well-prepared or well-trained as we may be, our confidence often leaves us. Wouldn’t it be great if we could fake it? I mean, create confidence out of nothing? Cuddy’s research suggests – no, proves – that certain body postures, like the Wonder Woman pose, actually affect the testosterone and cortisol levels in our brains. And these changes can give us confidence even when we don’t feel it.

Try it. Find a place to get away from people just before your next speech or interview. Stand tall and wide for two minutes. Yeah, you’ll feel kind of stupid. But that doesn’t matter. You’ll be surprised how it can help your confidence and, even, your success. We’re not talking about being someone or something you actually are not. We are talking about getting stuff out of the way of the real you. It is being present.

Presence goes into much more detail about the rigorous and wide-ranging research performed by Cuddy and many other social psychologists around the world. Cuddy also reveals a great deal about her difficult­­ life and the unlikely story of how she got to be an authority on confidence. There are more postures to try, ones to avoid, inspiring success stories, and encouragement to “nudge” ourselves to improvement. As Cuddy says, “Don’t fake it until you make it. Fake it until you BECOME it.”

Short and Sweet

That most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.

-          Thomas Jefferson

This past week, Twitter made it official: after considering increasing the limit to 10,000 characters, tweets will remain at 140 characters or less. You don’t tweet, you say? Well, that’s not really what this blog is about, anyway! But the Twitter decision does point to a useful subject: brevity.

Now, just keeping it short does not make it good. Twitter is also the perfect demonstration of that. Keeping communication concise is a good idea, no matter the medium. But getting the message across is always the challenge, no matter what you are doing. In this day of the shortened attention span and relentless distractions, it’s important to get to the point. I realize that writing about brevity is dangerous, too. So, why am I rambling on? Here are six reasons brevity is the best policy:

1. People will only read or listen for so long before their minds wander or something better comes along.
2. The great truths are simple. The more profound the concept, the more likely it can be distilled down to just a few words. Proverbs work this way. “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” says volumes in 11 words.
3. We all know that shorter is better. It’s harder to accomplish, and lazy writers will waste words. Good writing is mercilessly edited.
4. We are no longer writing essays that have a required length. Most of us are not earning a grade with our writing any more, and quantity does not equal quality.
5. When we write simply, we avoid the risk of sounding like we don’t really know what we’re talking about.
6. We are saying to the reader/listener, “I know your time is valuable. I won’t waste it.”

Here is a sampling of some very good blogs/articles on the subject with excellent examples.

http://have-a-word.com/why-brevity-is-important/

http://lifehacker.com/5909543/write-less-say-more-the-power-of-brevity

http://copymatter.com/embracing-brevity/

Now, go forth and be brief!

Silence Is... Rare!

Years ago, I went to the Ontario Science Centre and visited the Quiet Room. It was a place which blocked out virtually all outside noise. In fact, once you made your way through the maze of baffles and sound-absorbing materials, the only sound you heard was the blood pumping through your ears! It was almost too quiet! In fact, quite a few people exited as fast as they could; it was so disturbing for them.

What happens when things get quiet around you? Do you turn on the TV or music to fill the void? Do you find it uncomfortable? Intuitively, I think most of us really understand that silence is a threatened commodity. Finland developed their newest marketing theme to take advantage of something that most felt was a disadvantage: it’s really quiet there. The theme is “Silence, Please.”  Visitfinland.com is putting its money on silence as a destination, as a luxury.

We are bombarded with sound continuously. Someone even coined the term “noise pollution” back in the 60s. At the same time, we seek out our own private sanctuaries, through noise-cancelling headphones or silent retreats or libraries. Much research has been done into sounds – of all kinds – and their effects on the brain. But only by accident have the researchers realized that the silence between the sounds can be equally - even more - valuable. When we are focused on specific sounds, our brains slow down the background scanning that goes on all the time. When we get into a quiet place, we can reflect on our experiences, develop our personalities, solve problems. One study showed that the brain creates more neurons during silence than when stimulated by sensory inputs.

Psychologists are concerned about our noisy culture and, in particular, its impact on young people. The constant input provided by smart phones, music, conversation (in-person, remote, or virtual), and life in general keep adolescents from the self-reflection that is so essential for development of identity and the discovery of meaning.  In her book, Alone Together, and a TED Talk, MIT prof Sherry Turkle points out that, ironically, we connect to avoid feeling alone; but we need to be alone in order to really connect.

Does silence scare you? Do you crave it? Either way, we should all make the effort to find some time and someplace where we really can turn off the stimulation and spend time with our thoughts. As the old saying goes, “Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits.” It’s all good!