Word Power – Part 2

Bad Language

In part one, I looked at how numerous authors and organisations attempted to rein in English to create one cohesive and comprehensible form. Their intentions were invariably good- to facilitate understanding and aid in education. Yet, even here they also created barriers for some and power for others. Even the best laid schemes will have their flaws.

Class division

Perhaps one of the most subtle and erroneous effects of creating a ‘right’ way to speak and use English was to strengthen those barriers erected by class. The educated, middle and upper classes could flag their superiority over others simply by opening their mouths. The working classes would despise them for it and vice versa.

It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him.
George Bernard Shaw

Such prejudice serves neither group well.

**If, like me, you want to correct that W to the standard H, you know where you stand!**
Image: Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

Unfortunately, until quite recently, it was fair to assume that the top jobs went to those who spoke ‘properly’. Parents often invested in elocution lessons or private schooling to ensure that their children would. In a world where these things matter, such action is entirely understandable. And though there is a penchant for Estuary English (think East Enders) amongst DJs and celebrities, it is unlikely to appear much in the Houses of Parliament.

And it is not merely accent. Our vocabulary too can be weaponised to exclude or make others feel stupid. If our sentences are littered with foreign phrases, Latin or technical terms, we are either speaking with peers or brandishing our linguistic skills as a sword to cut others down.

A doctor who tells a patient that he has a contusion, is unlikely to enlighten her. One who says it is just a bruise, will.

Tired of endless gobbledygook in all aspects of documents from legal letters to NHS ones, Chrissy Maher founded the Clear English Campaign in 1979 with the intention of making English intelligible to all.

Here’s an example of unclear English:

Any reference to a specific statute include any statutory extension or modification amendment or re-enactment of such statute and any regulations or orders made under such statute and any general reference to “statute” or “statutes” include any regulations or orders made under such statute or statutes.”

(Paragraph within a letter from a solicitor’s firm) Plainenglish.co.uk

?????????

**Words, words, words** Image: Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

The use of legalese, for example, is a notorious abuse of the language, forcing clients to rely on their solicitor’s interpreting skills and boosting his fees. In defence of lawyers (pun intended) absolute precision is required in legal documents – but precision does not obscure meaning.

Language can also become a tool to discriminate against and belittle minority groups. Again attempts have been made to correct this, but currently there are fears that things have gone a bit too far.

Sticks and Stones

As a child, I would chant the popular rhyme, ‘Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me,’ whenever someone made a mean comment. But this was just bravado. Name calling does hurt – especially if it refers to something which sets us apart.

In the 1970s, the term political correctness was formed. People began to challenge the right to being sexist, homophobic etc in ways that no-one had really considered before. The British hit comedy TV show, Till Death Do Us Part now comes with a ‘disturbing’ notice for the viewer on YouTube. In the 1960’s, it was mainstream television.

Much of what this loose, language movement has achieved is admirable. Words such as chairman, fireman and so on have been made gender neutral allowing girls to think that this is something to which they can aspire. Insulting language based on race, religion, disability or sexual orientation is no longer acceptable. All this is great.

The only problem is that occasionally, minority groups use ‘correct language’ themselves as a means to shame those they disagree with. Some sort of balance needs to be found before we fall into farce.

Doublespeak

Unlike the Scottish government’s intention to eradicate hate speech, other governments have used language to generate hatred (propaganda) or to obscure their actions – sometimes inverting meaning. George Orwell in his classic 1984 takes the concept of doublespeak to it’s extreme.

“War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.”
― George Orwell, 1984

If this seems fanciful, the modern examples of ‘killed by friendly fire’ and ‘alternative facts’ (lies) are no different.

Spreading falsehoods to achieve ones ends is, sadly, nothing new. Nazi Germany excelled in this area. Through a relentless hate campaign, the Nazis successfully dehumanised and vilified the Jews to the extent that ordinary citizens became complicit in killing them. For an interesting and in-depth look at language and propaganda, click here: https://english.elpais.com/society/2022-12-04/how-nazi-propaganda-dehumanized-jews-to-facilitate-the-holocaust.html#

And of course, Jews were not their only target, communists, homosexuals and Romany people all came under attack and suffered equally.

**Bolshevism without a mask** Herbert Agricola Library of Congress

Images and language combine for the most potent effects, which is why the media is the perfect vehicle for transmission.

Media aware

The 21st century has seen an explosion of news and information sites. The interconnectivity of the World Wide Web allows content sharing at its finest and its worst.

Fake news, propaganda and misinformation all swirl in the same pool that we call the media. Add AI generated material and digital manipulation and sifting the truth becomes a Herculean task.

**Read all about it!** Image: The Blowup on Unsplash

Yet, establishing what sources of information we can trust is vital for a healthy democracy. How else can we vote with conviction?

The first problem that we encounter is the fact that all media outlets are driven not by a desire to inform but to raise revenue via advertising. The more readers; the more revenue. The more sensational the story; the more readers. You can see where this is going.

High quality outlets are generally less obviously skewed by this, but we should bear in mind that they are not immune from the effects of it either.

So how can we select what is fact and what is mere manipulation? Our first task is to identify the kind of language that the paper uses. If it is highly emotive as in the headline above (rescue), reader beware. Language that sets our pulses racing and our blood pressure rising is invariably suspect.

The length of an article is also a good measure of its seriousness. Reduction always involves an abbreviation of information, which in itself simplifies, losing nuance and explanation.

Limiting ourselves to publications that reflect our political beliefs may be comfortable but purely reinforces them. Reading what the other side has to say is enlightening and, if nothing else, helps us understand the views of those we oppose.

All this takes time.

And I’ve already taken a good deal of yours reading this (though I have edited out as much as I’ve put in). Our time is precious; yet language too is precious in formulating and expressing our thoughts. Take your time and use it wisely.

Next week, I’ll look at using the power of language to create positive outcomes.

All I am Saying, is Give Peace a Chance

Last week, as restrictions were being lifted, I looked forward to our conversations revolving around something other than the pandemic. Perhaps we could resume our British preoccupations with the weather; the emergence of spring blooms and planned days out. Unfortunately, this was not to be. I returned home from the puppy park to discover that Russia had invaded the Ukraine.

My buoyant mood was deflated in an instant. The long peace we have enjoyed in the West for over 70 years has been shattered and the cold war, dormant for so long, is back.

Under such circumstances, it is only natural to feel a sense of helplessness. We can take the practical step of supporting those agencies who are doing their best to support those caught up in the conflict. (And I would urge you to do so.) But no matter how generous our donation, we know that it is merely a sticking plaster over a great wound. What we can do to have more lasting effects is to cultivate peace within ourselves. When we hold peace within us, conflict cannot take hold.

**A gentle reminder on my book case** Image: Karen Costello-McFeat

Peace! I hate the word

Like Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, peace is an anathema to many. One only has to witness the excitement of journalists reporting the conflict, our own raised voices and the buzz of speculation. Because conflict is exciting. It is drama. It has high stakes and terrible, tragic stories. Anger enlivens us; peace requires no voice.

**Romeo meets the fiery Tybalt** Image: painting by Prince Albert

Putin is almost a caricature of a James Bond villain. He’s Russian for a start, ex head of the infamous Federal Security Service (previously the KGB) and a dubiously elected president. The mere mention of his name is likely to raise our blood pressure. But bear with me here, this is where we must start. When Jesus counselled us to love our enemies, he meant all of them- even those like Putin. Because when we fall for the temptation to vilify and turn men into monsters, we lose the calm bearing and centeredness that is essential to finding avenues for resolution.

Acknowledge your anger, of course, but let it go. When we carry anger within us – even of a news story of a country far away whose ongoing conflicts have hardly penetrated our radar before now – it curdles relationships and our own equilibrium.

Making space for peace

When we are at peace, we do not experience stress or anxiety and the techniques we use to achieve peace are similar to those for stress reduction. We might search for it through religious observance or meditation, while walking in nature or going for a swim. We can find it in practising gratitude. We can find it in moments of stillness and quiet. In our busy world, we may need to look hard to find such sanctuary : but look we must.

We do not find it in the Siren call of the media. As I have written before, the media thrives on conflict and provocation. It is important to be informed, but we need not glue ourselves to the screen or the papers to keep up-to-the minute on news coverage.

Putin puts Russia’s nuclear force on high alert

Ukraine’s president agrees to peace talks as battles rage in Kyiv and Kharkiv

Inflammatory language. One of this week’s headlines in The Times

We can make a space for peace with our friends and in conversation. The subject of the Ukraine, with all its terrifying possible ramifications, is almost certain to come up, but we need not catastrophise. If we make our goal to soothe and reassure, we will have helped restore some balance and equanimity.

Unity over Division

For peace to occur in ourselves and our communities, we need to learn to face outwards and not inwards. I read an excellent quote in The Times recently by David Isaac, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. He said, ‘The key issue is how do we move beyond the ‘I’ to the ‘we’, how do we think of ourselves as citizens in a country or in the world who are not just focused on what works for me and my narrow group. How do we ensure that we think about people who are different to us?’ He was not referring to war, but the principle is the same. We cannot kill those whose innate humanity we see is shared with us. We cannot wreck havoc on a country whose essentials: countryside, buildings, industry are only marginally different from our own.

**Soldiers or young men?** Image: Tapio Haaja on Unsplash

I read a rather disturbing email forwarded from someone in the Ukraine. Reports of their suffering were upsetting, but for me, just as disturbing was the line: ‘Yesterday the Ukraine army had a huge success with the fighting and many Russian soldiers were killed.’ I certainly don’t want Russia to succeed, but nor do I want the world to forget that those Russian soldiers are sons and brothers. Many (perhaps even the majority) are conscripts drawn from the poorest and most disadvantaged sections of society. As in the US during the Vietnam conflict, wealth and education can help you dodge the draft. It is unlikely these young men have any particular feelings about annexing the Ukraine, yet their lives are expended to this end.

So if we hold the Ukraine in our prayers and thoughts, let us hold everyone – even those whose actions we abhor. If we would like there to be peace, we must first cultivate love.

Peace be with you.

In Pursuit of Happiness

A few days ago, I was lying in the hammock in the back garden. The sun was filtering through the leaves and my dog, Hermione, was ensconced on the grass beneath me. My chores were done and it was time for rest. This is what happiness truly feels like, I thought. And then, I mused further on the subject. How do we achieve happiness? What defines it? How can we make our world a happier place? And this is what I’ve been thinking about ever since. The answers are not quite what I expected and they are only my answers. Perhaps what follows will prompt you to find your own.

**Happy graffiti** Image: Zhou-cheng-you on Unsplash

The happiness industry

Everywhere you look, there are articles on how to become happy; league tables on the happiest nations and editorials on the topic. Often, the article showing how shepherds in Corsica are the cheeriest, healthiest folk on Earth faces glossy images of other ways of achieving this state: luxury cars, exotic vacations and designer clothing.

Of course, the producers of this media content don’t want you to actually be happy. If you were, you would not be tempted by their advertisers’ wares and no advertising means no media.

While extolling the virtues of being happy on some remote isle or unreachable life-style, the texts are subtly making you feel even more unhappy. The joy of the octogenerians in southern Japan is not for us. We must look elsewhere and those conveniently placed adverts are exactly where they want you to transfer your gaze and your longing.

**A desirable drive** Image: Jakob Rosen on Unsplash

The happiness list

So what does make for happiness? This list will be as individual as we are. Here’s a selection of mine in no particular order.

A hug
The first coffee of the day
Creating things
Time spent with those I love
Growing things
Skies
Birdsong
Reading a great book
Preparing something delicious
Quiet times
An act of kindness given or received

You might like to make your own list and I would venture that most of them are easily attainable. If we can identify what makes us content, we can increase those elements in our lives and live more fully.

The economics of supply and demand

One of the key principles of economics is that the relationship between supply and demand determines value: the more limited the supply, the greater the value; the greater the supply, the lesser the value. Happiness is, by definition, a high value, small supply emotion. It is its rarity that makes it so special. Take my time in the hammock as an example. It was especially precious because I was worn out from weeding the garden and the temperature, the orientation of the sun and time of day was perfectly aligned. I can’t expect every visit to the hammock to yield happiness as a result – though it will always be pleasant.

And not expecting it, is also key to its attainment. Thoreau put it rather beautifully when he wrote,

Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder …
Henry Thoreau

**A rare beauty** Image: Gayatri Malhotra

Happy talk

Valuable though moments of happiness are, I do think that we can also work towards lessening periods of discontent. The negativity bias in the way our brains are wired means that this is going to take a certain amount of awareness and commitment to achieve. What we naturally do is moan about the state of the world, the Government, our health, etc etc. There is nothing inherently wrong with this. Were we not aware of difficulties, we would not be motivated to make changes to improve them.

However, if we find ourselves always focusing on the negative and neither proposing solutions nor acting to resolve the problems, we will find our lives diminished and our mood worsened. More problematic still, we are likely to infect those around us with our poor spirits. Like Harry Potter’s Dementors, we will, unwittingly, suck the life and happiness out of those we converse with. Talking about outrages and injustices may be more thrilling and dramatic, but it is ultimately enervating.

That said, please do not imagine that I am recommending that we conduct ourselves with a false, Stepford-wife style of positivity – that can be worse! We can, however, catch ourselves if we find that we are spiralling into a vortex of negativity and arrest the progress by focusing on the moment or on those things for which we should be grateful.

**Few things compete with happy talk!** Image: Caroline Hernande on Unsplash

Happiness is the by-product not the goal

I woke early this morning with the light streaming through the windows. For a moment, I thought it must be time to get up until I checked the clock and realised it was 4.30am. The happiness solution was still eluding me, so I set my mind to the task and I continued to tussle with it for a while, fell back to sleep and woke with this realisation. Happiness is not something we should seek, but rather something that we gain as a by-product of our labours.

When we think of our happiest times, they are often after a long period of struggle or simple hard work. The successful exam, the promotion, the new baby do not magically appear without effort nor a certain amount of pain and sacrifice. Nor are they guaranteed. We may do everything we can and still fail. The happiness we feel when things go well is often in proportion to the difficulties we have overcome to get there.

Even here, our happiness will be fleeting. Our exam passed, we may only be moving on to the next set; the promotion brings its own challenges and responsibilities; a new baby the daunting, exhausting work of motherhood.

What helps to sustain us is the memory of our happiness. This is our consolation.

Happiness, contentment and joy

Though we cannot really control nor should seek happiness, we can foster its close cousins: contentment and joy. Contentment arises when we accept our limitations and the challenges we face. It is also a consequence of gratitude. Cultivating contentment requires us to set aside time for quiet and reflection. Desmond Tutu once remarked rather wittily, ‘I am far too busy to pray for less than two hours a day.’ The busier our lives, the more vital it is that we find time for peaceful contemplation.

If we keep alert to life’s wonder, it is impossible not to feel joy. Nature constantly provides new marvels: all that is required of us is attuning our senses to witnessing them.

Lastly, no matter how difficult our own circumstances, we can work towards making the world a little happier. Living with the intention of alleviating suffering through friendship, listening and compassion, we are giving ourselves the pleasure that any act of love always rewards. And who knows, it may even cause happiness to ‘sit softly’ with us for a while.

What’s the use of worrying?

This is a question I often ask myself (whilst worrying away) and thought I would go ahead and explore it here. Living with precarious health brings constant anxiety. The Corona virus and world craziness is adding more still. I suspect that most of us are worried at the moment – and now seemed a good time to see if it had any real purpose.

Everyday worry is often harmless enough, but we all need to guard against it becoming a major facet of our lives. Unchecked, it results in debilitating mental and physical health. Worry is so normal that we think we know it, yet, I would argue that it is more complex than we imagine.

Magical thinking

Worry, at its heart, is fear about unfortunate outcomes in the future. It is about losing control, since no-one knows the future.

Mark Twain famously remarked:

“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”
Mark Twain

The irony is, as Twain jokes, most of those dreaded outcomes never actually come into being and our worry brings us nothing but sleepless nights.

However, this phenomenon can feed into a kind of magical thinking. We can, if we are not careful, come to associate the not happening as a result of our worry. Sounds crazy, but it has a sort of insane logic. If, the brain faultily reasons, I worried about something and it didn’t happen then my worrying prevented it. Should I stop worrying and something bad happens, this confirms my belief. Parents are perhaps the worst offenders in this (mea culpa). We come to believe that our very worrying is what keeps our child safe, so we keep on worrying to the detriment of our health and perhaps theirs.

I hold you in my thoughts and keep you safe. Image: Steven Van Loy on Unsplash

Virtue signalling

Perhaps the most pernicious sort of worrying is the one used to suggest that you care. How often do we hear people say they are ‘so worried’ about x,y, or z and yet we see nothing in their behaviour to suggest that their worry would translate into any action. How often do we see celebrities who ‘worry’ about the environment and then travel by private jet to a climate change conference?

The unfortunate irony is that they probably do worry and thus use valuable mental and physical energy on the matter. But worry without action is detrimental to everyone. We may gain a little kudos from our peers for our seeming concern, but the issue is not resolved and at some level we feel ashamed of our own inability to act. Our worry brings no positive outcomes at all.

However, if we worry about something and act upon it, our worry lessons. The issue may well be far beyond our capabilities to solve, but any steps we take to ameliorate it inevitably brings us back a sense of control and self-worth. No individual can save the planet; however, if we make a conscious decision to tread as lightly as we can, we will feel empowered by that. Similarly, if a friend is unwell/unhappy and we visit, our worry is dissipated by the joy of reunion. We may not be able to make our friend better in the physical sense, but we will certainly have made them feel better emotionally.

We can make each other feel better! Image: Photo by NONRESIDENT on Unsplash

The price of worry

Worry is the socially acceptable form of anxiety, but we can tip from one to the other with surprising ease. The mind is like a cooking pot filled with everyday concerns, but it only has so much capacity. As we burden it with more and more, it is like both filling the pot and turning up the heat. Eventually, it will boil over.

For some, like returning soldiers from a war zone, the source of their stress will be obvious. But severe anxiety affects even those with the most comfortable lives. By catastrophizing over minor and fairly insignificant events, a similar level of anxiety can be achieved.

Whatever the cause, the effects of anxiety are extreme. In some cases, it will trigger long term health conditions like my own; in others, it will lead to levels of distress that makes life mentally unbearable. Hopefully, neither of these apply to you, but we are wise to work towards ensuring that they never do.

Keeping worry under control

Worry is about helplessness in the face of the future. Though we can’t do much about the future, we can do much to improve our present. We can embark on practices that work towards restoring calm: whether that be meditation, prayer, yoga or any other centring activity. Ideally, we need to do this daily, since worry takes so little time to take hold.

We might like to take stock of what triggers our anxiety. Anything that feeds on our fears and insecurities is not good for us and should, as far as possible, be eliminated. Currently, the media seems determined to whip their audience into a frenzy of outrage. And though this brings a certain frisson of excitement, it also destabilizes us. Acts of extreme injustice, inflammatory language and exaggeration may make good television, but not happy watchers. I’m going on a news fast for the foreseeable future. Anything truly vital will filter through via my husband or friends – the rest I can do without.

Overwhelmed by the news. Image: Photo by Bruno Bučar on Unsplash

Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter can also be a source of worry with people posting inflammatory comments and others thoughtlessly replying. If we submerge ourselves too much in these, we are likely to have a very poor and very frightening view of the world.

And it is not just in the virtual world that we are susceptible. Our friends and family members can also feed our worry. Though I would not advocate cutting these people out of our lives, a little judicious use of social distancing might be in order. We can come armed with interesting topics of conversation to avoid being derailed into their current concerns or simply change the subject when the conversation starts spiralling down a rabbit hole. If this does not work, try to only see them when you feel you can face that level of anxiety. You are not obliged to act as a sponge to their fears – it is unlikely to help them and you even less.

Choosing the right response

Though we have precious little control over the lives of others, and little enough over our own, we do have control over how we respond. Nurturing resilience – or inner strength – will enable us to react calmly even in chaos. By practising disciplines which slow our responses and allow space for measured and thoughtful action will benefit us and our community.

Accepting our limitations is another way to reduce worry. We need to make ourselves comfortable resting within uncertainty (life). We need to let go of the illusion that we are in control. In doing so, paradoxically, we gain control – not of events (though it may influence these) but of our emotions.

And finally, we would be wise to consider what we can do and if possible do it. For this we need time to research and reflect. Often the problems we see are rooted somewhere else entirely. Let us seek out the root and make repairs there. There is so much we can do quietly and purposefully.

Whilst concern will spur us on, worry often leaves us rowing in circles. It is time to charter a new course. After all, to answer the question, What’s the use of worrying? I’d have to reply, no use at all.