Good Morning, digital neighbors! Today’s Word of the Day comes from Epic English Words by Robin Devoe. The word is lexiconophilist.

A lexiconophilist is someone who loves and collects word books and dictionaries.

While I don’t collect dictionaries, I do collect word books. It’s far too easy to take communication for granted and fail to realize the power of words and all they can convey. I often think of Scott Adams and his insights on the importance of framing. It is the power of words that frames our understanding of an experience. Words can enlighten; words can manipulate. Words are often used to heighten certain reactions and diminish others. They prompt emotional responses and can make us attentive to one aspect while completely missing another.

I still shudder when I hear “safe & effective” or “If it saves one life” — some of the most manipulative phrases fed to the public in 2020. “Safe & effective” was touted as both a prod to encourage vaccination and a soothing statement so those who got vaccinated wouldn’t question its efficacy. Prior to that, “If it saves one life” was the vague appeal used to justify all kinds of behavioral manipulation. It sounds so compassionate, yet it’s so broad that the real goal was often compliance rather than genuine safety or health concerns. If you weren’t willing to embrace every recommendation, you clearly didn’t care about Grandma’s life.
While these are phrases rather than single words, they provided the frame for much of the emotional unmooring in 2020.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to turn this into a rant about 2020, still the least favorite year of my life for all the harm and division it caused. Words have power. Use them wisely. Words can be fun, be playful with them. Words lead us, so seek what is true and verifiable. Reflect on how others use words to reveal or conceal, to illuminate or obscure. Happy Tuesday, digital neighbors!

Sakura Tree - Behnam Mohsenzadeh - Unsplash