Language betrays us writers on a daily basis. It’s like realizing the woman you fell in love with is mute, and it’s painful but its something you’ll just have to deal with. Either that or learn to speak sign language. How does it betray us, you ask? Well, the answer to that is simple; creation is backwards. By that I mean we allow words to think for us. We use euphemisms to fill in what we mean to say, cleverly arranged groups of words fit into sentences better than words that we could create on our own. Think of how this happens all the time, for writers at least, you know what you want to say, but somehow you just can’t say it. And then all of a sudden a overused metaphor pops into your mind that just almost hits the mark of what you mean to say. So instead of searching for the right words to clearly portray what you mean, you use ready made arrangements, just because it is much easier to do so. Gross. In this way, we let the words pick the meaning, instead of letting the meaning of what we say pick the words. It’s backwards, and it’s a parasite. And we must stick together to prevent a full on 1984 doublespeak conversion from happening, because once it does our language will then control our thoughts. Then what would we do?
-lp
Clear as mud. Wait…that wasn’t what I wanted to say! haha. But seriously, you make a very good point. Letting the words get ahead of what you want to say is much easier than … Wow, this is hard.
Good post!
a(n) overused metaphor
Well said! I get so frustrated when I want to say something … can’t find the words … and then that darn metaphor or phrase (the one that EVERYONE uses) pops into my head. The worst part is, after that, I can’t get that darn metaphor or phrase to leave me alone. Usually, I write it into my “blank spot” on the page with a note all in bold that it needs to change later. And hope I’ll remember to go back and fix it. >.O
Yeah, I stick a question mark beside those awkward moments. My thesaurus is my best friend.
A Very good point. I usually end up not noticing the impact of the metaphor or phrase until I re-read or edit. Then when I try to change it I get stuck. I think it is because I rush through getting the words out of my head so I don’t lose them. I need to slow down and really think through what I want to say, let the words flow.
Reblogged this on Ice Cream Castles in the Air and commented:
Some interesting thoughts on writing and language usage. How easy is it to allow ourselves to fall into the trap of the simple and familiar metaphor that comes close to saying what we want rather than seeking to find the words that actually reveal our meaning.
I was just thinking about the same thing the other day but in relation to the abuse of adverbs. Adverbs can also be a way of avoiding finding the right words for what one really meant to say, when over used or used improperly.