Words Have Meaning

Silly question, but do you know that words have meanings? I sometymes wonder if a lot of people forget that little fact. The older I get, the more I realize that many people use words where they don't belong, mainly off-color or foul language that really does not convey the true essence of what they are trying to say.

I have always thought that if I cannot find a word that expresses my intended meaning, then I shouldn't be talking. Perhaps it is because of my black and white brain and my inability to understand "gray area" very well at all. If you say cow, I picture a cow. If you say "sea cow", I picture a sea and a cow...it takes my brain some processing to realize you are referring to a manatee. Now granted, my brain and I have been together for quite a while now, so many of the processes happen quickly and I can keep up, but sometymes that is not the case. Sometymes my brain gets hung up on words, because they don't mean what people are trying to say.

To quote one of my favorite movies...

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means".

One of the greatest examples of this is when people say something is as ________ as hell.

Insert your word of choice. I've heard "cool as hell", "strange as hell", "hot as hell", "hectic as hell", "empty as hell" ... I've even heard someone say, "righteous as hell". Mentally, I'm still shaking my head over that one.

It's concerning to me that people make such comparisons, not only because they are so far from true, but because it actually takes away from the scary, horrible, terrible, hopeless place that hell actually is. Hell is a real place and anyone who dies without knowing Jesus Christ as Savior is going there...forever. Seriously...ETERNAL DEATH.

Hell is not cool (figuratively or literally). The strangest thing you could possibly imagine cannot come close to describing how strange hell is. Nothing you have seen or felt or can imagine is as hot (figuratively or literally) as hell is. No scene you've ever encountered or imagined can compare to the chaos that is hell. Sadly, many have died not knowing Christ, so hell is certainly not empty. As for hell being righteous, well, I think you can see that that particular statement proves my point. WORDS HAVE MEANING!

Yes, words have meaning, and the improper use of words can detract, distract and deter people from the actual point. That is why it is truly important to use words correctly so as to reach those who need to hear what needs to be said. If we want to say something is cool as in neat, then we need to compare it to something that is actually cool/neat instead of letting our words desensitize reality.

Now, I admit that the English language can make things interesting what with its "their, there, they're" and other such homonyms. I also admit that I can appreciate a good play on words and I applaud clever humor. Still we need to remember that words not only have meaning, they have lasting meaning as well.

In Matthew 5:37, Jesus tells us to let our yes be yes and our no be no. He is referring to not taking oaths, but He is also telling us to let our words be true. Jesus often spoke in parables because they were easy to understand and helped people understand Him, which was the purpose of His ministry and should be the purpose of ours. Of course, we are not perfect like Jesus. People will misunderstand us, and they will take offense to our words at tymes, even if our intentions are the purest of pure. That is why we need to guard our tongues (Proverbs 21:23) and remember to use our words wisely ... because in case you didn't know, words have meaning!




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