Mightier than the sword...
Words are powerful but they can be terrifying also
The English language is a powerful thing. Something that our small country has and everyone else wants. The world language and the first language of us humans.
Based on only twenty-six letters, we have the plays of Shakespeare, the novels of Dickens, and the songs by The Beatles.
Our language is empowering, but it can also be terrifying. Simple words that can strike us dumb with fear.
Replacement bus service…
To set out on a train journey and find oneself waiting for a bus seems to me to be an utter betrayal and made worse by the temerity of calling this a ‘service.’
Health and Safety...
Whilst we cherish our health and we all want to feel safe, when these two words are combined, most rational people will flinch.
Health and Safety Officer…
An Officer and a Gentleman is a movie starring a handsome young Richard Gere. He plays an officer in the US Navy who, adorned in his smart white officer’s uniform, sweeps Deborah Winger off her feet. The film was a success and a box-office smash. Safe to say that this film would not have worked had Gere played a Health and Safety officer and tried to carry a woman out of a factory wearing his high vis vest. Impossible anyway, because to lift a woman up requires a back brace at the very least…
Welcome to Ringo.
A phone call we make with trepidation, as the men on mopeds circulate like jackals, waiting for an elderly person whose phone needs a software update.
But the words that terrorise us above all others are…
You are running low on magenta…
Or it might be Cian that your printer is complaining about being short of. Which is infuriating because you can’t recall printing anything in Cian. Ever. Cian is yellow, by the way. But Cian to some nerd at Hewlett-Packard who wants to big up his role in life. Same with magenta, which is purple to you and me. Prince was widely regarded as a musical maestro, even a genius, and certainly a man of extravagant flamboyance, yet not even he dared to sing “Magenta Rain”.
And finally, some words that we hear but will always ring hollow.
Words which are intended to be ignored. Recited only to comply with regulations.
Please gamble responsibly.
Words that come at the end of an advert for a Bingo website or a bookmaker. Typically, adverts with jolly music feature happy people having enormous fun. The overall feeling is that of a club. And you can join too. Here’s a welcoming free bet.
Many people do gamble within the limits of what they can afford. But many do not. And a great many will gamble away their entire livelihoods. Lose their home, marriages and even their lives.
Not that any bookmaker wants their patrons to lose their shirts and take their own lives.
But equally, they don’t want winners either. Or not too many anyway. Winners on betting sites will have their accounts curtailed with bet limits placed.
What bookmakers really want are losers.
And really, how responsible is this?
If this made you smile, please forward to someone who would enjoy it.
A fascinating read - cheers! Whats interesting is the idea that influence isn't always exercised through force, status, or direct action, but through ideas that spread and take root. It’s easy to underestimate the longterm impact of words, yet history repeatedly shows that a compelling idea can shape behaviour, institutions, and entire generations.