AuntShecky
05-28-2010, 05:08 PM
Mark Twain famously said,"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."
A few years ago when real estate prices --"skyrocketed" -- to use the mainstream media word, some economists who apparently knew what they were talking about, sounded alarms of an imminent "housing bubble." Their warnings went unheeded, perhaps because their word choice sounded as innocent as a toddler waving a little plastic wand loaded with a soap-and-water solution on a summer afternoon.
Another seemingly innocuous word is "balloon," a party decoration or a children's toy. There's nothing heavy about it -- it's lighter-than-air and often comes in whimsical animal shapes. Yet one of the early, devastating effects of the "bubble" was the "balloon," describing the drastically-increased monthly payments with which unwitting home buyers were smacked once the "adjustable mortgage rate" suddenly "adjusted."
The two authors of a recent expertly-written article in the Los Angeles Time present a compelling case that much of the pain of economic (and other) woes could have been alleviated merely by better forms of verbal expression.
Lawrence Weschler and Walter Murch offer good advice for not only aspiring writers and policy-makers but anyone who wants to communicate effectively:
Words matter.
Metaphors frame thought.
Pay them heed; tend them well.
Please read the article in the following link and post your well-chosen words on the matter:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-weschler-bubble-20100523,0,701476.story
Your thoughts?
A few years ago when real estate prices --"skyrocketed" -- to use the mainstream media word, some economists who apparently knew what they were talking about, sounded alarms of an imminent "housing bubble." Their warnings went unheeded, perhaps because their word choice sounded as innocent as a toddler waving a little plastic wand loaded with a soap-and-water solution on a summer afternoon.
Another seemingly innocuous word is "balloon," a party decoration or a children's toy. There's nothing heavy about it -- it's lighter-than-air and often comes in whimsical animal shapes. Yet one of the early, devastating effects of the "bubble" was the "balloon," describing the drastically-increased monthly payments with which unwitting home buyers were smacked once the "adjustable mortgage rate" suddenly "adjusted."
The two authors of a recent expertly-written article in the Los Angeles Time present a compelling case that much of the pain of economic (and other) woes could have been alleviated merely by better forms of verbal expression.
Lawrence Weschler and Walter Murch offer good advice for not only aspiring writers and policy-makers but anyone who wants to communicate effectively:
Words matter.
Metaphors frame thought.
Pay them heed; tend them well.
Please read the article in the following link and post your well-chosen words on the matter:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-weschler-bubble-20100523,0,701476.story
Your thoughts?