The Power of Language - Essay Example

To this day I am reminded of this error because my friend Tony still calls me “drip kick” when he sees me. He thinks it is funny, but I am getting tired of being reminded of it all the time. Now whenever I see a football game, I think of how small things that we say can have a long term effect on the way people see each other. When I am learning about a new area, I take extra special care to familiarize myself with the technical language. I am also more aware of the power of words to hurt people.

This means that when someone does something stupid, I try to remember how I felt about making that mistake, and I usually say something encouraging so that the other person does not feel so bad. I will try not to be cruel, and to cause pain by criticizing people. I will also observe how people behave on television, and by watching how people speak, and how others react, I will be able to reflect on how powerful some kinds of words can be.I will tell this story about my experience to other people, partly to make them laugh, and partly to show how making simple mistakes with words can have a lasting effect.

It was not a serious matter in this case, but there could be times when such a mistake would be damaging, such as when a politician speaks about something important. I think sometimes we expect too much of people in positions of authority. We expect them to know everything, and to be able to speak perfectly, without any mistakes. This is unrealistic, however, and I will talk to others about the way that the media sometimes exaggerates the mistakes that famous people make. Things get blown out of proportion sometimes, and it is not fair that celebrities are remembered for one stupid thing that they said, rather than for all the good work that they do in their field.