Be careful. Your words can get you into trouble. It is easy to assume a word or its meaning is understood. How many words are heard or read on a daily basis?
I have not escaped these problems, often wishing that my vocabulary were larger. Reading more and using the dictionary to learn new words, have not helped much when I need to find words. However, this hasn’t deterred me from reading and hoping that someday it will be easier to find words that reflect and represent thoughts and feelings.
My work is a good example. My business card designer patiently waited while I searched for the perfect word to describe my work with people and animals. It was an attempt to replace the word “psychic.” I considered using “interpreter”,”translator”, “intuitive”,”hunch” and “communicator.” Yes, they were different, but not widely used as a descriptors for people who use their sixth sense for a living. The search engines, with their demands of conformity, derailed any these considerations and surrender was inevitable. So “pet psychic” was inked into my animal communicator business card.
Be careful. Your words can get you into trouble. It is easy to assume a word or its meaning is understood. How many words are heard or read on a daily basis?
I have not escaped these problems, often wishing that my vocabulary were larger. Reading more and using the dictionary to learn new words, have not helped much when I need to find words. However, this hasn’t deterred me from reading and hoping that someday it will be easier to find words that reflect and represent thoughts and feelings.
My work is a good example. My business card designer patiently waited while I searched for the perfect word to describe my work with people and animals. It was an attempt to replace the word “psychic.” I considered using “interpreter”,”translator”, “intuitive”,”hunch” and “communicator.” Yes, they were different, but not widely used as a descriptors for people who use their sixth sense for a living. The search engines, with their demands of conformity, derailed any these considerations and surrender was inevitable. So “pet psychic” was inked into my animal communicator business card.
Some people don’t like the word psychic and frown, scoff, and cringe. Many people are afraid of what they can’t see and don’t know. Actually psychic isn’t such a negative word. One dictionary defined it as a person having extraordinary mental processes, such as extrasensory perception and mental telepathy. Really. These abilities don’t seem so unusual, except many people don’t develop and use them. Lots of people know about people, places and situations that really has nothing to do with them! This isn’t something new. Psychics have been around for centuries.
Anyway, if little disapproval came my way, it wouldn’t be the first time. So what? People like myself who have alternative businesses, know that we answer to our own calling. So, what is in a word besides semantics?
Some people don’t like the word psychic and frown, scoff, and cringe. Many people are afraid of what they can’t see and don’t know. Actually psychic isn’t such a negative word. One dictionary defined it as a person having extraordinary mental processes, such as extrasensory perception and mental telepathy. Really. These abilities don’t seem so unusual. Many people don’t develop and use them. Lots of people know about people, places and situations that really has nothing to do with them! This isn’t something new. Psychics have been around for centuries.
Anyway, if little disapproval came my way, it wouldn’t be the first time. So what? People like myself who have alternative businesses, know that we answer to our own calling. So, what is in a word besides semantics?
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