Words

For me, choosing the proper word in English is often difficult at best. I often settle for one that sounds similar. Spelling and grammar are another whole story. I hope you never have to read my thoughts before my proofreading wife makes them “proper.” I have many friends who have mastered English as their second language. How they do what they do with this language amazes me. In fact, I have a young Indian friend Sneha who speaks fluent English as one of her four languages and did so before her third birthday when I first met her. (Her father speaks six.) Amazing and impressive!
Microsoft Spell Checker and Grammar Checker (computer programs) are successfully marketed because of folks like me. They are “life savers” and redeem a multitude of literary sins. It’s what they can’t do that gets me in trouble so often.
I have been cautioned by reliable sources to not attempt medical terminology because of past failures. Unfortunately, being close to having the proper nomenclature doesn’t seem to be good enough for those folks. Over a period of years I developed many growths on the muscular parts of my body. Some interfered with nerves and body movements and have had to be surgically removed. Once the scars healed I forgot about them until I was questioned by some medical professionals sometime later. Somehow the shocked look of horror that enveloped their faces didn’t correlate to me with my simple explanation of having over 60 lymphomas removed. Later, I found out that the correct name lypomas (fatty cysts) are not medically anywhere close to lymphomas (a type of cancer). Perhaps that’s one of many reasons why I wasn’t called to the medical profession.
I am well aware (usually belatedly) of my many misuses of names and terms. Fortunately, to my knowledge, there has been little harm as a result other than perhaps shocking a few medical professionals.
Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for some words that I have usually accurately chosen in anger or haste. Many of you still may have wounds from long ago when words could be my most devastating weapons of choice. If you do, please forgive me. I am sure I don’t have to tell you how difficult it is to fully recover from the barbs on those words. They are like stingers that dig deeper when you try to extract them and often start “secondary infections.”
Conversely, I am sitting reflecting on the pure glee that my two-year-old grandson experienced when he and his uncle were building a huge wobbly structure of cardboard blocks. His uncle was sowing encouragement into each new level of both the tower and my adoring grandson’s self esteem. I could visibly see more than a tower being built word by word. Even though they were focused on someone known as “Bob the builder,” that wasn’t who was doing the building. What a delight to see such an awesome work in progress, especially in one who hadn’t yet felt the need to build a protective shell. What a privilege to make a high value investment in another human being. There is often perpetual return and little or no expense. Now that’s what I, as a business minded person, call ROI (return on investment). Make an investment today.