STOP SOPA & PIPA

I can't figure out the HTML to blacking out my blog for today, and all the websites that could teach me how to do it are blacked out! So I'm just going to post this instead.

• Excellent explanation from Stanford Law as to why SOPA and PIPA must be stopped and rewritten.
• Google infographic showing the numbers and variety of people protesting these bills.
• Sign the petition or write your federal representatives.

A Compilation of Word Lists for 2011 & 2012

The end of one year and beginning of the New Year always means that people will come up with different types of lists to try to capture an image of what happened. There are lists of popular gadgets, amazing scientific discoveries, best selling cars and, of course, words.

Every year, there are at least a dozen different major word lists and countless more minor words lists. So inspired, even made my own top words of 2011 for True to Words. Here is a compilation of some of the best word lists for 2011, as well as predictions for 2012.

Global Language Monitor's Top 10 Words of 2011
Employing a technology known as NarrativeTracker, the Global Language Monitor analyzes English language usage on social media, the Internet, the blogosphere and in the top 75,000 print and electronic global media sources in order to select the 10 most used terms of the year.

American Dialect Society's 2011 Words of the Year
In its 22nd annual words of the year vote, the American Dialect Society determined the most useful, creative, unnecessary, outrageous, euphemistic and other words for the 2011 year. This is a fun list!

Most overused LinkedIn profile words of 2011
The online professional network LinkedIn analyzed the resumes of its 135 million users to determine that the term "creative" is most overused term on profiles in the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Dang, creativity is one of my favorite words!

Most Annoying Words of 2011
Once again, the Marist Poll has revealed the word or phrase considered to be the most annoying in casual conversation. For the third consecutive year, “whatever” is the "winner" of this title for 2011.

Top Ten Most Politically Contentious Terms of 2011
The intro sentence says it all: "The year 2011 was tumultuous for politics. With both ends of the political spectrum deeply committed to their ideologies, the rhetoric and vitriol each used to attack the other side’s priorities have been more contentious and polarizing than ever."

Banished Words For 2012
In 1976, Lake Superior State University in Michigan released its first "List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness". Here is your list for 2012!

Top Words of 2012 Predictions
The Global Language Monitor not only analyzed the popular words of 2011, it made predictions for what the most-used words of this year might be. Are you prepared to peek into the future of language?

Top 10 True to "Words" of 2011

Thanks to the fun of Wordle, I have discovered how word counts can be interesting when applied over periods of time or publications. For the first time, I have created my own "Top Words of 2011," based on the posts published on True to Words throughout the year. Here they are, in descending order.

1. post
2. language
3. word
4. new
5. year
6. people
7. write
8. time
9. first
10. world

These words make sense, considering this blog covers language and communication topics across geography and time. I look forward to seeing how this list might change in the coming years.

True to Words' Top 10 Posts of 2011

Gotta jump on the bandwagon for end-of-the-Old-Year/beginning-of-the-New-Year blog content. But I like doing these, so nyah! Without further ado, the top 10 most-viewed blog posts for True to Words in 2011.

10. Gender Stereotyping & Word Clouds: A Random Post

One of my attempts at a mini-post, inspired by The Achilles Effect, "Word Cloud: How Toy Ad Vocabulary Reinforces Gender Stereotypes". Eye-opening, for the informal research and for introducing me to how fun word clouds could be.

 9. Bad Ad Placement Example #2

Part of my Blogging New Year's Resolutions for 2011 included doing more "Bad Ad Placement Examples." I did exactly one last year, but it still counts as a continuation of a previous topic, right? Right. This one happened to be placing headlines about Osama Bin Laden's sea burial next to "Catch of a Lifetime" ads for Chevy and an unusually unappetizing ad for a Fish and Chips special.

 8. 27% of Congressional Communication is Taunting

I loved this post about a Harvard University analysis of Congress' language toward each other that showed nearly one-third of their communications are taunting in nature. I would love to see the results of a new analysis, as I think this percentage has gone up significantly, in inverse proportion to how little our "leaders" have accomplished in the meantime.

 7. Got Milk, Got Controversy

All I can say is that a long-running, successful ad campaign took a turn for the sexist last summer and the whole blogosphere was a buzz. Because I had written a piece on the Got Milk? campaign before, of course I had to jump on the bandwagon. If nothing else, I hope this fiasco taught some brands the importance of message testing. Seriously.

 6. Iron Age Hilltop Communication, Recreated

Another blog blurb! Probably the blurbiest one I've ever written. About an unique experiment that "shed light" on how Iron Age people communicated across distances about 2,500 years ago.

 5. Language Barrier: Finger Lickin' Good

A second installment on the Language Barrier series! Another 2011 New Year's Resolution success! This post talks briefly about KFC's 50-year-old successful ad campaign, and how the brand stumbled when it first entered the Chinese market due to a mistranslation of the famous tag line.

 4. Prairie Dogs Use Language to Describe Predators

There have been studies that show humans aren't the only species to have sophisticated language systems. This one talks about how prairie dogs communicate with each other. Really interesting to know that animals can warn each other about danger so specifically!

 3. Body Language: Wordless Communication

A Valentine's day post about a type of communication that talks volumes, but is often overlooked. Indeed, actions truly do speak louder than words!

 2. Friday Photography - New Background Wallpaper

I revamped my blog design in 2011 to more closely reflect the subject matter, as well as my tastes and style. Unfortunately, when I did so, it suddenly looked too much like other people's blogs. So I made my first background wallpaper!

 1. Longest Words in the English Language

This post was so much fun to write, even if it was a formatting nightmare due to some words being longer than a paragraph long. One was so long, I didn't include it in the post, I only linked to it. It is also one of only two posts with the distinction of having been clicked more than any page on True to Words, even the main page! (The other is Friday Photography - Graffiti is Like Modern Day Cave Painting)

There you have it! The top posts for 2011 at True to Words. Can't wait to see what it will be next year!

Honorable Mention: New Online Toy: Scoop.It




Top 10 Posts for True to Words' First Year
True to Words' Top 10 Posts of 2010

Third Anniversary ~ True to Words

Today is the third anniversary of the first post ever published at True to Words. Happy birthday, TTW!

Controversial Rules in Grammar

I have a list of about 20 topics I would love to write about, but the holiday season and working long hours means I haven't had a lot of time to write. Once again, trying to master the art of writing shorter posts so I feel like I'll have time to finish one in a reasonable amount of time and get to the next project. It is just so hard, I like writing original content or longer musings on other people's posts that take longer to write!

Nevertheless, here I shall attempt it. This post from Online College, The 20 Most Controversial Rules in the Grammar World, was sent to me last week and it does have a few compelling points. Enough to list them here and make a quick comment! Here are five controversial grammar points from the article in no particular order.

1. The Oxford comma. I personally like it, but AP style doesn't. I switch back and forth between using it and not. I guess I'm going to have to make a decision sometime to save my editors' consternation.
2. Double negatives. Quite recently, two people have tried to get my goat about the grammatical correctness of double negatives. They can be used correctly to great effect and have unambiguous meaning to boot. There, I said it!
3. Ending sentences with prepositions. Believe it or not, despite advanced English classes in high school and the completion of college-level writing courses pursuant to a BA in English, this was a grammar rule that I didn't learn how to properly execute until sometime in the past two years. Now I want to fix all sentences that have been ended in a preposition.
4. Good vs. well. This one gets me all the time! I almost never respond the correct way. I can't seem to get this one through my head, but like how the rule about ending sentences with a preposition is now something of which I am aware, it may come to me eventually. I hope so, it sometimes makes me self-conscious when someone I meet seems to grasp this rule better than I.
5. Passive voice. This one burns me up. This is actually on the list of 20 topics about which I would like write. Again, years of training and applied experience in mastery of English grammar, yet I didn't even known the concept of "passive voice" existed until sometime within the past two years. This one I haven't grasped, though: I can't wrap my head around not using the words "is", "was" and "were" in the construction of certain sentences. Just as with the previous item on the list, I hope to learn it eventually. Maybe writing the passive voice post I've planned  will help!

There are some other interesting grammar rules briefly discussed in this article, but most of them I think are silly arguments about tradition vs. common usage. Take a look at the rest of the list and see what you think.

Do any of these grammar rules grate your nerves or perplex you? How about any of those not listed in this post?

10 Quotes About Creativity

Creativity and the act of creation are vital to the advancement of mankind. Without them, the human race would probably not exist. Creativity played a role in people learning how to make everything from fire, weapons and conversation, to the internet, Twitter and blogs like this one! In this post, read ten quotes on the subject to stoke your own creative fire.

"Creativity is a drug I cannot live without." ~ Cecil B. DeMille

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun.” ~ Mary Lou Cook

“The creative person is both more primitive and more cultivated, more destructive, a lot madder and a lot saner, than the average person." ~ Frank Barron

"There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns." ~ Edward de Bono 

“The creative person wants to be a know-it-all. He wants to know about all kinds of things-ancient history, nineteenth century mathematics, current manufacturing techniques, hog futures. Because he never knows when these ideas might come together to form a new idea. It may happen six minutes later, or six months, or six years. But he has faith that it will happen.” ~ Carl Ally

"The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists." ~ Charles Dickens

"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves." ~ Carl Jung

"Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Creativity is a highfalutin word for the work I have to do between now and Tuesday." ~ Ray Kroc

“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” ~ Albert Einstein

Haiku News - December 5, 2011

Kosmopolite Art
Tour links cultures through common
language: Graffiti.

Children are going
to learn profane words somewhere.
Why not from parents?

Software that detects
lies. Let's hope it works better
than autotexters.

Some body language,
behavior can indicate
genetic makeup.

Does language define
outward identity to
youngsters more than race?

Language vs. Math

After reading Life's Extremes: Math vs. Language from LiveScience, it sort of made me wish I'd taken the SAT test. The article states:

Most people would agree they are better at verbal or math subjects in school, as grades usually do attest. Highly intelligent individuals often do well in both subjects... while less intelligent people can struggle. But a minority of us excels in the language department and bombs at mathematics, or vice versa.

The article also included the graphic below:

It then goes on to talk about various types of disorders that can effect reading or math comprehension, like dyslexia or discalcula. What it failed to do was address the major differences in the numbers above.

Of 1.5  million SAT test-takers in 2010:

• 154 students scored between 700-800* in math, while scoring 200-300 in critical reading.
• 5 students scored between 700-800* in critical reading, while scoring 200-300 in math.

      *Out of a possible 800

That's a big difference in people who excel at math vs. language. The only explanation the article offers, brief and incomprehensive as it is, is that different parts of the brain are used for different functions. That doesn't explain anything!

I took the ACT, so I can't compare my score. I think I would have fallen into the reading comprehension category displayed to the left. My English score was a few points shy of perfect and my math score just barely squeaked by for the lowest range of average.

But why? Math is just another form of language and communication. And it should be easier, because there can't really be a double-meaning to numbers in the same way words can have different definitions.

The closest this article came to giving a real answer was:

Of course, environment and experience play a major role...Parents who have a lot of books around the house might encourage a child to get more into reading and writing, whereas math games promote doing sums instead.

My mom has always been a bookworm and I was reading some pretty complicated materials at a fairly young age.But I didn't try to learn to be advanced at reading comprehension, it just came to me naturally. At the same time I tried desperately to learn to be better at math.

Nothing really helped. Contrary to what the article says is the key to mastery, practice did not make perfect. Sometimes I think I'm lucky I can balance my checkbook. I can tell you how to rearrange a sentence so it doesn't end with a preposition without a second thought, but it takes serious concentration to multiply two single-digit numbers.

After searching,  I couldn't find an answer as to why so few people excel at reading comprehension and suck at math compared to how many people are math-knowledge-rich and reading-ability-poor. But I did empathize with this story about Language People vs. Math People. Similar types of verbal scenarios have happened in my life!

If someone reading this knows the reason, kindly leave a link to the answer in the comments below. I am incredibly curious to know.

New Online Toy: Scoop.It

A colleague introduced me to a new online tool that I absolutely love. Scoop.It lets people gather and distribute content from around the Web based their interests.

Scoop.It, from my experience, serves two main purposes.

First, its a great place to share internet stories you like on topics of your choice. For example, I currently have five topics on Scoop.It:

• Language News & Information (of course)
• Social Media & Content Marketing
• PR, Public Relations & Public Opinion
• Diversity & Inclusion in Marketing & Communication
• Photography: Inspiration & Technique

When I find pages, blog posts or articles that fall within these categories which I really want to share (but don't necessarily want to write a blog post about them), I just click my Scoop.it! bookmark button and a menu pops up. There, I can pick how the story will appear on my Scoop.It page, which is designed to appear as an attractive topic page or online magazine. There is also have the option to share it simultaneously on social media platforms of my choice (for me, mainly Twitter).

Second, its a great place to find articles, photos and videos relevant to your Scoop.It topics. It makes suggestions on content it thinks you might be interested in, based on the keywords you entered for your topic and content you've already shared. You can even add sources you like or subtract sources you don't (though some of the more advanced features like this require a monthly subscription).

The only thing that I can think of that I'd like it to do that it doesn't is to utilize my Bit.ly account when shortening links to Twitter. It doesn't do it yet, but it seems there is a possibility for it in the future, according to a response to feedback.

When I started using Scoop.It just a few weeks ago, it was invite only. However, it has now opened to the public and anyone can get in on using this content curation tool. The company is also beginning to experiment with a premium model that will allow users to embed their topic page onto their own websites.

For me, it is just a fun new online toy to share some of the interesting things I find on the internet. :)

Do you use a content curation tool that you particularly like? Share it in the comments.

See also: Pinterest

Morse Code: A Dying Language?

S.O.S. in Morse Code

Extinct and threatened languages are discussed often in this blog. Usually, the culprit causing their disappearance is the advancement and expansion of more dominant languages, leading to the isolation and reduction of people who speak unique, rare tongues.

In cases where attempts are made to rescue dying language, technology such as computers and audio recordings are the tools being used to help turn the tide. When it comes to Morse Code, though, advancements in technology and audio broadcasting/recording are leading to its death.

Morse Code is a method of transmitting text data as a series of tones, lights, or clicks that can be understood by a skilled listener or observer. The International Morse Code encodes the alphabet, numbers and punctuation as standardized sequences of signals called "dots" and "dashes". It was developed in the first half of the 19th century and was used extensively during the first half of the 20th century, particularly for communication with the front lines during World War II.

Now, with smart phones, satellite technology, the internet and texting, the Morse Code language has become obsolete. Until a few years ago, it was mandatory for people taking amateur shortwave radio exams to know, but that section has been removed from the test. The Coast Guard stopped seeking and translating Morse Code distress messages in the late 1990s.

The slow death of Morse Code was partly the inspiration for George Campbell to record memories of his life as a landline commercial operator in a book entitled "Good Night Old Man." He was only 19 years old in 1945 when he passed on the coded message that Germany had surrendered. His aim with the book was to bring awareness of the language to younger generations, who no longer have need to learn it.

Though some might argue that Morse Code shouldn't be counted out yet, technology continues to rush forward. The LOLs and emoticons of texting are drowning out the dits and dahs of Morse Code. It is probably the only language quietly slipping into extinction that the world won't someday miss (but certainly don’t quote me on that).

[Update: The book "Good Night Old Man" can be purchased through Dream Write Publishing.]

Haiku News - October 31, 2011

Capiale Cipher

Cracking this secret
code may result in better
translation software.

Kids with poor language
skills could learn a thing or two
from the Teacher's Pets.

Analysis shows
that the first human language
like Yoda sounded.

It only seems like
the staff at Affinia
Hotels read your mind.

English, Chinese and
German: First, second and third
most efficient tongues.

Haiku News - September 26, 2011

A robot butler would be great, but is it really worth the risk?

Lingodroids are the
forerunners of self-aware
'bot butlers, T-1s.

Natural pupils,
kids could be key in saving
dying languages.

Conundrum: "Text slang"
and technologic ease could
damage language skills...

...But video game
technology may also
enhance language skills.

Words have great power.
Semantics change their meanings,
as if by magic.

Language Barrier: Finger Lickin' Good

In the first installment of Language Barrier (longer ago than I care to admit), the original "Got Milk?" ad campaign was discussed, along with its nearly catastrophic translation into Spanish. The recent update to the campaign and the controversy it started inspired me (reminded me) there were cases of brand translation issues that hadn't yet been explored. At least at this blog.

When products make the trip to new markets overseas, new advertising campaigns in the local language must be crafted for them. Often, a company will simply take the concepts and tag lines of an existing campaign and translate them directly, sometimes without consulting resources that might have helpful cultural knowledge. This can lead to some very interesting interpretations from one language to another.

Kentucky Fried Chicken, now known as KFC, learned that the hard way when it first entered the Chinese market in the 1980s. "Finger Lickin' Good," its slogan since the 1950s, was mistranslated into Mandarin as "Eat Your Fingers Off." Though the chicken is quite tasty, that's probably not the right message to send in any language.

Making a gaffe like this could have doomed a brand, but in this case it was because KFC was new and relatively unknown in China at the time that it was able to recover. After the clumsy translation was fixed, Chinese citizens who were curious about all things from the West snapped up buckets of KFC chicken and licked their fingers. Today it is the most popular Western fast food in China, with the largest KFC market outside the U.S. at more than 1,200 franchises.

Supplemental: After more than 50 years of “Finger Lickin’ Good” as a tag line, KFC decided earlier this year to change one of the most successful slogans in advertising.  As part of its attempt to establish a healthier image, it was changed to simply “So Good.” The rebranding coincided with the introduction of healthier frying oils and meals cooked on a griddle or baked instead of fried. There are also plans to show the calorie content of all items on KFC’s menus starting this September, though at the time of this post there doesn't seem to be any evidence of that having happened yet.

Women, the Workplace & Profanity

Three random nouns, right? Apparently not. As I've mentioned before in this blog, I rather enjoy profanity and I fully believe it has a place in our culture, even if organizations like the Parents Television Council does not. Because of that fondness, I occasionally search for recent news about cursing. A story from Yahoo seems to have that business world buzzing about profanity in the workplace. And not just any profanity, but unladylike maledictions!

It all started after Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock called CEO Carol Bartz earlier this month on her cell phone to tell her that her services were no longer needed. In an interview shortly afterwards, she called the board members that fired her a bunch of "doofuses" who "f----- me over." Since her firing, Bartz's penchant for profane language throughout her career has become recurring themes in discussions about her and whether or not cursing is proper in the workplace.

Profanity in the workplace! What a great idea for a blog post! So I searched for just that, and wouldn't you know it, the first five news titles that popped up in Google’s results were questioning or commenting about women using salty language in the workplace. The stories ranged from simply asking the public's opinion through a poll to an essay about how "Cursing in the Workplace is a Lose-Lose Strategy for Women."

The article does make an interesting point that basically women are natural communicators who shouldn't resort to blue language to get their points across. By singling out women and not addressing the issue of men swearing in the workplace, I’m left with the belief that the author lets males off the hook when they fail to mind their “French” in the office. The writer also implies that using profanity calls a person's judgment into question. Since the article is aimed at women in the workplace, does this imply that a man's credibility isn't ruined by profanity but a woman's is?

Women, swearing and the workplace sheds some light on this, though I don’t like the observation’s pallor:

“It stands out because it's not expected," said Deborah Tannen, a linguistics professor at Georgetown University and author of "You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation."

"We always take notice of what's unexpected and women are still not expected to curse, so when they do, it's noticed more."

Further:

"If women talk in ways expected of them or project a feminine demeanor, it's seen as weak. But if they talk in ways associated with men or bosses, then they're seen as too aggressive," she said. "Whatever they do violates one or the other expectation, either you're not talking as you should as a woman or as boss."

Naturally, I don't like this "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. Either profanity isn't acceptable for anyone to use in the workplace or it is okay for everyone. It should really depend on the verbal standards of the unique office culture and the individual's choice whether or not to curse.

I've worked in professional offices where profanity was a part of everyday conversation and others where I thought I might by swallowed by the flames of hell dare I say the word "damn." I learned to adjust my vocabulary thusly; it should be easy enough for others to do it. But if there are mixed messages as to which gender can acceptably use such words and which can't, there may problems far bigger than profanity plaguing that particular workplace.

What is your view on swearing at work?

Friday Photography ~ Downtown Saint Cloud Icons

St. Cloud is relatively close to me, but I don't end up visiting very often. My mom lives near there, though, so I do get there once in a while. I was there in July and snapped these two photos of Saint Cloud icons.

Val's Hamburgers

Paramount Theater

Language of Work & Labor

A new glossary takes a look at the language and etymology of the words we use to talk about jobs and work.

"The Wage Slave's Glossary" by Joshua Glenn and Mark Kingwell is a guide to the language of labor. Though it includes a collection of interesting new words, like "cube farm" and "work-life balance," what I found to be most interesting were some of the older words.

For example, the word "downtime." It was a mid-century term that meant time when a machine is out of action or unavailable for use. And today, of course, this means that human beings who aren't working are compared to machines that being serviced, or robots that are being recharged. And the worst thing of all, is that many of us now use "downtime" to describe our own weekends and vacations.

And:

There used to be a term in the 18th century called the "after-dinner man," which was somebody who went back to work after they'd eaten their dinner. And of course at the time, that was considered a very strange thing to do -- dinner time's when you're supposed to be done with work, why would you go back? Either you're unhealthily addicted to work or you have too much of it. And of course today, we're all after-dinner men and we think nothing of the people who open their laptop after dinner and finishing up a Powerpoint or sending out some work emails.

Finally, apparently the word "boss" actually comes from Dutch plantations? A "work boss" was somebody who was the overseer of the slaves on the plantation, but now the word has come to mean "A person in charge of a worker or organization."

Though I haven't actually read the book, the interview with one of the authors and the excerpt on the American Public Media website has piqued my interest. I may just have to check it out!

Haiku News - September 6, 2011

Using text slang for
a "cover letter" won't get
you the interview.

Duchess of Cambridge
Kate Middleton wows Wales by
learning to speak Welsh.

A short lesson on
baseball terminology
you might not savvy.

Uniting a Swiss
language has divided the
people who speak it.

Facebook has trouble
with basic features. "Translate"
will likely be lame.

Bad Poetry Day 2011

There is a holiday to celebrate everything! Today, and every other August 18, just so happens to be Bad Poetry Day.

According to Wellcat.com, the creators of this particular holiday, the proper way to celebrate the day is to gather a group of old high school friends, write some bad poetry and then send it to an old high school teacher. But who really celebrates Bad Poetry Day like that? Cracked says we don't have to celebrate it that way, and I deem them a credible source in this regard.

I think just about everyone has written a bad poem or two in their lifetime, whether of their own accord or under educationally administered duress. I may or may not admit that in one point in my life during high school, I may or may not have filled one or more notebooks with some of my own bad poetry. I perhaps lost one that has never been found, one could possibly have been stolen and I just might have actually given one away during my hopelessly romantic phase. All of that is rumor and speculation of course. I admit nothing.

I thought that I might at least try to write some bad poetry. I'm pretty sure some people would think the haiku and little bit of other poetry I've written here has bordered on bad. In fact, upon reflection, I have complete faith that I could write some bad poems here.

I realize this post is late in coming
(and tardiness is most unbecoming)
but to busy-ness I've been succumbing
- nah, I was really watching the Twins game.

Ha! Okay, so here is another one:

There once was a Sam from Minnesota
Who had hit her daily coffee quota.
Having much work yet to do
another pot she did brew
And she didn't sleep that night, one iota.

Still with me? I'm almost done. But it wouldn't be my blog if there wasn't some sort of haiku:

Haiku Poetry:
Five syllables, then seven
then five more. That's all.

So there. If any of my old high school English teachers or college proffessors are reading this (I highly doubt it, but if you are give a shout-out in the comments), see what I've done with my creative writing and poetry classes? To the random person (people?) who may or may not have stolen (found) really angst-ridden, moody, typical-teenage-geek type poetry I may or may not have penned, I may or may not really want those books back!

Did you participate in Bad Poetry Day? Want to, even if it is no longer Bad Poetry Day? Leave your bad poem in the comments!

Haiku News - August 16, 2011

Rhiannon so loved
the Korean language, she
gave it extra tongue.

This new mechanic
can't hear the clanks, squeals or tings,
but he can feel them.

There is a time and
a place for profanity,
in life and language.

I, me, us, we, you
she, they, he: Small, fleeting words,
big, lasting impact.

Books are banned for their
content from schools, yet parents
let kids watch "Teen Mom."