Words...

Well, I am a little late getting this blog in, but hey, I'm here! So what I would like to talk about are words. In my life, especially lately, there have been a great deal of words expelled from the mouth and fingertips that I believe were not given enough consideration.

Neil Postman, author of Amusing Ourselves to Death, concluded at one point that the written word endures and the spoken word disappears. Overall, I can buy that. History is important and the only way we can learn about it is if it is preserved by writing it down. But we live in today. And today we remember those spoken words as well.

The Bible has many passages concerning the tongue and how it can be used for both good and evil.

In my Media Scriptwriting class it is stressed that word selection matters!! They must be colorful, evoke the senses, and empower the reader/listener.

So. To help myself I found a list of "feeling words" that I can refer to when I am writing copy so that I may get my audience emotionally involved. They are from the Leaders Guide of a book written by Terry Wardle in 2002. (You're going to have to visualize because it is in chart form)

Happy
--Strong-- certain, delighted, eager, excited, proud, thrilled, fine, marvelous, exhilarated, energetic, overjoyed
--Mild-- secure, lucky, good, loved, pleased, relieved, happy, optimistic, impressed, flattered, special
--Weak-- refreshed, encouraged, satisfied, content, comfortable, relaxed, calm, hopeful, grateful

Angry
--Strong-- furious, disgusted, exasperated, bitter, cheated, distraught, mad, indignant, irate, livid, used, fed up
--Mild-- aggravated, annoyed, disturbed, frustrated, irritated, peeved, turned off, distressed, irked, provoked
--Weak-- bothered, upset, put out, uptight, hurt, disappointed, displeased, ticked, disturbed

Sad
--Strong-- beaten, crushed, humiliated, lonely, lost, miserable, empty, rejected, hopeless, ashamed
--Mild-- disillusioned, left out, down, despairing, grieved, unhappy, sorry, hollow, guilty, embarrassed
--Weak-- glum, sober, apathetic, blue, downcast, low, disheartened, moody

Afraid
--Strong-- helpless, panicky, alarmed, horrified, intimidated, petrified, terrified, distraught
--Mild-- anxious, apprehensive, frightened, inadequated, insecure, rattled, tense, worried, uptight, harrassed
--Weak-- confused, jumpy, uneasy, jittery, nervous, on edge, out of place, shaky, suspicious, flustered