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Click here to enterYou’re telling a friend you have a lot to do today. Which word do you use?
I have ___ to do {stuff or things}.
According to Norbert Schmitt, your word choice might depend on how old you are.
In the past, most people would say they had things to do or things to buy. But people under 40 years old are instead trending toward saying stuff to do and stuff to buy.
Language has always changed over generations. We’re just better now at tracking it.
If you’re a word person like I am, you might find this ngram word tracker as fascinating as I do. It shows the usage of words found in texts over a period of time.
I inserted my One Word of the Year—Human—and discovered it really IS used more often than it used to be. It’s not just my imagination.
I also inserted a series of words to compare usage: Human, Human Being, and Person. As you can see, Person was once used more, but now Human is increasing (Human Being never had much traction).
This is just 1 of 100 things about how language works in Schmitt’s new book, Language Power: 100 Things You Need to Know to Make Language Work for You.
Why are books like this so intriguing?
“From the minute you wake up until the minute you fall asleep, you use language. Even when not actively reading, writing, listening, or speaking, you use language to think, and often to daydream. It is the essential tool that makes you human. It is the most complex thing you will learn in your lifetime.“
How we use language matters. Words matter in our self-talk, in our conversations with others, and in society at large.
For example, when we say things one certain way in our circle of friends, then bump up into someone who interprets it differently, are we willing to make the effort required to shift our status quo vocabulary in order to communicate better? Schmitt calls it “language balancing,” and argues that we all try it.
The book addresses a wide array of interesting topics on language, such as:
Each chapter of Language Power is centered around a question, such as: “Autism: What is it, how do I check for it, and how does it affect language?” and is followed up with information, a short summary (Power Point), and several links to interesting websites for more information.
So whether you want to learn more about body language, language and gender, understanding media bias, spinning political language, spell checkers, bilingual children, sign language, or any of the other 100 questions you might have about language, this is the book for you, too.
And because I’m a few years over 40, I’ll say this book will likely bring up interesting things about language that you’ve never even considered. (And if you’re under 40, that means interesting stuff about language).
Which do you use more often: stuff or things? Share in the comments.
My thanks to NetGalley for the
review copy of Language Power
I am feeling so smart this morning.
I don’t usually do the Easy puzzles of Sudoku because they are, well, too easy.
But lately, I’ve been struggling with completing the Medium and Hard puzzles of Sudoku in a short amount of time. Am I losing my edge? Are my brain cells slipping?
Until this morning! I’m flying through this puzzle. The numbers are coming quickly. I must be at the top of my game.
I glance at the timer at the top of the page. It’s only been 2 minutes? Yet I’ve already filled in so many squares.
But then . . . also at the top of the page, I notice the level of expertise for this puzzle. I thought I was doing a Hard puzzle. Instead, I’m on an Easy one!
No wonder I was doing so well. I’m working in the beginner’s category.
It’s a wake-up call. Back to humility. I’m always a beginner there.
I pull up this quote I’d saved of a Tibetan prayer by the Dalai Lama:
“Whenever I see someone, may I never feel superior.”
Because the word humility comes from the word humus or earth, I also think of this verse in Genesis 3 in the Hebrew scriptures when God tells Adam:
“For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Humility reminds me of the fundamental sameness of human to human.
Many of you can work Sudoku puzzles faster than I can. And maybe a few of you might be slower. But in the end, we’re all mostly the same.
There’s no need to be prideful about it, nor need to feel shame.
We’re all human, here doing the best we can, in the life we’ve been given, with the brain that we have.
With that realization, I feel just smart enough, exactly as I am.
And once again I’m reminded: always stay humble.
Here are brief summaries and links to posts on the blog, Lisa notes, in September 2023.
“The goal of reading is not to get anywhere, but to open where we are.”
– Mark Nepo
Here are 5 nonfiction books + 1 novel I recommend from what I finished reading in September.
[See previously recommended books here]
1. Falling Down and Getting Up
Discovering Your Inner Resilience and Strength
by Mark Nepo
Mark Nepo writes with great insight on our falls. If you need encouragement to get back up again, again, and again, this book will inspire you to look reality in the face, yet still continue forward.
[Read my full review here of Falling Down and Getting Up]
2. “All the Real Indians Died Off”
And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans
by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
This is the October selection for our online Moms Demand Action book club. Some of these myths I already understood to be false about Native Americans, but other chapters taught me lessons I needed to learn. The writing is a bit more academic than I’d prefer, but it’s definitely readable and engaging.
3. Saving Us
A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World
by Katharine Hayhoe
A valuable book. I learned so much about the harm we’ve been doing to our planet, but more importantly I also learned what we can do about it other than groan. The book addresses our treatment of Earth from many perspectives—science, psychology, and the author’s Christian faith.
4. Speak Your Truth with Love and Listen Deeply
A Training in Mindfulness-Based Nonviolent Communication
by Oren Jay Sofer
I listened to this audiobook from Hoopla in a couple of days. It’s about how to have respectful communication without arguing, blaming, or judging. As a student of Marshall Rosenberg’s method of Nonviolent Communication, Sofer’s principles here are familiar to me but still worth listening to in his own words.
5. A Life in Light
Meditations on Impermanence
by Mary Pipher
Although engaging and well-written, I didn’t read this memoir word-for-word. Until I got to the last few chapters. Then I slowed down and read every word that Mary Pipher said (she also wrote Women Rowing North, a fabulous book about aging and one of my top 10 books I read in 2019). Her wisdom about life’s many changes is valuable.
6. The Golden Couple
by Greer Hendricks
The wealthy couple Matthew and Marissa Bishop agree to marriage counseling with the renegade therapist Avery Chambers. The mysterious plot takes you behind the secrets that everyone is holding on to. An interesting story! I alternated between listening to the audiobook and reading the hardback.
What good book have you read lately? Please share in the comments.
Maybe you like to read as much as I do. And/or maybe you also like to write. What have you been writing lately? It’s what Linda asks in this week’s featured post.
“What Are You Writing These Days?”
Link your own blog posts below.
Review the rules here about adding your most recent Christian Living posts and how to be the Featured Post. Visit all four hosts social media here or websites here: Maree Dee, Lisa notes, Lauren Sparks, Tammy Kennington.
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enterNear the end of each month at Jennifer’s linkup we share four somethings that we’re loving, reading, learning, and eating.
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I recently discovered this hilarious podcast: Strike Force Five. It is random conversations by five late-night TV hosts currently unable to broadcast their own shows: Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, and Stephen Colbert.
They created this podcast with all proceeds going to support their staffs who had been out of work until today due to the writers’ strike. (And it’s amazing how many people work for each late-night show.)
When I can’t sleep at night but don’t want to read or listen to something too serious, I put this podcast in my ears. And then try not to laugh out loud and wake up my husband.
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I signed up for an online book club in October to discuss how to talk better with people with different views:
I Never Thought of It That Way
How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times
by Mónica Guzmán
I’m about 80 pages in. So far, it’s been excellent.
Here are a couple of excerpts.
“If there’s one question I want to persuade you to ask more often, it’s ‘What am I missing?’
‘What am I missing?’ is not just any question. It’s the question.”
“To keep our minds open when so much pushes them closed we’re going to have to kick it old-school. We’re going to have to talk—really talk—with actual different people. This is the work.”
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Every night for awhile now Jeff and I have played Wordle and Spelling Bee on the New York Times website. (I play Sudoku on my own time.) Then a few months ago we added The Mini Crossword to our routine.
But the past few weeks we’ve added in the new game Connections. It may be the most challenging of the games we do together. We’re finally getting the hang of it (most nights anyway), and love having it in the routine.
All in all, we can finish the four games we play together in less than 15 minutes (although I haven’t timed us), depending on how quickly we get the pangram for Spelling Bee. It’s been so enjoyable!
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This has been the year I’ve swapped my daily treat of a Diet Dr. Pepper for a drink without aspartame. I still occasionally drink a Diet Dr. Pepper (or a real Dr. Pepper if I’m indulging myself) but more often I now treat myself to a Sparkling Ice Zero Sugar Classic Lemonade instead. It’s been a much easier trade than I expected.
What is something you are loving, reading, learning, or eating/drinking this month?
