Did you know that the US, UK and many other governments keep lists words claiming their usage may indicate a terrorist.

These trigger words were revealed back in 2013 as a way for enforcement agencies to deem someone a potential terrorist. The list is currently growing and, in fact, may top 40,000 words. 

Knowing that, do you wonder whether the words you choose will be “noticed” and put you on a suspected terrorist list?

Emil Kozole did, so he decided to find out.

Created by a Slovenian artist, Project Seen is a typeface that automatically flags all the trigger words used by international law-enforcement agencies

Now you can download the font from Project Seen and stop wondering.

You will also find it amazing what words are considered a red flag.

Flickr image credit: jai Mansson

Words can provide encouragement and add value—or do the opposite. Listen carefully beyond the surface of a person’s words and you will know that person’s heart and even their soul.

There is no attribution, but every manager and thinking person knows the truth of this comment, “A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.”

Answers aren’t always the best use of words as Naguib Mahfouz reminds us, “You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.”

There’s an old saying that goes “open mouth insert foot,” but Lawrence J. Peter says it far more elegantly, “Speak when you are angry, and you will make the best speech you’ll ever regret.”

Those who spend (waste?) time trying to refute the myriad of lies found in modern media would do well to remember the words of William McAdoo, “It is impossible to defeat an ignorant person in an argument.”

Listening to the politicians, pundits and corporate titans always reminds me of this old Chinese proverb, “The longer the explanation, the bigger the lie.”

And I think I’ll let the words of Jimi Hendrix round out today’s thoughts; “Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.” Can’t say it more clearly than that.

Image credit: Jon Assink

As you know, I have a fascination with words, their meanings, usage and contrariness; phrases, too, because their longevity in a world as transient as ours is surprising.

Both words and phrases can go out of style in days or be lasting—at least enough to make a 2012 list of most the popular, but only time will tell their staying power.

ALL due credit to petroleum and technology, social media and memes, and the humbling power of the weather, for their ability to generate and sustain new words. And the 2012 elections also made for a bountiful harvest of new political expressions.

For staying power, as well as mystery, you’ll have to go a long way to match the phrase the whole nine yards? Did you ever wonder where it came from?

For decades the answer to that question has been the Bigfoot of word origins, chased around wild speculative corners by amateur word freaks, with exasperated lexicographers and debunkers of folk etymologies in hot pursuit.

How many words does it take to create a dialog? Try six. A few years ago I introduced you to Smith Magazine, where people sum up their life in 6 words. Michele Norris, the National Public Radio host started a dialog about by asking people for their six-word thoughts on race.

She asked for just six words. (…)Two years later, the cards have become almost a parallel career for Norris, best known for her work on the NPR show All Things Considered. She and an assistant have catalogued more than 12,000 submissions on theracecardproject.com. People now send them via Facebook and Twitter or type them directly into the website, leading to vibrant online discussions.

Society defines many actions through words, but what happens when the actions change and society has no viable words that fit? People have to come up with their own.

…what to call two people who act as if they are married but are not. (…) One might imagine we would be less tongue-tied. The faux spouse is a pretty ho-hum cultural specimen for such a gaping verbal lacuna. But none of the word choices are good.

Finally, for those who prefer pictures, or at least visually enhanced content, there are infographics (and how to make them).

Many people don’t realise that the term information graphic, or ‘infographic’ was first coined over 100 years ago, with the Coxcomb chart by Florence Nightingale in 1857 being one of earliest recognised examples. They have existed in many forms since then, but only in the past few years have infographics developed into the art form we know today.

Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho

I love plays on words and playing with words; I hope you do, too. The following were accumulated from a variety of sources just for your enjoyment.

I grew up playing with a dictionary and my mother used the same language with me that she used with her friends; if I didn’t understand something I was told to look it up in the dictionary, but why is the word dictionary in the dictionary?

Another thing that always worried me and made me wonder was if a word in the dictionary were misspelled, how would we know?

Spelling is my bane (spell check is my salvation); I sounded out words, but why isn’t phonetic spelled the way it sounds?

If adding ‘in’ makes opposites, e.g., cautious and incautious, why do flammable and inflammable mean the same thing?

I don’t know about other languages, but English is confusing; for example, if a pronoun is a word used in place of a noun, is a proverb a word used in place of a verb?

Riddle me this, is an oxymoron a really dumb bovine?

Finally, in a nod to my techie friends I ask, are part-time band leaders semi-conductors?

Flickr image credit: TEDxNJLibraries

Remember the line “these are a few of my favorite things” from Sound of Music? I have favorite words. They have varied meanings, but all have one thing in common; they are fun to say and feel good in your mouth. So without more ado, here are seven of my favorite words along with what they mean and some irreverent commentary from moi.

Bumbershoot = umbrella. I learned this word when I was really young and just like to say it; try it, it will cheer you right up.

Humongous = extraordinarily large. This one is fun to say and useful, too.

Utterly = completely; absolutely. I use this mostly in response to something about which I feel strongly.

Adamant = utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion in spite of all appeals, urgings, etc. A good description of most public figures (especially politicians) these days.

Boondoggle = work of little or no value done merely to keep or look busy. This is actually the secondary definition, although the one people are most familiar with. The primary definition is “a product of simple manual skill, as a plaited leather cord for the neck or a knife sheath, made typically by a camper or a scout.” That’s not nearly as much use as the other, but either way it’s a word that’s fun to say.

Scallywag = a scamp or rascal, but that’s the informal definition. The formal definition was news to me: “(after the US Civil War) a White Southerner who supported the Republican Party and its policy of Black emancipation. Scallywags were viewed as traitors by their fellow Southerners.” Take your pick or just say it fast three times for fun.

Scrumptious = very pleasing, especially to the senses; delectable; splendid. Great meaning and tastes great as it rolls off your tongue.

Elan = dash; impetuous ardor. The perfect way to live your life.

What are some of your favorite words?

Flickr image credit: ercwttmn

Every so often I read something that seems to fly in the face of accepted practice or is contrary to previous expert information.

For example

According to the media it’s a given that the young, college educated, both students and recent alumni, are focused on following their passions, but, as the saying goes, it ain’t necessarily so.

…91 percent of college students and 95 percent of Millennials (here referring to college graduates between ages of 21 and 32) said that being financially secure was either essential or very important to them.

New research from HBS has reinstated the idea that unconscious thinking has great value (as long as you take decision fatigue into account).

Our conscious mind is pretty good at following rules, but our unconscious mind—our ability to “think without attention”—can handle a larger amount of information.

Do you think that guilt is an indicator of leadership? If you say no you’re not up on the latest research.

“Guilt-prone people tend to carry a strong sense of responsibility to others, and that responsibility makes other people see them as leaders,” says Becky Schaumberg, a doctoral candidate in organizational behavior who conducted the research with Francis Flynn, the Paul E. Holden Professor of Organizational Behavior.

If you were publishing something you wanted people to remember would you choose a simple font or a fancy one that was more difficult to read? If you said ‘simple’ you’d be wrong.

Fancy fonts might be harder to read, but the messages they convey are easier to recall, according to boffins at Princeton and Indiana Universities.

Speaking of publishing; does freedom of speech mean you can use any words you want on the Net with impunity? Maybe, but words like ‘leak’, ‘flu’ and ‘gas’ could put you on a watch list.

The Department of Homeland Security has been forced to release a list of keywords and phrases it uses to monitor social networking sites and online media for signs of terrorist or other threats against the U.S.

Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho

I love words. They are one of my very favorite things, so I thought it would be interesting so see what others thought of them.

Edward Thorndike believes words are for the long term, “Colors fade, temples crumble, empires fall, but wise words endure.” Sadly, it’s not just the wise ones that last through time.

Rudyard Kipling thinks they are addictive, “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” (I agree.)

Long before I wrote this, Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged; it is the skin of a living thought, and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used.”

Americans point proudly to the words contained in the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, but as Ralph Ellison reminds us, “If the word has the potency to revive and make us free, it has also the power to bind, imprison and destroy.”

Philip K. Dick explains that further, “The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.” (Manipulation was our focus Friday.)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe hit the nail on the head when he said, “When ideas fail, words come in very handy.” Just ask any politician, parent or, for that matter entrepreneur.

Common wisdom, AKA anonymous, offers critical advice that is too often ignored, “Don’t use a big word where a diminutive one will suffice.”

Finally, smart people, as well as the wise, keep Adlai Stevenson’s words firmly in mind every time they open their mouths to speak, “Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them.” Obviously politicians are neither smart nor wise.

Flickr image credit: AuthenticEccentric

YouTube image credit: purplecontent

I love words. Words are why you visit and how we get to know each other.

There are hundreds of quotes about words and writers, so I picked a few of that would give you more insight into moi.

The first thing you need to understand is that, for me at least, writing is easy; as Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith said, “There’s nothing to writing.  All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.”

My goal has always been the same—to effortlessly pleasure my readers, but, as Nathaniel Hawthorne points out, “Easy reading is damn hard writing.”

Mark Twain said, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug,” and I dearly love a good lightening storm.

Isaac Bashevis Singer, “The wastebasket is a writer’s best friend,” but today the delete key is for most of us, although not all.

I often get asked why I keep writing when I get so little feedback from my readers and I can do no better than quote E.L. Doctorow to explain, “Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.”

Finally, for all those who think that I and my fellow writers, past and present work hard just to supply you with great words, sans footnotes or attribution, with which to dazzle your professors, bosses and friends take heed of the words of Jen T. Verbumessor, “Imitation is the highest form of pissing me off.  Quit stealing my content and violating my copyright.”

Hat tip to the Quote Garden for making my search so simple.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/enochprattlibrary/4266345242/

Now see a great motivator in action.

Your comments—priceless

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Image credit: SideLong on flickr