Have you ever thought about words? The way they are used, who is saying them, the tone and the timing all seem to have a huge impact.
I never thought I would like the word ma'am. I thought it would make me feel old to have someone use it...I still don't like it for the most part. Most people that I am in authority over call me miss. My boss, however, calls me ma'am. When I ask him to do something for me, he often says, "Yes, ma'am." I find I do like that and I'm not sure why. He is older than me and in a position of authority, but he doesn't seem to feel the need to pull that authority card. Maybe for those two reasons it doesn't make me feel old. He also calls me "MIss Cygnet" that I like less, but it's said with a huge smile and kindness so I can live with it.
Another word: Daddy. We were discussing its use the other day in a group of 4 woman and 2 men. One of the guys finally said, "Not to be sexist, but I think it is different from women and men. I would never call my father, Daddy." "Not even when you were a little boy?" I asked. "Never," he said. The other guy agreed and said he was hesitant to say it. I replied that it was a term of affection for girls and women. He said he had no problem being called it by his daughter, because she is a Daddy's girl: a term he says he uses.
How about diva? I can't believe any woman would want to be called that, but there are women who have claimed it. I have always thought it was a term of derision. I guess it originally was a term for a woman who was a wonderful singer: a Prima donna, but I think diva and Prima donna have come to mean a temperamental person; a person who takes adulation and privileged treatment as a right and reacts with petulance to criticism or inconvenience. How is that a good thing?
Do you think there are other words that used to feel funny to be used by or about you and your feelings about the words have changed?
JOURNEY...I hate the word JOURNEY...It makes me think of a cat and two dogs making there way across the country ! GAH! TTWD isn't a JOURNEY....there is no destination point....now ADVENTURE....there is where it is at! Like The Goonies Movie, when we were kids. You never know what 'creature' you are going to find. Something scary ends up being something great in the end!!! LOL. Sorry just a pet peeve of mine. Or rather an over used word, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your perception of the word diva....I won't comment on Daddy. Many people use it here and it means different things to each one of them. Myself included.
Merry Christmas Cygnet!!!
willie
But, but it was incredible! Doesn't that make the word journey better? (Sorry, couldn't resist and I sort of agree),
DeleteAs far as daddy goes, we were actually discussing it in a purely secular, vanilla sort of way and I get that it is thought of in many different ways here, I just thought it was interesting that it illicited such a strong response in the men.
I'm kinda with Willie on the journey word. It didn't used to get me but now it does, mostly because there isn't a destination. For us it is about enjoying the moments. Yes, I know...you can have moments on a journey blah blah blah. LOL.
DeleteMy pet peeve ttwd word is "session." :)
I guess not liking the word session ties in with the not liking the word journey. Session sort of implies a beginning and an ending too, rather than an ever changing moment.
DeleteLOL...it was something else that is for sure~
ReplyDeleteOkay in THAT sense, it drives me crazy or used to that full grown women use the term Daddy. That being said, now that I have Southern Girlfriends it seems natural out of their mouths....but NOT out of Canadians!!! Is that better? LOL.
I am 9 years younger than one of my sisters. I remember quite clearly looking at her one time when she was referring to our Dad as Daddy when she was about 16...shiver...She still refers to her husband to her daughters as Daddy. Just me of course, not that there is anything wrong with it. I am very sensitive to stupid things. Like the mispronunciation of words. I know. I know. Such a joy to be friends with~ lol
Yes, the Daddy word is pretty prevalent in the south. I have even heard full grown men use it and Southern women too. It is just more acceptable there for some reason.
DeleteHere's my story about the use of the word Daddy for my male parent. Until I was about five, I called my dad by his first name. He was okay with it, my mother was not. She got me calling him Daddy. Being the southern woman that she was, she called her own father Daddy until her own death. I got switched to Dad in my teen years by my father. I guess he was not too fond of Daddy from an almost grown daughter...might have been the Californian in him, because I am pretty sure he wasn't Canadian. :-)