Say the Word

There's an old children's taunt--the kind most of my generation got to hear at least once growing up in the streets and schoolyards of America. It goes like this: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me." Followed by the usual body language: pointing, thumb on nose, wrinkled face, and whatever. It's possible girls heard this kind of nonsense more often than boys, because girls pretty much had to rely on words for both attack and defense, whereas boys had all sorts of weapons at their disposal: fists, elbows, knees, shoulders, and yes, sticks and stones, or baseball bats, knives, and guns, in more recent times. Maybe that's why women read more than men. They are more comfortable with the power of words, because for much of history it was the only power they had.

The absurdity of that childish claim should be obvious to anyone who's ever lived in a civilized society governed by laws, or religious doctrine, or as in Christian and Islamic societies, both. And yet the myth persists, perhaps due to continuing widespread illiteracy, especially in religion-dominated communities to which education is a threat.

Let's face it: words have power. And yes, they can kill you, especially if delivered by someone in a position of authority backed by force, like a judge. Or a jury. Or an Ayatollah. Or gang leader or mob boss. But mostly words just hurt, like the taunts of young girls (or old wives, for that matter). Or bullies in the boys locker room prior to or following the pounding, just in case that isn't enough pain for you. So absolutely, words can hurt you. In your heart. In your soul. In your mind, and spirit. You can feel them physically, as well as emotionally. I don't need to list hurtful words or phrases here: you know them all because you and I have been hearing them our whole lives long.

But there's another side to this linguistic coin regarding word power. Lest we forget, even those of us who are atheists: "In the beginning was The Word." The Word of God, presumably as written down by his acolytes for our betterment and proper instruction and edification of 'True Believers.' Words have long been used to instill fear and hatred. Only much more recently have words been created and used to actually sooth, and aid, and assist: to make you feel good, as opposed to bad. So words are as good as they are bad, depending on their use and combination which, of course, is what writing, and eloquence, and poetry are all about.

Wars can destroy, and military might can dominate and control. But written death sentences aside, there is nothing in the world that has more power than the word.

Even music opens up a whole new dimension when accompanied by the word, as minstrels and monks alike learned and taught in the Middle Ages and onward. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, great as it is, would be a notch lower in the iconography of music without that chorale in the fourth movement. And while I love instrumental music, once I heard the Beatles I was a Believer in the power of the lyric, because songs told stories, just as we writers do. And of course Shakespeare is nothing without the words. When I worked (as a writer) in Hollywood some of the most painful words I ever heard were "created by" as applied to actors and directors. Actors claiming to have 'created' a part, for example, is to dismiss the entire effort, if not being, of the creative writer because in movies, as in religion and law, the word came first. And directors have joined in this credit usurpation in spades, placing themselves at the top of the creative food chain by claiming creative ownership of every film in its entirety with three industry-sanctioned words: "A Film By." "By" used to apply to authors and writers. Journalists had 'by-lines.' And yes, we authors still get our "by" line, but believe it or not we had to fight for it. Authors only get copyrights because screenwriters do not. Look it up.