~ Truth of Intercourse – Robert Louis Stevenson

I came across this quote some time ago. It fascinated and inspired me. Sometimes the life and soul of that which lives when I put pen to paper is inspired by another’s words. Such is true of many, I suppose. Why else do I remember the profound quotes and immortalized thoughts of others?

I, too, have recently been purposing to eliminate the use of clichés in not only my speech, but my writing as well. It is difficult, however, because sometimes I find it is dependent upon the cooperation of others. Some either do not know how or choose not to participate in a conversation involving the lack of repetitiveness.

I love words, especially their etymology, and far too many are left rusting on the pages of Webster’s, hardly ever visited, many completely forgotten. As generations pass, these beautiful words are not only left behind, but a lot of them are being redefined; corrupted, I call it.

I came across your “blog” (sorry, I hate this new word) while researching languages of different generations. My purpose is to put together something for a small class I facilitate on Sunday mornings regarding this current generations language skills.

To quote Ravi Zacharias: “Watch a generation’s words and you will find what they are doing with reality”.

This is the quote that inspired me to look to the past. You may have heard Tim McGraw’s song “Back When” -

“… Back when a hoe was a hoe
Coke was a coke
And crack’s what you were doing
When you were cracking jokes
Back when a screw was a screw
The wind was all that blew
And when you said I’m down with that
Well it meant you had the flu
I miss back when …”

When I first heard this, I thought, “WOW!” I miss those days, too.

And, Dave Stein, here’s one from you – “If a thought or opinion comes to mind when reading a post, that’s the idea! Don’t be a lurker. Comment!”

I skipped over to the “lurker” post of yours and had to admit, I am one. This time, however, I decided to follow your lead and not allow my thought to get lost in the dark. So, there you have it (oops, is that a cliché) – this is what I’m thinking.

Perhaps you were not intending to provoke these kinds of thoughts (nothing about Sales Leadership here, and I may or may not ever visit your blog again, but I take away with me a brand new determination to do my part to maintain the usage of those units of language that are far too often shelved.

Moral – you never know what thoughts will be born in the heart of another when they hear what leaves your mouth (or mind).

~ Gerrie

So ping me and let’s touch base.

Or something like that.

regards, John