Our society uses words very flippantly. I am guilty of it. Shoot, look at the way I write…I write like I talk.

I have heard the term ‘awesome’ used to describe the taste of an orange skittle. On more than one occasion, I have heard people (who purportedly have college degrees in journalism) say things like ‘completely decimated’. My daughter uses the word ‘literally’ literally all…the….time. See what I did there? lol

I guess words really don’t mean much. If you use ‘awesome’ to describe a skittle, what word do you use to describe something that truly is awesome?

This is the time of year where folks talk about their new year’s resolutions. They make resolutions to stop smoking…or lose weight…or whatever. It only lasts until they lose interest.

Many years ago I resolved never to bother with New Year’s resolutions, and I’ve stuck with it ever since.
– Dave Beard

Resolution…do people really understand what that word means? It is hard to think that folks do when their ‘resolutions’ for the new year lasts about four days. Sounds like Mr. Beard has a better grasp of it than the average person.

res·o·lute
ˈrezəˌlo͞ot/
adjective
adjective: resolute
  1. admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering.
    “she was resolute and unswerving”

…that was the result when I Googled the word ‘resolute’ (and ‘google’ is in the dictionary too…lol…crazy, huh?)

Anyway, thinking on this, I am reminded of the interchange in The Princess Bride…

I guess the greatest comedy is real life…lol. Jokes are always funnier the more truth they contain.

What if we did use words the way they were intended to be used? Then we would be held more accountable for what we say…and being held accountable is not something society as a whole wants. They flippant way we use words now leaves us with an option to say, “well, I didn’t really mean that.”

Men should pledge themselves to nothing; for reflection makes a liar of their resolution.
– Sophocles

Of course, being a liar doesn’t have a stigma attached to it as much any more. We adapt the rules to agree with what we want to do. If the standards keep changing (which by definition they don’t…just another one of the words we don’t use properly any more) how do you claim that something someone does is wrong?

So ‘resolutions’ have come to be a kind of joke. Nobody expects anyone to keep their New Year’s ‘resolutions’ for very long. A sort of preemptive reprieve from responsibilities associated with your words or actions.

All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
– Matthew 5:37

What that is saying is that we shouldn’t have to qualify a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ with a statement attached signifying that we really mean it. This is not the societal standard now days though.

The above statement wasn’t a societal standard, that was another kind of standard entirely. What ‘different’ kind of standard you may ask? Well, the words ARE written in red…