Tyranny of Words

You are judged by the words you choose and how you pronounce them.  People judge you as bright or dull, intellectual or simple by the sounds coming out of your mouth.  Employers decide whether to exploit or promote, authority chooses whom to persecute, and teachers decide whom to pay attention to because of the words used and how.  The right word can get you promoted, enriched, published, noticed, or laid whereas the wrong word can get you fired, fined, rejected, dismissed or, well, rejected. 

The chosen word depends on factors such as upbringing, childhood, DNA, interests, education, level of curiosity – the list goes on.  How fair is it, therefore, to be judged by one’s ability to choose words? 

I have said before that words are poor vessels in which to carry thoughts.  At best words only poorly represent the depth of feeling, the layers of meaning and the connotations implied.  So easily they are misconstrued.  So many meanings can be derived from every word.   How can one even know what another person is trying to say, really?  

This is why there is poetry:  because words alone are too weak to carry the full burden of meaning.