I have a few semantic pet peeves — not the least of which is William Safire’s continued professional existence, but I digress.
There are two words that I don’t think I can ever hear objectively.
The first is ‘articulate.’ Let me use it in a sentence for you. “Oh, you’re so articulate!” Funny, I’ve only heard the word in reference to us black folks. The implicit assumption being, of course, that it’s quite unexpected that we’re, well, so — well spoken.
As anyone who has ever lived with me knows — there’s nothing that will get me riled up faster. When I hear that phrase, it’s a sure sign that I’m not going to get that job, impress that person, or continue a productive conversation.
Anyone who is impressed that you can speak english, is surely not going to think you’re very good at other tasks.
And my second pet peeve — those who preach ‘tolerance.’ Is there nothing more offensive than being tolerated? Imagine, when thinking of someone, you say, “Oh, I tolerate him.”
I think race realations in America today represent a policy of tolerance. I think a more appropriate word is ‘acceptance.’ We should appreciate each other’s differences and move on.
I probably have other semantic triggers that I can’t think of right now. I just think it’s funny because now whenever anyone uses one of my triggger, Adam shoots me a look, then ducks, because a torrent of words are about to come from my articulate self.
June 21, 2004 at 11:14 am
I tolerate my coworker….but he’s an ASS. I don’t think anyone who dare to say they tolerate me will want to be around me soon after the words come out.
July 8, 2004 at 7:02 am
Oh, giiiiiiiiiirl, you hit the nail on the head!!!!! I was steaming about this just last week! I was sitting in a meeting and this very accomplished woman was discussing her resume. This elderly caucasian gentleman turned to her and said, “How’d you get so articulate?”
What the….?
I half wanted her to say, “Well, boss, I was down in the fields pickin’ cotton when suddenly a bolt a lightnin’ struck me down. When I woke up, I could speak right, jes like you.”
But she didn’t. She serenely smiled when she was finished and left the room, articulating herself further by her grace.
I have found that as I get older, things that used to bother me seldom do. You find a sense of peace, pipe down and move on. But as I pondered the incident, I realized that this articulate “thing” is a MAJOR pet peeve for me and I’m not, nor should I ever, get over it.
No one has ever called me, to my recollection, articulate–I’m a much better communicator through the written word. But I have had people tell me that because I speak in standard English, I “talk white.”
Hmmmm. English is white. I didn’t know. The same dunderhead who said that thinks that every brown-skinned person who speaks Spanish has to be Mexican. Grrrrr.
Oh, and the tolerance thing. I agree–very offensive. It is bothersome to me when someone makes an assessment of my values and background, and then adjusts their interactions in “tolerance.” I much prefer it when people are just real, accept me or not.