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You are here: Home / Archives for power of words

The Careful Use of Words

April 19, 2017 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

Limericks are humorous, frequently risqué verses of three long and two short lines that rhyme in an “aabba” pattern.

They were popularized by Edward Lear, in the late 19th century. (Fun fact: It is said that the term, “limerick” is from the chorus sung between improvised verses from the song, “Will you come up to Limerick?”) When done well, limericks use puns, spoonerisms, and double-entendres. The earliest known American limerick (1902) is:

There once was a man from Nantucket
Who kept all his cash in a bucket
But his daughter, named Nan,
Ran away with a man
And as for the bucket, Nantucket.

Putting words together in playful patterns is fun. Remember the long-standing children’s poem:

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear.
Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.
Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t very fuzzy, was he?

Another example of linguistic mischievousness was a novelty song from World War II:

Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey.
A kiddley divey too, wooden shoe.

It’s more fun to say than any sense it appears to make. However, the bridge of the song explains:

If the words sound queer and funny to your ear,
a little bit jumbled and jivey,
Sing ‘Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy.’

Okay, it’s antiquated and trite – but c’mon, it’s amusing; admit it.

How we arrange words gives us a sense of joy and satisfaction.

Say “Aluminum Anemone” out loud. Go ahead. No one’s listening. Notice how it feels on your lips? No, it doesn’t make sense; it’s just pleasurable to pronounce.

More importantly than poems or limericks, words are the bedrock for our thoughts.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Communicating, Habits, Happiness, Newspaper Column, Self Talk, Weight Loss Tagged With: bad habits, change, choice of words, emotions, limericks, power of words, quality of life, weight loss, words

Choose Your Word for the Year

January 4, 2016 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

We think in words.

Our thoughts determine our actions, which guide our actions.

Therefore, the words we choose determine our lives.

At the beginning of each year, my wife and I sit down at a local coffee shop and we make plans for what we’d like the year to look like.  At that meeting, we:

  • Set our goals for the year
  • Determine our priorities
  • Set our intentions
  • Picture what we’d do “if money were no object” (I can assure you I’d be writing this from a tropical climate if that came to be)
  • Determine what we are releasing that served us well in the past but no longer fits (including grudges, resentments, habits, and material clutter)

What might be the most important item on our agenda is choosing a word for the year. Call it a theme if you wish.

In 2014, we chose “Prosperity.” In 2015, we picked “Abundance.”

This year we opted for “Gratitude,” a feeling or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: goals, Gratitude, Holidays, Motivational Monday, planning Tagged With: achieving your goals, attaining your goals, brand new year, gratitude, happiness, new year, new year's resolutions, planning, power of words, thankfulness, words

Which Words Are You Using to Describe Yourself?

July 14, 2014 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

i-love-you-on-bricks

When you think about who you are, which words do you use?

Are they complimentary or insulting? Do they lift you up or hold you down? Would you say them to a child?

The words we use to describe ourselves turn into the reality of who we actually are.

If somebody were to describe you, which expressions do you think they’d use? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Gratitude, Habits, Motivational Monday, Power of Attitude, Self Talk Tagged With: be kind to yourself, children, choice of words, labels, language, positive self image, power of words, self acceptance, self image, self talk, words

Video: One Word for a New Year’s Resolution

January 4, 2014 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

From the Today show, a video about setting one word for your New Year’s Resolution.

Original page is here.

Filed Under: Motivation, Video Tagged With: brand new year, nbc news, new year's resolutions, power of words, today show, video, words

You Don’t Know Who You’re Messing With

January 23, 2013 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

I conduct a monthly seminar, Marketing 101, for the Northern California Small Business Development Center, known as the “SBDC.” I am fortunate to have piloted this session for the better part of a decade. One of the relevant factoids I’ve uncovered over that time is that a satisfied customer will tell five of his friends that he had great service, while his unhappy counterpart will spread forcefully the message of his discontent to 13.

The exact numbers might be debated but that would miss the broader point:

When someone wrongs us with dreadful service, our first thought is, “You don’t know who you just messed with!”

Come on, be honest, isn’t that the truth? Bad service has happened to you, right? And your reaction is to launch forth — sometimes with quixotic zeal — on a “mission” to bring down the offending business and correct the travesty of this injustice, while informing all you meet to steer clear of that worthless enterprise. I know I’ve done it. I’m sure you have too.

That caused me to ponder why in situations like that, we consider ourselves powerful and important; while in other circumstances, we give away that same influence.

It’s because of adjectives.

(Huh?)

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Newspaper Column, Psychology, Self Talk Tagged With: adjectives, attitude, discontent, labels, nouns, power of words, self acceptance, self esteem, self fulfilling prophecy, self-talk

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