Choose Your Words

Choose Your Words
By Marilyn Mackenzie

When I worked at the local newspaper, one of the first things I mastered was typing announcements for engagements, weddings, and anniversaries, announcements for which people paid. Advertising employees faithfully took down each word as it was dictated to them, quoted a price, then passed their handwritten notes on to the newsroom staff.

How we laughed at some of those announcements. Some records of weddings were so long that the price had to be astronomical. Some left out only how many bathroom trips the wedding party made during rehearsals.

Many submissions used words that made us chuckle. We often wondered if the majority of brides in our area used the same wedding planner, or if they were using descriptions provided by one particular source. Some descriptions made us break out in laughter each time we read them.

For some reason, many local brides insisted on describing their gowns and veils using the words "encrusted with pearls." Perhaps it was because the newsroom staff saw and wrote about the seemier part of life that we did laugh at that phrase. To us, the word "encrusted" conjured up pictures of blood and guts.

We usually changed the words "encrusted with pearls" to words we thought more appropriate. We used instead, bedecked with pearls, adorned with pearls, framed in pearls, or encircled with pearls.

I thought of this as I sat at the airport, waiting for my ride, waiting to be with family for our Thanksgiving celebration.

A little boy nearby cried, and in between sobs he said to his sister, "Your words hurt me! You better pick different words."

A simple lesson came from the mouth of that small child. Choosing words is important in our every day lives, in our work and family relationships.

Will your world be "encrusted" or "adorned"? The choice is yours.