⇠ Cool as the other side of the pillow

Updating ShortenLinks ⇢

Are We Too Careful with Our Words

I’ve been using Cyber Dust for a while now. I really like using it for private chats, but I have also enjoyed following #blast messages and meeting new friends. Add me - I’m +bsoist. Mark Cuban uses Cyber Dust, and a few weeks ago he sent out a blast asking for recommendations to use for his quote of the day - something he sends out via #blast every day. I immediately thought of a favorite quote of mine.

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

As I typed it, I began to think “Hey, wait a minute, I don’t support dog fighting. Is this in bad taste?”

Then it hit me. Perhaps we are being too sensitive about all of this. Obviously, dogs fight in the wild or on the street or whatever. The quote doesn’t have to be about “dog fights” but what will people think. I try to be politically correct. I really do. And I’d like to think it’s not just because I care what other people think of me. That’s not the issue. I just really try to be careful about how words impact other people.

But are we being too careful?

Fred Wilson posted something about a pet peeve of his back in May and the discussion in the comments was pretty heated. I stayed out of it because I think he was just doing a little bit of thinking out loud, but my opinion is complicated on this. On the one hand, I think he might be overthinking things a bit. On the ohter, I think that’s far better than not thinking about it at all. Especially, in my opinion, when it comes to gender issues.

There is also an important distinction to be made between “policing” one’s own speech and the speech of others. It’s one thing to be careful about what we say, it’s another to be so careful that we strip all meaning out of what we say.

Anyway, that is one of my favorite inspirational quotes - but I don’t support dog fighting. :)

⇠ Cool as the other side of the pillow

Updating ShortenLinks ⇢