Words

I don't what's been going on recently but I seem to have had word usage on my brain quite a lot in the past week or so. Are words being used properly or tossed around with reckless abandon, with no real forethought?


Maybe, finally, with this high-brow thinking I am turning into the intellectual I've always wanted to be. (Or perhaps I just need to remove a stick from somewhere it shouldn’t be.)


I've taken earlier umbrage with the word "hero" but another example of potential incorrect word usage is "pride".

Now I can understand being proud of yourself if you win an award, I can understand being proud of a loved one if you have helped them achieve a personal goal and I can understand a parent being proud of a daughter or son if they excel, even taking that pride so far as to propose a motion in Parliament in celebration of the event, for example.


With the Olympics on, the word 'pride' is of course cropping up here, there and everywhere. The crystallisation of my thoughts on this topic though stemmed from reading Tom Harris' blog.
"Hoy does us all proud" he cheers in the subject. But what exactly does the Labour MP have to be proud of?


Perhaps if Tom Harris had been the Sports Minister or directly supported the British/Scottish Cycling Team with time and money then that pride might have been well placed but, as it stands, I struggle to see the link.


Don't get me wrong, I have thoroughly enjoyed the Olympics but I'm no more proud of Chris Hoy than I am of Usain Bolt or Paula Radcliffe. I can understand the desire of politicians to want to align themselves with successful Olympic athletes but I do wish they would use words properly when they choose to do so.


Incidentally, there is no doubt that Gordon Brown will host a reception for the Olympic athletes upon their return to the UK. This is absolutely the right thing to do and as Prime Minister he should of course help to celebrate their success in this way and has a greater claim on being "proud" of what 'our' athletes achieved.

Moving away from the Olympics, but sticking with this rather odd word "Pride", I turn to marches and movements. Gay Pride being the most obvious example. What is it about a sexual orientation choice that makes one so proud?


Notting Hill Carnival and Mardi Gras in Sydney look like spectacular events and I'd love to go to either or both one of these days but to label them as Gay Pride Marches has always seemed an odd moniker for me. I'm not 'proud' to be a heterosexual, I just happen to be one. It makes much more sense to take pride in being bilingual than it would in being bisexual but, well, if it gives an excuse to get the tiaras and feather boas out then I guess there's no harm in it.


Taking pride in the country you were born is another fairly bizarre situation. Malc (of the Burgh) talks in his last post of our "proud nation". Again, where should this pride have generated from? Scotland has beautiful countryside, great people, a fabulous history, lots and lots going for it but I just struggle to see the transition from that to a personal pride that one should take from it.


Alexander Graham Bell will have been proud he invented the telephone, Robert Burns will have been proud of the poems he wrote (and no doubt the girls he bedded) and Adam Smith will have been proud of the economic philosophy he imparted on the world before he left us but should we future Scots be permitted to take a collective pride in what those have done before us, just because we happen to have been born in the same country a century or two later?


Regrettably, it escapes me.

Moving on to the next blog that has stirred up thoughts on whether we use the right words, I turn my attention to another prominent Labour blogger. It is perhaps apt, even ironic, that Kezia is female as the word I am taking exception to is one that I would have thought would have feminists burning with anger.


Basically, how appropriate is it to label a girl/woman as "feisty"?


Kezia chooses the adjective to describe Susan Deacon and I'm not quibbling whether Susan is or isn't but is "feisty" a word that ever has a place? When would a person be happy to called such a thing?


And I say "person" but let's be honest, it's a word reserved for females who have a drive but are looked down on in a condescending, patronising manner. They may be feisty, punchy or spunky but ultimately they lack real bite is what is being said. I have no doubt it was a word invented by men which is why I was surprised Kez chose to use it. "Tireless", "relentless", "committed", "radical" would all be more preferable alternatives in my eyes.

My final bone of contention is "in your own words". Such a useful phrase to use to throw an argument back in someone's face. The problem is, our memories are so poor that we never get the quotation exactly right so we end up putting words in another person's mouth. In the comments field of my blog I don't think I've ever been quoted accurately and it is more than a little bit annoying.

So, I don't know, "it's only words" as 5 wise men once said butI strongly suspect words will be a very important factor in Scottish Politics over the next few years so I besiege you all to to take more pride, show a little feist and use them properly.