How Many Ways Can You Say Garbage?

Garbage--trash--rubbish--debris--refuse--waste. Your eighth-grade English teacher would be proud of your to exercise your vocabulary with multiple synonyms in a narrative assignment about your chores or an expository assignment concerning the importance recycling. Yet, according to the waste management sources, each of those words has a different meaning. And sometimes "Definitions for the same waste may vary within government statutes, regulations, and legislation," according to the Zero Waste America's website today. Garbage means discarded animal and plant matter; garnish on a dish or in a drink; or worthless, inferior, perhaps false, communication. Trash means worthless or discarded material such as paper products, and can refer to people. Be careful when you ask your spouse or child to take out the garbage or trash. You might find the TV or the phone or a person missing! Defining your terms and being specific take on new priority! Others have learned this lesson and have infused their languages with precise choices. For instance, Eskimoan languages have approximately 180 words or word variations for snow and ice, and more than 1000 words for reindeer! Before giving your next speech at a conference, report to the Board of Directors, or lecture at the dinner table, consider what words you must define for clarity. Be precise and specific. Then be consistent by using the same word for the same meaning throughout the commmunication. Switching to a synonym may make your English teacher happy, but doing so in business or at home can confuse those around you into thinking you mean something different when you choose another word.

"Can You Help Me?"

Such a simple question: "Can you help me?" Most of us mean we would appreciate some assistance at gathering information or collaborating performance. A single parent may need a favor in transporting a child to practice or a birthday party. Sometimes, a person means he or she would like financial assistance. A few dollars or coins can make a huge difference to an unemployed, homeless person working the streets for a meal. None of these scenarios bother me. But, there is a scenario that tests my patience: when a woman takes advantage of a decent, hardworking young man who lends her money to pay the rent for herself and her children. That woman makes no effort to pay him back and later insists the loan was a gift. Her definition of "help" means "pay it all as a gift with no return." I call that interpretation of "help" as "using" a gullible man. (Yes, men can also use this or a similar tactic, yet it seems to be a rare occurence when this happens.) Regrettably, some women look to men to buy them out of financial woes. Those women will manipulate any willing man and the system to obtain benefits. Once these women have what they want, they walk away from their debts. What do the children learn from their observations: do not trust women, men are fools, the system provides free money and food? Beware of "help" and make sure you know how the person using it defines the word. Or, you may be used!