Linguistic ramblings #2

Lizzie Corsini
Jul 27, 2017 · 3 min read

“For this arrangement to go ahead, we need you to adjust your language.”

My friend runs a dance academy; she often goes into primary schools and gives taster lessons. This generally leads to an affiliation between school and academy, with an after school club being run by her.

Reputation counts for a lot in most sectors, dance being no different and yet this school declined a partnership because of a single word. Not a four-letter word, a teacher did not let an expletive slip. Nothing unthinkable, no.

A seven-letter word.

Naughty.

“We feel the use of ‘naughty toes’ gives the wrong message to the children.”

(FYI, this is a common term used in teaching ballet, to encourage the children to point their toes down.) Despite explaining this, the school asked for another term to be used…something more positive.

“We like to focus on instilling positivity in our children. We say ‘let’s use our walking feet’ instead of ‘no running’; ‘let’s use our listening ears’…etc.”

That makes sense, granted. But surely you can’t go through childhood screening kids from all words with negative connotations?

My friend explained to the teacher her surprise that ‘naughty’ was such a problem.

“Oh, we prefer to say ‘issue’ rather than ‘problem’… it’s less negative.”

When being told this story, it was here that I broke.

If you use the word ‘issue’ instead of ‘problem’, that makes ‘issue’ become as negative as ‘problem’ for those using it because it is describing the same situation. Let’s take a step back. With our walking feet.

Connotation is a powerful thing but not something easy to control. If you say ‘needle’ to one of my friends, she’ll think of work, drugs, patients (anaesthetist); the same word to my mum will invoke wool and creativity (knitting extraordinaire). If this cohort of kids hear ‘issue’, they’ll think of the same situation as those who grow up hearing ‘problem’.

Who decides which words will and won’t be used? Do they use ‘not’ in any construction? “I don’t like spelling tests.” No little Levi, I prefer to do other things than spelling tests.

Words in themselves are not negative. They may describe a situation or thing commonly thought of as negative but it’s all about the connotations people have. ‘Naughty’ could mean bad behaviour, it could relate to pointing toes or even something kinky, depending if you’re a teacher, dancer or listening to the word said in a certain intonation or context.

Will the children in that school be sheltered from negativity in life? Pretty impossible I reckon, so why wouldn’t we equip them with the language to discuss it?

It is the spirit of the age, PC gone OTT.

I thought about the shock of high school to those kids educated in a primary ‘positive-only’ school. Whenever they meet the inevitable onslaught of negativity in life, how will they react? Will they have a superiority complex, correcting their peers, It’s not a maths problem, it’s a maths issue. You’ve not made a spelling mistake, silly, you’ve misspelt it! Is ‘mis’ even allowed? Shall we do away with negative prefixes at the same time?

Calling all ‘un’s, gather all ‘dis’s, banish those ‘anti’s!

Maybe this school’s delusion goes one step further. If we don’t use the word ‘naughty’, then perhaps children will not behave in that way. By that token, I will make a concerted effort not to use the word ‘procrastination’ in front of my daughter. If I don’t say it, she won’t do it, right? I‘m pretty sure that’s how language works. Spread the word and stop spreading negative words. Terrorism, hate, evil- can I throw in … procastination? Then these behaviours will stop, right? Or there’ll exist but by not referring to them using negative words, it will give these situations a more positive light. What utter rubbish. Let’s use our logic minds and realise that negative words don’t create negative feelings, it’s people doing negative things, which force negative descriptions.

Having naughty toes will be the least of these kids’ worries. I don’t think this too negative a note to end on. Without negativity, we lose the contrast of positivity. It’s as simple as ying and yang or day and night. Funnily enough, pairs of opposite words like this are referred to as complementary antonyms. I’m sure the school would complement linguists on their choice of label there.

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