Letter: It’s more than semantics

Semantics— it’s a word people use to end an argument they can’t win: “you’re just talking semantics…”

There are other ways to shorten what we consider to be a pointless debate: “You say to-MAY-to, I say to-MAH-to”, and the “Seinfeld” series gem, “Yada, Yada, Yada”.

Our thumb-pumping society doesn’t suffer fools (those who disagree with us) gladly. But have you noticed that in snubbing perceived time-wasters, we’ve created more words or attached unneeded meaning to existing words?

Bro, or bruh? Bark.us, a company that monitors such things, says they’re interchangeable. So, why use both?

For years, “dude” was my least favorite word. It’s always delivered by a cloying ne’er-do-well who’s a little too eager to broadcast aggravating news:”Better get that oil leak checked, dude”.

The good news is, “Dude” has been demoted on my hate list. The bad news: it’s been replaced by the equally despicable “woke”, with “snowflake” a solid contender for top rhetorical dishonors.

Before voting for president this November, perhaps we should revisit traditional definitions for “rule of law”, “evangelical”, “judicial integrity” and some other words.

Let’s talk sense, not semantics.

Jim Newton
Jasper