Post #1436613

2026-04-18 21:07 UTC

If I do nothing else in this life, I want to impress upon as many people as I can the importance of words. I know they're easy to throw around... "they're just words", some will say... But words have meaning, history, baggage, context, *consequences* :frog_sus: While I don't believe magic exists in our world, I get why many magic systems are based on words, whether that be incantations, curses, true names, or whatever else... Whether they be multisyllabic monstrosities from the depths of a thesaurus or internet slang, words have real weight to them, real effects on real people :cat_frown: Using words is a responsibility, and the more we forget that, the more harm they can cause :jellyfish_sad: #Musings :boosts_ok:

Replies (8)

@OctaviaConAmore@cutie.city 2026-04-18 22:34

(note: this post is talking about *all* words and slurs are but an example) For instance, referring to Japanese (the language or the people) as JP is totally ok, but throw an a in the middle and you've suddenly tacked on dehumanisation, the US rounding up its own citizens into concentration camps (and stripping them of land and property), and justification for mass slaughter of Japanese civilians :cat_facepalm: Another that I learned only in the last 6 or 7 years was "boy"... at first, just a childish word someone might use on someone else to discredit or infantilise them, but a white man saying it to a black man? It's one of those "just use the slur you basically used instead of this bullshit" situations with all of the baggage of centuries of racism and slavery along for the ride :bear_shrug:

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@obfusk@tech.lgbt 2026-04-18 21:30

@OctaviaConAmore words shape our reality and imagination communication is a form of magic

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@maddad@mastodon.world 2026-04-19 01:03

@OctaviaConAmore 👏 So true

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@pathfinder@beige.party 2026-04-19 03:07

@OctaviaConAmore Words have power. This has been known since the beginning of them.

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@Nawer_Rapter@mastodon.social 2026-04-22 19:39

@OctaviaConAmore this has a long history in fact, as a position, based on the jews. The reason so many magic systems do use that wording is directly related to "jewish magic" from centuries ago, which was demonized by the christians. And yeah words are strong. In USA. Everywhere else they're not that important really, and a contextual and tone read is way more important and nunced to stablish what it means. I'm a bit sad USA's culture is invading the world but this one really makes me worry.

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@Chishiki611@enby.life 2026-04-18 21:17

@OctaviaConAmore@cutie.city (🤍) :this:

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@bruchpilot@mk.absturztau.be 2026-04-18 21:31

@OctaviaConAmore@cutie.city We have this nice saying "jedes Wort auf die Glodwaage legen" (to put every word on a gold scale (so a very precise one)) It is often meant to mean someone is taking small details too seriously, but honestly, I've been finding myself doing that more and more. Especially when evaluating people for safety.

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@izzy@social.shadowkat.net 2026-04-25 14:23

@OctaviaConAmore@cutie.city I can shape ideas in others' minds just by speaking them how cool is that :blobcatwoah:

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