Sunday 29 January 2017

It's the economy, stupid.

Yes, I know. I was planning on a break from Mordor this weekend, but then H.I. showed me that clip of Melania swallowing her soul and all those people got stuck in an airport after their visas became invalid in mid air.

I have looked at that clip quite a few times now - morbidly - and it is obvious that he says one word to her. You can see from the shape of his mouth (from the side) that the word could be 'stupid'. Maybe, maybe not.

Prince Phillip and the Queen once attended a charity function for the deaf. As they sat at high table, Phillip noticed that his wife seemed to be flagging somewhat, and whispered in her ear, "Are you alright my little cabbage?" The hundreds of lip-readers in the audience all warmly smiled at this charming display of affectionate concern.

I once became angry with someone I had an argument with, and called him 'stupid'. I didn't really think he was stupid, but what I didn't realise is that was how he secretly thought of himself.

He pulled a very similar face to Melania's and quietly said, "You should never, ever call someone stupid." I was filled with remorse for unwittingly hurting him so badly.

Since that time, I have never accused anyone of being stupid to their face or if I think they may get to hear about it (as far as I can recall), rather I might describe their actions as stupid.

These days, if I think someone is behaving stupidly, I try to describe them as 'silly'. Sillyness is temporary and nothing to do with innate stupidity. We all are silly from time to time, and being accused of being silly can be said with affection.

11 comments:

  1. The power of words. We don't always realize the effect they have on people. Your post today serves as a good reminder. -Jenn

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    1. I am always forgetting - it is a symptom of low self esteem, I think - "How can little me have any effect on the world?"

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  2. I have always thought that 'stupid' is a word which should be eliminated from the dictionary Tom = these days it has a lot of connotations which should by now have disappeared into antiquity.

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    1. It would be good if stupidity was eliminated with it.

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  3. Great post!

    Thoughtfulness is always needed, however, I think Trump is beyond stupid.

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  4. He is not stupid. He knows exactly what he is doing.

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  5. In a reply on my blog, I once called someone an idiot; I've regretted it ever since, simply because she isn't.

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    1. Strange - I have always thought that idiots were exclusively male.

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  6. I just had a generic comment from an American professional misogynist. I suppose I can expect that sort of thing with posts like this, but it's not good.

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