Words have power. Physical and brute strength can be forceful, but strength wanes – people weaken. But words once spoken last forever. And the first power word that we all learn is “No.” It means to negate or deny. This little word substitutes entire sentences and declarations, and sometimes accompanies them for emphasis. Words like not, nothing, and negative help emphasize a denial; and words like don’t (there’s not again) and stop help emphasize a command to discontinue something.

But sometimes people unintentionally speak in the affirmative when they mean to speak in the negative that I’m calling double negative speak. One phrase in particular is spoken very often: “I didn’t do nothing.” Every time somebody says this I want to ask “Well what did you do?” What we all know is that the person means they did not do anything. But they implicate themselves by saying that it was not nothing.

I’m speaking about this as an example of the deterioration of our language. More and more people are confused about words they’ve never heard used before, but even if they are unfamiliar with the words, using context should aid them in finding clarity. And being conscious of context is where people fail.

Communication will continue to break down when people ignore context and only hear words individually. Remember, words have power, but if they are not understood in the context that they are delivered, then misunderstandings become problems, and some problems grow into bigger problems.