An overview on the power of the words

We use them everyday. We use them to interact with others, we write them, read them, we sort them in our heads, we shout them, we whisper them and sometimes we mark our bodies with them. Words are the most powerful non-physical communication elements. Be it a copywriter, a proof-reader, a journalist or a content creator of any kinds, words are your most powerful weapons, as proven by the shortest complete sentence in English - "I am".

Words bow to the laws of orthography, morphology and semantics. Humans have the great capacity to understand the code of the words that compose a language, which is a complex system of words that bound together, create meaning. For example there are only two words in the English language that end with "-gry", and surprisingly, these two words have a great connection between them – "hungry" and "angry".


When you are about to write an article or an ad, your mind already structured a web of words and sentences that create meaning. For example, the word "polish" can easily change from a noun to a verb, depending of the context its being used in.

The emotional impact of words remains the same, whether you are writing a letter or a comment on Facebook. In today's typing industry, typos can easily be removed and corrected. But imagine rewinding back a couple of hundred years ago, before the first printed book, with early scribes having to re-do the entire page by hand. Calligraphy does have its own charm, an art much lost these days. People now-days create words using keyboards or touchscreen buttons, or even dictating them to a recording software. Did you know that the QWERTY keyboard is named from the first six letters that composes its name (as they appear on your keyboard)? Look at your keyboard, it's right there.

According to Google Hot searches, the most searched for hot keyword in the UK for yesterday was JLS (boy-band, apparently splitting up), with over half a million searches. A simple 3 letter boy-band name arousing the interest for fans crying out loud in despair and anger as the headlines created such a powerful emotion. A mixture of words leading to emotions that deserves a "checkmate" (word coming from Persian, meaning "The king is helpless").

Every word we write in our creative jobs leaves a mark on the people who will read them. Don't neglect the great responsibility you set for the words you use, as they can create or destroy.