My contractions are growing farther apart
In recent years I have been growing ever more aware of my language usage, both spoken and written. I have been developing new habits while attempting to squash older ones. Not only focusing on the ideas that I present, but the presentation itself. We place much weight upon the words that carry our thoughts from Point A to Point B. And yet so often, we speak quickly and with little consideration. I prefer a more active role in my use of language.
I have a pocket-load of tactics to the benefit of greater participation in the English language. My arsenal grows, though is sporadic by measure of implementation. To rein in some focus, I will speak to one device that I encounter daily.
Speech has come to be second nature, so that we think very little of it. We become lazy in our vocabulary selection and sentence structure. I am no less guilty of these things. We have even found a means to take two words and make them one, a contraction. In this, my age of growing linguistic consciousness, I have harvested an animosity for contractions.
The use of contraction is a time saver. It suggests that I do not have time to say or write both words. I have not the time to utilize my native language, and I therefore must give you the condensed version.
Contractions are also used to increase the fluidity of a sentence. Words are blended together for the creation of a more whole and solid sound. The results roll off of the tongue. To do otherwise would be jarring and awkward for both the individual speaking and listening.
As 2006 came to a close, I was fumbling for a resolution. The ball came closer to dropping, and I was strongly considering the termination of my contraction usage. I did not go that route for resolution, for I thought it too difficult to acceptably implement. Though I have since gone to lengths to address and curb my contraction usage.
I have challenged myself to not use contractions whenever possible. I do not have so little time that I should slice two words to be one. Avoiding conversational contractions appears to me as a symptom that I do have time to be here, with you, talking about this. And in recognizing that symptom, I convince myself that I do indeed have the time. This then results in my further engagement to the conversation.
To speak against the fluidity of contractions, we have become too comfortable in our word choices. The smooth sounding phrases that we share daily are light on the tongue and soft in the ear. They are efficient and the idea comes across, but search in to the meaning goes little beyond the surface. Speaking sans contraction, as stated previous, is both jarring and awkward. We have come so far down this path leaning on the crutch of contraction, that to kick it out, one can not help but wobble. The experience is not normal. It feels uncomfortable. And thus, we mislabel it as bad.
This unsettlement is good. It shakes us from our daily routine. Unfamiliar patterns of speech invite added interpretation of the exchange. The listener is rattled, and thus forced to step back and think even further into what was just said. This holds true now because forgoing contractions is abnormal. Though if we were to make the shift to a non-contraction using language, the results would lose clout. For now it is different, and therefore effective.
To discontinue contractions in my daily exchange is difficult. The effort has made me actively more aware of what I say. Instead of passive interaction, quitting contractions has added a triggering device to my speech. I may catch myself before saying a contraction and redirect my language path to state the non-contracted phrase. Or I may catch myself just afterwards and backpedal to correct myself, or log a mental note for next time. Either way, the process of avoidance makes me more present in the conversation and my use of language.
I do still use contractions, though less and less. It would be too much to wipe them out all together. Instead, I will make the grandiose endeavor and be content in where I land. Contractions are not entirely bad, nor are they my enemy. I see an end result of well thought out and finely utilized language, and I have chosen this as one means of getting there.