Language is wonderful. One of the wonderful things about language is that words can convey feeling in a really specific way. They carry their own baggage.
Consider this: I watched Twilight at the weekend and was highly amused to find the vampires in the Twilight world, when exposed to sunlight, sparkled. They were like little diamonds. Quite the accessory for a woman to wear a vampire-skin bracelet.
“Yes, it’s an Edward Collin butt-cheek original. So it’s part of the moon that sparkles in the sun…”
Anyway, this interesting piece of Stephenie Meyer inspiration got me thinking… if vampires were truly to sparkle in the sunlight, surely that would be an integral part of the myth. And if so wouldn’t the naming be different?
Would Vlad the Impaler be quite so fearsome as Vlad the Glittery? Would Dracula instil the same fear in the hearts of humanity if he had been called Mr Sparkly?
Similarly, would everyone have gone to see Jaws if it had been called Big Tuna Surprise? Or Alien if it was called The People-Eating, Stomach-Popping, Acid-Dripping Sex Toy? Actually, probably yes on the latter.
No real message here. Just choose your words carefully. Which is always a good idea.
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Words are awesome!
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