Friday, May 7, 2004

It's "Just" -- A Challenge!

It's Just, and it's a challenge.   After I explain this, perhaps you'll be up for the challenge too!  :)

Just a little over two years ago a woman sent me an email that was, shall we say, a bit less than positive.   In a nutshell, she didn't like a particular positive word I enjoy using, because she said, I use it excessively.  

In the time since receiving the flaming I've been thinking if there were words in my vocabulary that could be interpreted as a bother, and thus could be something I improved upon.

And I think I found that word. The word is "just." It's a word just like "um, a, cool" and so on that are used as fillers.   (Did you see how I just used the word just, and there, I did it again?   Yeah, that's just what I'm trying to explain.)  I think I just use the word Just just too much and I am now making it my personal goal to cut down.

As a Crochet Teacher, when I'm describing a stitch technique, I've heard myself say, "Insert the hook just..." or "...just take the hook and..." and for a newbie just starting to (arg! there's that word again!) learn how to crochet, it's not "just" ... it's a bit more complex than just "Just."

So as I attempt to combat this injustice of "just" that I think I may have inflicted upon my friends, family, students, and such, I challenge you to also find a word you use excessively -- and try to remove or reduce the amount of times you use it. Over all, I think it will make for easier communication for all parties involved :)


*Disclaimer: the word "just" was over used in this entry to emphasize how a word can become an annoyance.   I really don't use the word "just" that much (or at least I hope not!), but in certain circumstances, I do notice it and am trying to correct it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

First off, I want to thank you for taking the time to visit my journal and leaving a very kind and encouraging comment in it.  I am very glad you liked the squares on my Tweeties.  It is a very high compliment coming from you.  Yes, I will get back into my crochet.  It is very relaxing.

As far as the word "Just", seems to me you would need to use it in giving instructions to your students.  That is what it seems from your entry.

The word I use that seems to iritate others is "Sorry".  I use it to be polite if I make a mistake, but them others seem to think it is unessary and they act like they don't want to hear it and just want the matter to be dropped.  I make it a point to only use it when it is warranted.

Anita