Words carry lot of weight because they can soothe someone or hurt someone. The words we write or speak to others usually leave a huge impact on them, therefore, choosing the right words to communicate is important. Another point to note is using words wisely because words can make or break a relationship and choice of words can impress or depress listeners. Wisely used words define the person’s attitude and character both.

It is important to choose just the right words to get your point across, but it is not always an easy task. There are two types of meanings for words: denotation and connotation. Denotation of a word is the expression of the word as clear and explicit as possible. It is direct meaning from the dictionary. The word connotation is commonly used in the phrase’s positive connotation and negative connotation. A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries. For example, ‘childlike’ is a positive connotation but ‘childish’ is negative connotation. The connotations for the word snake could be evil or dangerous.  Denotation is when you mean what you say, literally snake is a reptile creature. The positive connotation of the word steadfast is unwavering but negative is stubborn. The denotation of the word steadfast is loyal and faithful.  

BP (British Petroleum Company)  caused the legendary oil spill that stretched across the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Their PR strategy included airing a number of expensive commercials and apologizing at every chance they got–something the public found dishonest. Ultimately, they received criticism from President Obama and others, who said the money they put into the ads should have been put into cleaning up the mess. Tony Hayward – the former Chief Executive of BP also made the fatal mistake of saying he wanted his life back, which showed an obvious lack of respect for those 11 men who had actually lost their lives in the explosion.

Choice of words in communication can change the course of decision making in life. The vocabulary used must express feeling wisely without hurting the opposite person. Often, we see when a person is using an incorrect word, the message delivered is not meant. Unfitting choice of words leads to the misunderstanding among the audience. It sometimes makes a situation awkward and unclear. And, an incorrect word makes no sense.

Shashi Tharoor – a former Indian diplomat whose flawless English needs no introduction. Tharoor wrote ‘innivation’ in a Tweet instead of innovation while referring to his address at the MES College of Engineering, Kerala. Later he corrected it on tweeter stating that should have been “Innovation” or better still, “Indovation”!  The meaning of the word Indovation is the process by which innovations are developed in India to serve a large number of people affordably and sustainably in response to conditions.

Choice of words is affected by the level of constraint imposed on users and is subjected to a number of factors, such as vocabulary or inappropriate use of command, situation, personality of persons presents etc. It attempts to affect how people think, instead of what they think by using subtle, indirect methods.

Human communication is a social interaction process. It is an essential part of our daily life. It is a process of creating, exchanging, sharing ideas, facts, feelings, etc. General Motors made a simple but disastrous mistake when they tried to introduce the Nova in Latin America? They thought they could use the same brand name they used in the United States. They couldn’t figure out why no one wanted it until they learned that it translated in Spanish as ‘No-go.’ 

Sometimes, a word that’s correct isn’t necessarily the right word to use.  Which word would you prefer using ‘I dislike tea’ and ‘I hate tea’ They both communicate the same meaning, but the second sentence uses a much stronger word to communicate that feeling. Whether “dislike” or “hate” is the better word choice depends on the context surrounding the sentence.

I conclude: when it comes to picking the right word, the simplest is often best. Words not only convey information; they also reflect who you are – your values and beliefs. So, be mindful about your words.

 It happens to us so many times when we intently get engaged in discussions with somebody, we forget important words; how much ever we try to recall those words it becomes difficult for the mind and brain to recall them. If you cannot recall the precise words for something, you are facing the problem called ‘lethologica’ which may lead you to awkwardness sometimes.

Especially when addressing a conflict with somebody, such as a colleague, a boss, or somebody important the words matter. Sometimes, despite of how good your intentions are, if you use some wrong words, it can further upset the person and just make the issue worse. Other times you might say the exact thing that helps the person go from seemingly mad to cool as a cucumber.

When we forget the right words during discussions, the flow of conversation gets hampered.  And, listeners also get irritated. There are many other theories that attempt to explain the phenomenon lethologica. One more interesting thing about it is that when you are in a group of friends, the probability of everyone forgetting the world increases. When you seek help from others to recall the blocking word the discussion may go haywire. Most of the times, topic gets diverted. This is a common occurrence for most of the teachers/professors. While talking to the class, suddenly they forget the right term, the right expression, or the right phrase and the class is disturbed. The chances are, after the session these genius people remember the word. Sometimes people remember the word after a month or a week.

In psychology this phenomenon is known as “presque vu” or informally “tip of the tongue”. According to which when we make a query to get back some word from our memory, it often happens that the brain obtains a related word which is not the one we really asked for and is incorrect. Now this word then blocks the recovery of the correct word and that is why since this word is generally closely related to the word we want, we usually tell the first letter or some other characteristic. These blocking words are the phonological neighbors of the target word. This is quite common and for God’s sake don’t blame your memory for that. It’s just the way our brain works.

Do you know human memory has 3 parts: learn, store and recall. You need to see which part is faltering. When we don’t get the right word there could be a number of reasons. You could either be stressed which disturbs the recall mechanism. Or you get distracted by something more important, or you could also be multi tasking – thinking of many things at a time.  Human brain can think of one thing at a time. That’s about it. Multi tasking contributes to mind wandering. Age can also hamper brain’s recall system.

Making smaller statements can help. Smaller combination of words is nice to talk and also to hear. Every language has its uniqueness; if words are not properly used, meaning can change.

We should not worry about making mistakes. Nothing should hold us back more than trying to get the discussion to logical and rational. The moment we get worried about making mistakes our fear will prevent us from taking part in productive conversations and making productive contributions. Never get stuck.

Everybody makes mistakes even while speaking their own mother tongue or native language. They are called ‘slips of the tongue’. What is important is getting your message across, not whether you use all the right words, modulation, tenses, and so on. So, if you can’t think of the exact word, try saying things in another way. Even your facial expressions or body language can express what you want to say. Its common thing: 9 out of 10 people undergo this problem. Lethologica is termed as a psychological disorder that periodically hinders a person’s ability to clearly articulate their thoughts and they temporarily forget names in conversations, words and phrases.

When you are engaged in discussion, try to listen better. If possible, help the person who is getting stuck with a word and allow him/her to make the point clear. Memory improvement and listening better works to an extent, but training the brain in this regard needs to be done with care and deliberation.