Words: Tools of War

Words: Tools of War Words are held to a high standard. The tone in which you say a word, or maybe the context in which you say a word completely changes its meaning. Today, we use words as tools to provide information and inform others as well as a way to feel superior to others, but in a war time crisis words such as name calling can be the key to a killing spree. Soldiers all around the world for ages, since the Greek and Romans, have learned to use nicknames as a way to deliberately taunt other opposing soldiers. These names give them a since of high power and essentially separate themselves as humans and the opposing team as animals. It mentally makes it easier for soldiers to kill each other if they think the other is not an equal to them. Greeks and Romans used names like “Barbarian” to indicate that someone was a babbler. During the American Revolution the British called the colonist Yankees, but the in return the colonist took the name and gave it a positive meaning by creating a the song “Yankee Doodle” which was basically our first national anthem. In World War I names like “Jerries” were given to Germans because of their first syllable. The list goes on and on and on. Society should take a good look at this. Name calling goes on not only in war but in the education systems of American from age seven. Names from “dumb dumb” to racial slurs that should have been left in the war fields and in the past have found their way through families and into children’s heads. They learn quickly that to feel better about themselves they can degrade another human’s life. Society needs to teach them very early that name calling is for the week, and that if it occurs turning the name around into a positive light can make things easier and better for them instead of just trying to be mean back. Watching what you say and how you say it can provide an easy guide to where you want it to go. There is a time and a place for using nicknames and in a war zone it is