April 29, 2008Poison Phrase ~ Pain Killer
The recent discussion about the word “termination” for ending employment heightened my sensitivity to militant terminology in our every day language. Which is why I heard the term “pain killer” with new ears today. The expression suggests aggression, but in fact, most “pain killers” are really pain blockers, and the best ones treat the pain by treating the source of pain.
If you consider pain to be a warning sign, the term “pain killer” could be analogous to “smoke-alarm destroyer.”
Does the term “pain killer” reflect our culture tendency toward aggression over working to resolve the source of our problems? I think it does.
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I am a training manager and one word I never use is “hit” (as in “hit the Enter key”). “Hit”, to me, means “bash” or “bang” and I never want anyone doing that to their computer keyboard! Rather, I use words that describe exactly what I mean: “Press the Enter key” or “Click the button”. These are actionable — and “safe” — words to use.
Comment by Judy — May 1, 2008 @ 5:45 am