say what?

because for hours now, and for the past two posts, i have been skirting around the issue - and i should just say it.

i'm a good evader.

but Brian McFarlan's Drop the Pink Elephant, which is devoted entirely to correctness in one's spoken interactions, has had me thinking. I can be unkind in speech.

I remember this allegory someone sent once. A boy's father tells him to hammer nails into the fence every time he feels angry. The boy starts out with many nails a day, and slowly there are less nails in the fence. Then for every day that he isn't angry, the father asks him to remove the nails.

Each nail, the father points out, is like a harsh word said in anger. The hurts go deep, and what's worse is that you cannot really take them back. When you remove the nail, the hole is still there.

And I've said harsh words in complete jest - because I find it makes one tough - what with one's British education. And I often find that among journalists - a clique to which I do not entirely belong, but to which I often aspire - snideness is the rule of the day; it's what sets you apart.

Because saying, "You're smart, aren't you?" is just so much more of a sharper nail than "Stupid."