To different people, words mean different things and have different effects. Words affect our emotions, way of thinking, personality, and our general way of life. It is quite possible that words have no meaning and the audience gives them meaning. There is some truth to that however. We give words the power to affect us. Therefore, words and language are strong tools that we use in our everyday life. .
The words in our language, written or spoken, mean different things to different people. Not only do they mean things different things to different people, words mean different things coming from different people. An example of this is the word "nigger." The word nigger coming from a black person directed at another doesn't have much of an affect. In fact, it's a form of greeting or recognition. Gloria Naylor wrote, "the word nigger was used in my presence, but it was set within contexts and inflections that caused it to register in my mind as something else." That is a confirmation that it does matter who is using certain words. Another example of this is the word "chink". Chink is a derogatory word to describe Chinese people. The use of the word chink is in the same tense as the use of word nigger. Christine Leong wrote, "The word has never been used to belittle or degrade, but rather as a term of endearment, a loving insult between friends." However, there is a difference between the use of chink and nigger. The use of both words is for endearment, but the word nigger has a very harsh background. Nigger is a word to describe a black person in the most derogatory way. It's the ultimate insult. Black people went through four hundred years of slavery and oppression in America and nigger was the word used to degrade them. Although the two terms are derogatory, they do pack different weights. .
Furthermore, language in America is particularly harsh. Gloria Naylor and Christine Leong both agree with this.
