Words aren't just words

Words can’t be just words. It holds more than a mere utterance emphasized from your vocal cord. With words we can conquer the world, with words as well there can occur misunderstanding. Beware of how dangerous words could be, than only you know you shouldn’t mess up with words that you once thought were just words.

I’m always careful of what I’m about to say, or at least I tried so hard not to use the wrong statement (it doesn’t always work my way though). But when all that’s left for you is to talk while the thinking part was long gone, there’s definitely nothing much you could do but just talk.

This happened when I was 15 and as reckless as I was with words.

It was the meeting of English Language Society and the new society advisor asked us to introduce ourselves along with our posts in the club. When came to my turn, as carefree I threw words from my lips try to sound a bit laid back and informal at the same time friendly.

“My name is Zawani and I’m just a member in this club” (the line i used to introduce myself)

Compare above with;

“My name is Zawani and I’m a member only” (The line most members used to introduce themselves)

Half of the club looked at me with cynical smile and the advisor explained to me why.

We don’t use ‘just’ in your case because it sounds superior; like you’re not satisfied with your post and obviously wanting to be a president. Plus, ‘only’ is a more humble word to use where it refers as something is the best and you wouldn’t choose any other.

If I were to convert the circumstance into Malay, it would sound pretty much like;

“Saya cuma seorang ahli di dalam persatuan ini” (in case ‘just’)
“Saya merupakan ahli sahaja di dalam persatuan ini” (in case ‘only’)

Everybody knows I didn’t mean to sound superior though. From that moment and onward I enjoyed paying extra attention on words and its definition.

There you go. The thing is what means quite the same doesn’t mean it’s the same. Don’t use a word you don’t quite sure the proper meaning of it.

Just to make it fun, let’s convert the situation into Japanese;

“Kare ga tada menba darou? Kono kurabu de” (in case ‘just’-‘tada’)
-Dia (lelaki) hanya seorang ahli di dalam kelab ini kan?-

“Kare ga menba dake da, kono kurabu de” (in case ‘only’-‘dake’)
-Dia (lelaki) merupakan ahli sahaja di dalam kelab ini-

(The examples should end here, but I’m too engrossed so bear with it)

“Atashi wa zenzen heiki, tada kizu da”
-I (female) am fine, it’s just a wound-

“Ima hoshii no koto ga shiawase dake desu”
-Right now what I want is only happiness-

So words aren’t just words.