Word Reclamation

Sometimes a word is so over-used in the negative sense, it loses its usefulness to describe something good. Especially if it is used to describe a stereotype, it becomes cultural taboo to be associated with it, and people are then almost permanently cut off from a word tool. It’s fun to go through the mental process of word reclamation by analyzing its meaning, and putting it in a new light. It may not take away the connotations that an over-use could create, but it may regain some of its richness and usefulness over time. One side of me would want to begin using it in its new, positive sense, but a more practical solution is to come up with a similar, but new word to describe the new idea. The intent of this section is to walk through words in a process of “word reclamation” in order to spark thought about a subject and possibly enrich the meaning of a word tool.