Let's Crack Some Eggs! Choosing our words carefully

Words matter. Four that newly trip off my tongue this week - Let's Crack Some Eggs! - reflect a gift decades in the making. Twenty years ago, I discovered WordPower. While trainer Marian York is no longer with us, her influence shines through the words I use, the words I lose, the words I choose. Have I mentioned the power of tomato juice?

I’m an optimist. The 50 First Dates kind who wakes up every morning bubbling over with joy, seemingly oblivious to any disappointments of the day before. Each sunrise brings new possibilities and new opportunities to make the world a better place.

Yet, I realized that many of the words I used were in conflict with - wait, could be better aligned with - what I wanted to communicate. My light-filled ideas were shrouded in the words of warriors. Our language is littered with violent imagery and I was losing my messages by weighing them down with incongruent words. Sharing ideas genuinely meant shedding lifelong layers of violent words and finding space for words of joy and hope and possibility. A few examples.

Stop Killing and Start Sharing

The first substitutions were easy:

• I could die for some chocolate right now --> I would love some chocolate
• It’s killing me not to tell you --> I’m looking forward to sharing soon!

Some substitutions were more challenging:

• Don’t forget about this deadline --> Remember we’ve got a due date soon
• No more than 3 bullet points per slide --> Those dot points pop on that slide!

Kill two birds with one stone -->

Feed two birds with one scone

Recently, I got stuck with an expression near and dear to my heart: let’s blow it up. I loved using "blow it up" to mean… a courageous idea, a welcome disruption, a needed change. The expression captured the enthusiasm I have, the boldness I aspire to, and… the violent imagery I walked away from long ago. What to do?

Sunny Side Up

I enlisted help and road tested a few alternatives. Grateful for nonstop online meetings and the linguistic opportunities they offer, I tried a few on screen. Like sweatpants under work shirts, clutter just beyond our webcams, these trial expressions drew little attention. Mix it up? Them's fighting words. Start from scratch? More sports analogy than me. And then in a brief lull, an instant message from my strategic caped crusader colleague popped up. Crack some eggs. What? Why don’t you crack some eggs? It took a minute to fully absorb that these words might be the alternative I've been seeking. Crack. Some. Eggs. Hmm, I like it.

For the past week, I’ve been blending it into conversation, and I like the way it flows. An active less violent verb, crack, with the literary symmetry of an egg. Toss in a few chicken-and-egg images and we have all the ingredients of a lasting expression.

I also like the wonderful egg-themed expressions to complement my new one: They’re a good egg. Be careful putting all your eggs in one basket. And of course, You have to crack some eggs to make an omelet.

So, as you choose your ideas, think about the words and expressions you use to convey them. Would your ideas fit better, would your audience be more welcoming if you consciously chose less violent words and imagery? Pick an expression and try it for a week! Let me know how it works.

Let’s crack some eggs!