When someone speaks, listen to what they are saying and how they’re saying it. Believe them.
If words didn’t matter…
- It wouldn’t be called “tax relief” or a “death tax”, it’d just be a tax.
- We’d use the pronouns someone prefers.
- Advertising wouldn’t be a thing.
Yet, in all those cases, someone has chosen the particular words they are using because of what they mean and the words’ effect on someone else. They’re communicating something.
How someone frames an issue that they’re speaking or writing about tells you a lot about what they are thinking, where they’re coming from. Listen to them and believe them.