The fear of words: facing cancellation in an era of linguistic transformation

The impact of societal shifts on human communication

“If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” — George Orwell.

Full disclosure: I’m a hybrid creature from the Millennial-GenX camp and though I hate these categories when speaking about complex humans, it works to give you a better sense of who I am as well, as my generational linguistic allegiances. While many think of the divide mostly as a Boomer versus the rest of us, recently I, too, feel like trying to keep up with language is like a gymnastics routine. Frankly, there are days when the mere thought of living in this seemingly new verbal vortex, makes me yearn for the simple life of a hermit crab.

Is the linguistic transformation of our era wearing you out as well? Well, lets peel back the layers of this linguistic onion and see if we can find some common generational ground, or at least a few laughs, in the process.

Recently, a female people leader, a years’ long Millennial pal of mine, who managed a large team, in a…