I often wonder why people say "don't forget" rather than say "remember." Remember is more positive! Some psychologists say that the negative like "don't run" plants the suggestion to run ... especially in children.I commented:
Ginny, this is interesting. I'll have to "remember" to be positive!I'm surprised that, as a word person, I had not noticed this before. The negative version of it must really be ingrained in me (and maybe our culture).
"Don't forget to buy bread on your way home."While writing this, I went back to Ginny's post, and discovered she had added:
"Don't forget to turn out the light."
"Don't forget......."
I read that when we say "I can't remember" or "I forgot" that we program our brains to not remember. Rather we might say "I will remember." This might especially help us older folks who are often accused of forgetting more.I responded:
Wow, this is also interesting. So let me restate my previous comment even more positively: "I will remember to be positive!"Ginny, ending the conversation, clicked "like" on what I just said. Tell me I'm not the only one — besides Ginny — who likes thinking about the way we use language.
(I later posted this on my book blog, as well.)
2 comments:
Thanks to my mother, I began early thinking about words and how I use them. She would say, "Can't never could do anything" when I told her "I can't do that." Then she urged me to try. She forbade slangy terms like gosh or darn; she said there were many words to more accurately describe one's feelings or thoughts. Thlen I have continued to study and observe language usage. For instance, in a video called Five Forbidden Phrases, the "Telephone Doctor" suggested avoiding the use of "No," "We can't do that," "You'll have to," "I don't know," and "Just a second." These phrases can be very annoying to a customer and to folks in general. Tell people what you can do, what you need them to do, what you will do to find an answer to their inquiry and how much time you really need to respond. Remember, be positive!
Ginny, I imagine you shared these idea with your bookstore employees, right?
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