Originally Published: February 25, 2025

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2026

If I could permanently ban a word from general usage it would be: hatred.

Hatred is a noun that represents a deep enduring emotion of dislike itself.

Therefore, I would ban the word and action it represents.

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According to Google’s CoPilot AI Search, Hatred is:

Refers to an intense, often long-lasting feeling of dislike or animosity toward someone or something. It expresses a more abstract, general or enduring emotion rather than the act itself.

Hating suggests a strong, often persistant and serious emotion; more formal and literal than “hating”.

• “Decades of war have left deep hatred between the communities.”
• “Hatred can consume a person’s mind and affect their decisions.”

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Instead, let the world breathe in tolerance, acceptance, kindness, and love, and exhale hatred.

S, 🌻

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2025

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Shaming “Shoulds”

Working in a middle should I hear the latest slang terms and wonder what the hell they mean.

Banning any of these silly words wouldn’t work as they’d be replaced by another incomprehensible one.

Should

The correct way to use the word “should” from the Cambridge Dictionary:

Used to say or ask what is the correct or best thing to do:

If you’re annoyed with him, you should tell him.

You should take the bus – it’s the easiest way to get there.

“Should I apologize to him?” “Yes, I think you should.”

This computer isn’t working as it should.

There should be an investigation into the cause of the disaster.

He said that I should see a doctor.

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Shaming Should

Psychology Today lists three examples of “Shaming Shoulds”“

• Should is a shame-based statement that creates stress and anxiety in your body and mind.
• Should indicates that there is a specific, correct way to do things. This is not true.
• Replace the shoulds with wants and see how that sits with you.

Examples of the incorrect way to use the word “should”:

I should exercise more.

I should eat healthier.

I should work harder.

I should be thinner.

I should be vegan.

I should be more sustainable.

I should read more.

I should be a better parent, daughter, wife, friend, etc…

I should be….

Exhausted?

I am.

In the same article, Psychology Today says, “should is critical, disempowering, and not real because it indicates a specific, correct way to do things”.

According to who?

Answer: The impossible standards communicated on any media platform, suggesting this is the correct way to dress, weigh, eat, etc…

To the media influencers who promote shaming shoulds I say:

Go get some more botox and see me in twenty years when you wake up and wonder how and when you lost your authentic self.

Therefore, I say permanently ban using the word “should” in any shaming way.

S, 🌻

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