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Haters Gonna Hate, Hate, Hate
Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Mark Des Cotes, when I was young my hair was so black that it shined blue, and I believe if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I talk about the overuse of a four letter word.
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Today’s Fun Fact of the Day: Did you know the rumour that “orange” rhymes with no other English word is incorrect. Orange rhymes with Blorenge (a mountain in Wales) and sporange (a sac where plant spores are made). “Silver” has the same rumour going for it, but it actually rhymes with Wilver (a nickname) and chilver (a ewe lamb). Well, next time someone tells you they don’t rhyme with anything you’ll be able to set them straight.
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Here’s What I leaned yesterday.
We use the word hate way to often. “I hate Mondays,” “I hate my job,” “I hate Brussels sprouts,” “I hate that song”
Even young kids overuse it, “I hate my teacher,” “I hate homework,” and when they don’t get their way “I hate you”.
But is this term appropriate for all of these circumstances? Isn’t hate too strong a word? I mean, wars have broken out over hate. Hitler hated Jews, North Korea hated South Korea, Catholics and Protestants hated each other in Northern Ireland, and today ISIS hate the USA.
The judicial system has a special department devoted to hate crimes. Think about that, hate crimes. The term alone has so much weight behind it. When you hear on the news of some stranger being charged for a crime you may casually think, good for them, they deserve what they get. But when story is described as a hate crime, all of a sudden things are different and you can’t help but feel animosity and resentment for this person you never met, even if you have no idea what they did. The term hate crime is that serious that it affects you.
And yet, we casually throw the word hate around like it was nothing. Can your job really be that bad that it deserves the same word that ISIS has for America? Do you dislike a particular song so much that hate is the only way to describe it? Well, maybe, if you’re one of Taylor Swifts ex-boyfriends. But chances are your feelings aren’t really that deep towards the song.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary the definition of HATE is Intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury. Intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury.
So with that in mind let’s take another look at our casual use of the word hate.
I hate Mondays; It’s catchy, makes a great T-Shirt, but can you truly say that you have an intense hostility and aversion to Mondays derived from either fear, anger, or a sense of injury? It’s possible, but probably not.
What Brussels sprouts? Fear? Anger? Sense of injury. I don’t think so. So is it fair to hate them? Why don’t you just dislike them? Isn’t that enough? Or how about loathe? I could loathe Brussels sprouts. I’m ok with that.
Now, looking back at the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the antonyms, or opposites of the word Hate are; affection, fondness and love.
So I want you to imagine a scenario here. You’re out somewhere with a friend or coworker and you see someone you really don’t like. You turn to your companion and say I hate that guy”. Easy enough to imagine, right? You’ve probably been on one end or the other of that conversation at some time.
Now, imagine the same scenario but this time the person you see is someone you think very highly of. Would you turn to your companion and say “I feel affection towards that guy”? How about fondness, would you use that? Love? Would you turn to your companion and say “I love that guy”? You may, depending on how you’re using the word love but I don’t think you would use it in the way I’m describing. And yet, it’s the exact opposite of the word hate that we throw around so frequently.
Hate has become our go to word for anything we don’t like. We haven’t given ourselves enough wiggle room should something worse come along. If I tell someone I hate Brussels sprouts then what do I say when they offer me turnips in their place? Do I say I hate them more? Or I really hate turnips. Are there different levels of hate we can assign to things? No, hate is hate and it’s pretty much at the top of the scale.
What did I learn?
I didn’t compose this episode in the hopes of changing your vocabulary and your use of the word, hate. I just wanted to bring attention to the fact that it’s being overused. Can’t we just not like something, detest something, be unable to bear or stand something, or even despise something? Why do we have to hate it?
I’m probably just venting. Earlier today my daughter said how much she hates doing the dishes. She said it in French but it was the same thing. I asked her if hate was the right word to describe how she felt about the chore. Of course she said it was. What do you expect from a 15 year old?
I don’t know, maybe it’s just me. Maybe it’s all the stories on the news of all the conflicts going on around the world. All the hate that everyone seems to have for each other. It just gets to me sometimes. Especially when I hear someone use the word for mundane things they dislike.
I don’t know… I guess I just hate how casually the word is used these days.
I’m Mark Des Cotes and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.
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