Choose your words carefully. Words hurt. There is power in words. Even the smallest words can be the ones that hurt you. You cannot be too careful with words. You can do more harm with words than [insert your favorite weapon here].

These sayings or things close to them you’ve heard since you were a child first learning to string along a few words to make a sentence. Maybe even before.

I’ve been hurt by words. I’m sure most of us have at some point been hurt by the words uttered without much thought by spouses and others, children and parents, bosses and coworkers. Sometimes we get over them. Sometimes the wound is so deep that takes years. Sometimes we never get over them at all.

I’m currently at a loss because of a word I keep hearing on TV, reading on line, even seeing in print! I don’t think those using it are trying to inflict pain or to shock the world. I believe they are unaware of the response the word illicits, at least from me. And that response is one where I sit in awe and wonder if they even know what that word means.

What word am I talking about? Remember, if you go further you are reading this at your own risk. The word is . . . curate.

Yes, curate. Suddenly everything in the world is curated. A year ago the only things curated were museums where they keep the curators. Now everything from bargain priced e-books to fast food taco/chalupa combos to for all I know CBD oil is curated. Two years ago there were probably less people who could actually define curate as there were who could define misogynist in 2015.

In its most basic sense to curate is to organize and select for presentation. But it’s an editorial process and assumes one has examined, considered, and chosen the ‘most appropriate’ from ‘all available’ for presentation to a select group. A museum curator does not curate the entire museum but a very small display therein because of the expertise required and the care taken and time invested in the process. So when the ball park announces they have curated their sandwich selections it should mean more than they picked this year’s hot dog offerings based on the best deal they could get for that season.

Regular readers know I enjoy older “classic” movies. As a result, any cable, satellite, or steaming service I would consider subscribing to must have Turner Classic Movies (TCM) to feed my obsession. Lately the network has been using between movie time to advertise its wine club. In one 60 second commercial the word “curated” was used three times. Clearly their copywriter needs a good dictionary but failing that at least a decent thesaurus.

If you enjoyed this post please check out the home page where I present a carefully curated selection of mental ramblings. Hmm. Is that redundantly repetitious?