PODCAST
Weasel Words
October 5th, 2017
2 Samuel 11:14-27
Editing can be such fun, especially if the work is translated. Once, I was working on a history of my denomination that was translated into Haitian Creole. One word was completely new to me, so I looked it up. The first definition listed was “dune buggy.” I laughed as I pictured our church leader from the early 1900s flying over the sand in California with his hair streaming behind and his brilliantly colored surfboard strapped on top of the dune buggy. A subsequent and more accurate definition was horse-drawn carriage.
Editing can also be tedious. Weasel words burrow their way into our thoughts and writing. They make strong ideas powerless and mock clarity. “Some will say” and “the people seem to want” hedge away from a direct statement of truth. Often, we think of politicians and salespeople using them, but we all use them without thinking.
Satan’s schemes, like weasel words, cannot be trusted. In Matthew 5:37, Jesus calls us to clarity: “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”
Author: Amy Crofford
