Glimpses of Verbal Pollution

For the past couple of weeks the OIA has been working on an event called “Verbal Pollution”. We hear about pollution all the time, pollution in the air, pollution in water, rivers, but we rarely ever think of pollution as a factor that is even present in our relationships and communication with others. Pollution is defined as a “contaminant that causes instability, discomfort to our ecosystem and to living things” and even though we might be unaware of it, there are many factors such as the words we use that pollute our interactions with others. Verbal Pollution is an event that seeks to explore the true meaning and history behind many unacceptable, yet commonly used words. While working on the event, many interesting conversations came up in the office. I realized that there are many misused words in Spanish that I had been unaware of, and until this moment, I had overlooked the implications of using the word. We are hoping to create a sense of attention to the participants in the event. Hopefully we will be more aware and careful not to pollute every aspect of our lives, including our interactions with others.