“YOU SPINELESS, TINY-BALLED, WHINY EXCUSE OF A MAN”: Michaela Pratt/Aja Naomi King — -HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER
I must say that whomever is responsible for the penning of this phrase — really the one who thought of it and then deftly inserted it into a script — deserves my rousing commendation.
What a tremendous line!!!
I will look it up; it’s easy to get confirmation. Identity forthcoming.
But let’s get back to these powerful words.
Certainly eight or nine other words however juxtaposed could cut one to the quick as deeply.
And then engender either a delayed, aborted, stammered or tongue-tied response or no response at all given its jaw-dropping effect, courtesy of its raw seismic shock value.
No man, woman or beast would ever choose to be on the receiving end of such vitriolic expectoration.
And that’s why I’ll never forget it.
Because words so hatefully icy and razor-sharp would pretty much knock me cold.
Such is the destructive power of the spoken (and written) word.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but [names] will never hurt me.” Wikipedia defines this age-old adage as “an English language children’s rhyme [which] persuades the child victim of name-calling to ignore the taunt, to refrain from physical retaliation, and to remain calm and good-natured.”
Easier said than done, particularly for a kid.
This declarative somewhat flimsy rhyming rejoinder to verbal haranguing or varying forms of harassment reportedly first appeared in The Christian Recorder in March of 1862, a publication of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, in this rendition: “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”
Names. Words. Depending on how they’re used and with careful consideration given to the source from whom or whence they come, words can unquestionably hurt.
That is why in the respective arenas of psychology, sociology and Internet slang it is widely recommended to “…not feed the trolls,” meaning that any response to disruptive attention-seeking behavior fueled by nasty dialogue likely represents nothing more than a counterproductive fool’s errand.
So what to do? How to respond?
Back in the day the answer was easy.
When your cup runneth — or boiled — over it invariably turned physical. You fought. Even if you lost, you stood up and were counted, such as it was. You recaptured a little of that lost respect.
But those days of playground barbarism are long gone. For a host of reasons — all legitimate mind you — that option has been pretty much swept off the table. Today is not yesterday, largely a good thing.
And the domain of the well-chosen word has never been more expansive.
Shonda Rhimes along with Peter Nowalk and his stable of writers know all about it.
Aha, your aforementioned “identity” has been divulged.
Either Peter Nowalk himself or one of his capable writers — with the approval of Ms. Rhimes and others I would imagine — spun the yarn of these 8 or 9 words into pure gold.
(Sorry, I’m confused as to whether “tiny-balled” is actually one word or two).
Certainly just another example of the fine writing this series has offered over the course of its first three seasons, but absolutely unforgettable to me.
And it’s not simply my puerile nature nor is it my affinity for the inane but rather the awe-inspiring punch of the timely well-chosen word which makes it hauntingly indelible and striking.
I have always been attracted to words and what they can do.
At the same time, I learned early that using them carefully and sometimes even sparingly can have the greatest impact and carry the most weight. To eloquently orate or to beautifully write are rare gifts. Not for everybody. But if you can think, then you can learn to do both to a reasonable degree.
Reading — regularly but not necessarily voraciously — helps because it broadens and enhances vocabulary. And a wide vocabulary sets the table for the spoken and written word.
To the individual secure in his/her understanding and persona — as well as to the one who favors the application of perfume or cologne — the credo, “less is more” couldn’t be more apropos. Because overdoing it or trying too hard is a surefire way to spoil the whole presentation.
Verbosity is verboden. One or maybe two words — if they are the right ones — will always do as opposed to a sea of immodest redundancy fed by the overarching desire — futile though it is — to show one’s intellectual mettle.
So you can go to the gym eight days a week and exercise like a fiend. You can cross-train and shmoss-train until you nearly drop in an effort to be the most fit human on the planet.
Your physical strength quotient can be off the charts and you can look like Arnold did forty or fifty years ago or like whomever wore the female’s mantle in that world.
But in spite of your BMI and whatever other variables are in play here remember this:
A few well-chosen words proffered in a timely and cutting fashion can reduce even you to but a puddle quietly rippling in the softest of breezes.
How to counter?
Expand your vocabulary, polish your delivery and fight back.
After all, trolls like it best when they scurry back under the bridge.
[This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in November 2016.]
