Mini beasts and other strange terms

Over the weekend I had a few days to relax with my family at the Grand Hotel in Swanage in Dorset. The hotel has a pool and it was nice to spend some time with my young daughter as she learns to paddle and swim. 

I often find that when I get away my mind has the space to drift and revisit conversations and activities from the working week. This time was no exception.

I have been struck by two new phrases that I had not really heard before this week. 

Apparently in children's centres they do not use the term 'creepy crawlies' anymore for the insects and bugs you might find under a stone or living in a wall. Now the trendy term is 'mini beasts'! I quite like this - it is exciting and taps into a child's love/hate relationship with monsters and big beasts. I also started to wonder what in my world might count as a mini beast - maybe certain journalists or minor bureaucrats! 

The other term which I must admit I found a bit more problematic was the 'mummy mafia'. I am told this is a term for mum's who gang together to dominate a child care setting or a school. Not sure I will be using this one.

But these experiences did get me thinking about how words and terms change. And how hard it is sometimes to keep up with the changes. Our language is constantly evolving. I notice this in myself. I am using terms now that little over 6 months ago were not in my vocabulary.

One example of this is how many organisations have stopped using the term 'hard to reach'. Until recently this was a very popular idea and many of my workshops would start with at least one participant saying 'I want to learn to work with hard-to-reach groups'. I think we have all become more aware now and recognise that people tend not to be hard-to-reach. They are living their lives as they see fit. It is often services and organisations that are hard-to-access.

One promise I made myself a while ago was to simplify my language. I believe that it is possible to express complex ideas in clear and simple words. I don't think I am that good at it yet. But I know with writing that practice makes a difference. The golfer Arnold Palmer once staid, 'the more I practice the luckier I get'. I hope that I more often I write the clearer I will become. Unless of course of vanish under a pile of words.