I had a Teddy Bear whose given name was "Slacker," purchased when I couldn't sleep after one of my dear cats died. I laughed every time I looked at Slacker.
Typically, we have negative connotations for anyone thought of as a slacker: bum, deadbeat, goldbrick, goof-off, idler, loafer, quitter, slouch, couch potato, lazybones, wastrel, drone, and wimp are some synonyms. Readers who know the Enneagram also know my so-called vice is a form of slackerdom: indolence or sloth.
I once bought a book by someone whose work I admired. In the introduction the author said she used male pronouns throughout the book because she found it a "nuisance" to write in language free of gender bias. I was appalled and requested a refund. By the way, it's quite easy to write in language free of gender bias without the he/she or s/he distraction or alternating his and her (see any of my writing for examples). So, I could deem her a "slacker" in the negative sense, perhaps a lazybones.
But negative connotations of "slacker" are only connotations. The word can also refer to slowing down, making loose or less tense, easing off. If you've ever been on a sailboat, you know that giving the sails some slack can be vital under certain circumstances.
And those of us who may be quiet or occasionally have trouble getting started can also be cooperative consensus builders who honor diversity and show compassion when it may be lacking in others.
The real "nuisance" to me about the book mentioned above is finding anyone who still denies the symbolic power of language. So today I encourage you to pay close attention to your language. What assumptions are you making when you apply global labels to anyone or anything?
Could you give some slack?
Typically, we have negative connotations for anyone thought of as a slacker: bum, deadbeat, goldbrick, goof-off, idler, loafer, quitter, slouch, couch potato, lazybones, wastrel, drone, and wimp are some synonyms. Readers who know the Enneagram also know my so-called vice is a form of slackerdom: indolence or sloth.
I once bought a book by someone whose work I admired. In the introduction the author said she used male pronouns throughout the book because she found it a "nuisance" to write in language free of gender bias. I was appalled and requested a refund. By the way, it's quite easy to write in language free of gender bias without the he/she or s/he distraction or alternating his and her (see any of my writing for examples). So, I could deem her a "slacker" in the negative sense, perhaps a lazybones.
But negative connotations of "slacker" are only connotations. The word can also refer to slowing down, making loose or less tense, easing off. If you've ever been on a sailboat, you know that giving the sails some slack can be vital under certain circumstances.
And those of us who may be quiet or occasionally have trouble getting started can also be cooperative consensus builders who honor diversity and show compassion when it may be lacking in others.
The real "nuisance" to me about the book mentioned above is finding anyone who still denies the symbolic power of language. So today I encourage you to pay close attention to your language. What assumptions are you making when you apply global labels to anyone or anything?
Could you give some slack?
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