Screamed ... Whispered ... Whimpered

"When you're drowning you don't think, 

I would be incredibly pleased if someone would notice

I'm drowning and come and rescue me.  You just scream."

John Lennon

To trace the history of a word, the reader may be quite surprised how time has been harsh on the original meaning, altering it over the years.  The word may have originally meant something especially intricate, but now is  inappropriate or offensive.

A few decades ago, I was tracing the origin of words.  I came across the name of a tree that burned very quickly and hotly, which was frequently used for kindling.  The name of that tree was Fag.  As the history unfolded, my emotions began to bubble in horror as I intuitively knew where this story was going.  During the time of witch hunts, the fires would have to be hot enough to thoroughly burn the witches.  So before the witches were burned, the fires were tested with gay men as the kindling; therefore, the slang word fag.  I was blindsided by feelings of  shame, humiliation, and the sense of man's cruelty. The full knowledge of this word pierced my heart.

Our vocabularies need to be laced with integrity and respect for all.  We must be mindful of the words we use as they can sound quite differently whether screamed, whispered, or whimpered.