“F*&%.”

I live in New York City. I hear this word every day. In a way, I feel as if I am almost immune to it. It seems to become part of our vocabulary.

It is one word. It has a host of meanings. At the end of the day, if no one is offended by it, does it really matter that someone said it?

If someone stubs their toe alone in a room and screams this word, does it really make a difference? They could have yelled anything -- it would mean the same. Fudge! Freedom! It is meant as a rude exclamation. Does it matter what is said?

Yes, because words matter.

Fudge. It is a dense, chocolate dessert invented in around 1886, sold in slices, squares or logs. The contents have to do with sugar, butter and milk or cream, maybe even corn syrup.

Freedom. If one were to look up its meaning, he or she might find synonyms such as “liberty," “liberation," “deliverance" or “independence.” Freedom has a meaning tied to the American history and value system, a meaning tied to the individual, his or her sacred rights and independence. People fought for Freedom, not the word, “freedom," but the idea of Freedom. However, if the word does not exist, does the meaning?

If one word was removed from the English vocabulary, the concept and idea embodied in that particular word would evaporate. For instance, if the words “I” and “we,” and “me” and “myself,” and all other related words were eliminated from the English vocabulary, the comprehensive meaning of the individual would simply disappear. There would be no way to even articulate the concept until a new word was crafted. If we take words away, the concept disappears until it is “rediscovered” and a new word is assigned to it.

A word might mean something different to people. The word “fire” might mean something different to someone who is lighting a cigarette than to someone who uses an open flame every day to survive. However, the concept, the idea behind the word, is larger than one individual. It goes back to history, even back to myths of Prometheus. The word “fire” has a whole host of meanings that have developed over time, now even going to describe whether something is entertaining or a person is sexually attractive. By using the word, a person is interacting with these ideas, but he or she is also interacting with the word’s extensive history and meaning. The speaker is partaking in a concept.

This is why the words people use do actually matter. Every time someone speaks, he or she is speaking from vocabulary and meanings that have been developing overtime. The speaker is interacting with real ideas. Words are not syllables — they are concepts that exist by being named and spoken.

Regardless of intentions, when we say vulgar or obscene phrases, slang or words, we are tapping into an entire history of crude and vile concepts. We are interacting with a context and history of a word that is meant to portray corrupt ideas and actions of humanity.

The word “fudge” does not carry this contextual significance, nor does the word “freedom.”

While certain words are meant to interact with the good, the superior or even the holy, other words are meant to interact with the base. When we use them, we do the same, regardless of intentions.