Context is Everything, by Deborah Jenkins

I've been thinking recently about what I actually mean when I write/say certain things these days. My words carry different meanings to the ones they might have held before Lockdown was a thing. I find this fascinating. Here are a few examples.

I'm Zooming in the lounge now

Before: (with the preposition in replaced with into) I'm going to move at speed into the lounge

Now: (with a warning look) I'm going to chat with friends/my boss/my department, on-line, so you'd better pipe down or I'll kill you

I'm shattered!

Before: I've taught all day, cooked a meal, cleared away, hung up and folded washing, made two phone calls and been to a church meeting

Now: I've done two Zoom calls and a Whites Wash

I'm off for my daily exercise

Before: Would never say it. (Or do it.)

Now: I'm going for a walk for half an hour. 

I'm going to post a letter

Before: I'll stop at the postbox en route to town in the car

Now: I'm so excited  about leaving the house on a legitimate walk, I could almost burst.

Are you watching the daily briefing?

Before: Wouldn't have said it, except possibly in relation to the school day, replacing watching with going to and getting rid of daily 

Now: Are you watching the latest episode in the horror movie that is our actual lives, or are you choosing sanity over hard facts?

Are we running out of hand gel?

Before: (at school, with mild interest) Has anyone seen that bottle we use after cleaning the hamster cage? 

Now: (with rising panic) We've only got a litre left! I'm shielding so you need to get out there NOW and buy a serious amount of back-up.

Have you got your mask with you?

Before: It's embarrassing to use public transport in fancy dress so don't forget that bag with your mask in.

Now: If you've forgotten it, you're basically stuffed, condemned to wander the empty streets of your own town while I go into shops where it's warm and there are actual human beings to stare at from a distance

It's Weekly Family Quiz Night

Before: Wouldn't say it, or do it. One daughter lives in London. My son and daughter in law live in Sheffield. We live in Sussex.

Now: It's time to exchange Lockdown news and have some fun on Zoom together with help from Jay's Virtual Pub Quiz. Highlight of the week.

I had went for a walk with a friend

Before: I walked next to her, chatting and laughing, enjoying the wide sky and quiet trees.

Now: I walked 2m away from her, stumbling on stones/tufts/tree roots trying to lipread as I couldn't hear a word she said. I forgot we even have sky and trees.

It was the best party ever! (said by my daughter)

Before: I had a meal out, partied with all my friends and rolled home at 2am feeling a little light-headed

Now: I had a meal in, partied with paper friends (produced by Mum) and wandered upstairs with a glass of Baileys to play games with real people online

It's all about the context. It got me thinking about how words need to change in context for writers. I recently attempted to write a children's story (picture book). I had to think carefully about the words I used. They had to be simple but not pedestrian, powerful but not flowery. I wanted most of my words and phrases to be instantly understood but I also needed to model slightly more advanced ones, in context, to model good writing slightly above my readers' ability. In this way, I hoped to promote learning as well as give pleasure.

There are so many ways in which we may write with attention to context: -

• tailoring a story with an eye to including contemporary issues
• changing vocabulary to appeal to different tastes/interests
• making settings and situations relevant to the current world situation
• writing in a best selling genre with a view to sales potential
• writing to encourage/support/build up, as in for a church newsletter or local group
• creating humour by using language in the 'wrong' context as Fran Hill said in Martin Horton's brilliant post about funny writing

Regarding this last one, I'm reminded of something my (usually reserved) husband once said to some total strangers in John Lewis. A man was trying out a potential acquisition by hoovering a piece of carpet right next to the hoover display. The man's family were standing around watching with intense interest. My husband, who has a sharp sense of the ridiculous, marched up to them and said: 

'It's no good trying it there. That's the most hoovered bit of the shop!' 

The whole family gawped at him, their polite smiles becoming more fixed the more he laughed. My daughter and I had to drag him into Fixtures and Fittings, where we were all free to double up with mirth, before he went back to apologise. But by that time, they'd got the joke and were laughing themselves. 

So what about you? What words and phrases do you use these days that you might have used differently before Covid? Do tell. It might give us the smile we need today. As Fran said, 'I suppose God gave humanity humour to help us cope with the mess He knew we would get ourselves into'

I couldn't agree more.

Click on the link to see the novella on amazon A recent reader review: 'I have just read this book for the second time, and loved it just as much as the first time. The story is exceptionally well-written, with lovely and sometime humorous turns of phrase and descriptions. The main character, Daisy, falls in love with a house, and the reasons for this gradually unfold as the story progresses. I was moved to tears a couple of times as Daisy's emotional state will resonate with many of us, especially if we have children. I won’t reveal any more, but suggest you read this for yourself. You will not regret it.'

Deborah Jenkins is a primary school teacher and freelance writer who has written articles, text books, devotional notes and short stories. She writes regularly for the tes. She has also completed a novella, The Evenness of Things, available as an Amazon e-book. She is currently seeking a publisher for her recently finished novel, Braver. Deborah loves hats, trees and small children. After years overseas with her family, who are now grown up, she lives in Sussex with her husband, a Baptist minister, and a cat called Oliver