Over the last few years there has been a rise of extremism around the world. From inflammatory political speeches to hate crimes and terrorism, it feels like all the phobias were cooking slowly inside our societies until the pot couldn't contain them anymore. Hatred is such a dark and heinous feeling and I believe that most of us have never really had it ourselves. Which makes me wonder why do we use the word "hate" so loosely when we only mean "dislike"?
A few days ago I was having a conversation with a friend when I said "I hate it when that happens." And the second that the word came out of my mouth it just felt very wrong. Why did I choose that word if what I really meant to say was "I don't like it when that happens"? I don't think that I hate anything in my life or that I have ever felt that way towards something or someone in the past. And nevertheless I think that I use that word frequently instead of saying that I dislike something or someone.
So I made a promise to myself that day to stop using the word hate when I really mean dislike. Because even when the dictionary defines hatred as an "intense dislike", the word has gotten a completely different reputation with the events of the last few years and I don't want to be part of any of that. And I don't want my words to feed that feeling in others, either.
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