word censoring...

We could probably all come up with a list of words deemed "off limits." Whether they have been deemed politically incorrect, socially unacceptable, crude or maybe offensive, there have been many words that are considered taboo, at least in certain audiences.

As a Christian, people occasionally debate the use of swear/curse/cuss words. Some debate which words fit into the category and others debate whether they any of them really should be off limits. I would even suggest there are words that some words' meaning have changed as our culture has changed. Depending on where and how you grew up a word may carry no weight compared to someone else in a completely different setting.

Rather than try to jump into either of those debates... I've created my own soap box. Some of my least favorite words or phrases people could say in church, school or work and most people wouldn't bat an eye and yet I cringe every time. They are considered politically correct (or at least not incorrect), socially acceptable and not crude or offensive... or at least it seems.

It seems common for people to express their stress or dissatisfaction with their circumstances with a "kill me now" or maybe a "shoot me now" or just the charade of a gun to the head or a noose around the neck. I hate all of the above. A lot of people would probably say I'm being too sensitive or it's just a joke, but I'm not sure how you can lose friends and family to suicide or even walk along side people who have attempted suicide and throw those words around so loosely. My personal experience with suicide makes those words jump out at me and carry so much more weight. I realize our tendency is to exaggerate or over dramatize without any real threat of suicide, but usually a simple "I'm stressed" or "This is miserable" or even "I'd rather be anywhere other than here" would suffice. Most of the time, things aren't that bad that you would really consider killing yourself. At the same time, if they are that bad, how am I to differentiate between an exaggeration and a cry for help. I don't always trust myself to know the difference and as a result would just prefer to eliminate the exaggerations all together. Please.