Category: General

Do you have that friend or family member who pronounces a fairly common word incorrectly on a regular basis? Or, do you know someone who’s pretty intelligent but consistently conjugates one particular verb incorrectly? I have a friend of almost 20 years when something isn’t quite going his way, he gets “fustrated” – this friend is a very successful, college-educated professional who works with executives at the C level every day. In the conjugation department, I have a relative who constantly says “I seen that” – I’m not sure if he knows that the word “saw” isn’t just something you use to cut through a log or plank.

The next time you find yourself in a discussion with a handful of people, watch for the use of the word “impact” and listen to the way it’s being used. I’m willing to bet you’ll hear this phrase: “I was impacted by . . .” Until relatively recently, the “translation” of that phrase would have meant that the person was, literally, crushed like a stone by something – so if the person was still alive to tell the story, then you were talking to a member of the Justice League or one of the Avengers, someone with superhuman strength. Over time, though, saying that you were “impacted by” something has become acceptable in the English language to mean that this something has significantly affected you – and left you standing unscathed by a one-ton rock. (And yes, it has AFFECTED you, not EFFECTED – that’s a lesson for another day.) Words are funny.

Speaking of funny words, the word “mortgage” has its origins in Old French that translates to “death pledge” – spooky! Granted, for anyone who hasn’t yet purchased a home, the idea of entering into a contract to pay back a ginormous sum of money over a 30-year period can be pretty overwhelming, even spooky. However, let me throw you a curve: the word “rent” has its origins in Middle English meaning “to tear, rip”. When you rent instead of buying a home, you’re metaphorically tearing a hole in your financial pockets – the money’s just falling out and landing in someone else’s pocket who carries the mortgage. With a mortgage, you have the benefits of building equity, enjoying a tax deduction, painting the kitchen whatever color strikes your fancy, and hanging a framed velvet painting of dogs playing poker on any wall you choose.

I’m going to throw one more word at you: “faith” – don’t worry, I’m not going to get religious on you. Faith can be defined as holding a belief in something for which there is incomplete evidence. I point that out because, quite often, buying a house is referred to as a “leap of faith” – but I can’t disagree more. Millions of people have purchased homes and realized the benefits detailed above – THAT is rather COMPLETE evidence, wouldn’t you say? Conversely, I would say that believing one can continue to rent a home and realize those same benefits is based on VERY incomplete evidence – and THAT’s spooky!

If you’ve learned one thing from reading these columns, it’s this: I don’t read a ton of books by or about the French philosopher Descartes or spend large amounts of money traveling the world to view the Masters’ paintings in far-flung museums – my entertainment and sources of knowledge run to the more . . . mundane, if you will. Well, I’m not about to disappoint.

In the movie Men in Black, the two main characters J & K (played by Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, respectively) have recently met and K is trying to recruit J to join the clandestine government agency that monitors aliens on planet Earth. Agent K has just shown J a lot of things that are hard to believe/explain and urges J to keep them secret. At this point, J interrupts him, and this piece of dialogue ensues:

J: Why the big secret? People are smart. They can handle it.

K: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago, everybody KNEW the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody KNEW that the Earth was flat. And fifteen minutes ago, you KNEW that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you’ll KNOW tomorrow.

All too often, we listen to others around us on everything ranging from politics and where to find the best street tacos to technology and which actor played the best Batman – and we come to conclusions without basing them in our own research or inquiry. We just KNOW that the iPhone is the best smartphone available on the market (even though we haven’t owned or used one) or that the food truck called Let’s Taco ‘Bout Food can’t be beat (even though it’s located in a city 350 miles away from us, and there’s a good chance we’ll never make it there to sample the goods). In other words, we’ve just adopted a mindset based on the prevailing opinion of a group and refused to step outside of that group and see what works for us as an individual.

For example, everybody KNOWS that you have to have a 20% down payment to purchase a house. Sure, that’s true IF you don’t want to pay mortgage insurance at the beginning of your loan, but the 20% down payment is NOT an absolute requirement for getting a mortgage. Everybody KNOWS that an FHA loan is only available for first-time homebuyers. Um, no. There are certain hoops you have to jump through for an FHA loan, but it’s available to more than first-time homebuyers (and you only need 3.5% for a down payment). Everybody KNOWS that you have to have at least a 620 FICO score to qualify for a loan. While it’s true that the higher the FICO is, the better your options are, a 620 FICO is not the absolute cut-off point.

I’m fairly certain I’ve sort of harped on this before, but I think it bore repeating – or maybe I bored you by repeating it (sorry). My point is this: rather than KNOWING what is and isn’t possible, don’t be afraid to ask. More often than not, you’ll find that what you KNOW is true but isn’t the ONLY possible truth – like Elvis not really being dead but having returned to his mother planet.