Why the Words We Choose Matter Most

A cultivated meat producer called Upside Foods recently earned an initial GRAS certification from the FDA, which is considered the first step toward being fully certified. Unfortunately, GRAS stands for “Generally Recognized As Safe,” which is a terrible phrase to use for describing anything. Would you eat something generally recognized as safe?

It just doesn’t really sound like anyone is convinced. It’s no wonder most people go with the acronym. The words we use to describe things shape how people perceive them. It’s probably why the Biden administration has been working so hard to get the WHO to rename “Monkey Pox” to “MPOX”. It’s certainly less biased against monkeys or the places where they come from.

When you listen for these terms, though, you discover they are all around us. When my flight experienced turbulence recently, the pilot told the flight attendants to return to their “jump seats.” Who came up with that and where are they jumping? Hopefully not off the plane without the rest of us. I’m a brand marketing guy so maybe I pay a bit more attention to this than most. Words do matter, though. They are generally recognized as important (GRAI). Which means we should all try a bit harder to find the best ones. Even if it is just to fully understand the difference between a snafu, a shitshow, and a clusterfuck.