Have you noticed that no conversation can currently be held in America without someone saying “awesome!” or “amazing”?

Today I heard two presenters who were promoting uniqueness, introduce each other as..you guessed it, “awesome.” The irony is that they were using an overused word while talking about the importance of being unique. Because they were using this word mindlessly–and repeatedly–they failed to do what they were suggesting their listeners do. Not the best way to build credibility.

So this being income tax day, it occurred to me that a tax on words might make us all more mindful of what we are saying. It could cut down on the chatter and nonsense. We’d have to think, really think, before we spoke. It could give us a whole new appreciation for the words we use.

There would be fewer lawsuits because everything would need to be said in the clearest, most direct way. Newscaster would focus on the facts of the day and tell us just what we absolutely needed to know. Our relationships would improve because we would want to use our words for what was immediate and important.

And since English possesses one of the world’s richest vocabularies with more than 500,000, we would learn new words to help us express ourselves with greater ease.

What do you think? Would this work? Would we speak more clearly and mindfully?