The chaos surrounding the Orange County mailer sent out a few weeks ago revolves around one word and reminds us of the potency of the written word.
The letter was mailed to 14,000 registered voters in Orange County with Spanish surnames, and was sent from the Tan Nguyen campaign. Nguyen was a Republican congressional candidate campaigning against Loretta Sanchez in the 47 district.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the letter states “that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time.”
This statement enraged many voters. On Oct. 22, Nguyen held a press conference explaining that one word was misconstrued. Nguyen’s lawyer, William Braniff, claimed that the controversy was caused by the media’s translation of the Spanish letter, and particularly its translation of one word. The letter used the word “emigrado,” and was meant to refer to U.S. immigrants who do not have citizenship but do have legal status.
“Emigrado” was not intended to insult those immigrants with a legal right to be in the United States, but proved the strength that one word can have.
Think for a moment about the power of words. For example, pro-choice or pro-life are powerful because they infer that the opposite of being “pro” is bad. One might say “if you’re not pro-life, what are you, against life?”
With current technology, everyone has a voice and can write what he or she believes. E-mails, blogs and other technological tools have accelerated the pace of communication and miscommunication. The written word is quickly typed on a keyboard without careful consideration, and meanings can easily be misconstrued.
I received an e-mail the other day from a co-worker who typed “LOL,” at the end of her message. I’ll admit it. I had no idea what this meant. I thought, “did she mean to type love and misspelled it?”
Today’s fast-paced society has forced us to use these quick phrases because, apparently, no one has time to type out three words.
Nguyen has learned a lesson in the power of words and in the future should be more careful in his word choice. At least he has received some publicity for this stunt and voters will recognize his name.
In today’s increasingly volatile environment, emotions are high and nerves are on edge. We must choose our words wisely because one word can make or break you. Then who will be laughing out loud?
Wendy Rhodes is a junior journalism major.
