Small word, big honesty
Why "tired" beats "exhausted" and "off" beats "dysregulated." A short case for the small, unrehearsed word — the one that is hard to fake.
A short defense of the small word, because the big words have a head start on the small ones almost everywhere.
Big words rehearse
“Anxious” and “overwhelmed” are accurate sometimes. They are also words you have heard a thousand times, in podcasts, in self-help books, in your own internal monologue. By the time they arrive, they have rehearsed. They tell you what they have been told to say.
Small words arrive once
“Off” does not rehearse. “Flat.” “Quiet.” “Slow.” “Thin.” “Enough.” Each of these is a single quiet observation. None of them sounds like a diagnosis. None of them sounds like a brand. They sound like what someone actually said.
A small word is hard to fake
Big words are easy to perform. Nobody performs the word “off.” That is the test, in a single line.
“Off” is a complete answer. Sometimes it is the most complete answer.
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