Useless Words by Reva V

Useless words:

Words are spoken continuously every day. Some have significance, an impact on the lives of many. 

Breaths held as words hold anticipation, lives determined by each syllable spoken from a piece of paper or mind. Emotions rely on words; words rely on emotions. 

A small slip of paper, passed around the beige school desks, impacting the impressionable lives. “Beautiful,” a word so simple yet so meaningful to the world. It makes one’s day brighter than the last, like the humid aftermath of a harsh storm. Praise is essential for one's thought process. If one doesn’t get it enough, they spiral, dive into the deep end, sinking into oblivion, and the thought process that they aren’t sufficient enough.

A small, harsh judgment against someone, one simple word like “unnecessary” or “ridiculous,” can multiply. The words will cut deeper and deeper, till the bone is cut in half, blood trickling down the battered and bruised skin. The words will get harsher, more impactful, they’ll punch harder, till the blow knocks you out of consciousness.

Little words create beliefs, superstitions, some truthful, some as true as a lie. Black cats, broken wishbones, numbers, horoscopes, wishful thinking, all twist a mind so quick, so fast that reality may be left behind, forgotten, stepped on by the dirtiest shoe. These little words turn into little beliefs, beliefs that aren’t good enough to believe.

It’s quite bizarre and fascinating how these words carry such heavy weights, such heavy meanings. Their significance impacts the lives of many every day.

When broken down into syllables, sounds, and letters, they are truly useless.

They hold no meaning, no significance, no weight. They were just sounds connected. They hold such heavy responsibilities, and they’ve yet to crush under the misuse of words.

When a word is held alone, it has almost no meaning. It doesn’t have the surrounding context to make it impactful, whether it's hurtful or meaningful.

Words are useless, they truly are. Unless one makes them mean something real, something right.

Then, they may not be that useless after all.

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About this Piece

It was originally an assignment for my creative writing class in class but I ended up being very passionate about the significance of words and how they impact people. I wanted to write a piece that showed how some sounds and letters created such life altering effects and experiences we go through everyday.

 Credits

© 2026 Reva Verma. All Rights Reserved.