And that's the wordThe meaning of a word can have a major impact on how you use it. Only a simple word that people choose to use can have enough power. It can affect people, community and even culture. These three authors have something in common. Nancy Mairs, Gloria Naylor and Leonard Pitts Jr. show how the meaning of a word can have such a big impact. These essays show how language can have an impact as a result. In Mairs, “On Being Crippled,” she believes that the word cripple is the more appropriate definition of her condition than other words like handicapped and handicapped. As Mairs describes it, cripple is “a clear, direct, precise word” (60). Any other words will make her feel like she is at a disadvantage in her physical and emotional state. Especially the word differently able, as she says, “seems to me to be pure verbal trash” (60). The word cripple is a word Mairs uses as power for people she feels comfortable with, like her friends and family. Unfortunately, our society has high expectations and is obsessed with its standards and physical appearance. By exposing Mairs to this society, we will see that paralyzed is a very underappreciated word, as powerful as it is. Differently able or any other word similar to cripple is more appropriate than what Mairs prefers. Regardless of what society thinks of Mairs and the word cripple, they do not let the word bring them down. She will say she is crippled and will not be named by others. She embraces the word as if she owns it herself. Instead of letting the meaning of the word degrade her, she uses it in a positive way to boost her self-confidence and self-esteem. In his case, “As a cripple, I boast” (59-60). More than any other prejudicial language, racial...... middle of paper ...... at least the majority of them, understand how embarrassing and degrading the word nigger is. On the other hand, black people, as Pitts describes it, "are running around finding lame excuses and justifications" (1). For hundreds of years, a single word used in a language can have a big impact on different people, like their friends and families. It has enough power to affect a community such as the white and black communities. The meaning of a word also has the power to affect the culture within that society. These are the words that give meaning to degrade or boost self-confidence in any condition and to insult or use as an adjective to describe someone, even if it was used for comedy. The words that Nancy Mairs, Gloria Naylor, and Leonard Pitts Jr. chose to use in their essays and letters have power and have done so for as long as the English language has existed..