Rex Smith

In journalism, my line of work for about a half-century, you learn pretty quickly that while words matter, you have to watch what people do, not just what they say.

Who’re you gonna trust? That’s a tough question these days. For a lot of Americans, the answer seems to be, “nobody.” And that’s pretty sad. It’s something we need to think about.

What you buy these days seems increasingly to be a reflection of your politics. At least, that’s what we learn in a report from Columbia University Business School research, which cites the polarization that has followed Donald Trump’s first election.

We are living in a worldwide crisis of gloom. That, anyway, is what I took from a new international poll of 20,000 people across western democracies and Japan.

What would you say is the biggest problem facing our country? Now, if you said, “Donald Trump,” I wouldn’t necessarily disagree, but that’s not the kind of answer we’re looking for here. Hold that thought, though: you may be onto something.

There was a remarkable line in one of the holiday greetings I got last week – so thoughtful, in fact, that I’m thinking of getting it needlepointed onto a seat cushion, so that I’ll have it around all year.

I am a secret fan of aphorisms – those pithy observations that contain a general truth, like, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and, “Actions speak louder than words.”

This commentary is about language – foul language, nasty language, language that seemingly incites people to bad behavior.

A couple of messages land in my email every morning that are intended to teach me a new word.

Maybe you don’t know what Grok is. No matter – according to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, only 26 percent of Americans have heard of Grok.