I was in the fifth grade when I learned how a single word can change the entire meaning of a sentence. Not the word necessarily, but how it is interpreted by the reader.

We were assigned the task of writing a one-page description of ourselves, both our physical attributes and our personality traits. The teacher planned to read them aloud to the class and we were to guess the author.

The purpose, I know now, was to teach us descriptive writing. Fifth grade is a risky time for such an assignment. For one boy, it proved to be very embarrassing.

It was the sixties, when long hair for males was just coming in to fashion. Boys who wanted to be “cool” had longer hair. This particular boy described himself as having “pretty long” black hair. The guessing began with girls names. In fact, no one guessed a boy. That’s because the teacher, being a woman, read the sentence emphasizing the word “pretty. ”Pretty was read in a way that would describe a female attribute. Long was read in an elongated fashion. We were looking for a classmate with pretty, long black hair.

When his name was revealed, the flustered boy tried vainly to explain that he meant “pretty long” as in “fairly long.” It was too late. The damage was done. He spent the rest of the year as the boy with the pretty, long black hair.

Lesson learned. People don’t necessarily read things the way you meant them.

Ann Pietrangelo

Care2 Healthy & Green Living with MS

Care2 Reform Health Policy

MS Maze

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