The countless aphorisms and “old sayings” that bring color and texture to our language are a nod to the nature of shared experience. Popular contemporary singer Beyonce tapped into it when she brought “her ladies” to the dancefloor to admonish their significant others to do a bit of jewelry shopping. She urged them to know if they wanted to dance with them again that “they’d better put a ring on it.” One can presume that the songster was extoling the virtue to be found in marriage and monogamous relationships. Or maybe she was simply retelling the story of an earlier pop icon who crooned that “diamonds,” and not relationships, “are a girl’s best friend.” Whatever the intended message, the catchy quips stick with us, often moving us to action and committed belief.
These adages demand countless virtues and some vices. We are expected to be quiet because “loose lips sink ships” and be noisy because “silence is violence.” Is either one entirely truthful? Loyalty is demanded of us when we are told to “sleep in the bed that we made” or “dance with the one what brung us.” At some point, don’t we have to ask ourselves what it all hopes to accomplish? What exactly do we owe to those who, well, brung us? Is there a debt incurred for a dinner and a movie? Do we owe more to our alma mater than the tuition we paid for the product it delivered? Can we escape an obligation to England for the uncompensated use –some might argue, the misuse — of the language?
Only if we consider the objectives behind the expressions we hold dear can we decide if Beyonce’s message rings true. Is she digging for gold or extolling traditional values? Are these cliches keys to understanding or hooks of deception?
