“The tongue has no bones but is strong enough to break a heart. So be careful with your words.” Anonymous

Angry, apt, bad, big, brave, captivating, cheap, cold, convoluted, crisp, edifying, eloquent, empty, evocative, good, harsh, hollow, honeyed, hurtful, kind, poetic, poignant, potent, powerful, sad, silly, straight, strong, thoughtless, timely, touching, turgid, warm, weasel, wise & wonderful.

There are a LOT of adjectives to describe WORDS- I’ve just used a smattering above.

**And there are MANY MORE WORDS themselves!**

We read them, write them, utter them, hear them, have them, analyse them, sing them, exchange them, absorb them.

We simply couldn’t do without them.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), there are an estimated 171,146 words currently used in the English Language, with a further 47,156 that have become obsolete.

The OED itself, widely accepted as The Authority on the English Language, features 600,000 words (both past and present) from across the English-speaking World.

The “average” person’s active vocabulary has been estimated to be at around 20,000 words by Susie Dent (English Lexicographer & Etymologist). The average passive vocabulary is around 40,000.

Put together into sentences WORDS become speeches, essays, books, articles, songs, poems, blogs, stories, whole sagas!

Sometimes words are uttered in such a way, in such a combination and at such a time that the whole thing blends and amalgamates to result in something far greater than the sum of its parts.

Something happens, because of the inspired crafting and honing of words that, when disseminated under propitious circumstances, becomes an immortal event in the History of Mankind.

On November 19th, 1863, under a cloudless blue sky on a hill outside a small town in Pennsylvania, US President Abraham Lincoln delivered a very short speech.

That speech has subsequently been acknowledged as one of the most powerful and enduring statements ever uttered in the English tongue!

The Gettysburg Address.

Following an interminable two-hour long introduction by a former Dean of Harvard, Lincoln rose to his feet, and in just two minutes delivered what is undoubtedly among the most evocative messages of Freedom and Equality in any language.

At just 272 words (10 sentences) the address has become known as perhaps the greatest and most seminal statements of American national aspiration, and indeed was referenced in Dr Martin Luther King Jnr’s iconic 1963 oration “I Have A Dream”.

That Lincoln was almost certainly suffering from the onset of Smallpox at the time only burnishes the legend surrounding this most remarkable event in a most eloquent and moving combination and utterance of words.

Picture Credit: Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, Illinois

WORDS

They can be extremely powerful!

It was novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton that wrote in his historical drama Cardinal Richelieu “The Pen is Mightier than the Sword”

Again, drawing on American History, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s renowned work “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is said to have had a far-reaching effect that resulted in a gargantuan shift in attitudes towards slavery!

They can also be extremely moving.

Nelson Mandela concluded with his defence at the Rivonia Trial in 20th April 1964, with these Words:

“I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realized. But, My Lord, if it needs to be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”.

Despite his impassioned plea, Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment!

He served 27 years before the end of the apartheid system meant he could be released.

It is worth noting that his lawyers pleaded with him to omit the words “I am prepared to die”. as they feared this would provoke the Judge to invoke the Death Sentence, but Mandela insisted on speaking truly from his heart!

Brave words indeed!

And of course, words can inspire whole populations.

Who can measure the profoundly uplifting effect Sir Winston Churchill had on the Nation’s Morale when in what looked like our darkest, most desperate hour his iconic speeches filled his beleaguered listeners with fresh hope and resolve in the face of utmost tyranny!

“Words: So innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.” Nathaniel Hawthorne

Here at STS we know the power of words.

We know a cheery word of encouragement can lift a colleague or customer and turn someone’s day from bad to good, from mediocre to Great!

We believe in the efficacy of using words to motivate and inspire!

We also have coined some pretty good words of our own!

NoMorePly®-three words joined to together to make one! The byword for ease of fitting and laying and the Ultimate Surface.

Beava -a much loved brand that is a fixture in the discerning Market Place.

MEGA-the brand that brings you MegaSeal, Megalastic, Mega tank kit and the trade’s champion MegaStrength.

The alpha adhesive!

CEMBER- Though a relative newcomer to the STS Brand Family, this name brings innovation and the fruits of research and expertise, resulting in a product range par excellence!

These words evoke memories of jobs done well, lasting enhancements to building and projects nationwide, and fill the tradesperson with confidence that, in them, they will find the perfect solution.

Simply put, the Market Leading and Pioneering Products we manufacture and distribute are the last word in Building Brilliance!