What word would you use?
I love questions. I love unique questions. I love ordinary questions. I love stupid questions. I love smart questions. I love uncomfortable questions. I love feel-good questions. I love big questions. I love small questions.
This is an especially challenging question and something of a thought exercise.
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- Would it be the, the most commonly used word in English?
- Would it be your own name?
- Would it be you or me or I or us or we?
- Would it be who or what or when or where or why or how?
- Would it be an uplifting word like love or hug?
- Would it be a direction like to or from?
- Would it be a social transition like hello or goodbye?
- Would it be an answer like yes or no?
- Would it be a beautiful word like effervescent or ephemeral?
- Would it be a funny word like booty or booby?
I asked myself this question once and the best answer I came up with is: create. This, along with the answer to the superpower question, helps me clarify how much I value creating.
If I could only say or think “create” for the rest of my life, it would drive me to create memories, moments, conversations, solutions, designs, videos, questions, relationships, opportunities.
It would allow me to interact with others and my surroundings in a more attentive way, help bring out more of my potential, and lead to amazing ways of engaging with the world and my experiences.
The word “create” feels like a divine yet mortal call-to-action contained in a single word.
This same question has been asked on forums throughout the internet. Some highlights include the following answers: Eh, Please, Fuck, Hodor, Anyong, Trabajaba, Dude, Meow, Thanks, Om. Charles Slade, “Former mathematician, current patent lawyer,” on Quora has a clever answer:
“’Beep’ does that job. There are very few times when someone otherwise needs to say ‘beep.’ Moreover, if someone came up to you and just said ‘beep beep beeeeeeep beep beep,’ your first thought would be that they’re a lunatic. But your second thought would be that they are trying to communicate in some kind of morse code. I’m happy enough to get that thought into the top 3. :)”
So if you could only use one word for the rest of your life, what word would you use? Why? What can you learn from your answer? What can you learn from searching for this answer?
Sources and Further Reading:
Wikipedia: Most Common Words in English
Just English: “The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English”
Science of Us: “Apparently, These Are the Funniest Words in the English Language”
Gizmodo: “Scientists Say These Words Are the Funniest”
Tyler Fugazzie: “Word of the Day Project”
AskReddit: “If you could only say one word for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?”
AskReddit: “If you could only say one word for the rest of your life, what would it be?”
Personality Cafe: “If you could only say one word for the rest of your life…”
Tyler Fugazzie 
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