The Etymological Inquiry: An Onion Approach

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." - William Shakespeare.

I've been pondering this quote in the back of my mind for some time now. What's in a name?

Names define things. They give individuals purpose and meaning. My parents once told me they named me Michael because of the legacy of past Michaels and their contributions to society, hoping they would inspire me to do great things as well.

Family names serve as reminders of the past, like a piece of history that pervades the passage of time. If my significant other allows me, I would like to name my firstborn son Kenton, an amalgam of Kent Christensen and Tony Armstrong, who were my uncles before they passed on from this life at young ages.

We use nicknames to identify particular individuals when other distinguishing features seem to fall short. When I was at Boys State of Virginia I was known as "Faren" because I was afflicted with pharyngitis at the time. 5 years later, the nickname still prevails with some individuals (shout out to Josh Rivers. Miss you man!)

And then there are the cruel names we use for the despicable honor of offending others:

Retard. Fag. Slut. And those are just characteristic names. We have derogatory expressions for whole races, religious groups, even occupations! The list grows exponentially as time goes on.

It's pretty sad that most of these words have a home in each of our lexicons, finding their way out into the world by our verbal actions and insults. I myself never realized how casually I threw around some of these terms until a friend pointed it out recently.

Why?

We can list several reasons for it, but at the end of the day, do any of them matter? Do they ever make it right or okay to use?

I'm reminded of an analogy a co-worker once told me:

Imagine if a person were an onion. The layers of their skin is their defense against the world, sheltering it from harm and danger. Now imagine that with every hurtful action caused against them, a layer of skin sheds off. An onion has many layers, but eventually it will run out of protection and be left with the core; their very soul, if you will. And once you strike the core, you destroy the plant.

Ask yourself: Am I actively seeking to destroy someone? Or do I occasional stab them just because I can?