Economy of Language

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Editorial Note:

 

This is a constraint-based short story that does not repeat any words. 

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As a kid, my mother convinced her little sister that each person gets only so many words throughout life. Whenever someone runs out, they fall mute. She still boasts about this prank, remembering Aunt Ida scared silent all day. Auntie wouldn’t say why—couldn’t spare speech explaining herself. 

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“Finally,” Mom reminisces, “I had peace.” 

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In the world where talk’s exhaustible, asking strangers how they’re doing comes across terribly entitled. 

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Filler reads reckless. Upon hearing “Uhh, yknow. Hmm,” you think, here’s one motherfucker who lives for today, unconcerned with what lays ahead. 

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And extreme directness? Wholesome. Arguably dull. 

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Florid prose exists—usual subject matter includes authors’ death drives. Effusive love poems convey doomed, crazed passion like nothing else. Sad teens everywhere write purple poetry, but it means more here. 

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Parenting debates hinge on when to teach children their tongues. Early talkers blather wastefully,  not understanding inhibition’s importance, numerous adults argue. Another faction counters:  youngsters chatter, tough luck, excessive stifling invites rebellious wordy phases. 

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Teachers use copious diagrams. Mime instructions. Draw feelings. 

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Problem tweens tell classmates, “linguistic finitude’s fake. Grownups merely wanna shut us up.”

 

SWEARWORDS COUNT TRIPLE, classroom poster warns. 

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It’s easy, guessing whose parents instilled laconicism forcefully. You’ll see something beyond standard verbal vigilance: shame permeates even essential communication. 

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Customs emerge around proposing/granting/denying conversations. Nods. Blinking. Simply departing.  

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Increasingly long compound terms develop. Berightback. Whateveryouwant.        Shouldseeotherpeople. 

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Nobody’s positive these workarounds work. Is your new chimeraword real yet, tallied singly?  There’s no tracker clicking down after every utterance; glowing numbers don’t hover over heads. Just however much locution, then silence. Some gulp, fishlike, postultimate verbiage caught inside throat. 

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Among diagnoses, somniloquy’s pretty dire. 

 

Meeting talkative old folks (rarities!), encounter-ers envision decades spent near-wordlessly.  Such imaginings provoke admiration or remorse, perhaps resentment, maybe pity. 

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Jobs requiring talking collect society’s most desperate. Workers return home from Concisecallcenter, sit quiet, eye family if applicable, eat hushed, sleep, wake. Local man feels any chance at becoming known by others drain gradually into office headset. Sometimes pictures residual selfhood staining his mic. 

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Leaders seldom give orders, issue statements, hold meetings. CEOs, presidents, etc. employ well-paid, beleaguered deputies. Those assistants must intuit+enact bosses’ interests. Top authorities express (dis)pleasure via facial expressions, gestures, thrown staplers, firings sans explanation. 

 

Deep paranoia consumes aforementioned elites vis-à-vis hired desire-voicers. Rightly. Endless scheming opportunities present themselves. Countless routes towards making commands/ proclamations subtly benefit oneself. Trick’s ascending high enough before sacked/tonguetied.  Endgame: acquire own underling speakers. 

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Alternate strategy—save money, racing against drying lexicon, hopefully retire unmuted—seems safer, isn’t really.  

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Art therapy’s big. 

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Miscommunications happen often, because requesting anyone restate/clarify? Horribly taboo. Greater misunderstanding tolerance smoothes things somewhat. 

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Research moves slow. Since scholars avoid airing ideas til fully realized, advances occur suddenly, drastically, infrequently. Encompassing theories (usually wrong) drop unexpectedly, succeeding years’ solitary study. Academia’s necessarily Lone Genius Land. Spotting mistakes takes ages. 

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Dance, painting, music, sculpture thrive. Oftentimes, creatives create solo. Improvisational collaborative artforms also flourish; artists negotiate collaboration within medium itself, evading verbalized planning processes. Spaces sprout: anybodies arrive, unannounced, carrying musical instruments, clay, props, cameras… Discover whoever’s available. Without introduction, start trying cooperative forms.

 

Dirtytalk’s perverser, therefore hotter.

 

Although grammars grow almost universally succincter through time, syntactic downsizing differs interlinguistically. Imperialists cite variance thusly: verbose structure demonstrates culture’s irrationality/backwardness/moribundity. 

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Cops, security guards, middle management, while flexing power, put forward complex questions, extract lengthy answers. Corrections officers demand prisoners recite same passage ad nauseam.  

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Certain types rationalize whole situation. Enforced taciturnity ensures everyone truly appreciates vernacular we possess. Limitless discussion would turn meaningless. Concision reduces bullshit, pushes honesty, inculcates active listening. Logorrhea’s immoral. God loves minimalism.  

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Cult ruler preaches following meditation: pick 1 noun/verb/adjective/whatever. Repeat aloud, filling hours, weeks, months, until voiceless. Expend everything ASAP; enjoy quietude henceforth. Speechlessness frees. 

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(Sect’s founder sacrifices self: conserves lingua, remaining burdened, unfree. Otherwise mightn’t spread truth.) 

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Lexical-budget-expanding snake oils abound. Influencers peddle crystals, tinctures, vocal exercises, breathing techniques, vitamins, diets, manifesting practices, mindfulness rituals. Several straightup claim they’ll sell vocab capacity. 

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Workshop advertises, STEAL RIVAL’S LINGO! PROVEN METHOD! Web popup features cartoon. Strong hand snatching away scowling enemy’s dialogue bubble. 

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(Naturally, counterpart course imparts anti-morpheme-theft protective measures.) 

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Peak romance: lovers’ voices both simultaneously expire forever. Evidences perfect balance, promises idyllic shared soundlessness. Solely movie trope? Possibly. Couples nevertheless go crazy striving, begging partner increase/decrease gabbing. Admittedly, relationships rarely survive major gaps between respective members’ endmost articulations. 

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Unspoken comprehension brings unparalleled relief. Utmost delight might rest herein: finding friendships wherein prattling’s unnecessary. Lifts pressure normally weighting human connection. Needn’t appraise intimacies, fearing waste. Faces together recognize, typical interactions suffer scarcity. Our bond’s plentiful. 

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Dying remarks rare, exalted. Connote immense wisdom. Ordinary, midlife last pronouncements less revered. Unplanned, frequently inopportune. Embarrassing mid-sentence cutoffs elicit laughter. Lotsa compilations online (watched surreptitiously).

 

Noone’s sure which social places stash shushed. Quietness represents failure, foredoomed future.  Should probably show compassion, unspeaking’s nigh universal someday. Nonetheless, unpleasant thought.

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