Afford
Can’t
Charge
Deserve
Fair
Need
Tr y
We consider these meaningless words because the interpreta-
tion of them is so emotionally charged for many people that the
dictionary definition is meaningless. The definition of each word
according to the Oxford American Dictionaryis shown for reference
purposes. However, what you think these words really mean deter-
mines how they affect you.
Afford:To have enough money means or time for a specified
purposeTo demonstrate the fuzzy thinking about this word, at Trainings, we
ask the participants to raise a hand if they can afford a Rolls-Royce.
Usually no hands go up. Then we ask for hands of people who can
afford a nice place to live. This time most hands go up. Now, if you
were to move out of your house and use the money you had been
paying for rent or mortgage payment toward payments on the car,
you could pay for the Rolls and live in your car. Additionally, in nice
neighborhoods, it would be easy to find someone who would offer
you a room just to have a Rolls parked in the driveway. Perhaps you
do not own a Rolls-Royce, either, but if you don’t, consider that it is
not because you can’t afford one.
Can’t:An expression of inability or helplessnessClearly there are things you can’t do. You cannot fly to the moon by
flapping your arms. Most people cannot swim the English Channel
or climb Mount Everest. Notice carefully the things you say you can-
not do or the things you say cannot happen. Many of the things you
now say you can’t do may actually be within your current capability
or within capabilities you could easily acquire. Some examples
might be “I can’t sell” or “I can’t get over that divorce” or “I can’t
get over being fired.”
Charge:The price asked for goods and servicesTypically, there is a resentful tone associated with the use of this
word. The resentment stems from the helplessness people experi-
ence about spending money because they are unaware of the
Cleaning Up Your Money Vocabulary 73