I have become too comfortable with words. Every day I write them, speak them and process them in my mind with all of the intonations and significance they carry.

I struggle with them every Sunday, trying to find exactly the right ones to convey what I want in the 500 words of this column. Sometimes it flows together easily, more often it doesn’t. And sometimes I forget how much meaning the words I carelessly toss around can have.

The child skipped on the sidewalk. The child hopped on the sidewalk. The child jumped on the sidewalk.

Skipped, hopped, jumped – they all convey the same basic motion, but the images they raise are very different.

She cast the dissenting vote.

He is not pro-life.

The New Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “dissent” as withholding assent or differing in opinion. The Associated Press Stylebook describes “pro-” as denoting support for something, so “pro-life” would denote support for life.

Pretty simple explanations, but the weight behind the words is much more complicated.

Synonyms for “dissent” include: contradict, jar with, clash or conflict with. “Pro-life” is not only a support of life, but also a movement against abortion.

Luckily, journalists have some references to help us determine which words should be used in which circumstances. The Associated Press Stylebook is the Bible among these. It has everything from how to spell the word “barbecue” to a map of international time zones. There is a separate edition for the sports section of the paper. A different edition almost every year.

And that’s only one book.

Throw the numerous other style and grammar books into the mix and there are a lot of guidelines waiting to have their influence on a news story.

In Wednesday’s opinion section the letter on page five was headlined, “Not all Christians are pro-life.” Questions were raised after it appeared that “anti-abortion” would have been a more appropriate term than “pro-life.”

The AP Stylebook prefers “anti-abortion” and in hindsight perhaps it would’ve been more appropriate.

Still, the whole question is kind of silly if you think about it.

After all, how could someone be anti-life?

But put it in the context of a letter about Christian support of the pro-life movement and the meaning behind the words is suddenly very clear.

In the play “Twelfth Night,” Shakespeare writes, “They that dally with words may quickly make them wanton.”

I think about this quote every time I write a story or column, every night I proofread the front page. Have we taken this information too much for granted? Are we using our words too carelessly?

Communication is an easy thing to do. Words are thrown around on e-mails, cell phones and pagers. We can share information and express our opinions to almost anyone anytime we want.

Making sure our words are understood is the challenge of communication. It’s something that takes careful thought and is learned through trial and error.

The New Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines communication as “an exchange of information or opinions.”

Words will carry their own weight, but communication balances them out.

Andrea Hauser is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Edgewood. She is editor in chief of the Daily.