Warrior: The meaning of the Word

When I was a weekend reporter working for the local newspaper many years ago, I would write my stories and then hover over the copy editor’s shoulder to make sure he didn’t change anything.  To me, words are placed, not just written.  Sentences are woven, not just strung together.  I take my stories and my words seriously.

What saddens me is when I see powerful words drifting into the cliche when they are used incorrectly or for marketing purposes. Today, I am thinking about the word “Warrior”.

In the summer issue of SKY, I wrote “The Love Story of a Warrior and her Wingman.” The warrior is Dionne, or ‘Warner Warrior D’ as she calls herself, and her ‘wingman’ and husband Graham.  Dionne is an eight time cancer survivor who does battle with cancer every single day of her life, for her life.

In the same issue, I wrote about three women and their stories about fighting cancer in a story called “Warriors under the sky.”  There was Nicki, the patient nurse, who fought colorectal cancer, Leah Barnard who fought Ewing’s Sarcoma, and Jodean Howie, three time survivor of thyroid, cervix and breast cancer. She calls herself “Tango Warrior” because "the cancer cells were tangled within, and [she] fought mindfully as any warrior will."

A warrior is a fighter. A soldier. One who does battle in a life or death situation. When I used the term in the summer issue, I was mindful of the impact on the word and its importance.  In times like this, I look to the etymology of the word to see how far I might be drifting from the word’s intention:

n.c.1300, from Old North French werreieor (Old French guerreor) "a warrior, one who wages war," from werreier "wage war," from werre (see war (n.)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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In modern language, where words are used for headlines and tag lines, it is important to honour the importance of these words so that they have meaning when they are used.  When we use words without mindfully understanding their intention and their impact, they become lost in the noise, and eventually lose their meaning.  





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