This Monday, an interesting article about the way Argentinians speak was published in the newspaper La Nación (do click (to read it). It is a dictionary of words that have a particular meaning in Argentina.
This news has special significance both because of its content and because of the time it was published, just before the Sukkot festival, where there is a reference to this matter.
In terms of the content of the news, Judaism indicates that a person should speak properly, using words appropriate to each time and place. This is learned from the fact that there are places where the Torah, not to mention the word tame—impure—which has a negative connotation, uses the phrase "not pure," thus adding more letters than necessary to describe a particular matter. The Talmud learns from this the aforementioned conduct, that one should speak "properly.".
In terms of the timing of the news publication, the Sukkot festival makes a particular reference to the idea of speaking properly.
One of the special mitzvot of the Sukkot festival is the "four species": Estrog (citron), Lulav (palm branch), Hadas (myrtle branch), and Aravah (willow branch).
The reality is that the fundamental core of each mitzvah is Divine Will; that is, we don't know the true reason why God commanded us to do this or that, but simply that He willed it. The intellectual reasons we know for each mitzvah are merely garments, suited to our understanding, upon which this Divine Will is clothed. Like a disguise, it conceals the person's true self, revealing only a facade.
That said, one of the ideas of this Mitzvah of the four species is that they symbolize different parts of the body: the Etrog is the heart, the Lulav the spine, the Hadas the eyes, and the Arava the lips.
Certainly, much can be said about each one and even within each one, many lessons can be drawn, but surely one of the ideas of the Arava representing the lips is that one must be careful what comes out of the mouth... that it be good and in a good way.
Happy New Year!