Do not be surprised when you hear a manager or peer advise you to avoid using a particular word because of what it connotes, meaning the feeling that the word may suggest beyond its dictionary definition, or what the word denotes.
Three situations come to mind. I one did a consulting job for a major financial advisory firm. When I requested a red marker to highlight a key point on a flipchart, the client told me that red was a banned ink color because it implies "being in the red," a frightening prospect for portfolio managers. Really? Another time I accepted as a compliment an elder telling me I was special to her, yet even an apparently innocent word like special could turn pejorative, as in "He is a special case," which might mean an exception to the preferred standard, or a simply a problem. And sometimes the connotation depends on who is in the communication. The now-dated expression "You go, girl" is always better said by one woman to another than by a man to a woman, as the man may seem sexist or demeaning.
If you're thinking that this is the be-all and end-all of political correctness, remember that we all have language threshold and that language has always been political. For sure, certain choice words directed toward anyone at the wrong time could cause a major meltdown.
Nevertheless, connotation can add humor, spice, or drama to a written or spoken message, as long as we steer clear of people's age, sex, race, religion, national origin, abilities or disabilities, sexual orientation or identification, economic status, or political persuasion. (Did I cover them all?)
There's still plenty of room for connotation if you consider how words can take on both positive and negative shades. The word meticulous (denotation: careful, precise), can mean to show due attention to detail, or to judge in a picayune manner. We need to think about the reason and the object of our connation for appropriateness, and then think twice for potential unintended interpretations.
