Words and Verbal Habits

I'm a psychology major, and in my learning class last week we discussed Verbal Learning, and the thing that stuck with me most is the idea that who you are around shapes your speech and verbal habits. We use slang around our friends. We never (or rarely) curse in front of our families. We talk baby talk to babies. We use bigger words around our professors and bosses. We use smaller words around children.
This made me think more carefully about the ways my verbal habits have changed over the years, things I used to say have been replaced by things that I say now, and some things have stayed the same.

1. The struggle/The struggle is real: My best friend taught me this one, and it's become one of our most common phrases. Anything that takes more effort than we feel like exerting at the given moment.
I'll give you an example: Painting my nails and then getting hungry before they were entirely dry and having to make food. Could I do it if I was starving? Probably. Did I feel like doing it right when I was hungry? Nope... The struggle... (I texted her to tell her all about it, but I couldn't go get food. Touch the phone...Touch the refrigerator...)
2. Babytalk/My little kid voice: My significant other thinks this is cute... Unless I'm talking to a little baby or a dog, I shouldn't be using this voice. And even then it's a little unnecessary...
3. Curse words: I would never curse in front of my parents or my grandparents, my teachers or my boss, or even my significant other's parents, but put me in front of my friends or my SO and I'm probably overusing and misusing most of the curse words I know.

Take some time today, look into your life, and think about the different ways you communicate with people based on their relationship to you. You might be surprised what you find...