My mother’s tongue
Peggy AfriyieMy mother always said my mouth would get me into trouble.
Knowing too many words for my own good and just when to use them is my greatest asset – or the bane of her existence. But I like to think when she said trouble, she meant that it would get me exactly where I wanted it to.
When you’re young you ask a lot of questions. As you grow you learn to keep your mouth shut a little more. I didn’t. I questioned everything and still do today. When I told her I was going to be a copywriter, she looked at me and said: they’re in trouble.
Although she has no real understanding of what I actually do, she knows I’m a writer. But she also has no idea that the reason I believe words are so powerful is that she taught me mine were. As a British Ghanaian, I benefit from being bilingual – English and Twi. However, it’s my mother’s tongue that gave me a true understanding of what words can do.
Thanks, mama.
I’ve been playing with words and hustling with ideas before I could even spell my last name. From made-up stories in my square-lined maths book to a handwritten essay on lined paper about the cultural impact of Mean Girls – the blank page is a foe to many yet a frenemy to me.
Now I’m here, at Reed Words, doing words like I’ve never done them before. Is it strange that I’m sitting in a room full of writers? Absolutely. I come from the world of design agencies where there’s never more than two or three of us in the same room – if you’re lucky. So I’m excited to join a team that loves language just as much as I do. Language may only be a handful of letters, but it’s helped us build worlds, change lives, and create the impossible.
But the best thing language gave us, in my opinion, is a voice. I’ve dedicated my career to helping brands find theirs. In hope that my words cause some good trouble.