Friend or Acquaintance? Does it Matter Which Word We Use?

I consider myself to be a fairly easygoing person. Most days life's annoying distractions bounce off me but today is not most days. Today is a "some days," which is the direct opposite of most days. On some days, when life is passing me a curve I can be less than giddy, a lot less actually.

What has me irked today? The haphazard way people use the word "friend" when what they really should be using is acquaintance. While this may be a trivial matter for most, for me it's a big deal. I'm not certain why I am bothered so intensely by the misuse of this six-letter word but I suspect my obsession with "saying what you mean and meaning what you say" might be the cause of my occasional temper tantrums.

By definition a friend is someone you know well and are fond of. For one reason or another I find people will refer to every person they've met as being their friend without having any real knowledge about the person. This practice has all but wiped out the word "acquaintance" from the English vocabulary. Realistically speaking, most of the people will call friends are acquaintances, which is defined as being someone we know slightly.

Another aspect adding to the murky waters separating friends from acquaintances is the usage of the word "friends" appearing on numerous social networking sites. In my mind the usage of the word friend is two fold. The first, which is the most obvious, those listed are longtime friends of whom you know well and are fond of. The second usage falls under "others" whereby your friends are either business or social contacts sharing common interest or hobbies with you. Admittedly over time some of these persons have the potential of becoming friends if you routinely communicate with each other beyond the sole interest for which you initially met.

By now you're probably thinking does it really matter whether you use the word friend or acquaintance when you speak of people you know. Obviously I think it does matter. Why?

Friends are the second most important relationships we have in life, our family being the first, of course. They are a special select few that know us as well and in some cases better than our family. If we are going through tough times they will be there to lend us a shoulder to cry on, an arm to lean on or offer words of encouragement. They will revel in our happiness and not envy our achievements by belittling the moment, which is why it's important to choose your friends wisely. Put simply, acquaintances come in and out of our lives daily but a friend is there day after day, month after month and year after year.

A friend is there when you need them and they're the one's that will miss you long after your death. This is a big distinction that we often overlook when we toss about the word friend in such a loose manner. If we paid more attention to whom we call friend we could save ourselves a lot of heartache from discovering that our so-called friend was merely one of the many acquaintances we will meet as we go through life.

Ali ibn Abi Talib, the prophet Mohammad's cousin once said. " A friend cannot be considered a friend until he is tested in three occasions: in time of need, behind your back, and after death." So choose your friends wisely and save for those who are your friend the honor of being called your "friend."