Mute / Unmute

mute (myo͞ot or mjuːt)
noun.

si·len·ci·ar

Mute is one of those words that end up keeping its original form, coming across as untranslatable. Sheer laziness, I suppose, but also the fear of its opposite: unmute. What the heck is unmute in Portuguese, anyway: dessilenciar?

Mute/Unmute. You may know this pair from a couple of places: the tv remote, your mobile phone, the endless Zoom meetings. Your soul. From inside you. When you shut up instead of speaking out. When you speak out instead of shutting up.

My last whisper was over two months ago when I told you about the suspension point. I had so much to tell you all this time. I still have. The world turned upside down and I hadn’t talked to you yet. TEA turned 7 (seven!) in May and I hadn’t talked to you yet. We’re about to launch a brand new website… and I hadn’t talked to you yet. Mute.

When everyone is talking, it is better to mute. But if what you have to say is more important than silence, unmute.