Rashi, Rambam & R' Yonah learn davar to mean words & all explain (with slightly different nuances) to be careful with other people & with your own or others words not to think they cant harm or help you, as they all have a time or place for being quite useful or harmful to you or others. This seems to be practical advice.
Why are the words 'Buz' & "Sha'ah" used for a person and 'maflig' and 'makom' used for 'devarim'?
The gemara shabbos (which we learned today in ein Yakov) says that either ben zoma or ben Azai says that 'ki zeh kol ha'adam' means the whole world serves as company for the person that is elokim yirah v'es mitzvosav yishmor.
In my unlearned understanding I would say this is the ben Azai of our mishnah. Somehow the entire world of people is needed for this purpose & one person missing would somehow effect the entire setup needed for this.
It is impossisble for the human mind to understand how all of creation is fulfilling one purpose for one individual while at the same time that individual plus the rest of creation somehow is serving ANOTHER individual. And ANOTHER. And ANOTHER. To the extent that each individual may say b'shvili nivra haolam!
The chassid ya'avetz takes this a step further by stating that with the knowledge we have of the Torah being the blueprint of the world, anything found in existance is here by the dictates of its blueprint. Something missing from the world can be likened to a letter missing from a sefer Torah!
The Maharal explains in tandem with what we would have said is the simple understanding of the mishnah. Don't denegrade any person & assume any object to be superfluous as every human is uniquely valuable & irreplacable and every object has a pupose and place in this world. This follows the theme of the last mishanah - also from ben Azai - that one should realoze the great importance of even a 'light' mitzvah.
Expounding on this the Maharal says we learned in gemara that Hashem told Iyov that every hair is nourished from a different source on the scalp & if 2 would draw from the same source there would be devastating effects. If 2 hairs are unique enough to grow from a different source, how much more so would that apply to every completely unique human being! Being so, every person I quite honorable as being thel ONLY person created at the moment (see maharal on this) of his birth. The ONLY person with this exact mazal. The ONLY one with his specific potential & mission. NO ONE can replace him & there can be no substitute for his uniqueness!
The timing of his creation which makes him so distinct demands respect & honor for his unique contribution to the perfection of the world. Therefore the word sha'ah & buz - the lack of require kavod - applies.
An object that exists does not have the same unique value & purpose of a human, but it it exists, it has its place in the world to be here & we should not veiw any item as being superfluous.
The mesilas yesharim (perek 19) warns "dont say 'who am I to pray for the shechinah's galus & the redemtion of klall yisrael? Will it be because of my tefillah - from all the millions - that will bring about the geulah?' For this Chazal teach us the reason why Adam was created alone.
To teach us that this unique value of being 'THE ONLY ONE' still applies to each unique person.
YES! Your tefilah may surprisingly be 'THE ONE' we've all been waiting for. Your one passuk of chumash, one complimentary remark, one act of honesty, smile, kvishas hayetzer, kavod beis haknesses, -YOUR ONE ANYTHING can mean THE WORLD.
Ben Azai
