Big Words
My son Andrew told me, “You always use at least one big word in your columns.” Hmm. It’s not intentional. That got me wondering what the definition of a “big word” is.
One of my favorite features of this newspaper is Vaughan’s Vocabulary, which is full of interesting, big words.
A big word is not necessarily a long word. Words like abate, cavil and turgid are short, but I put them in the category of big words.
I once heard that a hard question is one where you don’t know the answer. Likewise, a big word is often a word that you have to look up in the dictionary to ascertain, I mean, find its meaning.
Opinion writer George Will often uses big words in his newspaper columns. Whether or not you share his opinions, he is worth reading to learn new words. For example, his latest two columns contain the words epigrammatic, iteration, laconic and septuagenarian.
Is it just me, or do you see a word for the first time, and then shortly thereafter you see it again and wonder how you’ve missed that word for all these years?
Long ago I was taught in English 101 to keep my writing simple and avoid big words. It’s better to write that a room is spacious, instead of commodious. The point most teachers make is that writing is not meant to be an ostentatious exercise to show off the writer’s vocabulary, but instead is meant to communicate effectively to the reader. Therefore, simpler is usually better.
But sometimes a big word fits better. George Will could be described as a scholarly columnist, but erudite somehow sounds like a more apt description. Some big words are often used the same way. For instance, egregious almost always precedes error as in “That was an egregious error.”
Big words can be hard to remember. Having an experience with one can help. A former classmate of mine from London said to me one time, “My mother used to tell me not to be so obstreperous. Brother, did your mother tell you not to be obstreperous?”
My face broke into a broad grin. I told him my mother said many things to my brother and me when we misbehaved, sometimes at the top of her lungs, but with certainty I can say she never once told us not to be obstreperous. As a result of that funny conversation, I never forgot the meaning of that word.
Choosing the right word is a big part of writing well. Mark Twain put it best when he said, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter – it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
I haven’t mastered the art of choosing the right word, but admire those who do. Good writing is fun to read. As Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said about a certain taboo subject in the 1970s, “It’s hard to define, but I know it when I see it.”
So whether you are perspicacious or pusillanimous, obsequious or obstreperous, laconic or loquacious, enjoy discovering big words as one of life’s little pleasures.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works at the Stennis Center for Public Service.
One of my favorite features of this newspaper is Vaughan’s Vocabulary, which is full of interesting, big words.
A big word is not necessarily a long word. Words like abate, cavil and turgid are short, but I put them in the category of big words.
I once heard that a hard question is one where you don’t know the answer. Likewise, a big word is often a word that you have to look up in the dictionary to ascertain, I mean, find its meaning.
Opinion writer George Will often uses big words in his newspaper columns. Whether or not you share his opinions, he is worth reading to learn new words. For example, his latest two columns contain the words epigrammatic, iteration, laconic and septuagenarian.
Is it just me, or do you see a word for the first time, and then shortly thereafter you see it again and wonder how you’ve missed that word for all these years?
Long ago I was taught in English 101 to keep my writing simple and avoid big words. It’s better to write that a room is spacious, instead of commodious. The point most teachers make is that writing is not meant to be an ostentatious exercise to show off the writer’s vocabulary, but instead is meant to communicate effectively to the reader. Therefore, simpler is usually better.
But sometimes a big word fits better. George Will could be described as a scholarly columnist, but erudite somehow sounds like a more apt description. Some big words are often used the same way. For instance, egregious almost always precedes error as in “That was an egregious error.”
Big words can be hard to remember. Having an experience with one can help. A former classmate of mine from London said to me one time, “My mother used to tell me not to be so obstreperous. Brother, did your mother tell you not to be obstreperous?”
My face broke into a broad grin. I told him my mother said many things to my brother and me when we misbehaved, sometimes at the top of her lungs, but with certainty I can say she never once told us not to be obstreperous. As a result of that funny conversation, I never forgot the meaning of that word.
Choosing the right word is a big part of writing well. Mark Twain put it best when he said, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter – it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
I haven’t mastered the art of choosing the right word, but admire those who do. Good writing is fun to read. As Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said about a certain taboo subject in the 1970s, “It’s hard to define, but I know it when I see it.”
So whether you are perspicacious or pusillanimous, obsequious or obstreperous, laconic or loquacious, enjoy discovering big words as one of life’s little pleasures.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works at the Stennis Center for Public Service.
