Breathing life into your writing
A great dictionary can fuel your creativity. Inspire your prose, express your thoughts. Well chosen words bring spirit and faculty to thoughts, and the power to engage and influence your audience.
Modern prose has become boring. Pedestrian. Uninteresting. Homogenized. Made all of the same kind and turn of phrase. Lacking in creativity.
Words have meaning. At least, words should have meaning. But increasingly, they don’t.
It’s the modern dictionary’s fault. Once upon a time, the ubiquitous dictionary empowered and inspired creative expression. And I know what you’re thinking. “The dictionary? Are you daft?” I couldn’t agree more, because today’s dictionary has been reduced down to the least possible, compact, simple, uninteresting distillation of bare meaning.
James Somers wrote an enlightening article about our misuse of language. With delightful style, his examples inspire. For instance, take the word “fustian,” which according to the New Oxford American Dictionary, means:1
Pompous or pretentious speech or writing.
Well. That’s rather disappointing. I might as well just say, “pretentious.”
Unless, as Somers suggests, I look to the true meaning of the word. The history of the word. It’s not that easy, because you’d need to have a copy of Webster’s Unabridged 1913 dictionary. And it just so happens… I do:
An inflated style of writing; a kind of writing in which high-sounding words are used, above the dignity of the thoughts or subject; bombast.
“Claudius . . . has run his description into the most wretched fustian.” — Addison.
Oh my. That is… so much more representative of the word’s correct and actual meaning. And vivid. Significant in that it demonstrates today’s dictionary is inadequate. Wrong. “Fustian” is not merely pretentious. “Fustian” is a particular kind of pretentiousness, a kind wherein the speech itself is made lofty and haughty by comparison to its mundane subject.
This manner and style of expression gives life and suggestive force to ideas and sentiments.
And we’ve just… forgotten how to do it. Nobody comes out of school writing like this anymore.
Almost nobody.
Somers wonderful blog post is all about the origin of modern English and Noah Webster, the father of today’s famous Webster’s dictionary. Webster would likely be disheartened to know where his legacy ended up. A mere remnant, a fragment, a scrap of the abundant linguistic instrument he created.
I highly recommend Somers’ post, You’re probably using the wrong dictionary. It’s a delicious read that will make you pine for well written prose, a stylish turn of phrase.
I stumbled, by some inadvertency, on Somers post a few years ago. It breathed new life into my writing. The result of my labor is more engaging, more lucid, more full of my intent.
It is an investment, of time, of thought. And I’ve found well expressed thought takes more words, so more space on the page. But that’s kind of the point. “The concise style, which expreseth not enough, but leaves somewhat to be understood.”2
Changing how we use language is an effort. Sometimes I’ll fall back to old habits. Not take the time to make that “fourth draft,” the one where I pick apart mundane phrases or replace everyday words with something more perfect, more flawless. More expressive. Every time I come back to language, it’s to better effect.
The words we choose can express more than a simple, factual representation of thought. They can exhibit the spirit and faculty of our art. Somers wrote:
Which is to say you get a feeling about English that Calvin once got with his pet tiger on a day of fresh-fallen snow: "It's a magical world, Hobbes. Let's go exploring!"
So, go look up some new words. Or some old ones. It doesn’t matter what you write. A technical white paper, your grandmother’s favorite recipes, a work of fiction, an email to your boss. Just write — with words that express what’s in your heart.
Heart (härt), noun. 8. Vital part; secret meaning; real intention.
“And then show you the heart of my message.” — Shakespeare
Somers details exactly how you can download Webster’s Unabridged 1913 dictionary and install it. Which is important and you absolutely should.
James Somers, You’re probably using the wrong dictionary, May 18, 2014, jsomers.net.
concise, adjective: “The concise style, which expresseth not enough, but leaves somewhat to be understood. — B. Jonson.” Webster’s Unabridged 1913 dictionary.
This spectacularly sophisticated symphony celebrates the sublime skill of sculpting simple sentences into a shimmering showcase of sheer stylistic splendor, suggesting scribes summon supreme sagacity to shape stories saturated with soul. Salutations, sir! ;-)