Let's Check the Big Words - Part 1

Articles In This Section:

· Let's Check the Big Words - Part 1

· Let's Check the Big Words - Part 2

· Let's Check the Big Words - Part 3

· Let's Check the Big Words - Part 4

· Let's Check the Big Words - Part 5

· Let's Check the Big Words - Part 6

· Let's Check the Big Words - Part 7

· Let's Check the Big Words - Part 8

· Let's Check the Big Words - Part 9

Seven-letter, eight-letter, nine-letter, ten-letter, yes sir, these are the words you want to cut out. Anything you can say in the five-dollar word can be said just as well and perhaps more clearly in a number of smaller words.

When we write a speech we are much like the farmer's boy. When the father was asked if a year in college had made any difference in his eldest son, he replied, "Well, he is still a good hand with the plow, but I notice his language has changed some. It used to be, 'Whoa, Becky, haw, and git up.' Now when he comes to the end of the row he says, 'Halt, Rebecca, pivot, and proceed.' I'm not sure that Becky understands."

The big words are always good for a laugh. Joe, the boy in the next office says, "This epitomizes. . . ." Before he has finished the sentence, the boys are off with the razzberry. For Joe isn't that kind of fellow. And his use of the big word seems an affectation.

You may know the big words. You may know each and every one of them. But your audience—does it know them? When you say the big word, one member of the audience turns to his neighbor and asks, "What did he say?" The neighbor shakes his head, "I don't know."

Last week at a meeting in Buffalo, I asked the man next to me, "What did he say?"

The fellow replied, "I didn't hear it."

"Then why are you laughing?" I asked.

"It must have been funny," he said. "Everybody else is laugh-ing."

That's the trouble with audiences. They don't tell you that they don't hear you or don't understand. They sit there acting as if they do. And that is why you want to make it as easy as possible for them to understand your speech. What manner of words are we after on this check?

1. The long words, the words with seven or more letters. They stand out in the manuscript and are easiest to spot.

2. The unusual words, those words we know, and perhaps use every day, but that can be improved.

3. The common but difficult to say.

4. The hyphenated words.

5. The familiar but stiff words that can be changed into ones that are simpler or easier to say.

6. The manufactured words.

7. The long adjectives.

8. The "very's." Let's cut all of them out.