Language

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words and writing

Banished Words for 2011

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

In 1976, Lake Superior State University created a list of English words that should be banished for misuse and overuse. It’s still going strong! Comments often seem to be from people writing in, but why not listen to the voice of the people … particularly when that voice appears to be educated, thoughtful, and well-read.

Entries for 2011 include:

Viral: an illness can be viral; a YouTube video is not.
Epic: “an epic annoyance,” say the editors. My favorite comment: “Standards for using ‘epic’ are so low, even ‘awesome’ is embarrassed.”
Fail: no, it’s not a noun. It’s not even an adjective. It’s a verb. If you can’t use it as a verb, don’t use it.
Refudiate: just because Sarah Palin is stupid doesn’t mean that we have to be, too.
Just sayin’: “Do we really need a qualifier at the end of every sentence? ” No, I say, no! (just sayin’ …)

There are many more here for your reading pleasure.

Not that it matters, of course. Lake Superior State University is not the University of Chicago, after all, and it seems improbable that this website is going to change labguage usage … perhaps it just is there to give those of us who care about this sort of thing a chuckle. Or a moment of despair.

What words would you like to banish from the present crop of neologisms, verbisms, and general Humpty-Dumpty speech? Let me know, and then you’ll be … beyond the elements of style!

Tags: correct usage, neologisms, slang
Posted in About Writing, Language, Usage, Words | No Comments »

Writing as Art? Talent? Craft?

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

“Composition is a discipline; it forces us to think. If you want to ‘get in touch with your feelings,’ fine — talk to yourself; we all do. But if you want to communicate with another thinking human being, get in touch with your thoughts. Put them in order; give them a purpose; use them to persuade, to instruct, to discover, to seduce. The secret way to do this is to write it down and then cut out the confusing parts.” ~ William Safire

A friend recently asked me to narrow down what I do (good luck with that!). She gave me a choice: as a writer, do I practice an art or a skill, or is it all a matter of talent?

I felt that it wasn’t all that simple, so I put it out to my Facebook cronies, and one of my friends added in discipline. He’d like William Safire’s thought, wouldn’t he?

But how can you get in touch with your thoughts? I have a few ideas:

Write to just one person. No matter who you’re addressing, it really is just one person, even if it’s every single person in a crowd of people or one single reader among a million readers of your novels. So keep it direct, keep it simple, keep it clear. In order to communicate with just one person, you’ve got to organize your thoughts; and the best way to get them organized is to write them down. Determine your message, order the way you’ll be presenting it, and edit/refine it until it’s tight and clear.
Be clear about your goal. Safire called it “giving your words a purpose.” Do you want to instruct? to persuade? to entertain? Some combination of them all? Your goal will shape the way that you communicate your message or story. It shapes your style, it shapes your storytelling, it shapes your presentation.
Finally, Safire tells us to cut out the confusing parts. That’s called editing, folks, and the writer should take several stabs at it (called drafts) before turning it over to an outside editor for work. You cannot edit yourself beyond the first few rounds: use your resources.

So there it is. Communication. Content. Stories. Speeches. Articles. Poetry. They all have the same driving force, at the end of the day: to touch another person in some way. These tips should help your outreach. And then you’ll be … beyond the elements of style!

Tags: creativity, inspiration, steps to success, William Safire, writing
Posted in About Writing, Creativity, Editing, Language, The Writing Life, Words, Writing | No Comments »

Grammar? Usage? What’s the Difference?

Friday, July 15th, 2011

On one of the myriad email lists where I spend inordinate amounts of time every day, a list member inquired as to when commas should—and should not—be used, citing Gertrude Stein’s complaint about the surfeit of commas in everyday use. He noted some examples from the 19th century of truly awkward comma placement, which in turn inspired this reply by the ever-inspiring Dick Margulis:

“All of the comma usages you demonstrated would have been perfectly correct in 1869. Such details of punctuation are the stuff of style more than grammar, which is to say that they are conventions chosen arbitrarily and therefore subject to arbitrary change. Grammarians writing about usage made choices (as the editors of Chicago continue to make choices today) in situations where someone else might choose differently. They then set forth their choices as standards people might choose to follow so as to be consistent from page to page and chapter to chapter.

“While a foolish consistency may indeed be the hobgoblin of little minds, and while consistency in comma usage might be seen by some as foolish, nonetheless, authors don’t want their books held up to ridicule or dismissed as unworthy on the basis of inconsistent editing.

“So there is value in having a style and sticking with it until the last page. But styles change. Style guides fall into and out of fashion. And so on. By the time Stein was complaining, fashions in comma usage were changing radically. The Autobiography was published in 1933. Elements of Style was published in 1918.”

While these two people were discussing comma use, Dick raises a point that I find myself consistently trying to get across: the difference between grammar and usage. And I like the analogy of usage with fashion. Yes, it can be arbitrary. Yes, you might not like it a great deal. But using it consistently, while not making you a fashion guru, will at least keep you from making a fashion faux pas.

And then you’ll be … beyond the elements of style!

Tags: commas, Grammar, style guides, Usage
Posted in Language, Tools, Usage, Words, Writing | 1 Comment »