HEAD OFFICE: MONTREAL, MARCH 1973
VOL.54,No.3
Makingthe Mostof Language
MANYPERSONS
whoarenotspecially
talented
or highly
educated
havelearned
to express
themselves
wellin
speaking
andwriting.
By usinglanguage
withskill
theyhavemadetheirwayfromtheinglorious
lifeof
solitary
organisms
to therichlifeof communion
with
theirfellows.
Theyhaveprogressed
fromobscurity
in
business
andsocial
lifetoimpressive
attainment.
Such
satisfaction
is within
thereachof everyone.
Thousands of young men and women go into
business
or a profession
everyyearwiththeirhearts
setuponself-fulfilling
careers.
Theyneedtolearnnow,
duringtheiryearsof training,
how greatlytheir
chanceforsuccess
depends
upontheirability
to use
wordsaccurately
andeffectively.
Itdoesnotmatter
howlittle
related
totheniceties
of languageyour businessor professionmay be,
commandof languageadds to your ability and
extendsyour knowledge.Beforeexpressingyour
thoughtsin wordsyou makeup thosethoughtsin
words.The moremeaningful
and exactyou makethe
wordsin whichyouthink,
thebetter
fitted
youareto
copewiththecomplexities
of life.
As theOverstreets
sayin theirbookTheMindAlive
(W. W. Norton& Co. Inc.,New York,1954):"An
adequate
powerto express
oneselfis nota literary
frillwithwhichto decorate
theedgesof life.On the
contrary,
it is theindispensable
toolof our selfunderstanding
andself-acceptance
andof ourrational
contact
withtheworldaroundus."
Onlya few business
menbelievethatit doesnot
matterhow theyspeakor write.Successful
people
knowthatthe personwho doesnot use wordsprecisely
canneverbe surethathe hassaidprecisely
what
he meantto say.He hasno assurance
thathisreader
willunderstand
him.If thereis onethingworsethan
beingunableto express
a thought
it is thinking
that
onehassaidsomething
whenhe hasnot.
Writing
isa craft
If youkeepin mindthetwoprinciples,
clarity
and
precision,
andwritesimplyandnaturally,
youmay
disregard
the tyrannyof smallcritics.
Youdo not
writeeffectively
merelyby obeyingthe rulesof
grammarand syntax,but beforeyoubreakthe rules
you shouldknowwhattheyare.
Skilled
writers
studywordsso thattheyusethose
thatarefitting,
andtheyconsider
themosteffective
way of puttingthem together.They observehow
wordsaffect
thethinking
andacting
of people.
The urgeto "writeas you speak"can lead tO a
trap.If oneputsintoletters
or printtoomuchracy
speechtheresulting
prosewillbe eitheran enemymakeror something
to be laughed
at;if onewritesas
loosely
as hetalks,
hisletter
or essayor report
will
command
little
respect.
In any sortof composition
meantto communicate
ideas,thewritermustconsider
hispurposeandthe
needsof thereader.
It isirrational
to sitdownwith
penandpaperto writesomething
thatwillbe worth
the effortunlessyou know:(1) whatyou wish
say,and(2)to whomyouwishto sayit.
It maybe takenforgranted
thatthethoughts
of a
person
receiving
a letter
willrunsomething
likethis:
Whatis thisletterabout?How doesit concernme?
Is thisstatement
true? Whatdoesthewriterwantme
to do ? Whyshould
I do it ?
Creative
writing
is a bridgefromthemindof the
writerto thatof hisreader.
Acrossthisbridgethe
writer
mustsendinformation
of interest
to thereader
andideaswhichwillstirhimto thought
or action.
Thewordssentacrossthebridgehavemeaning
only
whentheyare understood
in depthand breadthby
thepersonreading
them.A wordor a sentence
is not
merelya bundleof sounds:it is alsoa bundleof
associations.
Mostof the timepeoplecannotgrasp
ourpointunless
theyareableto connect
itwiththeir
ownexperience.
People respondreadily to some words while
remaining
indifferent
to others.
Tryto usewordsand
language
thatwillaffectyourcorrespondent
as you
wishhimto be affected.
Takeintoaccounttheperceptionrangeof yourreader:are you surethathe
willreadoutof yourletter
thethoughts
thatyoumean
toinspire
init?
If yoursubject
is difficult,
if youmusttakeyour
readerthroughswampyland,at leastthrowhim a
rope.Give him some help towardreachingsolid
ground.
Therearetimeswhenpersuasiveness
consists
insaying
things
thatleavethereader
believing
thatis
justthewayhe wouldhavesaidthemhimself.
Butbe
tactful:
do notremind
himthathe didn’t.
Anyonewritingfor a wide audiencemust pay
attention
to possible
peculiarities
anddislikes.
An
enumerator
makinghisroundsof households
before
a British
general
election
said:"A numberof people
canbe thrownby beingaskedwhatsextheirchildren
are.Theywouldlookaffronted
at theword’sex’.By
andby I learned
to rephrase
thequestion
as ’haveyou
gotanylittle
boysorlittle
girls
?’"
in theletterthatcounts,
notwhatis in yourhead.
Beforesigning
a letterlookfortheneededvirtues.
Isitcomplete
? Isitcourteous
? There
isnosituation
in
whichyouare so rightin yourcontention
thatyou
canaffordnot to be urbane.Did youend it gracefully
? Itisjustasimportant
tomakea first-rate
exit
as a dramatic
entrance.
Yourletter
is morethana statement
of facts.
It is
an expression
of yourpersonality,
a symbolof your
status.
The matterof style
If youexpress
yourthoughts
in theirproperorder
in wordsthatareproperto theoccasion,
youwillbe
writing
in a clearstyle.
Socrates,
aboutto drinkthe
Know your subject
hemlock,
urgedhisfriends
to disregard
themanner
but
think
of
the
truth
of
his
words.
A
maxim
of
Horace’s
It is necessary
for thecorrespondent
seekingto
said thatgood senseis the sourceand originof
sway peopleto his viewpointto be preparedwith
goodstyle.
facts,a factmeaningsomething
knownto be true.
Lightandshadeareas necessary
in writing
as they
Thewriter
should
havea bigger
arrayof factsthanhe
arein sculpture,
but if you overdoeitheroneyou
is likely
to need.It is disheartening
to makea good
obscure
themeaningyouwishto convey.
Do notfeel
startandthenrunoutof gas.It ishumiliating
tohave
a correspondent
askforfactswhichthewritershould thatyouhaveto shouteveryoncein a while.Your
readerwill lookat a rainbowwithouthavinghis
haveknownenoughto supplywithoutbeingasked.
attention
drawnto it by a clapof thunder.
A mindcluttered
up withundigested
facts,suppositions
andtheories
is in nofitstatetodictate
a
A writerof goodtaste-- somepeoplewouldcallit
"sensitivity"--will
takepainsin perfecting
hisstyle
letter.
Platofollowed
thisdrill:he announced
his
subject,
presented
it rapidlyin numerous
aspects, to makethereaderbelieve
thathe tooknone’atall.
walking
allaroundit in theprocess,
andthenspoke
Whenthestyleshowsin a pieceof writing
onefeels
insucha wayasto relate
hisideastothelivesofthe
as if he wereon thewrongsideof thestagescenery,
withallthepropsandropesandpulleys
nakedly
seen.-.
peoplearoundhim.
good writingstyleas beingas
Onesignof deftness
in written
workis theability Someonedescribed
casual-seeming
as theskimming
of a dragon-fly.
to keepto thepointof yourtopic.Something
often
happenswhen you are writingthat changesthe
Styleisclosely
linked
withfeeling.
A factora truth
direction
of whatyouare sayingfromduenorthto
maybe stated
soas to touchtheintellect
alone,
or it
nor-nor-west.
It isnotalways
desirable
to fightthis
maybe expressed
in termswhich,without
dimming
its
drift,
butitisalways
wisetoknowthatitis there.
clearness,
mayappealto thereader’s
sensibility
by
theirharmony
or energy.
To ramblein wordsis to confuse
theissueyouare
discussing.
Brevity
is notalways
thesoulof wit.The
Maketime for star-gazing
in betweenboutsof
realtroubleis thatspeechesand lettersare too
writing.
It is a way to woo ideasand to surround
irrelevant,
toodullandtooslovenly.
Theygivethe
themwithbrightimages.It helps,if you wishyour
impression
of usinga shot-gunshellloadedwith
ideasto seeminspired,
to makethemsoundas if they
manywordsin thehopethatsomemayhitthetarget. wereinspired.
Thesefaults
makethespeechor letter
appearlong.
In conveying
an ideawe may show whatit is by
givinginstances
of it in operation
or by making
Businesslanguage
contrasts.
If youmakea general
assertion
thatis of
to yourpurpose
in writing,
followit up
Business
menareawarethattheability
to getalong importance
examples.
withpeople,
toadvance
intheirjobs,andto selltheir withproofor illustrative
Themosteffective
devicea writercanuseis the
goods,dependson clearcommunication.
parable,
a metaphor
whichpresents
a storyto illusSomepeoplein business
havebeenmisledby the
trate
a
point.
We
do
not
wish
to
write
in pictographs
illiterate
suggestion
thattheyshouldnot concern
as ourlong-ago
forefathers
did,butthecloser
a word
themselves
withtherealpeople
at theotherendof the
or a sentence
comesto picturing
whatit stands
forthe
communication
line,butshould
writetheirletters
and
easier
it is tocomprehend.
addresstheirtelephone
callsto abstractions
like
"customer"
and "prospect".
Writingletterscan be
Words are esteemedfor more reasonsthan the
madean exciting
as wellasan intellectually
absorbing meanings
theyconvey.If youanalyse
yourenjoyment
exercise
whenyoudetermine
to findtherightwordsto
of a verseof poetryor a passage
of prosethatgives
saytoa realperson.
you delight,
youwillfindthatonlya partof your
enjoyment
comesfromthoughtof thefactsor events
Oncea letterleavesyour"OUT"trayit is whatis
to whichit drawsyourattention.
Muchcomesfrom
thebeautyof thewordsandsentences
considered
as
a pattern
of sound.
Poetsreachout for wordsthatpaintpictures.
Homerwrote,quotingthe one-eyed
giantblindedby
Ulysses:
"Thisweakpigmywretch,of meandesign."
A non-poet
mighthavewritten:
"justa little,ugly
weakling
has blinded
me."
Poetryusessynonyms
forvariety,
metreandrhyme,
therefore
poetry
is a first-class
placeto quarry
words
thatwilladda liltas wellas accuracy
to a pieceof
prose.
reading
isa lifetime
pursuit,
sothatwe arekeptup to
dateby seeingwordsusedin a multitudeof combinations
amidchanging
scenes.
Published
in 1971,Techniques
of Teaching
Vocabularyis a bookthatwillbe usefulto allpersons
who
write,as wellas to teachers.
It waswritten
by Edgar
Dale,Professor
of Education,
and JosephO’Rourke,
Research
Associate,
bothof theCollege
of Education,
OhioStateUniversity.
It is published
by FieldEducational
Publications
Inc.,PaloAlto,Cal.
Using a dictionary
Thebusiness
of a dictionary
is to reporthowwords
areused,andnotto prescribe
or proscribe
meanings.
Notice
how
many
different
meanings
words
have.
We do notinheritwordsand thetalestheytell.
Somehavebroadenedoverthe years,whileothers
Manytimesas thestoryof Aladdin
andhisWonderful
havenarrowed.
You willbe joltednow and thenby
Lamphasbeentold,it mustbe toldagainforevery
findingthatthe meaningyou commonlyattachto a
childas newgenerations
comeuponthestage.
wordis notmentioned
in thedictionary.
Whenbuilding
a vocabulary
fitto expressallour
Whenyou are writingaboutspecialized
subjects
thoughts,
hopesand emotions,
we needto remember the conventional
dictionary
mustbe supplemented
thatwordsare symbols,
standing
for things.If we
withlistsoftermspertinent
tothespecific
fields
of
did not have words we should be condemnedto
endeavour.Every professionand occupationhas
carrying
aroundlargebundles
of thingsinstead,
like
wordsto express
itsprinciples
andpractices.
Medical
theprofessors
inGulliver’s
satire
Laputa.
researchers
andastronauts
andhistorians
do different
When you improveyour vocabularyit will be
things,and theyalsotalkdifferent
languages.
A
larger
andbroader,
butitwillalsohavegreater
depth writer’s
library
maycontain
dictionaries
of biology,
and precision,
enabling
youto use thewordsymbol geography,
geology,
law,music,mythology,
philosowhichmostclosely
callsup thethingsymbolized.
It
phy,psychology,
science,
andmanyothers.
willenableyouto express
purposefully
facts,ideas,
Some personsthrowthe word "jargon"at these
feelings
andexperiences.
A wordfittingly
chosenmay
specialized
languages,
buttheuseof special
wordsis
be likeanelectric
switch:
something
thatturnson the
jargononly when it is used to communicate
with
light.
peoplewho havenot beeninitiated
in the special
field.Writing
in a scientific
magazine
soldon the
Our stockof wordsis enlargedthroughthe experiences
thatarewovenintoourlives.Ourwriting news-stands,
theauthor
of an article
entitled
"Verbal
Communication"
used paragraphslike this one:
is effective,
vividandinteresting
whenwe putthis
"Transformations
thatprovidethe invariants
with
stuff
ofourlives
intoit.
diverse
concomitant
variations
can
be
roughly
divided
Closeandattentive
observation
of whatis goingon
contextual
andstylistic."
aroundus is necessary
if we areto writebrightly. intotwokindsofalteration:
Everyone
hasseena photographer
of naturesubjects
at work:he putshiscameralenscloseto theflower, Words have width and depth
or as closeashe cangetit toa birdora butterfly.
He is a good workmanin writingwho uses the
Thelensbringsoutbeauties
thattheeyecannotsee
implements
ofhiscraftwithcareandskill.
Hechooses
and projectsthem on a screen.So Shakespeare wordsas a skilledmachinist
chooses
the toolsthat
sprinkled
hisplayswithsimiles
andwordpictures
that
willdo particular
jobsin thefinest
way.
presented
themselves
to hisattentive
observation.
In
Wordsare pickedup by the consciousmind and
Cymbeline
we find"Likethe crimsondropsi’ the
madeintopicturesin the subconscious.
Whenyou
bottom of a cowslip".Shakespearehad to pay
write7r youarewriting
a constant,
theratioof the
imaginative
attention
to seethisimperial
mixture
of
circumference
of a circleto itsdiameter;
whenyou
crimson
andyellowin thecupof a primrose.
writetheformula
NaCIyouareindicating
thechemical
Nextto personalobservation
comesreadingas a
substance,
sodiumchloride,
andit alwaysmeansthat
source of words. Knowledgeof words does not
substanceand nothingelse.Few wordsin common
descend
uponus magically
at theendof anygradein
usehavesuchlimited
denotations
as these.Consider
school
or attheendof a university
course.
Itcomesas
"mother"and "father".They are extendedinto
a matterof being acquaintedwith many men and
multiplenew areasof use suchas "motherof parwomenof talentthrough
theirbooks.
liaments,
mother
earth,
mother
wit;thechildis father
of theman,father
to thatthought."
Thepurpose
in reading
is notto learntowritelike
Moli~re,
Churchill
or Callaghan,
butto profitfrom
The interpretation
we givewordsis boundup with
comparison
betweenone styleand another,and to
the imagestheyevoke."Informer"
and "informant"
learnby example
themosteffective
useof words.
This
may be saidto mean,roughly,the samething,but
Build a vocabulary
notethe differencethatmay be read intothem.
"Informer"makes us thinkof stool-pigeons
and
talebearers;
"informant"
has no suchnastyfrill
attached
toit.
To differentiate
wordsin bothdepthandwidth,we
havebooksof synonyms.
Threethatareavailable
in
paperbackeditions
are:TheNewRogetThesaurus
in
Dictionary
Form(G. P. Putnam’sSonsInc.,1961);
A Dictionary
of Synonymsand Antonyms,
by Joseph
Devlin(Popular
Library,
Toronto,
1961),andSoule’s
Dictionary
of EnglishSynonyms
(Little,Brownand
Co.,Boston,
1966).
SirEllsworth
Flavelle
hassuggested
thatwefindthe
precisemeaningsof wordsby consulting
antonyms
as well as synonyms,thus checkingthem by both
theirmeaning
and theirnon-meaning.
Nearly
everywriter
istempted
at timesto embellish
hisworkby usingqualifying
words;othersaredead
set againstthe use of wordsthat modifywords.
Withoutdoubt,adjectives
and adverbscanweakena
statement
or blurthemeaning.
Youcannotmeasure
a writer’s
geniusby thelength
of hiswords.
Someenjoytheuseof bigwordswithout
paying
attention
to theirmeaning;
others
usegigantic
wordson a microscopic
topic,likepinninga white
beardon thefaceof a child,
andyetothers
thinkthat
theirdignitydemandsthattheyuse many-syllable
words.WhenDr. Johnsonwas askedabouta comedy
he said:"Ithas not witenoughto keepit sweet."
Then,realizing
thatthissentence
wasnotup to the
standard
of hissonorous
prose,he hastened
to give
a morefull-toned
sentence:
"Ithasnotvitality
enough
to preserve
it fromputrefaction."
If yourdesireto usebigwordsis as overpowering
as Johnson’s,
recallwhatShakespeare
didto getrid
of his stockof resounding
nonsense:he invented
Pistol,associate
of Falstaff,
to makemeaningless
speeches
in magnificent
verse.
Revise your language
Everyoneshouldrevisehis languagehabitsfrom
timetotimein ordertokeeppacewithlifeandcustom.
Languageis an expression
of humanactivity,and
becausehumanactivity
is constantly
changing
languagechanges
withit.
Duringthepasthalfcentury
therapidproduction
of newideas,concepts
andmachines
hasnecessitated
the coining
of newwordsto nameanddescribe
them.
The computer,
the physicslearnedby highschool
pupils,thecomplexity
of world-wide
corporations,
couldnot be explained
in the Greekof Aristotle’s
day or thewordsusedby Tolstoy,
Dumasor Dickens.
Ancientpompousphraseshaveno morerightto live
thanhavethe slang-laden
phrasescoinedby a rebellious
generation.
Bothmustprovetheirability
to
fill
needs.
Thereare accepted
goodstandards
of everylanguage,andthefactthata language
is changing
is not
a goodreasonfor abandoning
the standards.
In all
changetheremustbe an element
of continuity;
if that
AL.qO AVAILABLEIN FRENCH AND IN BRAILLE
element
of continuity
is absentyouhavenotchange,
butthe destruction
of onethingandthecreation
of
another.
One trendtodayis towardthe useof uglywords.
We cando quitewellin expressing
ourselves
intelligentlywithoutthe meanand unlovelywordswhich
somewriters
introduce
in thenameof liberty,
frankness,andprogressiveness.
A goodwriterputit this
way:"I tryto watchthe wordsI say,andkeepthem
tenderand sweet,for I neverknowfromday to day
whichonesI’llhaveto eat."
The wholesomeness
of languageis menacednot so
muchby thecrudevulgarism
of theuntaught
whoare
indefatigable
in theirsearchforgross,squalid
and
violent
words,
butby theblithe
irresponsibility
ofthe
taught.
Discipline
aswellas purposefulness
playsa partin
effective
communication.
Do not givein to the"any
wordwilldo"mentality,
or scatterwordsas if you
were shakinga floormop. Use honestwords,the
sharpest
you canfind,to saywhatyou mean.Choice
of wordsbya writer
deserves
asgreatcareas doesthe
selectionof a fly by the same man when he goes
fishing
or of a clubwhenhe is on thegolfcourse.
Read it over
Ask yourself"How doesmy writingread?"Quite
oftenone doesnot fullyknowwhathe has written
until
hereads
it.
Lookovertheletter
or speechandaskwhether
this
or thatwordis as serviceable
in itscontext
as some
otherwordmightbe. Experienced
writersmakemany
changes
atthispoint.
Checkwhether
thelanguage
youusedis suitable
to
theoccasion,
thesubject
andthepersonto whomyou
addressed
it.
Haveyoumadeit clearthatyou areinterested
in
whatyou write?A pieceof writingis strongif it
conveysthe assurance
thatthe writercaredabout
whathe wrote.It is doublyblessed
if it givesthe
reader
thefeeling
of believing
thatthewriter
understoodhimand hisproblems.
Boiled
downto itsessential,
language
isserviceable
whenit conveysthingsusefulto be known.Whena
personhas greatthoughts
andcannotexpressthem,
it is likehighvoltage
passing
through
a smallwire,
andtheonlyrelief
isto blowa fuse.
A personmaybe neither
an eloquent
speaker
nora
greatwriter,butpractice
anda faithful
systemof
reading
and observation
willchangehim intoa convincing
speaker
anda readable
writer.
He mustpractise
as consistently
as a musician.
If
everyone
waited
untilhe wasperfect
inthesubject,
no
bookswouldeverbe written.
It is a goodideato approach
everyjobof writing
with the thought:"This sheet of paper, like
Michelangelo’s
blockof marble,
hasgreatpossibilities
init."
THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA 1973/PRINTED IN CANADA