”He has never been known to use a word that might send the reader to the dictionary.”
— William Faulkner —
Won’t be no Faulkner in this piece. This here is for all the folks who know the one-dollar words.
You ever hear someone speak and the words flow elegantly and think, this person is quite intelligent. Well, that thought wouldn’t cross your mind after speaking with me. I’m not an idiot, I just don’t possess impressive prose. I have a simple life and a simple vocabulary is sufficient for most everyday situations. However, I wouldn’t mind adding a few new words to my vocabulary.
I read books daily. When I come across a word I do not know, I do three things:
Underline.
Google.
Write short definition.
My pages are littered with definitions for words like:
Dearth.
Mithering.
Capacious.
What’s nice is when a word you just learned shows up in the real world. For example, I was reading and came across the word
Miffed.
It’s not a word I use but I did like the way it sounded. I’d say “annoyed” or “irritated.”
The other day I was talking to a co-worker about his kitchen renovation and he said he was a bit miffed that it’s taking this company so long to finish up. Inside, I was happy when he said “miffed”. I nearly told him I had just learned the word. But I didn’t. I stayed calm but internally I gave myself a high-five.
The worst is when someone uses a word you don’t know, and it’s vital to the sentence. Do you say
“Not to cut you off, but what does ______ mean?”
When I was a French teacher at Lafayette High School, a student was late to my class because he walked his girlfriend to her class first. I told him you can’t do that since it makes you tardy. Then another student said ‘Some people have no chivalry.’ I didn’t even know what “chivalry” meant so I didn’t respond. I just looked at her and went into my lesson.
You won’t find words like chivalry or capacious or dearth in my writing. I may never send a reader to the dictionary like Faulkner does. I follow more in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway. I find his response to Faulkner’s remark appropriate:
"Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don’t know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.”
― Ernest Hemingway —
A video reading of the post. The reading is done in French with subtitles. I’d suggest reading the post and watching the video. What a fantastic experience you will have.