The power of simple words

I still remember my first English writing class that I took in college. Back then I was thinking, “This is not an ESL school anymore; this is real college.” This thought excited me and intimidated me at the same time. In Minnesota, the first state I lived in after arriving in the US, there were not many foreign students, so I felt even more pressure.

During that first meeting of the class, the professor gave us a short paragraph to paraphrase. I was stressing out because this was our first assignment and I wanted to do well. I knew that in order to paraphrase something I needed to know many words and their synonyms. But my vocabulary at that time was still not as robust as I would have wanted.

To be honest, I can’t recall the whole text or the book it was taken from. What I do remember very well though is that a wave of anxiety flooded my stomach because of two words I didn’t know. Although I didn’t know their meaning, I sensed that they were important.

The whole paragraph was discussing the difference in quality of life between the haves and have-nots. I had never seen these words before. From the context of the text I figured that haves must mean people who have something while have-nots, I thought, probably meant people who don’t have it. I didn’t know what this “something” was, but after reading the paragraph again, I realized that it wasn’t anything in particular. It was everything. “The haves must be the rich and the have-nots must be the poor,” I thought. Now that I had the meaning, I needed to come up with better synonyms than the rich and the poor. I couldn’t use such simple words in an English writing class.

But time was passing fast. I had to hand in my paper in a minute and I still couldn’t come up with more sophisticated synonyms for these two strange words. Rich and poor was all I could come up with.

When I handed in my assignment, I was a little embarrassed that I had used such simple words. I imagined that the professor would think that I didn’t belong in a college-level English class because my vocabulary was poor. When the next day he asked me if he could read my paper to the class, I was stunned. The professor read my work. There was a certain dose of surprise in his voice. “The rich and the poor are probably the best synonyms for haves and have-nots that I’ve seen,” he said.

Then and there I understood that we often look for more complicated, multisyllabic terms in order to appear more educated. But the words we often use and consider to be simple are sometimes the most powerful.

To be honest, I don’t know if I would have used the same words if I had to go back to that moment with the proficiency of the English language that I have now. Maybe I would be tempted to choose terms like “the wealthy and the impoverished” instead of the rich and the poor. But the truth is that my lack of knowledge then taught me something. It taught me that while everyone else used words I didn’t even know how to pronounce, it was my simple paper that appealed to the professor the most.

 

Click here to see a newer version of this post, which also includes a video 🎥 from my YouTube channel LingoAdventure.

 

Five tips on choosing words

Below are five pieces of advice I have for you when you choose your words.

1. Sometimes the simplest words are the best choice

We often think that we have to use fancy words in order to appear smart and impress others. But the truth is that simple words are often more powerful because of the impact they have on people. However, beware of repeating the same word many times in a row because it might start sounding like a cliche.

2. Mix more sophisticated words with simple ones

Knowing and using more sophisticated words is definitely an asset. The problem comes when sometimes people, in order to appear super intelligent, use only long and complicated words. But packing your speech or paper with such terms might have the opposite effect on your audience. You could lose your listeners or readers because they might find it hard to relate. So mix more polished words with more common ones. This way you won’t limit your audience.

3. Make sure you know at least two synonyms of a given word

Knowledge is power. I used simple words in my first English assignment because my vocabulary was still limited. It wasn’t by choice. When you learn a new word, look up two or three synonyms for it. Try to remember them so that you can always rephrase your ideas if you need to. Dictionaries and Google are the easiest tools when you look for synonyms.

4. If you use complicated words, make sure you know their meaning

If you look up a fancy sounding word that you have never used before, make sure you know exactly how to use it. Dictionaries are good for finding definitions, but they might not be the best source if you are searching to find how to use words in a context. YouGlish is a great tool for this because it shows you many different ways a particular word or phrase has already been used. Skell is another useful tool for checking how English speakers use particular words in sentences. Thank God for today’s technology ?.

5. Make sure you are not literally translating from your native language

Sometimes we, nonnative speakers of English, think that we know the meaning of a word just because it sounds similar to one from our native language. But such words could be tricky. For example, I’ve heard Spanish speakers say, “It’s so pacific here,” when they mean to say quiet. You can use this word when you talk about the Pacific Ocean, because this is this ocean’s name, but when you describe a place in nature, for example, it’s better to say peaceful, calm or quiet. Again, use sites like YouGlish and Skell to find out the most suitable word for a particular sentence.

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Choosing what words to use in a speech or a piece or writing is challenging even in our native language, let alone in a foreign one. When you are not sure what phrase to pick for a certain situation, ask yourself what you want your audience to feel. Fancier words might induce more respect while simpler words often go straight to the heart. Mix and match and do it by choice. Having a choice will make you more confident.

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Now tell me about you. How do you choose the words you use? Have you ever felt that you are misusing a word? Let me know in the comments.

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