THOSE WILEY WORDS

How to avoid a vacuous vocabulary

Do you struggle to find just the right word to say what you mean? Has your vocabulary gone on vacation? This may be happening to you because people don’t use words much anymore. So you hear nothing around you but the usual boring array, punctuated with four-letter expletives. 

DAILY CONVERSATION

Experts say that most people know thousands of words, but you would never know it from conversation in a social setting. You typically hear the same several hundred words, with frequent interjections of “like” and other fillers. And all manner of things qualify as “amazing,” even though that adjective used to mean something. 

One of my ESL students observed, “To Americans, everything is ‘amazing’.” This wasn’t helping her improve her English-language vocabulary, and she was highly educated and eager to learn. I referred her to stellar writers like William Faulkner and Edith Wharton. Or for a real challenge she could tackle Shakespearean sonnets. The Bard knew how to use the language, and we’ve been in linguistic decline ever since.

If you haven’t dipped into Shakespeare recently, you’re missing the chance to enhance your vocabulary, particularly insults. Wouldn’t you like to call someone a “loggerheaded onion-eyed foot-licker”?  And remember Cyrano de Bergerac who, because of his long nose, felt inadequate to woo his lady love? With his sublime expressive skills, he helped another guy win her over. That was generous of him, because the other guy’s courting language was limited to re-arranging “I love you, adore you.” The lady was smitten when Cyrano’s words (“A kiss is a secret that takes the lips for the ear”) were conveyed in letters ostensibly from the other guy. The plot thickened by the end as the lady realized that Cyrano was the real wordsmith, falling in love with him as he lay dying.

PHYSICAL BENEFITS OF ENUNCIATION

Nobody talks about it much, but an expressive vocabulary works your facial muscles. This means that you won’t get wrinkles around your mouth as early as some people do. And if you want your words to emerge easily, habit is crucial. You go to the gym to exercise other muscles in the body, so why not your face?  If the idea is appealing, pronounce some strange words for “mouth feel.” Whistling is even better, but that’s the subject of another article. 

Those who have studied languages know the value of enunciating words that wreak havoc with the mouth, but you don’t have to resort to a foreign language. English offers words that give you a demanding buccal workout. You may already know “serendipity” and “gobbledygook,” but have you ever used “prevaricate” or “vitriolic” or “obfuscate”? You can do some damage with those words.

I keep a list of intriguing words at the ready to insert into my speech, impressing listeners while exercising facial muscles. Some may find this pretentious, but most often people simply agree with my views or they pretend that they understand.

START THEM EARLY

Children deserve support, and their speech reveals a lot about parental vocabulary. I easily discern whether children hear expressive conversation at home or merely the same old several hundred words. And don’t insult a child’s intelligence with assumptions about speaking ability. They are more than capable of handling polysyllabic words, and if you doubt that, have a conversation with a four-year-old about dinosaurs.

EMOJIS: BOON OR BANE?

Today, many people readily embrace emoticons to convey feeling, and psychologists have studied their effects on communication. One study suggests that those who use emojis heavily have more sex and get more dates. This is fine if that’s your goal, and who doesn’t want that at one time or another? I myself would like to know whether emojis increase my attractiveness as a candidate in a job search, or whether I’m more likely to get a raise if I sprinkle my request with smiley faces. Opinions about this vary.

Back to sex and dates. I’m imagining two people who meet through an online dating site. They text to get acquainted, brandishing emojis throughout their messages. I wonder about the in-person interaction. Do they flail about in search of words? How do they express nuances? What if one person’s emoticon vocabulary is not as extensive or rich as the other’s? Perhaps there’s a role for Cyrano here.

THE TOTAL YOU

Of course, vocabulary is only part of your schtick. Tone and enunciation help you project confidence and inspire trust. Listen to speeches that qualify as “inspiring.” If you say the speaker’s words aloud, articulating the consonants, you’re getting a facial workout plus embedding vocabulary and phrasing into your speech apparatus. People pay coaches a lot of money to help them do that. 

You can find studies showing a correlation between vocabulary size and rank on the corporate ladder. Even if you’re not a corporate type, you’ve probably wanted to convince someone, sometime, to vote for your candidate, or to eat at home rather than a restaurant. Solid expressive ability enhances your chances.

Unless you carry a gun or are prepared for fisticuffs or blackmail, effective delivery of language is your only tool to get what you want in life. It has worked for demagogues and statesman alike. So why not hone your skills, maximize your chances for sealing the deal, marrying the maiden, convincing the incredulous? No need to use big words when small ones do the job, but you can strive for precision. Note: There are no true synonyms; multiple words exist to capture fine distinctions. 

FINAL WORDS

With a fluid vocabulary, you won’t struggle for words when speaking. You can focus on impressing your listeners with your confidence while inspiring trust in your ideas. In other words, vocabulary is just one communication tool, wielded skillfully with support from your other skills.  A lawyer’s convincing arguments demolish the other side, securing a conviction, maybe a prison sentence.  With effective verbal delivery, your colleague gets the job you should have. Or your competitor gets the order from your best customer. 

Don’t let this happen to you. Peruse a dictionary, where words lie in wait, not to attack, but begging to be chosen for your vocabulary.