D ICTION:

The Choice o f
Words
 What are you
t r y i n g t o do?

W h a t is y o u r
purpose?

finding the exact w o r d t h a t produces

t h e e x a c t effect t h a t a w r i t e r intends.
 The Three
Qualities o f
effective diction
• Appropriateness
• Specificity
• imagery
 a p pr o pr i a t e n e s s
When writers care a b o u t Who
w i l l be r e a d i n g t h e i r w o r d s
and h o w the reader may
react

(when writers write f o r

someone o t h e r t h a n
themselves)
 Language formality
scale

Learned po pu l a r colloquial sl a n g

Most f o r m a l Least f o r m a l
 The basic e l e m e n t s o f
everyday communication
popular Learned
(co mmo n t o t h e speech o f t h e (used m o r e w i d e l y b y t h e
educated and the educated a n d in more f o r m a l
u n e d u c a t e d alike) occasions)
• Agree Concur
• Begin Commence
• Clear Lucid
• Disagree Remonstrate
• End- Terminate
• Help Succor
• Make easy Facilitate
• Secret Esoteric
• Think Cogitate
• Wordy Verbose
 colloquialisms
• Writing as friendly
conversation
• Highly informal
• W h a t a u d i e n c e is a p p r o p r i a t e
f o r using such diction?

Examples:
Any Contractions, a n y shortened words,
“ k i n d o f ” , “l i k e”, “ m a d ” ( a n g r y ) , “ y e a h ” ,
“ S u re ” ( c e r t a i n l y ) , “it’s me”
 Sl a n g
• L e a s t f o r m a l — i t s u s e is d e t e r m i n e d b y
the audience/occasion

• Satisfies a desire f o r n o v e l t y o f
expression

• Used b y e v e r y o n e a t o n e time o r
another

• Shifting t h e diction t o s l a n g may

create a humorous effect o r the
impression o f a l a c k o f c o n t r o l o v e r
the writing (usually the latter)
 specificity
• Specific w o r d s r e f e r t o u n i q u e l y
i n d i v i d u a l persons, events, o r
objects
• Concrete specific w o r d s a t t r a c t
o u r senses
• Abstract specific w o r d s r e l a t e t o
concepts t h a t are mostly
inferred
 imagery
• One m e a n i n g o f t h i s t e r m
s u g g e s t s t h e p i c t u r e s (images)
t h a t o c c u r in o u r minds
w h e n s p e c i f i c d i c t i o n is
employed
• In a n o t h e r sense, imagery
refers t o tropes.
 Revising d i c t i o n

• W h a t is y o u r p u r p o s e ?

• W h o is y o u r a u d i e n c e ?

• Does t h e d i c t i o n used
c o n s i d e r e a c h o f t h e above?
Revising d i c t i o n
vagueness
triteness

ja r g o n

In e f f e c t iv e
imagery
Ineffective imagery
• Te s t e v e r y m e t a p h o r , e v e r y f i g u r e
o f speech b y seeing t h e image—if
n o image appears in y o u r mind—
well…
• Mixed m e t a p h o r s c o n f u s e t h e
m e n t a l image:
“The b i l l is m a i n l y a s t e w o f s p e n d i n g o n e x i s t i n g p r o g r a m s ,
w h a t e v e r t h e i r w a r t s m a y be.” ( N e w Y o r k Times)
“So n o w w h a t w e a r e d e a l i n g w i t h i s t h e r u b b e r m e e t i n g t h e
r o a d , a n d i n s t e a d o f b i t i n g t h e b u l l e t o n t h e s e issues, w e
j u s t w a n t t o p u n t . ” ( C h i c a g o Tr i b u n e )
“ This i s a w f u l l y w e a k t e a t o h a n g y o u r h a t o n . ”
(New Yo r k times)
“the moment t h a t y o u w a l k i n t o t h e bow els o f t h e armpit
o f t h e c e s s p o o l o f crime, y o u i m m e d i a t e l y cringe.” (Our
t o w n , N e w Yo r k )
 ja r g o n
• The specialized l a n g u a g e o f
a particular group or
profession
• Characteristics of jargon
include:
1. abstract, technical words (learned
instead of popular)
2. excessive use o f t h e passive v o i c e
3.wordiness
 Examples o f
Jargon
• C o m p u t e r f i e l d : RAM, b a c k u p ,
l o l , gr8, gb
• M i l i t a r y : a w o l , sop, i e d
• L a w e n f o r c e m e n t : apb, csi,
perp, c l e a n s k i n
• C o mmo n examples: p o k e r face,
ufo, shrink, b a l l p a r k figure,
o n c l o u d nine
 vagueness
• Similar t o a m b i g u i t y, a w o r d
is v a g u e w h e n , i n c o n t e x t , i t
conveys more t h a n one
meaning
• Va g u e w o r d s b e l o n g t o a
group called “utility words”
• s p e c i f y, n a m e , c l a r i f y t h e
general
 Triteness
• Once u p o n a time a m e t a p h o r w a s
new, fresh, c o l o r f u l , a n d apt!
• Used c o u n t l e s s times o v e r t h e
y e a r s b y e v e r y o n e , t h e s h e e n is
dulled.
The c r a c k o f d a w n — d o y o u r o w n t h i n g —
c r y s t a l clear—good as gold—sly as a fox—lost
in t h o u gh t — c o mm u ne w i t h nature—it remains
t o b e s e e n — i t is w h a t i t i s — d o n ’ t g o t h e r e —
diamond in t h e r o u g h
END