Or—
The Right Word
On this date in history, June 26 1963 to be exact, this faux
pas registered:
US President John F. Kennedy gives his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner"
(intended to mean "I am a Berliner", but may actually mean "I am
a doughnut") speech in West Berlin.
There are many examples of how much the right word in the
right place at the right time makes all the difference. This example is not a weighty one.
Hey, it’s summer, the sun is shining and I want to keep light.
But speaking of shining,
I have always found the writerly edict to make
sure every word shines to be absurd. Impossible, for one, and subjective to
boot. It makes writers work themselves into a tizzy, often messing up perfectly
good narrations.
Searching for just the right words is part of the
process. This, especially when something nags at the writer that it just “isn’t
right.”
One well-known trick is to click on the word and look at the
scroll-down menu for “synonyms.” Still not quite right? Replace with a closer
one, and click on its synonyms. I’ve done this in quadruplets. At a certain
point, either the right one shows on the menu or the wee brain has an epiphany.
Maybe it’s not the word, maybe it’s the sentence. Or maybe the paragraph or,
goodness, the whole story.
Usually the right word settles, and once resting
comfortably among the others, it’s sweet. Doughnut-sweet.
Or as we now write in the former colonies, donut. The spelling has to be "juste" right
as well.
9 comments:
Lol. When I was learning German, I'd laugh saying "ich bin ein Hamburger."
Yup, been all these things :D
This reminded me of the story I've heard of the Chevrolet Nova not selling well in Spanish-speaking countries because 'no va' means 'no go.' (But I checked that out on Snopes just now and it turns out it isn't true--even though it makes a good story. LOL)
The words still have to be the right ones to make a good story, true or not ;)
I love a good on-line thesaurus, but even more I love when it doesn't give me the RIGHT word, but at least points me in the right direction, prods my brain into digging deeper.
Yes, indeed. I find that when a word feel "offish," the synonyms will usually expose what was wrong with that word choice.
That's such a good insight — that when a word isn't working, the synonyms will expose what's really wrong. That goes in my writing backpack.
I still have a tendency to write "doughnut" rather than "donut." I prefer "dialogue" and "epilogue" to "dialog" and "epilog," too.
By the way, I read your comment on Janie Junebug's latest post, and agree whole-heartedly, especially with your remarks about Woody Allen. I had a friendly disagreement with Janie (via texting) about him a few weeks ago. I too "don't care for trial by hysteria and media" as you put it. Maybe if accusations from four dozen victims had surfaced, as in Cosby's situation, I'd feel differently.
Yes, that one had a whiff of "something offish."
Thank you for visiting here. I love foxes of all colors.
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