“Prefer the familiar word to the far-fetched.
Prefer the concrete word to the abstract.
Prefer the single word to the circumlocution.
Prefer the short word to the long.
Prefer the Saxon word to the Romance.”
This was the advice the Fowler brothers gave in their book, The King’s English, more than a century ago.
Take a moment to mull over their words. Is there anything that sounds illogical?
Not really, if you ask me. It’s the soundest advice aspiring writers can get. Yet even today we find it difficult to follow.
“Prefer the familiar word to the far-fetched.”
Why do we want to use highfalutin words when we can inform more easily with everyday words? Why does every piece of writing become an opportunity to impress, not express? Even a specialist audience would rather not have to deal with jargon. Supreme Court Justices D Y Chandrachud and A S Boppanna sent back a verdict by the Himachal Pradesh High Court and said it was “incomprehensible” and “difficult to navigate through”.
“Prefer the concrete word to the abstract.”
Concrete words paint a picture to the reader more than abstract words can. I remember Jyoti Sanyal would often tell us in journalism school, “Show, don’t tell.” He meant that we must use words to describe the scene to the reader in such a way that they can “see” what we are talking about as if they were physically present. Great writing often makes you feel this way. Among the recent texts I’ve read, William Dalrymple’s The Age of Kali reminded me of Sanyal’s edict:
“Then, quite suddenly, a carved wooden temple rath appeared in the centre of the principal ceremonial avenue from a side passage, pushed by a swarm of half-naked figures. Their progress was lit by a succession of temple priests holding brightly burning yellow splints dipped in camphor oil. In a silken tabernacle at the top of the rath lay the golden image of the goddess herself, garlanded and draped in cloth-of-gold her nose-jewel flashing in the flames of the priests’ burning splints.”
I could almost see the goddess’ gleaming nose ring. That’s the power of descriptive, tangible words.
“Prefer the single word to the circumlocution.”
The sooner you can get to the point, you do everyone a favour. But mind you, it is not easy to write succinctly. As someone famously said, “I’d have written a shorter letter, but didn’t have the time.” Writing briefly requires that you understand fully well the subject of your text and can express it lucidly, without reaching out for crutch words.
“Prefer the short word to the long.”
We read and understand shorter words faster. They are also usually simpler and more familiar. Longer words are not banned but must be used only if necessary. Feel no shame in using everyday words – in fact, your readers will thank you!
“Prefer the Saxon word to the Romance.”
Here, the Fowler brothers meant that writers in England must prefer English words more than Latinate words, which weren’t really in daily parlance and only served to intimidate readers and bloat the ego of the writers. In the Indian context, we must prefer words from the regional language or our mother tongues rather than Sanskrit words. Our official documents are replete with Sanskrit words that nobody understands. Whenever I see any attempt to translate from English to a regional language [pdf], it is almost always Sanskritized. Again, knowledge of Sanskrit seems to be something to show off.
Note that all the statements start with “prefer”. Meaning, that these are guidelines in the truest spirit and not an attempt to straitjacket writing.
