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1.2 Choice and Use of Words in Conciseness
1. What is conciseness?
Conciseness means being direct and to the point. Vigorous writing is concise. A concise sentence contains no unnecessary words.
Furniture food
vegetable to smile to walk
to beam
to move
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3. Generalization:
Writing that contains too many abstractions can be hard to understand and scares the readers.
Writing that is nothing but specifics give readers little guidance, and they will not grasp the main point.
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Exercise: For each of the following abstract words, give at least four concrete or specific words/ expressions related to it. 1) Smile/ laugh 2) Good food 3) Good man
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General words refer to groups, categories. Specific words refer to individuals in a group. They are also a matter of relativity.
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E.g.
General word: livestock Specific words: horse, ox, pig, sheep,cock, duck General word: flower Specific words: rose, tulip, violet, Jasmine
1) Wordy: It is the governor who signs or vetoes bills. More Concise: The governor signs or vetoes bills. 2) Wordy: There are four rules that should be observed. More Concise: Four rules should be observed.
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Concrete words identify persons and things that can be perceived by the five senses --- seen, heard, tasted, felt, smelled. E.g table, boy, tree Abstract words denote qualities, concepts, relationships, acts, conditions, ideas. They have no physical referent. E.g. freedom, democracy, love, success, responsibility; -ism words as communism, realism, romanticism, socialism, racism, capitalism
(2) Wordy: the class showing the best performance More Concise: the best—performing class (3) Wordy: the person who owns the store More Concise: the store owner
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Practice: Rearrange the following group of three words from the most general to the most specific.
1) chemist professional biochemist chair
2) rocking chair 3) Cucumber 4) to look happy 5) to stroll
Ponder:
Why do politicians prefer abstract words to concrete words ?
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2. General words and specific words Concrete words and abstracts words are opposite, but general and specific words are not opposite. They form a relationship of meses and phrases
That means a phrase can be replaced by single words and a clause can be replaced by a phrase.
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Compare: (1) Wordy: More Concise: a man with ambition an ambitious man
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Features:
Generally, abstract words will change meaning with time and circumstances. Concrete words stay the same. Abstract words are essential in making analysis, classification, inference and conclusion. Concrete words are useful in giving details.
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Compare: Wordy: During that time period, many car
buyers preferred cars that were pink in color and shiny in appearance.
More Concise: During that period, many car Concise:
Chapter
One
Diction --- Choice and Use of Words
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1.1 Abstract Words vs. Concrete words; General Words vs. Specific Words 1. Abstract words and concrete words
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(4) Wordy: the report which was released recently More Concise: the recently released report (5) Wordy: the magazine is designed for women who are from 25 to 50 More Concise: the magazine is designed for women aged 25-50
Compare:
Wordy: The students achieved the completion of the project by the deadline. More Concise: The students completed the project by the deadline.
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Sentence fragment s
sentences to make them more concise. 1) We will have no knowledge of the results until the completion of this contest. 2) There are trees on all sides of the house, and the trees hide the house. People can hardly see the house from the outside. 3) All members were in agreement that a meeting was necessary. 4) Mrs. Johnson gave her approval of my idea for the reduction of the homework load. 5) The revision of the teaching plan took two months.
buyers preferred pink, shiny cars.
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2) Eliminate unnecessary intensifiers (determiners and modifiers) Actually, these intensifiers don’t add to the new meaning of the sentence, because the words they modify are strong enough. E.g. carefully examine without some kind of extra help any particular kind of bread
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1) Smile/ laugh giggle, chuckle, grin, titter snigger, guffaw beam, snicker, smirk, chortle, jeer, 2) Good food tasty, delicious, nourishing, rich, abundant, fresh, nutritious, fresh, appetizing 3) Good man warmwarm-hearted, generous, just, honest, sympathetic, selfless, brave, honorable, considerate, righteous, upright, integrity, gentle