"The Case for Short Words" - Richard Lederer - Lesson Summary

The Case for Short Words

Introduction:

“The Case for Short Words,” written by Richard Lederer, explains how short words get your point across much more efficiently than many long words might.  He says, “A lot of small words, more than you might think, can meet your needs with a strength, grace, and charm that large words do not have”. The essay is a heightened plea so users of the English language to go for short, crisp, swift words, instead of a long word.

The Wrong Notion about the Use of Short Words:

Students of the English language are often under a preconceived false notion  that by using a more complex vocabulary in writing and by using long words in conversation, others might consider them as being ‘well educated’, and perhaps even a little more ‘intelligent’. Richard

Lederer says that the student of the English language should rather strive for ‘simplicity’ and ‘ease of understanding’ in using words. Getting others to understand your ideas, thoughts and feelings is not an easy thing to do; even for native speakers.  By keeping things simple, clear and precise, we encourage greater understanding.

Small words Create Big Ideas:

Many students use words that look very long and complex, and most of the time they do not even know what these words mean. They like to throw in elaborate and complex words into their essays just because it looks more academic, although these complex words can cause confusion for the audience. When one wants to look academic and profound there is no need for big words.

As Richard Lederer rightly points out, short words can meet the needs of the speaker or writer with a strength, grace, and charm that large words do not have. Short words give clear light on big things like night and day, love and hate, war and peace, life and death, while big words can make the way dark for those who read what you write, and hear what you say. Big words sometimes seem strange to the eye and the ear and the mind and the heart.

Comparison of Short Words with Positive Images:

According to Lederer, short words are:

bright like sparks that glow in the night,

prompt like the dawn that greets the day,

sharp like the blade of a knife,

hot like salt tears that scald the cheek,

quick like moths that flit from flame to flame, and

terse like the dart and sting of a bee.

Studies and Statistics on Short Words:

One study show that twenty words account for 25% of all spoken English words, and all twenty of them are monosyllabic. Other studies also indicate that the fifty most common words in written English are each made of a single syllable.

Historical Evidence on the Importance of Short Words:

For centuries, our finest poets and orators have recognised and employed the power of small words to make a straight point between two minds. Even a great many of our proverbs punch home their points with short monosyllables: “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” “A Stitch in time saves nine”, “Spare the rod, spoil the child”, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” etc.

Nobody used the short word more skilfully than William Shakespeare, whose plays abound with short, pithy phrases and sayings. Shakespeare’s contemporaries made the King James Bible a centrepiece of short words – “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good.” Even the famous Prime Minister of England, Sir Winston Churchill responded to Parliament with these ringing monosyllables:

“I will say: it is to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and with all our strength that God can give us.”

Conclusion:

Lederer feels that one need not be a great author, statesman, or philosopher to tap the energy and eloquence of small words. He demonstrates this thought, with an  exercise he had given his ninth graders at St.Paul’s School to write a composition composed entirely of one-syllable words, which they did with aplomb.

Thus, according to Lederer, by using short words we can express the idea that we are trying to get across to our reader or listener in a much easier way. We do not have to strain to think about what intricate and complex words to use, but instead focus more on what is to be said - the message. After all, the main reason for writing is usually to get an idea across. So, by using small words, Lederer opines that, one will be able to express one’s ideas more clearly and precisely.

                                                                        *****