These days you do not get much chance to show off your vocabulary treasures. Like your tuxedo, they have to stay at home most of the time. That is hard, but it is fair particularly for readers. If you have a big vocabulary full of polysyllables, that is fine. It will help you read. It will help you learn. It will help you think. It will help you solve crossword puzzles. But use it sparingly in your writing. Why? Because when you want to communicate with somebody, you have to use the words he has in his head. If he does not understand some of the words you use, he is likely to miss your reading.Bear this simple truth in mind: unless he understands, you have accomplished nothing. Fortunately for all of us, the chance of striking awe by means of big words has about run out. Filipinos have passed the stage where he can be impressed by the flow of polysyllables. When people are interested enough in the subject, they will wade through the long sentence and high-brow words. But the average person is only mildly interested in what he is expected to read. If he finds the first paragraph is made up of tortuous sentences and unfamiliar words, he would not read any further. He does not have the interest or the time to figure out what the writer was trying to put across.
You would not lose your readers if you have given him shorter sentence and fewer complex words. There are millions of words in the English language. Bit did you know that only 500 of them account for 75 percent of all that is said in print? There is no better way to clear, crisp writing style that short sentences and short words. Look at this list culled from newspapers and office memoranda:
Complex Common
category – class
contribute – give
facilitate – help
inaugurate – start
incarcerate – jail
indisposed – ill
inundate – flood
majority – most
monumental – big
prevaricate – lie
proceed – go
procure – get
purchase – buy
reside – live
request – ask
summon – call
terminate – end
utilize – use
witness – see
Here is the rule-of-thumb: Keep the percentage of hard words, i, e., three or more syllables, under 10 percent. If you mix in more than one three-syllable word in 10, you are taking chances. That is about the limit for easy reading.
43 comments:
Like in our discussion, we tend to use words that are not familiar to a lot of people. this is only for the reason that we want to flaunt our intelligence. We think that the appearance of such words makes our writing more knowledgeable, however, it only makes your writing not reader friendly.We should remember that different people will read your articles. So, you should take into consideration the different intellectual properties of different people.
Not all of us can understand all the words in an article. Some of us will reach for a dictionary and try to search for the meaning of the words they don't know. But this problem could be remedied by just using familiar words where everybody will be delighted and appreciative. Another thing is that not all of us enjoy to read newspapers with long articles because of that we should try to lessen those tortuous words and start to make everybody happy.
As the post above states : it is better to use words that the general reader would most likely pick up with just a glance at it. I also believe that using familiar words does not always refer the general as the earth's population, but that of the populace that is able to read the article at the moment. What I mean to say is that it depends on the group of people your selling your papers to. Would you see the word "loan" or "stocks" in a school paper? Or, would you see the words "Catholic Saint" in a Muslim special "Ramadan" article? Or would you reference people like Tokugawa Tsunayoshi in a Filipino newspaper? It would just seem awkward, though some people know what these people or what those words refer to in a different race,different culture or different religion, still some people would rather go with what is familiar to the place they are in right now. It applies all. If the writer wishes his article to be known, it is better to keep his words in the same place to as where the article is for, to whome the article is for and to how those words express it's meaning clearly to the people affected.
I really like article with common words for it is easy to understand. Whenever i read blogs that have complex words, i don't finish it. For me, it is like a mere show off of what you got. you are forgetting your main goal and that is to inform your reader or to make them understand what you are talking about
I must admit that I do this error every now and then. I excuse myself by saying that the readers should increase their vocabulary. That does not justify my errors. Because, overall, what is the sense of writing when no one can understand what you are saying? Is not the point of writing to communicate? So there you go, use familiar words because it simply makes everyone's lives easier.
I strongly believe that we should use familiar words in journalistic writing. Based from experience, I stop reading a selection the moment I encounter ten complex words or more. Especially, if the reader doesn't really like reading, then how do you expect to captivate him with those annoying complex words? We should let go of our prides that boast about our vocabulary's wonders to be able to reach out to the heart's of our readers.
I learned in this rule that you do not need to use deep-meaning words just to impress the readers. What would happen is that they would not be interested with your work because they cannot understand what you wrote. so, we better use words which are easy to understand.
This rule simply points out that we must use words that are comprehensive. Not words that make our articles boring and geeky. Oftentimes, readers tend to get bored when they do not understand what a writer is talking about because the paragraphs are full of highfaluting words. We tend to go overboard and expect that the readers already know this kind of words. We must keep in mind that we must use words that are suitable in our target readers' knowledge, and not base it on our own understanding of such words.
Since not all of yopur readers have a vast vocabulary, it is better to just use the words that you use in everyday communication. If we use jargons, some people would not understand your work and will just ignore your article. So next time, use familiar words.
If you were a creative writer, this rule could be put aside. But since we are in journalistic writing, our main goal is to let our readers know what we are portraying.
Let us remember that not all our readers have a wide range of vocabulary. I don't mean to boast, but some words are too deep for our readers, and let's admit that even ourselves don't know it before. We only use it because we know that there is someone reading your work that doesn't know what the meaning of that word is.
In order to look seemingly smart, writers tend to use unfamiliar words and highfalutin ones. Of course, these words would not be understood by average readers. Starting your sentence with an eye-catching word but easily understandable is a good idea. You must always aim the interest of your readers. If not, then don't write anymore. So when you write, always take into consideration your readers because they are what you really aim. Put yourself into their shoes. When you use familiar words, you're more likely to get more readers than other amateur writers.
Journalistic writing must appeal to the masses. How can we appeal to the maases? We can appeal to the masses if and only if we use words that are very familiar in our articles. The point of writing is to communicate. Avoid an article filled with highfaluting words. Most of us, including me, find it very difficult and a hindrance to understand an article filled with unfamiliar words.
As much as possible use only familar words, but I'm not saying to completely erase unafamiliar words in your article. You can use two or three unfamiliar words as long as the readers will know the meaning of the words using context clues.
Consider different kind of readers, we should be able to let them understand whatever we're writing so to be safe and for more people to understand our work it would be better if we will use familiar words. We don't have to use deep and unfamiliar words to be able to make a good article. Always remember that we write to give information to our readers. So let us write in a simple and informative way.
Not everyone is fond of reading the dictionary, so in writing, always mind your readers. Familiar words would make it easier for your readers to understand what you want to say. Remember that you are writing to inform, not to prove that your vocabulary is that of a Webster's dictionary.
People who uses overly complicated words are trying to blind the readers with flashy words. This wont do for a paper. Besides, if your reader could not understand what they're reading, they'll simply trow the paper away angrily. It will ruin your sole purpose in writing.
When we use unfamiliar words in writing, it is like we limit our work to only the intellectual ones. The main purpose of articles or writings is to inform but if we use words that are not familiar to people, how will our works be able to inform them? We should use more familiar words in order for many people to understand it.
Some people would say that writing complicated words in your articles would impress readers but that is not true. Complex words would tend to confuse your readers, making your article harder to understand. And if your readers could not understand your article then you have achieved nothing. A key point in implementing this rule is by determining your target readers. If you were writing an article to be read by intellectual beings, you could write more complex words compared to an article to be read by common individuals. What is important in this rule is that readers would be able to understand the article that you made. Writing is a form of communication and how could you communicate properly if you cannot even understand each other? So the next time you are writing an article write familiar words. This would help the readers appreciate your works better.
Not all of us can understand deep words. Some words are not familiar to us that we find it hard to know what the article is telling us. We tend to look for a dictionary for us to know the meaning of a certain word. But dictionary is the enemy of an author. So for an author to prevent his/her readers from using a dictionary, use familiar words. Not only the author but also his/her readers will be happy.
Maria Patricia Caluag De Mesa
This rule states that we should use words that are familiar or well-known to a lot of people so it can be understood easily. Unfamiliar words will just confuse our readers because they will not understand what we wrote. Unfamiliar words do not help us in expressing our thoughts, they just beautify. We do not need to make our work flowery.
I seriously have to agree to this rule. This happens not even in writing, but also in our daily life experiences. It is pretty crazy to think that you’ll do good if you use ‘fascinating’ when you write. Remember, you are only trying to mess your reader’s mind. Noone needs complicated words or anything like that, if you know what a writer does, you should know that it is to inform, not to brag about those words that do not seem to exist in real world. So use familiar words, it’ll make everything easier, and it’ll make your article way more understandable.
Journalists should use familiar words because not all the readers have wide vocabulary. We should remember that we write to inform them but not to impress them. So don't use deep words.
They say that intellectual beings choose to use familiar terms.
It is because they want everyone to understand them every time they speak. The same with rule no. 3. In journalistic writing we write because we want to inform everyone. We can do this by following rule no. 3 because we cannot inform, entertain, etc. when our readers do not understand our terms/words.
In writing, we must be able to somehow connect with our readers. But how are we going to do that if we use such tortuous words? The 3rd rule says it all. Not all of our readers understand deep words, and it is our job to inform and let them understand our point. We should be able to communicate with the language that they are speaking, not orally, but the ones that they speak in their heads. We should use colloquial terms whenever possible, so that the message that we are trying to convey goes straight into their noggin’.
The rule number three states that we should use familiar words. Why? It is because of our readers. We should always think of our readers. And just because we use highfaluting words doesn’t mean that you article is good and interesting already. Also, familiar words make your readers understand your article more. So, stop using words that only you can understand.
Whenever we use unfamiliar words, its like limiting our works only to intellectual people. Not all of us always have their handy dictionary with them and not all of us has the time to look for the meaning of the certain word in the dictionary. Also, we write to express not to impress people with such intricate words which they barely know the meaning.
Not all people are walking dictionaries. And why think of a deep english word if you can use a simple one? Besides, it is better in the eyes of the reader. Remember, we write not to impress but to express.
Using highfalutin words is really not advisable. Although it lets us appear so intellectual. In writing, these kinda of words are not necessary. Remember, our priority is the readers. We must put into consideration that not all our readers are that intellectual. So for the benefit of everybody, we must only use familiar words.
We must use familiar words. Why? It is because not all readers know the words you put in your texts and besides, you can express your message more if you use words that most people can understand. That words should be universal.
Never fool your readers or listeners that you are smart, just by using high-fallutin words. They would either die of nose bleeding or just kill you instead. Always remember that you are writing to a large scale of audiences. You can not expect a five year old kid to understand the meaning of emeritus, right? There probably are those five year olds who do, but they are not exactly a big lot. Remember to use words which are familiar to your readers. So, they would be familiar with you. And, when they are familiar with you, your editor and bank account would be eternally grateful.
Leo Amadeus Gerella Ruiz
Rule number three is about making it easy for readers to understand the words used by the writer. It is just right because misconceptions begin from misunderstandings. Also, if this rule is followed, there will be no need to use a dictionary just for the reader to know what the writer is saying.
I also agree to this rule. I think this rule pertains to many, sometimes, even I. If we want the readers to understand our writing, we should use words that are not nose-bleeding or ones that would only add confusion to our writing. As much as possible, use normal or familiar words and keep those polysyllable words to your literary pieces.
Writers write to inform. Those who read your work will not understand what you are saying if they are not familiar with your choice of words. Readers probably have something more important to do than to decode the meaning of those multi-syllable words.
Our kind of writers, write because we want to inform. How could we inform if our work is hard to understand? Unfamiliar words will give readers hard time understanding our work. It will also give confusion to our readers. They will not be informed because they did not understand anything because you used unfamiliar words they do not know the meaning.
One must bear in mind that journalistic writings cater to the common masses. The masses use, familiar words, and, as such, one must also use these words. Using long, complicated words does not make one look smarter. They just render the article incomprehensible.
Not all of us has a good background when it comes to vocabulary. Some readers tend to skip the pages or articles which has deep words and hard to understand. We should consider all the intellectual properties of every individual.
Ma Inna Paulina Egamino Palana
IV - Enrico Fermi
Fe-15
I believe that Jargons are for lawyers, only. I mean, they really need to use it. If you are a writer and you are writing for the lawyers then go ahead. Use the greatest jargons. But if your target is the people, it is better to use familiar words. Familiar words get the most attraction. Of course, because almost everyone can understand what you are trying to tell them; they get the exact message instantly.
We must use familiar words in writing journalistic articles because it is our main objective to let our readers be informed of what is happening around them. The purpose of writing these articles would completely disappear if we immerse it with words that only a few could understand.
An article that consists of familiar words is best liked by readers. It is simply because the article would be best understood if the words weren't so hard to understand. People read these news stories in order to get information and understand what is happening but this cannot be possible if one uses unfamiliar words.
Articles often include words that are not understandable to all of us. Certain words would make your readers get their dictionary in order to understand the meaning of those. Remember that your target readers is the general public, so use familiar words.
If you use words that are hard to understand, your readers will practically hate you. You won't want that to happen now do you? Using familiar words will not only help your readers but you as well. I don't know about you but I'd rather write 4-5 letter words that even children can understand than 6-12 letter words that will make other people scratch their heads.
We should use familiar words to make our work understandable to everyone. If we use very difficult words, there is a tendency for the readers not to understand our work and not continue reading. When we use familiar words, we make comprehension easier.
It is stated in the second rule that you must get to the point. One way of getting to the point is using familiar words that even a random person walking down the street could understand. In journalistic writing, we inform, not to impress people with using words that are unfamiliar to them. Journalism is not like a show-off thing.
Remember that all of your readers have the same intellectual ability. Your article must be flexible enough to be understood by all of your readers.
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