Why That Word Choice?

Any word choice you make will impact your work.

Photo by MJ Blehart

Whatever you are writing — words matter.

The English language is messy. Someone I know described English as the language that takes other languages into back-alleys and shakes them down for loose grammar.

Because English is how it is, many different words can be applied to convey this, that, or the other thing. Some words are simple and direct while others are more nuanced.

For example — happy. This is a word that everyone knows. But happy can be expanded upon. Words to take it to the next level include ecstatic, joyful, glad, content, jubilant, thrilled — and many others. Some convey a greater degree of happy while some are lesser.

Because of this, we always get to choose what words we desire to use to convey any given message. Written or spoken, our word choice can say a lot about us.

Hence why it’s important to be mindful of the words you choose.

Big words are not always best

I know people who will use a big, expressive word in lieu of something simpler.

For example — instead of saying they are glad they’ll tell you how they’re exhilarated. Rather than telling you that they read a book, they will express…