Article: Choosing the Right Word

Choose the Right Word

“Whatever the thing you wish to say, there is but one word to express it, but one verb to give it movement, but one adjective to qualify it; you must seek until you find this noun, this verb, this adjective.” -- Gustave Flaubert

Flaubert’s observation is true in creative writing, journalism, scholarly works and many other forms of writing but in none is the consequence of choosing words incorrectly more costly than in legal practice. In all practice areas, lawyers are charged with the responsibility of choosing the right word to express the intended meaning accurately and unambiguously. Seldom are lawyers granted the luxury of time to go in search of perfection, but an amazingly efficient resource is available right at our fingertips!

Lexicographer Samuel Johnson labeled himself a “harmless drudge” but lexicographers unintentionally wield great power and authority over the practice of law. Every day, million dollar cases are decided and prison sentences handed down based on definitions of words recorded in a dictionary. It makes sense then to study the lexicographer’s work product carefully. In the quest for the perfect word, a good dictionary is the obvious starting point.

William Morris noted in the Introduction to the American Heritage Dictionary that, “(T)o many people a dictionary is a forbidding volume, a useful but bleak compendium, to be referred to hastily for needed information, such as spelling and pronunciation.” Rather than a bleak compendium, a dictionary should be an “agreeable companion” of all educated adults, and that group certainly includes lawyers. Whether your dictionary is a “repository” or a “source” (look it up!) depends upon the degree to which you value the English language in its “standard” form (whatever that might be – a subject for another blog.)

A good dictionary lists synonyms and antonyms for many words, often with educational comments for distinguishing various shades of meaning. For example, under the word “improve,” the American Heritage Dictionary lists the following synonyms: better, make better, help, ameliorate, enhance, perfect, enrich, and upgrade. The entry also points out that “improve” refers to an act of raising in quality or of relieving an undesirable situation; “better” implies worldly gain; “help” implies limited relief or change for the better; “ameliorate”refers to improving or bettering conditions that cry out for change; “enhance”suggests adding to something already attractive and thus increasing its value; and “perfect” suggests bringing to excellence. Use of the information available in a good dictionary will improve, help, ameliorate, enhance, or perfect your writing, as the case may be!

Hazards of language can also be found in a good dictionary. For example, the American Heritage Dictionary points out that use of the word “contemporary” requires careful attention due to potential confusion over what period is intended as contemporary. Absent any other reference to time,“contemporary” is considered to be the period in which the author or speaker lives, but the context may imply that a different period was intended. This information alerts the astute legal writer to the potential ambiguity created by using the word “contemporary” and also provides helpful suggestions for avoiding it.

Dictionaries provide information to assist in distinguishing between two words where usage is close. For example, The American Heritage Dictionary explains the distinction between “in” and “into”: Inprimarily indicates position, location, or condition. She was in the room. He was in pain. Intoindicates direction or movement to an interior location or, figuratively, change of condition. She went into the room. He went into bliss.

Explanations of“proper” usage raise the question of how proper usage is determined. The American Heritage Dictionary ingeniously established a “Usage Panel” of approximately 100 distinguished writers, poets, editors, critics, journalists, professors in a wide variety of fields of study, several U.S. Senators, and even a cattle rancher, based on the lexicographers’conclusions that the best authorities of cultivated usage are those professional speakers and writers who have demonstrated their ability to wield the English language effectively and beautifully. Margaret Mead, Charles Kuralt, and Gloria Steinem have all served on the Usage Panel. The Panel was surveyed to determine the appropriate usage of certain words and phrases, and the results are included in the entries for those words. From the entry for “equal” we can ascertain that 71% of the Usage Panel consider the phrase “more equal distribution” to be acceptable, while 63% eschew the use of “equally as” in the phrase “equally as important.”

If a dictionary doesn’t reveal the right word to express your intended meaning, consult a thesaurus for synonyms and antonyms. Lawyers should use caution with unfamiliar words in a thesaurus no matter how exotic and alluring they may seem, however, because a thesaurus doesn’t distinguish shades of meaning or connotations associated with similar words. A visit to the thesaurus should always be followed by a quick consultation with a good dictionary! If you are tempted to use a word you’ve never heard or with which you are only vaguely familiar, look it up in a good dictionary first to avoid confusion and ambiguity caused by misuse.

Dictionaries often fall into the category of pleasure reading for Mensa candidates and should be read more thoroughly and regularly by those of us whose livelihoods depend on dexterous and effective use of our language. Although dictionary entries are usually brief, they compress an amazing reservoir of information including the following:

· Spelling and acceptable variations on spelling;

· Syllabication;

· Pronunciation;

· Definitions;

· Words having identical meaning (e.g., “mountain lion,” “catamount,” “cougar,” “mountain cat,” “panther,” and “puma”);

· Tenses of regular and irregular verbs, including past tense, past participle, present participle, and third person singular present tense;

· Comparative and superlative degrees of adjectives and adverbs;

· Plurals of nouns, especially irregular and questionable nouns;

· Parts of speech;

· Nonstandard, informal, slang, or vulgar usage;

· Synonyms and shades of meaning of similar words;

· Usage notes and Usage Panel polling results on acceptable usage for questionable expressions; and

· Etymology.

A good desk dictionary is an indispensible tool in the quest to choose the right word.