Writing Blog Number 2

20250113 Vocabulary Matters

Vocabulary Matters

A few people on WdC will know of my love for weird and rare words and etymology. This has resulted in my having a slightly larger vocabulary than many people, and also an understanding of when a word is being used incorrectly. Sometimes there is a subtle difference. A thesaurus will tell you arid and parched are synonyms, but, if we’re being technical, arid means something has no water, whereas parched means something has no water, but it used to have water.
         Little things like that.
         But that is not what this post is about. I recently wrote about the rare words I have been regaling WdC with this year and if they are any use to a writer ("20240826 Using Rare Words" ). Can a writer realistically use these words? Well, there is an issue – most people do not know what these words mean. That means, unless the context is clear, the word is going to bring the story to a halt. Having said that… in a novel I try to use one or two little-used words. That is in a whole novel. Just because I can. But that is not why we’re here today.
         This post is about using words properly. I could say, “His mouth was arid,” or, “His mouth was parched.” The second is more correct and I would think most writers would recognise that even if they didn’t completely understand why. And when it comes to our vocabulary, we need to make sure that the words we are using mean what we think they mean. If in doubt, use a dictionary. I would recommend one of those paper ones; while there are some online that are reasonable, I am a stickler for using the OED. Still the best.
         So, feel free to pop in random long words, but do make sure they mean the right thing for your story.
         Then we have random foreign words. You need to make sure that they mean exactly what you think they mean. And, more to the point, you need to ensure grammar is correct. Here’s an example from a work I read here at WdC. “Ego occidere meus filius.” Latin. Sort of. It means, “I my son to be killed.” I think the writer was going for “I killed my son.” That would be, “Ego filium meum necavi.” What the writer did was plug each word into a translator. But Latin is declined and conjugated, and the writer had no idea how that worked. If you are having a supposedly native speaker make such fundamental errors, it just feels pedestrian at best.
         It is worse with Japanese. We see a lot of Japanese and unless you speak the language and know the difference between idiomatic Japanese and formal Japanese, you could well make some huge errors. Do not trust online translators; ask someone who speaks the language. They are easy enough to find in this day and age. “But no-one speaks Latin!” you cry. Wrong! I do! And I am not the only one – Latin is still the official language of Vatican City, for example. Vatican radio is broadcast in Latin. If it’s a language, there is a speaker. Except ancient Egyptian. We don’t know how that sounds… but we do know how to write in it.
         And remember, just because a word is spelt correctly, it does not mean it is the right word. Or is that write word? Maybe rite word? Beak oars… or because. Dessert or desert. Homophones are the bane of many a writer. Make sure you use the right one! The homophones most commonly messed up that I see are:
                   to, too, two
                   there, their, they’re
                   weather, whether, wether
                   right, rite, write
                   course, coarse
                   your, you’re
                   by, buy, bye
                   stationary, stationery
                   compliment, complement
                   brake, break
                   here, hear
                   peace, piece
                   whole, hole
                   stare, stair
                   know, no
                   higher, hire
                   then, than
                   its, it’s
There are many more, but these seem to be the ones I have seen mixed up the most often.
         So when using any word, foreign or English, make sure you know that what you are writing is correct in context, meaning and situation. Ask people. Read a dictionary. Make sure you know what is going on. It will make your story the best it can be.