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Many people confuse the word ‘diction’ to mean pronunciation or enunciation. What it originally means is the use or choice of words. When one says, for example, “He has good diction”, it doesn’t mean the person referred to pronounces his words well, but that he makes use of the right vocabulary in the proper context.

One of the properties of the English language that makes it so beautiful is that it is rich in synonyms. One day, I was amusing myself with a mental exercise: to see how many one-word synonyms for ‘travel’ I could find. So here goes: tour, trip, voyage, journey, sojourn, odyssey, trek, passage, expedition, flight… On the flip side, the abundance of synonyms makes for difficulty in good diction.

A friend of mine recently had me read his blog post about a stalker he once had. In describing the disagreeable fellow, my friend used the word ‘egregious’. I pointed out to him that, since the character in question had no importance whatsoever to him, using that description was out of context. He should have used ‘blatant’ or ‘reprehensible’ instead.

In my view, the word ‘egregious’ (outstandingly, flagrantly bad behavior), probably due to its excessive formality, has a connotation of being significant. While it is entirely negative in tone, when used to describe someone or something, the speaker actually lends importance to the subject.

Thank heavens for Shift-F7, right? Yes, but do be careful. When you refer to a thesaurus, more often than not, the reference wouldn’t include instructions on how or when or where to employ the words. Even though two words are synonymous, each one’s usage may vary. For example, the word ‘voyage’ is normally reserved for trips across large bodies of water, and would be out of place when used to mean air passage.

There are synonyms that are seamlessly interchangeable, of course, and those come in handy when you don’t want to sound redundant. (For example, in the previous paragraph, I avoided saying the verb “use” more than once. There are 3 instances where I could’ve said “use” but did not. Can you identify all of them?)

The intuitive use of vocabulary comes with long experience. If you expose yourself to excellent publications, you’ll certainly be able to pick up a sense of good diction. Read novels because the language is dynamic and current in prose. Read poetry because it will make your imagination soar. Read famous people’s speeches because those will show you how to aptly use grandiose words and not sound pretentious. Read the news because… well, because it will teach you how to write concisely.

Tagged: diction, proper word usage, synonyms

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