In my previous blog I had mentioned that while writing for professors in college I developed the habit of trying to write and express myself in a way that would impress my instructors--much to the chagrin of my present day students. I sometimes offer the excuse that using "big words" makes my parents happy and that I don't want them to think they wasted their money during the 7 or 8 years I spent in my scholarly pursuits. At the time, I wanted to sound like I knew what I was talking about and it worked most of the time, although it was occasionally pretty high on the BS meter. My wife told me that I should avoid trying to use words that people would have to look up. I agree to a certain extent, but there are times when every day words are ... well, insufficient.
I'm reminded of questions I hear from my senior students when we are reading Hamlet:
- "Why do we have to read this?"
- "Why can't they just talk normally?"
- "When are we going to use this?"
- "Is there going to be a test on this?"
I think they are just as frustrated with my answers as I am with their questions. Some of my responses are:
- "We study Shakespeare not because it is easy, but because it is hard."
- "You guys do realize they're speaking English, right?"
- "You have been hearing and quoting Shakespeare your entire lives."
- "Yes."
You can almost hear the stereophonic groans now. I also try to explain to them that Shakespeare is called the father of English literature because he used the English language to explore the human condition and psyche as no one had before. The groans continue, but I usually win a few over by telling them some of the every day words that are often attributed to Shakespeare:
- household words
- eyeball, eye drops, eyesore
- hot-blooded/cold-blooded
- on purpose
- watchdog
- puking
Eventually most of them concede that "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers..." just sounds better than "us guys."
Alas, I digress just a little bit, but it suffices to say that the English language and the American lexicon are rich, alive, and wonderfully complicated. There is always room for both the complex and the common.
I should stress that while I strive to write as an eloquent intellectual, I also abhor pretentious pedants and their tedious talk, although I am a fan of alliteration.
When writing, word choice is often determined by audience and conversational context. Believe it or not the discussions I have with my English department colleagues are quite different from those I have with a bunch of guys in McGillvery's Pub that have known me for about thirty years.
Yes, I'm a little biased toward 'high-falutin' words and with all due respect to my beautiful bride, sometimes word choice can be just as much about variety and sound as it is about conciseness and clarity. I am just trying to be true to what I perceive as my voice. "To thine own self be true," Polonius (from Hamlet) said--it's worth noting that he was a political buffoon that talked so much he got stabbed to death.
So if you find my voice and/or word choice condescending or obnoxious please feel free to let me know. I may or may not agree with you, but I'm sure I would enjoy hearing from you in either case. Thanks for indulging me to the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment