CHAPTER 10: 
EFFECTIVE DICTION
aka “what to avoid in essays”
By Mrs. Anderson
Linguistics
•	The Science of Language
•	Semantics: the study of what words mean and how their meanings change
•	A word is a symbol
•	Referent: the thing a word refers to
•	A referent must be the same for the person who uses it and the person who hears it.
Concrete Words
•	Can be seen or touched
•	Book, desk, car, cloud, rain, television
•	Some are broad: 
–	Vehicle
–	people
•	Others are more specific and descriptive: 
–	Ferrari 
–	Bill Gates
Abstract Words
•	Referent is beyond vision or touch
•	Each one may have more than one referent
•	Peace, need, love, freedom
•	Freedom:
–	To an American citizen: freedom of speech
–	To a prisoner: freedom from confinement
–	To a student: summer 
Figurative Language
•	Metaphor:  a comparison between things essentially unalike, does not use like or as.
•	 Simile: a comparison between things essentially unalike, using like or as.
•	Personification: characteristics of a human being are attributed to an animal, a thing, or an idea.
Figurative Language (cont’d.)
•	In poetry & literature, figurative language creates interesting, vivid images for reader.
•	Without: the house lights were on.
•	With: “…the homes stood black against the sky, like wild beasts glaring curiously with yellow eyes down into the darkness.” D.H. Lawrence.
Mixed Figures of Speech
•	Starting with one comparison, and then shifting to another that is not consistent with the first.
•	Flailing both wings, Mr. McCall flew to the platform and barked [screeched] for silence.
•	Her face reddened as great waves of embarrassment broke over her, all but drying up [washing away] the little confidence she had.
Trite Expressions
•	Cliches, expressions that have are dull and boring because they are overused.
•	They suggest laziness and lack of originality (list on page 289)
–	Bury the hatchet = stop fighting
–	Fair and square = completely honest
–	At death’s door = near death
Jargon
•	Two Types:
–	Technical Language used by specialists in a profession (legal, engineering, medical, educational).
•	The decommissioning of the project will allow procurement by the MDC, resulting in sustainability.
–	Vague, puffed-up, pretentious language that tends to confuse the reader.  Some jargon is so unspecific that it becomes meaningless.
•	Under the circumstances, pertaining to, as for the fact that, with reference to, relative to the matter.
Slang
•	Slang began as a secret means of expression (argot) among thieves and beggars.
•	Should never be used in expository writing.
•	It may be used in literature to depict informal speech (i.e., Their Eyes Were Watching God).
Colloquialisms and Idioms
•	Words or phrases that are characteristic of spoken, informal English.
–	Snakes (the road snakes around the corner)
–	Tore (the man tore up the stairs to rescue her)
•	Idioms: a word or phrase that cannot be accepted literally.
–	I got your back
–	From the horse’s mouth
–	Clue me in
–	Chow down