Me:
I learned a new word recently and I'm dying to use it!
Friend:
Ooooo!! I'm really good at this sort of stuff! What's the word?
Me (excitedly; can hardly contain it):
Concision. Isn't it just the greatest word EVER!! I love the way it just rolls off the tongue..... "concision." Say it! Doesn't it just sound so cool and intelligent? I love it! I want to write a post using it, or about it.
Friend:
Well, don't make it a long one.
Friend:
I'm just saying... prolixity* would not be appropriate in a post with such a title, don't you think?
Friend:
I'm just saying...
*Full disclosure: She actually used the word "verbosity," but I felt that was just too banal for the post, so I changed it (writer's prerogative) to a more grandiloquent word.
I learned a new word recently and I'm dying to use it!
Friend:
Ooooo!! I'm really good at this sort of stuff! What's the word?
Me (excitedly; can hardly contain it):
Concision. Isn't it just the greatest word EVER!! I love the way it just rolls off the tongue..... "concision." Say it! Doesn't it just sound so cool and intelligent? I love it! I want to write a post using it, or about it.
Friend:
Well, don't make it a long one.
Silence while I give her a dirty look.
Friend:
I'm just saying... prolixity* would not be appropriate in a post with such a title, don't you think?
More silence; continued glaring.
Friend:
I'm just saying...
*Full disclosure: She actually used the word "verbosity," but I felt that was just too banal for the post, so I changed it (writer's prerogative) to a more grandiloquent word.
Balancing concision with prolixity is among the writer's most difficult tasks. Is it possible to become confused when discussing concision and circumstance? :)
Posted by: Larry | October 27, 2008 at 11:23 AM