I’m no fan of big words but I wish I knew enough of them so that I could choose to disuse them in my writing. The problem is, if there are no big words in my articles or in the copies that I’ve edited, it’s because I don’t really know many of them.
I wish I had the ability to write about how Anwar Ibrahim “moshes his way surrealistically to the House” and then chose not to because that is not the way I write.
I wish I could do that… I wish I could ignore the multi-syllable words by choice and not by default.
You see, this one, taken from the same article above, is beyond the reach of my meager English:
“Even when Anwar is absent, he is lingering on the rafters of everybody’s conscience, a one-man thought-provoking dream machine able to inspire a huge army of supplicants to rant, rave and demonstrate to whatever tune he wants them to gyrate to.”
I need help with my English. Really. Thankfully, in addition to all the help that I can get, including from colleagues and seniors, the all-important Google search, online dictionary and thesaurus, I can always rely on The New York Times to show me a pointer or two on how to write in English.
Take this article for instance, titled “Obama Steps Into O’Reilly’s ‘No Spin Zone’” published on Sept 5.
“Irascible” is a word I have never used and never knew its meaning but thanks to the Times’ interactive feature, I can now double click on the word and out pop a window, explaining the things I want and need to know about irascible.
It means someone who is prone to outbursts of temper. Panas baran or telinga nipis would be the translation in Malay.
The thing is, the word is there to describe the exact nature of a person. It is there — big, huge and menacing — for the purpose of clarity; and nothing else, I suspect.
I should really try to learn the big words if only to increase my knowledge of the small ones and the ones in between. And most importantly, to be able to express myself clearly.
