Diction
Diction | Connatotation v. Denotation | Concrete v. Abstract
Diction (the pat definiton): "word-choice" (Don't trust Pat).
Really, diction is a fancy word come up with by grammarians who took the Latin participle "dictum" ("what was said") and added another latinate form "-tion" to make a word that might possibly mean something like "what-you-say-and-how-you-say-it-with-words." Then again, it might just mean "word-choice."
Connotation and Denotation
Can I say "bububu" and mean "If it doesn't rain I shall go for a walk"?-- It is only in language that I can mean something by something. This shews [sic] clearly that the grammar of "to mean" is not like that of the expression "to imagine" and the like.-----Ludwig WittgensteinIn language, it is possible to say one thing and mean another. It is also possible for words to carry many different shades of meaning. For example, words can "mean" on both denotative and connotative levels. To denote is to signify directly; denotative meaning is literal meaning. To connote is to signify something beyond the literal meaning. In your writing, you must pay attention not only to what your words denote, but also to what they connote.
Consider the following list of words: car, auto, sedan, coupe, junker, rig, jalopy, heap. Do they mean the same thing or different things? On what level do they mean the same thing? On what level different things?
For example, consider the following sets of words that denote the same thing, but connote different things and the sentences you get by filling in the blanks with each term in the sentence-templates that follow:
- We went down to the ________. [tavern / pub /bar / dive ]
- He was _________. [between careers / out of work / on welfare / a bum ]
- Her prose style was __________.[direct / simple / simplistic ]
Rule of thumb: Expressive, highly charged connotative meanings make your writing both more interesting and more meaningful but can lead you to mean things that you didn't intend (or probably should have kept hidden). Also, connotation must be kept as consistent as any nitpicky grammatical thing like verb tenses and such.
Consider the following opening sentences to a paper on smoking laws:
- "Pity the lost smoker, shut out from the best restraunts in the land."
- "Smokers are a dying breed."
- "When New York City enacted its anti-smoking ordinances in 1994, thousands-- maybe millions-- of smokers suddenly found themselves unable to enjoy the pleasure of a cigarette after a good meal."
Concrete v. Abstract
"Say it! No ideas but in things" --------William Carlos Williams
Although we have grown up in a culture which says that "bigger is better," this may not always be the case when it comes to writing. We may think that official-sounding language filled with long, impressive words makes us sound intelligent, but it probably only makes us sound like a politician or a bureaucrat; it can confuse our readers, and it may even make them hostile toward us as writers. As a general rule, the best prose is direct, clear, and concise. (As in the connotation/denotation example above, direct, and even simple, do not necessarily mean simplistic).
As Alexander Pope said, "A little learning is a dangerous thing." Lengthening our words without reason opens the door for confusion. Consider the following list of (derivational) suffixes, most of which (if not all) entered English during or immediately after the renaissance:
| -able | -ation | -er | -ing | -ion | -ive | -ment | -al | -ial | -ian |
| -ic | -ize | -less | -ous | -ate | -ity | -ize | -ly | -ness |
These markers stack onto each other and bury the stem behind a whole train of changes. In isolation, they're easy to spot and decipher-- you can figure out what "simplicitization" is even if you have never seen the word before, but it takes work.
The more complex words you have, the more work your readers have to do. The more work your readers must do to decipher what you are saying, the less interested they'll be. The less interested they become, the less likely they'll be to read your work.
Makes you wonder about the word diction itself, doesn't it?
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