Diction. Vocabulary. Word choice. Call it what you will, but the style and tone and voice of a writer are all created with the most basic unit of writing: words. Find something in the diction that stands out. Maybe it's a word combination, the use of simple words, a word bomb that makes you reach for the dictionary.
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A sentence I just had to share. From the NYT and Mark Bittman: The food processor replaces the whisk; the pastry cutter; the standing mixer (for which there are still some uses, but only if you’re a dedicated baker); the mandoline (which, to me, remains a fine alternative to the food processor for small quantities); the mortar and pestle, which, no matter how lovely, quaint and authentic, is perhaps the most labor-intensive, primitive and damnable set of tools in the kitchen; and, perhaps most importantly, the grater.
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"Some recipes I tried were too sugary and encased my delicate corn puffs in sugary straight jackets."
The words used in the sentence are so great! There aren’t any ‘word bombs’ that require me to grab my dictionary, but the use of simple words in an unconventional way makes the sentence complex. What she is trying to say is: some kettle corn is too sweet. She gets this point across in a much more interesting way, by using descriptive, unordinary words to describe food, like straight jackets. Not just straight jackets, though, sugary straight jackets. She seems to dislike the sugary straight jacket corn puffs, but sugary straight jackets sound good to me!
"...pieces when it transpires that no woman would ever wash her hair shortly after having a perm, and so the rest of the defendant’s testimony must be a tissue of flimflam too.
A six-year-old I know tells a “joke” in which a housekeeper claims not to have been guilty of murder because she was “sweeping the corners” of the house where she works – yet it transpires that the house is resolutely round. It has no corners."
Something about the fact that Boyt used the word 'transpired' twice and so close together during this essay, really threw me off while I was reading. Being judicious with specific words and making sure I don't repeat them has always been one of my biggest writing rules, so somehow this really caught my eye and sort of halted the flow of the reading for me. I think it's really interesting how such a small word choice can have such a big impact on the reader and can really interrupt the flow of the piece. Conversely, I really liked how she used the world "flimflam", which word-bommed me, big time. I looked it up and it means: nonsensical or insincere talk. I look forward to trying to incorporate that into my vocabulary soon!
“Mikulski is arguing for a short-term can-kick, to prod progress on real, serious spending bills. That, of course, would require a joint agreement on an overall bottom line. Which the House has refused to discuss.”
I love the word choice here. There are no out of reach or difficult words, making it accessible and understandable for a wide audience. Given the dense topic of congressional inefficiency, this is very helpful. In addition, a normally boring topic is given a fun and lively feel by these words. Collins employs short, one-or-two-syllable words that each efficiently and strongly serve their purpose in describing the situation. There is a rhythm to the writing created by the words. The phrase “short-term can-kick” just sounds so good said out loud, and the use of hyphens also makes the writing very exciting. This rhythmic thrill is augmented by Collins’ use of alliterations, such as “prod progress on real, serious spending bills”, giving the writing more fun and more life than it otherwise would be able to attain.
“And the stories will be true -- Kiffin's biscuits had been burning on the coaching hot seat for days, weeks, months.”
Gene Wojciechowski has great word choice here. He typically does not use complicated vocabulary that makes it hard to understand the meaning of his blog posts; however, in this sentence he uses some words in an unconventional way. He wrote a piece on Lane Kiffin, the coach of the USC football team, and why he was recently fired. Wojciechowski relates Kiffin to biscuits burning on the stove, which makes the sentence more intriguing and descriptive. I also like how he put an emphasis on the amount of time he was causing trouble by using the words “days, weeks, months” after one another. I want to try using descriptive words in an unconventional way in my writing.
I wrote about Buffett in 1996, when Ted Turner upbraided fellow billionaires like Buffett and Bill Gates as “ol’ skinflints” for not loosening up “their wads” because they were afraid to fall off the Forbes 400 List.
There are multiple things I like about the word choice in this sentence. The first is the verb use of upbraided, which stumped me. I looked it up and it means to rebuke or chastise. The second is choosing to describe the billionaires as "ol' skinflints" and calling their money "their wads". This word choice is more informal but adds spice and a comical aspect to the sentence.
"Saturated in soft, silvery light and accompanied by a moody, minimalist score (think "Friday Night Lights" when the team loses) the subjects are shown the sketches side by side and, eyes misting up, admit to the artist that their self-appraisals were hindered by poor self-esteem."
The tone of this line is really interesting to me especially from "Saturated...score". It gives a really quick contrast. I like the extra information she gives on the side within the parenthesis. The word "self-appraisals" struck me. I've never come across this word so I looked it up. It means: the act of estimating or judging the nature or value of something or someone, according to dictionary.com. The phrase "eyes misting up" caught my attention also. I found her word choice here really cool because of the description. The article overall was fun to read because of her sarcastic yet honest opinions about beauty commercials.
"… even now in the twilight of my fecundity, I'm glad I haven't had them. I've waffled at times, sure, and I've pawed over my psyche trying to convince myself that I'd like motherhood if I tried it or that my disinclination toward it belied a longing so deep it eluded my very consciousness."
Duam showers her readers with a bunch of little word bombs in these two sentences. Though not all are unusual enough to require the dictionary, the combination of fancy and difficult words, separates this portion of the column from the rest with the tone that is created. We got "twilight," "fecundity," "waffled," "psyche," "disinclination," "belied," and "eluded." Using these words to describe her self-reflection, creates a tone of deep thoughtfulness and scholarly seriousness. She had been so light on the topic, and adding in these words suddenly produced a new vibe. It made me feel that her thought process was an intelligent and meaningful one, even if she was being light hearted about it in other parts. Through changing up word choice and adding in words with more serious connotations, she created a tone that successfully conveyed her message to the reader.
"They scored seven touchdowns (for the second time this season) and a field goal against the Eagles on Sunday in a blowout of epic proportions. Michael Vick was not Philly's salve."
Woody Paige, and sports writers in general (yes, that probably is a generalization), tend to be very straight forward with their vocabulary. In describing the outcome of a game, there isn't that much freedom. Despite this, Paige used a word that surprised me: "salve". After googling the definition, "an ointment used to promote healing of the skin or as protection", I had mixed feelings. While I understand the figurative use of the word, it was distracting. However, Woody Paige raises an interesting dilemma that writers face, whether to use a "big" word because it is the right word or just to sounds impressive.
“You can dial the cinnamon to match your cinnamon love.”
The use of simple words in this sentence allow the reader to imagine and connect to the situation and treat being described. This sentence is talking about cinnamon sugar cookie squares in her entry about recipes with cinnamon, the ingredient of the week. This sentence reaches out to the reader because it refers to personal preference. It is about the reader and therefore in a non-pushy way, forcing the reader to see themself making the recipe. Also the use of ‘dial’ leads to a visual of pouring cinnamon, again connecting to the reader.
"Typical Luck nerdcoolness:".
I know that this will probably be the shortest sentence I use for these posts but I think it is a perfect sentence that shows how Rick Reilly writes. Reilly has fun with the subjects and topics that he writes about. As he writes about Andrew Luck, the Stanford graduate who is now on the Colts football team, he wants to include both Luck's cool but nerdy attitude. Rather than being a boring journalist, Reilly combines words to make other non-real words. But it works very well and appeals to the reader.
"Neocons put values at the center of their governing philosophy, but their social policy was neither morally laissez-faire like the libertarians nor explicitly religious like some social conservatives."
I love the words used in this sentence, especially Brooks' unconventional use of "laissez-faire." In a political article, laissez-faire is a term mainly used to describe economic policy, but bringing it into the social realm of political ideas made me realize how economic and social policies are reversed among Democrats and Republicans. Liberals are socially laissez-faire and economically rigid, and conservatives are just the opposite. The "Neoconservative" movement Brooks is describing doesn't fall on the ends of the spectrum, so the word-choice is essential in cleverly describing neoconservative ideas.
"To prevent such a catastrophe, the 49ers must respect their opponent while bringing their blue-collar style, coupled with a masterful game plan."
I love the word choice here because I love how the author uses the phrase "blue-collar style". It makes me think of a very hands on/strong 49er playing style. He is referring to the 49ers old school offense. The 49ers are notorious for using the ground and pound run game instead of the now popular throwing game used by most teams in the league.
"The text from Dee Smith reads, “The place I watch is at the top of Crissy Field. Park bench. Will be there before noon.” I text back for specifics because Crissy Field is a big place. Smith replies with a text, ”Dropped pin near San Francisco Bicycle Route 2, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, CA 94129," and a link to a Google map.
Clandestine."
I was specifically drawn to the one word that stood alone: Clandestine. At first I was slightly confused because I had never seen the word used before. When I looked up the word I found that it means "something that is kept secret". But then, as I re-read the first few paragraphs I realized that I did not understand what the word was doing there; standing alone. So, in conclusion I would say that I was not a fan of this word use because it seems kind of pointless to me.
"Perhaps you also recall the exciting time that Gohmert, King and Bachmann had in Egypt on a recent fact-finding tour during which Bachmann appeared to get the Muslim Brotherhood mixed up with Al Qaeda and Gohmert compared the current general-in-charge, Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, to George Washington."
There is no need for big words when it comes to Gail Collins writing. She uses simple words, such as exciting, to express her sarcastic side and add a little humor to what she is writing about. I really like that about her writing technique because it makes her articles an easy and enjoyable read. I can understand what she is talking about without reaching for my dictionary. Besides that, who does enjoy a little sarcasm?
“But both Sunni and Shiite power players are seizing on religious symbols and sowing sectarian passions that are rippling across the region.”
Though it is heavy subject matter, I really enjoyed this sentence by David Brooks. The sentence as a whole flows very nicely, and when read aloud just rolls off the tongue. I especially liked the double alliteration of “sowing sectarian” and “rippling across the region”, I believe it added something extra to the sentence. The vocabulary is sophisticated, yet is not beyond my understanding as a reader. Also, it gives a good visual of the passions spreading across the region like ripples in a pond.
"Cruz is a smart man, and maybe this is just disingenuous demagoguery."
Not only are Kristof's words in this sentence great, but they also convey his point really well. This article is about the Republican "echo-chamber" that Kristof believes "breeds extremism" into even the moderately conservative politicians. Kristof's use of the words "disingenuous demagoguery" is a demonstration of really great word choice. The alliteration is really strong, and which makes the sentence more fun and interesting to read. Without being blatantly obvious, Kristof hints that he believes Cruz is smarter than he appears to be, but is trying to appeal to popular Republican desires as Cruz compares Obamacare to appeasing the Nazis. Because of the strength that alliteration brings to this sentence, I definitely want to try to incorporate this technique in my writing.
"Torin Yater-Wallace shows off more than just his skiing skills in his self-edit, "Hood & Stuff". Editing skills aside, Torin shows off his smooth style, from spark flying urban in Korea, to poleless pipe skiing in Norway, to summer fun on Mt. Hood, all set to a wonderful soundtrack from Snoop Dogg, or is it Lion?"
In his article about Torin's latest video "Hood and Stuff" Donny O'Neill utilizes very descriptive vocabulary and language to distinguish between the multiple locations and diverse characteristics featured in the video. From "spark flying urban" to "poleless pipe skiing" not only does his word choice flow very well, it offers excellent, sharp imagery and puts the reader on the journey between the multiple locations. He also even throws in a little sarcastic satire at the end using a rhetorical question to lighten the mood of the article even further. Overall, O'Neill's diction shows that he knows exactly what he wants to convey in his article and that he is well education on the subject about which he is describing.
Check out the video, Marry! (excuse Snoop's personal, not so eloquent, word choice).
https://vimeo.com/76163454
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