Precise Language Quotes

There are two ways of talking. One is the easy way, where you talk lightly, and the other one is the considered way. The considered way is what I have put my name to.

Definitions are the foundation of reason. You can't reason without them.

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.

Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter - 'tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.

Words in a person's word stock are like paints on a palette. It helps to have just the right shade when you need it.

Short, sweet, and to the point. Clear writing, and therefore clear commands, comes from clear thinking. Think simple.

Say only what you mean.

Communication is not about speaking what we think. Communication is about ensuring others hear what we mean.

Child, to say the very thing you really mean, the whole of it, nothing more or less or other than what you really mean; that's the whole art and joy of words.

I love the right words. I think economy and precision of language are important.

Words, like glasses, obscure everything they do not make clear. Before using a fine word, make a place for it.

Most people use twenty verbs to describe everything from a run in their stocking to the explosion of an atomic bomb. You know the ones: Was, did, had, made, went, looked... One-size-fits-all looks like crap on anyone. Sew yourself a custom made suit. Pick a better verb. Challenge all those verbs to really lift some weight for you.

Look for verbs of muscle, adjectives of exactitude.

A journalist uses the most precise words he or she can. An artist does the same sort of thing. You gather material about a particular subject, you refine it as best you can.

No two people will ever see or feel things in the same way, Merry. The challenge is to be truthful when you write. Don't approximate. Don't settle for the easiest combination of words. Go searching instead for those that explain exactly what you think. What you feel.

Accuracy of language is one of the bulwarks of truth.

We're trying to be very careful and precise in our use of language, because I think the language we use and the images we project really do have resonance. It's the reason why I don't use the term jihadist to refer to terrorists. It gives them the religious legitimacy they so desperately seek, but I ain't gonna give it to them.

Words have to be crafted, not sprayed. They need to be fitted together with infinite care.

People know accuracy when they read it; they can feel it.

On matters beyond his ken a gentleman speaks with caution. If names are not right, words are misused. When words are misused, affairs go wrong. When affairs go wrong, courtesy and music droop, law and justice fail. And when law and justice fail them, a people can move neither hand nor foot. So a gentleman must be ready to put names in speech, to put words into deeds. A gentleman is nowise careless of words.

Don't write so that you can be understood, write so that you can't be misunderstood.

Whatever we well understand we express clearly, and words flow with ease.

I see but one rule: to be clear.

There’s a tremendous power in using the least amount of information to get a point across.