"It's Only Words.....and words are all I have..."

Words.

Words, astrologically, are province of planet Mercury. My natal Mercury is in Capricorn. Most of the time I try to be fairly disciplined in writing style, down to earth, not given to poetic paragraphs or vicious verbiage. I am not a verbal painter.


Capricorn isn't as pernickety as Virgo when it comes to perfection in the wordsmithing department, but Mercuy in Capricorn stands next in line as stickler for verbal accuracy.

Oddly enough, though, split infinitives don't bother me, inaccurate punctuation, as long as there is some, doesn't bother me nor does bad spelling, as long as the word is recognisable. This partial laissez-faire attitude must come from my Aquarius Sun, I guess....or maybe from Venus in easy-going Sagittarius.

Some inaccuracies or sloppy usage do constantly irritate this Capricorn Mercury. For instance:

Over-used words, these especially prevalent in the USA. I realise this is one result of a national craving for for bigger and better - hyperbole at its worst! Even so, synonyms are easily available:

amazing
awesome
incredible
hilarious
I'm excited to.....

As C.S. Lewis said

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.

Words/expressions over-used by journalists and pundits which could well be either not understood at all, or misunderstood by readers and listeners:

bloviate
dog whistle issue
hot button issue
kool-aid drinker
wedge issue
let me be clear..... (President Obama says this - a lot - and he is never, ever clear!)

But then, even from the best of 'em:

If we can boondoggle ourselves out of this depression, that word is going to be enshrined in the hearts of the American people for years to come.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Words pronounced wrongly (to my English ear)

I say sublime - they (or some of them) say "subleem"
I say (when speaking of a gown style with high waist) empire - they say "ompeer"


Inaccurate use of words: - everyday online one can encounter:

affect and effect muddled and used incorrectly. Affect is a verb, effect is a noun.

Correct preposition to use with different is FROM; different to, or different than are incorrect.

Worse, worst, and use, used....I'm not sure how these strange mistakes come about, but certain writers who ought to know better don't seem to realise that worst is the superlative of worse; and that, for instance, "she used to play the piano" is correct, "she use to play the piano" makes no sense at all.

"Would of", "should of" instead of the correct: would have or would've; should have or should've. Tsk - this one is BAD!

"Very Unique" ...if something is unique, it's unique, one of a kind - it cannot be "very unique".


Writing, stringing words together, in a comprehensible way, is a discipline and a craft; stringing them together in an inspirational, beautiful or poetic way is an art. My quibbles in this post relate to the first stage, the discipline and craft of ensuring that words can be properly understood. Perhaps I'm too demanding though? On the topic of writing in general a favourite quote, from a writer I've long admired: S.J. Perelman (1904 - 1979) puts it this way:

"If, at the close of business each evening, I myself can understand what I've written, I feel the day hasn't been totally wasted."