Clean Out Your Linguistic Closet!

On occasion, my matrimonial partner has perfunctorily accused me of employing significantly lengthier words than necessary or appropriate. This is an accusation I would like to vigorously, vociferously and vehemently categorize as lacking in verisimilitude.

I could express the same thought more economically as: “My wife says I use big words, but I disagree.”

When Spring arrives, our thoughts will turn to Spring cleaning. But we don’t have to wait to begin cleaning out our linguistic closets. You’ll be more effective in your language use if you’ll get rid of those worn out words, those phrases that no longer fit and those expressions that have lost their elasticity.

This is a particularly apt metaphor, because as Aristotle writes in The Rhetoric, words are the clothes of our ideas. To get rid of the clutter and keep what fits take a good hard look at these four common four types of clutter—the cliche, the platitude, meaningless words and jargon.

Cliches

A cliche is an overused word or phrase. I’ve been busy as a bee, because I’ve been working like a dog. That made me hungry as a bear, so I ate like a horse and now I’m fulll as a tick. I hope I haven’t been barking up the wrong tree. What I really wanted to do was open up a can of worms. I trust that won’t be my swan song.

Besides taking you on a barnyard tour, didn’t that sound trite and worn out? It’s clutter because it lacks originality. If you’re used to hearing it, get rid of it and go shopping for some new expressions.

A British market-research firm recently surveyed young professionals to find out how often these professionals used jargon. 65% said they regularly use it. The reason they gave: they felt they had to use jargon in order to keep up with their colleagues—even if they didn’t know what the words meant.

Here are some current cliches to avoid: cutting edge, core competency, interface.

Platitudes

A platitude is a cliche with attitude. It’s also a common saying, but one that purports to be a guide for action, or advice about a situation.

The problem is, we get contradictory advice.

Consider this: Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but out of sight, out of mind. Too many cooks spoil the broth, but many hands make light work. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, but, fools jump in where angels fear to tread.

What these examples show us is that far from being rules to live by, platitudes are simply formulaic sayings that we rely on. Try replacing platitudes with proverbs. You won’t find contradictory proverbs.

Meaningless words

A meaningless word is one that relies so heavily on the person using it for interpretation that we not sure what it means outside a specific context. Some examples of meaningless words include: A lot, a few, many, some, expensive, cheap, affordable, a long time, quickly, soon.

Upon moving to Singapore, I noticed that Americans got upset when a clerk told them they’d have to wait a while. To Americans, this seemed to be somewhere between thirty minutes to an hour. To Singaporeans, it meant less than five minutes. The meaninglessness of the phrase created much confusion.

Jargon

Jargon is language that is specific to a profession, an industry or even a hobby. Jargon can be useful as a shorthand or a more economical way of expressing yourself when you are with people who understand it.

But, because our own jargon seems natural to us, we sometimes forget that others don’t "get it."

I’ve heard financial planners talking about 401K’s, tax-deferred contributions vs. tax-free contributions. I once heard a financial planner joke that with tax time so near, you shouldn’t be a “Roth Sloth.”

Another form of jargon is the abbreviation. BTU (British Thermal Units), GUI (Graphical User Interface), and EKG (Electro Cardiogram) have meanings for people who use them daily, but can be obscure to those outside the particular trade or profession.

Most of us have lots of clutter in our linguistic closets, and we might as well try to get rid of some of it. Cliches, platitudes, meaningless words and jargon should be the first to go.

When you can focus on getting rid of the extras, your ideas will be clearer, your prose cleaner and your arguments more persuasive

©2004 Peak Communication Performance

Dr. Joseph Sommerville helps professionals create more persuasive messages. He is the President of Peak Communication Performance, a Houston-based firm working worldwide to help professionals develop skills in strategic communication. Contact him at Sommerville@Peakcp.Com.

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