Word Usage from bad to bombastic to the beautiful
Words and expressions are marvelous creations and they grow
best through usage.
“In capturing a word, a sliver of lived experience can be
observed and defined. If only you were able to catch all the words, perhaps you
could define existence.”
I use many of these
types of terms in some contexts without giving an overdose of them.
If that happens, then
the contrived bombastic usage may cause uneasiness to the reader who may be
more interested in the content and not the excessive ornamentation or frills.
However, there are two interesting things in doing this (i.e.
using bombastic vocabulary at times):-
First it is gives a sheer pleasure of toying with bombastic
vocabulary studded texts [tinged with a undisclosed pride in showing off which
I used to do during my SSLC and PUC [when I did Advanced English] [1];
Second, sometimes certain single words [in English language
itself which are not that well known because they not much used or words from
any other language] convey better certain complex states of emotions,
psychological states, actions in certain contexts etc. [2]
At the same time there are those who dismiss every write up
as too wordy or bombastic just because their range of vocabulary is limited or
they feel intimated by rather than getting inspired by people who can
articulate more effectively using certain nicely crafted expressions.
Having said all these, one has to gradually ensure either
through practice, preferably out of more of reading and some regular writing, strike a nice synergistically evolved
balance created between content and carefully crafted vocabulary which can not
only convey the content but also tickle the aesthetic sensitivities to
appreciate the art of language. It is like having a very food is
nutritious, attractive to look at and also tasty.
Often, one need not have to work too hard to arrive at these
either.
On the contrary, life
is injected into all art forms when there is a comprehensive conceptualization
along with clarity and conviction based confidence in one's perspective, then
with these ingredients there comes around a smooth flow of thoughts and ideas
along with concomitant vocabulary and expressions, all these leading to an
excellent combo package where every part/piece is worth relishing.
This is how great
sculptors look at a big rock/mountain/stone and inject life into it carve out
great sculptures that get immortalized ; great painters visualize a theme, take
a look at the canvas and inject life into it and produce great works of arts
that get immortalized; great composers churn a theme and tune and inject life
into the them and come out with great lyrics and good musical compositions that
get immortalized; great writers weave spells of extremely brilliant write
ups and inject life into them that get immortalized in their writings; great
scientists strike a chord through observations and churn the
hypothesis with experiments and inject life into them that get
immortalized in universally measurable, applicable and useful designs and
technological devices; great philosophers think and view from in depth
perspectives and inject life into premises that get immortalized into great
workable and multi-utility concepts and so on.
So, this process is
more or less similar in most realms only the tools and techniques are
different.
In language things get a greater attention
because language is the queen of sciences and king of arts because all arts and
sciences can be expressed and explained fully; enjoyed and experienced at least
to a certain extent through langue.
Language
helps better understanding of many things.
So
there is no need to explain further because from religious scriptures to
political speeches to all scripts, to research findings to song lyrics are
weaved out of words of some language.
The greatness of language over any other medium like music, painting,
science and so on is its unhindered, unlimited access to any or many or almost
all dimensions of life known and perceivable to human beings.
In that aspect language is omnipotent in its influence and impact.
As a
medium it uses two methods Oral [speaking] and written [writing].
Whether
it is used to express and explain thoughts, ideas, concepts, facts, events,
actions, reactions, feelings, imagination, stories, discoveries, descriptions,
fantasies, social, religious, cultural systems, dreams are all determined by
the favorite frame of reference of the speaker or writer.
Lexicography is imbued with life with all its sweet memories,
vicissitudes of living and potential evolutionary growth.
Every dictionary must be a family album of nostalgic moments
narrating stories, histories, narrations and all these nurturing the pride of
ancestry and heralding a hope for future through the nice anecdotal references.
When lexicology and literature come together and deliver a
baby of words and expressions with inherited beauty of etymology and
denotation.
They watch the baby grow into a child acquiring connotations
as it experiences its life through various contexts.
Then the metamorphosis of child into a marvelous adult
happens as it captures the raptures of evolutionary imperatives in linguistics.
Online dictionaries can be spiced up with audio-visual
presentations, appropriate anecdotes, captive dialogues and relevant quotations
that would enable us to remember the word/phrase/expression because of the
impact of the quotations, probably with hints to usage in different contexts.
There are also the other
side to this glorious importance to words and expressions. There is one whole
tribe called, ‘Munduruku whose language has no tenses; no
plurals and no words for numbers beyond five’ [Alex’s Adventures in NumberLand]
and the best part is they count and give their produce running into few lakhs
every week and they are
considered one among the smartest tribes in Rain forests.
Anyway as these are
getting popularized by some as would like to add this anecdote.
One Italian
friend of mine admonished me for using words like bribe and corruption during
UPA regime, instead he asked me to say, “
Busterella” [Italian term for ‘Envelop stuffed with money given as bribe]
and I said it is a
“Mokita” [ Word from a
language called Kivila, spoken in Papua New Guinea meaning “the truth we
all know but agree not to talk about.”]
One can find
large quantity of such words in my reverse dictionary of adjectives [3]
[1] https://contentwriteups.blogspot.com/2009/04/marriage-bride-and-home.html
[2] https://contentwriteups.blogspot.com/2020/06/covid-19s-agathokakological.html
For a bigger
collection read this
https://contentwriteups.blogspot.com/2019/11/perspective-and-attitude-matters.html
[3] https://adjectives-balayogi.blogspot.com/2010/05/adjective-finder-or-reverse-dictionary.html