Word Choice or Choice Words · 8 July 2023
Choose your words wisely.
English is a funny language. English teachers talk about word choice. They say that word choice matters. If you choose one word, you sound funny. If you choose another word that means the same thing (a synonym), you sound serious. If you choose still another word (again a synonym), you sound like some computer who is trying to imitate you. (Oops. Sorry about that. I was just worrying that ChatGPT might replace me. Which is a completely different story. One I already wrote, by the way.)
I personally try to choose words that I can understand. Which makes sense. After all, I want to be able to understand what I wrote. Even if I do not remember what I wrote. (Which is a completely different story. Which I also may have written, but I forget.) But that is not quite the point I was going to make today.
My friend Mike (called R by many people who are not me (which is another story (yes, already written))) and I were talking the other day about words. In fact, he was the one who said that word choice would be a good topic to write about. We were talking about pain and shingles and aging and the like. The conversation went something like the following:
I said something.
Then Mike said, “That would not be my word choice.”
I replied, “You would normally have some choice words to add to that.”
Mike did this thing with his hands that he does when he has a great idea. Then, he said, “That’s it. Word choice and choice words. You should write about that.”
“Hmm,” I mused. “Maybe I will.”
Well, here I am. Writing about word choice. The thing is that choice words are the funnier topic.
Now, if you are an English language learner, you might not recognize the subtlety between word choice and choice words. The difference is that word choice is just that. Word choice. Choosing words. But choice words is another story. Choice words is an idiom.
Idioms are not always what they seem (even for native speakers). They are social constructs that may or may not mean just what the words say. They change over time too. Or at least they can. And idioms in any language are tough to understand for just those reasons. You need to speak the language long enough to start to understand the nuances of idioms. Confused enough yet? Sorry about that.
As I said, “choice words” is an idiom that often means swear words. (If I did not say it, I meant to say it, but I do not want to go back and say it.) Choice words of anger or frustration or just foul words that come out of your mouth for no reason at all. Choice words could also just be ranting about something. But the main thing is that choice words are usually not words that you would choose to use in polite company. In polite company, choice words are a poor word choice. (How is that for word choice?)
Well, I do not know that choice words and word choice are truly interesting topics, but Mike thought they could be. And since I agreed with him and wrote this, maybe you will agree too. If not, that is okay. Chalk it down to another foray into the minds of MediocreMan and his friends.
By the way, I hope that it is not a poor word choice to say that I only have two real readers and the rest are imaginary. It is just one of my literary devices. For those real readers out there who are not the two that I often refer to, I just hope that you do not have choice words for me when I use that particular word choice about my readership.
© 2023 Michael T. Miyoshi
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