Monday, November 4, 2013

Inchoate is more than a word that lacks emotion...

I don't know about you, but I find words that I am not familiar with when I read The New York Times newspaper—it doesn't matter which section, but the journalists writing in this newspaper can be erudite and acquaint me with words that I'd like to use, but I don't. 

When I write something for public consumption, I want to communicate facts plus emotions.  As a writer, my need to communicate is the same whether I am communicating with fiction or about a non-fiction subject like travel, and when I'm speaking to someone, I'm not out to show them that I have a BA in English summa cum laude and my vocabulary is better than theirs. 

But then I'm not a journalist employed by a major newspaper that doesn't have to dumb down articles—yet I think it's a good idea to treat readers as if all of them are highly intelligent with substantial vocabularies, rather than stupid dummies who aren't ready to tax their minds. 

Though when writing a book, it's different, since a writer of books wants to sell them, and the audience pool has to be considered. 

And sadly, in this 21st century the secondary collages that lack the student pool of the Ivy League Universities have to teach basic reading and math skills since the standard high school education in the US of A is no longer considered world class.  But to get back to the word, inchoate, this is a word without the sounds that form an emotional punch, it's a matter-of-fact kind of word.

One meaning refers to something factually stated—imperfectly formed—yet another meaning has a sinister connotation—the suspicion that all is not well could refer to what is being said by a governmental authority, and is not the full truth.

What do you think about this word, is it a word you would use to describe someones behavior, or a way of telling someone that the real truth is being kept from you?? 

Let me hear from about other words you know of that lack emotion but have a deep descriptive meaning.     

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