Transcript The Case for Short Words

The Case for Short Words
“I knew Elvis would be
immortal… Elvis Lives
Richard Lederer
• Richard Lederer
• Author
• Richard Lederer is an American author, speaker,
and teacher best known for his books on word
play and the English language and his use of
oxymorons.
• Born: May 26, 1938 (age 75)
• Children: Katy Lederer, Howard Lederer, Annie
Duke
• www.verbivore.com
Irish Blessings
• Long ago, people would place slices of spiced toast into their tankards of ale to
improve the favor and remove the impurities. The drink itself became a “toast,” as
did the gesture of drinking to another’s good health and long life:
• • I drink to the enemy of your enemy.
• • May I see you gray and combing your grandchildren’s hair.
• • I drink to your coffin. May it be built from the wood of a 100-year-old oak that I
shall plant tomorrow.
• • May the good Lord take a liking to you, but not too soon!
• • May God grant you many years to live. For sure He must be knowing the earth
has angels far too few and heaven is overflowing.
• • May you live to be a 100 years, with one extra to repent.
• • May you live to be a 100 and shot by a jealous husband.
• “May the hinges of our friendship never grow rusty,” sings one Irish blessing. From
their well wishes, the Irish so obviously cherish friendship and love:
• • There are good ships,
• And there are wood ships,
• The ships that sail the sea.
• But the best ships, are friendships,
• And may they always be.
“Crazy English” By Richard Lederer
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Let’s face it: English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant or ham in
hamburger, neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins were not invented in England or french fries in France. Sweetmeats
are candies, while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that
quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither
from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write, but fingers don’t fing,
grocers don’t groce, and hammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why
isn’t the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So, one moose, 2 meese? One
index, two indices? Is cheese the plural of choose?
If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables,
what does a humanitarian eat?
In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and
send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways
and drive on parkways?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise
guy are opposites? How can the weather be hot as hell one day an cold as hell
another?
When a house burns up, it burns down. You fill in a form by filling it out and an
alarm clock goes off by going on.
When the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are
invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this
essay, I end it?
Now I know why I flunked my English. It’s not my fault; the silly language doesn’t
quite know whether it’s coming or going
Usage and Mechanics
• I met Kim when I was five years old, and
she has been my best freind ever since
then.
• Kim is as tall and as skinny as a beanpole.
Her hare is a mass of curls that she can’t
keep in place try;as she mite. her eyes are
as blue as the sky in autumn when their are
no clouds in sight.
Usage and Mechanics
• Kim’s smile seems to come straight from the sun,
but her laugh is her claim to fame. What a laugh! it
starts with a snort that soon turns into a peal. Then
it stops; their is a pause, and then it starts again.
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hers
• You mite think that with a laugh like that Kim has
many freinds, and you would be right. I like to be
with her, for she is as warm as her smile is and as
funny as her laugh.
Vocabulary Check
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D. Public speakers
E. Mourns
J. Brief but meaningful
G. Fly lightly and swiftly
C. Made out of
H. Persuasive powers
A. To the point
I. Easily understood
B. Required
F. Burn with hot liquid
1. orators
2. laments
3. pithy
4. flit
5. wrought
6. eloquence
7. terse
8. luminous
9. obligatory
10. scald
Vocabulary
• “Short words are sharp like the blade of a knife,
hot like salt tears that scald the cheek,
• “ quick like moths that flit from flame to flame,
• “and pithy like the dart and sting of a bee.”
• “The title of this chapter and the four paragraphs
that you have just read are wrought entirely of
words of one syllable.”
• “For centuries our finest poets and orators have
recognized and employed the power of small
words to make a straight point between two
minds.”
Vocabulary
• “A great many of our proverbs punch home
their points with terse monosyllables…”
• “Nobody used the short word more skillfully
than William Shakespeare, whose dying King
Lear laments: ‘And my poor fool is hang’d!’”
• “You don’t have to be a great author,
statesman, or philosopher to tap the energy
and eloquence of small words.
• My students greet my request with obligatory
moans and groans… .”
Varying Reading Rates
• 1. Scan
• 2. Skim
• 3. Richard Lederer defines stanza as a cluster
of lines having the same meter and rhyme
scheme that is repeated throughout a given
poem or that becomes a traditional form in
which many poems over time are cast.
• 4. The term limerick comes from a county in
Ireland.
• 5. There are at least a million limericks in
existence today.
Identifying Supporting Arguments
• 1. A. Lederer’s own writing “When you think and
write, there is no law that says you have to use big
words.”
• 2. D. Student compositions “We all made for the
large house while the crew watched, glad to be rid
of us.”
• B. Examples drawn form studies of language
• 3. “In order of frequency they are: I, you , the ,a, to,
is, it, that, of ,and, in, what, he, this, have, do, she,
ot on, and they.”
• 4. C. Famous quotations “Why should a dog, a
horse, a rat have life, And thou no breath at all?”
Identifying Supporting Arguments
• 5. A. Lederer’s own writing “Here is a sound rule:
Use small, old words where you can.”
• 6. D. Student Compositions “He hates your world,
and he has left it.”
• 7.C. Famous quotations “I will say: it is to wage
war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and
with all the strength that God can give.”
Finding Adjectives
• 1. Small describes words
• clear describes light
• big describes things
2. one describes study
twenty describes words
twenty-five describes percent
spoken describes words
English describes words proper and should be circled
monosyllabic describes words
3. Other describes studies
single describes syllable
most common describes words
written describes English
Finding Adjectives
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4. finest describes poets and orators
small describes words
straight describes point
two describes minds
5. great describes many
pithy describes monosyllables
6. Shakespeare’s describes contemporaries
King James describes Bibles
short describes words
Finding Adjectives
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mighty describes lines
twentieth describes century
8. ringing describes monosyllables
9. obligatory describes moans and
groans
10. most powerful describes prose
luminous describes prose