Beauty in the Words of the Beholder
We recently came across a TEDx talk on using the “right words” to express ideas, form mental frameworks and contextualize discussion. So a campaign by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism caught our eye – not only through its scenery, but also in its headline citing the inadequacy of English to provide the right words to describe such beauty.
At least this particular advertisement didn’t resort to descriptors such as “beautiful” or “wonderful”; as grand as those words are, they don’t go very far, and many editors would question their use and suggest more precise terms. Admittedly, we’ve all been caught at a loss for words. But imagine recounting your recent trip to a friend: “I can’t find the words to describe the cliffs of Dover. Let’s just say they were astounding.” Your friend will be left empty-handed – without a strong, shared notion of what you experienced, and with no basis to recreate that experience through hints of sight, sound, smell, taste or touch.
Finding the right words can enrich stories without embellishment and can make them truly meaningful. In The Elements of Story: Field Notes on Nonfiction Writing, author Francis Flaherty makes the case for calling on language tools at everyone’s disposal to bring descriptions alive. For example, in the chapter “Temptation Alley”, he recommends using powerful verbs (those “with a capital V”) and, elsewhere in the book, employing the five senses, especially to “write with your ear”. Beyond this, stimuli in published works by renowned writers and even in mainstream media, such as travel writing in The Guardian, are at our disposal. They demonstrate the breadth and richness of English in finding the right words.
Take, for instance, a short description in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights: “I lingered round [the headstones], under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.” Or this portrayal in John Steinbeck’s short story, The Chrysanthemums: “On every side [the fog] sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot. On the broad, level land floor the gang plows bit deep and left the black earth shining like metal where the shares had cut.” These two examples showcase simple yet evocative verbs that add another dimension to writing.
Vivid language can make up for a loss of words and relegate “beautiful”, “wonderful” and “colourful” to terms used only when there’s little time to write expansively.
What descriptions of your experiences help to show that English is more than adequate?
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