Wordsmith
Swen Nater

Imagine for a minute, I am speaking to you. In other words, you are not reading the following; you are hearing me say.

The project I’m about to give you is doable, but difficult. In the order presented, use the words, defeat, defense, and detail in one sentence so it makes sense.

While you’re thinking about that (I’ll give you the answer at the end of the posting.), I would like to challenge you to become a “Wordsmith.” You won’t need an anvil and hammer; don’t worry. A wordsmith is someone that carefully chooses his or her words.

Language, in its purest and most-unadulterated form, is the thought I have in my mind before I say or write it. Written and spoken words are imperfect representations of what we are thinking, but they are the only means by which we can communicate what we mean. For example, if I told you, “I am feeling sad today,” you can’t possibly know how I really feel. Even if I were to elaborate by saying, “I am feeling sad today because my dog died,” or “I am really depressed today because my best friend, my dog, died,” I still am not clearly telling you what’s in my heart at the moment.

That’s the bad news. The good news is, though you will never really know exactly how I’m feeling no matter how long I speak or how much I write about it,  the more I expound on the feeling I have and the more details I give you, the closer you will come to truly understanding.

One way to create communication that is as clear as possible is to choose the right word. Thank God the English language has more synonyms that just about any language. If we care about clear communication and we take the time to choose exactly the right word, it can make all the difference. For example, if you’re faced with a doable but difficult task, but you are committed to successfully completing the job, you will want to say, “That’s going to be a challenge” not, “That’s going to be a problem.” The word, “problem,” strongly suggests quitting, or not even starting, is a possibility.  

If you have Microsoft Word (Or, better said, “If you use Microsoft Word”), you can right click on just about any word and a thesaurus will appear with several synonyms. Each will offer a slightly different meaning. So let’s take a word I used in the last sentence, “offer.” When I right click, I see: present, tender, bid, suggest, and recommend. For sure, “suggest” and “recommend” are not the right words. In this case, I think “offer” is the one because the thesaurus is offering possibilities. I like it just a little better than “presenting” because I feel the thesaurus is bringing them to me so I can choose, rather than putting them up on a board. It’s a little more personal. Ever been to a formal party where, before dinner, waiters are walking around with trays of hors d oeuvres? As you’re standing, engaged in conversation, they come over, lower the tray, and “offer” you the tasty appetizers. I feel the thesaurus is like one of those waiters. See what I mean?

I have never known a better Wordsmith than Coach Wooden. He was a man of few words, but when he spoke or wrote, he was a master craftsman with the language. For example, he once changed a word in his Pyramid of Success. The Pyramid contains 15 blocks, one of which is titled, “Team Spirit.” His definition reads,

“An eagerness to sacrifice personal interests or glory for the welfare of all.”

But in the Pyramid’s infancy, one word was different; he used “willingness” instead of “eagerness.” He told me,

“Willingness didn’t capture what I really felt team spirit meant. Willingness implied there was a degree of reservation. When one of my players is eager to do what he can to help the team succeed, above what he would personally like to achieve, such as statistics, recognition, or honors, he has the kind of team spirit I want.”

So today, I’m challenging you (and myself) to become a Wordsmith—a master craftsman with words.

Back to the project I gave you at the beginning. If you would have said,

De feet went over de fence before de tail.

You would have been correct. Oh, I’m sorry; you didn’t completely understand the words I was asking you to use? Guess I didn’t communicate clearly. My bad.