”Never use a
long word where a short one will do,” is often repeated and seemingly
unobjectionable advice, whose failures reveal additional principles of
emphasis. Previous entries have treated far-mode emphasis, but there is also a
near-mode form: emphasis by word length.
Near-mode and
far-mode is shorthand for concrete and abstract construal processes in Trope
and Liberman’s construal-level theory. To extend construal-level theory to
phenomena beyond those studied in the laboratory, the following distinction is
particularly useful: whereas near-mode adds components, far-mode averages them.
(Weaver, K., Garcia, S. M., & Schwarz, N., The Presenter’s Paradox (2012). Far-mode’s proportionality seeking is
the foundation of the brevity
principle of emphasis. A short word will emphasize each of its component
phonemes more than will a long word. This pertains to Euphony, but words are the most elementary meaningful units. Because of the
additive character of near-mode, readers expect longer words to contain more
information. This inference is supported by language evolution, which some researchers
conclude enforces standards of communicative efficiency under which long
words are less predictable than short—by that measure, conveying more
information.
Readers will
expect more information from longer words. Short words typically have the merit
of fluency, but a judicious dispensation of long words will prepare readers for
informative words, which they might dwell on a few milliseconds longer.
An example of a word
choice based on its length in this entry occurred in writing this sentence: “Far-mode’s
proportionality seeking is the foundation of the brevity principle of emphasis.”
I considered this wording: “the brevity principle governing far-mode emphasis, but a common preposition's sufficiency shows that it doesn’t convey rich information.
A related
half-truth: “Short words are powerful.” The kernel of truth in this falsehood is
found in a countersignaling
process: when it is very obvious that a word is important, its importance
is further enhanced by omitting the signal (long word), its superfluousness
itself serving as a signal of heightened importance.
Near-mode
emphasis also answers another question of editorial choice: when to use phrasal verbs
rather than simple verbs. Simple verbs are favored for Concision and fluency,
whereas phrasal verbs lend an air of informality. But the phrasal verb
occasionally serves a legitimate purpose of emphasizing the predicate. Consider this
sentence: The visitor entered the office and defenestrated the occupant’s cat. The longer “threw the cat out of
the window” is an example of the minority of cases where the longer verb is
more fluent because it mirrors the term’s informativeness.
Tight writing is generally better than loose writing. Why? The most obvious reason is
Concision, but the weightier factor is fluency—an aspect of Clarity. This
analysis of near-mode emphasis explains the greater fluency of tight writing, which
is due to omission of misleading cues about the informativeness of
particular words. This theory of near-mode emphasis clarifies the distinction
between emphases in the two modes. Near-mode emphasis concerns the amount of
information; far-mode emphasis, degree of relevance.
