Single-syllable words can shock, jolt and pop
By Mim Harrison, author of Smart Words
“Samuel Clemens” meanders. “Mark Twain” stands up straight and takes charge.
John F. Kennedy said in two simple, single-syllable words what a lesser speaker might have spent a passage crafting:
“Ask not.”
The power of the single syllable is that its simplicity is deceptive. Short words help you write tightly and clearly. And because of their Anglo-Saxon origins, the words themselves are often charged with meaning.
So write in Ernest: Make like Hemingway and wake up the page with one-syllable wonders like: carp, daft, dearth, eke, fey, flout, limn.
And here’s one more reason to harness the power of one: Short words help you tweet and text more economically.
Need inspiration? Play with super-short words and more super-short words.
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Source: Mim Harrison, Smart Words, Perigee Trade, 2008
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