“ You speak an infinite deal of nothing” – Shakespeare

Isn’t that true for most of us? We make conversations; at least that’s what we like to think. But in reality we hardly listen to the other person. More often than not, we keep rambling about what we think and what happened to us. Other times, we try to prove our point by using long, complex words to impress others or take refuge in hyperbole.

We think that if we use nice sounding words, we will be able to win a debate. We forget that brevity is the soul of wit, another wisecrack from the bard. In fact, we get so lost in this labyrinth of difficult words that we sometime loose our thread of thoughts. See what I mean?

When I first started writing prose, under my husband’s tutelage, he told me three rules of good writing. First, be clear of what you want to say. Second, be concise and third, your writing should make a logical whole. He also advised me to beware of long winding sentences. They may give the impression of your good vocabulary but they seldom add to the content. Simple, short sentences convey our thoughts in a much precise manner.

Politicians all over the world though, don’t seem to follow these rules. The more the hyperbole, the more they are able to mislead you and sway your vote. Ivory tower philosophers, critics and academicians also fall in this category.

Am I saying that we should not embellish our writing or conversation? We should but just keep in mind that the Morse’ code is just syllables and is one of the most powerful code to send the messages.

So just think before you speak or write. Are you taking a refuge in wordplay or are you ready to face the issue openly? The choice is yours.

So be it!!!