Tips for Writers: Learn Anglo-Saxon

You may have heard—ormaybe you haven't—thatgiven a choice, a writer should choose an Anglo-Saxon word over one with Latinroots. Or at least that's what more than one teacher has told me. English wordsof Anglo-Saxon origin tend to be "closer to the soil"—concrete and precise, shorter, sharper—whereas words of NormanFrench origin (which infiltrated the language following the Norman Conquest)are more elevated—softer,vaguer, and longer.
Using a Latinate word isn't wrong, obviously, but as thisarticle suggests, word choice definitely plays a role in establishing the voiceof your writing: WordOrigin Influences Your Writing Voice. For example, for both rhythm andsound reasons, I like to end a paragraph with a strong word, something withpunch. But if an educated person is speaking, he or she may tend to useLatinates.
Last week I mentioned Strunk & White's The Elements of Style. One of that book'spronouncements is "Avoid fancy words." This is good advice. To that end: "Avoidthe elaborate, the pretentious, the coy, and the cute. Do not be tempted by atwenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able.Anglo-Saxon is a livelier tongue than Latin, so use Anglo-Saxon words. In this,as in so many matters pertaining to style, one's ear must be one's guide: gut is a lustier noun than intestine, but the two words are notinterchangeable, because gut is ofteninappropriate, being too coarse for the context."
Here is a listof some common words and comparative derivations. And, of course, a gooddictionary will be a help. Look for words that are from Old English rather thanOld French.