What's in a Word?

Mark Twain wrote, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”

I don’t claim any great shakes at vocabulary, but I do pay attention to my word choice.  So, it surprises me when friends complain they didn’t like a book because the author used too many words they didn’t know.

After reading Devil in the White City, a friend said, "What the hell is an antimacassar?  The writer shouldn’t put in archaic words that the reader doesn’t know."

In my case, some readers objected to my use of the word “gibbet” in a play.  They said it made them think of giblets, so I should use another word.  The problem was that “gibbet” was the proper word:  a device for hanging bodies for public display.  So, do I use “gibbet” because it’s what I meant or another, more common word that sort of represents the same thing?

Don’t we expand our vocabulary by encountering new words in books?  And if you don’t know what something means, can’t you use a dictionary?  Plus, e-book readers, such as Kindle, will provide definitions if you highlight the text.

Don’t we learn about the world by learning new words?

By the way, an antimacassar is a lace cloth that goes over the back of chairs to protect the fabric from being soiled by macassar oil, a type of hair conditioner Victorian men used to wear.  So, that’s like learning two new words for one.