Word Distinctions Matter, Says A Book

  

There are many books out there about our languages, and most of them have something interesting to point out. The Dictionary of Fine Distinctions, Nuances, Niceties, and Subtle Shades of Meaning, by Eli Burnstein, is one such book.  

The author likes to show how we often confuse words for each other. For instance, he points out to assume is to suppose without proof, while presume is to do so with confidence or authority. Accuracy “refers to how close you are to the correct answer,” but precision “refers to how closely or finely you’re measuring.”  

He distinguishes between things many of us will substitute one for the other, such as ethics and morality, (“ethics is the science of morals and morals are the practice of ethics”) and shame (for not being good enough) and guilt (for not doing the right thing).  

The book shows that words matter and that we should be aware of the subtle distinctions between autocrat, tyrant, despot, and dictator. A snitch informs on others but a rat sells out their own, more of a traitor. Even kitschy is not campy, and “convince” is “about believing something, but, persuade is about doing something.   

A maze is different from a labyrinth, a robbery is not a burglary, a parable is not a fable, and combinations differ from permutations. Maybe all of this seems like nerd Olympics stuff, but the definitions of words are important.   

Who knew that a gala, a large, upscale, social event, is not a ball - unless there’s dancing. Even a strategy and tactic are not one in the same. Nor is rational and reasonable. Hue, tint, shade, and tone are all different. Harbor, port, and marina, all different. Hay and straw. Two different things. Satire can be parody, but parody is not satire.   

Did you know electric devices convert electrically into other forms of energy, like light or heat? But, electronics are devices that manipulate electricity to convey images or sounds, like a TV set or an ipad. Poisonous is when you bite it, but venom is when it bites you. You can eat a poison mushroom but a venomous snake can bite you.  

Did you have a kink- an unconventional sexual preference, or a fetish, an unconventional sexual requirement. For instance, “wanting to touch someone's feet is a kink. If you can’t be aroused otherwise, it’s a fetish.” 

This book makes it clear all of the words that you freely insert for each other are not always the right word choice. Maybe you say one is a schlemiel because they have bad luck, but that would be a schlimazel. The other one is a bumbling fool.  

The Continental U.S. is all states in North America- all but Hawaii, but the Contiguous US are the 48 connected states, No Hawaii or Alaska. The OED is multi-volume record of the history of the English language, but the EOD is a single-volume dictionary of English as it is used today.  

In reading this book, I realized that I mistakenly use some of these words and that many people do as well. For instance, jargon is about language used by a specific field of knowledge like scientists or athletes. But slang is specific words of a particular sub-culture.  

How about pidgin vs creole?  Pidgin is a hybrid language “that emerges when two groups of people who don’t share a common language try to spark to one another,” whereas creole is “are sophisticated hybrid language that emerge when pidgins grow in complexity and become the native tongue of a speech community.” 

You may say something is a Ponzi scheme while others say it’s a Pyramid scheme. Pretty similar but still, there are subtle and distinguishable differences between them.  

The book shows us how complex and yet beautiful English can be, and how the language keep evolving and expanding. If you are witty wordsmith or someone who wants to know what really is the proper word for a given situation, I recommend that you read The Dictionary of Fine Distinctions.    

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.