Long Words Quotes

• The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink.

  George Orwell

  Truth, Real, Political Language

  "Politics and the English Language" (1946)

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• One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you're maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones. This is like dressing up a household pet in evening clothes. The pet is embarrassed and the person who committed this act of premeditated cuteness should be even more embarrassed.

  Stephen King

  Writing, Dressing Up, Clothes

  Stephen King (2002). “On Writing”, p.110, Simon and Schuster

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• Never use a long word where a short one will do.

  George Orwell

  Long, Use, Simile

  George Orwell (1961). “Collected essays”

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• How come abbreviated is such a long word?

  Steven Wright

  Funny, Humor, Long

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• His heart; some long word at the heart. He is dying of a long word.

  Evelyn Waugh

  Heart, Long, Dying

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• Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out always cut it out. Never use the passive voice where you can use the active. Never use a foreign phrase a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

  George Orwell

  Cutting, Thinking, Passive Voice

  George Orwell (1953). “Shooting an Elephant: And Other Essays”

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• Speak English!' said the Eaglet. 'I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and I don't believe you do either!

  Lewis Carroll

  Believe, Speak English, Long

  Lewis Carroll (2015). “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: That CUPCAKE was off her head!”, p.23, Oldcastle Books

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• Why does everyone have to pretend to be stupid and not know long words?

  Martin Freeman

  Stupid, Ignorance, Long

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• It behooves us to avoid archaisms. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

  William Safire

  Writing, Long, Use

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• I would never use a long word, even, where a short one would answer the purpose.

  Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

  Long, Purpose, Use

  Oliver Wendell Holmes (2007). “Medical Essays”, p.302, Reprint Services Corporation

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• I was just asking Chad [Myers], how can you get a volcano in Iceland? Isn't it too- when you think of a volcano, you think of Hawaii and long words like that. You don't think of Iceland.You think it's too cold to have a volcano there.

  Rick Sanchez

  Thinking, Volcanoes, Iceland

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• There are science teachers who actually claim that they teach "a healthy skepticism." They do not. They teach a profound gullibility, and their dupes, trained not to think for themselves, will swallow any egregious rot, provided it is dressed up with long words and an affectation of objectivity to make it sound scientific.

  Anthony Standen

  Teacher, Science, Thinking

  Anthony Standen (1950). “Science is a sacred cow”

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• For I am a bear of very little brain, and long words bother me.

  A. A. Milne

  Writing, Editing, Long

  Winnie-the-Pooh ch. 4 (1926)

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• When we asked Pooh what the opposite of an Introduction was, he said "The what of a what?" which didn't help us as much as we had hoped, but luckily Owl kept his head and told us that the Opposite of an Introduction, my dear Pooh, was a Contradiction; and, as he is very good at long words, I am sure that that's what it is.

  A. A. Milne

  Opposites, Long, Owl

  Milne, George, Milne, A. A. (Alan Alexander), Shepard, Ernest H. (1977). “The World of Pooh : the Complete Winnie-The-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner”, McClelland and Stewart, 1989

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• There are many other little refinements too, Mr. Bohlen. You'll see them all when you study the plans carefully. For example, there's a trick that nearly every writer uses, of inserting at least one long, obscure word into each story. This makes the reader think that the man is very wise and clever. So I have the machine do the same thing. There'll be a whole stack of long words stored away just for this purpose." Where?" In the 'word-memory' section," he said, epexegetically.

  Roald Dahl

  Wise, Clever, Memories

  Roald Dahl (1991). “Collected Stories”, Everyman's Library

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• Do not put statements in the negative form. And don't start sentences with a conjunction. If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do. Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all. De-accession euphemisms. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

  William Safire

  Editing, Long, Sound

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• It's not unsporting to thrash a cowardly cad,' said Simmons. 'Everyone knows you don't fight like a gentleman.' 'That might be called an oxymoron,' Ramses said. 'Oh--sorry. Bad form to use long words. Look it up when you get home.' The poor devil didn't know how to fight, like a gentleman or otherwise.

  Barbara Mertz

  Sorry, Home, Fighting

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• Well,” said Owl, “the customary procedure in such cases is as follows.” “What does Crustimoney Proseedcake mean?” said Pooh. “For I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words Bother me.

  A. A. Milne

  Mean, Long, Owl

  Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) ch. 4

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• What are letters?” “Kinda like mediaglyphics except they’re all black, and they’re tiny, they don’t move, they’re old and boring and really hard to read. But you can use ’em to make short words for long words.

  Neal Stephenson

  Moving, Long, Black

  Neal Stephenson (2003). “The Diamond Age”, p.46, Spectra

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• I like 'pencil-necked weasel'. It has 'pencil' in it. Pencils are good things. You can draw or write things with pencils. I think it's what you call someone when you're worried that using a long word like 'intellectual' may have too many syllables. It's not something that people who have serious, important things to say call other people.

  Neil Gaiman

  Writing, Thinking, Long

  "Neil Gaiman hits back at US politician's theft accusation" by Alison Flood, www.theguardian.com. May 5, 2011.

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• Long words, fat talk they may tell us something about ourselves. Has the passion for fat in the language increased as self-confidence has waned?

  Russell Baker

  Passion, Self Confidence, Long

  Russell Baker (1983). “So This Is Depravity”, Pocket Books

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• Never is a long word.

  Ivy Compton-Burnett

  Long

  Ivy Compton-Burnett (2011). “A Heritage and its History”, p.138, A&C Black

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• IF is a very long word in Formula One; in fact, IF is F1 spelled backwards.

  Murray Walker

  Long, Racing, Facts

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• There are some simple maxims which I think might be commended to writers of expository prose. First: never use a long word if a short word will do. So, if you want to make a statement with a great many qualifications, put some of the qualifications in separate sentences. Third: do not let the beginning of your sentence lead the reader to an expectation which is contradicted by the end.

  Bertrand Russell

  Simple, Thinking, Long

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell”, p.37, Routledge

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• The long words are not the hard words, it is the short words that are hard. There is much more metaphysical subtlety in the word "damn" than in the word "degeneration."

  Gilbert K. Chesterton

  Long, Metaphysical, Damn

  Gilbert K. Chesterton (2013). “The Essential Gilbert K. Chesterton”, p.93, Simon and Schuster

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