Today is Charles Staple Lewis’ birthday. He was born on this day 123 years ago. I encountered his writing when I wanted a great series of books to read with my children. I soon found out how he had a gift for writing profound concepts in a simple manner. This quote by Lewis reminds me to
“Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say ‘infinitely’ when you mean ‘very’; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.”
C. S. Lewis via BrainyQuote.com
I have to watch this because when I learn a new word, I can feel tempted to find a way to wedge it into a sentence. For instance, today’s Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day is obfuscate. On one hand, it is the perfect word to describe what C. S. Lewis was talking about. It means, to make something more difficult to understand.
On the other hand, why would I want to use that when I could just say, “keep it simple?” What is the purpose of using complicated, rarely-used words when a simple one will do?
Therefore, I will try to honor Lewis by avoiding words that are too big for the subject. Keep it simple, Kevin!
