Worse Than a Cliche

"He doesn't have a cark in the world!" Is the phrase in that form no longer a cliche? :)

As writers we are taught to cark about using cliches, but there are things worse than a cliche. Like a word you don't understand.

Of course context can help.

I am always amazed when the examples for these obscure little words come from books I've read. I guess I'm not very observant. I know I tend to skim details, which is why proofreading is such a tough job for me. So when I read The Thorn Birds and read, "Crows in hundreds carking desolately from the blasted white skeletons of dead trees," I probably assumed (in error) that it had something to do with the sound they were making, and in the overall story which had me enthralled, that's all I needed to move beyond this sentence and continue with the greater issues of the story itself.

Of course it makes me wonder whether there is a tone to the word that separates it from its colleagues. Synonyms are sometimes more exact simply because they imply a tone or idea that similar word does not. And I wonder about the person who read that line in Colleen McCullough's book and thought, what a cool word! I wonder what it means?, and then looked it up. Or how many readers recognized the word and found it appealing that she didn't use a more common description. And then where did McCullough learn the word? Is it a familiar word where she lives, (wherever that is) and not so much here where I live?

Now I notice that the AWAD theme for the week is archaic words. That explains a lot. Not that I'm saying Colleen McCullough is archaic. LOL! It explains why I don't know it....

Then when you read the early origins of the word, it's basic meaning and how it forms the root of common words we use today (like carpenter or caricature) you realize that language does indeed form an amazing web. It makes me want to start an exhaustive study of words. Or at least take Latin. Which is a popular course among homeschoolers..... Hmmmm.

Like I have the time to cark about one more thing.

Forever is coming. :)

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