DICTION

WHAT IS DICTION?

• Diction, in its original, primary

meaning, refers to the writer's or
the speaker's distinctive
vocabulary choices and style of
expression in a poem or story.
WHAT IS DICTION?

• Diction can be defined as style

of speaking or writing,
determined by the choice of
words by a speaker or a writer.
Diction, or choice of words,
often separates good writing
from bad writing.
FACTORS THAT AFFECT
DICTION

• Firstly, the word has to be right and

accurate.
• Secondly, words should be
appropriate to the context in which
they are used.
• Lastly, the choice of words should be
such that the listener or reader
understands easily.
• Proper diction, or proper choice of
words, is important to get the
message across. On the other hand,
the wrong choice of words can easily
divert listeners or readers, which
results in misinterpretation of the
message intended to be conveyed.
TYPES OF DICTION

• Formal diction – formal words

are used in formal situations,
such as press conferences and
presentations.
• Informal diction – uses informal
words and conversation, such as
writing or talking to friends.
TYPES OF DICTION

• Colloquial diction – uses words

common in everyday speech,
which may be different in different
regions or communities.
• Slang diction – is the use of words
that are newly coined, or even
impolite.
FORMAL DICTION

• Formal diction involves

choosing words that are polite
and proper. Formal language is
often filled with descriptive
words that are quite precise, and
sentences may be longer.
INFORMAL DICTION

• Informal diction, on the

other hand, often assumes
that the audience already
knows what you're talking
about and generally uses
shorter words.
• Formal English: With whom did you study?
• Informal English: Who did you study with?

• Formal English: Did you go to the store?

• Informal English: Go to the store?

• Formal English: Did you finish the assignment

that the professor posted?
• Informal English: Did you finish the assignment
the professor posted?
COLLOQUIALISM

• Colloquialism is the use of informal

words or phrases in writing or
speech.
• Colloquialisms are usually defined in
geographical terms, meaning that
they are often defined by their use
within a dialect, a regionally-defined
variant of a larger language.
COLLOQUIALISM

• In Minnesota, people may refer to a

casserole as a hotdish.
• In the Northeast of the United States,
wicked is commonly used as an
intensifier similar to very or really.
So if it's really cold, a person from
Maine might say, "It's wicked cold
out."
COLLOQUIALISM

• In parts of the Northeast and Mid-

Atlantic US, people top their ice-cream
with jimmies instead of sprinkles.
• Submarine sandwiches, subs, Italian
sandwiches, heroes, and hoagies are all
different words that appear in different
parts of the United States that refer to
the same type of sandwich.
COLLOQUIALISM

• In the American South, people

refer to avocados as alligator
pears.
• The words pop, soda, and coke are
all used to refer to soft drinks in
different parts of the United States.
COLLOQUIALISM

• Americans eat cookies but

people in the UK eat biscuits.
• In the Pacific Northwest, a
rundown section of a city
might be referred to as skid
row.
SLANG

• It is a type of language that consists

of words and phrases that are
regarded as very informal, are more
common in speech than writing, and
are typically restricted to a particular
context or group of people.
• "grass is slang for marijuana"
SLANG

• Slang is the use of words that are not

considered standard English. It should
never be used in academic or professional
writing.
• Often, these words are developed from fads
or simple laziness. Sometimes slang is used
by a given group and those outside the
group do not understand it. Slang can also
be insulting to some people or groups.
SLANG

• In the 1960s, young people used terms like

groovy, cool, dude, far-out, and trippin'!
Some of those terms are still used. Modern
slang includes boo (boyfriend or girlfriend),
baby boomers (people born between 1944
and 1963), green (money), my bad (my
mistake), and shotgun (calling dibs on the
front seat of a car).
SLANG

• The advent of the internet and other

technology has added internet and
texting slang to the English repertoire.
Unfortunately, this kind of slang is
causing many to become lazy in their
writing.
SLANG

• d/l- download
• OMG!- Oh my God!
• LOL- Laugh out loud
• dat- that
• m2- me too
• m9- mine
• messg- message
• s'pose- suppose
• sed- said
AMERICAN SLANG WORDS
AND PHRASES

1. Bail — Intransitive verb for leaving abruptly.

2. Feeling blue; have the blues — A feeling of depression
or sadness.
3. A buck — Slang term for a the American dollar.
4. By the skin of (my/your/his/her) teeth — just barely.
5. Creep (n.) — An unpleasantly weird/strange person.
AMERICAN SLANG WORDS
AND PHRASES

6) Couch Potato — A lazy person who spends the bulk of

their time engaged in things that can be done while sitting on
a couch.
7) Cram — To study feverishly before an exam typically
done after neglecting to study consistently.
8) Crash — To abruptly fall asleep, or to show up without
invitation.
9) Down to earth — And adjective for practicality and lack
of pretense.
10) Drive up the wall — To irritate.
AMERICAN SLANG WORDS
AND PHRASES

11) For Real — A proclamation of honesty.

12) Going Dutch — When each person, usually in a
dating scenario, pays for his/her own meal.
13) The cold shoulder — A metaphor for deliberately
ignoring someone.
14) Give a ring — To call someone on the telephone.
15) Hyped (adj.) — A very excited state.
AMERICAN SLANG WORDS
AND PHRASES

16) Hang out — To casually gather together or spend time

with someone in a social manner.
17) Jack up — An abrupt increase, typically in the price of
something.
18) Knock — To speak negatively, to disparage, to
badmouth.
19) Lighten up — To relax and take things too seriously.
Typically stated as an appeal to someone who is acting
uptight.
20) Pass the buck — To deflect responsibility onto someone
else.
QUALITIES OF AN
EFFECTIVE DICTION

•Appropriateness
•Specificity
•Imagery
APPROPRIATENESS

•Appropriateness is a
function of subject,
audience, and
purpose.
SPECIFICITY

•“Use definite,
specific, concrete
language.”
IMAGERY

• Imagery strengthens writing

because it provides pictures
in words. Images help
readers see what the writer is
saying, often in new ways.
HOW TO REVISE DICTION

• What is your purpose?

• Who is your audience?
HOW TO REVISE DICTION

Watch out for:

1) Triteness
2) Vagueness
3) Jargon
4) Ineffective Imagery
TRITENESS

TRITE—Overused, worn out,

lacking in originality
- lacking in freshness or
effectiveness because of constant
use or excessive repetition
TRITE EXPRESSIONS

No sooner said than done

By hook or by crook
Busy as a bee
A bolt from the blue
Few and far between
TRITE EXPRESSIONS

In this day and age

Words fail me
By leaps and bounds
Better late than never
A good time was had by all
Breathed a sigh of relief
TRITE EXPRESSIONS

From the ridiculous to the sublime

It’s a small world
Life and limb
Sticks out like a sore thumb
To all intents and purposes
In the final analysis
CLICHÉS

Clichés are words and phrases

that tend to be overused and
do not make for good writing.
They should be avoided in
professional and academic
writing.
EXAMPLES OF
CLICHÉS

Raining like cats and dogs.

Like a pig in mud.
Over the hill.
In the dog house.
Back against the wall.
Under the gun.
EXAMPLES OF
CLICHÉS

My two cents.
Stubborn as a mule.
Bite your tongue.
Dyed in the wool.
Wrong side of the bed.
The calm before the storm.
EXAMPLES OF
CLICHÉS

On thin ice.
Eye for an eye.
Tongue-in-cheek.
The third time is the charm.
JARGONS

• These are special words or

expressions that are used
by a particular profession
or group and are difficult
for others to understand.
JARGONS

• Most jargon is technical

terminology, involving terms
of art or industry terms, with
particular meaning within a
specific industry.
MEDICAL JARGONS

• STAT - Immediately
• ➠ABG - Arterial Blood Gas
• ➠Vitals - Vital signs
• ➠C-Section - Ceasarean Section
• ➠Claudication - Limping caused by a reduction in blood supply to the legs
• ➠CAT/CT Scan - Computerized Axial Tomography
• ➠MRI - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• ➠BP - Blood Pressure
• ➠FX - Bone Fracture
COMPUTER
JARGONS
• FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions
• ➠CYA - See you around
• ➠RAM - Random Access Memory
• ➠GB - Gigabyte
• ➠ROM - Read-only Memory
• ➠Backup - Duplicate a file
• ➠BFF - Best Friends Forever
• ➠HTH - Hope This Helps