一日一词【28】concise

concise

concise意为expressing much in a few words, brief but full of meaning。

英国作家Alexander Pope曾经说过，“Words are like leaves, and where they most abound, much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.” (单词像树叶一样，单词用得过多，效果反而不好。) Pope将单词比作树叶，意思是树叶最茂密的地方往往果实结得很少。所以，定作教师常教导学生“Be concise!”

Be concise 就是用少而精的单词来表达自己的意思，即use fewer and better words。要做到 一点就得在写作时用词义丰富的单词。例如：

make gesture = gesticulate
make very angry = infuriate
cause … to become frightened = intimidate

从上述例子中可以看出，如果一个人掌握的词汇量丰富，只需用一个单词便可代替更多的单词，而且使意义更明确。有时，一个单词甚至可以代替一个定语从句，使文章更简练。