Winston Churchill Teaches You Oration (“Scaffolding of Rhetoric”, with examples from GPT4)

“Broadly speaking, short words are best, and old words, when short, are best of all.”

Simply that Old words, like those from Anglo Saxon origin, are rooted more deeply in mind and culture than newer additions, such as Latin. They’re more felt.

As powerful an idea this is, it’s practically a homework assignment. So I asked ChatGPT 4.0 for examples.

“Give me a list of 20 popular words that Winston would advise AGAINST using in a speech based on this advice. For each word, give 2 alternatives to each that Winston would approve of. “

1. Communicate: tell, say

2. Utilize: use, employ

3. Facilitate: help, aid

4. Calculate: count, figure

5. Demonstrate: show, prove

6. Investigate: probe, search

7. Indicate: show, point

8. Educate: teach, train

9. Illuminate: light, shine

10. Terminate: end, stop

11. Construct: build, make

12. Obliterate: destroy, wipe

13. Contemplate: think, ponder

14. Innovate: create, invent

15. Substantiate: prove, confirm

16. Complicate: confuse, muddle

17. Participate: join, take part

18. Distribute: give, share

19. Cultivate: grow, foster

20. Appreciate: value, thank

Words on the right ring out in recall of big political moments. The words on the left read more like a workplace handout.

Note this contrast while understanding Churchill used many ‘complex’ and Latin/Greek borrowed words against this advice in the essay itself. That’s because his view held that correctness of diction is priority over all else.

“There is no more important element in the technique of rhetoric than the continual employment of the best possible word. Whatever part of speech it is it must in each case absolutely express the full meaning of the speaker. It will leave no room for alternatives.”