In reaction to the floweriness of Romanticism, Ezra Pound aimed for clarity and precision in language use in the Imagism movement in poetry he helped originate in 1912. His intention is spelled out clearly in the first tenet of the Imagist manifesto: “To use the language of common speech, but to employ always the exact word, not the nearly exact, nor the merely decorative word.”

We speakers of English have liberated our language somewhat from its prescriptive rules of usage, freeing it up so that it is more malleable and organic. As a result, though, we have become sloppy in our verbal and written communication. Occasionally this sloppiness results in the complete misuse of a word. For instance, how many times have you heard nonplussed erroneously used to express “showing no care or concern”? More often, however, sloppiness shows in a failure to see the nuance in the definitions of words, as in the case with disinterested, which means “impartial; free of bias” and uninterested, which means “indifference, lacking interest.” (I was guilty of using these two words interchangeably until I read William Safire’s cleverly titled New York Times article “Incorrections.”)

A personal pet peeve of mine is the use of notorious when famous is meant. Though notorious is listed in Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary as a synonym of famous, and though both words are partially defined as “being popularly known,” notorious has a dark aspect to it, implying malevolence and ill will. Ingid Bergman is famous. Typhoid Mary is notorious. Writing a best-selling novel will make you famous. Knocking off your editor if your book is not a bestseller may make you notorious. If Hitchcock’s film Notorious had been called Famous, the title wouldn’t have remotely alluded to the suspense-fueled psychological-thriller nature of the film. And do you think the songs of Notorious B.I.G. would have gotten as much play if he had called himself Famous B.I.G.?

If you spend time reading the “Synonym” sections that follow the definitions of some words in Webster’s, you will begin to get a feel for some of the subtle distinctions of the English language. For instance, misfortune is not mischance is not adversity is not mishap. And apt is not likely is not liable is not liable. Though the difference is often slight, it’s necessary to know the fine distinctions among words to liberate you from the current compression of language. Otherwise, you’re trying to communicate through puddles of muddy abstractions.