On Writing Well 11.20

一 words and expressions

1. That’s the effortless style at its best: a methodical act of composition that disarms us with its generated warmth.

disarm：to make someone feel less angry or disapproving of you, and more friendly使消释怒气，使消除敌意

2. The writer sounds confident; he’s not trying to ingratiate himself with the reader.

ingratiate oneself (with sb): to try very hard to get someone's approval – used to show disapproval讨好，巴结，迎合〔某人〕〔含贬义〕:

3. If a writer lives in blissful ignorance that clichés are the kiss of death

the kiss of death: If you describe something as the kiss of death, you mean that it is certain to cause something else to fail必然会导致其他事物失败的事物

4. I realize I’m trying to pin down a matter that’s subjective; one person’s beautiful object is somebody else’s kitsch.

kitsch：art, decorative objects or design considered by many people to be ugly, without style, or false but enjoyed by other people, often because they are funny俗气的装饰品；庸俗的艺术品

二 Thoughts

这章讲的是写作要传递自己的声音，有自己的taste。

I realize I’m trying to pin down a matter that’s subjective; one person’s beautiful object is somebody else’s kitsch.

这句话是我想起了英语里的一句谚语One man's meat is another man's poison。 的确，在taste上，萝卜青菜各有所爱。

Clichés are the enemy of taste.

Again, freshness is crucial. Taste chooses words that have surprise, strength and precision.

But finally taste is a mixture of qualities that are beyond analyzing

Clichés不仅仅taste的敌人，其实是整个写作的敌人。过多的Clichés将会淹没你个人的taste。同时，要想形成个人的taste，也要做到freshness，体现在用词之妙。大家一定听过“春风又绿江南 岸”这句诗。相传王安石在写这首诗的时候，反反复复换过多个字，例如：“入”“过”等字，却都没有“绿”字来的传神。绿字既告知了春天的到来，也描写出了春天的变化，富有动态感，成为名句。这就是推敲用词的巨大力量。 最后一点提到taste是一种不能analyze的东西，它有着诸多的特点。