--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Never use abstract nouns when concrete…" description: "\"Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose.\" — Anonymous" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efd/anonymous-1_abstract_never-use-abstract-nouns-when-concrete-o_1150195.jpg" --- # Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If… ![“Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose.” quote by Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efd/anonymous-1_abstract_never-use-abstract-nouns-when-concrete-o_1150195.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efd/anonymous-1_abstract_never-use-abstract-nouns-when-concrete-o_1150195.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efd/anonymous-1_abstract_never-use-abstract-nouns-when-concrete-o_1150195.jpg) > “Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose.” [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Use concrete language instead of abstract nouns for clearer communication. **In simple terms:** Prefer concrete words over abstract ones. Key Takeaway Choose specific terms to convey meaning. Themes clarity communication precision Mood analytical practical Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - technical writing - teaching - public speaking - marketing Key Concepts linguistics cognitive ease Questions to Reflect On - When is abstraction useful? - How do you decide between concrete and abstract? A Different Perspective Abstract terms can sometimes capture complex ideas efficiently. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Abstract Nouns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract-nouns-3247096/) [Concrete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concrete/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Mortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mortality/) [Mortality Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mortality-rose-3247098/) [Nouns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nouns/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rose/) [Say Mortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say-mortality-3247097/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [What really alarms me about President Bush's 'War on Terrorism' is the grammar. How do you wage war on an abstract noun? How is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-jones/what-really-alarms-me-about-president-bush-s-war-on-terrorism-is-the/) [Terry Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-jones/) > [You never push a noun against a verb without trying to blow up something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-never-push-a-noun-against-a-verb-without-trying-to-blow-up/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Most metaphysical words in Hopi are verbs, not nouns as in European languages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/most-metaphysical-words-in-hopi-are-verbs-not-nouns-as-in-european/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What is less often noticed is that it is precisely the kind of moral instruction that parents are constantly trying to give their children…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-less-often-noticed-is-that-it-is-precisely-the-kind-of-moral/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Nothing can prevent your picture from coming into concrete form except the same power which gave it birth – yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nothing-can-prevent-your-picture-from-coming-into-concrete-form-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you walked by a street and you was walking a concrete and you saw a rose growing from concrete, even if it had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-walked-by-a-street-and-you-was-walking-a-concrete-and-you-saw/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The things we do outlast our mortality. The things we do are like monuments that people build to honor heroes after they've died. They're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-things-we-do-outlast-our-mortality-the-things-we-do-are-like/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The subtlest change in New York is something people don't speak much about but that is in everyone's mind. The city, for the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-subtlest-change-in-new-york-is-something-people-don-t-speak-much/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [By instructing students how to learn, unlearn and relearn, a powerful new dimension can be added to education. Psychologist Herbert Gerjuoy of the Human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/by-instructing-students-how-to-learn-unlearn-and-relearn-a-powerful/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is a sexually transmitted disease with 100% mortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-a-sexually-transmitted-disease-with-100-mortality/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Christianity stands or falls as a living program, a way of life, made concrete in the life of man by the life of God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/christianity-stands-or-falls-as-a-living-program-a-way-of-life-made/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Child of mortality, whence comest thou? Why is thy countenance sad, and why are thine eyes red with weeping?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/child-of-mortality-whence-comest-thou-why-is-thy-countenance-sad-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Who would deduce the dragonfly from the larva, the iris from the bud, the lawyer from the infant? ...We are all shape-shifters and magical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/who-would-deduce-the-dragonfly-from-the-larva-the-iris-from-the-bud/) [Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/) > [“By now you must have guessed: I come from another planet. But I will never say to you, Take me to your leaders. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/by-now-you-must-have-guessed-i-come-from-another-planet-but-i-will/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“As Brother Francis readily admitted, his mastery of pre-Deluge English was far from masterful yet. The way nouns could sometimes modify other nouns in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-m-miller-jr/as-brother-francis-readily-admitted-his-mastery-of-pre-deluge-english/) [Walter M. Miller Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-m-miller-jr/) ## More by Anonymous > [And a tear rolled down her cheek, as she said goodbye; because she's walking away, and she's never looking back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-a-tear-rolled-down-her-cheek-as-she-said-goodbye-because-she-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everyone needs someone to love, and I choose you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-needs-someone-to-love-and-i-choose-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Put on my J's and dance the whole night away Im naughty by nature like Im hip-hop hooray With my hands in the sky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/put-on-my-j-s-and-dance-the-whole-night-away-im-naughty-by-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Me.. I have been through a lot, but I still manage to have a smile on my face. Im not worried about the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/me-i-have-been-through-a-lot-but-i-still-manage-to-have-a-smile-on-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Distance is a test of love. many will fail for those who can't withstand it, but for those who can, theres only one answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/distance-is-a-test-of-love-many-will-fail-for-those-who-can-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Im sorry I ever tried...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-sorry-i-ever-tried/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Being betrayed by the one you love is the worst feeling in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-betrayed-by-the-one-you-love-is-the-worst-feeling-in-the-world/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only person I've ever purposely caused pain here is myself...By simply sharing, caring too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-person-i-ve-ever-purposely-caused-pain-here-is-myself-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Start a business, not a startup”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/start-a-business-not-a-startup/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Explore all 162,899 Anonymous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) [Anthony W. Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-w-ivins/) > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... 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