--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's so easy to use tired, shopworn…" description: "\"It's so easy to use tired, shopworn figures of speech. I love using long, fancy words but have learned - mostly from writing my biography of Winston Ch..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/165/gretchen-rubin-867_against_it-s-so-easy-to-use-tired-shopworn-figur_1068370.png" --- # It's so easy to use tired, shopworn figures of speech. I… ![“It's so easy to use tired, shopworn figures of speech. I love using long, fancy words but have learned - mostly from writing my biography of Winston Churchill - that short, strong words work better. I am ever-vigilant against the passive and against jargon, both of which are so insidious.” quote by Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/165/gretchen-rubin-867_against_it-s-so-easy-to-use-tired-shopworn-figur_1068370.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/165/gretchen-rubin-867_against_it-s-so-easy-to-use-tired-shopworn-figur_1068370.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/165/gretchen-rubin-867_against_it-s-so-easy-to-use-tired-shopworn-figur_1068370.png) > “It's so easy to use tired, shopworn figures of speech. I love using long, fancy words but have learned - mostly from writing my biography of Winston Churchill - that short, strong words work better. I am ever-vigilant against the passive and against jargon, both of which are so insidious.” [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author advocates for concise, strong language over verbose, jargon‑laden speech. **In simple terms:** Short, strong words are more effective than long, fancy ones. Key Takeaway Prefer clarity and brevity. Themes communication writing clarity Mood practical insightful Type instructional reflective When to use this quote - business emails - public speaking - creative writing - teaching Key Concepts linguistics psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does word choice affect persuasion? - When is elaborate language appropriate? A Different Perspective Over‑simplification can lose nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Against](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/against/) [Am](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/am/) [Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better/) [Biography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biography/) [Both](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/both/) [Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/churchill/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) [Fancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fancy/) [Fancy Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fancy-words-2371245/) [Figures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/figures/) [Figures of speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/figures-of-speech/) [I am](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-am/) [I love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-love/) [Insidious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insidious/) [Jargon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jargon/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Learned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learned/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love u](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-u/) [Mostly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mostly/) [Passive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passive/) [Passive Jargon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passive-jargon-2647744/) [Short](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short/) [Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech/) [Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strong/) [Strong words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strong-words/) [Tired](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tired/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Using](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/using/) [Which](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/which/) [Winston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winston/) [Winston churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winston-churchill/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) [Words Learned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-learned-2046912/) [Words Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-work-1394076/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [No leader did more for his country than Winston Churchill. Brave, magnanimous, traditional, he was like a king-general from Britain's heroic past. His gigantic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/no-leader-did-more-for-his-country-than-winston-churchill-brave/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [Like most people, I have several pet subjects - that may or may not be interesting to other people. Don't get me started on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/like-most-people-i-have-several-pet-subjects-that-may-or-may-not-be/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [When I became obsessed with Winston Churchill, I wrote a book about Churchill. What a joy it was to write that book!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/when-i-became-obsessed-with-winston-churchill-i-wrote-a-book-about/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [“Avoid fancy words…If you admire fancy words, if every sky is beauteous, every blonde curvaceous, every intelligent child prodigious, if you are tickled by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/avoid-fancy-words-if-you-admire-fancy-words-if-every-sky-is-beauteous/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You know only all those fancy words that do you no good. You should really learn some serious words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-iossel/you-know-only-all-those-fancy-words-that-do-you-no-good-you-should/) [Mikhail Iossel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-iossel/) > [“You really do have some pretty fancy words lately." "Yeah." He put the mistletoe in his pocket and pulled her in closer. "And here's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-shalvis/you-really-do-have-some-pretty-fancy-words-lately-yeah-he-put-the/) [Jill Shalvis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-shalvis/) > [“True words are not fancy. Fancy words are not true. The good do not debate. Debaters are not good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/true-words-are-not-fancy-fancy-words-are-not-true-the-good-do-not/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“I can see why we need fellows who know how to light fires,” Bluth said. “But I don’t see why we need people to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/i-can-see-why-we-need-fellows-who-know-how-to-light-fires-bluth-said/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [Most of the words you know and love and use every day are not words you learned by looking them up in a dictionary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-mckean/most-of-the-words-you-know-and-love-and-use-every-day-are-not-words/) [Erin McKean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-mckean/) > [“There is a master way with words which is not learned but is instead developed: a deaf man develops exceptional vision, a blind man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/there-is-a-master-way-with-words-which-is-not-learned-but-is-instead/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [I learned words, I learned words; but half of them died from lack of exercise. And the ones I use often look at me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-maccaig/i-learned-words-i-learned-words-but-half-of-them-died-from-lack-of/) [Norman MacCaig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-maccaig/) > [“I have written you a hundred letters, each one folded into the quiet between breaths, sealed with the weight of words that never learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-carter/i-have-written-you-a-hundred-letters-each-one-folded-into-the-quiet/) [Mason Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-carter/) > [On the board was a list of words and phrases which her mother considered not suitable for use in college T-shirt design. She had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mckay/on-the-board-was-a-list-of-words-and-phrases-which-her-mother/) [Hilary McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mckay/) > [“How to tell her in words, then, what he had learned himself by pain and grace? That only by forgiveness could she forget—and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/how-to-tell-her-in-words-then-what-he-had-learned-himself-by-pain-and/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [“After all, they were just words, and she had learned long ago that a man's actions displayed his truer nature more than the things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-e-woodiwiss/after-all-they-were-just-words-and-she-had-learned-long-ago-that-a/) [Kathleen E. Woodiwiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-e-woodiwiss/) ## More by Gretchen Rubin > [“Second Splendid Truth One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy. One of the best ways to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/second-splendid-truth-one-of-the-best-ways-to-make-yourself-happy-is/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [Knowing what you admire in others is a wonderful mirror into your deepest, as yet unborn, self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/knowing-what-you-admire-in-others-is-a-wonderful-mirror-into-your/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [Being taken for granted is an unpleasant but sincere form of praise. Ironically, the more reliable you are and the less you complain, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/being-taken-for-granted-is-an-unpleasant-but-sincere-form-of-praise/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [“one Secret of Adulthood is “Never start a sentence with the words ‘No offense’”? “And”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/one-secret-of-adulthood-is-never-start-a-sentence-with-the-words-no/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [One of the findings that really interests me is that, although we think we ACT because of the way we FEEL, we often FEEL…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/one-of-the-findings-that-really-interests-me-is-that-although-we/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [We all want to get along well with other people, and one way to do this is to help people feel good about themselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/we-all-want-to-get-along-well-with-other-people-and-one-way-to-do/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [During my study of happiness, I noticed something that surprised me: I often learn more from one person's highly idiosyncratic experiences than I do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/during-my-study-of-happiness-i-noticed-something-that-surprised-me-i/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [There is a preppy wabi-sabi to soft, faded khakis and cotton shirts, but it's not nice to be surrounded by things that are worn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/there-is-a-preppy-wabi-sabi-to-soft-faded-khakis-and-cotton-shirts/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [“There are times in the lives of most of us,” observed William Edward Hartpole Lecky, “when we would have given all the world to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/there-are-times-in-the-lives-of-most-of-us-observed-william-edward/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [“I started thinking more about music. I thought I'd accepted the fact that, as part of "Being Gretchen," I didn't really like music, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/i-started-thinking-more-about-music-i-thought-i-d-accepted-the-fact/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [If you've had something for more than six months, and it's still not repaired, it's clutter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/if-you-ve-had-something-for-more-than-six-months-and-it-s-still-not/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [“The pleasure of doing the same thing, in the same way, every day, shouldn't be overlooked. The things I do every day take on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/the-pleasure-of-doing-the-same-thing-in-the-same-way-every-day/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [Although we often assume that feelings inspire actions, in fact, actions also inspire feelings. By pushing myself to act happier, I make myself feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/although-we-often-assume-that-feelings-inspire-actions-in-fact/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [I love finding - or inventing - ways to categorize people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/i-love-finding-or-inventing-ways-to-categorize-people/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [“After someone's death, how strange to see the value drain away from his or her possessions; useful objects such as clothes, or dish towels,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/after-someone-s-death-how-strange-to-see-the-value-drain-away-from/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) [Explore all 346 Gretchen Rubin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) ## More Against quotes > [I love casting against type and doing things you wouldn't expect, because I think you get more interesting performances that way. 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The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [My problems are sort of more on a nuisance level. I can't stand scratchy clothes, I've got to have soft kinds of cotton against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-grandin/my-problems-are-sort-of-more-on-a-nuisance-level-i-can-t-stand/) [Temple Grandin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temple-grandin/) > [I don't have any regrets or hold any grudge against anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cooper-kupp/i-don-t-have-any-regrets-or-hold-any-grudge-against-anyone/) [Cooper Kupp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cooper-kupp/) > [Ronaldo will always score against everyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-chiellini/ronaldo-will-always-score-against-everyone/) [Giorgio Chiellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-chiellini/) > [Well, just that there would be somebody in the office and the voters - it was more or less an understanding in the entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-breyer/well-just-that-there-would-be-somebody-in-the-office-and-the-voters/) [Stephen Breyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-breyer/) > [The Constitution is very clear on the - on the declaration of war or reacting to international crimes - crimes against nations. 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We played against them so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saku-koivu/it-goes-way-way-back-when-we-were-under-sweden-s-rule-we-always-think/) [Saku Koivu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saku-koivu/) > [I'm against unanswerable concentrations of power, whether that be government or private industry or religious figures - anybody who is not accountable to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-suarez/i-m-against-unanswerable-concentrations-of-power-whether-that-be/) [Daniel Suarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-suarez/) > [I'm an Indian and I shall not do anything that goes against my ethos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherlyn-chopra/i-m-an-indian-and-i-shall-not-do-anything-that-goes-against-my-ethos/) [Sherlyn Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherlyn-chopra/) [Browse all 2,190 Against quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/against/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's so easy to use tired, shopworn figures of speech. 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