I am on a mission towards acing the adjective. It all started thus. While not exactly slow, I am not quite first off the mark in the social media race. Therefore by the time I get a look in at the newest photographs on my social media groups, the slots for ‘amazing’, ‘awesome’, and ‘gorgeous’ have already been filled and I’m jostling with the crowds as far as ‘nice‘, ‘beautiful’ and ‘lovely’ are concerned. It’s a daily dilemma – do I just make do with a lazy emoji, or do I say it in words? Or more aptly, in an adjective?
This daily quest for the new and unique includes time travel to the English grammar classes of my school days (a long and tiring journey for my hippocampal neurons), and surreptitious Google searches for ‘synonyms for amazing’, when I’m supposed to be working. I’ve even put the hours stuck in endless traffic jams to good use by enriching my vocabulary with the advertising slogans and hoardings so plentifully dotting the city’s skyline! I have come to one conclusion – this is the era of the adjective.
Sample this. ‘A glorious edit of flawless precious stones beaded into soulful jewellery pieces for a graceful you’, ‘a special selection of statement silver jewels’, ‘suave handcrafted stoneware serving essentials’ ….. These are phrases from a lifestyle brand trying to sell you clothing, jewellery and pottery. Every noun is embellished with at least one adjective, mostly two. And no run-of-the-mill adjectives either. Beautiful, lovely, nice are simply boring, and awesome is so yesterday! Only ordinary people like you and me with nothing to sell, (and with a limited vocabulary to boot) use such trite adjectives.
If like me, you find yourself deluged by photographs of friends, families and neighbours holidaying, partying, celebrating, feasting or otherwise posing, and find yourself with an exhausted vocabulary, tune in to my timely tutorial on acing the adjective. Its absolutely free, and involves six simple strategies towards acing the adjective and unlocking whole wide wonderful world of alluring words and phrases.
1. Add or change a suffix/prefix
Beautiful is passé, beauteous is not, wondrous wins over wonderful any day. Adding a tiny prefix makes all the difference between the banal and the exotic – think bejewelled instead of jewelled. Never let the rules of English grammar tie you down to the mundane; unless of course, your English teacher happens to be in the group. Try awesomeness instead of awesome to add your own brand of uniqueness. Channel your inner Mary Poppins of the ‘supercalifragilistic…‘ fame and dazzle the world!
2.When in doubt, go for the superlative
Why settle for good when you can do your best? Be extravagant, be generous. You can never go wrong with lavish praise. No one has ever objected to being called the brightest, cleverest, funniest, wisest, sweetest, bravest or the fairest!
Excellent!
Let’s move on to number three.
3. Dare to be different
In a country defined by its rich diversity, explore its 22 recognised languages and its innumerable dialects. With Google at your fingertips, beautiful can have many names. Try ati sundar, shaandaar, kya baat hai, or even wah-wah in the manner of a shayar! Shundor, apurbo or darun in Bengali. Ati uttam! Or as they say in Sanskrit – Atyuttamam!
4. Go international
Never, ever, denigrate the power of a foreign tongue – magnifico, magnifique, superbe, très bonne, hermosa, wunderbar, herrlich!! Ignore the trolls, they are secretly envious of your globe-trotting vocabulary. An occasional sprinkling of Latin makes for great erudition too. A word of caution here – make sure you know what it means before you use it!
5. Hint at the unattainable
Just as clothing for women must appeal to the weightless fairy in every woman, (think delicate, dainty, ethereal, fragile); so too adjectives must subtly hint at what the subject wants to be. For the guys, appeal to their inner James Bond by such aspirational adjectives as suave, sophisticated, debonair, urbane. No middle-aged woman can resist chic, stylish, elegant, and graceful; just as no fifty-going-on-sixty male can resist youthful, fit, trim and athletic.
6. Give it a new twist
This strategy has been honed to a fine art by marketers and advertisers. Is the apartment tiny? Call it cosy or homely instead. If it gets the full glare of the sun, call it sunlit. Invoke wealth with regal, aristocratic, classy, ornate, bespoke, luxurious; try understated, muted, pastoral, earthy for what is plain or dull.
That’s it! Your guide to acing the adjective in six easy steps!
Now create your own list. As from darkness to light, so from the basic to the brilliant! Move on from the mundane, say bye to the banal, ditch the ordinary! A scintillating, unique and exquisite world of adjectives awaits!