Variety and Accuracy in Expression. There is no lack of good words. Rather than use the same expressions for every situation, employ a variety of words. Then your speech will be both colorful and meaningful. How can you enlarge your vocabulary?

When reading, mark any words that you do not fully understand, and look these up in a dictionary if one is available in your language. Select a few of those words, and make a conscious effort to use them when appropriate. Be careful to pronounce them correctly and to use them in a context where they will be readily understood and not simply attract attention. Enlarging your vocabulary will add variety to your speech. But there is need for caution​—when a person mispronounces or misuses words, others may conclude that he really does not know what he is talking about.

Our purpose in enlarging our vocabulary is to inform, not to make an impression on our listeners. Complex speech and long words tend to draw attention to the speaker. Our desire should be to share valuable information and to make it interesting for those who hear it. Remember the Bible proverb: “The tongue of wise ones does good with knowledge.” (Prov. 15:2) The use of good words, fitting words that are easily understood, helps make our speech refreshing and stimulating rather than dull and uninteresting.

As you enlarge your vocabulary, give careful attention to using the right word. Two words may have similar but slightly different meanings for use under different circumstances. If you recognize this, you will be able to improve the clarity of your speech and avoid offending your listeners. Listen carefully to people who speak well. Some dictionaries list under each word both its synonyms (words of similar, though not identical, meaning) and its antonyms (words of somewhat opposite meaning). Thus you find not only varied expressions for the same idea but also different shades of meaning. This is very helpful when you are seeking the right word for a particular circumstance. Before adding a word to your vocabulary, be sure that you know what it means, how to pronounce it, and when it should be used.

Words That Convey Vigor, Feeling, Color. As you enlarge your vocabulary, think not only of new words but also of words that have particular characteristics. Consider, for instance, verbs that express vigor; adjectives that convey color; and expressions that show warmth, have a note of kindness, or convey earnestness.

The Bible is filled with examples of such meaningful language. Through the prophet Amos, Jehovah urged: “Search for what is good, and not what is bad . . . Hate what is bad, and love what is good.” (Amos 5:14, 15) To King Saul, the prophet Samuel declared: “Jehovah has ripped away the royal rule of Israel from off you today.” (1 Sam. 15:28) When speaking to Ezekiel, Jehovah used language that is hard to forget, saying: “All those of the house of Israel are hardheaded and hardhearted.” (Ezek. 3:7) Emphasizing the gravity of Israel’s wrongdoing, Jehovah asked: “Will earthling man rob God? But you are robbing me.” (Mal. 3:8) In describing a test of faith in Babylon, Daniel vividly reported that “Nebuchadnezzar himself got filled with fury” because Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not worship his image, so he ordered that they be bound and thrown into “the burning fiery furnace.” Helping us to realize the intensity of the heat, Daniel reported that the king had his men “heat up the furnace seven times more than it was customary to heat it up”​—so hot that when they neared the furnace, the king’s men were killed. (Dan. 3:19-22) Speaking to people in Jerusalem a few days before his death, Jesus said with deep feeling: “How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks together under her wings! But you people did not want it. Look! Your house is abandoned to you.”​—Matt. 23:37, 38.

Well-chosen words can convey vivid mental impressions to your listeners. If you use words that appeal to the senses, your listeners will “see” and “touch” the things about which you speak, “taste” and “smell” the foods to which you refer, and “hear” the sounds that you describe and the people whom you quote. The audience will become engrossed in what you are saying because you help them to live it with you.

Words that vividly convey ideas can cause people to laugh or to cry. They can inspire hope, infusing a downhearted person with a desire to live and stirring within him love for his Creator. People around the earth have been profoundly affected by the hope engendered by the words in such Bible passages as Psalm 37:10, 11, 34; John 3:16; and Revelation 21:4, 5.

As you read the Bible and the publications of “the faithful and discreet slave,” you will observe a wide variety of words and phrases. (Matt. 24:45) Do not leave them all on the printed page. Select ones that delight you, and make them part of your working vocabulary.