Page 22 - 2015.11.Voices

Forty Ways to Avoid Sa

by Laurence (Lonnie) Wiig

I spent a good part of a day recently at Hillsboro High School assisting Latino
students grapple with the English language. I greatly enjoyed the time spent in
Mr. Robertson’s Sophomore English class. It was evident how dedicated he was
to increasing his students’ command of our mother tongue. On entering the
classroom I noticed a list posted front and center that read: GARBAGE WORDS --
really, very, bad, good, a lot, lots. The students were to avoid using these words
in written assignments.

At the end of the class, I asked him if he had ever read Eleanor Porter’s Pollyanna. (He had not.) I shared that
one of the stupendous things about the book was the author’s incredible variety of ways to avoid saying said.
She wormed her way around it on well over 100 different occasions.

I decided to create a short list of alternative words used by Porter and share it with Mr. Robertson. I realized it
would be immediately helpful as I worked on a final edit of my book, Toad Suck Summer. It also occurred to
me that Toastmasters are always looking for better ways to express their ideas, or as suggested by Reader’s
Digest, moving towards more colorful language. Below is a list of 40 different variations I compiled from
Pollyana. I challenge you to create a list to replace your most overused word and follow Porter’s examples.
How about starting with things?

1. Cried “Pollyanna, what does this mean?” cried Aunt Polly then. (page 63)

2. Stammered “Why, Mr. Tom, Aunt Polly!” she stammered. (page 63)

3. Ejaculated “Pollyanna, hand those things to me at once and come in here. Of all the
extraordinary children!” she ejaculated. (page 64)

4. Jerked out “At the top of the stairs Miss Polly jerked out crisply, "For the rest of the
night, Pollyanna,...

5. Expressed “She had more time, also, to ‘just live,’" as she expressed it....” (page 65)

6. Explained “Oh, no I don’t mind it at all,” she explained to Nancy. (page 66)

7. Retorted “Well, I can’t say I do all of ‘em,” retorted Nancy tersely. (page 66)

8. Called “How do you do, sir? Isn’t this a nice day?” she called cheerily... (page 67)

9. Beamed “Yes, sir,” beamed Pollyanna. (page 67)

10. Called out “’Tisn’t quite so nice as yesterday, but it’s pretty nice,” she called out
cheerfully. (page 67)

11. Grunted “Eh? Oh! Humph!” grunted the man as before. (page 67)

12. Murmured “Maybe he didn’t understand but that was only half an introduction. I
don’t know his name yet,” she murmured... (page 68)

13. Declared “And it’s glad that I am ter get rid of it,” Nancy had declared in private
afterwards to Pollyanna... (page 68)

14. Predicted “Well, you won’t after you’ve done it once,” predicted Nancy sourly. (page
69)

15. Laughed “Why, what a funny woman,” laughed Pollyanna. (page 69)

16. Finished “Humph! Well, Mis’ Snow’s ‘different,’ all right I hope, for the sake of the
rest of us!" Nancy had finished grimly. (page 69)

17. Began “How do you do?” began Pollyanna politely. (page 70)

22 Volume 2 Issue 5 - NOVEMBER 2015