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We all know the scene: Dorothy closes her eyes, and repeats the Good Witch's mantra,
我們都熟悉這樣一個場景，桃樂絲閉上眼睛然后念著女巫的箴言，
"No coordinates exist like one's domicile, no coordinates exist like one's domicile, no coordinates exist like one's domicile."
“這地球上沒有任何一個坐標是像居住地一樣存在的，這地球上沒有任何一個坐標是像居住地一樣存在的，這地球上沒有任何一個坐標是像居住地一樣存在的。”
Only Dorothy doesn't say that. She says five one-syllable words, "There's no place like home."
可是桃樂絲并沒有那樣講，她只說了六個簡單的詞，“哪都比不上家。”
Each a word you probably learned in your first year of speaking, each perfectly concise.
這些詞應該是我們在一年級就學到的，盡管如此，這些字一語中的，言簡意足。
It's not that L.Frank Baum didn't have a thesaurus, it's that in most cases $10 words fail.
并不是說L. Frank Baum 沒有字典，而是大多數情況下晦澀的語言并不會有很好的效果。
Would Aerosmith have had a hit with "Ambulate This Direction?" Probably not.
如果當初史密斯飛船樂隊把那首歌起名叫‘躑躅于此方向’，它還會火起來嗎？大概不會吧。
Would Patrick Henry have ignited a revolution by saying, "Provide me with liberty or bestow upon me fatality?" Unlikely.
如果當初帕特里克·亨利當初振臂高呼的不是“不自由，毋寧死”，而是"予吾等以自由，或賜吾等以死亡"，那么革命之火還會被點燃嗎？不太可能。
When it comes to words, bigger isn't always better.
當遣詞造句的時候，冗長晦澀并非一定就好。
Ten-dollar words are rendered worthless if they're not understood.
所謂的高級詞匯，如果大家都不理解的話就沒有任何意義。
That's not to say every piece of literature should be written at a fourth-grade reading level, but it is important to know your audience.
這并不意味著所有的文學作品都應該簡單的像給低年級學生的指定閱讀篇章一樣，但這也說明我們應當了解受眾群體的需要。
If you're a novelist, your audience is probably expecting 300 pages of vivid descriptors.
如果你是一個小說家，那你的讀者會期待看到三百多頁的生動詳細的描述。
At the very least, they're expecting you won't use the same 50 words to fill those pages.
他們不太可能在期待連篇累牘，空洞無物的相似文字。
But most of us don't have the luxury of a captive audience.
可惜的是絕大多數人都不會奢侈的擁有忠實的受眾觀眾。
We're competing against a whole world of distractions and we're fighting for space in an attention span that continues to shrink across generations.
我們在和整個世界騷動的眼花繚亂競爭，嘗試爭取到一點點注意力，而這可憐的注意力還在世代縮減。
So get to the point already.
那么直切主題。
Variety may be the spice of life, but brevity is its bread and butter.
多樣性也許是生活的調味劑，但是簡潔性才是生活的必需品。
So when it comes to $10 words, save your money and buy a Scrabble board.
所以要是那么想用復雜的高級詞匯，攢錢去買拼詞游戲好了。
