Write It Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults, Bierce (1909)
Posted on Sep 28, 2026 in blog
In Write It Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults author Ambrose Bierce presents a list of cautionary examples to encourage the reader to use the language with greater precision. His writing is humorous, merciless, and fun to read. I will try to do better.
As a specific example, the author points out that "the United States" is a plural noun and plural nouns are followed by "are" — not "is." He argues that the act of conjugating a verb should not require a nuanced understanding of civics and history. He claims this despite his being a Union veteran in that uncivil war. I agree — and not merely because I am a Southerner descended from Confederate veterans.
Some of Bierce's admonitions have not stood the test of time. But the passage of time has also left a void where new admonitions now belong. Writers found many new ways to be even more imprecise. Guidance from Bierce has been missed. At the book's beginning Bierce insists there be a one-to-one correspondence between word and meaning.
In this age, for example, one hardly ever encounters "hatred" but "hate" is everywhere. "Hate" is not content to act as a solo ambiguous offender — a sometimes verb supplanting the perfectly good and unambiguous noun "hatred." It recruits accomplices: hate mail, hate crime, hate speech.
The adjectivization of "woke" — in place of "awakened" or "enlightened" — is even worse. As an adjective, it has two very different definitions making it doubly ambiguous. Its part of speech depends upon the words that surround it and its meaning depends on the politics of the person who uses it. This is terrible. Bierce would agree.
Perhaps we could all do a little better.
