In his quirky prose book Juan de Mairena, Spanish poet Antonio Machado evoked a fictional scene where a teacher asks a pupil to give a literary polish to a ridiculously convoluted phrase. The phrase in question was the consuetudinary occurrences which transpire upon the thoroughfare [my translation]. A clever student was quick to offer a "poetic" version of that atrocity: What happens in the street, said the kid. By means of such an unlikely anecdote, Machado sought to point out the fact that efficient expression should dispense with unnecessary flourishes and stick to the its substance. Literary language is not about throwing together fancy words.
I mention this because experience has shown me that many C1 hopefuls tend to be catastrophically misguided. They seem to fall for the myth that hyper-accurate vocabulary is the only hallmark of a pro. Well... I regret to report that it is not. A certain degree of accuracy is obviously needed, but an English learner shouldn't depend solely on lexical precision to show their advanced competency. In fact, an accumulation of unusual terms (however accurate they might be) is often counterproductive. On his late night show, Stephen Colbert, customarily proves this point during the introduction of his "Meanwhile" segment. Typically, his wacky intro consists in an extended metaphor packed with infrequent terms that sound like utter gibberish to the uninitiated ears. Just watch the first 42 seconds of the video below and you'll realize what I mean.
What we, advanced learners, ought to aim for is range and efficiency. And yes. Sometimes efficiency is closely linked to the ability to be succinct. Compare these two phrases:
- an experience that you have only one time in your life (B2)
- a once-in-a-lifetime experience (C1)
But conciseness alone doesn't necessarily entail efficiency. Sometimes the expression that produces the desired effect is actually longer than the direct simple one. This is particularly true when we want to paint a vivid picture or to offer some detail. Compare the following sentences:
- It's easy (A1)
- It's not rocket science (C1)
They clearly mean the same, but the impact on the listener is noticeably different. In this specific case efficiency relies on the speaker's ability to use a conventional expression and, therefore, to sound natural. Compare now the different ways you can say that something or someone is "tough":
- That's a tough needle to thread
- That's a tough pill to swallow
- She's tough as nails
- She's a tough cookie
- It's like pulling teeth
- It's an uphill battle
Being efficient is all about "getting the job done". Sometimes you need an accurate term ("She castled kingside"). On other occasions, you just focus on getting the message across in a way that is interesting, funny, spontaneous, exotic or simply appropriate. Don't get too hung up about using the mot juste. Using the perfect word can give you a wonderful sense of achievement, but it can also be rather pointless. If you don't believe me, ask an average native speaker about the meaning of mot juste or the exact difference between a washer and a gasket.
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