How to Use Idioms and Colloquialisms in Your Articles

When writing articles for your website, you want them to be engaging, informative, and accurate. This requires a clear understanding of the audience, thorough research, clear language, and logical structure. Vague, muddled writing will confuse readers and may even turn them off to your article completely. Using idioms, colloquialisms, analogies and metaphors adds flavor and personality to your writing and makes it more relatable. However, you need to be careful with these techniques so your article doesn’t become too esoteric.

Good is a very versatile word, with many different meanings. It can be an adjective, as in “pleasing, favorable, nice,” or a noun, as in “goods” (i.e., merchandise). It can also be used as a verb, such as in the phrase “be good” or in the command “be well.” It is an important part of human discourse, appearing in the Bible (“Yahweh is good to Israel”; Psalms 145:9) and other religious texts. It is also a common part of everyday speech, notably in the phrase “that sounds good” and in the question, “Is that a good idea?”

The simplest meaning of good is an adjective: something that is pleasant or agreeable: It’s a good idea to wear a coat in winter. It can also refer to something that is of a high quality or standard: He’s not very good at math, but he’s a pretty good student. It can be used to describe an action: I’m doing a good job, but I could do better.

Another figurative meaning of good is that which is satisfying or worthwhile: He has done a good job, but he hasn’t yet finished. It can also be used as a synonym for excellent: The new car is an exceptionally good buy, even though it costs more than the old one did. The new car is much better than the Yugo, which was one of the worst product introductions in history.

Lastly, it can also refer to a person or thing that is suitable for a purpose: It’s a good idea to take a long walk in the park, but walking through a crowded city wouldn’t be good for someone who hates crowds.

Finally, the term good is sometimes used as a justificatory claim in practical reasoning, especially as employed by Immanuel Kant and other Enlightenment philosophers and religious thinkers. According to Kraut, a claim that P is good for someone has the privileged status of being the ultimate justificatory ground of all practical arguments. However, it is important to note that this justificatory ground must rest on some considerations that are intrinsically valuable for the person. Otherwise, the claim would be merely an empty tautology. In this context, Kraut defends a developmental theory of good.