Someone does it with words, and someone with bullets. The result is always the same - holes either in the body or in the soul. Some comrades who are called cynics do this on purpose. We are talking about the verb "injure", it should be educational, but we also hope for some element of surprise in the narrative.
Meaning
Of course, when thinking about the object of research, one recalls the terrible wounds that were inflicted by firearms or piercing weapons. To understand what a wound is in practice, you need to watch a more or less violent film, it is advisable to still turn to Hollywood products. There's always a little bit of violence there. There are quite a few violent scenes in Braveheart (1995), but they don't spoil the experience.
However, to find out the meaning of the word "injure", let's take our favorite book, an explanatory dictionary, from the shelf and see what it says: "Inflict a wound." Here it must be said that there are two types of wounds: firstly, physical and, secondly, psychological. The verb "injure" is democratic and is used in both cases, butwhen it comes to the soul, the meaning is figurative. In the meantime, let's analyze the noun "wound", using the same source: "Open damage in the tissues of the body from external influences, lesions." And here, too, there is a figurative meaning, because a spiritual wound or a heart hand cannot be felt and assessed the extent of the damage. The size and severity of the damage can only be understood later, when it is usually too late, but let's not be sad.
We all want to answer the question of what it means to hurt. This is important for us both from a human and linguistic point of view.
Synonyms
You also need to tell the reader about the existence of similar words. After all, even a rich passive vocabulary is very important. Recall that "passive" is the stock that a person does not use, but understands the meaning of words. An active dictionary is one that a person has in use. Our task is to erase the border between one and the other, so here we need synonyms for the word “hurt”:
- damage;
- bite;
- offend;
- shoot;
- hook;
- to hurt;
- get away.
Enough is enough. In fact, the synonyms for the object of study are the endless sea. We have given only those that are necessary. But the reader can organize his own investigations and discover others, perhaps more successful. The main goal of such research is to expand the linguistic boundaries so that your speech cannot hurt anyone (and this is extremely important) with its scarcity.
Shakespeare as a guide
Meet something by clothes, it's true, but see off the mind. And the mind manifests itself in speech. Of course, you can be a virtuoso talker and a fool. Yet such a pair is rare. Moreover, if the interlocutor is educated, he will distinguish a meaningful information flow from eloquent verbiage.
By the way, so that we and you have the right benchmark, let's say: Shakespeare's active vocabulary consisted of at least 15 thousand words. According to other sources, the figure is even higher, but even the minimum limit seems like Everest in modern conditions. However, this ideal can be aspired to. Some have a vocabulary so small that it hurts and it's so sad.
