Alcott was arguing for precision over polish—she wanted words that *do* something rather than merely sound impressive. When she wrote this, the Victorian era drowning in ornamental prose made her preference almost radical: she was claiming that a simple, honest word carried more power than a elaborate phrase. In our own moment of marketing speak and corporate jargon, her conviction feels oddly fresh; when a recruiter uses "synergies" instead of "collaboration," or a company announces they're "right-sizing" instead of laying people off, we sense exactly what Alcott meant. Strong words don't decorate the truth—they *tell* it.