Patterns and Exceptions

Eight words for the shape of a thing and the shape it breaks.

Meet each word one at a time, then take the quiz to lock them in.

1. 1 paradigm noun
2. 2 phenomenon noun
3. 3 transcend verb
4. 4 permeate verb
5. 5 pervasive adjective
6. 6 nuanced adjective
7. 7 subsequently adverb
8. 8 perpetually adverb

Nelson's word

noun

Paradigm. A noun, and one I file with real care, because it holds a great deal. A paradigm is the model, the master pattern, the frame that decides how a whole field sees its subject. Before Copernicus, the paradigm placed the earth at the center of everything; after him, the sun. When a paradigm shifts, it is not one fact that changes but the entire frame through which the facts are read. State it precisely: a paradigm is the pattern behind all the smaller patterns. When a writer calls something a paradigm shift, they mean the ground itself has shifted.

The new paradigm reshaped how the whole field understood memory.

Nelson's word

noun

Phenomenon. A noun, and a careful one, so I file it exactly. A phenomenon is any fact or event you can actually observe, and most often one remarkable enough to demand an explanation. The northern lights are a phenomenon; so is a sudden drop in a town's fever cases. Mind the plural, because it trips people: one phenomenon, two phenomena. When a report studies a phenomenon, it is fixing its attention on something that happened and can be watched, measured, and recorded. That is precisely why the word belongs in my cabinet.

Scientists studied the strange phenomenon for years before they explained it.

Vinny's word

verb

Transcend! To rise BEYOND the limit, to climb clean over the wall everyone said was the top! When her courage transcends the limits the doubters set, she does not squeeze under them, she soars past them, and that is the verb, and it is mine. Look at how the word is built, trans and scend, across and climb, to climb across and above. A performance can transcend its small stage; an idea can transcend its own time. Whenever something outgrows the box it was handed, that is transcend at work, and it is a heroic thing to watch.

Her courage transcends every limit the doubters set for her.

Vinny's word

verb

Permeate! To spread through every last part of a thing, to reach into every corner until nothing is untouched! When the smell of fresh bread permeates the house, it does not sit in the kitchen, it seeps under doors and fills every room, and that is the verb, and it is mine. It works on more than smells. Fear can permeate a crowd; a single idea can permeate a whole book. The word carries the picture of soaking through, of getting into everything. When you want the reader to feel a thing everywhere at once, permeate is your hero.

The smell of fresh bread permeates every room in the house.

Jake's word

adjective

Pervasive. An adjective, and mine, describing a thing that has spread so widely it reaches into every part. A pervasive silence, a pervasive smell of rain, a pervasive worry that touches everyone in the room. Where permeate is the action of spreading through, pervasive is the finished state of having spread everywhere. Could we be more specific than saying a mood was everywhere? We could call it pervasive, and tell the reader it reached into every corner, not just a few. Same picture, sharper edges. Magnifique.

A pervasive sense of hope spread through the whole waiting crowd.

Jake's word

adjective

Nuanced. Oh, this is a favorite, and it is mine. As an adjective, nuanced describes a thing full of small, fine distinctions, the shades between the obvious answers. A nuanced argument does not shout that one side is all right and the other all wrong; it notices the careful in-between. Where pervasive describes how widely a thing spreads, nuanced describes how finely it is drawn. Could we be more specific than saying an opinion was thoughtful? We could call it nuanced, and show the reader it held more than one true thing at once.

Her nuanced answer weighed both sides instead of choosing one.

Benny's word

adverb

Subsequently. An adverb, and I own it the way Nelson owns his nouns. It tells you when: after something else, following in time. The storm hit, and the power subsequently failed, one thing, then the next, in order. Here is the coaching part, so listen close. Do not settle for a limp then when subsequently will carry the reader cleanly from the first event to the second. It signals order, and order is precision. Make your sequence sharper. You can, and subsequently is exactly how.

The team lost the first match and subsequently won the next five.

Benny's word

adverb

Perpetually. An adverb, and mine, and a strong one. It tells you a thing continues without ever stopping: the fountain perpetually flows, the little dog perpetually barks at the mail. Not once, not often, but always and without a break. Now here is the coaching, because you can do better than always. When the never-stopping quality is the whole point, perpetually says it with weight and with music. Reach for it when a thing simply will not quit, and let the reader feel that it never lets up.

The old clock in the hall perpetually runs three minutes fast.