Steady and Substantial

Eight words with weight, for the things that are real, chosen, and here to stay.

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

1. 1 substance noun
2. 2 essence noun
3. 3 designate verb
4. 4 allocate verb
5. 5 steadfast adjective
6. 6 tangible adjective
7. 7 substantially adverb
8. 8 inevitably adverb

Nelson's word

noun

Substance. A noun, and a weighty one, which is fitting. I file it two ways. First, the physical matter a thing is made of: the substance in the beaker, the substance you can weigh and touch. Second, the real meaning behind the surface, the part that actually matters. A speech full of grand words but no substance is all wrapping and no gift. When someone asks whether an argument has any substance, they are asking whether anything solid stands underneath. State it precisely: substance is what a thing is truly made of, in matter or in meaning.

The report looked long, but there was little substance behind the fancy words.

Nelson's word

noun

Essence. A noun, and a precise one. It names the single most basic and important quality of a thing, the part you could not remove without the thing ceasing to be itself. Strip a story down to its essence, and you have the one idea it cannot live without. Kindness is the essence of what she does; take the kindness away, and it would no longer be hers. File it near heart and core. When someone says in essence, they mean at the very center, once everything else is set aside.

Kindness is the essence of everything she does.

Vinny's word

verb

Designate! To point at a thing and NAME it, to set it apart for one specific purpose and make it official! When the teachers designate a table as the quiet corner, that table now has a job, and everyone knows it. That is the verb, and it is mine, a heroic act of deciding. Look inside the word: de-sign-ate, and there is sign hiding in the middle, because to designate is to mark a thing with a sign that says this one, this is the chosen one. Clip the tail -ate on, and you have made the base into an action.

The teachers designate one table as the quiet corner during the test.

Vinny's word

verb

Allocate! To set aside, to hand out, to divide a supply and send each share where it belongs! When we allocate half the fundraiser to the shelter, we have decided where that money goes, and we have made it so. That is the verb, and it takes a steady hand, because a hero divides fairly. It carries that same tail as designate, the -ate that turns a base into a doing word. Allocate the time, allocate the seats, allocate the funds: every one of them is you, deciding where a share belongs, and making it happen.

We allocate half of every fundraiser to the animal shelter.

Jake's word

adjective

Steadfast. Oh, this is a strong one, and it is mine. As an adjective, steadfast describes someone firmly loyal, someone who holds their ground and will not be moved: a steadfast friend, a steadfast belief, a steadfast promise kept through every storm. Look at how it is built, steady and fast joined together, where fast here means held firmly in place, the way a boat is made fast to the dock. Its Frown is wavering, the one who shifts and drifts. Could we be more specific than saying a friend was loyal? We could call that friend steadfast, and mean that nothing on earth could move them. Magnifique.

Through every setback, her steadfast friend never once left her side.

Jake's word

adjective

Tangible. An adjective, and mine, describing a thing you can actually touch, or a thing so real and clear that it might as well be touchable: tangible proof, a tangible result, a tangible change you can point to. It comes from a root that means to touch, the same root you hear in contact. Its Frown is abstract, the idea you can hold only in your mind. Could we be more specific than saying the results were real? We could call them tangible, and let the reader feel that they could reach out and put a hand on them. Magnifique.

After weeks of planning, the finished model was tangible proof that the idea worked.

Benny's word

adverb

Substantially. An adverb, and one I love to coach, because it tells you how much, and it says a lot. When something changes substantially, it changes to a large and meaningful degree, not by a hair, but by an amount that truly matters. Her grades improved substantially: that is not a little bump, that is a real climb. You can hear substance living inside it, the solid stuff, so substantially always means the change has real weight behind it. When you want to say a thing got much better, and you mean it, reach for substantially and make the size of it land. You can do better than a little, and here is the word that shows it.

Her grades improved substantially once she started studying every night.

Benny's word

adverb

Inevitably. An adverb, and a firm one, so let me coach you on its weight. It means in a way that is certain to happen, the outcome you cannot dodge no matter what you do. If you rush every step, you will inevitably miss something: not maybe, not probably, but for sure, sooner or later. It comes from a root meaning that it cannot be avoided. Use inevitably when you want the reader to feel that the result is locked in, that no amount of hoping will turn it aside. Make the certainty land, and the sentence carries real force.

If you rush every step, you will inevitably miss something important.