Make Your Point > Archived Issues > OPENHANDED

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explore the archives: Today's "openhanded" is easy for your listeners to understand, even if they haven't heard the word before. The same could be said for wh___-s___ed, our word describing things done with 100% of your enthusiasm or devotion. make your point with... "OPENHANDED" Like it sounds, someone or something openhanded is generous, or freely giving. (Picture someone with his hand wide open as if to say, "Here, take all of this.") Pronunciation: open HANDed Part of speech: Adjective. (Adjectives are describing words, like "large" or "late." They can be used in two ways: 1. Right before a noun, as in "an openhanded thing" or "an openhanded person." 2. After a linking verb, as in "It was openhanded" or "He was openhanded.") Other forms: open-handedly, open-handedness Note: Dictionaries disagree about whether this word calls for a hyphen: "open-handed." But these days, most people leave it out and write it as one word, "openhanded." The exception is that most of us still write the hyphens in the lesser-used forms "open-handedly" and "open-handedness." How to use it: Talk about openhanded people and their openhanded personalities or openhanded policies, openhanded deals or offers, openhanded contributions or gifts, an openhanded way of doing something, or simply openhanded generosity, kindness, or hospitality. Whatever is openhanded often involves freely giving money or gifts, but it can also involve the unselfish giving of time, help, praise, or love. Like you might expect, "openhanded" can also be used completely literally: "an openhanded swipe at his opponent's face," "an awkward, openhanded pat on the head." examples: Our Granddaddy Parker was quiet and reserved, but deeply caring and openhanded. The elementary school library's lending policy was the most openhanded I'd ever heard of: take out as many books as you like, and bring them back whenever you're done. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "openhanded" means when you can explain it without saying "giving freely" or "abundantly generous." try it out: Think of a generous person you know, and fill in the blanks: "(Person) has always been openhanded with (the specific people who benefit from that openhandedness, OR the thing that the person freely gives)." Example #1: "Mr. Chung has always been openhanded with his employees." Example #2: "Mr. Chung has always been openhanded with his holiday gifts." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Language Techniques: When language sounds beautiful or memorable, often there’s some particular technique responsible for that effect. Each day this month, I’ll give you a specific stylistic technique or quality, and I’d like you to recreate (as closely as you can) the quote that I’ve botched by removing it. We’ll work our way from the easiest to the hardest techniques. Enjoy! From yesterday: Epistrophe is the opposite of anaphora: it's the kind of repetition where you keep using the same word(s) again and again at the end of phrases. For example, Corinthians 13:7 beautifully states, "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." In a 1965 speech, Lyndon Johnson didn't say "There is only an American problem, not a Negro, Southern, or Northern one." What memorable series of sentences did he deliver instead? Answer: "There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem.  There is only an American problem." (Yup: Johnson's speech had both epistrophe and anaphora.) Try this one today: Parallelism is the balance or correspondence between multiple parts of a sentence. In other words, you repeat sections of your sentence, keeping the grammar and word order the same, but using new ideas each time. For example, Marilyn Monroe is believed to have said: "If you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as [heck] don’t deserve me at my best." An aphorism often misattributed to Gandhi doesn't go quite like this: "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. But when it comes to learning, do that like you will never die." How does the statement usually appear instead? (How can we make it parallel, and therefore more elegant?) review today's word: 1. The opposite of OPENHANDED is A. FIST-POUNDING (DEMANDING) B. CLOSE-FISTED (STINGY) C. FINGER-POINTING (BLAMING) 2.  He's been too openhanded with them; now they _____. A. believe they are worthless  B. have no idea how to think for themselves C. expect help all the time and never appreciate it Answers are below. a final word: To be a sponsor and send your own message to readers of this list, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. C