Words have meanings: Jerry Seinfeld on donut holes
“What a horrible little snack. If you want a donut, have a donut. Why are you eating the hole? It’s such a freaky metaphysical concept to begin with. You can’t sell people holes. A hole does not exist. Words have meanings.”
You have to admit that Seinfeld makes a good point. He’s joking, of course, but his point is perfectly true. Without meaning, sense, and clarity—the foundation of any good story—it’s hard to get your message off the ground. If you can be precise, if you can be accurate, if you can write simply and say what you mean, you’re already more than halfway there.
“A hole is the absence of whatever is surrounding it. If they were really donut holes, the bag would be empty, okay? And the donuts that you got the holes from wouldn’t have holes, because you took them. Now, if you want, you can take what they’re calling donut holes—but they’re not—they’re donut plugs—you could take the plug and shove it in the hole, which I don’t even feel comfortable saying.”