Confessions of an Escape Artist: Sneaky Words

When I was four, I snuck out of my parents’ house. I figured that if I duck-walked below the kitchen window and hugged the picket fence until I got to the street, I could make it to my aunt’s house two doors away without my mother seeing me. I figured right. What I didn’t count on was my aunt tattling on me. While I enjoyed the raisin cookie she gave me, she called my mother. That might be the reason I don’t like raisin cookies now. But I still like being sneaky—including, as a writer, using words about being sneaky.

I’m all for clarity in writing, but sometimes it’s good to be subtle. The three words featured in this writing tip are good examples of sneaky—or subtle—words that are often misused: allusion, elusive/elude, and illusion.

Here’s a short discussion on how to use them:

Allusion is an indirect reference or subtle mention of something:

My aunt alluded to my disappearance when she told my mother to look around the house for a four-year-old, tow-headed girl in pigtails.

Elude means to cleverly escape from or avoid someone or something. Likewise, the adjective elusive refers to something that is difficult to find, catch, or achieve:

My clever idea and well-planned escape failed to elude my mother, who (I found out later) had watched my elusive getaway from the kitchen window.

Illusion is a false or unreal belief, or something that seems to exist but doesn’t, or seems to be something but isn’t. It is a false image, leaving false impressions.

I was living an illusion when I thought I could outsmart my mother.