to word it
- phrasal verb
- She tried to word it carefully so as not to offend anyone.
And it's just weird how people what what, what did I say the other day, how did I word it?
- And it's just weird how people what what, what did I say the other day, how did I word it?
- And he said, look, I think it would be, I think it would be AI think, how did he word it?
Examples
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He couldn't quite word it the way he wanted during the presentation.
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It's important to word it differently to make your message clearer.
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Take my word for it.
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I'll take your word for it.
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Think very carefully of how to word it.
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You know, you really shouldn't word it like that.
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Take my word for it, Mr. Emmerich.
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Garsh, I guess we'll just have to take your word for it then.
Blog text (25) -
- All right, I'm telling you for the last time, and you'd better take my word for it.
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"Yes, but I'm afraid you'll have to take my word for it.
Fiction book (1996)
Synonyms
Speak words to show information or feelings
To say the same thing using different words to make it clearer
To choose words to say something clearly
To say something in a particular way
To say something again in different words to make it clearer
To say something in a careful or polite way
Surface Forms
Morphology
word + it
The meaning is directly compositional: the verb 'word' (to choose words/phrase) combined with the pronoun 'it' simply means to phrase or express something. This follows a standard verb + object pattern that a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer, so the item is transparently built from its parts.
Etymology
The phrase word it comes from the simple idea of choosing the right word to describe it, the thing you want to say. So, word it means 'to say something in a particular way'.