Abstract versus Concrete Word Usage

On the linguistic side Kurt Goldstein and Ernst Cassirer thought of humans as talking animals. In his Abstract and Concrete Behavior, Goldstein had some people talking more abstractly than concretely and others talking more concretely than abstractly.

Abstract words can be used in slightly different but related ways — analogical, categorical, fictional, figurative, general, schematic, symbolic, and theoretical. Likewise, concrete words can be used in slightly different but related ways — detailed, factual, elemental, empirical, indicative, literal, signal, and specific.