a picture is worth a thousand words

a picture is worth a thousand words
also, a picture paints a thousand words

Meaning | Synonyms

• a picture conveys information more effectively than words
• a picture can tell a story just as well as many words
• using graphics can convey ideas more effectively than a large number of words
• graphic illustration conveys stronger messages than words

Example Sentences

1. A good presentation should contain more of graphics and less of text, since a picture is worth a thousand words.
2. In order to effectively convey the health hazards of smoking, a cigarette pack now contains a picture of diseased lungs, instead of just the statutory warning message. A picture is worth a thousand words.
3.  The newspaper report carried more pictures of the event than text, since a picture is worth a thousand words.
4. Its easier to learn how a machine works from pictures rather than descriptions, since a picture is worth a thousand words.
5. It would be better if you drew out a map with the direction to the place rather than just telling me. A picture is worth a thousand words.
6. Jane's reaction in the picture is so weird about her boss – someone truly said that a picture paints a thousand words.
7. Such a beautiful portrait of a little girl – represents how a picture paints a thousand words.

Origin

This phrase originated in America in the early 1900s. Its introduction is widely attributed to Frederick R. Barnard, an advertising executive. However, other references to its origin also exist.

The most likely origin and also the oldest printed record of the phrase in its exact form is believed to be in 1918 in an American newspaper, The San Antonio Light, which first published it in an advertisement for the paper itself, which reads:

One Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
The San Antonio Light's Pictorial Magazine of the War
Exemplifies the truth of the above statement—judging from the warm reception it has received at the hands of the Sunday Light readers.