VOCABULARY TITE STUDY OF WORDS 123

\ less dictated as good form; or is accepted as good usage peculiar

3. GnamuarrcAl UsecB
to a class, period, or dialect.
Study the dictionary for these aspects of grammar: The dictionary tells you, for example, whether you should say
What part of speech any word is, whether noun, adjective, proaed, or proaen; when you may say gol correctly;
verb, adverb, pronoun, conjunction, or preposition. The dic- whether you
should say hanged, or hung when you refer to the human drama
tionary tells you, for example, that due is an adjective and not enacted on the gallows.
an adverb. Think carefully just what that means, and you will The dictionary tells you whether to write consists in or con-
not make the mistake of saying or writing: 'The bridge is down s,ists of; o.ngry at or angry u.ith. It tells you whether a word
due to the floods.' has
some very special usage that makes it unfit for your present
What are the principal parts of the verbs. Knowing these purpose-or especially fit as the case may be: for example,
authoritatively will save you from writing: 'He swum in the whether the word is archaic, obsolete, dialectal, poetic, or
relay races yesterday.' technical. It will keep you from writin g ere, which ls archaic
Whether a verb is transitive or intransitive. This knowledge (unless indeed you particularly want an archaic overtone).
will keep you from using an intransitive verb in the passive voice, It
will tell you whether a word is used chiefly in some fiel.l
or giving an object to an intransitive verb. As it happens, of knowledge or action or experience. To the neurologist, "p".iui
many verbs have both a transitive and an intransitive usage; for
example, the word mental means pertaining to the chin; to him
but the transitive usage may differ from the intransitive. For
the rnental nerae is one of the nerves of the chin. To the layman,
example, the transitive use of transp,ire is limited to a scientific
vocabulary. The transitive form of d,ifer is rare or obsolete.
it is something quite different. Sometimes a word may, at one
period, have meant something other than what it
-"uru today.
Endure, for example, once meant to be compatible with. But
Exercises in Grammatical Usage that meaning is obsolete now; and the dictionary so informs you.
(Discussed in the Appendix, Page 399)
Are the following sentences correct or incorrect? Write out full reasons for
Exercises in Idiomatic or Stylistic Usage
your answers. You may refer to the dictionary to arrive at your judgment.
1. I have your letter, and thank you for the same. (Discussed, in the Append;ix, page 399)
2. There is no one rnore ignorant than them who are unwilling to learn. of the following pairs of words, some are acceptabre in good writing, and some
3. We salute our victorious general, than whom there is no better strategist. are not acceptable. Each of the acceptable pairs has a different meaning.
Refer
4. We must respect everyone who acts in accordance with their convictions. to the dictionary for the meaning and correct use of each. Then write ten
5. The storrn had blown down three trees beside the house. sentences, each of rvhich contains an acceptable word pair correctly used.
6. She had just laid down when the doorbell rang.
7. They invited whomever they thought might donate to the fund. 1. Differ from 6. Identical with
8. All who have brought their lunch may sit at their desks to eat it. Differ with Identical to
9. I have never known anyone that low. 2. Compare to /. Io dle ot
10. He dove into tlvo feet of water. Compare with To die from
3. Correspond to 8. To part with
Correspond with To part from
4. Iorouanrc oR Sryr.rsrrc UsaGE 4. Angry at 9. In search of
Angry with In search for
Idiomatic usage is a usage which cannot be strictly accounted 5. Free of 10. Different from
for by grammatical or syntactical rules, but which is neverthe- Free from Different than

t24 VOCABULARY
5. CoxtBxtuer- UsecB
Contextual usage is defined, for the present purpose' as the
way a word is used in a phrase or sentence, in relation with other
*oid" in that sentence. In a simple way, the pairing of words,
as set forth under the heading "Idiomatic or Stylistic lJsage,"
just above, is one kind of contextual usage, a usage of idiom'
Under the heading "Contextual lJsage," reference is made
rather to the logical relationship between meanings' An ex-
ample will best illustrate this principle. Examine the sentence,
'Another method of killing rats is poison.'
The dictionary clefines method, as a vray of doing something;
and defines poison, as a substance. Attway" cannot be a "sub-
stance." Piison is a noun, not an action nor a process' To
write the sentence correctly, you must change the noun into a
verb, so that you express the action which is implied in the
definition "way of doing something." Say 'Another method of
killing rats is to poison them,' or 'to use poison.'
This really giut" error in writing is a tricky one, likely to
creep up o.'yo.l when you least expect it. The dictionary is
yori ,*" deiense against it, even if your common sense and
tnowledge of grammar fail you. But you must frequently use
yor, judgment in making inferences from what the dic-
"orrnd
iio.rrry tells you, as in sentences B, 9, and 10 in the exercises
which follow.
Exercises in Contextual Usage
(Discussed' in the Appendix, Page 400)
Analyze for flaws, and rewrite in more correct form, such of the following
in your opinion, are incorrect. Write out your analyses'
sentences as,
1. A qlB-to the mountains is a good {9l to spend a holiday'
Z. The-ijew from the mountain is theäost splendid ss",*rJ in the state.
3. The strange sound was only a lnan fixing his car'
4. A hearty rcsqptiqn was shown tö all the visiting delegates'
5. A distressing spgslaqle of a mother's grief occurred yesterday'
6. His vacation trip was a catalogue of hairbreadth escapes'
7. The Rockwell machine is a mäIfod of testing the hardness of metals.
8. Caveatuemplor is a prg:ess of law carried over from Roman days'
9. The diagnosis of smallpox is pustules on the face'
10. Sawing io=, 1i.r" is a Process whfih every carpenter must know'
THE STUDY OF WORDS 125
6. Tno Dpntverrox or Wonos
As a result of long and changing usages, the meanings of many
current words may be different from the original meanings of
those words; and even more different from the meanings of the
words from which they are derived. But rarely do they depart
so far that all the original meaning is lost. The derivations will
always give you some keys to meanings, some sense of the over-
tones of the words. From studying derivations you will come
to feel, about certain words, a richness that would otherwise be
lost to you.
Consider, for example, the word 'irony, defined in the Standard.
D'ictionary as having three different meanings:
1. The use of words to signify the opposite of what they would usually express.
2. The feigning of ignorance, as in Socratic argument; hence called Socratic
irony.
3. A condition of affairs exactly the reverse of what was to be expected.
The derivation of the word is expressed thus: " (Gr (meaning
Greek) eiröneia ( eirön, dissembler."
In all three of the definitions, the idea of dissembling is basic.
Someone must dissemble to make an event the reverse of what
was expected. In cases of "ironic justice," the gods have dis-
sembled; they have fooled men. The author dissembles in lit-
erary irony: He says one thing and means another, in in-
stances to which the first definition applies; or he deliberately
misleads the reader by building to a situation which is the re-
verse of what was to be expected (as in the third definition).
Since the key or basic meaning of a word so frequently re-
sides in its derivation, you should study the derivation to make
sure you are using a word correctly. If you know the deriva-
tion of autobiography, you will never make the mistake of writing
'her own autobiography,'since auto means own. You will not
make the mistake of saying, 'She was the epitome of all the
Graces.' Ep'itorne comes from the Greek epitoneein, to cut short.
Actually it means abridge. One cannot readily see why it should
so frequently be misused for qu'intessence or concentrate or sub-
lirnate. To 'epitomize a book' means to present its context in
126 VOCABULARY
shorter form. But 'to epitomize Graces'- well, what could
that possibly mean? To study derivations would keep you from
making the following error: 'His penchant for gambling waxed
to heights she could not endure.' Penchanl means leaning, and
in that sense, inclination. But just what might be a leaning
"to heights"?
What a richness of meaning of the word pagan you would lose
if you did not realize that it is derived from the Latin paganus,
meaning countryman, or villager, or peasant; or of the word
Procru.stean if you did not know that it is derived from the name
of the Greek robber who forced victims to fit in a bed of a cer-
tain size by cutting off their legs or stretching them, as the case
needed. You may say: Who would ever want to use the word
Procrustean? But try to find any one word that says so much'
Exercises in tle Derivation of W'ords
(Discussed. in the Appendix, Page 401)
study the derivations of the words underlined below. In so far as you can
judge from derivation alone, and considering the context of each word, colTr-
ment on the correctness of the usage of each italicized word. Could you use a
more exact word? Or could you devise a sentence in which the italicized word
is correctly used? Write out your comments.
l. I d,eepll appreciate what you have done for me'
2. I had to renxu erale my neighbor for the damage my chickens did to his
garden.
3. My mistake in addition resulted in a fal'se income tax return'
4, Sanded glass is transParent-
5. Slum row has a meretricious aspect.
6. Very subtly he made his disapproval obvious-
7. His nefarioru crimes soon brought him before the judges'
8. He was profoundly morti,f,ed, by his son's behavior'
9. Her dress was of a light pir,k shade.
10. His attitude toward the conquering race was marked by nepohism'
7. TUB DBprNtrroxs
Many words which have been in use a long time have come
to have several different meanings or shades of meaning-in-
THE STUDY OF WORDS l2?
deed, for many words, meanings quite distinct from one an-
other. Such meanings are listed in the dictionary as !, 2, S, 4,
etc.
Some dictionaries list the definitions in order of their appear-
ance in the language, so far as it can be ascertained; and usually
the first meanings are nearest in significance to the meanings of
the words from which the subject words are derived.
Webster, for example, defines p,iguant thus:.
1. Stinging; disagreeably sharp; provocative; cutting; as piquant taunts.
Archuic.
2..Agreeably stimulating to the palate; pleasantly tart, sharp, or biting;
pungent, as a piquant sauce.
3. Arousing or having the power to arouse pleasant mental excitement;
engagingly provocative; agreeably challenging; as piquant remarks, society, or
writing; also, having a lively charm.
The word is derived from the French, meaning to prick or
sting. Hence it is easy to understand why the archaic meaning
came into being, with its sense of disagreeableness. For a sting
or prick is disagreeable. It is not so easy to understand why it
should gradually have lost that sense of disagreeableness ancl
taken on a sense of agreeableness, as we find it in the third listed
meaning. That is one of the vagaries of the development of
language not easy to account for, but stimulating to the imag-
ination.
Other dictionaries list, as first meanings, the meanings most
commonly understood in the present day. Thus, in its article
ot piquanL Standard cites first the meaning as ,,having an
agreeably pungent or tart taste." The second meaning is given
as "intereSting, tart, tacy"; i.e., an extension to figurative sig-
nificance of its more common application of describing a gusta-
tory sensation. It lists, as the third meaning, the archaic over-
tone of "disagreeable."
For the purpose of this volume, it does not matter which order
is followed in listing several meanings. The important thing is
that you know these various meanings, and that you are per-
cipient enough to discern the difference between the various
meanings.
;

T2B VOCABULARY TIIE STUDY OF WORDS t29

Take, for example, the word end,ure. Webster gives it these the definition of. susta'in which, it wi, be seen, differentiates
by
definitions: implication between susta'in and. end,ure. A practice
sentence
Intransitiue might be (remembering that the transitive iorm of
the ,erb
1-a. To continue in the same state without perishing; to last; to remain. takes an object complement): 'Inconel will endure
b. To continue in action; to persist.
a tension of
120,000 pounds per square inch without breaking.,
2. To remain firm, as under trial or suffering; to bear up under adversity; Actually, endure is a better word in this senlence then
to suffer patiently or without yielding. sz.r-
ta,in; for susta,in, by its derivation, cannot be used
3. To harden (obsol,ete). to preäicate
about a tensile stress.
Transitiae Definition 2-a differs from definition 1 in that the former
1. To remain 6rm under; to sustain; to undergo; to support without break-
reference to physical and material stresses;
has
ing or yielding. whereas definition
2-a. 'to bear with patience; to suffer without sinking under the pressure of 2-a introduces what might be cafled spirituar
or human .tÄ".s.
affiiction; to bear up under; to endure misfortune. An exemplary sentence might read: 'He endured his
run of bad
b. To contemplate with toleration; to abide; to put up with;as, he cannot luck with remarkable
endure jazz. "qrunirnity.,
Definition 2-b is closery similar to definition 2-a, yet it is dif-
3. To harden, toughen, make hardy, strengthen (obsolete). ferent in that the affiiction necessary to a proper
4. To be compatible with; to allow, as, The phrase will not endure such an use of the verb
endure is more subjective. An exemplary sentence
interpretation (archaic). might read:
'I cannot endure Western films.'
Let us analyze those definitions. The best way to study any- Definitions 3 and 4 are respectively obsolete and
thing practically is to put it to use. Hence the best way to study archaic and
need not be so carefully studied.
definitions or synonyms (see the next chapter) is to create sen- In studying definitions closely, you should make cross refer_
tences that use the word in the significance described. Now ences whenever the definition contains either
analyze the difference between definitions 1-a and l-b of the a word *rri.i you
do not understand, or a word which means t"
intransitive form. l-a has reference to "state of being"; 1-b has same as the word it defines that you need to know
;r;;; ""ä.f, ,n"
reference to "action." A sentence which contains end,ure in what, if"a.ry,
difference there is between them.
significance numbered l-a might be: 'The California redwoods
have endured for centuries.'
To exemplify number 1-b, one might say: 'The warfare be- 8. Tno SyNoxvlrs
tween science and religion still endures in many parts of the This word synonytn has been kicked around so much
country.' in facile
usage that some inquiry into its real significance seems ad_
Definition 2 adds to meaning number 1 the idea of added bur- Too generally it is interpreted ä a"".ritirrg-u *ora
den of adversity or adverse circumstances. Hence an ex- "r::!h.means
which the same as some other word. But compiete iden_
emplary sentence might be: 'In spite of his frequent beatings, tity of significance is rarely if ever encountered in the English
her love for her husband endured.' language. For the term s,ignifi,cance must include
Since the third meaning is obsolete, there is no practical ad- emotional
overtones as well as logical meanings. Grief
vantage in studying it. may mean prac-
tically the same as u)oe or sorrow, irilogical ..rrty"ir;
Of transitive usages, number 1 means "sustain, to remain by its very sound, has an effect on ,"ä", o, frär* q"irJ
iut-srirt,
firm under." At this point it would be well for you to look at äif-
ferent from that produced by either sorrow or
woe.
 VOCABULARY
130 TrrE sruDy oF woRDs 131
That meanings of many words depend partly, at least, on The sole point at issue in this sort of study is to know
when to
derivation has already been indicated. Derivation is frequently use corufess and when to use certiJy.
the only criterion for differentiating synonyms. For example, It will be stimurating to anaryze how the distinctions orig-
the difference between ass'iduous and sed,ulous is real, however inated, whenever that is possible; and to compare, forexample,
difficult to define; but scrutiny of the derivation of each makes palliate with extenuate, both of which mean
very nearly the
definition easier. Ass'id,uous comes from a Latin word meaning same. The origin of paniate is in the Latin for cioak; hence
to sit down to; and sedulous has an origin which suggests "with- it
has a derivative overtone of coaer up. Extenuate comes
out guile." An assiduous worker is diligent, at least so far as from a
Latin word meaning to make small. Hence the lesseninr.orr_
appearances express the quality; he stays seated at his task, noted by palli,ate is achieved by covering up; that .orrrrot".l
whether or not his heart is in his work. A sedulous worker is by
extenuate is achieved by making something seem
also diligent, but without guile in his diligence; i.e., he puts all smaller. Ex-
emplary sentences expressing these differences might
of himself into his work. He may not even sit continually at lows:
be as fol_
his task.
The study of synonyms is one of the imperative steps toward The mother palliated trre effect of her son's disobedience
by maintaining that
she had not clearly expressed her command.
a larger and better vocabulary. It may be pursued in some good
The wife extenuated the charge of bad rnanners brought
book of synonyms, the most exhaustive and most modern of by declaring that, after alr, it didn't matter practicutty
against her husband
which has recently been published by G. and C. Merriam Com- *t i.t fork one used
for oysters.
pany; or it may be pursued in the dictionary itself.
Most dictionaries list the synonyms after the various defini-
Exercises in Definitions and Slmonyms
tions of the word. There the synonyms are defined, and dif-
ferentiated by both definition and example of usage. For ex- (Discussed. fu. the Appendix, page 402)
ample, the Stand,ard, D'ict'ionary treats in this fashion the syn- In the following sentences, which of the words enclosed in the parentheses
is
onyms for confess: the most fitting word to use? Discuss briefly how you
arrived at your serectio,.
use your dictionary as authority-for both definitions and ---*"
"We accept another's statement; ad,mit any point against us; acknowled.ge "rr"" ,,,r.
1' FIe declared with (opinionated, arbitrary, dogrnatic, dictatoriar)
what we have done, good or bad; oaow our individual beliefs or feelings; finarity
cert'iJy to facts within our knowledge ; confess our own faults ; etc. " that the Bible is the more credibre account of tie deveropment
of mankind than
SC1ENCC IS.

But it
is not enough for gainful study to read through the 2. Contrary to his nature, he was cheerfully (dogged, stubborn,
obdurate,
definitions and examples of usage. You are advised to create obstinate) in defending his theory.
3. Judge Ijoward's attitude toward the man who was
sentences and phrases for yourself, each of which uses the syn- being tried before
him for attempted blackmail was (arrogant, haughty,
onym correctly. This practice, pursued at a time when the cilious). "orrt"_p-toorq
.rp"r-
synonyms are fresh and therefore stimulating, will register each 4. We no longer need the (suppositious, factitious, spurious,
fictitious)
fine distinction deep in your memory. assumption that particles belonging to different colors
travel with the same
You need not at this time concern yourself with the purely speed through empty space. (Note: The ,,assumption,,refers
to u, hypott"ri.
created only to help in ascertaining the truth about
academic question of whether a word is a synonym of another the nature of figfri.j
5' All four kinds of po*er .reed not ar'rvays be (concurrentry, sirnurtaneousry,
word, or whether it has only a kindred meaning' Thus, some contemporaneously, coincidentally) employed.
dictionaries would not state that cert'Üy is a synonym of confess. 6. He (showed, de,oted, indicated, sig,ified) by gestures that
he was hungry.
I
t32 VOCABULARY THE STUDY OF WORDS 733

7. Literary scholarship, as we know it, is most at home among the small significant illustration of the use of the word category; for cate-
books it can explain, the imperfect ones that have (patent, manifest, obvious, gory might be a box, for all the sentence says. Rather, your sen-
palpable) sources in other books. (Note: This sentence was taken from Mark tence should make a more significant use of the word, thus:
Van Doren's Liberal, Ed,ucation. Its reference to literary scholarship means the 'Zolais in the category of realistic novelists.'
kind of research which concerns itself chiefly with discovering in books influ- Write all these sentences in your notebook. This discipline
ences short of actual plagiarism: ideas that have been adapted rather than
adopted from some other books.)
of actually using a new word in a sentence which you have your-
8. Because constitutional government was so new and strange a thing, so self composed, to which you have given creative thought, will
(radical, fundamental, drastic, cardinal) a departure from all that had gone make the word yours whenever you want to use it.
before and from everything in tlre surrounding world, the Greeks were naturally At this point you may need, for your better orientation, some
impressed by the difference between themselves and the peoples they called advice about the utility and use of this growing vocabulary of
"barbarian." yours. You are not to think of a word as being valuable for its
9. Pacinsts ought to enter more deeply into the aesthetic and ethical point
of view of their (opponents, adversaries, antagonists, enernies)' own sake; it is valuable only for the thought for which it stands.
10. As soon as I became (sensible, cognizant, aware, conscious) of the accusa- You are not to think of an extended vocabulary as valuable in
tion implied in her speech, I was more than ever (cognizant, aware, sensible, that it enables you to use some comparatively rare and (as you
conscious) of my guilt. may think) impressive word instead of some simpler, better
known word; such a vocabulary is valuable only because the pos-
Increasing Your VocabularY session of quantity will enable you to improve the quality of
your diction. The quantity of your vocabulary, the mere num-
Although the subject matter of this chapter may seem for the ber of words you can use at will, is not of major importance as
most part to be an exposition of how gainfully to use the dic- compared with the quality of it-the rich rightness of the words
tionary, actually it is equally a discipline for increasing your you choose. You can't have quality of vocabulary unless you
vocabulary. For if you do study the dictionary as you have been first have quantity.
advised to do, your vocabulary will automatically increase' You
may, however, feel the need of more explicit directions' A sug-
gested discipline follows:
Every time you run across a new word' either in your general
reading or in your study of the dictionary-some word which
you think you are likely to need sometime, but which you think
you may not be able to use at will-write that word down in a
special vocabulary notebook. Add to it its derivation and its
most useful defrnitions as you find them in the dictionary'
Study examples of its use as given in the dictionary; and study
its synonyms.
Then compose ten sentences, sentences of some real signifi-
cance in which the word is used correctly and exactly-such
sentences as the dictionary quotes as examples of its use' For
example, the sentence, 'It is in this category,' would not be a
J

CnaprBn 10

CHOICE OF WORDS
You may have thought that the ultimate purpose of writing
is to put your thoughts and feelings on paper-self-expression,
in short. Too many who write seem to think just that, and con-
sequently they fail in their self-set task. Self-expression is the
ultimate purpose of one form only of writing-the locked diary,
to be burned still locked at the author's will.
In other forms of writing, self-expression is only the reason
for writing: the ultimate purpose is communication. Com-
munication means always that there is someone on the receiving
end. Communication means passing on, to someone else, the
author's knowledge, thoughts, feelings. Unless the author
"passes on" that which he wants the reader to know and feel, the
writing will have failed.
To make communication successful, whether in a novel or a
business letter, an advertising circular or an engineering report,
you as its author must cast yourself in a dual role: you must be
both author and reader. Expressing yourself is not enough.
You must stop frequently to be your own first reader-i.e., to put
yourself in the place of a potential reader and evaluate the ef-
fect of what you have written.
Let us clarify that abstraction by a concrete example of
writing to a special reader. Assume that you are writing a re-
port on the marketing prospects of a certain lubricating oil to be
submitted to the president of the Sunshine Oil Company. If
in the report you systematically used the word ruruniness, in-
stead of Saybolt test ind.,ications, the reaction of the president,
who assumably knows all about the Saybolt test, must be:
"Does he take me for a fool?"
But if you are writing a letter to your mother about your
present interests, you might better use runruiness than such
137
138 SELECTION OF WORDS
terms as Saybol,t test, or even aiscos'ity. You would want to tell
her about your activities in terms of her life experience, so that
she can understand them. She has probably had experience
with molasses in January-runniness; most likely she has not
had experience with viscosity, or the Saybolt test.
Your first step in affecting a reader in a certain desired way is
to select your words wisely. For practically all kinds of writing,
your choice of words must be determined by one criterion, and
one only: What do you want your reader to think or feel or know?
1. ConnBcrNESS oF UsecB
If you want your reader to have respect for you, your diction
("diction," as it is used in this book, means choice of words)
must conform to accepted standards of grammatical correct-
ness, current usage, and good taste. If you offend the reader
on any of these counts, he might say: "This author is practically
i,lliterate. Why should I bother with what he has written?"
More than that, offenses against good usage are likely to break
the reader's train of attention, diverting it from what you have
written to your illiteracy.
Violations of good usage may be in respect to grammar or
idiom.
A. Standards of Grammar
Even if you are not keenly concerned about holding a reader's
respect for you, you must not overlook the fact that violations
of grammar may becloud your meaning, and so convey to the
reader some effect other than that which you had intended.
For example:
Mr. Bartholdi formulated a method of forcing the individual productivity of
industrial employees. He was a Frenchman who made his investigations
in America. This is important, because-
What does "this" mean, in the third sentence? Method? Or
the fact expressed in the second sentence? Who can tell?
"This" is not the right word; using it is a violation of grammar,
for the pronoun has no unmistakable antecedent.
CHOICE OF WORDS 139
B. Standards of Idiom
Violations of idiomatic usage may take several forms: archa-
isms, barbarisms, colloquialisms, improprieties, solecisms, and
violations of contextual phrasing.
An archaism is a word that was once in good repute, but is no
longer acceptable in ordinary writing. Do not ,.", fo, example,
anent for concerning, or yestereae for l,ast nogltt unless you want
to be humorous (and the humor is quite hackneyed); or unless
you must be deliberately archaic for some very special reason
of effect on your reader.
Barbarisms, colloquialisms, improprieties, and solecisms may
be all lumped together. It is not practically necessary for you
to know the distinctions between them as rhetoricar terms, al-
though it would be advisable for you to look up the definitions
of the words in the dictionary. They all signify crosery reratecl
violations of good idiom.
Do not say 1 reckon for I th,ink unless you must make some
very special effect on the reader. Do not say, ,He suspicioned
that all was not well' for 'He suspected that all was not well,,
unless, again, you are striving to make some very special effect,
such as burlesquing, or putting the words into the mouth of a
droll or illiterate character.
Colloquialisms and cognate improprieties of diction, such as
slang,* may be used w,ith d.iscretion in the more informal kinds of
writing' some magazine articles and special feature writing
may actually be improved by the use of slang. Whether the use
of such improprieties is justified depends on the tone of the piece.
But in formal writing-for example, in an engineering report or
* Much more slang than
one can realize has been adopted into the language in
good. standing., a-ndrightfully so, for the genesis of stang usually frr" t"i"-!o.n"
vitally new, vividly expressive.metaphor thät enriches the"language. Ä ;"y
be hazarded about what constitutes a hopeful prospect of a sü"gä-b ;;;;. ts;iü.""-
stdered ultimately as proper diction: metaphors from some univärsal and end"uring
phase of-human experience_may reasonably hope to be accepted in good
ti*e,
as "on the beam," for airplanes will probably'be flying brind for däcades to come.
"uct
On the.other hand, vague terms, such as,,in the gäo*,"e,,,are probabf epf,"-"i^f,
to be. discarded as soon as jive goes out of date. But this commä"t i. ."rv r,uru.a,
and is not to be construed as a canon of usage. "
t40 SELEC'IION OF WORDS CHOICE O}'WORDS 14L
a serious critical commentary-such improprieties have no 3. Instead of me being chosen eueen of the May, I was voted the ugiiest
place. girl in the class. consider the sentence also in this form: Instead of me
teing
Only the expert writer should take advantage of the leeway, chosen Queen of the May, Ellen Hardy was.

for he knows what degree of intimacy, as between himself and
his reader, is admissible. He knows when he should be formal,
and when informal. The beginner should abide more strictly
by the rules. Propriety of diction is always more to be trusted
than uninformed disregard for it.
Finally, it is not possible to list in this brief chapter all in-
stances of incorrectness of usage of which a writer may be guilty.
An exhaustive list would fill volumes. The study of the dic-
tionary will, in most cases, serve as an authoritative guide. If
not, you may refer to any of several volumes which are generally
accepted as authoritative: notably Fowler's Mod,ern Engli,sh
Usage, which is perhaps best known, though it
on the side of being too academic.
4. I am aiming to improve my community.
5. My father was extremely sarcastic as to me failing to win first prize,
6. Peter evidenced a strong inclination for gambling.
7. Various declared that the war would be Jhort.
8. I shouldn't wonder if it didn,t come true yet.
9. I gave you this exercise for two reasons, neither of which are without real
significance,
10. Will you be ready by four o,clock?
(Not Discl.ssed. in the Append.ix)
part 2
errs occasionally The following exercises are advised for classroom work, or for additional self-
instruction not discussed in the Appendix. The probable origin of slang
rnay be fruitfully discussed.
te.ns

1. search the editorial page of a daily newspaper for slang terms or col-
Exercises in Correctness of Usage loquialisms. If you find any, substitute more formal diction and compare the
result.
(Discussed. in the Appendix,'Page 404)
2. I\{ake a similar study of the news columns.
Part 1 3. I\tlake a similar study of an article in Harper,s or The Atlantic Jwo*thl,y.
4. Make a si,rilar study of an article in one of the news rveeklies, such as
In the ten following sentences you are given several alternatives. Cross out Time or Newsweeh.
all but the correct words.
5. Make a similar study of an articre in cor,r,ier's or The saturd.ay Eaening
1. He always had a hatred (against, of, for) inefficiency. Post.
2. (By,In) acting as he did, he was inconsistent (to, with) his principles.
3. He displayed tact combined (to, with) 6rmness. 2. ExacrNBSS oF MEANTNG
4. I once had the privilege (of hearing, to hear) Lincoln speak.
5, The rnother's treatment (torvard, of) the children is indefensible. It is self-evident that your words must convey what you mean,
6. I should have drowned (rvithout, but for) his help. if you would tell your reader what you want to tell him. you
7. The proposal was compared (with, to) putting sand into the transmission. can't tell him, 'John walked into the room,, with the words,
8. Your wealth is great compared (with, to) mine. 'John walked in the room.' you can't make a reader believe
9. It was wrong (in, of) you to break your promise. that your father is disinterested, if you tell him, ,My father is
10. My strength is inadequate (for, to) the effort.
uninterested.' You would hardly insult a friend by tiling him,
Which, if any, of the following sentences is incorrect, and 'My excuse for not meeting you, as arranged, *u" thut the bus-
rrhy? men are on' strike.' Rather you would ,"tuin his friendship by
1. Her father would not give her leave to go to the party. saying, 'My reason for not meeting you was that the busmen
2, She sat her dolly on the brocaded cushion. are on strike,'
r
142 SELECTION OF WORDS
Thus far, the need for exactness of meanings in diction is ap-
parent without further elaboration; for, in the examples given,
the meanings are widely distinct.
Now, what about discriminations in diction as between words
more nearly alike in meaning than are "in" and
t'into," or t'dis-
interested" and ttuninterested," or t'excuse" and t'reason."
You may well ask: Is it important for a writer to know the dif-
ference between efectual, ffic'ient, and efect'iae; or between t'irwid
and apprehens,iae, when perhaps few potential readers would
know the difference?
Remember that the written word is perpetuated. In such
writing as reports, critiques, or expositions of methods or ideas,
faint shades of difference between the meanings of words may
make an appreciable difference in the communication of ideas.
The reader who wants to grasp your real thought will take the
trouble to look carefully to the full meaning of the words you
use, if he is at all in doubt about them.
What as the meaning of a word? Thus far we have referred
to the dictionary definition as being the full and definitive ex-
pression of what the word means. But any consideration of
meaning must not stop with that assumption. The complete
signifrcation of the word rnean'ing must be more thoroughly ex-
plored.
Enough has been said o{ the dictionary definition, or the lex-
icai meaning. Nolv we must consider two aspects of meaning
which may or may not be a part of that lexical meaning: the
contextual meaning, and the emotional or affective meaning.
A. Contextual Meaning
The contextual meaning of a word is the special meaning it
derives from other words used with it (i.e., from its context),
either in the same sentence, or in the piece as a whole. Or it may
be soÄe special meaning which a word yet unselected must have
in order to fit correctly with all the other words in the sentence.
Words are of value in communication only as they are used in
combination with other words. The exclamation Oh, even
CIIOICE OF WORDS t43
though it stands alone, derives its full meaning from what pre-
cedes it, and often from what follows it. Never can you judge
the rightness of a word for its purpose by considering that word
alone. You can arrive'at ultimate, wise selection only by juclg-
ing the word in relation with its context.
This principle was applied, although your attention was not
then drawn to the fact, in the study of synonyms in Section II.
In the Appendix for that section, the fitness of one of several
synonyms was evaluated with relation to the entire sentence in
which the word was used. We must now examine the principle
more fully and practically.
Try, for example, to make the same dictionary definition fit
the word notebook in each of the following sentences:
I threw my noteboolc at the professor.
Assiduous study of my notebook enabled me to pass the examination.
The following definition would express the lexical meaning of
notebook as it is used in the first sentence: A thin, three-di-
mensional object with a hinged cover of artificial leather, con-
taining about 200 sheets of paper. That defines an object which
can be thrown; the definition fits the word as it is used in that
sentence.
Now consider what the ,,ilord means in the second sentence.
How would anyone be able to pass an examination if he sat with
his eyes assiduously glued on "a three-dimensional object, ."
Clearly the definition which so well expressed the meaning in
the first sentence does not at all express the meaning of the word
as it is used ln the second sentence.
To be sure, the distinction between the two meanings is simple
enough in this case. In the second sentence, the word notebook
is used metaphorically: the name of the object is used to denote
the contents of the object. (It would be well for you at this
point to look up the word rnetaphorical in the dictionary, with
special attention to the derivation of it.)
In the first of these two sentences, the predication "I threw-
my notebook" might also be used metaphorically, so that the
meaning of notebook in the second sentence might fit the use
 cHorcE oF woRDS 145
t44 SELECTION OF WORDS
l. He was trying to guide her mood'
of it in the first sentence. In colloquial usage or slang, "I threw 2. Smith earned his living by selling replicas of the Venus de l\{ilo.
*y .tot"book at the professor," might mean the contents of the 3. He made direct allusion to the Articles of Confederation.
notebook. 4. The unremitting patter of the rain on the roof kept her awake.
Such metaphorical usage is legitimate; but, when you use
a 5. His efforts to mitigate the condition of the slums were consummated in
*orJ *"auphärically, you must be sensible of the fact' Failure his being chosen alderman.
6. His miserly habits of life enabled him to keep his mother in luxury'
to realize whether yorr are using a word in its direct or its meta- 7. Kind though he was, he resented being imposed upon; therefore he was
pt ori*l sense may lead you into errors in thinking' and hence deaf to his daughter's urgent appeals for help.
into errors of writing. 8. His silence apparently denoted consent.
of
Examine the following sentence: 'Industry is the mainstay 9. The sense of religious fervor, so strong in him as he left the castle, r'i'as

the nation; hence indusiry should be paramount in the councils rapidly dwindling.
10. Domestic manufacturers in many leading lines of industry are bewildered
of at" nation.' Ind,ustry has two different meanings in that
sen-
at their idle factories, and are waiting for the government to ponder over a ne!\I
i"r.", the first, the quality of wise application to productive
tariff question.
effort; the second, the economic classification'
Par1-2
Thecriterionofcontextualmeaningmustmoreobviouslybe
invoked in choosing, for example, as between admit arJ conJess The following exercise is advised for classroom work or for additional self-
to ure in the followlng: 'He that he had seen the murdered instruction not discussed in the Appendix.
man alive at four o'clock that afternoon'' Make a careful study of the diction in an article in one of the great current
Thebasiclexicalmeaningofbothadm,itandconfessistomake magazines, in the manner set forth for the study of synonyms in Section II'
avowal or acknowl"agrrr",i ot' Confess implies guilt'
Adrnit That is, choose several words in the article rvhich have several synonyrns. Try
each of these synonyms in place of the chosen words, and analyze the effect of
*uk",nosuchimplication.IfthewiderContextoftheSentence
at four the substitution on the meaning of the sentence. Did the author make the best
were such that whoever saw the murdered man alive selection, or could his selection have been improved?
o'clock might be accused of the murder, it will be clear-
that a
faultyrr"-ofconJesswheread'mitshouldhavebeenusedmight
have regrettable consequences-perhaps even a libel suit'
if it B. A-ffective or Emotional Meaning
were published. Consider the three words sleed,, horse, nag. All of them mean
To recapitulate: in selecting your diction, take full account horse, basically. Horse means just horse. It merely names the
of
of the coniext-of the rest of ihe words in the sentence, and object without adding any suggested description. It is a word
your word be right from all
afrr pi""" as a whole. Let chosen
of neutral tone. Steed. affects the reader differently from horsel
these angles. it stirs the imagination to picture a noble, spirited animal. Nog
also affects the reader; it stirs him to picture aworn-out pitiable
Exercises in Contextual Meanings beast. Both steed, arrd nag are words of affective or emotional
(Discussed"in the Appendix' Page 405) meanings, because, in addition to informing the reader, they af-
fect him.
Part 1
Consider also the three words arotnat od,or, stench. The word
Analyzethe following sentences {or the exactness of the
contextual meanings
' od,or
is neutral: it merely names the stimulus to the olfactory
of ,ti *o.ar. Ifyou think that any word is not correctly used' rephrase the it suggests neither good nor bad about that stimulus.
sentence so that the contextual meaning of all
words is exact' "erir";
 t46 SELECTION OF'WORDS
Aroma and stench both suggest a personal judgment about the
odor; somebody has found arorna a good odor, and stench an of-
fensive odor. These personal judgments implicit in arorna and.
stench also affect the reader emotionally; hence these words too
are affective words.
To abstract from the examples, you have two kinds of words
to select from: neutral and affective words. A neutral word
does no more than name an object or a concept;it expresses no
personal judgment about that object or concept, and arouses no
emotional response in the reader. An affective word, in ad-
dition to naming an object or concept, expresses some personal
judgment about it, and stirs the reader's emotions.
You must bear this difference in mind, and select your words
to meet the specific requirements of what you are writing. Do
you want only to communicate information to your reader?
Do you want to express to him only an uncolored statement,of
fact? Or do you want to affect your reader, to stir his ernotions,
to make him feel, as well as know?
Both purposes are legitimate, but each purpose has its special
use. In a scientific paper, for example, or an engineering ieport,
you must stick scrupulously to fact. In such writing you are
communicating information only; you are appealing only to the
reader's intelligence, not at all to his emotions. In fact, intel-
ligent readers of such compositions will suspect your good judg-
ment, if not your good faith, if you try to affect them as well as
inform them. Use only neutral words in such writing.
If, on the other hand, your purpose is to make some special
appeal to the reader, to sway his opinions, to move him deeply,
to make him feel as well as know, then choose affective words to
suit your purpose.
Neutral words, in brief, make cold, unimpassioned, factual
writing.. Affective words make warm, humanized, vivid writ-
irrg.
How can you know whether a word is neutral cir affective?
Generally the dictionary will tell you, by such descriptive state-
ments as t'of derogatory significance," or "of inferior sense"; or,
by implication of personal judgment. Thus the dictionary de-
CIIOICE OF WORDS 147
fines stench as"an offensive odor." ',Offensive', implies perso,al
judgment. Ifthe dictionary does not make such statements
or implications, then you must depend on your own evaluation:
is there anything of personal judgment implied in the word?
1. Affective Meanings in Context. The force of an affective
word frequently floods over into its context and colors the en-
tire sentence in which it occurs. consider the following ser-r-
tences:
-'
I tooL the pup for a walk.
I took the dog for a walk.
I took the cur for a walk.
Each sentence says a different thing abotrt the walk itself.
The neutral word dog makes a simple factual statement about the
activity, one quite devoid of emotional orrertones or personal
judgments. The word cur gives a disagreeabte flavoi to the
whole äctivity; it makes us feel that the walk was roathsome.
The word pup endows the promenade with an agreeable sense:
the reader likes both the dog and the activity.
Affective meanings are not confined to single words; such
meanings may be implicit in phrasing. compare the-emotional
overtones of the following sentences, each one of which com-
municates the same fact, but a different feeling about Nlary:
Mary did not spealc. (Uncolored fact; no emotional impact.)
Mary failed to speali. (Unfavorable en-rotional impact about Mary.)
Mary refrained from speaking. (Favorabre emotional i,rpact aboui Mary.) *
2. Appropriateness of Affective Words. Affective words must
be appropriate in their context. In the following sentence, the
word cerulean is ridiculously out of place in a context of scrub-
bing floors: 'She was using a cerulean cloth to wipe the floors.,
Even though the color of the cloth was cerulean, it was still
blue. In such a context you must use the simpler word blue.
Again, the unity of tone is violated by the affeclive word, hon_
orariwm in the following sentence: ,He gave the porter a dime as
an honorarium.' Say simply: ,He gave the porter a dime as a
tip.' But you must say: 'The Board of Dir-ectors votecr the re-
tiring president a thousand shares of stock as an honorarium.,
r
148 SELECTION OF WORDS CIIOICE OF WORDS I+9
For honorarium expresses both the basic meaning and the af- 5. Such a proposal is offensive to everyone.
6. The degraded elements of our city's population stand squarely behind
fective overtones of such a transaction.
my opponent.
7. The sacred function of motherhood occupies her every waking moment.
8. Senator X expresses himself in chauvinistic terms.
Erercises in Emotional or Affective ly'fsanings
9, Al1 really modern thinkers will approve his proposal.
(Discussed. in the Append'ix, Page 407) 10. He conducted his campaign with an orgy of mudslinging.
Part 1

Which of the following words are neutral words? Of words which are not Part 4
neutral, i.e., of words which have an affective or emotional meaning, give the The foilowing exercises are advised for classroom rvork or for additional self-
neutral word which corresponds, thts: Rant is an affective word, of which the instruction not discussed in the Appendix. In the classroom, much fruitful ancl
neutral word is sPeak or lalh. stimulating discussion can be evoked as to whether certain words are neutral
1. Shifty 6. Primeval or affective.
2. Stupid 7. Ransom 1. Study an article in Col,l,ier's or L,iberty or The Saturd.ay Eaening p;,ost.
3. Dull 8. Virago List all the affective words or phra.ses you find in it. substitute for each affec-
4. Shim 9. Rodomontade tive word, or phrase, its corresponding neutral word.
5. Effrontery 10. Criminal 2. Study an article in Harper's or The Atla*tic Montlrl,y. What is approxi_
mately the ratio of entire wordage, to the number of affective wo.ds you firrd
in it. substitute for the neutral words, wherever possible, some corresponding
Part 2
affective word.
For each of the following neutral words, select a word, or a phrase if you need
more than one word, which will evoke an adverse emotional reaction, and one 3. FrNnrNc rHE RrcHT Wono
which will evoke a favorable emotional reaction, such as cur, dog, pup.
The punctilious search for the right word will help you to
1. Old worlan 6. Teacher crystallize your ideas. To be communicated, ideas must first
2. Soldier 7. Saving (of rnoney; used as an
be mastered. The elusiveness of the word you want may be due
3. House adjective)
4. Horse 8. High in price not so much to your ignorance of the word, as to the vagueness
5. Politician 9. Servant of your idea. You may have some approximate notion of what
10. Country (as opposed to city) you want to express; but until you have found exactly the right
word to express it, that notion will still be vague. Discovery of
Part 3
the word and discovery of the idea usually are simultaneous.
Assume, for example, that you are expressing the character
Rewrite the following sentences so as to remove from each all affective or of a certain man, and you have about him only a general idea
emotional values, leaving only a neutral statement of fact. Note that the
affective meanings rnay reside in the entire sentence rather than in a single word.
that he is a shrinking violet. "shrinking violet,' by itself is a
vague notion; you must search for the word that exactly ex-
l. Make an unforgettable entrance in this goddess gown, dramatically black presses the kind of shrinking violet you feel the man to be. you
and white.
have several words to choose from: timid, bashful, retiring, ap-
2. He high-pressured me into taking another ir,surance policy.
3. All right-minded men will vote the Republican ticket this year. prehensive, timorous, shy, pusillanimous, fainthearted, afraid.
4. $2000 would be a sensible price to pay. They all fit into the general and vague scheme of ,,shrinking
150 SELECTION OF WORDS
violet." Pinning his characteristics down to the exact word will
clarify the idea of the man in your own mind. You will, by
search for the word, have mastered the concept of the char-
acter; and as a result you can make your reader understand him
more exactly.
At this point, you will probably be wondering how you can
find that exact word. The finding is a matter of trial and error.
Naturally, you will start with some general word or key
word-say, for example, bashful,, or shy. Look up shy in the
dictionary. You will find many words of approximate meaning
used in the definitions. Webster gives these words: frightened,
timid, distrustful, wary, reserved, bashful. In the synonyms
are these words in addition: diffident, modest, coy. If you know
the differences between all these, you can make your choice
from the words given you both in the word definitions and in
the synonyms. If you are not sure of the exact meaning of,
for example, t'im'id,, then look up that word in the dictionary.
Thus, starting from some approximation of your meaning,
you can, by cross-referring in the dictionary, finally arrive at
the exact word you want.
Consider, for example, what you must do when you cannot
find even a key word from which to start your search in the dic-
tionary. In that case, another reference book will be valuable:
Roget's Thesaurus.
The arrangement of this book is not like that of a dictionary;
rather, it lists its words and phrases under general categories of
ideas or objects, thus: voI-ruoN, AFFECTIoNS, ABSTRACT RELA-
TIoNS, etc.
Say, for example, that you have about your character only
the vague feeling of peacock; and say that the dictionary offers
you, under peatock, no springboard for further search. Then
refer to Roget's Thesau.rus under the general heading of arIinc-
rroNs and run down the list until you come to a subheading that
gives you the needed springboard: in this case, either pride 'or
aanity or ostenlation. Then look in the numbered sections in-
dicated by these three titles and you will find various words ex-
pressing that general idea. If you -,vant then to search further,
cHorcE oF woRDS 151
look up in the dictionary the words which you may have found
in Roget that approximate your meaning.
Roget is indexed as well. The index entry of peacock, refers
you to section numbers assigned to all words which mean pride,
vanity, etc. Then use the dictionary as before. Roget does not
give you definitions, nor distinctions between synonyms.
Exercises in Finding the Right Word
(Not Discussed. itr. the Afpendix)
How many words or phrases can yoll find which will express, more sharply
and specifically, the traits or ideas suggested by the following generalities?
flse nouns, verbs, adjectives, phrases, clauses, or complete sentences.
1. Bull-headed 6. More than flesh and blood can
2. Teacher's pet bear
3. The run-around 7. Star is on the wane
4. Solid ivory 8. It can't be beat
5. All wool and a yard wide 9. By fits and starts
10. Woolgathering wits
4. Foncp
Your purpose in writing must be first to attract, then to hold,
the reader's attention. To achieve this purpose, it is not enough
that your diction be correct in usage and exact in meaning.
Your thoughts may be ever so interesting; but, if your expression
of them does not keep the reader at a high pitch of interest, your
writing will fail.
It is in a sense exact to say: 'He was injured while riding,'
but it is a dull account of the accident. Say rather: 'He fell from
the saddle, and the horse crushed his chest with a forefoot.'
fn general, the following principles should dictate your choice
of diction for force.
A. Choose Simple Rather Than Pretentious Diction
If you wrote to a friend, 'The absence of information is an in-
dication of auspicious. developments,' he might be impressed
with your erudition (and your bad writing), but he certainly
 t52 SELECTION OF WORDS
would not be impressed with what you have to tell him. The too
pretentious diction only beclouds the sense. Tell your friend
quite simply, 'No news is good news,' and you will drive your
point home
Shun such diction as 'She perused, the missive'; say, rather,
'She read, the letter.' Say d,eath rather than demise, and 'John
broke his leg' rather than 'John suffered a broken leg.'
Do not construe this counsel to mean that you mu§t never
use a "two-dollar" word. Frequently you cannot exactly ex-
press yourself by any other kind. But in such a case, the longer
word cannot be called pretentious; it is a necessary word. A
word is pretentious only when some simpler word would exactly
suit your purpose. You cannot, for example, find better words
than subsume or tna'ieut'ic or apod,'ictac to express those ideas. It
is doubtful if you could find a better phrase than 'let it lapse into
innocuous desuetude,' to express that idea; although 'let it peter
out' might be used in a piece of writing in which you are free to
use slang. That choice would depend üpon the intellectual ex-
perience of your reader. Even when you are writing to a highly
intellectual audience you gain nothing by using pretentious
diction, provided you can find simpler diction that adequately
expresses your meaning.
Unless you are striving for a very pretentious effect, examine
every word you write to see if you cannot find a simpler word.
Exercises in Simple Diction
(Discussed. in the Appendix, Page 408)
Express the following in simpler diction:
1. She consigned the letter to the flames.
2. Laceration o{ a digit is productive of distinctly painful sensations.
3. They called into requisition the services of the family physician.
4, He accorded me an interview.
5. Lemon pie commends itself to my gustatory susceptibilities.
6. A vast concourse assembled to behold the devastating conflagration that
consumed the edifice.
?. That story belongs in the realm of fiction.
cgorcE oF woRDS 153
8. I beg leave to offer some brief observations.
9. I
performed my matutinal ablutions before the sun had risen.
10, He sustained a bad head wound.
B. Use the Specific Rather Than the General'Word
Let us at this point explore somewhat further what a word is,
what the term woril means. A word merely stands for the
thought of that which it names; it is not the thought itself. For
example, if you tell a friend:'I saw a horse lying dead in the
street today,' the horse you speak of may have been a slirn-
legged thoroughbred that jumped out of its trailer to its death.
But to your friend, that word horse might mean a decrepit old
sorrel still attached to a junk wagon; or a splendid grey perche-
ron in all the brass trappings of its harness; or a silver-tailed
Palomino still wearing its hand-tooled Western saddle. In other
words, the thought you had about the horse may not be at all
the thought which the word horse stimulates in yo,r, hearer.
You can always more closely approximate exactness of com-
munication by using the more specific term rather than the gen-
eral term.
A general term names only a class of things. It includes many
possible items. A specific term names but one of the items com-
prised in the class which the general term names. In all classi-
fications, there are many relative degrees of generality. Examine
the following classification:
living being
animal
dog
cocker spaniel
Generality decreases as we go down the list. ,,Animal,' is less
general than "living being," and more general than ,,dog.',
"Animal" is the general term for the more specific ,,dog.', And
"dog" is the general term for the more specific ,,cocker spaniel."
And of course "black cocker spaniel" would be more specific than
its general term "cocker spaniel." Only the last possible degree
of specificity should be used in naming any individual object.
 t54 SELECTION OF WORDS
Do not, then, write, 'We picked flowers.' Say, rather, '\Me
picked arbutus and violets.' Do not say, 'He spent the after-
noon gardening.' Say, rather, 'He spent the afternoon hoeing
his onions and transplanting cabbages.' You do not have to
give the entire list of what he did in the way of gardening; just
the concrete suggestion of one or two items is enough to inform
the reader most forcefully of his activities in the garden.
Exercises in Specific'Words
(Discu.ssed, in the Append,ix, Page 409)
Express in more specific terms all the words in the following
you can thus improve:
1. We transacted the business we had come for.
2. My mother told us the Bible story of the money.
3. She ate at our neighbor's.
4. John rvent to Chicago.
5. An accident kept him away.
t 6. Lacking fuel, he burned some of the furniture.
i
7. He broke the rock with an explosive.
8. Martha read her favorite poem at the club.
9. She took delight in the simpler things of life.
10. He did not like curtailment of his personal liberty.
C. Whenever Possible, Ifse Concrete Rather Than Abstract
Diction
An abstract word is one which expresses a quality, an idea, a
relationship; in short, something that exists only in the mind.
A concrete \Mord names something that you can see or hear or
smell or taste or touch: in other words, it names something in the
sensible world. For example, truth has no reality in the sensible
world; it exists in the mind only. Deshhas reality in the sensible
world; you can perceive it through yoLrr senses-sight and
touch.
In some kinds of writing, you cannot avoid using abstract
words. If you are writing about ideas, or subjects essentially
critical or scientific or philosophical, you can rarely substitute a
concrete word for an abstract word. You must use the words
cuorcE oF woRDS 155
which express that which exists only in the mind, words which
do not name things in the sensible world.
But when a choice is open to you, when you can use the con-
crete language of sense impression, you must do it. To say,
'The man looked poverty-stricken,' is not exact nor concrete.
It does not tell a reader what you saw; for poverty-stricken might
mean one picture to one reader, and another picture to another
reader. This kind of abstraction is called a "secondary image,"
and is only a blur rather than a clear picture. As a concrete ex-
pression, or "primary image," you might say: 'The man's trou-
sers were frayed and his elbows patched.' That expression
sentences which would tell exactly what you, as author, saw; let the reader drar,v
from your concrete diction the inference that the man was
poverty-stricken.
The same degree of concreteness should be used to express any
impacts on the senses made by the sensible world. Seeing,
hearing, touching, smelling, tastin§-experience them all vividly
and keenly when you write about them; and you will keep clear
of such weak writing as: 'The platform was a scene of animation' ;
or 'Confused noises assailed the ear.'
Often such concreteness can be gained by apt comparisons
which interpret something, not well known, in terms of some-
thing better known and more concrete, thus: 'The flood tossed
great boulders like corks.' Most readers do not very vividly
know how a flood can toss builders; but they do know how corks
float on rushing waters; hence they will get a concrete picture of
how the boulders were tossed about.
This sort of concreteness of diction is called a figure of speech-
simile, metaphor, personification, or other figure.
Exercises in Concrete W'ords
(Discussed. in the Appendix, Page 409)
Express the following in more concrete terms. Make each sentence longer
if you need to, but keep the length within reasonable limits:
1. The house was dilapidated.
2. A reptile bit him.
3, The servant was ugly.
156 SELECTION OF WORDS
4. She dressed gaudily
5. The night was dark.
6. It was raining hard.
7. They left the park in a disgusting state.
8. The roads are very bad.
9. The restaurant smelled.
10. He was driving in a battered car.
D. Choose the'Word'Which Is Intrinsically Strong
Many words are stronger, by their very nature, than other
words which express practically the same idea. This intrinsic
or essential strength may be due variously to their grammatical
status, to their derivation, to their phonetic qualities'
Verbs and nouns are the strongest parts of speech in the
language. Adjectives and adverbs are the greatest enemies of
,or, ,t d .r".b. If used to excess, they will tear down whatever
strength you have built up by skillful choice of noun and verb'
Always try to compress the colorless noun with its color-giving
adjeciive into a single colorful noun; or a colorless verb, with its
color-giving adverb, into a single colorful verb' Do not say,
'she requested precatively.' Say, 'she implored''
Generally speaking, a word of Anglo-Saxon derivation is
stronger ttran a word of Latin derivation. Examine the follow-
ing list of words of similar meaning but different derivations, and
nole how much more forceful those words of Anglo-Saxon der-
ivation are, usually, than are the words of Latin derivation:
LatrN Arqcr-o-SexoN
benediction blessing
desire wish
paternal fatherly
hearty
cordial
fitness
concinnity
Do not interpret this counsel to mean that you must abjure
all words of Latin derivation. More often than not there is none
but a word of Latin origin to express your meaning' as' for ex-
ample, anc'il,l,ary. You can usually express finer distinctions of
*eanirrgs by the use of Latin words' On the other hand, Anglo-
CHOICE OF WORDS t57
Saxon words, in general, have more emotional force than Latin
i,
words. Writing that is chiefly informative, the subject matter
of which is chiefly ideas, must make free use of words of Latin
i.
origin; and that without imputation of pretentiousness of dic-
tion. Writing that must have a deep emotional appeal, such as
fiction, should rely as much as possible on words of Anglo-Saxon
origin.
The very sound of a word may give it strength, as compared
with another word of approximately the same meaning. Drud,ge,
for example, is stronger than work, both because it is more specific
and because it sounds stronger. Grief is stronger than sorrow,
d,ynam,ic is stronger than forceful, merely in respect to sound.
True, grief does not mean quite the same as sorrowt nor dynamic
quite the same as forceful,; but if. grief will express approximately
what you want to express, use it in preference to sorrow because
it is stronger. When you are writing more for emotional effect
than to communicate information, it is better to use the strong-
sounding word, even if it only approximates the exact meaning.
Gaunt is stronger than eru.ac,iated, although it does not mean
exactly emaciated. It is stronger both because of its sound and
because of its Anglo-Saxon origin.
Exercises in Miscellaneous Principles of Force
(Discussed,.in. the Appendix, Page 410)
Improve the diction of the following sentences by choosing stronger words
wherever possible. In making your selection, apply all the principles of force
in diction that 1,e11 have studied thus far.
l. Colonel Calvert of Georgia manurnitted all his slaves prior to the Emanci
pation Proclamation.
2. She walked mincingly into the pharmacy.
3. She worked without cessation at the most menial tasks.
4. Our camp site was contiguous to our school superintendent's.
5. In spite of all vicissitudes, my brother took his medical degree.
6. At that distance, I could descry six pedestrians walking very slowly.
7. Something terrible transpired at our domicile last evening.
8. He had no appetite for his evening repast.
9. She cried shrilly when she saw him walking so unsteadily.
10, The car moved along smoothly up to the curb.
158 SNI,ECTION OF \\IORDS
E. Choose Diction That Is Original
Originality of phrasing, within the limits of other principles
of good diction, is a quality to be zealously striven for. Striking
and yet sound choice of words-striking for their aptness, their
unusualness, their perfection of frtness for their purpose-im-
pinges with a stimulating spiciness upon a reader and refreshes
his attention.
On the other hand, phrasing that is stale, which has been used
many times in unfailing conjugation of words, dulls the reader's
attention and makes him think that the writing is flat and com-
monplace. There are countless phrases of this nature: "psycho-
logical moment," t'acid test," "checkered career," t'worse for
wear," "faded into oblivion," "did full justice to the occasion,"
and the like.
Such phrases are called clich6s, or hackneyed expressions.
True, they may express most aptly what the author wants to
say; and, when each was first used, it would have been accounted
strong and apt diction. But the very excellence of the phrases
led to their overuse, until a reading public sickened of them.
If you write 'at the psychological .' the reader knows, from
too long habituation, that the next word is going to be 'moment,'
and the assurance bores him. One way to keep a reader on his
mental toes is to keep him expecting something new in the next
word or the next line.
It is impossible to catalogue for you all the clich6s. You must
discern them by your own taste. If you find yourself writing a
phrase which rolls too easily from your pen or typewriter, dis-
trust that phrase. Ask yourself if you have not heard it several
times before; and if you can't honestly deny that you have, stop
there and search for some fresher phrasing.
Exercises in originality of diction will be embodied in the com-
posite exercise at the end of this section.
F. Use as tr'ew Words as Possible
The more words you take for the expression of any given idea,
the more difficult you make reading, and the more likely yolr are
clrorcE oF woRDS 159
to bore the reader. There are many sorts of wordiness, many of
them unsuspected unless you analyze your work carefully.
Sometimes a meaning is unconsciously repeated: 'It rvas
clearly obvious that it was a aery unique vehicle.' The italicized
words are redundant. The "obvious" is always clear; there are
no degrees of "uniqueness." Do not say, 'I grasped a tree
nearby,' for if you could grasp it, it must be nearby. Do not say,
'totally annihilated'; for "annihilated" means "totally." See
your dictionary. Do not say 'day dawned 'in the easl'; where
else could it dawn? Note that the italicized words in the follow-
ing sentence are not necessary: 'Our parish is building a new
brick church, and the arch'itect has d,es,igned, a ruew struclwre.' You
express your complete meaning when you say, 'Our parish is
building a new brick church.'
Rhetoricians have given names to many specific kinds of
wordiness. The names of them are not particularly important,
but, for greater practical convenience of treatment, we shall
consider the various categories as rhetoricians have grouped
them and named them. Red,urod,ance is a generic term which
includes all the subheadings treated below.
1. Tautology. Tautology is the needless repetition in the
same sentence of the same thought in different words. With
every sentence you write, you must ask yourself whether any
words can be left out without impairing the sense. To rid a
sentence of tautology is not always a simple matter of crossing
out words. Often some rephrasing will help to shorten the sen-
tence and thus facilitate reading. For example, the follou,ing
sentence is tautological: 'The scenery of the valley is made more
beautiful by the beauty of the surrounding mountains.' To rid
the sentence of tautology, either cut out "by the beauty of" or
change "is made more beautiful" into eu,ltanced,; for it will be
apparent that the thought beauty or beau.tiful is used tu,ice in the
same sentence.
Tautology is not always so apparent. The following sentence
is tautological: 'He bought an autograph letter written by John
Hancock.' The word au.tograph. means written by himself ; the
iclea wr,ittero äy therefore occurs twice in the sentence. Hence it
is achrisable to knorv the derivations of your cliction. The sen-
160 SELECTION OF WORDS
tence is simplified thus:'He bought a letter written by John
Hancock.' ih" follo-ing sentence is also tautological: 'A uni-
versal cheer broke out from everyone present'' The wotd' un'i'
aersal means from everyone'
2. Verbosity. Verbosity is the use of more words than you
need for the complete expression of your thought, even though
those extra words do not repeat a meaning, thus: 'As soon as I
heard of the unfortunate accident, I put on my hat, provided
myself with an umbrella on account of the rain, went out, and
hurried as fast as I could to call a doctor.' Study carefully how
that sentence can be cut down to the fotrlowing: 'On hearing of
the accident, I ran off in the rain for the doctor.' It is not im-
portant to the main event whether the narrator had an umbrella.
Those details clog the action without adding interest to it'
Verbosity may occur in many ways. You would be guilty of
it, as well as of weak diction, if you wrote 'ran quickly' f'or hur'
ried, or rushed,;'particular to a degree' for punct'il'ious; 'lasting
only for a day' for ePhenceral.
3. Pleonasm. Pleonasm is only a sort of tautology which can
be cured by cutting out words, without need of rephrasing'
Thus, in 'He seemed to look gracious,' "to look" is unnecessary'
In 'He offered to gir,-e me a ride,' "to give".is unnecessary' In
'their mutual affection for each other,' "for each other" is un-
necessary; you say it all when you say "mutual"'
4. Structural or Stytistic Redundance. Some redundances
are due to a need, real or imagined, for certain structural or
stylistic effects. Beginning a sentence wit:n there 'is or it as ex-
emplifies this condition, for example: 'There is in this com-
munity a certain lack of public spirit which shows itself in our
dirty siclewalks.' The author of that sentence is groping his way
into the heart of the sentence, as if he did not have the idea well
crystallized when he started writing it. There is and there are
arl always weak and colorless and should be cut out whenever
excision is possible. Excision is quite possible in the exemplary
sentence; the sentence would be rriuch stronger as a result of
rephrasing, thus: ' Our dirty sidewalks show a lack of public
spirit in this community.'
cHorcE oF woRDS t6I
Not always can such a colorless beginning be dispensed with.
If, for example, you need to emphasize especially "lack of public
spirit," the emphasis can be achieved by the beginning "there
is."
Many other colorless phrases need to be watched especially,
and ruthlessly cut out, unless you have a cogent reason for
using them-which you will rarely have. Such phrases are os
regards, w'ith regard to,'i,n respect to, 'in connect'ion w'ith, accord'ing
as to whether, as to. Cutting them out will often entail a re-
phrasing of the sentence, but the irnprovement of the sentence
will more than atone for the added work.
The sentence, 'He had grave doubts as to whether his tires
would last,' can be expressed more economically, as 'He doubted
seriously whether his tires would last.' Also, 'In connection with
the settlement of my father's estate, I wish to call your at-
tention to the unpaid taxes on the Baker Street lot,' can be ex-
pressed most economically as 'The taxes on the Baker Street
lot, which is a part of my father's unsettled estate, have not
yet been paid.'
Whenever you find yourself writing the rvords 'insta'nce, case,
natr,Lre, ch,aracter, cond,ition, degree, etc., stop and ask yourself
if you really need the phrase in which the objectionable word
occurs, for example:
The results of the accident were of a trying nature.
In the case of all men up to thirty-five, military service is compulsory.
In several instances, the players were injured.
His criticism was of a virulent character.
See how much of force is gained by condensation:
The results of the accident were trying.
Military service is compulsory for all men up to thirty-five.
Several players were injured.
IIis criticism was virulent.
As a further example, analyze:.'With regard to the game, f was
entirely indifferent as to the results, caring nothing at all whether
I had losses cr gains.' See how those twenty-three words can
 t62 SELECTION OF \,VORDS
be expressed in these ten words: 'I did not care whether I won
or lost the game.'
Remember that cutting out of your writing every word you
can dispense with, without impairing the sense, gives added
force-per-word to your work. But that phrase "impairing the
sense" must be examined carefully. "Sense" must be defined as
necessary and significant sense. Added words, to be sure,
usually add sometlying, at least, to the sense of what you write,
except in the flagrant cases of redundancy presented as examples
above. But you must balance significance against word weight.
If the number of words needed to express an idea appears to
outweigh the value of the idea in the composition, then cui those
words out.
Never consider a piece of writing polished until you have asked
yourself whether you have need of every word you have written.
You will be amazed to see how many words you can dispense
with. Finally, the habit of economy will grow on you.
Exercises in W'ordiness
(Discussed. in the Appendix, Page 410)
Rewrite the following sentences so as to rid each of its wordiness:
1. The accompanying spice of danger only added more to the interest of the
undertaking.
2, Happily no one, by a lucky chance, happened to be in that part of the
mine.
3. All were drowned except five survivors.
4. Though tl-ris book abounds in many inaccuracies, nevertheless it is at
the same time a useful work of reference to consult.
5. Napoleon's reason for retreat rvas on account of the rvant of food and
shelter for his army, whose privations caused his retirement from the burning
city.
6. The storm was the occasion of much loss of life and entailed considerable
injury to property throughout the whole district.
7. The disturbances which for a long time have kept the atmospheric situa-
tion in such an unsettled state, appear to be about to pass away.
8. In the event of his being elected, he has formed the design of holding, in
the near future, a public exhibition of a number of his pictures that he has
painted on various subjects.
CHOICE OF WORDS 163
9. I find that in lnany cases there is room for hesitation as to whether I
sl.rould pass a candidate, in the face of the fact of the inferiority of his hand-
rvriting.
10. The inevitable consequence of his possessing the power to make others
obedient to his will, was that he gave me a curious sensation of indefinable fear.
Review Exercises for the Entire Section
(Discussed in the Appendix, Poge 411)
Comment exhaustively on the diction in the follorving paragraph, applying
to it all the principles regarding tl-re use of v,ords whicl-r you have studied in this
entire section.
\4/hen you have thus analyzed- the parzrgraph, irnprove it by rewriting rvith
hetter diction.
(1) Last Saturday there assetnbled fifty thousand spectators who had conre
(2) from far and near to witness the football game that was scheduled be-
(3) tween Yale and Princeton. The gan-re was slated to commence at three
(4) in the afternoon, and right up to the stroke of the clock, the crowcls
(5) drvindled in. The October sun in the west painted the scene with a golden
(6) glory as the players came out on the emerald carpet. The two bands
(7) emulated one another in rendering stirring music as they enfiladed in
(8) front of the bleachers. When the Captains assembled for the toss of the
(9) coin, they were the recipients of cheers fron-r both Yale and Princeton
(10) students. Following the blol,ving of the whistle, the cheering audience
(11) ensconced itself in the seats. To all intents and purposes, there wasn'l:
(12) a breath clrarvn in the entire grandstand as Captain Jones ran a felv steps
(13) arrd kicked the ball, thereby initiating the play' The ball described a
(14) parabola against the azrtre rrault of the heavens, and sank down to rest
(15) in the arrns of Michaelis. After that, the team began to battle fast and
(16) furiously.