Over Ten Thousand Useful Phrases: How To Use These Phrases
Help with Vocabulary, Creative & Business Writing, and Speeches
Table of Contents:
Words are things; and a small drop of ink, falling like dew upon a thought,
produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.
--Byron
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The study of words, phrases, and literary expressions is a highly
interesting pursuit. There is a reciprocal influence between thought and
language. What we think molds the words we use, and the words we use react
upon our thoughts. Hence a study of words is a study of ideas, and a
stimulant to deep and original thinking.
We should not, however, study "sparkling words and sonorous phrases" with
the object of introducing them consciously into our speech. To do so would
inevitably lead to stiltedness and superficiality. Words and phrases
should be studied as symbols of ideas, and as we become thoroughly
familiar with them they will play an unconscious but effective part in our
daily expression.
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We acquire our vocabulary largely from our reading and our personal
associates. The words we use are an unmistakable indication of our thought
habits, tastes, ideals, and interests in life. In like manner, the
habitual language of a people is a barometer of their intellectual, civil,
moral, and spiritual ideals. A great and noble people express themselves
in great and noble words.
Ruskin earnestly counsels us to form the habit of looking intensely at
words. We should scrutinize them closely and endeavor to grasp their
innermost meaning. There is an indefinable satisfaction in knowing how to
choose and use words with accuracy and precision. As Fox once said, "I am
never at a loss for a word, but Pitt always has the word."
All the great writers and orators have been diligent students of words.
Demosthenes and Cicero were indefatigable in their study of language.
Shakespeare, "infinite in faculty," took infinite pains to embody his
thought in words of crystal clearness. Coleridge once said of him that
one might as well try to dislodge a brick from a building with one's
forefinger as to omit a single word from one of his finest passages.
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Milton, master of majestic prose, under whose touch words became as living
things; Flaubert, who believed there was one and one only best word with
which to express a given thought; De Quincey, who exercised a weird-like
power over words; Ruskin, whose rhythmic prose enchanted the ear; Keats,
who brooded over phrases like a lover; Newman, of pure and melodious
style; Stevenson, forever in quest of the scrupulously precise word;
Tennyson, graceful and exquisite as the limpid stream; Emerson, of
trenchant and epigrammatic style; Webster, whose virile words sometimes
weighed a pound; and Lincoln, of simple, Saxon speech,--all these
illustrious men were assiduous in their study of words.
Many persons of good education unconsciously circumscribe themselves
within a small vocabulary. They have a knowledge of hundreds of desirable
words which they do not put into practical use in their speech or writing.
Many, too, are conscious of a poverty of language, which engenders in them
a sense of timidity and self-depreciation. The method used for building a
large vocabulary has usually been confined to the study of single words.
This has produced good results, but it is believed that eminently better
results can be
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obtained from a careful study of words and expressions, as
furnished in this book, where words can be examined in their context.
It is intended and suggested that this study should be pursued in
connection with, and as a supplement to, a good standard dictionary.
Fifteen minutes a day devoted to this subject, in the manner outlined,
will do more to improve and enlarge the vocabulary than an hour spent in
desultory reading.
There is no better way in which to develop the mental qualities of
clearness, accuracy, and precision, and to improve and enlarge the
intellectual powers generally, than by regular and painstaking study of
judiciously selected phrases and literary expressions.
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Table of Contents:
Public Domain:
Originally written by Greenville Kleiser (1917): Formerly instructor in Public Speaking at Yale Divinity School, Yale University; Author of "How To Speak In Public," "How To Develop Power and Personality In Speaking," "How To Develop Self-Confidence in Speech and Manner," "How To Argue and Win," "How To Read and Declaim," "Complete Guide To Public Speaking," Etc...
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Last Modified: July 29th, 2006
Comments on This Article:
Ashley
20 Jul 2008, 16:31
this has really helped me to expand my vocabulary in my essays.
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