CHAPTERXIIICHOICEOFWORDS
SmallWords—TheirImportaheAnglo-Saxo
Inanotherplathisbookadvicehasbeeoneverusealongwordwhenashortohesamepurpose。Thisadviphasized。Wordsof&quthandthunderingsound"shouldbeavoidedonallpossibleos。Theyproclaimshallowelleityofmipurists,themastersofdi,theexemplarsofstyle,usedshort,simplewordsthatallderstand?wordsaboutwhichthereoambiguityastomeaning。Itmustberememberedthatbyourwordsweteachothers?therefreatresponsibilityrestsupardtotheuseuage。Wemusttakecarethateakinawaysoclearthattheremaybenomisapprehensierofgwrongimpressionsbyvagueandmistyideaseermswhichareliabletobemisuoodbythosewhomweaddress。Wiveabodyorformtoourideas,withoutwhichtheyareabletobesofoggythatwedoheyare>
&maketheeoemploysuchuttheideawehaveinourownmindintothemindofahisisthegreatestartioclotheourideasinwordsdpreheheihers。Itistheartwhichtheteacher,themihelawyer,theorator,thebusinessman,mustmasteriftheywouldaheirvariousfieldsofeisveryhardtoideato,aon,anotherwheafaiionofthelanguageinwhichtheideaisexpressed?butitisimpossibletoveyitatallhichitisclothedareunintelligibletothelistener。
IfweaddressanaudieneheEnglishlausesuchwordsastheypreheaswellspeaktotheminCoptiese,fortheywillderivefromouraddress,inasmuchastheideaswewishtoveyareexpressedinwordswhiuelligeotheirminds。
Longwords,learnedwords,wordsdirectlyderivedfresareooodbythosewhohavehadtheadvantagesofaion。Allhavenothadsutages。Thegreatmajorityinthisgrandandglorioustryofourshavetohustleffre。Thougheduisfree,andpulsoryalso,verymafurtherthahreeR's。"Thesearethemenehavetodealmostinthearehemenwiththehornypalmsandtheirohemenwhobuildourhouses,structourrailroads,driveourstreetdtrains,tillourfields,harvestouraword,themenwhoformthefoundationofallsociety,themenonwhomtheworlddependstomakeitswheelsgoround。Thelahecollegesaiesisnotforthemaalohoutit?theyhaveatalliivegs。Theplain,simplewordsofeverydaylife,towhionpeoplehavebeenusedaroundtheirownfiresidesfromchildhood,arethewordswemustuseinswiththem。
Suchwordsareuoodbythemaoodbythelearhehemuniversallyaime?Whymakeaone-sidedaffairoflanguagebyusingwordswhieclassofthepeople,theso-calledlearneduand?Woulditouse,onallos,lahebothclassesderstahetroubletoieweshallfindthatthemehegreatestswayoverthemassesaudeasorators,lawyers,preadinotherpubliccapacities,weremenwhousedverysimplelanguage。Daerwasamooratorsthistryhasproduced。Hetouchedtheheartsofsenatesandassemblages,ofmeheburningeloquenceofhiswords。Heneverusedalongwordwhenheveythesame,orhesame,meaningwithashortone。eechhealwaystoldthosewhoputitinformforthepresstostrikeword。Studyhisspeeches,gooverallheeversaidorwrote,andyouwillfindthathislanguagewasalofshterms,althoughattimes,forthesakeofsoundandoratoricaleffect,heelledtousearatherlongword,butitwasalwaysagainsthisintodoso,ahemanwhot,withwords,asWebsterpainted!Hecouldpigsinawaysoclearthatthosewhoheardhimfeltthattheyhadseenthatofwhichhespoke。
AbrahamLinwasairredthesoulsofmeanorator,notascholar?hedidnoth。D。afterhisname,oranyedegree,forhehadedfromtheUyofHardKnodhethissevereAlmaMaterwhenhebecamePresideedStates。Helain,Ijustashumble,asinthedayswherailsorpliedaboatontheSausebigwords,butheusedthewordsofthepeople,andinsuchawayastomakethembeautiful。HisGettysburgaddressisanEnglishclassieofthegreatmasterpiecesofthelanguage。
Fromthemerefactthatawordisshortitdoesnotfollowthatitisalwaysclear,butitistruethatnearlyallclearwordsareshort,andthatmostofthelongwords,especiallythosewhichwegetfres,aremisuoagreatextentbytheordinaryrankahepeople。Iistobedoubtedifsomeofthe"scholars"usingthem,fullyuheirimportonos。Agreatmanysuitofseveraliions。Awordhastobeidealbeforepeoplegetthhlyfamiliarwithitsmeaning。Longwords,notalhtaheideashazy,butattimestheytendtomixupthingsinsuchaositivelyharmfulresultsfollowfromtheiruse。
Forinstance,besocoveredwiththefoldsoflongwordsastogiveitadifferentappearahehideousnessofsinbecloakedwithsuchwordsuntilitsoutlineslooklikeathiy。Whenabankcashiermakesoffwithahuhousanddollarswepolitelytermhiscrimedefalsteadofplai,andinsteadofghimselfathiefwegrandioselyalludetohimasadefaulter。ealthymanstaggeringalongafashiohhfareuheinfluenceofalcohol,wavinghisarmsintheairandshoutingboisterously,entleman,heissomewhatexhilarated?oratworstwesay,heisslightlyiwhenoormanwhohasfallenfromgracebyputtingaohismouthtostealawayhisbrain"weexpressnationinthesimplelahewords:"Lookatthewretch?heisdeaddrunk。"
Whenersonindhtlyihefalsehoodwiththefinely-spuncloakofthewordprevari。Shakespearesays,"arosebyanyothernamewouldsmellassweet,"andbyasimilarsequeerbywhatnameyoumaycallit,isalwaysalieandshouldbesimplycallitalie?Meanwhatyousayandsaywhatyoumean?callaspadeaspade,itisthebesttermyouapplytotheimplement。
&rytouseshortwordsandshunlongonesinalittlewhileyouwillfindthatyoudosowithease。Afarmerwasshowiybredgeheanimalwasledintoapaddowhioldsow-pigwasrooting。"Whatafinequadruped!"exclaimedthe。
"Whichofthetwodoyoumeahehorse?"queriedthefarmer,"for,inmyopinion,bothofthemarefinequadrupeds。"
Ofcoursethevisitormeantthehorse,soitwouldhavebeeerhadhecalledtheanimalbyitssimple?ordiherewouldhavebeennuityinhisremark。Heprofited,however,bythei,andnevercalledahorseaquadrupedagain。
Mostofthesmallwords,thesimplewords,thebeautifulwordswhichexpresssomusmallbouhepureAnglo-Saxoe。Thiselementhasgiveheheavehesun,moonandstars?tothreeoutofthefourelemeh,fireahreeoutofthefourseas,summerassimpleliedtoallthenaturaldivisioone,asday,night,m,evening,twilight,noon,mid-day,midnight,sunriseahenamesoflight,heat,cold,frost,rain,snow,hail,sleet,thuning,aswellasalmostallthoseobjectswhitheposofthebeautiful,asexpressediernalsery,suchasseaandland,hillanddale,woodaglo-Saxon。Tothissamelanguageweareihosewordswhichexpresstheearliestas,aroandmostpowerfulfeelingsofNature,andwhich,asaterwoveandmosthallowedassos。Ofsuchwordsarefather,mother,husbaher,sister,son,daughter,e,kindred,frieh,roofandfireside。
Thechiefemotionsoftibleareexpressedinthesamelanguage—love,hope,fear,sorrow,shame,andalsothensbywhichtheseemotioed,astear,smile,laugh,blush,weep,sigh,groan。Nearlyallournationalprlo-Saxon。Almostallthetermsandphrasesbywhichwemeticallyexpressaemptandindighesamein。
WhatareknowSetandso-calledpolitesatimanylo-Saxonwordsintotheshade,faithfulfrieheiraorswell。Theseself-appoiersofdiregardsomeoftheAnglo-Saxonwordsastoocoarse,tooplebeiahetictastesandrefiheyareelimiheirvocabularyahemwithmongrelsnbirthandhybridsofunknin。Fortheordinarypeople,however,themaorihewomathefactory,theyarestilltriedandtrueand,likeoldfriends,shouldbecherishedaers,nomatterfromwhatsourcethelattermayspring。