Thus when he has need of a phrase to
fill out a verbal dinner party, he will know which one to select.
Certain broad classifications of words are manifest even to the most
obtuse user of English. _Shady, behead_, and _lying_ are
"popular" words, while their synonyms _umbrageous_ decapitate,_
and _mendacious_ are "learned" words. _Flabbergasted_ and
_higgledy-piggledy_ are "colloquial," while _roseate_ and
_whilom_ are "literary." _Affidavit, allegro_, _lee shore_,
and _pinch hit_ are "technical," while _vamp_, _savvy, bum
hunch_, and _skiddoo_ are "slang." It would be disenchanting
indeed were extremes of this sort brought together. But offenses of a less
glaring kind are as hard to shut out as February cold from a heated house.
Unusual are the speeches or compositions, even the short ones, in which
every word is in keeping, is in perfect tune with the rest.
For the attainment of this ultimate verbal decorum we should have to
possess knowledge almost unbounded, together with unerring artistic
instinct. But diction of a kind only measurably inferior to this is
possible to us if we are in earnest. To attain it we must study the
difference between abstract and concrete terms, and let neither intrude
unadvisedly upon the presence or functions of the other; do the same by
literal and figurative terms and instruct ourselves in the nature and
significance of connotation.
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