III
WORDS IN COMBINATION: HOW MASTERED
The more dangerous pitfalls for those who use words in combination--as all
of us do--have been pointed out. The best ways of avoiding these pitfalls
have also been indicated. But our work together has thus far been chiefly
negative. To be sure, many tasks assigned for your performance have been
constructive as well as precautionary; but _the end_ held ever before
you has been the avoidance of feeble or ridiculous diction. In the present
chapter we must take up those aspects of the mastery of words in
combination which are primarily positive.
Before coming to specific aspects and assignments, however, we shall do
well to consider certain large general purposes and methods.
First, what kind of vocabulary do we wish to acquire? A facile, readily
used one? An accurate one? Or one as nearly as may be comprehensive? The
three kinds do not necessarily coexist. The possession of one may even
hinder and retard the acquisition of another. Thus if we seek a ready
vocabulary, an accurate vocabulary may cause us to halt and hesitate for
words which shall correspond with the shadings of our thought and emotion,
and a wide vocabulary may embarrass us with the plenitude of our verbal
riches.
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