They are old verbal friends. Numbered with them, to be
sure, there may be few with senses and connotations you are ignorant of--
friends of yours, let us say, with a reservation. Even these you may woo
with a little care into uncurbed fraternal abandon. With the exception of
these few, you know the words of the first class so well that without
thinking about it at all you may rely upon their giving you, the moment
you need them, their untempered, uttermost service. You need be at no
further pains about them. They are yours already.
A second class of words is made up of those you speak on occasions either
special or formal--occasions when you are trying, perhaps not to show off,
but at least to put your best linguistic foot foremost. Some of them have
a meaning you are not quite sure of; some of them seem too ostentatious
for workaday purposes; some of them you might have been using but somehow
have not. Words of this class are not your bosom friends. They are your
speaking acquaintance, or perhaps a little better than that. You must
convert them into friends, into prompt and staunch supporters in time of
need. That is to say, you must put them into class one.
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