" "Because we both are newspaper men I feel a ____ interest
in him."
_Daily_, the popular word, is often used
loosely. We may say that we eat three meals daily without implying that we
have never gone dinnerless. _Diurnal_, the scientific term, is used
exactly, whether applying to the period of daylight or to the whole
twenty-four hours. A diurnal flower closes at night; a diurnal motion is
precisely coincident with the astronomical day. In poetry, however,
_diurnal_ is often used for _daily_. "Give us this day our ____
bread." "The ____ rotation of the earth on its axis is the cause of our
day and night." "Fred and I went for our ____ ramble through the hills."
Which is the more popular word? Let us see. Would the
man in the street be more likely to use one than the other? Which one?
Does this answer our question? Another question: Which word is the more
inclusive in meaning? Again, let us see. A blacksmith is beating iron;
does the iron grow cold or frigid? Which term, then, approaches the closer
in meaning to the idea of mere coolness? On the other hand, may that same
term represent a temperature far beyond mere coolness? Would you speak of
a morning as bitterly cold or bitterly frigid? Now think of the term you
have not been using.
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