The aristocratic old lady was ____ by her loss of social
position. The conversion of so much bullion into money had ____ the
coinage.
An interesting thing about the _answer_ group is that the generic
term has a somewhat strong rival in _reply_, itself fairly inclusive.
We must therefore discriminate rather fully between _answer_ and
_reply_. The former is a return in words to a question, a
communication, or an argument. The latter suggests a more or less formal
answer, as one carefully prepared or intelligently thought out. We might
give an _answer_ offhand, but are less likely to give a _reply_
so. We may give any kind of _answer_ to a question, but if we give a
_reply_, the implication is that we have answered it definitely,
perhaps satisfactorily. On the other hand, in controversial matters we
may, though we by no means always do, imply a more conclusive meeting of
objections through _answer_ than through _reply_. A
_response_ is an expected answer, one in harmony with the question or
assertion, or in some way carrying the thought farther. A _rejoinder_
is a quick reply to something controversial or calling forth opposition.
Pages:
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253