VII

His downrightness is the complement of his uprightness. As a supplement to his wages he received an occasional bonus.

He put in the completing touches. He had finished the task.

His composure was not to be shaken. After this inner tumult came equanimity.

Numbers of such magnitude are scarcely comprehensible. That men by the million should die for a cause is a thing not really comprehensive.

Who does not feel within him a compulsion to help the weak? It was through obligation, through having slave-drivers stand over them, that these wretched folk built the pyramids.

I congratulated my friend on his appointment to the commission. I also felicitated the stranger on his appointment.

Three consecutive convictions proved the ability of the prosecuting attorney. The quiet passing of successive summer days.

Its size was insignificant, even contemptible. He won the prize by a contemptuous trick.

The investigator was surprised to find the tradition of such long continuation. We waited impatiently for the continuance of the story in the next issue.

I am more and more amazed at the perfection of man's corporal frame. His corporeal vigor was unusual.

A man may correct many of his false judgments on current affairs by studying history. The mistake is ours; it shall be rectified.

The cozy fit of a garment. A snug place by the fire.

We crawled forward at dawn to surprise their outposts. In his humility he fairly crept on the earth.

I do not doubt it; it is entirely credible. The success of the antidote seemed scarcely creditable.

Though he is the official and credited ambassador, his assertions are not accredited.

I cured the dog's wounds. The physician declared he could heal leprosy.

"A custom more honor'd in the breach than the observance." Is it your custom to watch the clock while you eat? The habit in that region was to rise at cockcrow.

A decided battle. A decisive fault in manners.

We still await a definite edition of this author's works. His answer was so definitive that we no longer doubted what he meant.

Clive added India to the British demesne. The king went riding through his personal domain.

The German mark has deprecated in value. He depreciated the praise they were lavishing upon him.

They tied themselves together with a rope in order to make their dissent safer. The dissent to a lower plane of conversation was what he most desired.

The discovery of the wireless telegraph is Marconi's chief claim to remembrance. The invention of a water passage between Tierra del Fuego and the mainland was the work of Magellan.

He could not discriminate individuals at that distance. Any man can distinguish right from wrong.

His course was entirely generous and disinterested. Most visitors to art galleries have an uninterested manner.

This disposal of the matter is authoritative, final. His disposition of his forces was well-considered.

Though the colonists were dissatisfied for the moment, they could hardly be called discontented.

The distinct quality of his character was aggressiveness. There were four separate and distinctive calls.

An affected, dramatic manner. A truly theatrical situation.

A dry plain. An arid place to sleep in.

The man stood dumb with surprise. Always be kind to mute animals.

Our joy is durable. Oak is a lasting wood.

3. Consult the dictionary for the distinction between the members of each of the following pairs. Frame sentences to illustrate the correct use of the words. (Some of the words in this list, as well as some in other parts of the chapter, are considered in larger groups in the chapters following.)

earth, world efficiency, efficacy egoism, egotism eldest, oldest elemental, elementary elude, evade emigrate, immigrate enough, sufficient envy, jealousy equable, equitable equal, equivalent essential, necessary esteem, respect euphemism, euphuism evidence, proof exact, precise exchange, interchange excuse, pardon exempt, immune expect, suppose expedite, facilitate

facsimile, copy familiar, intimate fancy, imagination farther, further feeling, sentiment feminine, effeminate fervent, fervid fewer, less fluid, liquid first (or last) two, two first (or last) food, feed foreign, alien force, strength forgive, pardon

gayety, cheerfulness genius, talent gentle, tame genuine, authentic glance, glimpse grateful, thankful grieve, mourn

hanged, hung happen, transpire happiness, pleasure healthy, healthful hear, listen heathen, pagan honorable, honorary horrible, horrid human, humane

illegible, unreadable image, effigy imaginary, imaginative impending, approaching imperious, imperial imply, infer in, into inability, disability ingenious, ingenuous intelligent, intellectual insinuation, innuendo instinct, intuition involve, implicate irony, sarcasm irretrievable, irreparable

judicious, judicial just, equitable justify, warrant

lack, want languor, lassitude later, latter lawful, legal lax, slack leave, let lend, loan liable, likely libel, slander lie, lay like, love linger, loiter look, see loose, lose luxurious, luxuriant

majority, plurality marine, maritime martial, military moderate, temperate mood, humor moral, ethical moral, religious mutual, reciprocal myth, legend

natal, native nautical, naval near, close necessaries, necessities needy, needful noted, notorious novice, tyro

observance, observation observe, perceive obsolete, archaic omnipresent, ubiquitous on, upon oppose, resist opposite, contrary oppress, depress

palliate, extenuate passionate, impassioned pathos, pity patron, customer peculiar, unusual perspicuity, perspicacity permeate, pervade permit, allow perseverance, persistence pertain, appertain pictorial, picturesque pitiable, pitiful pity, sympathy pleasant, pleasing politician, statesman practicable, practical precipitous, precipitate precision, preciseness prejudice, bias prelude, overture pride, vanity principal, principle process, procedure procure, secure professor, teacher progress, progression propitious, auspicious proposal, proposition tradition, legend truth, veracity

quiet, quiescent

raise, rear raise, rise ransom, redeem rare, scarce reason, understanding reasonable, rational recollect, remember regal, royal reliable, trustworthy requirement, requisite restive, restless reverse, inverse ride, drive rime (or rhyme), rhythm

sacred, holy salutation, salute scanty, sparse scholar, student science, art scrupulous, conscientious serf, slave shift, expedient sick, ill silent, taciturn sit, set skilled, skilful slender, slim smart, clever sociable, social solicitude, anxiety stay, stop stimulus, stimulation strut, swagger suppress, repress

termination, terminus theory, hypothesis tolerate, permit torment, torture tradition, legend truth, veracity

unbelief, disbelief unique, unusual

varied, various variety, diversity venal, venial vengeance, revenge verse, stanza vindictive, revengeful visit, visitation visitant, visitor

wander, stray warn, caution will, volition wit, humor witness, see womanish, womanlike worth, value

Pairs of the third type are made up of words parallel in meaning. This class somewhat overlaps the second; many terms that are frequently confused are parallels, and parallelism is of course a cause of confusion.

Parallels are words that show likeness in meaning. Likeness, not sameness. Yet at one time actual sameness may have existed, and in many instances did. Nowadays this sameness has been lost, and the words have become differentiated. As a rule they still are closely related in thought; sometimes, however, the divergence between them is wide.

Why did words having the same meaning find lodgment in the language in the first place? The law of linguistic economy forbids any such happening, and only through sheer good fortune did English come to possess duplications. The original Anglo-Saxon did not contain them. But the Roman Catholic clergy brought to England the language of religion and of scholarship, Latin. Later the Normans, whose speech as a branch of French was an offshoot of Latin, came to the island as conquerors. For a time, therefore, three languages existed side by side in the country—Anglo- Saxon among the common folk, Latin among the clergy, and Norman-French at the court and among the nobility. The coalescing of the three (or of the two if we count Latin in its direct and indirect contributions as one) was inevitable. But other (mostly cognate) languages also had a part in the speech that was ultimately evolved. The Anglo-Saxon element was augmented by words from Dutch, Scandinavian, and the Germanic tongues in general; and Latin was reinforced by Greek. Thus to imply, as is sometimes done, that modern English is simply a blend of Anglo-Saxon and Latin elements is misleading.Nativeandclassicare the better terms to use, provided both are used broadly.Nativemust include not only Anglo-Saxon but the other Germanic elements as well, andclassicmust include French and Greek as well as Latin.

The welding of these languages made available two—in some instances more than two—words for a single object or idea. What became of these duplicates? Sometimes one of the words was dropped as needless. Oftentimes, however, both were retained—with such modifications in meaning that thereafter they designated, not the same object or idea, but different forms or aspects of it. Thus they became parallels, and the new language waxed rich with discriminations which neither of the component tongues had possessed.

Scott inIvanhoegives the basis upon which the unification of the languages proceeded. The jester Wamba in conversation with the swineherd Gurth explains how the Anglo-Saxon term took on the homelier, rougher, more workaday uses and left the more refined and fastidious uses for the Norman-French. A domestic animal, says Wamba, was cared for by the conquered people, and in consequence bore while living a "good Saxon" name—swine, ox, or calf; but it was served at the tables of the conquerors, and therefore when ready for consumption bore a "good Norman-French" name—pork, beef, or veal. "When the brute [a sow] lives, and is in charge of a Saxon slave, she goes by her Saxon name; but becomes Norman and is called pork, when she is carried into the castle hall to feast among the nobles…. He [a calf] is Saxon when he requires tendance, and takes a Norman name [Monsieur de Veau] when he becomes matter of enjoyment."

Let us see how Scott's contention fares if we extend his list of terms relative to animal life. As throughout the rest of this chapter, with the single and necessary exception of List B, the first word in each pair is native, the second classic:

sheep, mutton deer, venison horse, equine cow, bovine bull, taurine sheep, ovine wolf, lupine hog, porcine bear, ursine fox, vulpine cat, feline dog, canine fish, piscatorial mouse, vermin rat, rodent mankind, humanity man, masculine woman, feminine childish, infantile boyish, puerile

A glance at this list will show that, at least as regards animal life, the native word is likely to be the more familiar and unpretentious. But we must not leap to the conclusion that, taking the language as a whole, the simple, easy word is sure to be native, the abstruse word classic. In the following list one word in each pair is simpler, oftentimes much simpler, than the other; yet both are of classic origin. (In some instances the two are doublets; that is, they spring from the same stem.)

boil, effervesce plenty, abundance force, coerce clear, transparent sound, reverberate echo, reverberate toil, labor false, perfidious prove, verify join, unite join, annex try, endeavor carry, convey save, preserve save, rescue safe, secure poor, pauper poor, penurious poor, impecunious native, indigenous strange, extraneous excuse, palliate excusable, venial cannon, ordnance corpse, cadaverous parish, parochial fool, stultify fool, idiot rule, govern governor, gubernatorial wages, salary nice, exquisite haughty, arrogant letter, epistle pursue, prosecute use, utility use, utilize rival, competitor male, masculine female, feminine beauty, esthetics beauty, pulchritude beautify, embellish poison, venom vote, franchise vote, suffrage taste, gust tasteful, gustatory tasteless, insipid flower, floral count, compute cowardly, pusillanimous tent, pavilion money, finance monetary, pecuniary trace, vestige face, countenance turn, revolve bottle, vial grease, lubricant oily, unctuous revive, resuscitate faultless, impeccable scourge, flagellate power, puissance barber, tonsorial bishop, episcopal carry, portable fruitful, prolific punish, punitive scar, cicatrix hostile, inimical choice, option cry, vociferate ease, facility peaceful, pacific beast, animal chasten, castigate round, rotunda imprison, incarcerate bowels, viscera boil, ebullient city, municipal color, chromatics nervous, neurotic pleasing, delectable accidental, fortuitous change, mutation lazy, indolent fragrance, aroma pay, compensate face, physiognomy joy, rapture charitable, eleemosynary blame, blaspheme priest, presbyter coy, quiet prudent, provident pupil, disciple story, narrative pause, interval despise, abhor doctor, physician fate, destiny country, rustic aged, senile increase, increment gentle, genteel clear, apparent eagle, aquiline motion, momentum nourishment, nutrition pure, unadulterated closeness, proximity number, notation ancestors, progenitors confirm, corroborate convert, proselyte benediction, benison treasury, thesaurus egotism, megalomania

Sometimes the native word is less familiar than the classic:

seethe, boil loam, soil fare, travel abide, remain bestow, present bestow, deposit din, noise quern, mill learner, scholar shamefaced, modest hue, color tarnish, stain ween, expect leech, physician shield, protect steadfast, firm withstand, resist straightway, immediately dwelling, residence heft, gravity delve, excavate forthright, direct tidings, report bower, chamber rune, letter borough, city baleful, destructive gainsay, contradict cleave, divide hearten, encourage hoard, treasure

Again, the native word is sometimes less emphatic than the classic:

fly, soar old, venerable flood, cataclysm steep, precipitous wonder, astonishment speed, velocity sparkle, scintillate stir, commotion stir, agitate strike, collide learned, erudite small, diminutive scare, terrify burn, combustion fire, conflagration fall, collapse uproot, eradicate skin, excoriate hate, abominate work, labor bright, brilliant hungry, famished eat, devour twisted, contorted thin, emaciated sad, lugubrious mirth, hilarity

Despite these exceptions, the native word is in general better known and more crudely powerful than the classic. Thus of the pairsweat-perspiration,sweatis the plain-spoken, everyday member,perspirationthe polite, even learned member. The man of limited vocabulary sayssweat; even the sophisticated person, unless there is occasion to soften effects, findssweatthe more natural term. No one would say that a horse perspires. No one would say that human beings must eat their bread in the perspiration of their faces. Butsweatis a word of connotation too vigorous (though honest withal) for us to use the term in the drawing room. A questionable woman inThe Vicar of Wakefieldbetrays her lack of breeding by the remark that she is in a muck of sweat.

The native word, besides being in itself simpler and starker than the classic, makes stronger appeal to our feelings and affections. In nearly every instance the objects and relationships that have woven themselves into the very texture of our lives are designated by native terms. Even if they are not so designated solely, they are so designated in their more cherished aspects. We warm more to the nativefatherlythan to the classicpaternal. We have a deeper sentiment for the nativehomethan for the classicresidence.

That the native is the more downright term may be seen from the following words. (These pairs are of course merely illustrative. With them might be grouped a few special pairs, likedevilish-diabolicalandchurch-ecclesiastical, of which the first members are classic in origin but of such early naturalization into English that they may be regarded as native.)

belly, stomach belly, abdomen navel, umbilicus suck, nurse naked, nude murder, homicide dead, deceased dead, defunct dying, moribund lust, salacity lewd, libidinous read, peruse lie, prevaricate hearty, cordial following, subsequent crowd, multitude chew, masticate food, pabulum eat, regale meal, repast meal, refection thrift, economy sleepy, soporific slumberous, somnolent live, reside rot, putrefy swelling, protuberant soak, saturate soak, absorb stinking, malodorous spit, saliva spit, expectorate thievishness, kleptomania belch, eructate sticky, adhesive house, domicile eye, optic walker, pedestrian talkative, loquacious talkative, garrulous wisdom, sapience bodily, corporeal name, appellation finger, digit show, ostentation nearness, propinquity wash, lave handwriting, chirography waves, undulations shady, umbrageous fat, corpulent muddy, turbid widow, relict horseback, equestrian weight, avoirdupois blush, erubescence

The word of classic origin in many instances survives only or mainly in the form of an adjective; as a noun (or other part of speech) it has completely or largely disappeared. This fact may be observed in lists already given, particularly List A. It may also be observed in the following words:

moon, lunar star, stellar star, sidereal sun, solar earth, terrestrial world, mundane heaven, celestial hell, infernal earthquake, seismic ear, aural head, capital hand, manual foot, pedal breast, pectoral heart, cardial hip, sciatic tail, caudal throat, guttural lung, pulmonary bone, osseous hair, hirsute tearful, lachrymose early, primitive sweet, dulcet, sweet, saccharine young, juvenile bloody, sanguinary deadly, mortal red, florid bank, riparian hard, arduous wound, vulnerable written, graphic spotless, immaculate sell, mercenary son, filial salt, saline meal, farinaceous wood, ligneous wood, sylvan cloud, nebulous glass, vitreous milk, lacteal water, aquatic stone, lapidary gold, aureous silver, argent iron, ferric honey, mellifluous loving, amatory loving, erotic loving, amiable wedded, hymeneal plow, arable priestly, sacerdotal arrow, sagittal wholesome, salubrious warlike, bellicose timely, temporary fiery, igneous ring, annular soap, saponaceous nestling, nidulant snore, stertorous window, fenestral twilight, crepuscular soot, fuliginous hunter, venatorial

The fact that English is a double-barreled language, and that of parallel terms one is likely to be native and the other classic, is interesting in itself. Our lists of parallels, however, though (with the exception of List B) they are arranged to bring out this duality of origin, have other and more vital uses as material for exercises. For after all it matters little whether we know where a word comes from, provided we know thoroughly the meaning and implications of the word itself. The lists already given and those to follow show the more important words actually yoked as parallels. Your task must be to ascertain the differences in import between the words thus joined.

EXERCISE - Parallels

Study the discriminations between the members of the following pairs. At each blank in the illustrative sentences insert the appropriate word.

Brotherlyis used of actual blood kinship, or indicates close feeling, deep affection, or religious love.Fraternalis used less personally and intimately; it normally betokens that the relations are at least in part formal (as relations within societies). "The sight of the button on the stranger's lapel caused Wilkes to give him the cabalistic sign and ask his ____ assistance." "Though the children of different parents, we bear for each other a true ____ devotion." "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,diurnalis often used fordaily. "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.Canit convey as wide meanings, or is it limited in range? Does the wordfrigidcarry for you a geographical suggestion (to the frigid zone)? Do you yourself use the term? If so, do you use it chiefly (perhaps entirely) in connection with human temperament or demeanor? Iscoldused thus figuratively also? Which is the more often thus used? "I suffer from ____ hands and feet." "The slopes of Mont Blanc are ____ with eternal snow." "He did not warm to the idea at all. His inclinations are absolutely ____."

.Manlyimplies possession of traits or qualities a man should possess; it may be used of immature persons.Virileimplies maturity and robust masculinity; it is also used of the power to procreate. "A ____ lad." "A ____ reply." "____ energy." "____ and aggressive." "____ forbearance."

.Inneris somewhat within, or more within than something else is; it is also used in figurative and spiritual senses.Internalis entirely within. "The ____ organs of the human body." "The ____ layer of the rind." "The injury was ____." "The ____ nature of man." "The ____ meaning of the occurrence."

. "He was five feet, eleven inches in height." Can you substitutealtitude? Isaltitudeused of persons? "At an altitude of eleven feet from the ground." Wouldheightbe more natural? Doesaltitudebetoken great height? If so, does Hamlet speak jestingly when he greets the player, "Your ladyship is nearer heaven than when I saw you last, by the altitude of a chopine?" What of the sentence: "The altitude of Galveston was not sufficient to protect it from the tidal wave"? Does the magnitude or importance of the object (Galveston) compensate for its lack of elevation and thus justifyaltitude? Couldheightbe substituted? If so, would the wordsabove sea-levelhave to follow it? Does this fact give you a further clue as to the distinction between the two words? You are comparing the elevation of two peaks, both plainly visible; you measure them merely by your eye. Do you say "This exceeds the other in height" or "This exceeds the other in altitude"? Suppose the peaks are so distant from each other that the two are not visible simultaneously, and suppose you are speaking from a knowledge of the scientific measurements. Do you say "This exceeds the other in height" or "This exceeds the other in altitude"?

.Talkmay be one-sided and empty.Conversationrequires that at least two shall participate, and it is not spoken of as empty, though it may be trivial. "Our ____ was somewhat desultory." "Thought is less general than ____." "His ____ was so lively that I had no chance to interrupt" "That is meaningless ____."

. All of us have heard physicians call commonplace ailments by extraordinary names. When homesickness reaches the stage where a physician is or might be called in, it becomes nostalgia. The latter term suggests morbid or chronic suffering. A healthy boy away from home for the first time is homesick. An exile who has wasted himself with pining for his native land is nostalgic. "His ____ was more than ____; it had so preyed upon his thoughts that it had grown into ____."

Rise, ascend.Riseis the more general term, but it expresses less thanascendin degree or stateliness. "He had foretold to them that he would ____ into heaven." "Do not ____ from your seat." "The diver slowly ____ to the surface." "The travelers ____ the mountain."

.Sellis the more dignified word socially, but may express greater moral degradation.Vendis used of the petty (as that which can be carried about in a wagon), and may suggest the pettily dishonest. "That man would ____ his country." "We shall ____ a million dollars' worth of goods." "The hucksters ____ their wares."

Study the discriminations between the members of the following pairs. Determine whether the words are correctly used in the illustrative sentences. (Some are; some are not.)

.Friendlydenotes goodwill positive in quality though perhaps limited in degree; we may be friendly to friends, enemies, or strangers.Amicableis negative, denoting absence of open discord: it is used of those persons between whom some connection already exists. "The newcomer has an amicable manner." "Both sides were cautious, but at last they reached a friendly settlement." "I have only amicable feelings for an enemy who is thus merciful." "The two met, if not in a friendly, at least in an amicable way."

. Both words imply an act of the will; butwillingadds positive good-nature, desire, or enthusiasm, whereasvoluntaryconveys little or nothing of the emotional attitude.Voluntaryis often thought of in contrast withmechanical. "They made willing submission." "They rendered whole-hearted and voluntary service." "Though torn by desire to return to his mother, he willingly continued his journey away from her." "The sneeze was unwilling."

Greedydenotes excessiveness (usually habitual) of appetite or, in its figurative uses, of desire; it nearly always carries the idea of selfishness.Voraciousdenotes intense hunger or the hasty and prolonged consumption of great quantities of food; it may indicate, not habitual selfishness, but the stress of circumstances. "Nobody else I know is so greedy as he." "The young poet was voracious of praise." "Trench, though a capital fellow, was so hungry that he ate voraciously."

Offspringis likely to be used when our thought is chiefly on the children,progenywhen our thought is chiefly on the parents.Offspringmay be used of one or many;progenyis used in collective reference to many. "He was third among the progeny who won distinction." "They are the progeny of very rich parents." "Clayton left his offspring well provided for."

Ghostis the narrower term. It never expresses, asspiritdoes, the idea of soul or of animating mood or purpose. With reference to incorporeal beings, it denotes (except in the phrase "the Holy Ghost") the reappearance of the dead in disembodied form.Spiritmay denote a variety of incorporeal beings—among them angels, fairies (devoid of moral nature), and personalities returned from the grave and manifested—seldom visibly—through spiritualistic tappings and the like. "The superstitious natives thought the spirit of their chief walked in the graveyard." "The ghost of the ancestors survives in the descendants." "I can call spirits from the vasty deep."

Nowadays the chief difference between the two terms is thatfoeis the more used in poetry,enemyin prose. Butfoetends to express the more personal and implacable hostility. We do not think of foes as bearing any friendship for each other; enemies may, or they may be enemies in public affairs but downright friends in their private relations. A man is hardly spoken of as being his own foe, but he may be his own enemy. "For the moment we found ourselves foes." "Suspicion is an enemy to content." "I paid a tribute to my friend, who was the dominant personality among the enemy."

Truthhas to do with the accuracy of the statement, of the facts;veracitywith the intention of the person to say nothing false. "I cannot vouch for the veracity of the story, but I can for the truth of the teller." "Though he is not a man of veracity, I believe he is now speaking the truth." "Veracity, crushed to earth, will rise again."

.Breakis the broader term. It need not refer clearly to the operation or result of external force, nor need it embody the idea that this force is brought against a hard substance. In these respects it differs fromfracture, as also in the fact that it may designate a mere interruption. Furthermore it has figurative uses, whereasfractureis narrowly literal. "There was a fracture in the chain of mountains." "The break in his voice was distinct." "The fracture of the bones of his wrist incapacitated him." "The fracture of the rope."

. Tohugis to clasp violently or enthusiastically, and perhaps ludicrously. Toembraceis to clasp in a more dignified, perhaps even in a formal, way; the term also means to include, to comprise. "This topic embraces the other." "Did you see that ardent bumpkin embracing his sweetheart?" "Her sister gave her a graceful but none too cordial hug." "The wounded bear hugged the hunter ferociously."

. The two terms overlap; but there is a fairly strong tendency to useshortenfor reduction in length, andabridgefor reduction in quantity or mass. Both words are used figuratively as well as literally. "The tyrant shortened the privileges of his subjects." "We shortened the rope." "The teacher abridged the recitation." "The report of the committee appears in abridged form in Volume 2 of our records."

With the help of the dictionary discriminate between the members of the following pairs. Determine whether the words are correctly used in the illustrative sentences. (Some are; some are not.)

. "He delivered a fiery address." "The underbrush was dry and fiery." "Your disposition is too inflammable."

. "The fat man had grown attenuated." "Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look." "The hot metal was then drawn into an attenuated wire." "Only a lean line of our soldiers faced the dense masses of the enemy."

. "The scene was quiet and domestic." "It is home-like, inexpressibly dear." "To Waltham, heartsick from his wanderings, the room in all its arrangements was thoroughly domestic."

. "We must be vigilant if we would maintain our liberty." "He was wakeful, even watchful, though not from set purpose." "He was vigilant for evidences of friendship."

. "It is a big, barn-like building." "Spare yonder sacred edifice." "This is the most imposing building I ever saw."

. "I poked a stick into the aperture which the crawfish had made." "Through the aperture of the partly open door I gazed out on the street." "The hole of the hornet's nest was black with the emerging and angry insects."

. "Two hundred students graduated this year from the college of farming." "For long years he had devoted himself to the homely, grinding tasks of agriculture." "I have looked rather carefully into the theories of farming."

. "He obtained some repose even while standing." "We wished for a moment's rest from our exertions." "Worn out, he was compelled to seek repose." "Lincoln's face in repose was very melancholy."

. "The man was so injured he could do nothing for himself; I had to aid him." "Help, help!" "Aid us, O God, in our sore distress." "The little fellow could not quite get the bundle to his shoulder; a passerby helped him."

. "By refraining from comment he hid his connection with the affair." "Wild creatures hide themselves by means of their protective coloring." "The frost on the panes conceals the landscape from you." "Do not hide your misdeeds from your mother."

In the following list only the native member of each pair is given. Determine what the classic member is, and frame sentences to illustrate the correct use of the two words. (Make a conscientious effort to find the classic member by means of its parallelism with the native. If, and after, you definitely fail in any instance to find it, obtain a clue to it through study of the words in List G. Every pair in that list is clearly suggestive of one or more pairs in this list.)

nightly,— motherly,— breadth,— buy,— hot,— fall,— thought,— sleeplessness,— fatherly,— yearly,— outer,— depth,— womanly,— speech,—

Discriminate between the members of each of the following pairs, and frame sentences to illustrate the correct use of the two words.

freedom, liberty well, cistern freedom, independence give, donate free, acquit happen, occur door, portal lessen, abate begin, commence lessen, diminish behead, decapitate forefathers, ancestors belief, credence friend, acquaintance belief, credulity lead, conduct swear, vow end, finish curse, imprecate end, complete curse, anathema end, terminate die, expire warn, admonish die, perish warn, caution die, succumb rich, affluent lively, vivacious wealthy, opulent walk, ambulate help, assistance leave, depart help, succor leave, abandon answer, reply go with, accompany find out, ascertain go before, precede take, appropriate hasten, accelerate shrewd, astute quicken, accelerate breathe, respire speed, celerity busy, industrious hatred, animadversion growing, crescent fearful, timorous grow, increase

Cover with a piece of paper the classic (right-hand) members of the following pairs, and if possible ascertain what they are by studying the native members. Frame sentences to illustrate the correct use of both words in each pair.

neighborhood, vicinity hang, impend hang, suspend rash, impetuous flood, inundation drunk, intoxicated harmful, injurious tool, instrument mind, intellect mad, insane birth, nativity sail, navigate sailor, mariner ship, vessel lying, mendacious upright, erect early, premature upright, vertical first, primary shake, vibrate raise, elevate swing, oscillate lift, elevate leaves, foliage greet, salute beg, importune choose, select beggar, mendicant choose, elect smell, odor same, identical sink, submerge name, nominate dip, immerse follow, pursue room, apartment follow, succeed see, perceive teach, instruct see, inspect teach, inculcate sight, visibility teacher, pedagogue sight, vision tiresome, tedious sight, spectacle empty, vacant glasses, spectacles farewell, valediction

Cover with a piece of paper the native (left-hand) members of the following pairs, and if possible ascertain what they are by studying the classic members. Frame sentences to illustrate the correct use of both words in each pair.

skin, cuticle thunder, fulminate skin, integument sleep-walking, somnambulism hide, epidermis bird, ornithology fleshly, carnal bird, aviary hearer, auditor bee, apiary snake, serpent bending, flexible heap, aggregation wrinkle, corrugation laugh, cachinnation slow, dilatory laughable, risible lime, calcimine fear, trepidation coal, lignite live, exist man, anthropology bridal, nuptial winter, hibernate wed, marry gap, hiatus husband/wife, spouse right, ethical shore, littoral showy, ostentatious forswear, perjure spelling, orthography steal, peculate time, chronology steal, embezzle handbook, manual lockjaw, tetanus hole, cavity mistake, error dig, excavate mistake, erratum boil, tumor wink, nictation tickle, titillate blessing, benediction dry, desiccated wet, humid warm, tepid flirt, coquet forgetfulness, oblivion fiddle, violin sky, firmament sky, empyrean flatter, compliment flee, abscond flight, fugitive forbid, prohibit hinder, impede hold, contain

For each of the following pairs frame a sentence which shall contain one of the members. Can the other member be substituted without affecting the meaning of the sentence? Read the discrimination ofHeight-altitudein EXERCISE - Parallels. Ask yourself similar questions to bring out the distinction between the two words you are considering.

threat, menace call, summon talk, commune cleanse, purify short, terse short, concise better, ameliorate lie, recline new, novel straight, parallel lawful, legitimate law, litigation law, jurisprudence flash, coruscate late, tardy watch, chronometer foretell, prognosticate king, emperor winding, sinuous hint, insinuate burn, incinerate fire, incendiarism bind, constrict crab, crustacean fowls, poultry lean, incline flat, level flat, vapid sharpness, acerbity sharpness, acrimony shepherd, pastor word, vocable choke, suffocate stifle, suffocate clothes, raiment witness, spectator beat, pulsate mournful, melancholy beginning, incipient drink, imbibe light, illuminate hall, corridor stair, escalator anger, indignation fight, combat sleight-of-hand, prestidigitation build, construct tree, arbor ask, interrogate wench, virgin frisk, caper fill, replenish water, irrigate silly, foolish coming, advent feeling, sentiment old, antiquated forerunner, precursor sew, embroider unload, exonerate grave, sepulcher readable, legible tell, narrate kiss, osculate nose, proboscis striking, percussion green, verdant stroke, concussion grass, verdure bowman, archer drive, propel greed, avarice book, volume stingy, parsimonious warrior, belligerent bath, ablution owner, proprietor wrong, incorrect bow, obeisance top, summit kneel, genuflection food, nutrition work, occupation seize, apprehend shut, close field, agrarian

Turn back to Lists A, B, C, D, E, and F. Discriminate between the members of each pair contained in these lists. Frame sentences to illustrate the correct use of the words.

In considering pairs we have, without using the word, been studying synonyms. For most pairs are synonyms (or in some instances antonyms) that hunt in couples. We must now deal with synonyms, and incidentally antonyms, as they associate themselves in larger groups.

A vocabulary is impoverished. Why? Nine times in ten, because of a disregard of synonyms. Listen to the talk of the average person. Whatever is pleasing isfineorniceorall to the good; whatever is displeasing isbumorawfulora fright. Life is reflected, not as noble and complex, but as mean and meager. Out of such stereotyped utterance only the general idea emerges. The precise meaning is lazily or incompetently left to the hearer to imagine. The precise meaning? There is none. A person who does not take the trouble to speak clearly has not taken the trouble to think clearly.

But the master of synonyms expresses, instead of general, hazy, commonplace conceptions, the subtlest shadings of thought and feeling. He has so trained himself that he selects, it may be unconsciously, from a throng of possible words. One word may be strong, another weak. One may be broad, another narrow. One may present an alternative in meanings, another permit no liberty of choice. One may be suggestive, another literal or colorless. One may penetrate to the core of the idea, another strike only in the environs. With these possibilities the master of synonyms reckons. He must have the right word. He chooses it, not at haphazard, but in conformity with a definite purpose.

For synonyms are not words that have the same meaning. They are words that have similar meanings. They may be compared to circles that overlap but do not coincide. Each embraces a common area, but each embraces also an area peculiar to itself. Though many words cluster about a given idea, rarely if ever are even two of these words entirely equivalent to each other. In scope, in suggestion, in emotional nuance, in special usage, or what not, is sure to lurk some denial of perfect correspondence. And of synonyms, so of antonyms. Antonyms are words opposite in meaning; but the opposition, for the same reasons as the likeness, is seldom or never absolute.

In your study of synonyms you will find most of the dictionaries previously named of great help. You may also profitably consult the following books of synonyms (heavy, scholastic works not suited for ordinary use are omitted):

Edith B. Ordway:Synonyms and Antonyms. A compact, practical volume, with antonyms (in italics for contrast) immediately following synonyms.

Louis A. Flemming:Putnam's Word Book. A book of the ordinarily used synonyms of words, with antonyms after some of them, and with lists of associated words wherever these are likely to be useful.

Samuel Fallows:100,000 Synonyms and Antonyms. A handy little volume, with useful lists of various kinds in appendices.

Richard Soule:Dictionary of English Synonyms[revised and enlarged by George H. Howison]. A much larger and more expensive book than the others, and less practical for ordinary use, but fuller in treatment of material, with words of more than one meaning carefully divided into their various senses.

George Crabb:English Synonyms. A standard volume for over 100 years. Has close distinctions, but is somewhat scholarly for ordinary use. Revised edition of 1917, omitting illustrative quotations from literature, not so good as editions before that date.

James C. Fernald:English Synonyms, Antonyms, and Prepositions. A pleasing book to read, with much information about the use of words and their shades of meaning (with exercises), also with proper prepositions to follow words. Material taken from theStandard Dictionary.

Peter Mark Roget:Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases. Issued in many editions and revisions. Words grouped under general ideas. An excellent book for serious and laborious study, but not for quick use.

The best principle for the extension of one's mastery of synonyms is the principle already used over and over in this book—that of proceeding from the known to the unknown. It is the fundamental principle, indeed, of any kind of successful learning. We should build on what we have, fit each new piece of material into the structure already erected. But normally it is our ill fortune to learn through chance rather than through system. We perceive elucidation here, draw an inference there. These isolated fragments of knowledge may mislead rather than inform us.

The principle of proceeding from the known to the unknown may be applied to synonyms in various ways. Two of these—the two of most importance—we must consider here.

First, you should reckon with your personal, demonstrated needs. Just as you have already analyzed your working vocabulary for its general limits and shortcomings, so should you analyze it with particular reference to your poverty in synonyms. Watch your actual speech; make a list of the words—nouns, verbs, and adjectives particularly—that you employ again and again. Make each of these words the starting-point for a linguistic exploring expedition. First, write the word down. Then under it write all the synonyms that come forthwith to your mind. These constitute your present available stock; in speaking or writing you could, if you kept yourself mentally alert, summon them on the moment. But the list, as you know, is not exhaustive. Draw a line under it and subjoin such synonyms as come to you after reflection. These constitute a second stock, not instantaneously available, yet to be tagged as among your resources. Next add a list of the synonyms you find through research, through a ransacking of dictionaries and books of synonyms. This third stock, but dimly familiar if familiar at all, is in no practical sense yours. And indeed some of the words are too abstruse, learned, or technical for you to burden your memory with them. But many—most—are worth acquiring. By writing down the words of these three classes you have done something to stamp them upon your memory as associates. You must now make it your business to bring them into use. Never call upon them for volunteers, but like a wise commander summon the individual that can rightly perform a particular service. Thus will your speech, perhaps vague and indolent now, become exact, discriminating, competent, vital.

In the second place, you should obtain specific and detailed command of general ideas. Not of out-of-the-way ideas. But of the great basic ideas that are the common possession of all mankind. For through these basic ideas is the most natural and profitable approach to the study of synonyms. Each of them is represented by a generic word. So elementary are idea and word alike that a person cannot have the one in mind without having the other ready and a-quiver on his tongue. Every person is master of both. But it is unsafe to predicate the person's acquaintance with the shades and phases of the idea, or with the corresponding discriminations in language. He may not know them at all, he may know them partially, he may know them through and through. Let us suppose him ignorant of them but determined to learn. His progress, both in the thought and in the language, will be from the general to the specific. His acquaintance with the idea in the large he will gradually extend to an acquaintance with it in detail, and his command of the broad term for it he will little by little supplement with definite terms for its phases. An illustration will make this clear.

We are aware that the world is made up of various classes and conditions of men. How did we learn this? Let us go back to the time when our minds were a blank, when we were babes and sucklings, when we had not perceived that men exist, much less that mankind is infinitely complex. A baby comes slowly to understand that all objects in the universe are divisible into two classes, human and non-human, and that a member of the former may be separated from the others and regarded as an individual. It has reached the initial stage of its knowledge on the subject; it has the basic idea, that of the individual human being. As soon as it can speak, it acquires a designating term—not of course the sophisticatedhuman being, but the simplerman. It uses this word in the generic sense, to indicateanymember of the human race; for as yet it knows nothing and cares nothing about differences in species. With increasing enlightenment, however, it discerns five species, and distinguishes among them by swelling this branch of its vocabulary to five words: man (in the sense of adult male), woman, boy, girl, baby. (To be sure, it may chance to have acquired a specific term, asboyorbaby, before the generic termman; but if so, it has attached this term to some particular individual, as the grocer's boy or itself, rather than to the individuals of a species. Its understanding of the species as a species comes after its understanding of the genus.) As time passes, it divides mankind into yet further species by sundry other methods: according to occupation, for example, as doctors, chauffeurs, gardeners; to race or color, as white men; negroes, Malays, Chinese; to disposition, as heroes, gift-givers, teasers, talkers; and so on. It perceives moreover that species are made up of sub-species. Thus instead of lumping all boys together it begins to distinguish them as big boys, little boys, middle-sized boys, boys in long trousers, boys in short trousers, barefoot boys, schoolboys, poor boys, rich boys, sick boys, well boys, friends, enemies, bullies, and what not. It even divides the sub-species. Thus it classifies schoolboys as bright boys, dullards, workers, shirkers, teachers' favorites, scapegoats, athletes, note-throwers, truant-players, and the like. And of these classes it may make yet further sub-divisions, or at least it may separate them into the individuals that compose them. In fine, with its growing powers and experience, it abandons its old conception that all persons are practically alike, and follows human nature through the countless ramifications of man's status, temperament, activities, or fate. And it augments its vocabulary to keep pace, roughly at least, with its expanding ideas. In thought and terminology alike its growth is from genus to species.

So it is with all our ideas and with all our words to cap them. We radiate from an ascertained center into new areas of knowledge; we proceed from the broad, fundamental, generic to the precise, discriminatory, specific. Upon this natural law are based the exercises in this chapter and the two to follow. The starting-point is always a word representative of an elementary idea—a word and an idea which everybody knows; the advance is into the unknown or the unused, at any rate into the particular. Now fundamental ideas are not very numerous, and these exercises include the commoner ones. Such a method of studying synonyms must therefore yield large and tangible results.

One matter, however, should be explained. Most books of synonyms start with a word and list all the terms in any way related to it. The idea of the compilers is that the more they give the student the more they help him. But oftentimes by giving more than is strictly pertinent they actually hinder and confuse him. They may do this in various ways, of which two must be mentioned. First, they follow an idea too far afield. Thus in listing the synonyms oflovethey include such terms askindnessandlenity, words only through stretched usage connected withlove. Secondly, they trace, not one meaning of a word, but two or more unrelated meanings when the word chances to possess them. Thus in listing the synonyms ofcrythey include both the idea of weeping and the idea of calling or screaming. What are the results of these methods? The student finds a clutter where he expects rationalized order; he finds he must exclude many words which lie in the borders and fringes of the meaning. Moreover he finds mere chance associations mingled with marked kinships. In both cases he finds dulled distinctions.

This book offers synonyms that are apropos and definite rather than comprehensive. Starting with a basic idea, it finds the generic term; it then disregards dim and distant relationships, confines itself rigorously to one of perhaps two or three legitimate senses, and refuses to consider the peculiar twists and devious ways of subsidiary words when they wander from the idea it is tracing. It thus deliberately blinds itself to much that is interesting. But this partial blindness enables it to concentrate attention upon the matter actually under study, to give sharper distinctions and surer guidance.

After three introductory groups (dealing with thoroughly concrete ideas and words) the synonyms in this exercise are arranged alphabetically according to the first word in each group.

This first word is generic. It is immediately followed by a list of its synonyms. These are then informally discriminated or else (in a few instances) questions are asked about them. Perhaps a few less closely related synonyms are then listed for you to discriminate in a similar way. Finally, illustrative sentences are given. Each blank in these you are to fill with the word that conveys the meaning exactly. (To prevent monotony and inattention, the number of illustrative sentences varies. You may have to use a particular word more than once, and another word not at all.)

Any one may be said towalkwho moves along on foot with moderate speed. Heplodsif he walks slowly and heavily, and perhaps monotonously or spiritlessly as well. Hetrudgesif he walks toilsomely and wearily, as though his feet were heavy. Hetreadsif his walk is suggestive of a certain lightness and caution—if, for instance, he seems half-uncertain whether to proceed and sets one foot down carefully before the other. Hestridesif he takes long steps, especially in a firm, pompous, or lofty manner. Hestalksif there is a certain stiffness or haughtiness in his walking. Hestrutsif he walks with a proud or affectedly dignified gait, especially if he also raises his feet high. Hetrampsif he goes for a long walk, as for pleasure or enjoyment out-of-doors. Hemarchesif he walks in a measured, ordered way, especially in company with others. Hepacesif he engages in a measured, continuous walk, as from nervousness, impatience, or anger. Hetoddlesif his steps are short, uneven, and unsteady, like those of a child. Hewaddlesif his movement is ungainly, with a duck-like swaying from side to side. Heshufflesif he drags his feet with a scraping noise. Hemincesif he takes short steps in a prim, precise, or affectedly nice manner. Hestrollsorsauntersif he goes along in an easy, aimless, or idle fashion. Heramblesif he wanders about, with no definite aim or toward no definite goal. Hemeandersif he proceeds slowly and perhaps listlessly in an ever-changing course, as if he were following the windings of the crooked Phrygian river, Meander. Hepromenadesif he walks in a public place, as for pleasure or display. Heprowlsif he moves about softly and stealthily, as in search of prey or booty. Hehobblesif he jerks along unevenly, as from a stiff or crippled condition of body. Helimpsif he walks lamely. Heperambulateswhen he walks through, perhaps for observation or inspection.(Perambulatesis of course a learned word.)

Assignment for further discrimination: .

Sentences: They ____ down the lane in the moonlight. Rip Van Winkle loved to ____ about the mountains. "The plowman homeward ____ his weary way." The old man ____ down the street with his cane. The excavators ____ about the ruins in search of relics. He ____ about the room, almost bursting with importance. The nervous man ____ up and down the station platform. They ____ along the beach at the sea resort. The baby learned to ____ when it was eleven months old. The two of them ____ about the field all day hunting rabbits. A ghost, so they tell me, ____ about the haunted house at midnight. He carefully ____ the plank that spans the abyss. The baby ____ toward us with outstretched arms. The Chinaman ____ out of the back room of the laundry in his carpet slippers. They caught glimpses of gaunt wolves ____ about their campfire. He was terrified when the giant ____ into the room. The fat lady ____ down the aisle of the street car. The sick man will ____ a few steps each day until he is stronger. A turkey cock ____ about the barnyard. A boy with a rag tied around his toe ____ painfully down the street. They reported to the police that a man had been ____ about the place. She held her skirts daintily and ____ along as if she were walking on eggs. The lovers ____ along the banks of the stream. He ____ through the hall like a conqueror. The children wore themselves out by ____ through the snow to school. We ____ through the meadows, often stooping to pick flowers as we went. The soldiers ____ into camp at nightfall.

What differences in human nature, conditions, and disposition are revealed by laughter! If a person gives audible expression to mirth, gayety, or good-humor, the simplest word to apply to what he does islaugh. But suppose a girl, with slight or insufficient provocation, engages in silly or foolish though perhaps involuntary laughter. We should say shegiggles. Suppose a youngster is amused at an inappropriate moment and but partly suppresses his laughter; or suppose he wilfully permits the breaking forth of just enough laughter to indicate disrespect. Hesnickers. Suppose a person gives a little, light laugh; or more especially, suppose a crowd gives such an one as the result of slight, simultaneous amusement. Our word now istitters. Suppose we laugh low or gently or to ourselves. Wechuckle. Suppose some one laughs loudly, boisterously, even coarsely, in a manner befitting a lumber camp rather than a drawing room. That personguffaws. Suppose a man engages in explosive and immoderate laughter. Hecachinnates.

Assignment for further discrimination: .

Second assignment: Name all the words you can that designate inaudible laughter (for example, ).

Sentences: The rough fellow ____ in the lecturer's face. "If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not ____?" He kept ____ at the thought of the surprise he would give them. "The swain mistrustless of his smutted face, While secret laughter ____ round the place." The ill-bred fellow was ____ with strident, violent, irritating sounds. "The little dog ____ to see such sport." The audience ____ when the speaker's glasses began to slip from his nose. The girl kept ____ in a way that embarrassed us both. The small boy ____ when the preacher's notes fluttered out of the Bible to the floor. The rude fellows ____ at this evidence of my discomfiture. He ____ very kindly and told me not to feel any regrets. The little maids tried to be polite, but ____ irrepressibly.

A person simply directs his eyes to see. Helooks. But eyes may speak, we are told, and since this person undergoes many changes of mood and purpose, we shall let his eyes tell us all they will about his different manners of looking. At first he but looks momentarily (as from lack of time) or casually (as from lack of interest). Heglances. Soon he makes a business of looking, and fastens his eyes for a long time on something he admires or wonders at. Hegazes. Presently he looks with a blank, perhaps a rude, expression and with eyes opened widely; he may be for the moment overcome with incomprehension, surprise, or fright, or perhaps he wishes to be insolent. Hestares. Now he is looking narrowly or closely at something that he sees with difficulty. Hepeers. The next moment he looks over something with care or with an encompassing sweep of vision. Hescansit. His interest thoroughly enlisted, he looks at it carefully point by point to see that it is right in each detail. Hescrutinizesit. He then alters his mood, and looks with scornful or malignant satisfaction upon something he has conquered or has power over. Hegloats. Anger, perhaps fierceness, takes possession of him, and he looks with piercing eyes. Heglares. Threat mingles with anger, and in all likelihood he looks scowlingly or frowningly. Heglowers. An added expression of sullenness or gloom comes into his look. Helowers. He throws off his dark spirit and looks slyly and playfully, let us say through a small opening. Hepeeks. Playfulness gives place to curiosity; he looks quickly and furtively, perhaps through some tiny aperture, and probably at something he has no business to see. Hepeeps. The while he looks his mouth falls open, as from stupidity or wonder. Hegapes. He looks at something a long time to study it. Heconsorpores. His study is not of the thing itself; it is meditation or reverie. Hepores. A member of the opposite sex is present; he looks at her with the effort of a flirt to attract attention to himself, or less scrupulous, he directs toward her amorous or inviting glances. Heogles.

Assignment for further discrimination: .

Sentences: The inspecting officer ____ the men's equipment. The student ____ his lessons carefully. At this unexpected proposal Dobbett merely ____. Jimmie ____ at the fellow who had kicked the pup. The inquisitive maid ____ into all the the closets. He ____ over his fallen adversary. The bookkeeper ____ over his ledger. In the darkened hallway he ____ at the notices on the bulletin board. "The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, Doth ____ from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven." From the way her father ____ the foolish, young man should have known it was time to go. He ____ long and lovingly upon the scenes he was leaving. The newcomer ____ insolently at his host and ____ the young ladies.

Abandondenotes absolute giving up, as from force of circumstances or shirking of responsibility.Desertrefers to leaving or quitting in violation of obligation, duty, or oath.Forsake, which may involve no culpability, usually implies a breaking off of intimate association or attachment.

Sentences: The sailor ____ his ship. Necessity compelled him to ____ his friends in a time of sore trouble. They hated to ____ their old haunts. A brave man never ____ hope. An unscrupulous man will ____ his principles when it is to his advantage. "When my father and my mother ____ me, then the Lord will take me up." We ____ our attempt to save the ship.

Toabaseis to bring down so that the victim feels himself lowered in estate or external condition. Todebaseis to produce a marked decline in actual worth or in moral quality. Todegradeis to lower in rank or status. Tohumbleis to lower in dignity or self-esteem, or as used reflexively, to restrain one's own pride; the word often implies that the person has been over-proud or arrogant. Tohumiliateis to deprive of self-esteem or to bring into ignominy. Todisgraceis to bring actual shame upon.

Sentences: They ____ the guilty officer from captain to lieutenant. A man should ____ himself before God. He had so ____ himself that I no longer expected good of him. His detection at cheating had ____ him before the students. By successive overlords they had been ____ into a condition of serfdom. 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 theanswergroup is that the generic term has a somewhat strong rival inreply, itself fairly inclusive. We must therefore discriminate rather fully betweenanswerandreply. 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 anansweroffhand, but are less likely to give areplyso. We may give any kind ofanswerto a question, but if we give areply, 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 throughanswerthan throughreply. Aresponseis an expected answer, one in harmony with the question or assertion, or in some way carrying the thought farther. Arejoinderis a quick reply to something controversial or calling forth opposition. Aretortis a short, sharp reply, such as turns back censure or derision, or as springs from anger. Areparteeis an immediate and witty reply, perhaps to a remark of similar character which it is intended to surpass in cleverness.

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