II. Tiny, little, small, diminutive, minute.
1. The Lilliputians were a very —— people. 2. Each ---- point was carefully explained. 3. I met a —— cottage girl. 4. Far away in the forest, grew a pretty —— fir tree. 5. The lame boy was so —— that they called him ---- Tim.
Exercise 51.—Consult your dictionary to get the exact meaning of each word in the following two groups of synonyms. Insert words in the blanks, using each word but once.
1. Funny, odd, strange, queer, grotesque, peculiar.
2. Brave, bold, daring, fearless, courageous, reckless.
1. He told us of many —— happenings. 2. The bird has a —— cry. 3. We laughed at the —— story. 4. What an ---- stick he is, to be sure. 5. —— faces were carved over the door. 6. It is a —— coincidence. 7. He was a ---- bad man. 8. The —— soldier was foremost in the fray. 9. The —— deed was applauded. 10. He is a ---- man, and never considers consequences. 11. He seems to be perfectly ——. 12. The fireman received a medal for his —— act.
Exercise 52.—Do you see any difference in meaning in the pairs of words given below? Write sentences using each correctly.
Artist, artisan; healthy, healthful; bring, fetch; applause, praise; propose, purpose; in, into; distinct, clear; few, little; defend, protect; thankful, grateful; right, privilege; occasion, opportunity; custom, habit; brutal, brutish; temperance, abstinence; exile, banish; excuse, apology; duty, obligation; doubt, suspense; price, worth; interfere, interpose; surprised, astonished; flexible, pliable.
20. Accuracy in the Use of Words.—Accuracy in the use of words comes from practice. It is better to blunder by using a word without a complete knowledge of its meaning than to be afraid to use any but the commonest words. Some words sound very much alike and yet have very different meanings, and some words are so nearly alike in meaning that it is almost or quite impossible to define the difference between them, though we may perhaps feel it. All that we can do, then, is simply to go on learning, using new words as fast as we get fairly well acquainted with them, and depending upon our teachers and older friends to point out to us when we are wrong.
What we must avoid is the stupid habit of using words thoughtlessly, after the manner of the blundering Mrs. Malaprop in Sheridan's Rivals, who said:—
I would by no means wish a daughter of mine to be a progeny of learning; I don't think so much learning becomes a young woman.... As she grew up, I would have her instructed in geometry that she might know something of the contagious countries; but above all, Sir Anthony, she should be mistress of orthodoxy, that she might not misspell and mispronounce words so shamefully as girls usually do; and likewise that she might reprehend the true meaning of what she is saying. This, Sir Anthony, is what I would have a woman know; and I don't think there is a superstitious article in it.
Exercise 53.—Distinguish between the meaning of the following words: luxuriant and luxurious; effect and affect; disease and decease; descent and dissent; principal and principle; suspect and expect; sensuous and sensible; allude and elude; noted and notorious; emigrant and immigrant; ovation and innovation; torpid and tepid.
21. Figures of Speech.—There is a strange way we all have of using words in a sense different from that of ordinary expression. We say, for example, that a brave soldier "was a lion." Of course, he was not a lion actually; he merely had certain qualities which we think lions have to a particularly great degree, that is, strength and courage. In the same way, especially in joke, we may speak of a person as an ass, a mule, a fox, a goose, an elephant, etc. Or, instead of saying that a soldier fought bravely, we may say that he fought like a lion, and similarly, that he was as stubborn as a mule, as keen as a fox, etc. We thus say either what a thing is not, or what it is like, instead of what it is. Such expressions are called figures (that is, forms) of speech. In a metaphor, one thing is called by the name of another. In a simile, one thing is said to be like another.
We use both the metaphor and the simile quite frequently and naturally in our ordinary speech and writing, particularly when our feelings are aroused in any way.