Exercise 85

Substitute for each of the following expressions some expression that will be less general or less exaggerated:

  1. She is nice looking.
  2. We had a perfectly gorgeous time.
  3. John is a professional man.
  4. The play was simply exquisite.
  5. To hear his voice makes me feel funny.
  6. The opposing team was completely annihilated.
  7. A noise caught our attention.
  8. His manners are horrid.
  9. We had a great time.
  10. Such arrogance is unendurable.
  11. That is a good book.

197. How to Improve One's Vocabulary. The few following suggestions may be found helpful in the acquiring of a good vocabulary:

1. Cultivate the dictionary habit. Learn the meaning, pronunciation, and spelling of each new word that you meet. Only when these three things are grasped about each word, does one really know the word. Some persons have found it an invaluable aid to carry with them a small note book or card on which they note down to be looked up at a convenient time words concerning which they are in doubt.

2. In your writing and speaking use as much as possible the new words that you acquire.

3. Construct good English expressions for all the slang, fine writing, and hackneyed phrases that you meet, and then use the good expressions instead of the bad ones.

4. Study synonyms; words of similar form and meaning. Only by a knowledge of synonyms can you express fine shades of meaning. Crabbe's English Synonyms and Fernald's Synonyms and Antonyms are good books of reference for this purpose. In addition to these books, lists of synonyms will be found in many books that are designed for general reference.

5. Try to get the one word that will best express the idea.

6. Read good books and good magazines, and read them carefully.