12. home, house, building, residence. 21. reason, purpose, propose. 13. high, lofty, tall. 14. honest, sincere. 15. hurtful, mischievous, ruinous. 22. sewage, sewerage. 23. squander, waste, spend. 24. team, carriage. 2. Homonyms. Homonyms are words which are identical in sound but different in meaning: as, be, bee; hear, here; blue, blew. EXERCISES 418. Use the following homonyms orally in order to show that you understand their meaning and that you can pronounce them accurately. You may employ some of them in phrases and some in sentences. 21. knew, new. 37. plain, plane. 38. pore, pour. 39. pray, prey. 20. instance, instants. 40. quarts, quartz. 419. Be prepared (1) to spell orally from dictation any of the foregoing words together with their homonyms; (2) to write them. 420. Write sentences containing these groups of the foregoing homonyms: 2, 7, 9, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 31, 37, 41, 43, 44, 56, 57. Add to this list any other homonyms that you are liable to confuse. NOTE. Try to use sentences that will help you remember the precise meaning of each word. For example: "If you two are not likely to go to town too soon, I will plan to go too." (What part of speech is each word in italics?) 421. Write the following words in columns, and opposite each place an appropriate homonym: 3. Antonyms. An antonym, in contrast to a synonym, is a word of opposite meaning. The words " synonym " and antonym are themselves antonyms with reference to each other. EXERCISES 422. Use the following antonyms in sentences where the contrast will be evident, as in these examples: "A kind word may turn an enemy into a friend"; "Ring out the false, ring in the true." Friend, enemy; false, true; fail, succeed; grieve, rejoice; gather, scatter; love, hate; labor, rest; lucky, unlucky; most, least; near, far; come, go; pardon, condemn; real, imaginary; rich, poor; strong, weak; quick, slow; quiet, noisy; up, down. 424. Make a list of the words in the selection under Exercise 493 for which you can find synonyms and antonyms. 128. Words in Good Use. If we wish to choose the most effective words, we shall select those which are in good use. We shall employ words (1) as they are understood throughout the nation, (2) as they are understood at the present time, (3) as they are understood by the best writers and speakers. 66 1. Words as they are understood throughout the nation. We must use words which are understood in the same sense in all sections of the country. In some parts of the country a man reckons " that his friend will have a "right" good time, and the friend "allows" that he "reckons " so too. But reckon in the sense of "think," right in the sense of very," and allow in the sense of " admit," are not in national use. Ask persons who have come from a section of the country with which you are not familiar, if they recall words whose local meaning is not national. Your father and mother may think of some. Make a list of all such words and any other "local" words of which you know. 2. Words as they are understood at the present time. In North Carolina a young man from a neighboring state was enjoying the hospitality of three attractive young women. Imagine the indignation with which they turned from him as he innocently burst out with the remark, "You are the homeliest girls I ever met." The poor fellow meant well. To him the word still retained its original meaning, "homelike." But he was behind the times. If we call a pudding "nice," or speak of a "nice" day, one can hardly call us nice about our English. We should not use the word in the original sense of "foolish," although five hundred years ago it repeatedly had that meaning; but we are supposed to know that the later meaning, “discriminating," or " particular," is the one current among the best speakers and writers; and further, it is our business to know that the loose meaning first referred to is not in vogue among those who use the best English. Examples of the proper use of this much-abused word are: The lawyer made a nice point, discrimination. that is, he showed delicate The carving on that chair is unusually nice, in other words, it is wrought with skill. 3. Words as they are understood by the best writers and speakers. Sometimes I am tempted to tell a friend that he is a "brick." Perhaps my meaning is that his friends may always depend upon him to do his part. Many New Englanders would understand the expression, even if they frowned on it. But if I were to apply this word to an Ohio acquaintance, he might be as much disturbed as the "homely " young women; he certainly would not feel complimented. Rough and ready and expressive as it is, at times, it has not yet gained the recognition of those who use good English. It is slang. There is the verb jolly, an uncouth bit of slang. One who is really fond of jollying others is tempted to think he can find no English equivalent. The lazier he is, the more indifferent he is about his reputation as a linguist, the less he will try. If he is with careless speakers, he does not mind; but when the word slips out in the presence of persons of culture, he takes himself to task for such laziness. No matter how eager we may be to increase our vocabulary, we must always look well to the quality of our acquisitions. Innumerable words we may well crave for our own variety of experience and thought, but we should choose those that are current among persons who use words as they are understood and approved by the body of reputable speakers and writers in our nation at the present time. Briefly, we should choose words that are in reputable, national, and present use. 129. Helps in choosing Our Words. Only constant attention to our choice of words will make it possible for us to acquire a good vocabulary. Here are several suggestions which may be helpful. 1. Use the dictionaries. Dictionaries help us to determine whether a word is in good use. They are misleading unless we use them carefully; for if unabridged, they give the various meanings of a word, some so old that they are no longer in good use, some so new that they are not yet in good use, and may never be. We must notice whether the dictionary labels certain words as obsolete (“ gone out of use "), obsolescent (" going out of use "), rare, local, provincial, colloquial ("used in conversation "), vulgar, or slang. For example, a good dictionary gives the following meanings of the verb chance. One of the meanings is called "rare" and another "colloquial," and we should do well to avoid using the word in either of these two senses. |