the verb feel. Both these illustrate the interchanging of adjectives and adverbs.

Verb forms are frequently misused. Shall and will are confused (see page 87), come is used for came, or done for did, or don't for doesn't. Verbs are invented that never found place in a dictionary, as enthuse.

An impropriety is the use of a word in a sense likely to be misunderstood, or in a sense not sanctioned by good usage.

Exercise XVI.

Criticise the following:

Run quick, most all, proven, worked up, quite some, different than, being I was there, can I have this book? I feel like I would faint, near all, alright, took sick, burglarize, can't hardly.

Exercise XVII.

Use the following correctly in sentences:

Audience, spectators, crowd, mob; awful; funny; quite; while, during; emigrant, immigrant; believe, think, guess; balance, remainder; affect, effect; accept, except; expect, suppose, presume; learn, teach, study; borrow, lend; perception; likely, liable, apt; rather; kind, sort; lot, quantity, number, sum, amount; lovely, perfectly, sweet, dear; simply, only, just; pertinent, impertinent; beside, besides; in, into; without, unless; horrid, terrible, deadly; great, splendid, gorgeous, grand; may, can; common, mutual; respectfully, respectively; admit, permit; transpire, happen; bring, take, carry; insight, foresight, nearsighted; socialist, sociologist; luxurious, luxuriant; sociably, socially; afflict, inflict; statue, statute, stature; leave, let; elevator, elevated; vocation, avocation; biography, autobiography; healthy, healthful; exceptional, exceptionable.

PRECISION Consists in using the exact word which, of several, most nearly expresses the meaning of the writer or speaker. In order to speak with precision, observe the following:

Note the slight differences among synonyms-words of similar though not identical meaning. Several words may express the same general idea, but not the specific one you want to convey: Continual means at frequent intervals; continuous, without a break.

Distinguish between general and specific terms: blue, azure; fiction, novel.

Distinguish between negative and privative terms: unbelief, disbelief.

Distinguish between active and passive meanings: force, strength.

Distinguish between degrees of intensity, to avoid overor understatement: noise, crash, uproar.

Avoid ambiguity. People were talking about (around) her.

Exercise XVIII.

Use the following correctly in sentences:

Discover, invent; description, narrative, account, recital; opportunity, occasion; occupation, business, profession; tornado, cyclone, storm, blizzard; plant, flower; principal, principle; scholar, pupil, student; quite, rather, somewhat, very; among, between; aged, ancient, antiquated, antique, old, obsolete, venerable; criticise, discuss, consider; exist, live, dwell, reside; fitting, suitable, pertinent, right; weak-minded, narrow-minded, bigoted; impractical, idealistic, unworldly; say, speak, affirm, assert, state, protest; confess, admit, acknowledge; adore, revere, venerate, esteem, admire, regard, respect; like, love; advantage, benefit; kill, murder, assassinate, execute; noble, honest, upright, honorable, good,

righteous; gaze, look, glance, peer; control, govern, rule, boss, command; adhere, cling; tell, advise, counsel, explain, speak; noted, famous, notorious, renowned, celebrated; ceremony, performance, event, occasion; cordial, sincere, friendly, faithful, loyal, true; able, capable, efficient, powerful, brilliant, keen, clever, smart; crisis, climax; kind, gentle, tender, affable, amiable, mild, gracious; sacred, holy, saintly, sanctimonious, religious; religion, church, sect, denomination, faith; belief, faith, creed, doctrine, dogma; stern, severe, rigorous, inexorable, harsh, strict, stringent; angry, mad, indignant, wrathful; brave, bold, daring, fearless, dauntless, reckless; firm, consistent, unswerving, steady, constant, unbending, single-minded, purposeful, determined; little, small, tiny; creature, animal, brute; clothes, clothing; regret, pity, sympathy, compassion; inspire, incite, arouse, excite; mix, mingle; medley, muddle, mixture, composition; usually, generally, commonly, ordinarily; standards, idea, ideal, principle, theory; help, assist, aid, relieve, support, maintain.

We have considered the conditions of good speaking so far as they relate to the mental side of it. We have found that the speaker must have something to say, that he must know how to plan his material so that he can make the hearer grasp it and remember it, that he must be careful in the expression of it by the formal, but necessary, arrangement of paragraphs and sentences, and that he should know how to use the English words that have been formed through centuries to help bring minds into contact. No effort is too great for him who would master the methods found good by those of other times. Nor will the full reward be lacking to him who perseveres in his attempts to gain that elusive, intangible, but increasingly valuable asset, "style." Moreover, that style must be such as shows the improvements made as a result of experience and changing conditions. The present demands a style of its own, suited to the requirements and to the necessities

of the age. It must be simple, concise, but, above all, clear. People of the twentieth century have no time to waste. They must have the essentials, without the frills, yet they have risen above the stage where crude, rough statement will serve. It must show as high a finish as their mechanical products, must serve its purpose fully, yet be of sufficient beauty to attract.

But the speaker must go even farther. He uses more tools than does the writer. We have seen what an advantage he has because of them, but he must know how to use them or he will spoil his work, the product of his brain. So he must learn how to handle his body, which conveys his thought, interprets it, clinches the contact of mind with mind.

CHAPTER IV

ACTUAL SPEAKING

THE USE OF THE BODY

The position of the speaker is important. If the room is large, a platform is undoubtedly an advantage, though many do not care for it ordinarily. It places the speaker in sight of the audience, and gives the voice greater range. Far more necessary is the right choice of relative position. The speaker should always, if possible, face his hearers. He may at first be embarrassed by having so many eyes turned toward him, but he will soon find that this embarrassment is far overbalanced by the inspiration gained from the faces, by the opportunity for gauging the attitude, the understanding, and the responsiveness of the assembly. The story is told of a humorous lecturer who saw one man unsmiling after several stories. He bent his energies to making that man laugh, and made a great success with the entire audience. There is not often any reason, in a quiet room, for a speaker's going among the listeners, so that some are behind him. It is scarcely courteous to those, and deprives him of part of the audience. There is, however, advantage, in many instances, in a position directly in front, very near, as a feeling of equality, even intimacy, is aroused. Standing at one side is not good, since it forces half the audience to turn uncomfortably. A person with a stiff, aching neck is not a good listener.

The chief reason for facing the hearers is the opportunity