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Previous Write & Speak Correctly Tips (49) Next Write & Speak Correctly Tips (51)
or be an innovator on the prevailing custom. In order to be original
there is no necessity for you to introduce something novel or establish a
precedent. The probability is you are not fit to do either, by education
or talent. While following the style of those who are acknowledged
leaders you can be original in your language. Try and clothe an idea
different from what it has been clothed and better. If you are speaking
or writing of dancing don't talk or write about "tripping the light
fantastic toe." It is over two hundred years since Milton expressed it
that way in "_L'Allegro_." You're not a Milton and besides over a million
have stolen it from Milton until it is now no longer worth stealing.
Don't resurrect obsolete words such as _whilom_, _yclept_, _wis_, etc.,
and be careful in regard to obsolescent words, that is, words that are at
the present time gradually passing from use such as _quoth, trow,
betwixt, amongst, froward_, etc.
And beware of new words. Be original in the construction and arrangement
of your language, but don't try to originate words. Leave that to the
Masters of language, and don't be the first to try such words, wait until
the chemists of speech have tested them and passed upon their merits.
Quintilian said--"Prefer the oldest of the new and the newest of the
old." Pope put this in rhyme and it still holds good:
In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold, Alike fantastic, if too
new or old: Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last
to lay the old aside.
PROPRIETY
_Propriety_ of style consists in using words in their proper sense and as
in the case of purity, good usage is the principal test. Many words have
acquired in actual use a meaning very different from what they once
possessed. "Prevent" formerly meant to go before, and that meaning is
implied in its Latin derivation. Now it means to put a stop to, to
hinder. To attain propriety of style it is necessary to avoid confounding
words derived from the same root; as _respectfully_ and _respectively_;
it is necessary to use words in their accepted sense or the sense which
everyday use sanctions.
SIMPLICITY
_Simplicity_ of style has reference to the choice of simple words and
their unaffected presentation. Simple words should always be used in
preference to compound, and complicated ones when they express the same
or almost the same meaning. The Anglo-Saxon element in our language
comprises the simple words which express the relations of everyday life,
strong, terse, vigorous, the language of the fireside, street, market and
farm. It is this style which characterizes the Bible and many of the
great English classics such as the "Pilgrim's Progress," "Robinson
Crusoe," and "Gulliver's Travels."
CLEARNESS
_Clearness_ of style should be one of the leading considerations with the
beginner in composition. He must avoid all obscurity and ambiguous
phrases. If he write a sentence or phrase and see that a meaning might be
inferred from it otherwise than intended, he should re-write it in such a
way that there can be no possible doubt. Words, phrases or clauses that
are closely related should be placed as near to each other as possible
that their mutual relation may clearly appear, and no word should be
omitted that is necessary to the complete expression of thought.
UNITY
_Unity_ is that property of style which keeps all parts of a sentence in
connection with the principal thought and logically subordinate to it. A
sentence may be constructed as to suggest the idea of oneness to the
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