The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1888-06-22
THE WoRDs in COMMON Use.
Does the Average. Man Use 700 Words or
1000?


Atahea'cat'ohai 1hectih% helh a lew
yc';}fs ago Il hoiea professor, made the
following statement; "ihe best edu-
Gated person IN tins room VIII not'nse
more nan opV or 100 Words He also
assls'lea !, shla'ler heohoef TO persons
Oh i'n"'c. e'"ac''',on' STATING ihst nm
l@noiaiI nan woHia not use more Than
mepts OF similar import in pubic print
gu" ~ .ese ,t'elt correctness Regaf ;ii
'"~nns''9a,t" OF IN, matter.
The subject sh'"H@i'; anew 10 ny
ralh' ny observing an article IN the
ono"eanf"G" some months ago il
mi'',il roi' !alcf1lt remarked: ~
mas peer ~cs''ln;''ea mat an hngnfE
s sas,' m 'a,u nus ~Sps'n'!'e'N p'N.I%'s %
ouu MoEua' an American workman
Mho l'aus .he newspapers may COM
l"t''' ii9li Y 70 i'eoo words. rive
Thousand Is large number, even ior
an educated fcaier "r speaker. Inns
assertion Is much nearer the truth Than
mat az NV ,iistt'htc-cendtctor me'l-
tloheH: o the bnncllt nt those WING
may c }ntteresfeN ! nf'"r fhe f'eHi' ~
my st"aj ga tilc SUBJECT. An intelll-
gent person can make the same cNaln-
nation and will arrive ut substantially
the same results.
i took Webstcr's high .Hhqu' d%itiien-
MY. GvlNoe ISIS e'fts:.iHs ao4 p;sses
~ fov"pulalN. and examined each
word Ill the book. | made II note of
those words which supposed had
used at some time ]e,tttti' III speaking
or wiring; ! chhnt"'l tht pfliiiiAG
'Wn'fis and those derivatives whose
meaning is most AT variance with the
primitive. Thus ! count fright md
Fruit, hpt Not hiehionda, t.igiltlui,
fiShuuiiy. ~nortruitage, fruitercr, fruit
fnl, ~fruitfulness, frultion, and fruit
tree. | omitted most of the compound
words, especially when the component
parts directly Indicated the mehnin@,
Fs ntilk-pnil, Hcst!hg hoi,se, ,ag-nIut,
but counted those whose significance
Was not directly indicated, rs crowbar,
quicksand, tinfoil. As the result Of
this examination | had 1928 words,
which ] think | myself have used.
:, THEIRS were 4iv i'll 4. h2S III ), Jdt in
J., 4J3 III b, $50 in /, 3oj III t. ri in
G, $50 in II, $50 in |, 81 in j, - in X,
29o in l., 47G in NJ, IA in N. 2l7 in O.,
rs III L! SO IA q, 347 in n. 054 in S,
41l, in L, AZ in l.. lis in Y, 2U2 in W.,
% in X and Y, and 10 in 4.
Had | counted the ~Narious dcriya-
tivcS in common use. ii is probable the
number wou.l be nearly double.
To make 4. %fn,tl,ct te-t uf words Mt
my command ! spent abouttwo.l tours
writing from memory words in A.
vas able TO note down 537 words that
| could use if occasion required. This
is 50 per cent more than | had counted
from the dictionary, Should the same
i~!tdbGltioh hold good III all The letters
it would follow that I can recall from
memory 10, 100 words, all of which arc
tamliiar.
| made another count, ana came TO
the conclusion maj rouia give u IAN
deii'illon OF III iras, z9' 10y "oF',5 III
thai ho"s' "l'' wotiu understand iiieIi
A'@ii'i'taho, III Il printed ;tfticic oil
sl'uN'h actress.
me above est'fia'cs arc passed upon
my own experience and knowledge,
because 1t WAS convenient to make INC
experiment WIN hlyS'It' hNcrS Wet
informed man WIN be as competent II
il more so. lailll'r professor nhe"'
toned VIII nave II more eA't'iH"n Vo'
caDutary thln nave.
men took at random IN me Sihlt
dictionary II page IN each letter any
counted the words IN common use. W
tWrntN-t"lr pages lll"rc w'fs 29l sucl
words inns W"uiu give ",'ooV Noiu'
IN use by persons OF the most ORDINARY
lntcli'%clcc. N"ne OF tticHe iS'S IN
rl'lde any proper h'aneS.
n the uhle OF making lhis study one
OF my children was . years ana
m'nttis II age. ! noted down (and
st!ll nave me list1 2i3 words used pl
her IN one DAY. lhrE were WORDS ma
any lntctli@cnt child would use rhie'l,
names of household articles and con-
mon things, wifi, the most urdinar,