Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-09-24
The Right Word.
lcharleston News and courier.

charleston News and Courier)
Good English is a very good thing, ana
all who aspire TO a mastery OF the arts
OF writing and speaking, whether pup
licly or merely for purposes OF inter-
course with their kind should endeaVOr'
in expressing their thought. to get eX-
actly the right word. Now, the right Word
need not be the prettiest word. nor the
most astons hing word, nor me most
poetic word. but IT ought TO be the only
word which will exactly express that
special shade OF meaning.
All OF us have agoniZed over the VerDai
cOntOrtiOns OF the clumsy speaker III pun
lie or private who Is struggling vdlnly
to make his thought clear to his hearers
when, alas! oftentimes, IL is TAR from
clear to himself. How often the nina has
leapt to the inevitable denouement OF a
story long before the teller OF the story
has fiOundered TO it's closei How often
one listens with an almost sickening
sense of Impotence to the vague repeu-
lions and stumbling synonyms, by means
of which some talker tries 10 convey MS
opinions on the topics of the day-opin-
ions which are about as lucid as the lan-
gtIage I'm which he clothes them.
But il is the writer who makes use of
the wrong word who most deeply olfends
our taste and reason. For the speake
may be confused by many things. The
very sense of one or more hearers appa-
rently hanging upon his utterances; the
knowledge that IL he would be fluent,
one word must follow another, with a
liquid accuracy which knows neither
haste nor rest the fitting intrusion OF
some suggestion, which blurs the clear
ness OF his thought-all these, and many
more causes, may account for the SIAM
mering speech which is only too com
mon. even among educated people.
But for the careless writer there Is Tar
less excuse There r., or should be. no
undue pressure of haste. No thought OF
an audience listening with bated breath
obstructs the clearneSs OF his conception
and where the instinct or expression lalIs'
from the pressure OF mental fatigue or a
moments inadvertence, there Is no red-
con why any but the right word should
pass the outposts of that watchful senti-
uel-the eye.
Yet. what are we TO think when men
who venture To write for publication, VINO
call themselves journalists. take no
thought for the right word, and clothe
their feeble thoughts in meaningless
babble of language? In paper published
not a hundred miles away, ana not nun
dred years ago, there are sentences hh'
| this; M. r. incepted his business undei
tho most favorable ausrtces IN thf
| same paper we are told OF a man whose
name - paramount with progress, auu
| IL is said o. a certain politician that II
I he does concede 70 make the race
something or other will happen.
OF course such blunders as these are
almost beneath contempt, as even DOW
| ing acquaintance with dictionary "Oul'
! have made them impossible. But, unfor'
| tunately, careless readers aoounu' WI WI
| often content themselves with hne
sounding phrases, without attempting t'
| seek for the thought which may be ma
\ den within. The eye and the ear sooi
grow accustomed TO the sight ana th'
| sound OF the wrong word and when ina
Is the case. deterioration of taste sets IN
| But to the discriminating reader or near
| or. what Joy lies In the right wOrd. An
| to the writer or speaker hlmseU, IS thei
| not a pure and boundless satisfaction u
the sense that he has expressed III
/ Thought In the very best way. just al
! there remains with him a haunting sens
of discomfort and encouragement whei
that right word has eyaded him. as
| sometimes WIZ -
| ter all? For il means more thah W
| avoiding OF such blunders as those quplt'
! above. An ordinary common-scnoV
| education should save man rom SUI
| crimes as these, but for the attalninen
OF that right word something NOR 90,
| essential. Critics OF all ages have givel
advice on this subject. and this advice
| hoe been very conflicting. Nor does !
| seem much safer 10 follow the style %
| Great writer's Which OF US would Do
| 9,ise IN adopt Carlylese as our vehicle o
| eynression2 Who among US might saiell
| follow the devious wanderings OF NJ
| Meredith? The French writer's, as RUE
! are the champions Of conscious arr, an
| advocate the careful cutting ana polish
| ing and the elaborate setting OF
| tbought while others, usually Engiisi
writer's declare that the best writer
| never stop 10 chose their words.
| Perhaps the real secret OF the Tlgn
word lies not so much In consciOu
Effort 10 find II, when In the act OF VIII
| ing as i'm the previous cultivation or al
accurate habit Of thought and speech.
| = musician strikes the right note, o
touches the right string, without con
scious effort but with speed and Skill
we'll as perfect accuracy, as the result o
Iaborious practice in the past, so mos
Great writer's. whose prowess we WVuh
Emulate even while we do not care 4
initiate their style. attain their uncon
scious ease. and choose unerringly IN
riebf word not by the conscious pains q
the moment, but through the iabors
the past. - .t...o1,i,
occuracy. combined with al that educa
tlon and thought can do Tor the mlne
that one may safely follow Lewis carroll
sdvice. Take care Of the sense, and IN
sounds will take care Of themselves.
when we shall have reached tnat pom
We NAV safely be trusted TO choose IN
right word.