The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-01-23
Vocabularies

In ten wordy volumes Carlyle adjures us, inn
plores u.s. prays us to keep our mouths shut and
maintain silence Love silence rather than
speech in these tragic days. he exclaims! But
in vain! Even squire Tammas himself with all
his force cannot separate us from our talk
Man is a word using animal
The necessity to words is built into his
brain and he is as hopeless to live without them
as without bread and air. 1t is not for us to be
silent but rather to speak Alright.
It is impossible to think without words. They
are the vessels into which we pour the content of
our consciousness. Without them it would flow
awav and be lost man without words is as
helpless to use his mind as carpenter without
tools is helpless to build house. Therefore
man who aspires to develop brain power must
achieve a store of words with which to use his
power
Where we so often go astray in thinking
about this matter of vocabularies is in taking for
granted that a man has but set of words.
AS matter of fact practically every person has
at least five.
One vocabulary he uses for his own private
thinking Most of would be astonished If by
some magic that set of words would be put down
in print before eyes. We would find 1t quite
different lot than that which we use for other
purposes.
Is
thinking, Zone sometimes feels it has become
lost art in some crcles) he had best see to it
that his thinking vocabulary is brushed up and
in good shape All the difference between lazy,
hazy sovenly thinker and bright, keen, capa-
bic thinker very often lies in this silent vocabu-
larry
Another vocabulary is that with which we do
our reading Every reader is able to understand
far more words than he can use in any othef
way A new term will often be so defined by the
sentence or paragraph in which it is set that a
stranger to it can guess at its meaning.
The commonest vocabulary is that with which
we do our talking There some $4,000 or
"..ore live words in the language now, but it is
probable that the average person in conversa-
tons seldom makes of more than 400 or 500.
a maiority of these are mere hack terms made
to do slave service for hundred purposes and
consequently have their edges rubbed off and
their true meaning lost
Trouble arises when these poor ox-cart words
and phrases are made to do duty instead of the
precise terms needed by certain subjects. Half
our quarrels are due to sloveniness in speech.
After we have wrestled and argued through an
evening we wind up by discovering that our op-
ponent meant just what we did, but was using
words in another sense
The talking vocabulary itself divides into two
parts when we consider it little more; one we
might describe our EVERY day. and the other
as our "Sunday' outfit of words.
On the street or among our companions we
usually sink to the level of language there in
use and become guilty of slaughtering the King s
English. Sentences, terms, expressions used
with wild recklessness and abandon.
But when some exceptional occasion arises
and we called upon to address the house, we
make haste to unlimber Sunday best" and
show the folks how brilliant we are.
But alas, in the majority of cases all those
fine ideas we had hoped to express with true elo-
quence the opportunity presented stick like
barnacles to our mind and our tongue seems glued
to the roof of mouth. That is the penalty we
pay for supposing a man can have a vocabulary
for general purposes which is beggared and poor
and suddenly find himself rich in language at
special seasons.
One of the secrets of good public speaking is
good everyday speaking. The nearer ones COM
mon vocabulary can rise to the level of his "show
off, vocabulary the better speaker he will be at
all times. eve offer this on the strength not of
personal experience, but of what orators have
told u.s.
Building vocabulary is simple matter but
requires perseverance and watchfuness. If one
is careful to read only the best books he will
form a very useful set of words automatically
And if he makes it constant habit to stand
guard over his lips and forbids issuance there
from of any phrase that won't stand the test he
will find himself in time speaking we'll without
thought or worry
Words in themselves are almost nothing: a
sound formed in the throat, breath of air vet