Lesson 29 Spelling
Last week we studied words which had the same, or nearly the same, meaning. There is always a slight distinction in the meaning of words, but some of them are so nearly the same that it makes very little difference which word we use. Some writers, however, are very careful and spend a great deal of time in the selection of just the right word to express their meaning.
Robert Louis Stevenson once said a good writer would wait half a day in order to secure the best word to convey a certain idea.
A very amusing story is told of Thomas Carlyle, who was very careful to use words expressing just the shade of meaning which he desired to express. He had a habit of writing in a note book these words as they occurred to him, so he would have them for ready reference and use. One day he had searched all day for a certain word which eluded him. Suddenly in the middle of the night he wakened with the word flashing in his mind. He wanted to write it down immediately lest he should forget it in the morning, but it was cold and he dreaded getting up in the cold to secure his note book so he nudged Jeanie, his wife, and said: “Jeanie, Jeanie, get up! I have thought of a good word, and I want you to write it down.” Now it was equally cold for Jeanie, so Jeanie nudged Thomas and said: “Thomas, Thomas, get up yourself. I have thought of a bad one!”
Nevertheless, it is a good idea when these good words occur to you to write them down. Possibly to save trouble, you had better write them for yourself!
But in addition to words which have the same meaning, or almost the same meaning, there are also words which express just the opposite meaning, and it is well for us to be master of these words also.
These words which express opposite meaning are called antonyms. Words and their antonyms are given in this week’s spelling lesson in the words for the first three days’ study. For the last three days, words only are given. Look these words up in your dictionary and determine upon the most suitable antonyms.
Monday
Legal
Illegal
Artificial
Natural
Assert
Deny
Tuesday
Civilized
Barbarous
Courage
Cowardice
Active
Passive
Wednesday
Initial
Final
Temporary
Permanent
History
Legend
Thursday
Addition
Cleverness
Assured
Genuine
Acquit
Increase
Friday
Affection
Composure
Enlarge
Anxious
Prompt
Discord
Saturday
Succeed
Describe
Winning
Wasteful
Superficial
Grieve
Write the proper word in the following blanks:
Patients or Patience
The Doctor has many.......
We have no......with stupidity.
Negligence or Neglect
The accident was due to the......of the employer.
He has been guilty of......of his family for he was injured by the criminal......of the Railroad Company.
Observance or Observation
The troops were concealed from.......
Trade Unions never fail in the......of Labor Day.
A man’s own......will guide him in the......of all good customs.
Relatives or Relations
Taft and Roosevelt did not always have pleasant......with each other.
He has gone to visit his.......
We do not always have pleasant......with our.......
Sects or Sex
There are many religious.......
Woman is refused the ballot because of her.......
Statue or Statute
The law was placed upon the......books.
The world will sometime erect a......to the man of the people.
Do not fear to be thought a “high-brow” if you use these words in your every day speech. The very people who may laugh are in their hearts admiring you, and are, in all probability, envious. The man who has accused another of being a “high-brow” has by that very act, admitted his own inferiority.
Demand the best for yourself in words, as in everything else.