So common words carry with them a world of suggested thought.
The word _drunk_ calls up a picture horrid and disgusting; _violet_
suggests blueness, sweetness, and innocence; _oak_ suggests sturdy
courage and strength; _love_ suggests all that is dear in the histories
of our own lives. Just what will be suggested depends largely on the
person who hears the word, and in thinking of suggestion we must reflect
also on the minds of the persons to whom we speak.
The best practical exercise for the enlargement of one's vocabulary is
translating, or writing verses. Franklin commends verse-writing, but
it is hardly mechanical enough to be of value in all cases. At the same
time, many people are not in a position to translate from a foreign
language; and even if they were, the danger of acquiring foreign idioms
and strange uses of words is so great as to offset the positive gain.
But we can easily exercise ourselves in translating one kind of English
into another, as poetry into prose, or an antique style into modern.
To do this the constant use of the English dictionary will be necessary,
and incidentally we shall learn a great deal about words.
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