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People who choose language carefully do not blunder into such awkward circumlocutions. If you mean “oval," do not say "almost but not quite round." If you mean a dappled-grey horse," don't say a gray horse whose hair is all patchy and marked off in a kind of pattern." If you mean a pergola" don't say "that arbor-like thing all covered over with vines."

Redundancy (superfluity) is a common fault in everyday language; it is the use of superfluous, unnecessary words. In the following sentences that illustrate our most frequent faults of this sort, the omission of the italicized words will improve the English.

1. Close up the window.

2. Give me the paper here.

3. Evidently, you know, John has gone to the game. 4. Say, listen! Will you go along up to Mr. Brown's with me?

5. When ever did you go and get that book.

6. Why did Alice never tell me about that jolly, great, old plan of hers?

In compositions tautology, verbosity and redundancy are frequently due to lack of planning ahead. Writers begin a sentence without knowing clearly what is to be said, and wander on, trying to arrive somewhere. Remember that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points; speak and write directly. Reread your compositions, see if you can omit any words that are superfluous; see if you

have used two words where one would be more direct and clear.

EXERCISE

Make the following passages more concise, either by rewriting them or by striking out certain words. They represent faults very often found in themes. the faults in each passage.

Name

1. You will undoubtedly be glad and thankful to know, my good friend, that my uncle, my father's brother, has finally, after all these years, learned the truth and the whole truth about the unfortunate stolen jewels.

2. His face wore a white, pale, waxen hue that startled and frightened her; but otherwise it was very cheerful, and entirely free from the careworn, anxious, unhappy expression that had hitherto overshadowed it before.

3. Mr. Brown has lavished upon the text a luxury of rich lines and colors destined to add new fame to his artistic and already much admired work and has made this beautiful book the most exquisite gift book of the year.

4. A collection of the most famous and most widely known and popular songs that have endeared themselves to faithful lovers for many generations will be published for all who enjoy music.

5. "Oh dear, oh dear," said Mrs. Tulliver, "to think of my china being sold in that way - and I bought it when I was married, just as you did yours, Jane and Sophy: and I know you didn't like mine, because of the sprig, but I was fond of it; and there's never been a bit broken, for I've washed it myself and there's the tulip on the cups, and the roses, that anybody might go and look at them for pleasure."

Adapted from The Mill on the Floss.

6. Every night, when the sun goes down at sunset, we climb the hill above our house and there, on the height, we see almost fully one half of the sky.

7. We thought we would walk home across the fields but John Emery came along and he said that the river was very high and he said that it had never been so high and so we said we would go back by the river and try to see if we couldn't get a good view of it.

8. In fine, we consider this as one of the most extraordinary volumes of this or any age. We know of no English author who could have written it. It is a work to which the proud genius of our country, standing with one foot on the Aroostook and the other on the Rio Grande, and holding up the star-spangled banner amid the wreck of matter and the crash of worlds, may point with bewildering scorn at the punier efforts of enslaved Europe. We hope soon to encounter our author among those higher walks of literature in which he is evidently capable of achieving enduring fame. Already we should be inclined to assign him a high position in the bright galaxy of our American bards.

How many

J. R. LOWELL: Introduction to The Biglow Papers. How to Increase One's Vocabulary. words are there in your vocabulary? Shakespeare used about fifteen thousand, Milton about eight thousand. Did you ever feel tongue-tied and embarrassed when people were talking with you? Do you ever hesitate for a word and wish you could talk as easily as some people do? You can acquire ease and fluency if you care to learn some words, and are willing to work a little for your own advantage. The power of being a successful talker and writer comes partly from a natural gift, and from associa

tion with cultured people, but more comes from study and exercise..

Form the habit of noting the words used by good talkers or good writers, look up new words in the dictionary, use these words yourself very often; you will thus, slowly, gain a large vocabulary. Every student should own a small dictionary and should use it constantly. It is very helpful to keep a notebook in which each new word may be entered.

Two means of accustoming yourself to the use of new and difficult words are to be found in reading aloud from the works of great authors and in copying extracts from them. It is excellent practice to read aloud, for you learn to pronounce new words and, also, to understand how to use them correctly. Read a story or a poem to your mother when she is sewing, read the news to your father when he is tired, read to your younger brothers and sisters from the books which they like best; your time will not be lost, rather you will gain very valuable training and will get over the habit of stammering and blushing when you are called upon in school to read aloud. If you copy extracts from the masterpieces of literature, this experience will make you notice, in unfamiliar words, spelling as well as meaning. This does not mean that you are to imitate other writers, but, simply, that you are to get the benefit to be found in seeing how other persons write.

CHAPTER XI

TRANSLATION

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The Purpose of Translation. The ability to make a good translation from one language into another can be acquired only by long practice. Critics disagree in regard to the elements that belong to the best translation, some insisting upon absolute literalness, others upon a free rendering of the meaning. For the student it is enough to aim at a clear transference of an author's meaning, from one language into another. Do not try to be original; depend upon faithfulness and simplicity.

The Rules that Govern Translation. The rules that govern satisfactory translation may be stated as follows:

I. Read each new sentence through slowly, trying to understand as much as possible without looking up unfamiliar words.

This will help you to gain a general impression of the idea presented in the sentence.

II. Reread the same sentence, looking up each unfamiliar word. If you feel sure that you know the meaning of a certain word, yet cannot make that fit in with the general meaning of the sentence, look