Analyze each of the words given below into its various uses or
applications. Then for it in each of these applications assemble as many
synonyms as you can unaided. Finally, have recourse to a dictionary or
book of synonyms for the further extension of your lists.
(By way of illustration, let us take the word _quiet_. Through
meditation and analysis we discover that it may be applied (a) to water or
any liquid not in motion, (b) to a place that is without sound, (c) to a
place shut off from activity or bustle, (d) to a person who is not
demonstrative or forward in manner. We then think of all the words we can
that can be substituted for it in each of these uses. No matter how
incompletely or unsatisfactorily we feel we are performing this task, we
must not give it over until we have found every word we can summon. Then
we turn to a dictionary or book of synonyms. Thus for _quiet_ we
shall assemble such synonyms as (a) calm, still, motionless, placid,
tranquil, serene, smooth, unruffled, undisturbed, pacific, stagnant;
(b) silent, still, noiseless, mute, hushed, voiceless; (c) secluded,
sequestered, solitary, isolated, unfrequented, unvisited, peaceful,
untrodden, retired; (d) demure, sedate, staid, reserved, meek, gentle,
retiring, unobtrusive, modest, unassuming, timid, shrinking, shy.)
Barren Keep Pure Solid
Certain Liberal Rare Sorry
Cold Light (adjective) Rich Spread
Cool Light (noun) Right Straight
Deep Long Rude Still
Dry Low Short Sure
Easy Mean Simple Thick
Foul Narrow Slow Thin
Full New Small Tender
Gentle Obscure Smooth True
Grand Odd Sober Warm
Heavy Particular Soft Yield
Keen
<Literal vs. Figurative Applications>
One of the most interesting things to watch in the study of words is their
development from a literal to a figurative application. The first man who
broke away from the confines of the literal meaning of a word and applied
the word to something that only in a figurative sense had qualities
analogous to the original meaning, was creating poetry. He was making an
imaginative flight comparable in daring to the Wright brothers' first
aeronautic flight. But as the word was used over and over in this
figurative way the imaginative flight became more and more commonplace. At
last it ceased to be imaginative at all; through frequent repetition it
had settled into the matter of course. A glance back at the _Concise_
group above will show you that with time the comparison which was once the
basis and the life of the figurative use of words is dulled, obscured,
even lost.
As a further enforcement of this fact, let us analyze the word
_rough_. In its literal application, it may designate any surface
that has ridges, projections, or inequalities and is therefore uneven,
jagged, rugged, scraggy, or scabrous. Now frequently a man's face or head
is rough because unshaved or uncombed; also the fur of an animal is rough.
Hence the term could be used for unkempt, disheveled, shaggy, hairy,
coarse, bristly. "The child ran its hand over its father's rough cheek"
and "The bear had a rough coat" are sentences that even the most
unimaginative mind can understand. We speak of rough timber because its
surface has not been planed or made smooth. We speak of a rough diamond
because it is unpolished, uncut. Note that all these uses are literal,
that in each instance some unevenness of surface is referred to.
But man, urged on by the desire to say what he means with more novelty,
strikingness, or force, applied the word to ideas that have no surfaces to
be uneven. He imagined what these ideas would be like if they had
surfaces. Of course in putting these conceptions into language he was
creating figures of speech, some of them startlingly apt, some of them
merely far-fetched. He said a man had a _rough_ voice, as though the
voice were like a cactus in its prickly irregularities. By _rough_ he
meant what his fellows meant when they spoke of the voice as harsh,
grating, jarring, discordant, inharmonious, strident, raucous, or
unmusical. Going farther, that early poet said the weather was
_rough_. He thought of clement weather as being smooth and even, but
of inclement, severe, stormy, tempestuous, or violent weather as being
full of projections to rend and harass one. Thus an everyday use of the
term today was once wrenched and immoderate speech. Possibly the first man
who heard of rough weather was puzzled for a moment, then amused or
delighted as he caught the figure. It did not require great originality to
think of a crowd as _rough_ in its movements. But our poet applied
the idea to an individual. To him a rude, uncivil, impolite, ungracious,
uncourteous, unpolished, uncouth, boorish, blunt, bluff, gruff, brusk, or
burly person was as the unplaned lumber or the unpolished gem; and we
imitative moderns still call such a man _rough_. But we do not think
of the man as covered with projections that need to be taken off, unless
forsooth we receive _rough_ treatment at his hands. And note how far
we have journeyed from the original idea of the word when we say "I gave
the report a _rough_ glance," meaning cursory, hasty, superficial, or
incomplete consideration.
Many very simple words, including several of those already treated in this
chapter, are two-sided in that they are both literal and figurative.