Talks on Talking

It is said of Macaulay that he never allowed a sentence to pass muster until it was as good as he could make it. He would write and rewrite, and even construct a paragraph or a whole chapter, in order to secure a more lucid and satisfactory arrangement. He wrote just so much each day, usually an average of six pages, and this manuscript was so erased and corrected that it was finally compressed into two pages of print. The masters of English prose have been great workers. Stevenson and others like him gave hours and days to the study of words, phrases, and sentences. Through unwearied application to the art of rhetorical composition they ultimately won fame as writers. The ambitious student of speech culture, whether for use in conversation or in public, will do well to emulate the example of such great writers. One of the best ways to build a large vocabulary is to note useful and striking phrases in one's general reading. It is advisable to jot down such phrases in a note-book, and to read them aloud from time to time. Such phrases may be classified according to their particular application,—to business, politics, music, education, literature, or the drama. It is not recommended that such phrases should be consciously dragged into conversation, but the practice of carefully observing felicitous phrases, and of noting them in writing, cultivates the taste for better words and a sense of discrimination in their use. Many phrases noted and studied in this way will unconsciously find their way into one's expression. The list of phrases which follows is offered as merely suggestive. In reading the phrases aloud it is well to think clearly what each one means, and to fit it into a sentence of one's own making. This simple exercise, practiced for a few weeks, will produce surprising results by way of increased facility and flexibility of English style. I can well imagine Broadly speaking An admirable idea In a literal sense By sheer force of genius You can imagine his chagrin I hazard a guess It challenges belief He has an inscrutable face Very fertile in resource I am loath to believe It is essentially undignified Example is so contagious I am not in her confidence Taken in the aggregate It is a reproof to shallowness There is a misconception here I strongly suspect it so He was covered with confusion It was a just rebuke A pleasing instance of this It lends dignity to life She has a desultory liking for music It seems incredible A kind of detached ideal It blunts the finer sensibilities Beyond question or cavil A well-founded suspicion It has elicited great praise They are landmarks in memory Superhuman vigor and activity A venerable and interesting figure It is curious and interesting Gives the impression of aloofness Perfectly void of offence Regard with misgiving A stroke of professional luck An unscrupulous adventurer He spoke with extreme reticence Robust common sense Deficient in amiability Done with characteristic thoroughness A vein of philanthropic zeal Definite, tangible, and practical Too much effusive declamation A man of keen ambition It gives infinite zest Singular qualifications for public life They are bitterly hostile The despair of the official wire-puller Blind and unreasoning opponent Ignoble strife for power Surrounded by a cohort of admiring friends In an imperative voice Marked by copiousness and vivacity Touched with sombre dignity A ridiculous misconception Habitual austerity of demeanor Ostentation and lavish expenditure A person of exquisite tact Intolerant of bumptiousness The obvious danger of dallying This was grossly overstated A mass of calumny and exaggeration Inimical to religion Fraught with peril I venture to ask Attributed to mental decrepitude A strange phenomena It argues a blind faith Insatiable whirl of excitement A substratum of truth Under some conceivable circumstances Bubbling over with infectious joy Frigid dignity and arrogant reserve A profound contempt The fine art of hospitality Grim morsels of philosophy A tinge of sorrowness and jealousy Due to ignorance and barbarism Grave and monstrous scandal A splendid instance of self-devotion Amusingly exemplified in this case Recognized and powerful element A symbol of restraint An utterly fallacious idea In rapid and striking succession We learn from stern experience Pictures of an inspired imagination An astonishing outbreak Soothing words of sympathy A rather bold assertion The most enthusiastic adherents Mere tepid conviction Eminently qualified for the task Almost supernatural charm In glowing and exaggerated phrases Somewhat rich and austere An inexhaustible theme Grave and undeniable faults Perfectly chosen language All the characteristics of a mob Given to grandiloquent phrase Peculiar vein of sarcasm Froze like ice and cut like steel A generous tribute to an eminent rival Cold and stately composure Fiery and passionate enthusiasm Extraordinary violence of nature A brilliant and delightful play Rare and striking combination Preeminently qualified for the part Moderate and cautious conservatism Daring perversions of justice Devoid of rhetorical device As a great thinker has observed Almost morbid sensitiveness Discreetly stifled yawn He was dumb with wonder Scarcely less familiar Delightfully characteristic It was a profound conviction Greatly conceived and expressed Blinded by its brightness I have cudgelled my memory Exposed to imminent peril Screening a breach of etiquette By a natural transition Splendid anticipations of success A very laudable attempt Lapsed into complete oblivion With most distinguished success Like embarking on a shoreless sea A really pretty imitation Unless I greatly err Undaunted by repeated failure Became a term of reproach An epoch-making achievement In the guise of verbal nonsense Received with cordial sympathy With the most obvious sincerity Held forth with fluency and zest Gracious solicitude Punctiliously civil and polite An air of sphinx-like mystery Consumed by zeal Awaited with lively interest Sledge-hammer blows against humbug This recalls a happy retort Preeminently a case in point Exquisite precision and finish Incomparably better informed A keen eye for incongruities Polite to the point of deference To the last degree improbable People with rampant prejudices A model of chivalrous propriety By way of digression A splendid acquisition Singularly attractive fashion A kind of unconscious conspiracy Amid engrossing demands