Make a list of the slang phrases that you have acquired. For each one subst.i.tute a good English expression.

The reason we must watch our oral English closely is that it is in our conversation that our habits of speech are formed. The expressions we use then we unconsciously employ when we are writing or talking to the cla.s.s. If we are accustomed to use considerable slang when we speak, we shall have difficulty in eliminating it from our writing or in finding a good word to express the idea for which we usually use slang. As a rule, slang and extravagant expressions of all kinds are used to serve such a variety of meanings that the use of them tends to limit the vocabulary to these expressions. Consider slang something undesirable and stop using it.

=Exercise 138=

Look up the words in each of the following groups. You will notice that there is a resemblance of meaning between all the words of each group, but that there is also a shade of difference in meaning that distinguishes each word from its companions. Discover that shade of difference. Use each word in a sentence.

1. Lovely, beautiful, pretty, handsome.

2. Awful, terrible, horrible, dreadful, fearful.

3. Nice, pleasant, delightful, dainty, fine, agreeable.

4. Grand, imposing, splendid, impressive.

5. Love, like, adore, admire, revere.

6. Smart, clever, bright, quick-witted.

7. Fierce, ferocious, wild.

8. Guess, think, suppose, imagine.

9. Hate, dislike, despise, abhor, detest.

10. Scholar, student, pupil.

=Exercise 139=

Carelessness in speaking frequently results in wordiness, since the speaker in an effort to be clear or forceful repeats the idea two or three times. Such speech is tiresome. In each of the following sentences there are too many words to express the idea. See how many you can omit and yet preserve the meaning. Sometimes the sentence needs revision.

1. I haven't got any time.

2. Where does he live at?

3. Don't stand up; there's a chair.

4. The woman she had an accident.

5. You had ought to take more exercise.

6. I was just going to go.

7. I excuse you because you are a new beginner.

8. I can finish the work in three days' time.

9. The offices are both alike in all respects.

10. He engaged the both of us.

11. We applied to Mr. Abbot, he being the manager.

12. My mind often reverts back to the time when I began in business.

13. That high building that is going up on Twelfth Street is going to be twenty stories high when it is finished.

14. From his appearance he looked to be in very poor circ.u.mstances.

15. He is afraid of the results that will ensue if he follows the course that he has planned.

16. The present state of affairs that is now confronting the public has become what it now is because the citizens are not public spirited.

17. The reason why I was not at work yesterday was because I was not feeling as well as I might.

18. I shall never forget the terrible sights that I saw the time that I witnessed the street car collision.

19. I have been debating in my mind whether I ought to accept the offer.

20. He was a mere little child when he first began to work in the mine.

21. Mix together both the b.u.t.ter and the sugar, and rub the two of them to a cream.

22. The two pieces of cloth are just exactly the same in every way.

23. You will find this chair equally as comfortable as the other.

24. He said that when he started in his business that he had almost no capital at all.

25. It was the office of Morgan & Son where I got my experience.

26. China is undergoing a vast change at the present time.

27. At about the age of fourteen years he left his home town.

28. They did it gladly and willingly.

29. He always shows great deference and respect when he speaks to those who are in authority.

30. He is the proprietor and owner of the News.

31. You can easily get the training that will make you a competent and efficient high-salaried trained man.