Let us then inquire whether economy of the recipient's
attention is not the secret of effect, alike in the right choice
and collocation of words, in the best arrangement of clauses in
a sentence, in the proper order of its principal and subordinate
propositions, in the judicious use of simile, metaphor, and other
figures of speech, and even in the rhythmical sequence of syllables.
ii. Economy in the Use of Words.
5. The greater forcibleness of Saxon English, or rather non-Latin
English, first claims our attention. The several special reasons
assignable for this may all be reduced to the general reason--economy.
The most important of them is early association. A child's vocabulary
is almost wholly Saxon. He says, _I have,_ not _I possess_---_I
wish,_ not I _desire;_ he does not _reflect,_ he _thinks;_ he does
not beg for _amusement,_ but for _play_; he calls things _nice_
or _nasty,_ not _pleasant_ or _disagreeable._ The synonyms which
he learns in after years, never become so closely, so organically
connected with the ideas signified, as do these original words
used in childhood; and hence the association remains less strong.
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