The English language is so complex in character that it can scarcely be learned by rule, and can best be mastered by the study of such idioms and phrases as are provided in this book; but just as care must be taken to place every accent or stress on the proper syllable in the pronouncing of every word it contains, so must the stress or emphasis be placed on the proper word in every sentence spoken.  To read or speak pleasingly one should resort to constant practise by doing so aloud in private, or preferably, in the presence of such persons as know good reading when they hear it and are masters of the melody of sounds.  It was Dean Swift’s belief that the common fluency of speech in many men and most women was due to scarcity of matter and scarcity of words.  He claimed that a master of language possessed a mind full of ideas, and that before speaking, such a mind paused to select the choice word—­the phrase best suited to the occasion.  “Common speakers,” he said, “have only one set of ideas, and one set of words to clothe them in,” and these are always ready on the lips.  Because he holds the Dean’s view sound to-day, the writer will venture to warn the readers of this book against a habit that, growing far too common among us, should be checked, and this is the iteration and reiteration in conversation of “the battered, stale, and trite” phrases, the like of which were credited by the worthy Dean to the women of his time.

Human thought elaborates itself with the progress of intelligence.  Speech is the harvest of thought, and the relation which exists between words and the mouths that speak them must be carefully observed.  Just as nothing is more beautiful than a word fitly spoken, so nothing is rarer than the use of a word in its exact meaning.  There is a tendency to overwork both words and phrases that is not restricted to any particular class.  The learned sin in this respect even as do the ignorant, and the practise spreads until it becomes an epidemic.  The epidemic word with us yesterday was unquestionably “conscription”; several months ago it was “preparedness.”  Before then “efficiency” was heard on every side and succeeded in superseding “vocational teaching,” only to be displaced in turn by “life extension” activities.  “Safety-first” had a long run which was brought almost to abrupt end by “strict accountability,” but these are mere reflections of our cosmopolitan life and activities.  There are others that stand out as indicators of brain-weariness.  These are most frequently met in the work of our novelists.

English authors and journalists are abusing and overworking the word intrigue to-day.  Sir Arthur Quillercouch on page 81 of his book “On the Art of Writing” uses it:  “We are intrigued by the process of manufacture instead of being wearied by a description of the ready-made article.”  Mrs. Sidgwick in “Salt and Savour,” page 232, wrote:  “But what intrigued her was Little Mamma’s remark at breakfast,” From the Parliamentary