Word Power Made Easy - Norman Lewis 2014
10 How to talk about various speech habits (Sessions 24-27)
Part two. Gaining increased momentum
Teaser preview
What adjective describes people who:
✵ are disinclined to conversation?
✵ are brief and to the point in their speech?
✵ are blocked or incoherent in their speech?
✵ show by their speech that they are trite and unimaginative?
✵ use more words than necessary?
✵ are forcefully compelling and logical in their speech?
✵ talk rapidly and fluently?
✵ are noisy and clamorous?
✵ are talkative?
Session 24
Perhaps some of your richest and most satisfying experiences have been with people to whom you can just talk, talk, talk. As you speak, previously untapped springs of ideas and emotions begin to flow; you hear yourself saying things you never thought you knew.
What kinds of people might you find yourself in conversation with? In this chapter we start by examining ten types, discovering the adjective that aptly describes each one.
Ideas
1. saying little
There are some people who just don’t like to talk. It’s not that they prefer to listen. Good listeners hold up their end of the conversation delightfully—with appropriate facial expressions; with empathetic smiles, giggles, squeals, and sighs at just the light time; and with encouraging nods or phrases like “Go on!”, “Fantastic!”, “And then what happened?”
These people like neither to talk nor to listen—they act as if conversation is a bore, even a painful waste of time. Try to engage them, and the best yon may expect for your efforts is a vacant stare, a noncommittal grunt, or an impatient silence. Finally, in frustration, you give up, thinking. “Are they self-conscious? Do they hate people? Do they hate me?”
The adjective: taciturn
2. saying little—meaning much
There is a well-known anecdote about Calvin Coolidge, who, when he was President, was often called (though probably not to his face) “Silent Cal”:
A young newspaperwoman was sitting next to him at a banquet, so the story goes, and turned to him mischievously.
“Mr. Coolidge,” she said, “I have a bet with my editor that I can get you to say more than two words to me this evening.”
“You lose," Coolidge rejoined simply.
The adjective: laconic
3. when the words won’t come
Under the pressure of some strong emotion—fear, rage, anger, for example—people may find it difficult, or even impossible, to utter words, to get their feelings unjumbled and untangled enough to form understandable sentences. They undoubtedly have a lot they want to say, but the best they can do is sputter!
The adjective: inarticulate
4. much talk, little sense
Miss Bates, a character in Emma, a novel by Jane Austen:
“So obliging of you! No, we should not have heard, if it had not been for this particular circumstance, of her being able to come here so soon. My mother is so delighted! For she is to be three months with us at least. Three months, she says so, positively, as I am going to have the pleasure of reading to you. The case is, you see, that the Campbells are going to Ireland. Mrs. Dixon has persuaded her father and mother to come over and see her directly. I was going to say, but, however, different countries, and so she wrote a very urgent letter to her mother, or her father, I declare I do not know which it was, but we shall see presently in Jane’s letter.
The adjective: garrulous
5. unoriginal
Some people are completely lacking in originality and imagination—and their talk shows it. Everything they say is trite, hackneyed, commonplace, humorless—their speech patterns are full of cliches and stereotypes, their phraseology is without sparkle.
The adjective: banal
6. words, words, words!
They talk and talk and talk—it’s not so much the quantity you object to as the repetitiousness. They phrase, rephrase, and rerephrase their thoughts—using far more words than necessary, overwhelming you with words, drowning you with them, until your only thought is how to escape, or maybe how to die.
The adjective: verbose
7. words in quick succession
They are rapid, fluent talkers, the words seeming to roll off their tongues with such ease and lack of effort, and sometimes with such copiousness, that you listen with amazement.
The adjective: voluble
8. words that convince
They express their ideas persuasively, forcefully, brilliantly, and in a way that calls for wholehearted assent and agreement from an intelligent listener.
The adjective: cogent
9. the sound and the fury
Their talk is loud, noisy, clamorous, vehement What may be lacking in content is compensated for in force and loudness.
The adjective: vociferous
10. quantity
They talk a lot—a whole lot They may be voluble, vociferous,
garrulous, verbose, but never inarticulate, taciturn, or laconic. No matter. It’s the quantity and continuity that are most conspicuous. “Were you vaccinated with a phonograph needle?” is the question you are tempted to ask as you listen.
The adjective: loquacious
These ten words revolve around the idea of varying kinds and ways of talking and not talking. Many of the adjectives are close in meaning, but each contains its unique difference.
Quality
1. silence, unresponsiveness
2. economy, brevity, meaningfulness
3. awkwardness, sputtering, incoherence
4. rambling chatter
5. hackneyed, unoriginal phraseology
6. wordiness, repetitiousness
7. fluency, rapidity
8. logic, clarity, persuasiveness
9. noise, vehemence
10. talkativeness
Adjective
taciturn
laconic
inarticulate
garrulous
banal
verbose
voluble
cogent
vociferous
loquacious
Using the words
Can you pronounce the words?
Can you work with the words?
1. taciturn
2. laconic
3. inarticulate
4. garrulous
5. banal
6. verbose
7. voluble
8. cogent
9. vociferous
10. loquacious
a. chattering meaninglessly
b. wordy
c. trite, hackneyed, unoriginal
d. fluent and rapid
e. noisy, loud
f. sputtering unintelligibly
g. talkative
h. brilliantly compelling, persuasive
i. unwilling to engage in conversation
j. using few words packed with meaning
Key: 1-i, 2-j, 3-f, 4-a, 5-c, 6-b, 7-d, 8-h, 9-e, 10-g
Do you understand the words?
Key: 1-no, 2-no, 3-yes, 4-no, 5-no, 6-no, 7-no, 8-no, 9-n 10-yes
Can you recall the words?
Do you know that new nerve patterns are formed by repeated actions? As a very young child, you tied your shoelaces and buttoned your clothing with great concentration—the activity was directed, controlled, purposeful, exciting. As you grew older and more skillful, you tied and buttoned with scarcely a thought of what you were doing. Your fingers flew about their task almost automatically—for the habit had formed a nerve pattern and the action needed little if any conscious attention.
That’s simple enough to understand. If you do not remember your own experiences, you can observe the phenomenon of struggling with a skill, mastering it, and finally making it a self-starting habit by watching any young child. Or you can simply take my word for it.
You need not take my word for the way a mastery of new words is acquired. You can see in yourself, as you work with this book, how adding words to your vocabulary is exactly analogous to a child’s mastery of shoelacing. First you struggle with the concepts; then you eventually master them; finally, by frequent work with the new words (now you see the reason for the great number by exercises, the repetitious writing, saying, thinking) you build up new nerve patterns and you begin to use the new words with scarcely any consciousness of what you are doing.
Watch this common but important phenomenon closely as you do the next exercise. Your total absolution of the material so far has given you complete mastery of our ten basic words. Prove that you are beginning to form new nerve patterns in relation to these words by writing the one that fits each brief definition. The more quickly you think of the word that applies, the surer you can be that using these words will soon be as automatic and unself-conscious as putting on your shoes or buttoning/zipping yourself up in the morning.
1. talkative
2. noisy, vehement, clamorous
3. incoherent; sputtering
4. gabbing ceaselessly and with little meaning
5. disinclined to conversation
6. talking in hackneyed phraseology
7. showing a fine economy in the use of words
8. forceful and convincing
9. talking rapidly and fluently
10. using more words than necessary
1. L ...
2. V ...
3. I ...
4. G ...
5. T ...
6. В ...
7. L ...
8. C ...
9. V ...
10. V ...
Key: 1-loquacious, 2-vociferous, 3-inarticulate, 4-garrulous, 5-tacitum, 6-banal, 7-laconic, 8-cogent, 9-voluble, 10-verbose
(End of Session 24)
Session 25 Origins and related words
1. about keeping one’s mouth shut
If you let your mind play over some of the taciturn people you know, you will realize that their abnormal disinclination to conversation makes them seem morose, sullen, and unfriendly. Cal Coolidge’s taciturnity was world-famous, and no one, I am sure, ever conceived of him as cheerful, overfriendly, or particularly sociable. There are doubtless many possible causes of such verbal rejection of the world: perhaps lack of self-assurance, feelings of inadequacy or hostility, excessive seriousness or introspection, or just plain having nothing to say. Maybe, in Coolidge’s case, he was saving up his words—after he did not “choose to run” in 1928, he wrote a daily column for the New York Herald Tribune at a rumored price of two dollars a word—and, according to most critics (probably all Democrats), he had seemed wiser when he kept silent. Coolidge hailed from New England, and taciturnity 
in that part of the country, so some people say, is considered a virtue. Who knows, the cause may be geographical and climatic, rather than psychological.
Taciturn is from a Latin verb taceo, to be silent, and is one of those words whose full meaning cannot be expressed by any other combination of syllables. It has many synonyms, among them silent, uncommunicative, reticent, reserved, secretive, close-lipped, and close-mouthed; but no other word indicates the permanent, habitual, and temperamental disinclination to talk implied by taci- turn.
2. better left unsaid
Tacit 
derives also from taceo.
Here is a man dying of cancer. He suspects what his disease is, and everyone else, of course, knows. Yet he never mentions the dread word, and no one who visits him ever breathes a syllable of it in his hearing. It is tacitly understood by all concerned that the word will remain forever unspoken.
(Such a situation today, however, may or may not be typical— there appears to be a growing tendency among physicians and family to be open and honest with people who are dying.)
Consider another situation:
An executive is engaging in extracurricular activities with her secretary. Yet during office time they are as formal and distant as any two human beings can well be. Neither of them ever said to the other, “Now, look here, we may be lovers after five o’clock, but between nine and five we must preserve the utmost decorum, okay?” Such speech, such a verbal arrangement, is considered unnecessary—so we may say that the two have a tacit agreement (i.e., nothing was ever actually said) to maintain a complete employer-employee relationship during office hours.
Anything tacit, then, is unspoken, unsaid, not verbalized. We speak of a tacit agreement, arrangement, acceptance, rejection, assent, refusal, etc. A person is never called tacit.
The noun is tacitness 
(Bear in mind that you can transform any adjective into a noun by adding -ness, though in many cases there may be a more sophisticated, or more common, noun form.)
Changing the a of the root taceo to i, and adding the prefix re-, again, and the adjective suffix -ent, we can construct the English word reticent 
Someone is reticent who prefers to keep silent, whether out of shyness, embarrassment, or fear of revealing what should not be revealed. (The idea of “againness”' in the prefix has been lost in the current meaning of the word.)
We have frequently made nouns out of -ent adjectives. Write two possible noun forms of reticent: ..., or, less commonly, ...
3. talk, talk, talk!
Loquacious people love to talk. This adjective is not necessarily a put-down, but the implication, when you so characterize such people, is that you wish they would pause for breath once ina while so that you can get your licks in. The noun is loquacity 
or, of course, loquaciousness.
The word derives from Latin loquor, to speak, a root found also in:
1. soliloquy 
— a speech to oneself (loquor plus solus, alone), or, etymologically, a speech when alone.
We often talk to ourselves, but usually silently, the words going through our minds but not actually passing our lips. The term soliloquy is commonly applied to utterances made in a play by characters who are speaking their thoughts aloud so the audience won’t have to guess. The soliloquist 
may be alone; or other members of the cast may be present on stage, but of course they don’t hear what’s being said, because they’re not supposed to know. Eugene O’Neill made novel uses of soliloquies in Mourning Becomes Electra—the characters made honest disclosures of their feelings and thoughts to the audience, but kept the other players in the dark.
The verb is to soliloquize 
2. A ventriloquist 
is one who can throw his voice. A listener thinks the sound is coming from some source other than the person speaking. The combining root is Latin venter, ventris, belly; etymologically, ventriloquism 
is the art of “speaking from the belly.” The adjective is ventriloquistic 
Can you figure out how the verb will end? Write the verb: ...
3. Colloquial 
combines loquor, to speak, with the prefix con-. (Con- is spelled col- before a root starting with I; cor- before a root starting with r; com- before a root starting with m, p, or b.) When people speak together they are engaging in conversation—and their language is usually more informal and less rigidly grammatical than what you might expect in writing or in public addresses. Colloquial patterns are perfectly correct— they are simply informal, and suitable to everyday conversation.
A colloquialism 
therefore, is a conversational-style expression, like “He hasn’t got any” or “Who are you going with?” as contrasted to the formal or literary “He has none” or “With whom are you going?” Colloquial English is the English you and I talk on everyday occasions—it is not Slangy, vulgar, or illiterate.
4. A circumlocution 
is, etymologically, a “talking around” (circum-, around). Any way of expressing an idea that is roundabout or indirect is circumlocutory
— you are now familiar with the common adjective suffix -ory.
Review of etymology
Working with the words
Can you pronounce the words?
Can you work with the words?
1. taciturnity
2. tacitness
3. reticence
4. loquacity
5. soliloquy
6. ventriloquism
7. colloquialism
8. circumlocution
a. unwillingness to talk, or disclose, out of fear, shyness, reserve, etc.
b. talking, or a speech, “to oneself’
c. art of throwing one’s voice
d. unwillingness to engage in conversation
e. informal expression used in everyday conversation
f. state of being understood though not actually expressed
g. a talking around; method of talking indirectly or in a roundabout way
h. talkativeness
Key: 1-d, 2-f, 3-a, 4-h, 5-b, 6-c, 7-e, 8-g
Do you understand the words?
Key: 1-F, 2-F, 3-T, 4-T, 5-F, 6-F, 7-F, 8-F
Can you recall the words?
1. to speak to oneself
2. to throw one’s voice
3. unwillingness to engage in conversation
4. unspoken
5. referring to an indirect, roundabout style of expression (adj.)
6. suitable for informal conversation
7. talkativeness
8. reluctance to express one’s feelings or thoughts
9. a speech to oneself, especially in a play
10. an indirect, roundabout expression
1. S ...
2. V ...
3. T ...
4. T ...
5. C ...
6. C ...
7. L ... or L ...
8. R ... or R ...
9. S ...
10. C ...
Key: 1-soliloquize, 2-ventriloquize, 3-tacitumity, 4-tacit, 5-circumlocutory, 6-colloquial, 7-loquaciousness or loquacity, 8-reticence or reticency, 9-soliloquy, 10-circumlocution
(End of Session 25)
Session 26 Origins and related words
1. a Spartan virtue
In ancient Sparta, originally known as Laconia, the citizens were long-suffering, hard-bitten, stoical, and military-minded, and were even more rioted for their economy of speech than Vermonters, if that is possible. Legend has it that when Philip of Macedonia was storming the gates of Sparta (or Laconia), he sent a message to the besieged king saying, “If we capture your city we will bum it to the ground.” A one-word answer came back: “If.” It was now probably Philip’s turn to be speechless, though history does not record his reaction.
It is from the name Laconia that we derive our word laconic— pithy, concise, economical in the use of words almost to the point of curtness; precisely Ле opposite of verbose.
Like the man who was waiting at a lunch counter for a ham sandwich. When it was ready, the clerk inquired politely, “Will you eat it here, or take it with you?”
“Both,” was the laconic reply.
Or like the woman who was watching a lush imbibing dry martinis at a Third Avenue bar in New York City. The drunk downed the contents of each cocktail glass at one gulp, daintily nibbled and swallowed the bowl, then finally turned the glass over and ate the base. The stem he threw into a corner. This amazing gustatory feat went on for half an hour, until a dozen stems were lying shattered in the comer, and the drunk had chewed and swallowed enough bowls and bases to start a glass factory. He suddenly turned to the lady and asked belligerently, “I suppose you think I’m cuckoo, don’t you?” “Sure—the stem is the best part,” was the laconic answer.
(It was doubtless this same gentleman, in his accustomed state of intoxication, who found himself painfully weaving his way along Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California—he had somehow gotten on a TWA jetliner instead of the subway—when he realized, almost too late, that he was going to bump into a smartly dressed young woman who had just stepped out of her Mercedes-Benz to go window-shopping along the avenue. He quickly veered left, but by some unexplainable magnetic attraction the woman veered in the same direction, again making collision apparently inevitable. With an adroit maneuver, the drunk swung to the right—the lady, by now thoroughly disoriented, did the same. Finally both jammed on the brakes and came to a dead stop, face to face, and not six inches apart; and as the alcoholic fumes assailed the young lady’s nostrils, she sneered at the reeking, swaying man, as much in frustration as in contempt: “Oh! How gauche!” “Fine!” was his happy response. “How goesh with you?” This answer, however, is not laconic, merely confused.)
We have learned that -ness, -ity, and -ism are suffixes that transform adjectives into nouns—and all three can be used with laconic:
A laconism is also the expression itself that is pithy and concise, as the famous report from a naval commander in World War II: “Saw sub, sank same.”
2. brilliant
Cogent is a term of admiration. A cogent argument is well put, convincing, hardly short of brilliant. Cogency 
shows a keen mind, an ability to think clearly and logically. The word derives from the Latin verb cogo, to drive together, compel, force. A cogent argument compels acceptance because of its logic, its persuasiveness, its appeal to one’s sense of reason.
3. back to talk
You will recall that loquor, to speak, is the source of loquacity, soliloquy, ventriloquism, colloquialism, circumlocution. This root is also the base on which eloquent
magniloquent and grandiloquent 
are built.
The eloquent person speaks out (e-, from ex-, out), is vividly expressive, fluent, forceful, or persuasive in language (“the prosecutor’s eloquent plea to the jury”). The word is partially synonymous with cogent, but cogent implies irresistible logical reasoning and intellectual keenness, while eloquent suggests artistic expression, strong emotional appeal, the skillful use of language to move and arouse a listener.
Magniloquent (magnus, large) and grandiloquent (grandis, grand) are virtually identical in meaning. Magniloquence or grandiloquence is the use of high-flown, grandiose, even pompous language; of large and impressive words; of lofty, flowery, or overelegant phraseology. Home is a place of residence; wife is helpmate, helpmeet, or better half; women are the fair sex; children are offspring or progeny; a doctor is a member of the medical fraternity; people are the species Homo sapiens, etc., etc.
Loquacious, verbose, voluble, and garrulous people are all talkative; but each type, you will recall, has a special quality.
If you are loquacious, you talk a lot because you like to talk and doubtless have a lot to say.
If you are verbose, you smother your ideas with excess words, with such an overabundance of words, that your listener either drops into a state of helpless confusion or falls asleep.
If you are voluble, you speak rapidly, fluently, glibly, without hesitation, stutter, or stammer; you are vocal, verbal, and highly articulate.
If you are garrulous, you talk constantly, and usually aimlessly and meaninglessly, about trifles. We often hear the word used in “a garrulous old man” or “a garrulous old woman,” since in very advanced age the mind may wander and lose the ability to discriminate between the important and the unimportant, between the interesting and the dull.
Verbose is from Latin verbum, word—the verbose person is wordy.
Voluble comes from Latin volvo, volutus, to roll—words effortlessly roll off the voluble speaker’s tongue.
And garrulous derives from Latin garrio, to chatter—a garrulous talker chatters away like a monkey.
The suffix -ness can be added to all these adjectives to form nouns. Alternate noun forms end in -ity:
4. at large
We discovered magnus, large, big, great, in Chapter 9, in discussing Magnavox (etymologically, “big voice”), and find it again in magniloquent (etymologically, “talking big”). The root occurs in a number of other words:
1. Magnanimous 
— big-hearted, generous, forgiving (etymologically, “great-minded”). (Magnus plus animus, mind.) Well discuss this word in depth in Chapter 12.
2. Magnate 
— a person of great power or influence, a big wheel, as a business magnate.
3. Magnify—to make larger, or make seem larger (magnus plus -fy from facio, to make), as in "magnify your problems.”
4. Magnificent—magnus plus fic-, from facio.
5. Magnitude—magnus plus the common noun suffix -tude, as in fortitude, multitude, gratitude, etc.
6. Magnum (as of champagne or wine)—a large bottle, generally two fifths of a gallon.
7. Magnum opus 
— etymologically, a “big work”; actually, the greatest work, or masterpiece, of an artist, writer, or composer. Opus is the Latin word for work; the plural of opus is used in the English word opera, etymologically, “a number of works,” actually a musical drama containing overture, singing, and other forms of music, i.e., many musical works. The verb form opero, to work, occurs in operate, co-operate, operator, etc.
5. words, words, words!
Latin verbum is word. A verb is the important word in a sentence; verbatim 
is word-for-word (a verbatim report).
Verbal 
ending in the adjective suffix -al, may refer either to a verb, or to words in general (a verbal fight); or it may mean, loosely, oral or spoken, rather than written (verbal agreement or contract); or, describing people (“’she is quite verbal"'), it may refer to a ready ability to put feelings or thoughts into words.
Working from verbal, can you add a common verb suffix to form a word meaning to put into words? ...
Verbiage 
has two meanings: an excess of words (“Such verbiage!"); or a style or manner of using words (medical verbiage, military verbiage).
6. roll on, and on!
Volvo, volutus, to roll, the source of voluble, is the root on which many important English words are based.
Revolve 
— roll again (and again), or keep turning round. Wheels revolve, the earth revolves around the sun, the cylinder of a revolver revolves. (The prefix is re-, back or again.)
The noun is revolution 
which can be one such complete rolling, or, by logical extension, a radical change of any sort (TV was responsible for a revolution in the entertainment industry), especially political (the American, or French,
Revolution). The adjective revolutionary 
introduces us to a new adjective suffix, -ary, as in contrary, disciplinary, stationary, imaginary, etc. (But -ary is sometimes also a noun suffix, as in dictionary, commentary, etc.)
Add different prefixes to volvo to construct two more English words: …
1. involve—etymologically, “roll in” (“I didn’t want to get involved!”). Noun: involvement.
2. evolve 
— etymologically, “roll out” (e-, out); hence to unfold, or gradually develop (“The final plan evolved from some informal discussions”; “The political party evolved from a group of interested citizens who met frequently to protest government actions”).
By analogy with the forms derived from revolve, can you construct the noun and adjective of evolve? Noun: ...
Adjective: ...
Review of etymology
Using the words
Can you pronounce the words? (I)
Can you pronounce the words? (II)
Can you work with the words? (I)
1. laconicity
2. eloquence
3. magniloquence
4. verbosity
5. volubility
6. garrulity
7. magnum opus
8. magnate
9. revolution
10. evolution
11. cogency
a. floweriness, pompousness, or elegance in speech
b. incessant chatter with little meaning
c. big wheel; important or influential person
d. great artistic work; masterpiece
e. a gradual unfolding or development; “a rolling out”
f. “a rolling round”; radical change; political upheaval
g. great economy in speech
h. fluency, ease, and/or rapidity of speech
i. great, artistic, or emotional expressiveness
j. wordiness
k. persuasiveness through logic; keen-mindedness in reasoning
Key: 1-g, 2-i, 3-a, 4-j, 5-h, 6-b, 7-d, 8-c, 9-f, 10-e, 11-k
Can you work with the words? (II)
1. laconism
2. verbiage
3. verbalize
4. verbal
5. verbatim
6. revolutionary
7. evolutionary
8. grandiloquent
9. eloquent
10. magnanimous
a. word for word
b. to put into words
c. causing, or resulting from, radical change; new and totally different
d. resulting or developing gradually from (something)
e. expressive; emotionally moving
f. pithiness or economy of expression; word or phrase packed with meaning
g. big-hearted; generous, forgiving
h. referring or pertaining to, or involving, words; oral, rather than written
i. using flossy, flowery, elegant, or impressive phraseology
j. wordiness; style or manner of using words; type of words
Key: 1-f, 2-j, 3-b, 4-h, 5-a, 6-c, 7-d, 8-i, 9-e, 10-g
Do you understand the words?
Key: 1-no, 2-no, 3-yes, 4-yes, 5-yes, 6-no, 7-no, 8-no, 9-no, 10-no
Can you recall the words?
1. gradually unfolding, resulting, or developing (adj.)
2. causing, or resulting from, radical change (adj.)
3. quality of conciseness and economy in the use of words
4. expressiveness in the use of words
5. turn round and round
6. important person, as in the commercial world
7. unselfish; generous; noble in motive; big-hearted; forgiving
8. using words easily; vocal; articulate; referring to, or involving, words; oral, rather than written
9. style of word usage; type of words; overabundance of words
10. wordiness; quality of using excess words
11. elegance in word usage
12. quality of chattering on and on about trivia, or with little meaning
13. fluency and ease in speech
14. word for word
15. masterpiece; great artistic work
16. persuasiveness and forcefulness in speech or writing through closely reasoned logic
1. E ...
2. R ...
3. L ... or L ... or L ... or L ...
4. E ...
5. R ...
6. M ...
7. M ...
8. V ...
9. V ...
10. V ...
11. M ... or G ...
12. G ...
13. V ...
14. V ...
15. M ... O ...
16. C ...
Key: 1-evolutionary, 2-revolutionary, 3-laconism, laconicism, laconicity, or laconicness, 4-eloquence, 5-revolve, 6-magnate, 7-magnanimous, 8-verbal, 9-verbiage, 10-yerbosity, 11-magniloquence or grandiloquence, 12-garrulity, 13-volubility, 14-verbatim, 15-magnum opus, 16-cogency
(End of Session 26)
Session 27 Origins and related words
1. front and back—and uncles
The ventriloquist appears to talk from the belly (venter, ventris plus loquor) rather than through the lips (or such was the strange perception of the person who first used the word).
Venter, ventris, belly, is the root on which ventral 
and ventricle are built.
The ventral side of an animal, for example, is the front or anterior side—the belly side.
A ventricle 
is a hollow organ or cavity, or, logically enough* belly, as one of the two chambers of the heart, or one of the four chambers of the brain. The ventricles of the heart are the lower chambers, and receive blood from the auricles, or upper chambers. The auricle 
so named because it is somewhat ear-shaped (Latin auris, ear), receives blood from the veins; the auricles send the blood into the ventricles, which in turn pump the blood into the arteries. (It’s all very complicated, but fortunately it works.)
The adjective form of ventricle is ventricular 
which may refer to a ventricle, or may mean having a bellylike bulge.
Now that you see how ventricular is formed from ventricle, can you figure out the adjective of auricle? ...
How about the adjective of vehicle? ...
Of circle? ...
No doubt you wrote auricular 
vehicular, and circular, and have discovered that nouns ending in -tie from adjectives ending in -cular.
So you can now be the first person on your block to figure out the adjective derived from:
clavicle: ...
cuticle: ...
vesicle: ...
testicle: ...
uncle: ...
The answers of course are clavicular, cuticular, vesicular, testicular—and for uncle you have every right to shout “No fair!” (But where is it written that life is fair?)
The Latin word for uncle (actually, uncle on the mother’s side) is avunculus, from which we get avuncular 
referring to an uncle.
Now what about an uncle? Well, traditional or stereotypical uncles are generally kindly, permissive, indulgent, protective—and often give helpful advice. So anyone who exhibits one or more of such traits to another (usually younger) person is avuncular or acts in an avuncular capacity.
So, at long last, to get back to ventral. If there’s a front or belly side, anatomically, there must be a reverse—a back side. This is the dorsal 
side, from Latin dorsum, the root on which the verb endorse 
is built.
If you endorse a check, you sign it on the back side; if you endorse a plan, an idea, etc., you back it, you express your approval or support. The noun is endorsement
2. the noise and the fury
Vociferous derives from Latin vox, vocis, voice (a root you met in Chapter 9), plus fero, to bear or cany. A vociferous rejoinder carries a lot of voice—i.e., it is vehement, loud, noisy, clamorous, shouting. The noun is vociferousness
the verb is to vociferate
Can you form the noun derived from the verb? ...
3. to sleep or not to sleep—that is the question
The root fero is found also in somniferous 
carrying, bearing, or bringing sleep. So a somniferous lecture is so dull and boring that it is sleep-inducing.
Fero is combined with somnus, sleep, in somniferous. (The suffix -ous indicates what part of speech? ...)
Tack on the negative prefix in- to somnus to construct insomnia 
the abnormal inability to fall asleep when sleep is required or desired. The unfortunate victim of this disability is an insomniac 
the adjective is insomnious 
(So -ous, in case you could not answer the question in the preceding paragraph, is an adjective suffix.)
Add a different adjective suffix to somnus to derive somnolent 
sleepy, drowsy. Can you construct the noun form of somnolent? ... or ...
Combine somnus with ambulo, to walk, and you have somnambulism 
walking in one’s sleep. With
your increasing skill in using etymology to form words, write the term for the person who is a sleepwalker. ... Now add to the word you wrote a two-letter adjective suffix we have learned, to form the adjective: ...
4. a walkaway
An ambulatory 
patient, as in a hospital or convalescent home, is finally well enough to get out of bed and walk around. A perambulator 
a word used more in England than in the United States, and often shortened to pram, is a baby carriage, a vehicle for walking an infant through the streets (per-, through). To perambulate 
is, etymologically, “to walk through”; hence, to stroll around. Can you write the noun form of this verb? ...
To amble 
is to walk aimlessly; an ambulance is so called because originally it was composed of two stretcher-bearers who walked off the battlefield with a wounded soldier; and a preamble 
is, by etymology, something that “walks before” (pre-, before, beforehand), hence an introduction or introductory statement, as the preamble to the U. S. Constitution (“We the people . . .”), a preamble to the speech, etc; or any event that is introductory or preliminary to another, as in “An increase in inflationary factors in the economy is often a preamble to a drop in the stock market.”
5. back to sleep
Somnus is one Latin word for sleep—sopor is another. A soporific (
lecture, speaker, style of delivery, etc. will put the audience to sleep (fic- from facio, to make), and a soporific is a sleeping pill.
6. noun suffixes
You know that -ness can be added to any adjective to construct the noun form. Write the noun derived from inarticulate: ...; Inarticulate is a combination of the negative prefix in- and Latin articulus, a joint The inarticulate person has trouble joining words together coherently. If you are quite articulate 
on the other hand, you join your words together easily, you are verbal, vocal, possibly even voluble. The verb to articulate 
is to join (words), i.e., to express your vocal sounds—as in “Please articulate more clearly.” Can you write the noun derived from the verb articulate?______
Another, and very common, noun suffix attached to adjectives is, as you have discovered, -ity. So the norm form of banal is either banalness, or, more commonly, banality
Bear in mind, then, that -ness and -ity are common noun suffixes attached to adjectives, and -ion (or -ation) is a noun suffix fre- quenty affixed to verbs (to articulate—articulation; to vocalize— vocalization; to perambulate—perambulation).
Review of etymology
Using the words
Can you pronounce the words? (I)
Can you pronounce the words? (II)
Can you pronounce the words? (Ill)
Can you work with the words? (I)
1. ventral
2. dorsal
3. somniferous
4. insomnious
5. somnolent
6. somnambulistic
7. ambulatory
8. articulate
9. ventricular, auricular
10. avuncular
a. unable to fall asleep
b. pertaining to sleepwalking
c. drowsy
d. able to walk, after being bedridden
e. verbal, vocal
f. like an uncle; kindly; protective
g. pertaining to one of the chambers of the heart
h. referring to the front or belly side
i. sleep-inducing
j. referring to the back side
Key: 1-h, 2-j, 3-i, 4-a, 5-c, 6-b, 7-d, 8-e, 9-g, 10-f
Can you work with the words? (II)
1. ventricle, auricle
2. endorsement
3. vociferousness
4. insomnia
5. somnolence
6. somnambulism
7. perambulator
8. preamble
9. soporific
10. inarticulateness
11. banality
a. inability to fall asleep
b. sleepwalking
c. introduction; preliminary or introductory occurrence
d. incoherence; sputtering; inability to get words out
e. chamber of the heart
f. sleeping pill
g. support; approval
h. lack of originality; lack of imagination
i. drowsiness
j. baby buggy; stroller k. loudness; clamorousness
Key: 1-e, 2-g, 3-k, 4-a, 5-i, 6-b, 7-j, 8-c, 9-f, 10-d, 11-h
Can you work with the words? (Ill)
1. endorse
2. vociferate
3. insomniac
4. somnolency
5. somnambulist
6. perambulate
7. amble
8. soporific
9. insomnious
a. one wbo cannot fall asleep
b. sleepwalker
c. walk aimlessly
d. stroll through; walk around
e. to sign on the back; support; approve of
f. drowsiness
g. say loudly and with great vehemence
h. causing sleep
i. wakeful; unable to fall asleep
Key: 1-e, 2-g, 3-a, 4-f, 5-b, 6-d, 7-c, 8-h, 9-i
Do you understand the words?
Key: 1-yes, 2-no, 3-no, 4-no, 5-yes, 6-no, 7-yes, 8-no, 9-no, 10-no
Can you recall the words?
1. lack of imagination or originality in speech, actions, or style of life; hackneyed or trite phraseology
2. sleep-inducing
3. unable to fall asleep (adj.)
4. verbal, vocal, speaking fluently
5. acting like an uncle
6. referring to the front; anterior
7. referring to the back; posterior
8. approve of; support; sign on the back of
9. shout vehemently
10. one who cannot fall asleep
11. drowsy; sleepy
12. sleepwalker
13. now able to walk, though previously bedridden
14. walk aimlessly
15. introduction; introductory event
16. incoherence
1. B ...
2. S ... or S ...
3. I ...
4. A ...
5. A ...
6. V ...
7. D ...
8. E ...
9. V ...
10. L ...
11. S ...
12. S ...
13. A ...
14. A ...
15. P ...
16. I ...
Key: 1-banality, 2-somniferous or soporific, 3-insomnious, 4-articulate, 5-avuncular, 6-ventral, 7-dorsal, 8-endorse, 9-vociferate, 10-insomniac, 11-somnolent, 12-somnambulist, 13-ambulatory, 14-amble, 15-preamble, 16-inarticulateness
Chapter review
A. Do you recognize the words?
1. Disinclined to conversation:
(a) loquacious, (b) laconic, (c) taciturn
2. Trite:
(a) inarticulate, (b) banal, (c) verbose
3. Rapid and fluent:
(a) voluble, (b) verbose, (c) garrulous
4. Forceful and compelling:
(a) vociferous, (b) cogent, (c) laconic
5. Unspoken:
(a) verbatim, (b) eloquent, (c) tacit
6. Using elegant and impressive words:
(a) verbose, (b) grandiloquent, (c) colloquial -
7. Back:
(a) dorsal, (b) ventral, (c) somniferous
8. Sleep-inducing:
(a) soporific, (b) somnolent, (c) ventral
9. Inability to fall asleep:
(a) somnambulism, (b) ambulatory, (c) insomnia
10. Talkativeness:
(a) reticence, (b) ventriloquism, (c) loquacity
11. Expressing indirectly or in a roundabout way:
(a) circumlocutory, (b) colloquial, (c) laconic
12. Elegance in expression:
(a) magniloquence, (b) grandiloquence, (c) verbiage
13. Wordiness:
(a) laconism, (b) cogency, (c) verbosity
14. Big-hearted, generous, unselfish:
(a) grandiloquent, (b) magnanimous, (c) garrulous
15. Causing radical changes:
(a) evolutionary, (b) revolutionary, (c) ventricular
16. To shout vehemently:
(a) endorse, (b) perambulate, (c) vociferate
17. Like an uncle:
(a) ventricular, (b) auricular, (c) avuncular
18. Drowsy:
(a) somniferous, (b) somnolent, (c) soporific
19. Sleepwalking:
(a) insomnia, (b) somnolency, (c) somnambulism
20. Introduction:
(a) preamble, (b) perambulator, (c) evolution
Key: 1-c, 2-b, 3-a, 4-b, 5-c, 6-b, 7-a, 8-a, 9-c, 10-c, 11-a, 12-a and b, 13-c, 14-b, 15-b, 16-c, 17-c, 18-b, 19-c, 20-a
B. Can you recognize roofs?
Key: 1-to be silent, 2-to speak, 3-alone, 4-belly, 5-big, large, great, 6-grand, 7-word, 8-to roll, 9-to chatter, 10-mind, 11-work, 12-to work, 13-ear, 14-uncle, 15-back, 16-voice, 17-to carry or bear, 18-to walk, 19-sleep, 20-sleep
Teaser questions for the amateur etymologist
1. The present participle (or -ing form) of the Latin verb opero, to work, is operans, working. The form operand! means of working. Can you figure out the literal meaning of the phrase modus operandi, sometimes used to signify the characteristic methods or procedures used by certain criminals? ...
2. Circum-, we have learned, is a prefix meaning around, as in circumlocution, circumference, circumcision, circumnavigation, etc. Thinking of the root scribo, scriptus, to write, can you figure out the word meaning writing, or written material, around (the edge of something)? ...
3. You know the roots somnus and loquor. Can you combine these two roots to form an adjective meaning talking in one’s sleep? ... Can you write the noun form of this adjective? ...
4. We have discovered auris, ear, as in auricle. Can you figure out the specialty of the physician called an aurist?
5. Verbal, from verbum, refers to words; oral, from os, oris, the mouth, refers to spoken words or sounds. Can you analyze aural and decide on its meaning? ...
6. A somnambulist walks in his sleep. What does a noctambulist do? ...
7. Soporific, combining sopor, sleep, with fic- (from facio), to make, means inducing or causing sleep. Use somnus, another root for sleep, to construct a word that has the same form and meaning as soporific: ...
8. Perambulate is to walk through. Use another Latin prefix to construct a verb meaning to walk around. ...
(Answers in Chapter 18)
Becoming alert to new ideas
Some chapters back I suggested that since words are symbols of ideas, one of the most effective means of building your vocabulary is to read books that deal with new ideas. Along that line, I further suggested that the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis would be good starting points, and I mentioned a number of exciting books to work with.
Needless to say, you will not wish to neglect other fields, and so I want to recommend, at this point, highly readable books in additional subjects. All these books will increase your familiarity with the world of ideas—all of them, therefore, will help you build a superior vocabulary.
Semantics
Language in Thought and Action, by S. I. Hayakawa
People in Quandaries, by Wendell Johnson
Education and learning
How to Survive in Your Native Land, by James Herndon Education and the Endangered Individual, by Brian V. Hill How Children Fail and What Do I Do Monday?, by John Holt Teaching Human Beings, by Jeffrey Schrank Education and Ecstasy, by George B. Leonard
Human Teaching for Human Learning, by George Isaac Brown
Sex, love, marriage
Couple Therapy, by Gerald Walker Smith and Alice I. Phillips Your Fear of Love, by Marshall Bryant Hodge
Sexual Suicide, by George F. Gilder
Intimacy, by Gina Allen and Clement G. Martin, M.D.
How to Live with Another Person, by David Viscott, M.D.
Pairing, by George R. Bach and Ronald M. Deutsch
The Intimate Enemy, by George R. Bach and Peter Wyden
The Rape of the Ape, by Allan Sherman (Humor)
The Hite Report, by Shere Hite
Sex in Human Loving, by Eric Berne, M.D.
Women, feminism, etc.
Rebirth of Feminism, by Judith Hole and Ellen Levine
The Way of All Women, by M. Esther Harding
Knowing Woman, by Irene Claremont de Castillejo
Sexist Justice, by Karen De Crow
Our Bodies, Our Selves, by The Boston Women’s Health Book Collective
Children, child-raising, etc.
Between Parent and Child and Between Parent and Teenager, by Dr. Haim Ginott
Children Who Hate, by Fritz Redl and David Wineman
Parent Effectiveness Training, by Dr. Thomas Gordon
How to Parent, by Dr. Fitzhugh Dodson
Escape from Childhood, by John Holt One Little Boy, by Dorothy W. Baruch
Health
Save Your Life Diet Book, by David Reuben, M.D.
Folk Medicine, by D. C. Jarvis, MJD.
Get Well Naturally, by Linda Clark
Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit, by Adelle Davis
Philosophy
The Way of Zen and What Does It Matter?, by Alan W. Watts Love’s Body, by Norman O. Brown
Business, economics, finance
The Affluent Society, by John Kenneth Galbraith
Parkinson’s Law, by C. Northcote Parkinson
The Peter Principle, by Laurence J. Peter
Up the Organization, by Robert Townsend
Sociology
Passages, by Gail Sheehy
Future Shock, by Alvin Toffler
Hard Times, by Studs Terkel
Roots, by Alex Haley
Death and dying
Life After Life, by Raymond A. Moody, Jr., M.D.
On Death and Dying, by Elizabeth Kubler Ross
All but one or two of these stimulating and informative books are available in inexpensive paperback editions—most of them can be found in any large public library. Any one of them will provide an evening of entertainment and excitement far more rewarding than watching TV, will possibly open for you new areas of knowledge and understanding, and will Undoubtedly contain so many of the words you have learned in this book that you will again and again experience the delicious shock of recognition that I spoke of in an earlier chapter.
Additionally, you may encounter words you have never seen before that are built on roots you are familiar with—and you will then realize how simple it is to figure out the probable meaning of even the most esoteric term once you have become an expert in roots, prefixes, and suffixes.
(End of Session 27)
Brief Intermission Six
Do you always use the proper word?
The fact is that grammar is getting more liberal every day. Common usage has put a stamp of approval on many expressions which your grandmother would not have dared utter in her most intimate conversation—not if she believed she was in the habit of using good English. It is me; have you got a cold?; it’s a nice day; can I have another piece of cake?; she is a most aggravating child; will everybody please remove their hats—all these today represent perfectly correct grammar for everyday conversation. Modem grammar research reports that these expressions have become universal in educated speech.
However, such a liberal policy does not mean that all bars are down. Only a person whose speech borders on the illiterate would make such statements as: can you learn me to swim?; he don’t live here no more; we ain’t working so good; me and my husband are glad to see you. There are still certain minimum essentials of good English that the cultivated speaker carefully observes.
Is your grammar as good as the next person’s? Here’s a quick test by which you can measure your ability.
Check the preferable choice in each sentence, then compare your results with the key at the end. Allowing 4 per cent for each correct answer, consider 92-100 excellent, 76-88 good, 68-72 average.
1. What (а-effect, b-affect) does Farrah Fawcett-Majors have on you?
2. What’s the sense (а-in, b-of) looking for a needle in a haystack?
3. She won’t (a-leave, b-let) us meet her new boy friend.
4. What (а-kind of, b-kind of a) dress do you want?
5. Her (а-principle, b-principal) objection to neurotics is that they are difficult to live with.
6. The murderer was (a-hanged, b-hung) two hours before the governor’s pardon arrived.
7. Many men feel great affection for their (a-mother-in-laws, b-mothers-in-law).
8. For a light cake, use two (a-spoonfuls, b-spoonsful) of baking powder.
9. Everyone likes you but (а-she, b-her).
10. Sally sent a gift for (а-him and me, b-he and I).
11. The criteria you are using (а-is, b-are) not valid.
12. The cost of new houses (а-is, b-are) finally stabilizing.
13. Irene as well as her husband (a-has, b-have) come to see you.
14. (a-Is, b-Are) either of your sisters working?
15. As soon as the editor or her secretary (a-comes, b-come) in, let me know.
16. One or two of her features (а-is, b-are) very attractive.
17. Can you visit Mary and (a-I, b-me) tonight?
18. He is totally (a-uninterested, b-disinterested) in your personal affairs.
19. She (a-laid, b-lay) on the beach while her son splashed at the water’s edge.
20. (a-Who, b-Whom) would you rather be if you weren’t yourself?
21. You should not (a-have, b-of) spoken so harshly.
22. She is one of those women who (a-believes, b-believe) that husbands should share in doing housework and taking care of the children.
23. Was it you who (a-was, b-were) here yesterday?
24. What we need in this country (а-is, b-are) honest politicians.
25. I’m smarter than Gladys, but she’s richer than (a-I, b-me).
Key: 1-a, 2-a, 3-b, 4-a, 5-b, 6-a, 7-b, 8-a, 9-b, 10-a, 11-b, 12-a, 13-a, 14-a, 15-a, 16-b, 17-b, 18-a, 19-b, 20-a, 21-a, 22-b, 23-b, 24-a, 25-a