ion, upon gesture, upon the words with which it
is linked, upon the experience of speaker or hearer, upon time, place, and
external fact, or upon other forces outside it for the sense in which it
is to be taken. You may be called "old dog" in an insulting manner, or
(especially if a slap on the shoulder accompanies the phrase) in an
affectionate manner. You may properly say, "Calhoun had logic on his
side"; add, however, the words "but his face was to the past," and you
spoil the sentence,--for _face_ gives a reflex connotation to
_side_, slight perhaps and momentary, but disconcerting. Think over
the funny stories you have heard. Many of them turn, you will find, on the
outcropping of new significance in a phrase because of its environment.
Thus the anecdote of the servant who had been instructed to summon the
visiting English nobleman by tapping on his bedroom door and inquiring,
"My lord, have you yet risen?" and who could only stammer, "My God! ain't
you up yet?" Or the anecdote of the minister who in a sermon on the
Parable of the Prodigal Son told how a young man living dissolutely in a
city had been compelled to send to the pawnbroker first his overcoat, next
his suit, next his silk shirt, and finally his very underclothing--"and
then," added the minister, "he came to himself." Only by unresting
vigilance can you evade verbal discords, if not of this magnitude, at
least of much frequency and stylistic harm.

EXERCISE - Connotation

1. Note the contrast in emotional suggestion that comes to you from
hearing the words:

"Sodium chloride" and "salt"
"A test-tube of H2O" and "a cup of cold water"
"A pair of brogans" and "a little empty shoe"
"Bump" and "collide"
"A brilliant fellow" and "a flashy fellow"
"Bungled it" and "did not succeed"
"Tumble" and "fall"
"Dawn" and "6 A.M."
"Licked" and "worsted"
"Fat" and "plump"
"Wept" and "blubbered"
"Cheek" and "self-assurance"
"Stinks" and "disagreeable odors"
"Steal" and "embezzle"
"Thievishness" and "kleptomania"
"Educated" and "highbrow"
"Job" and "Position"
"Told a lie" and "fell into verbal inexactitude"
"A drunkard" (a stranger) and "a drunkard" (your father).

2. Make a list of your own similar to that in Exercise 1.

3. Read the sentences listed in EXERCISE - Slovenliness III and IV. What
do these sentences suggest to you as to the social and mental
qualifications of the person who employs them?

4. Read the second paragraph of Appendix 2. What does i