some person of whom we are writing. It is much more expressive now to
describe a person as a "doubter" than as a "doubting Thomas," though
the latter phrase may serve to show that the writer knows something
of his New Testament. The first man who called a sceptic a "doubting
Thomas" was certainly a witty and cultivated person; but this cannot
now be said of the use of this hackneyed phrase. Again, it is better
to say a "traitor" than a "Judas," a "wise man" than a "Solomon," a
"tyrant" than a "Nero," a "great general" than a "Napoleon;" for all
these names used in this way have lost their force.

A similar fault is the describing of a person by some abstract noun
such as a "joy," a "delight," an "inspiration"--a way of speaking
which savours both of slang and affectation, and which is not likely
to appeal to people of good taste. Of course it is quite different
when the poet writes--

"She was a vision of delight;"

for poetry has its own rules, just as it has its own range of ideas
and inspiration, and we are speaking now of the writing of mere prose.

Another bad fault of the same kind, but more colloquial, and more
often met with in speaking than in writing, is the too frequent use of
a word or phrase. Some people say "I mean," or "personally," or "I
see," or "you see," or similar expressions, at nearly every second
sentence, until people listening to them begin to count the number of
times these expressions occur, instead of attending to the subject of
conversation.

Another very common fault in writing made by newspaper writers, and
even more so by young beginners in composition, is the use of long
words derived from Latin instead of the simpler words which have come
down from the Old English. This does not mean that these words are not
so good or so beautiful as the Old English words. As we have seen,
these words were borrowed by our language to express ideas for which
no native word could be found. But a person who deliberately chooses
long Latin words because they are longer, and, as he thinks, sound
grander, is sure to write a poor style. A saying which is perhaps
becoming almost as "hackneyed" as some of the quotations already
mentioned in this chapter is, "The style is the man." This means that
if a person thinks clearly and sincerely he will write clearly and
sincerely. If a person's thoughts are lofty, he will naturally find
dignified words to express them. No good writer will deliberately
choose