ntences will possess the second requisite of a
good sentence,--interest. Accuracy and interest, these are the elements
that make a sentence good. And the greater of these is accuracy.

XIII. WORDS

=170. Accuracy and Interest.=--For words, as for sentences and stories,
the same law holds,--accuracy and interest. If one's words are accurate
and stimulate interest in the reader, they are good.

=171. Accuracy.=--Accuracy comes first. It is necessary always to write
with a nice regard for exact shades of meaning. As Flaubert declared,
"Whatever one wishes to say, there is only one noun to express it, only
one verb to give it life, only one adjective to qualify it. Search then
till that noun, that verb, that adjective is discovered. Never be
content with very nearly; never have recourse to tricks, however happy,
or to buffoonery of language to avoid a difficulty. This is the way to
become original." An accurate writer avoids looseness of thinking and
inexactness of expression as he avoids libel. The adjective _lurid_ is
an illustration of a word over which careless reporters have stumbled
for generations. When the casualties of the war against inaccuracy are
recorded, _lurid_ will be among the missing. As used by ignorant
scribblers, the word means something like bright or brilliant, or
perhaps towering; yet its precise meaning is pale yellow, wan, ghastly.
Journalists of the last quarter of the nineteenth century will remember
a long list of such sins against precision, recorded by Charles A. Dana,
editor of the _New York Sun_. A few additions have been made to his
list, and the whole is given below. The reader should distinguish keenly
between each pair of words and should be careful never to misuse one of
them. Do not use:

above _or_ over _for_ more than
administered _for_ dealt
affect _for_ effect
aggravate _for_ irritate
allude _for_ refer
and _for_ to
audience _for_ spectators
avocation _for_ vocation
awfully _for_ very _or_ exceedingly
balance _for_ remainder
banquet _for_ dinner
beside _for_ besides
call attention _for_ direct attention
can _for_ may
claim _for_ assert
conscious _for_ aware
couple _for_ two
date back to _for_ date from
deceased _for_ died
dock _for_ pier _or_ whar