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| Stout Heroes |
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Gwyneth Box  |
| (This first appeared in Writers' Forum June/July 2000) |
| Has anyone else noticed how words seem to cluster in the dictionary? How similar sounds are often associated with similar meanings even when there is no obvious etymological reason for this? Let me give you a couple of examples: The hero of our tale is a strong and sturdy lad, if not quite a strapping fellow. He is stable and straightforward in his thinking, perhaps even a little stolid. He is stubborn, and steadfast to his purpose: a real sticker. In times of stress he is stoical and keeps a stiff upper lip. He can be stern, a little strict, maybe; certainly steely-nerved and with plenty of stamina. He is stalwart, stout-hearted and staunch. But what about the villain of the piece? He's quite a different type: a prating, precious prig. He's forever primping and preening - a real prima donna. Born to privilege, he is both pretentious and presumptuous. Precise in his preachings, but prissy and prudish, as well as prevaricating and a procrastinator. All in all, he's a bit of a prat! Obviously with pre- and pro- prefixes this is quite easy, but if you prefer he can be a puny, puerile, puling punk: punctilious but pusilanimous. I leave it to you to describe the heroine. |
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Learning is a treasure which accompanies its owner everywhere. Chinese proverb |
The life so short, the craft so long to learn. Hippocrates |
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