700 Common Word Reading and Dictation Exercise no. 23
700 Common Word Reading and Dictation Exercise no. 23
How we say a thing is generally just as important as what we say. Sometimes it is important because we can change the meaning of the words we use by the way we say them. If we place weight on one word rather than on another we can change the feeling of our words. By changing the expression of our voice we can suggest that we are serious or that we are speaking only in Play. For example, you may say to friend: You really are the most senseless person I ever met! With such a remark you could break with your friend forever, but in 9 cases out of 10 such a remark will have been made lightly, as if in play, and if under the words there is just a suggestion of seriousness your friend is free not to remark upon it because you have made the statement so lightly. Sometimes people do not wish it to be said that they are not speaking the truth, and yet they do not want to speak the truth. They therefore take words which in themselves could be true but use them in such a way as to suggest a diffe…
