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Business English
BY
EDWIN HERBERT LEWIS, Ph. D., LL. D.,
Professor of English, Lewis Institute, Chicago.
PUBLISHED BY
LaSALLE extension university
CHICAGO
1018
Copyright, 1911, LASALLE EXTENSION UNIVERSITY
Table of Contents
Preface
This work grew out of teaching English to college men who were beginning their studies in Engineering. It seemed for various reasons desirable to give such students - along with their work in pure lit...
Chapter I. Definition Of Business English
1. Business means buying and selling, and English is the name of our mother tongue. Business English is obviously such English as is used in mercantile transactions. Our definition is quickly m...
Chapter I. Definition Of Business English Continued
Chapter II. Interest And Clearness
6. The word interest is Latin, and means that which makes a difference. More about it, if yon are interested already in the history of words, may be found in Chapter XI (page 90), If yon give...
Chapter II. Interest And Clearness Continued
Chapter III. The Making Of Outlines
11. There lie before me three little books of about a hundred pages each. They are all good: Mr. Deland's Imagination in Business, Mr. Edwin Balmer's The Science of Advertising, Mr. Humphre...
Chapter III. The Making Of Outlines Part 2
Chapter III. The Making Of Outlines Part 3
Chapter IV. The Paragraph V. The Long Sentence
16. De Quincey, the essayist, once said that the German sentence is like a carryall - always room for one more. That used to be true of the English sentence. Originally, to be sure, our sentenc...
Chapter IV. The Paragraph V. The Long Sentence Continued
Chapter V. Connection, The Soul Of Good Writing
21. Connection, said Jowett of Oxford, is the soul of good writing. If so, a good many pieces of English are lacking in point of soul. This is true even in the case of certain famous and va...
Chapter V. Connection, The Soul Of Good Writing Part 2
Chapter V. Connection, The Soul Of Good Writing Part 3
Chapter VI. Punctuation, An Art
26. Chapters on punctuation are usually assigned to the end of the book and printed in small type. The subject is so elementary, you know. And yet Nathaniel Hawthorne called punctuation a fine ...
Chapter VI. Punctuation, An Art Part 2
Chapter VI. Punctuation, An Art Part 3
Chapter VII. Important Mechanical Matters
In this chapter we consider five matters: 1. Abbreviations. 2. The Apostrophe. 3. Capitals. 4. Figures and numerals. 5. Italics and Quotation Marks. There is a best usage in all thes...
Chapter VII. Important Mechanical Matters Part 2
Chapter VII. Important Mechanical Matters Part 3
Chapter VIII. The Mastery Of The Hyphen
36. 1. There is still great difference of opinion as to what words should be written separately, what with a hyphen, and what solid. A good unabridged dictionary should be used in all doubtful c...
Chapter VIII. The Mastery Of The Hyphen Continued
Chapter IX. Grammatical Correctness
41. I. Some students will not need much of this chapter. On the other hand, many a boy goes through his grammar-studies without learning to be grammatical. The high school student needs drill o...
Chapter IX. Grammatical Correctness Part 2
Chapter IX. Grammatical Correctness Part 3
Chapter X. Effective Sentences
46. The divisions of this book are meant to be practical rather than theoretical. We are not to insist on too formal an arrangement, or pretend that our chapters are built like watertight compa...
Chapter X. Effective Sentences Continued
Chapter XI. The History Of Business Words
51. The study of the history of business words is not very practical, in the immediate sense of the word. Take the word business itself. We all know what it means to-day, and it is chiefly a ...
Chapter XI. The History Of Business Words Part 2
Chapter XI. The History Of Business Words Part 3
Chapter XI. The History Of Business Words Part 4
Chapter XI. The History Of Business Words Part 5
Chapter XII. Tone, Or Degrees Of Dignity
56. If yon look through a few pages of any good tin-abridged dictionary, you will note that certain uses of words are described as Colloquial; others as Cant; others as Vulgar. Colloquial mea...
Chapter XII. Tone, Or Degrees Of Dignity Continued
Chapter XIII. Accuracy In Diction
61. Diction means choice of words. Accuracy in diction means choice of words with regard to their exact denotation, rather than with regard to their connotations - their emotional suggestions. ...
Chapter XIII. Accuracy In Diction Part 2
Chapter XIII. Accuracy In Diction Part 3
Chapter XIII. Accuracy In Diction Part 4
Chapter XIV. Fullness And Brevity
66. In any composition or unit of composition, the number of words may be too many for the purpose, or too few for the purpose, or just right for the purpose. Everything depends on the purpose....
Chapter XIV. Fullness And Brevity Continued
Chapter XV. Idiomatic Phraseology
71. The word idiom is of Greek origin, and means an expression which is the peculiar possession of a given language. The root means own; it is the word which in John I occurs in the sentence,...
Chapter XVI. Figurative Phraseology
76. George Eliot once remarked that we cannot say what anything is except as we call it something that it isn't. The situation suggested is somewhat comic, but George Eliot's remark is so true ...
Chapter XVII. Business Narration
81. Because narration deals with the past, the tenses of it should ordinarily be kept in the perfect and pluperfect. It is human, however, to drop into the present in narrating events which com...
Chapter XVII. Business Narration Part 2
Chapter XVII. Business Narration Part 3
Chapter XVIII. Business Description
$ 86. Considering the situations in which business description is needed, we may distinguish four types: description by general appearance; description by enumeration; description by function; descrip...
Chapter XVIII. Business Description Part 2
Chapter XVIII. Business Description Part 3
Chapter XIX. Business Exposition
$91. Exposition is explanation. It sets forth underlying principles. If it describes or narrates, it is only to get at principles. If yon give the look of a machine, you are describing. If you tell ho...
Chapter XIX. Business Exposition Part 2
Chapter XIX. Business Exposition Part 3
Chapter XX. Business Argument
96. Argumentation is the art of winning others to your view of a proposition. In a higher sense it is the art of winning others to a true proposition. In a still higher sense it is the art of co...
Chapter XX. Business Argument Part 2
Chapter XX. Business Argument Part 3
Chapter XXI. Business Reports
101. On two successive days this spring I heard from two very different officers the same exclamation. One was the president of a woman's club; the other was a manager in a large business estab...
Chapter XXI. Business Reports Continued
Chapter XXII. Advertisement English
106. Is there such a thing? Is there some special brand of English which we may call advertisement English or advertising-English? [The hyphen is not really needed there, but one doesn't like t...
Chapter XXII. Advertisement English Part 2
Chapter XXII. Advertisement English Part 3
Chapter XXIII. The Business Correspondent
112. After the literary world had been studying the art of composition for two thousand years, and had laboriously classified many different styles of writing, a Frenchman named Buff on despair...
Chapter XXIII. The Business Correspondent Part 2
Chapter XXIII. The Business Correspondent Part 3
Chapter XXIV. The Business Letter In Detail
114. To study a letter in detail before studying the general qualities that inform it is to put the cart before the horse. For there is no detailed rule to be followed blindly. There is none wh...
Chapter XXIV. The Business Letter In Detail Part 2
Chapter XXIV. The Business Letter In Detail Part 3
Chapter XXIV. The Business Letter In Detail Part 4
Chapter XXIV. The Business Letter In Detail Part 5
Chapter XXIV. The Business Letter In Detail Part 6
Chapter XXIV. The Business Letter In Detail Part 7
Chapter XXIV. The Business Letter In Detail Part 8
Questions And Exercises: Chapter I. Definition Of Business English
Questions And Exercises: Chapter II. Interest And Clearness
Questions And Exercises: Chapter III. The Making Of Outlines
Questions And Exercises: Chapter IV. The Paragraph V. The Long Sentence
Questions And Exercises: Chapter IV. The Paragraph V. The Long Sentence Continued
Questions And Exercises: Chapter V. Connection The Soul Of Good Writing
Questions And Exercises: Chapter VI. Punctuation An Art
Questions And Exercises: Chapter VI. Punctuation An Art Part 2
Questions And Exercises: Chapter VI. Punctuation An Art Part 3
Questions And Exercises: Chapter VII. Important Mechanical Matters
Questions And Exercises: Chapter VIII. The Mastery Of The Hyphen
Questions And Exercises: Chapter IX. Grammatical Correctness
Questions And Exercises: Chapter IX. Grammatical Correctness Continued
Questions And Exercises: Chapter X. Effective Sentences
Questions And Exercises: Chapter X. Effective Sentences Continued
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XI. The History Of Business Words
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XII. Tone Or Degrees Of Dignity
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XIII. Accuracy In Diction
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XIV. Fullness And Brevity
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XV. Idiomatic Phraseology
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XVI. Figurative Phraseology
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XVII. Business Narration
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XVIII. Business Description
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XIX. Business Exposition
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XX. Business Argument
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XXI. Business Reports
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XXII. Advertisement English
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XXIII. The Business Correspondent
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XXIV. The Business Letter In Detail
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XXIV. The Business Letter In Detail Part 2
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XXIV. The Business Letter In Detail Part 3
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XXIV. The Business Letter In Detail Part 4
Questions And Exercises: Chapter XXIV. The Business Letter In Detail Part 5
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