A good many of the special words of business seem designed more to express the user's dreams than to express a precise meaning.
E. B. WhiteIt is quite possible that an animal has spoken to me and that I didn't catch the remark because I wasn't paying attention.
E. B. WhiteIn the nature of things, a person engaged in the flimsy business of expressing himself on paper is dependent on the large general privilege of being heard. Any intimation that this privilege may be revoked throws a writer into panic.
E. B. WhiteNauseous. Nauseated. The first means "sickening to contemplate"; the second means "sick at the stomach." Do not, therefore, say "I feel nauseous," unless you are sure you have that effect on others.
E. B. WhiteWhen you consider that there are a thousand ways to express even the simplest idea, it is no wonder writers are under a great strain. Writers care greatly how a thing is said - it makes all the difference. So they are constantly faced with too many choices and must make too many decisions.
E. B. White