Most English speaking people use their language without speculating overmuch on the reason for their choice of words. This causes a particular problem for those whose mother-tongue is not English. Why does
one say "jingle" rather than "jangle", "clang" rather than "clank", "click" rather than "snap ? The dictionary definition or even a translation does not provide the answer. Even for the native English speaker, the growing use of clichés renders these distinctions difficult - though his problem is rather on the emotional or symbolic level of connotation. Why does an assassin's knife "glitter" rather than "flash" ? Who is to decide whether one is "lingering" or "dawdling" ? What subjective approach is implied when one describes someone as "smirking" or "simpering" .
This manual is an attempt to deal with the nuances of a basic number of terms in English. Designed initially to meet the needs of advanced students whose mother-tongue is not English, practical experiments on English speaking school-children indicate that it may be used very profitably at this level to increase awareness of the need for accuracy in written and oral expression.
The basis of the manual is definition and examples, which illustrate the use of words at all levels from the literary to the colloquial.
Le présent ouvrage vise à familiariser tous ceux qui aspirent à une connaissance approfondie de l'anglais avec le vocabulaire concret de cette langue, dont la richesse déroute l'étudiant étranger. Sons, effets de lumière, mouvements sont en effet notés avec une précision que le français ne connaît pas, et il existe souvent en anglais plusieurs termes là où notre langue n'en propose qu'un.
Rédigé entièrement en anglais, ce livre évite toute comparaison avec le français, souhaitant ainsi répondre aux besoins d'un vaste public englobant des communautés linguistiques diverses.