Amis and language …

… Anecdotal Evidence: 'The Concept of Finding the Right Word'. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

“Various changes, not all of them educational, have seen to it that most of the men and women who use words in public don’t care any more which words they are, apart from a feeble hankering after the seemingly stylish. The concept of finding the right word, which used to be a strong influence on that of finding a good word, is being lost. How such people keep awake while they write is beyond me.”