Putnam's Phrase Book An Aid to Social Letter Writing and to Ready and Effective Conversation, with Over 100 Model Social Letters and 6000 of the World's Best English Phrases

Part 3

Chapter 33,565 wordsPublic domain

I wish thee happiness. _Pericles_, I., 1

Many, many, merry days. _The Merry Wives of Windsor_, V., 5

_Greeting_

You are very welcome. _Cymbeline_, I., 6

I am very glad to see you. _As You Like It_, III., 3

A hundred thousand welcomes. _Coriolanus_, II., 1

Our old and faithful friend, we are glad to see you. _Measure for Measure_, V., 1

Your presence makes us rich. _King Richard II._, II., 3

Although the last, not least. _King Lear_, I., 1

Happily met. _The Taming of the Shrew_, IV., 5

Good morrow to this fair assembly. _Much Ado about Nothing_, V., 4

Heartily well met, and most glad of your company. _Coriolanus_, IV., 3

_Inquiry_

Whither bound? _Cymbeline_, III., 6

Why did you stir so early? _Pericles_, III., 2

Are you the lady of the house? _Twelfth Night_, I., 5

How goes the world? _Timon of Athens_, I., 1

_Parting_

I thank you for your company. _As You Like It_, III., 2

I am heartily glad I came. _As You Like It_, I., 1

We leave you now with better company. _The Merchant of Venice_, I., 1

I take leave with many thousand thanks. _III. King Henry VI._, III., 2

Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you. _The Merchant of Venice_, III., 4

Bear my greetings to—— _Julius Cæsar_, II., 2

Let us take ceremonious leave——of our several friends. _King Richard II._, I., 3

The heavens give safety to your purposes, Lead forth and bring you back in happiness. _Measure for Measure_, I., 1

I desire more acquaintance of you. _The Merry Wives of Windsor_, II., 2

_Request_

Bear me company. _The Two Gentlemen of Verona_, IV., 3

Will you dine with me? _Julius Cæsar_, I., 2

Let me have audience for a word or two. _As You Like It_, V., 4

Commend me to him. _Timon of Athens_, I., 1

Trouble yourself no further. _Othello_, IV., 3

Which is the readiest way to the house of—— _The Taming of the Shrew_, I., 2

If along with us, we shall be joyful of thy company. _The Taming of the Shrew_, IV., 5

Come home with me to supper; and I’ll lay a plot shall show us all a merry day. _King Richard II._, IV., 1

Go on before——I’ll presently attend you. _The Two Gentlemen of Verona_, II., 4

Will not your honours bear me company? _I. King Henry VI._, II., 2

I’ll keep you company. _Coriolanus_, II., 3

_Response_

What your pleasure is, shall satisfy me. _III. King Henry VI._, III., 2

I count myself in nothing else so happy as in a soul remembering my good friends. _King Richard II._, II., 3

I’ll eat nothing; I thank you as much as though I did. _The Merry Wives of Windsor_, I., 1

Of much less value is my company than your good words. _King Richard II._, II., 3

I enjoyed the golden dew of sleep. _King Richard III._, IV., 1

Tell him this from me, I count it one of my greatest afflictions that I cannot pleasure such an honourable gentleman. _Timon of Athens_, III., 2

_Thanks_

For your many courtesies I thank you. _Much Ado about Nothing_, V., 1

I can no other answer make but thanks and thanks. _Twelfth Night_, III., 3

It is an honour that I dream not of. _Romeo and Juliet_, I., 3

I thank you for your wish, and am well pleased to wish it back on you. _The Merchant of Venice_, III., 4

I thank thee for thy care and honest pains. _Much Ado about Nothing_, V., 1

With more than common thanks I will receive it. _Timon of Athens_, I., 2

I humbly thank him, and thank you all. _Titus Andronicus_, V., 1

A thousand thanks. _The Taming of the Shrew_, II., 1

Many and hearty thankings to you. _Measure for Measure_, V., 1

Hearty thanks. _King Lear_, IV., 6

I thank you, you are always my good friend. _King Henry VIII._, V., 3

CRITICISM

Stricture Animadversion

We are not all of that ilk

He is not able to get the right perspective

We are quite reluctant to follow his lead

He has no ground of complaint

He is in no small degree responsible for——

He shall be condemned in no uncertain terms

He cuts a sorry figure

He has no sense of the fitness of things

His conclusions are hopelessly detached from his premises

The theory has gone into bankruptcy

He is over-quick in reproof

He richly deserves his fate

I will not use terms of endearment

He takes himself too seriously

He has the unhappy knack of saying things that are not so

He should be the last man in the world to——

He is desperately in earnest but terribly mistaken

A purely professional cheeriness of manner

A most inexcusable breach of confidence

That sort of thing not only wearies but disgusts sensible men

It is a case of mean yielding in places of responsibility

Such a course is eternally alien to us

No one with any polite breeding can possibly sympathize with——

Too clever by half

I cannot resist taking him down a peg or two

Which is more than a figure of speech

A clumsy attempt

Not beyond just criticism

Little to charm the eye

An unfortunate notion

It is a situation to be lamented

Not altogether a wise thing to do

Not the most reassuring thing in the world

It presents an ugly aspect

Pure cussedness

The revival of an old humbug

A suggestion to be taken with reserve

It is but the legitimate offspring of his policy

A theory which has sins enough of its own to answer for

A little top-heavy

DANGEROUS

Perilous Risky

Steering a wobbling course

Skating over thin ice

The risk is too plain to be blinked

Things which snuff the light out of life

The mischief is easier to do than to undo

A warning which we dare not ignore

It is to light a fuse

Most sedulously to be avoided

A shining mark for the attacks of——

A menace to true faith

Subversive of all social order

Nothing is more inimical to society than——

A standing menace to——

Risks it would be madness to take

It may easily become a bogey

It contains the muffled accents of compromise

The consequences of which it is exceedingly difficult to foresee

A concession which the future will deplore

It is a condition which destroys the morale

It is a fear which cuts the nerve

It has obvious risks

The perilous undertow of——

The blighting effects of pride

It seems a mere flying in the face of notorious facts to maintain that——

Taking all sorts of daring little liberties

The fatal folly of——

Can any one view that prospect with complacency when——

It is bad form to——

It is of doubtful propriety at best

It is a delicate and dangerous thing to do

It will sink beyond hope of salvage

A very precarious situation for obvious reasons

It is a perilous thing to do

He is a real man who should affirm that——

A bold stroke

A tendency to attribute undue importance to——

It never seems to give him pause that——

He laid himself open to attack when——

A delicate sort of performance

An awkward doctrine to preach now

A source of alarm

An evidence of sinister plot

A deadly menace to——

It will add fuel to the flame

A bit of fine-spun fallacious reasoning

A supremely critical hour

A danger of mistaking the eddy for the full current

A crisis in the affairs of——

DECEIT

Duplicity Guile

Calculated to deceive the very elect

Hoodwinked by chicanery

It lacked every mark of authenticity

To play fast and loose with

Fair words have stolen away your heart

Birds of prey do not sing

Words which mislead and deceive the unthinking

A whole web of intrigue

An illusion born of vanity

It is a gigantic hoax

A man given to sharp practice

It was a mean decoy

He made a feint of going——

A cowardly subterfuge

As slippery as an eel

DEFEAT

Frustrate Thwart

His last state is worse than his first

He is waiting for an excuse to climb down gracefully

Out of the frying-pan into the fire

It made serious inroads upon the——

His plans suffered an eclipse

From bad to worse

The plot thickens

It cost the pangs of keenest misery

They have been adversely affected by it

A sort of dehumanizing effect

An adept in getting into hot water

An omen of evil significance

We nipped it in the bud

DEFEND

Shield Protect

In my humble judgment he did right

I should defend that with real verve

He should not be consigned to execration simply because——

There is not one jot nor tittle nor scintilla of evidence to show that——

The matter should not be permitted to go by default

We must place safeguards against further occurrences of the same kind

He does not do so perversely

I am going to defend him from the animadversions of——

He is above any such intractable position

He is a jealous defender of——

Truly it is not meet and just that——

One in order to maintain his self-respect must——

In spite of all that has been said to the contrary, I——

It is all very well for——

DENY

Disavow Disclaim

I wish to disclaim any responsibility for——

Nothing could be farther from the facts than——

He is wholly mistaken

I emphatically deny it without fear of contradiction

There was never a greater mistake

Quite the contrary

I am far from saying that——

It is a contradiction of terms

It is absurd to suppose that——

Far from it

It is a pure invention of mischief-making spite

We wish to disclaim any purpose of that nature

If any such idea found lodgment it should be dismissed forthwith as contrary to——

It is without a vestige of truth in it

It will be met by a flat refusal

It is too much of an extravagance to assert that——

We are not justified in making unqualified assertions

It is deliberately false

An absurd proposition hardly worth contradiction

No more false charge was ever brought

The thing was absurd and incredible on the face of it

Relegated to the limbo of——

DEPENDABLE

Trustworthy Reliable

Something more than mere vaporings of the imagination

Unalterable principles of rectitude

It always has a strict business basis

Stable as the hills

As steady as a clock

No mere makeshift policy

Not swerving from the path of duty

Painstaking and faithful in the performance of duty

Of most rare fidelity

With unswerving fidelity to each and every trust

He does not play fast and loose

DESCRIPTIVE

(Of Persons)

A matchless eye

A winning smile

With feminine ease and grace

A very pretty manner

A finely molded chin

A great lubberly boy

A maid of winning charm

A most winsome expression

A dainty little miss

A mere slip of a girl

Nimbly moving hands

In robust health

A husky youngster

A tar of the jolly old sort

A son frightfully dissipated

An officer immensely officious

The habit of gentle speech

The habit of accurate observation

The pink of perfection

A vast amount of good sense

A superior man

An obliging person

A magnanimous soul

A pleasing countenance

A voice delightfully musical

Of graceful deportment

His person was commanding

Elegant propriety of attire

A jaunty demeanor

A good-natured fellow

A most agreeable creature

A natural sweetness of disposition

A charmingly simple person

A quiet unassuming person

A man of sound sense

A man of immovable convictions

A lawyer of marked ability

A discriminating eye

A countenance which beautifully expressed a deep interest in all things good

A well-governed mind

With the intuitive perceptions of a lover

Many charming qualities

A heart alive to all the beauties of nature

With the most fastidious punctilio

Fond of dwelling on the scenes of other days

So frankly and innocently happy

Skilled in the graces of conversation

An unsympathetic reader

A man of dignity, force, and ease of manner

A decent pride

A clear brain

A flash of intelligence

A quick sympathy

A wise tolerance

An acute observer

A splendid fellow

A very mercenary person

A trustworthy friend

A fond mother

A good listener

An excellent musician

An exceptional man

A character worth knowing

A mind of penetrating keenness

A scholar of considerable eminence

(Of Things)

A lovely landscape

A quiet nook

A crimson rosebud

A fertile region

A drowsy drone

A snug farm

A dainty flower

The blissful skies

Serene weather

The most perfect night possible

In very picturesque surroundings

A charming aspect

A rugged background

A high-crested crag

A pool of transparent clearness

The kindly fruits of the earth

The most appetizing confection

The pleasing odor of good food

A delicious condiment

A deadly contagion

A munificent gift

Snowy table-linen

The boundless beauty of springtime

A rattling good story

A savory odor

A quaint old house

Of a make quite metropolitan

A suit of faultless cut

Delicate traceries

A facile pen

The larger mood

A gala night

A marvel of detail

DESERVING

Worthy Meritorious

Nor can we be too warm in our grateful appreciation of the——

Posterity will give its proper meed of praise to——

He has done a real service

He proved himself worthy of the confidence reposed in him

It is the highest tribute to his sincerity

He commands the entire respect of the community

He is by all odds the best

He has earned the right to be regarded as——

It was a severe test and he came off victorious

They deserve the cordial thanks of——

DESIRE

Wish Crave

I have often cast a thought but now I begin to cast an eye towards——

A thirst after more from the same spring

A praiseworthy desire

With a feverish desire to——

To this end it is hoped that——

A secret fondness for——

He has a genuine hankering for——

From my very heart I desire——

’Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. _Hamlet_, III., 1

I covet for myself——

What we want is——

I have a burning desire to——

I am profoundly anxious to——

It is our earnest hope and most fervent prayer that——

It would be the culmination of my fondest hopes to——

I am ardently wishing for it

An insatiable thirst for——

Legitimate desires

An irrepressible desire for——

I am not very strong for——

DETERMINATION

Grit Resolution

Perseverance and pluck triumphed

He held stoutly to the creed that——

Quenchless zeal

A fixed and unalterable determination to——

Where there is a will there is a way

No, not if I work my fingers to the bone

With the determination of a born fighter

The vow is registered in heaven that——

Facing life with resolute purpose

With indomitable zeal

No one need ever say he cannot make good

A relentless determination to continue

Invincible in determination

Resolute in will

Well defined in purpose

Dauntless purpose

An inspiration amounting to a fixed resolve

Nothing can faze him

He delights to smite his enemies hip and thigh

Dyed-in-the-wool conservatives

Dauntless perseverance

We had already steeled our hearts for it

With an air of stolid desperation

With unflinching determination

Not to be tempted into foolhardiness

He held on with grim determination

With determined perseverance

Gently but firmly

A vigorous determination

With stoical fortitude

With all the energy of one’s soul

With redoubled energy

Consumed by the intensity of a passion for——

A quiet determination to do their part nobly

A grim endurance

Struggling with circumstances

With indomitable patience

He has a phenomenal capacity for pegging away

Not swerved from his position by a hair’s breadth

In proportion to the strength and persistency of an intelligent effort

Pretty persistently

He is disputing the crown of his profession with his neighbor

He gave us a clear and vigorous presentation of his own position

With indomitable spirit

With unremitting assiduity

Unsubdued in spirit and undepressed in mind

A grim hold upon

An obtuse human

A persistent tendency to

The resolute kind

There is no earthly likelihood of his complying

I was resolute

I would not give in

It admits of no extenuation

With splendid purpose in his eyes

DIFFICULT

Arduous Hard

It is a hard school

With drawbacks of its own

A fight against great odds

A hard nut to crack

I had a pretty stiff time

He had to face an arduous task

Hard work ahead and plenty of it

Ay, there’s the rub. _Hamlet_, III., 1

Not easy of accomplishment

Hard facts against which we chafe and fret

Not an easy task

It is easy to preach to the converted

It was rather a trying ordeal

The goal is far more remote than we had supposed it to be

It is difficult enough under the most favorable circumstances

It is difficult to possess one’s soul in patience when——

The situation was very badly complicated by——

He is up against a tough proposition

The way is not wholly smooth

It may seem a hard doctrine to preach at such a moment

We live in no soft and easy days

I find the medicine worse than the malady

As tangled as a hank of yarn that runs into knots continually

Processes which defy analysis

A great inertia which must be overcome

DISCERNMENT

Insight Penetration

He has eyes that see to the very heart of things

His mind is all daylight

It lets us into the soul of things

A remarkably acute dissection of——

Distinguished by candor and insight

Discriminating insight

It testifies to his farsightedness that——

He knows the ins and the outs of it

He put his finger on the nerve

A very delicate discernment

A shrewd, acute man of the world

A fine discernment of the issue

A penetrating declaration that——

With keen discriminating insight

He fully appreciated the potentialities of——

He awoke to a vivid realization of——

With the discerning eye of faith

A complete revelation of the inner life

Face to face with the purposes for which we were created

A fire which consumes the dross

Foregleams of the mercy that would save the blackest sinner

A deep knowledge of the things of God

The delicate hand of a discerning nurse

Submitted to the arbitrament of merciless justice

DISCRIMINATING

Accurate Particular

As accurate as a time-table

With the most painstaking care

Meticulously careful

With discriminating nicety

A monument of minutia

A distinction without a difference

A vital lack of discrimination

A new orientation of——

Drawing a line of demarcation between——

Nice distinctions

Fine discriminations

It is a nice point whether——

With close scrutiny

With a constantly vigilant eye

Under strict and precise supervision

Every statement carefully weighed and checked

By careful discrimination

He took cognizance of——

A work of discriminating selection

DISGUST

Aversion Repugnance

The game is not worth the candle

Most vexatious blunders

Profoundly distasteful

This is wretched business

It makes one shiver to think of——

It is not very pleasant to contemplate

How often have I been in a passion with him

Disgustingly enough

I have a deep-seated repugnance to——

Disgusted with fatuous pretensions

I had the disagreeable task of——

For which he has the most ardent disdain

I consider the action most reprehensible

Particularly approbrious

Nearsighted expediency

They were anathema to him

DOMINATE

Control Rule

There is a certain high-handedness about the way of going at the——

Savored too much of the arbitrary

In the saddle

They will brook no trifling

Conquer everything

The will to power

Prepared to lay on the mailed fist

The policy of a harsh aggressive paternalism

It must adapt itself to conditions not of its own making

Stop-watch methods

A yoke upon the necks of others

An effort to dragoon the——

Bound in the straitest bonds

Under the sense of stern compulsion

It has become the guiding principle of his life

Arbitrary procedure

Under the lash of——

The lure of despotic power

DOUBT

Misgiving Question

It will provoke a challenge in many minds

There seems to be a cloud of doubt about the matter

I very much question whether——

We doubt the expediency of going farther

The statement is so sweeping in scope as to require very close scrutiny

It will not bear the test of exact criticism

Its excellence has caused suspicion of its reality

All that can be said with assurance is that——

Full of misgivings

The best experience we have makes us skeptical of——

I am far from feeling sure that the——

It cannot be regarded as conclusive that——

It is now exceedingly doubtful whether——

Of very doubtful wisdom

The whole scheme is in the air

The matter has been wrapped in doubt

Harried by uncertainties

It was accepted with reluctance and misgivings

We have been secretly cherishing the suspicion that——

With the shadows of uncertainty hanging over us

Of that we are even unprepared to guess

It is an open question whether——

Little hope is cherished that——

A frail hope

Not sure, though hoping. _King Lear_, V., 3

Our doubts are traitors. _Measure for Measure_, I., 4

Right down in my heart of hearts I cannot say that——

We can hardly take his _ipse dixit_ for a decision

DULL

Uninteresting Tiresome

As dry as desert dust

Ineffably dull

Devoid of interest

An intolerable tedium

Without conscious appreciation of the meaning of——

With all the virility taken out

A gray day

The gray drab of life

No one could accuse him of any inspiration

It is almost impossible to strike any fire in him

The embodiment of stupidity

It needs the infusion of new blood

As tedious as a twice-told tale

As tedious as a tired horse

Unutterably wearisome

In the usual humdrum way

A dull and tedious statement

EFFECTUAL

Efficacious Operative

It turns wheels and grinds corn

In the way that will count

To achieve the maximum result with the minimum expenditure of effort

In a far more powerful and effective way

There can be no denying the effectiveness of——

The work brought out certain fine qualities in——