Suit Is Best适合为上

By William Hazlitt

The proper force of words lies not in the words themselves, but in their application.

词汇的力量不在于词汇本身，而在于词汇的应用。

A word may be a fine sounding word, of an unusual length, and very imposing from its learning and novelty, and yet in the connection in which it is introduced may be quite pointless and irrelevant.

一个词也许听起来音节嘹亮，长度不同凡响，其本身的学术性和新奇感也令人叹赏，然而，把它放在某个句子中联系上下文来看，说不定倒会牛头不对马嘴。

It is not pomp or pretension, but the adaptation of the expression to the idea, that clenches a writer’s meaning:

这是因为要确切表达作者的意思，关键并不在文辞的华丽和堂皇，而在于其是否切合内容;

as it is not the size or glossiness of the materials, but their being fitted each to its place, that gives strength to the arch;

就像在修建拱门时要使其坚固，关键不在于材料的大小和光泽，而在于它们用在那里是否恰好严丝合缝;

or as the pegs and nails are as necessary to the support of the building as the larger timbers, and more so than the mere showy, unsubstantial ornaments.

或者就像在建筑物中，木栓和钉子与大件木料同等重要，而其支撑作用更是远远胜过那些徒有其表、不切实用的装饰物。