Book 8
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For some words, as Cicero Part Or. v. 16. says, are native, that is to say, are used in their original meaning, while others are derivative, that is to say, formed from the native. Granted then that we are not justified in coining entirely new words having no resemblance to the words invented by primitive man, I must still ask at what date we were first forbidden to form derivatives and to modify and compound words, processes which were undoubtedly permitted to later generations of mankind. If, however,
3.37
one of our inventions seems a little risky, we must take certain measures in advance to save it from censure, prefacing it by phrases such as so to speak, if I may say so, in a certain sense, or if you will allow me to make use of such a word. The same practice may be followed in the case of bold metaphors, and it is not too much to say that almost anything can be said with safety provided we show by the very fact of our anxiety that the word or phrase in question is not due to an error of judgment. The Greeks have a neat saying on this subject, advising us to be the first to blame our own hyperbole. Ar. Rhet. III. vii. 9.
