English Dictionary

[I] could not without much grief obſerve how frequently both gentlemen and ladies are at a loſs for queſtions, anſwers, replies, and rejoinders. However, my concern was much abated, when I found that theſe defects were not occaſioned by any want of materials, but becauſe thoſe materials were not in every hand. For inſtance, one lady can give an anſwer better than aſk a queſtion: one gentleman is happy at a reply; another excels in a rejoinder: one can revive a languiſhing converſation by a ſudden ſurpriſing ſentence; another is more dextrous in ſeconding; a third can fill the gap with laughing, or commending what has been ſaid. Thus freſh hints may be ſtarted, and the ball of the diſcourſe kept up.