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Glenn R. Stoutt, Jr., MD
Louisville, Ky

JAMA. 1975;232(1):21.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

I am referring to a letter to the editor in the issue of Dec 16, 1974, by Robert J. White of Cleveland (230:1512, 1974).

The letter concerned a previous article about the author Anton Chekhov. I am quoting from his letter: "To give some idea of the truly monumental size of his correspondence, the last eight volumes of a 22-volume compendium of his works..."

The word "compendium" means a concise summary. Perhaps the ponderousness of the word itself leads many to use it erroneously to imply a huge encyclopedic collection. This is not the case.

I think it is excellent for physicians to become interested in literature and the other liberal arts, but I do think that when we write about them, we should be exact in our wording.

This may be a minor point, but the English language is being so debased gradually, that we may soon . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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