Do you always make the correct choice between the following  words: affect, effect; eminent, imminent; counsel,   council,   consul;   adapt,   adopt;   principal, principle; capitol, capital? You may think of some of these  as  spelling  problems,  but  they  also  involve knowledge of meanings. If you have trouble with any of them, you should consult the dictionary. As you become better acquainted with meanings, you will find ways of remembering them, like the following for principal and principle: l Principal means main or the main one The  principal  of  the  school Payment  of  principal  and  interest Principal and alternate appointments to the U.S. Naval Academy The principals in the play have the main roles His principal objections to the plan are . . . l Principle means rule or theory He lives according to his principles The  principles  of  democracy He understands it in principle In  other  words,  whenever  you  can  substitute “main,” you spell it “principAL.” If you can substitute “ruLE,” you spell it “principLE.” This kind of device for remembering is sometimes of help, but beware of establishing a system too hastily, because it may steer you wrong. Among words that are related or similar in meaning, the discriminating writer usually finds that one suits his purpose  better  than  another.  Take  the  words  obtain, procure and secure, for example. Obtain is the more general term.  Procure  has, in the Navy, a specific connotation  of  obtaining  material  through  official channels  and  by  approved  supply  procedures,  usually for someone else, as “The supply officer procured the boiler  parts,”  Secure is  often  wrongly  used  instead  of obtain or procure. Its specialized Navy use, meaning to fasten something down or make it firm, is the connect clue to its general meaning. When you say “He secured it,” meaning he obtained it, you are implying that he got it against competition and then held on to it firmly or pinned it down in some fashion. If that is not what you mean, you should use  obtained. Although you might say that a sailor’s  billet is his job, you  cannot  correctly  use  the  word  billet in  every instance where you would use job. While fewer and less seem much alike in meaning, fewer describes  number, and  less  describes  quantity:  “fewer  UA  cases”;  “a  ship drawing  less  water.” In choosing words, always keep the person in mind for whom the letter is intended. For example, when you prepare a letter to a command senior to yours, “Your attention  is  invited”  is  used  rather  than  “Attention  is directed; and “can be maintained” is used instead of “shall be maintained.” A directive addressed to all hands is written in language all can understand. This does not necessarily mean that only one-syllable words are used, but it does mean that the words chosen must be meaningful to all hands. How would you like to read a notice that began like this: “Having  cognizance  of  our  rigid  operating schedule, the commanding officer, in an attempt to ameliorate morale, is endeavoring to ascertain the proclivities   of   those   personnel   who   are encountering difficulty. . .” Paragraph  Organization A  well-written  paragraph  has  unity,  meaning  the ideas it contains are closely related and are arranged to develop a single topic or subtopic of the general subject. In  modern  official  letter  writing,  the  tendency  is  toward short  paragraphs  for  the  sake  of  readability.  This requires not only that all unnecessary verbiage be pared away, but also that the subject matter be very carefully organized  and  subdivided. THE TOPIC SENTENCE.–  A fairly long para- graph  is  frequently  made  more  effective  if  introduced by  a  topic  sentence.  Such  a  sentence  makes  a  general statement that is developed in greater detail in the remainder  of  the  paragraph.  Below  is  an  example adapted from a Navy publication. Our commanders on foreign soil have more experience in the arena of international law and international relations than any governmental group, with the exception of State Department personnel. The commander in Korea is operating under an international organization, the United Nations,  carrying  out  or  enforcing  an  armistice  or truce. If he is unfamiliar with its provisions, its implications,  and  its  legal  significance  in  the international community, he will be hard pressed to fulfill the responsibilities placed upon his shoulders. The commander at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, must know the terms of the two treaties and the lease 1-16