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diff --git a/old/12474-8.txt b/old/12474-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e945a6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12474-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2176 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Write It Right, by Ambrose Bierce + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Write It Right + A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults + +Author: Ambrose Bierce + +Release Date: May 29, 2004 [EBook #12474] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WRITE IT RIGHT *** + + + + +Produced by Clare Boothby, Ben Harris and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +WRITE IT RIGHT + +_A LITTLE BLACKLIST OF LITERARY FAULTS_ + +BY AMBROSE BIERCE + +1909 + + + + +AIMS AND THE PLAN + +The author's main purpose in this book is to teach precision in +writing; and of good writing (which, essentially, is clear thinking +made visible) precision is the point of capital concern. It is +attained by choice of the word that accurately and adequately +expresses what the writer has in mind, and by exclusion of that which +either denotes or connotes something else. As Quintilian puts it, the +writer should so write that his reader not only may, but must, +understand. + +Few words have more than one literal and serviceable meaning, however +many metaphorical, derivative, related, or even unrelated, meanings +lexicographers may think it worth while to gather from all sorts and +conditions of men, with which to bloat their absurd and misleading +dictionaries. This actual and serviceable meaning--not always +determined by derivation, and seldom by popular usage--is the one +affirmed, according to his light, by the author of this little manual +of solecisms. Narrow etymons of the mere scholar and loose locutions +of the ignorant are alike denied a standing. + +The plan of the book is more illustrative than expository, the aim +being to use the terms of etymology and syntax as little as is +compatible with clarity, familiar example being more easily +apprehended than technical precept. When both are employed the precept +is commonly given after the example has prepared the student to apply +it, not only to the matter in mind, but to similar matters not +mentioned. Everything in quotation marks is to be understood as +disapproved. + +Not all locutions blacklisted herein are always to be reprobated +as universal outlaws. Excepting in the case of capital +offenders--expressions ancestrally vulgar or irreclaimably +degenerate--absolute proscription is possible as to serious +composition only; in other forms the writer must rely on his sense of +values and the fitness of things. While it is true that some +colloquialisms and, with less of license, even some slang, may be +sparingly employed in light literature, for point, piquancy or any of +the purposes of the skilled writer sensible to the necessity and charm +of keeping at least one foot on the ground, to others the virtue of +restraint may be commended as distinctly superior to the joy of +indulgence. + +Precision is much, but not all; some words and phrases are disallowed +on the ground of taste. As there are neither standards nor arbiters of +taste, the book can do little more than reflect that of its author, +who is far indeed from professing impeccability. In neither taste nor +precision is any man's practice a court of last appeal, for writers +all, both great and small, are habitual sinners against the light; and +their accuser is cheerfully aware that his own work will supply (as in +making this book it has supplied) many "awful examples"--his later +work less abundantly, he hopes, than his earlier. He nevertheless +believes that this does not disqualify him for showing by other +instances than his own how not to write. The infallible teacher is +still in the forest primeval, throwing seeds to the white blackbirds. + +A.B. + + + + +THE BLACKLIST + +_A_ for _An_. "A hotel." "A heroic man." Before an unaccented aspirate +use an. The contrary usage in this country comes of too strongly +stressing our aspirates. + +_Action_ for _Act_. "In wrestling, a blow is a reprehensible action." +A blow is not an action but an act. An action may consist of many +acts. + +_Admission_ for _Admittance_. "The price of admission is one dollar." + +_Admit_ for _Confess_. To admit is to concede something affirmed. An +unaccused offender cannot admit his guilt. + +_Adopt_. "He adopted a disguise." One may adopt a child, or an +opinion, but a disguise is assumed. + +_Advisedly_ for _Advertently_, _Intentionally_. "It was done +advisedly" should mean that it was done after advice. + +_Afford_. It is not well to say "the fact affords a reasonable +presumption"; "the house afforded ample accommodation." The fact +supplies a reasonable presumption. The house offered, or gave, ample +accommodation. + +_Afraid_. Do not say, "I am afraid it will rain." Say, I fear that it +will rain. + +_Afterwards_ for _Afterward_. + +_Aggravate_ for _Irritate_. "He aggravated me by his insolence." To +aggravate is to augment the disagreeableness of something already +disagreeable, or the badness of something bad. But a person cannot be +aggravated, even if disagreeable or bad. Women are singularly prone to +misuse of this word. + +_All of_. "He gave all of his property." The words are contradictory: +an entire thing cannot be of itself. Omit the preposition. + +_Alleged_. "The alleged murderer." One can allege a murder, but not a +murderer; a crime, but not a criminal. A man that is merely suspected +of crime would not, in any case, be an alleged criminal, for an +allegation is a definite and positive statement. In their tiresome +addiction to this use of alleged, the newspapers, though having mainly +in mind the danger of libel suits, can urge in further justification +the lack of any other single word that exactly expresses their +meaning; but the fact that a mud-puddle supplies the shortest route is +not a compelling reason for walking through it. One can go around. + +_Allow_ for _Permit_. "I allow you to go." Precision is better +attained by saying permit, for allow has other meanings. + +_Allude to_ for _Mention_. What is alluded to is not mentioned, but +referred to indirectly. Originally, the word implied a playful, or +sportive, reference. That meaning is gone out of it. + +_And so_. _And yet_. "And so they were married." "And yet a woman." +Omit the conjunction. + +_And which_. _And who_. These forms are incorrect unless the relative +pronoun has been used previously in the sentence. "The colt, spirited +and strong, and which was unbroken, escaped from the pasture." "John +Smith, one of our leading merchants, and who fell from a window +yesterday, died this morning." Omit the conjunction. + +_Antecedents_ for _Personal History_. Antecedents are predecessors. + +_Anticipate_ for _Expect_. "I anticipate trouble." To anticipate is to +act on an expectation in a way to promote or forestall the event +expected. + +_Anxious_ for _Eager_. "I was anxious to go." Anxious should not be +followed by an infinitive. Anxiety is contemplative; eagerness, alert +for action. + +_Appreciate_ for _Highly Value_. In the sense of value, it means value +justly, not highly. In another and preferable sense it means to +increase in value. + +_Approach_. "The juror was approached"; that is, overtures were made +to him with a view to bribing him. As there is no other single word +for it, approach is made to serve, figuratively; and being graphic, it +is not altogether objectionable. + +_Appropriated_ for _Took_. "He appropriated his neighbor's horse to +his own use." To appropriate is to set apart, as a sum of money, for a +special purpose. + +_Approve of_ for _Approve_. There is no sense in making approve an +intransitive verb. + +_Apt_ for _Likely_. "One is apt to be mistaken." Apt means facile, +felicitous, ready, and the like; but even the dictionary-makers cannot +persuade a person of discriminating taste to accept it as synonymous +with likely. + +_Around_ for _About_. "The débris of battle lay around them." "The +huckster went around, crying his wares." Around carries the concept of +circularity. + +_Article_. A good and useful word, but used without meaning by +shopkeepers; as, "A good article of vinegar," for a good vinegar. + +_As_ for _That_, or _If_. "I do not know as he is living." This error +is not very common among those who can write at all, but one sometimes +sees it in high place. + +_As--as_ for _So--as_. "He is not as good as she." Say, not so good. +In affirmative sentences the rule is different: He is as good as she. + +_As for_ for _As to_. "As for me, I am well." Say, as to me. + +_At Auction_ for _by Auction_. "The goods were sold at auction." + +_At_ for _By_. "She was shocked at his conduct." This very common +solecism is without excuse. + +_Attain_ for _Accomplish_. "By diligence we attain our purpose." A +purpose is accomplished; success is attained. + +_Authoress_. A needless word--as needless as "poetess." + +_Avocation_ for _Vocation_. A vocation is, literally, a calling; that +is, a trade or profession. An avocation is something that calls one +away from it. If I say that farming is some one's avocation I mean +that he practises it, not regularly, but at odd times. + +_Avoid_ for _Avert_. "By displaying a light the skipper avoided a +collision." To avoid is to shun; the skipper could have avoided a +collision only by getting out of the way. + +_Avoirdupois_ for _Weight_. Mere slang. + +_Back of_ for _Behind_, _At the Back of_. "Back of law is force." + +_Backwards_ for _Backward_. + +_Badly_ for _Bad_. "I feel badly." "He looks badly." The former +sentence implies defective nerves of sensation, the latter, imperfect +vision. Use the adjective. + +_Balance_ for _Remainder_. "The balance of my time is given to +recreation." In this sense balance is a commercial word, and relates +to accounting. + +_Banquet_. A good enough word in its place, but its place is the +dictionary. Say, dinner. + +_Bar_ for _Bend_. "Bar sinister." There is no such thing in heraldry +as a bar sinister. + +_Because_ for _For_. "I knew it was night, because it was dark." "He +will not go, because he is ill." + +_Bet_ for _Betted_. The verb to bet forms its preterite regularly, as +do wet, wed, knit, quit and others that are commonly misconjugated. It +seems that we clip our short words more than we do our long. + +_Body_ for _Trunk_. "The body lay here, the head there." The body is +the entire physical person (as distinguished from the soul, or mind) +and the head is a part of it. As distinguished from head, trunk may +include the limbs, but anatomically it is the torso only. + +_Bogus_ for _Counterfeit_, or _False_. The word is slang; keep it out. + +_Both_. This word is frequently misplaced; as, "A large mob, both of +men and women." Say, of both men and women. + +_Both alike_. "They are both alike." Say, they are alike. One of them +could not be alike. + +_Brainy_. Pure slang, and singularly disagreeable. + +_Bug_ for _Beetle_, or for anything. Do not use it. + +_Business_ for _Right_. "He has no business to go there." + +_Build_ for _Make_. "Build a fire." "Build a canal." Even "build a +tunnel" is not unknown, and probably if the wood-chuck is skilled in +the American tongue he speaks of building a hole. + +_But_. By many writers this word (in the sense of except) is regarded +as a preposition, to be followed by the objective case: "All went but +him." It is not a preposition and may take either the nominative or +objective case, to agree with the subject or the object of the verb. +All went but he. The natives killed all but him. + +_But what_. "I did not know but what he was an enemy." Omit what. If +condemnation of this dreadful locution seem needless bear the matter +in mind in your reading and you will soon be of a different opinion. + +_By_ for _Of_. "A man by the name of Brown." Say, of the name. Better +than either form is: a man named Brown. + +_Calculated_ for _Likely_. "The bad weather is calculated to produce +sickness." Calculated implies calculation, design. + +_Can_ for _May_. "Can I go fishing?" "He can call on me if he wishes +to." + +_Candidate_ for _Aspirant_. In American politics, one is not a +candidate for an office until formally named (nominated) for it by a +convention, or otherwise, as provided by law or custom. So when a man +who is moving Heaven and Earth to procure the nomination protests that +he is "not a candidate" he tells the truth in order to deceive. + +_Cannot_ for _Can_. "I cannot but go." Say, I can but go. + +_Capable_. "Men are capable of being flattered." Say, susceptible to +flattery. "Capable of being refuted." Vulnerable to refutation. Unlike +capacity, capability is not passive, but active. We are capable of +doing, not of having something done to us. + +_Capacity_ for _Ability_. "A great capacity for work." Capacity is +receptive; ability, potential. A sponge has capacity for water; the +hand, ability to squeeze it out. + +_Casket_ for _Coffin_. A needless euphemism affected by undertakers. + +_Casualties_ for _Losses_ in Battle. The essence of casualty is +accident, absence of design. Death and wounds in battle are produced +otherwise, are expectable and expected, and, by the enemy, +intentional. + +_Chance_ for _Opportunity_. "He had a good chance to succeed." + +_Chin Whiskers_. The whisker grows on the cheek, not the chin. + +_Chivalrous_. The word is popularly used in the Southern States only, +and commonly has reference to men's manner toward women. Archaic, +stilted and fantastic. + +_Citizen_ for _Civilian_. A soldier may be a citizen, but is not a +civilian. + +_Claim_ for _Affirm_. "I claim that he is elected." To claim is to +assert ownership. + +_Clever_ for _Obliging_. In this sense the word was once in general +use in the United States, but is now seldom heard and life here is +less insupportable. + +_Climb down_. In climbing one ascends. + +_Coat_ for _Coating_. "A coat of paint, or varnish." If we coat +something we produce a coating, not a coat. + +_Collateral Descendant_. There can be none: a "collateral descendant" +is not a descendant. + +_Colonel_, _Judge_, _Governor_, etc., for _Mister_. Give a man a title +only if it belongs to him, and only while it belongs to him. + +_Combine_ for _Combination_. The word, in this sense, has something of +the meaning of conspiracy, but there is no justification for it as a +noun, in any sense. + +_Commence_ for _Begin_. This is not actually incorrect, but--well, it +is a matter of taste. + +_Commencement_ for _Termination_. A contribution to our noble tongue +by its scholastic conservators, "commencement day" being their name +for the last day of the collegiate year. It is ingeniously defended on +the ground that on that day those on whom degrees are bestowed +commence to hold them. Lovely! + +_Commit Suicide_. Instead of "He committed suicide," say, He killed +himself, or, He took his life. For married we do not say "committed +matrimony." Unfortunately most of us do say, "got married," which is +almost as bad. For lack of a suitable verb we just sometimes say +committed this or that, as in the instance of bigamy, for the verb to +bigam is a blessing that is still in store for us. + +_Compare with_ for _Compare to_. "He had the immodesty to compare +himself with Shakespeare." Nothing necessarily immodest in that. +Comparison with may be for observing a difference; comparison to +affirms a similarity. + +_Complected_. Anticipatory past participle of the verb "to complect." +Let us wait for that. + +_Conclude_ for _Decide_. "I concluded to go to town." Having concluded +a course of reasoning (implied) I decided to go to town. A decision is +supposed to be made at the conclusion of a course of reasoning, but is +not the conclusion itself. Conversely, the conclusion of a syllogism +is not a decision, but an inference. + +_Connection_. "In this connection I should like to say a word or two." +In connection with this matter. + +_Conscious_ for _Aware_. "The King was conscious of the conspiracy." +We are conscious of what we feel; aware of what we know. + +_Consent_ for _Assent_. "He consented to that opinion." To consent is +to agree to a proposal; to assent is to agree with a proposition. + +_Conservative_ for _Moderate_. "A conservative estimate"; "a +conservative forecast"; "a conservative statement," and so on. These +and many other abuses of the word are of recent growth in the +newspapers and "halls of legislation." Having been found to have +several meanings, conservative seems to be thought to mean everything. + +_Continually_ and _Continuously_. It seems that these words should +have the same meaning, but in their use by good writers there is a +difference. What is done continually is not done all the time, but +continuous action is without interruption. A loquacious fellow, who +nevertheless finds time to eat and sleep, is continually talking; but +a great river flows continuously. + +_Convoy_ for _Escort_. "A man-of-war acted as convoy to the flotilla." +The flotilla is the convoy, the man-of-war the escort. + +_Couple_ for _Two_. For two things to be a couple they must be of one +general kind, and their number unimportant to the statement made of +them. It would be weak to say, "He gave me only one, although he took +a couple for himself." Couple expresses indifference to the exact +number, as does several. That is true, even in the phrase, a married +couple, for the number is carried in the adjective and needs no +emphasis. + +_Created_ for _First Performed_. Stage slang. "Burbage created the +part of Hamlet." What was it that its author did to it? + +_Critically_ for _Seriously_. "He has long been critically ill." A +patient is critically ill only at the crisis of his disease. + +_Criticise_ for _Condemn_, or _Disparage_. Criticism is not +necessarily censorious; it may approve. + +_Cunning_ for _Amusing_. Usually said of a child, or pet. This is pure +Americanese, as is its synonym, "cute." + +_Curious_ for _Odd_, or _Singular_. To be curious is to have an +inquiring mind, or mood--curiosity. + +_Custom_ for _Habit_. Communities have customs; individuals, +habits--commonly bad ones. + +_Decease_ for _Die_. + +_Decidedly_ for _Very_, or _Certainly_. "It is decidedly cold." + +_Declared_ for _Said_. To a newspaper reporter no one seems ever to +say anything; all "declare." Like "alleged" (which see) the word is +tiresome exceedingly. + +_Defalcation_ for _Default_. A defalcation is a cutting off, a +subtraction; a default is a failure in duty. + +_Definitely_ for _Definitively_. "It was definitely decided." +Definitely means precisely, with exactness; definitively means +finally, conclusively. + +_Deliver_. "He delivered an oration," or "delivered a lecture." Say, +He made an oration, or gave a lecture. + +_Demean_ for _Debase_ or _Degrade_. "He demeaned himself by accepting +charity." The word relates, not to meanness, but to demeanor, conduct, +behavior. One may demean oneself with dignity and credit. + +_Demise_ for _Death_. Usually said of a person of note. Demise means +the lapse, as by death, of some authority, distinction or privilege, +which passes to another than the one that held it; as the demise of +the Crown. + +_Democracy_ for _Democratic Party_. One could as properly call the +Christian Church "the Christianity." + +_Dépôt_ for _Station_. "Railroad dépôt." A dépôt is a place of +deposit; as, a dépôt of supply for an army. + +_Deprivation_ for _Privation_. "The mendicant showed the effects of +deprivation." Deprivation refers to the act of depriving, taking away +from; privation is the state of destitution, of not having. + +_Dilapidated_ for _Ruined_. Said of a building, or other structure. +But the word is from the Latin _lapis_, a stone, and cannot properly +be used of any but a stone structure. + +_Directly_ for _Immediately_. "I will come directly" means that I will +come by the most direct route. + +_Dirt_ for _Earth_, _Soil_, or _Gravel_. A most disagreeable +Americanism, discredited by general (and Presidential) use. "Make the +dirt fly." Dirt means filth. + +_Distinctly_ for _Distinctively_. "The custom is distinctly Oriental." +Distinctly is plainly; distinctively, in a way to distinguish one +thing from others. + +_Donate_ for _Give_. Good American, but not good English. + +_Doubtlessly_. A doubly adverbial form, like "illy." + +_Dress_ for _Gown_. Not so common as it was a few years ago. Dress +means the entire costume. + +_Each Other_ for _One Another_. "The three looked at each other." That +is, each looked at the other. But there were more than one other; so +we should say they looked at one another, which means that each looked +at another. Of two, say each other; of more than two, one another. + +_Edify_ for _Please_, or _Entertain_. Edify means to build; it has, +therefore, the sense of uplift, improvement--usually moral, or +spiritual. + +_Electrocution_. To one having even an elementary knowledge of Latin +grammar this word is no less than disgusting, and the thing meant by +it is felt to be altogether too good for the word's inventor. + +_Empty_ for _Vacant_. Say, an empty bottle; but, a vacant house. + +_Employé_. Good French, but bad English. Say, employee. + +_Endorse_ for _Approve_. To endorse is to write upon the back of, or +to sign the promissory note of another. It is a commercial word, +having insufficient dignity for literary use. You may endorse a check, +but you approve a policy, or statement. + +_Endways_. A corruption of endwise. + +_Entitled_ for _Authorized_, _Privileged._ "The man is not entitled to +draw rations." Say, entitled to rations. Entitled is not to be +followed by an infinitive. + +_Episode_ for _Occurrence_, _Event_, etc. Properly, an episode is a +narrative that is a subordinate part of another narrative. An +occurrence considered by itself is not an episode. + +_Equally as_ for _Equally_. "This is equally as good." Omit as. "He +was of the same age, and equally as tall." Say, equally tall. + +_Equivalent_ for _Equal_. "My salary is equivalent to yours." + +_Essential_ for _Necessary_. This solecism is common among the best +writers of this country and England. "It is essential to go early"; +"Irrigation is essential to cultivation of arid lands," and so forth. +One thing is essential to another thing only if it is of the essence +of it--an important and indispensable part of it, determining its +nature; the soul of it. + +_Even_ for _Exact_. "An even dozen." + +_Every_ for _Entire_, _Full_. "The president had every confidence in +him." + +_Every_ for _Ever_. "Every now and then." This is nonsense: there can +be no such thing as a now and then, nor, of course, a number of now +and thens. Now and then is itself bad enough, reversing as it does the +sequence of things, but it is idiomatic and there is no quarreling +with it. But "every" is here a corruption of ever, meaning repeatedly, +continually. + +_Ex_. "Ex-President," "an ex-convict," and the like. Say, former. In +England one may say, Mr. Roosevelt, sometime President; though the +usage is a trifle archaic. + +_Example_ for _Problem_. A heritage from the text-books. "An example +in arithmetic." An equally bad word for the same thing is "sum": "Do +the sum," for Solve the problem. + +_Excessively_ for _Exceedingly_. "The disease is excessively painful." +"The weather is excessively cold." Anything that is painful at all is +excessively so. Even a slight degree or small amount of what is +disagreeable or injurious is excessive--that is to say, redundant, +superfluous, not required. + +_Executed_. "The condemned man was executed." He was hanged, or +otherwise put to death; it is the sentence that is executed. + +_Executive_ for _Secret_. An executive session of a deliberative body +is a session for executive business, as distinguished from +legislative. It is commonly secret, but a secret session is not +necessarily executive. + +_Expect_ for _Believe_, or _Suppose_. "I expect he will go." Say, I +believe (suppose or think) he will go; or, I expect him to go. + +_Expectorate_ for _Spit_. The former word is frequently used, even in +laws and ordinances, as a euphemism for the latter. It not only means +something entirely different, but to one with a Latin ear is far more +offensive. + +_Experience_ for _Suffer_, or _Undergo_. "The sinner experienced a +change of heart." This will do if said lightly or mockingly. It does +not indicate a serious frame of mind in the speaker. + +_Extend_ for _Proffer_. "He extended an invitation." One does not +always hold out an invitation in one's hand; it may be spoken or sent. + +_Fail_. "He failed to note the hour." That implies that he tried to +note it, but did not succeed. Failure carries always the sense of +endeavor; when there has been no endeavor there is no failure. A +falling stone cannot fail to strike you, for it does not try; but a +marksman firing at you may fail to hit you; and I hope he always will. + +_Favor_ for _Resemble_. "The child favors its father." + +_Feel of_ for _Feel_. "The doctor felt of the patient's head." "Smell +of" and "taste of" are incorrect too. + +_Feminine_ for _Female_. "A feminine member of the club." Feminine +refers, not to sex proper, but to gender, which may be defined as the +sex of words. The same is true of masculine. + +_Fetch_ for _Bring_. Fetching includes, not only bringing, but going +to get--going for and returning with. You may bring what you did not +go for. + +_Finances_ for _Wealth_, or _Pecuniary Resources_. + +_Financial_ for _Pecuniary_. "His financial reward"; "he is +financially responsible," and so forth. + +_Firstly_. If this word could mean anything it would mean firstlike, +whatever that might mean. The ordinal numbers should have no adverbial +form: "firstly," "secondly," and the rest are words without meaning. + +_Fix_. This is, in America, a word-of-all-work, most frequently +meaning repair, or prepare. Do not so use it. + +_Forebears_ for _Ancestors_. The word is sometimes spelled forbears, a +worse spelling than the other, but not much. If used at all it should +be spelled _forebeers_, for it means those who have _been_ before. A +forebe-er is one who fore-was. Considered in any way, it is a +senseless word. + +_Forecasted_. For this abominable word we are indebted to the weather +bureau--at least it was not sent upon us until that affliction was +with us. Let us hope that it may some day be losted from the language. + +_Former_ and _Latter_. Indicating the first and the second of things +previously named, these words are unobjectionable if not too far +removed from the names that they stand for. If they are they confuse, +for the reader has to look back to the names. Use them sparingly. + +_Funeral Obsequies_. Tautological. Say, obsequies; the word is now +used in none but a funereal sense. + +_Fully_ for _Definitively_, or _Finally_. "After many preliminary +examinations he was fully committed for trial." The adverb is +meaningless: a defendant is never partly committed for trial. This is +a solecism to which lawyers are addicted. And sometimes they have been +heard to say "fullied." + +_Funds_ for _Money_. "He was out of funds." Funds are not money in +general, but sums of money or credit available for particular +purposes. + +_Furnish_ for _Provide_, or _Supply_. "Taxation furnished the money." +A pauper may furnish a house if some one will provide the furniture, +or the money to buy it. "His flight furnishes a presumption of guilt." +It supplies it. + +_Generally_ for _Usually_. "The winds are generally high." "A fool is +generally vain." This misuse of the word appears to come of +abbreviating: Generally speaking, the weather is bad. A fool, to speak +generally, is vain. + +_Gent_ for _Gentleman_. Vulgar exceedingly. + +_Genteel_. This word, meaning polite, or well mannered, was once in +better repute than it is now, and its noun, gentility, is still not +infrequently found in the work of good writers. Genteel is most often +used by those who write, as the Scotchman of the anecdote joked--wi' +deeficulty. + +_Gentleman_. It is not possible to teach the correct use of this +overworked word: one must be bred to it. Everybody knows that it is +not synonymous with man, but among the "genteel" and those ambitious +to be thought "genteel" it is commonly so used in discourse too formal +for the word "gent." To use the word gentleman correctly, be one. + +_Genuine_ for _Authentic_, or _Veritable._ "A genuine document," "a +genuine surprise," and the like. + +_Given_. "The soldier was given a rifle." What was given is the rifle, +not the soldier. "The house was given a coat (coating) of paint." +Nothing can be "given" anything. + +_Goatee_. In this country goatee is frequently used for a tuft of +beard on the point of the chin--what is sometimes called "an +imperial," apparently because the late Emperor Napoleon III wore his +beard so. His Majesty the Goat is graciously pleased to wear his +beneath the chin. + +_Got Married_ for _Married_. If this is correct we should say, also, +"got dead" for died; one expression is as good as the other. + +_Gotten_ for _Got_. This has gone out of good use, though in such +compounded words as begotten and misbegotten it persists respectably. + +_Graduated_ for _Was Graduated_. + +_Gratuitous_ for _Unwarranted_. "A gratuitous assertion." Gratuitous +means without cost. + +_Grueling_. Used chiefly by newspaper reporters; as, "He was subjected +to a grueling cross-examination." "It was grueling weather." Probably +a corruption of grilling. + +_Gubernatorial_. Eschew it; it is not English, is needless and +bombastic. Leave it to those who call a political office a "chair." +"Gubernatorial chair" is good enough for them. So is hanging. + +_Had Better_ for _Would Better_. This is not defensible as an idiom, +as those who always used it before their attention was directed to it +take the trouble to point out. It comes of such contractions as he'd +for he would, I'd for I would. These clipped words are erroneously +restored as "he had," "I had." So we have such monstrosities as "He +had better beware," "I had better go." + +_Hail_ for _Come_. "He hails from Chicago." This is sea speech, and +comes from the custom of hailing passing ships. It will not do for +serious discourse. + +_Have Got_ for _Have_. "I have got a good horse" directs attention +rather to the act of getting than to the state of having, and +represents the capture as recently completed. + +_Head over Heels_. A transposition of words hardly less surprising +than (to the person most concerned) the mischance that it fails to +describe. What is meant is heels over head. + +_Healthy_ for _Wholesome_. "A healthy climate." "A healthy +occupation." Only a living thing can be healthy. + +_Helpmeet_ for _Helpmate_. In Genesis Adam's wife is called "an help +meet for him," that is, fit for him. The ridiculous word appears to +have had no other origin. + +_Hereafter_ for _Henceforth_. Hereafter means at some time in the +future; henceforth, always in the future. The penitent who promises to +be good hereafter commits himself to the performance of a single good +act, not to a course of good conduct. + +_Honeymoon_. Moon here means month, so it is incorrect to say, "a +week's honeymoon," or, "Their honeymoon lasted a year." + +_Horseflesh_ for _Horses_. A singularly senseless and disagreeable +word which, when used, as it commonly is, with reference to +hippophilism, savors rather more of the spit than of the spirit. + +_Humans_ as a Noun. We have no single word having the general yet +limited meaning that this is sometimes used to express--a meaning +corresponding to that of the word animals, as the word men would if it +included women and children. But there is time enough to use two +words. + +_Hung_ for _Hanged_. A bell, or a curtain, is hung, but a man is +hanged. Hung is the junior form of the participle, and is now used for +everything but man. Perhaps it is our reverence for the custom of +hanging men that sacredly preserves the elder form--as some, even, of +the most zealous American spelling reformers still respect the u in +Saviour. + +_Hurry_ for _Haste_ and _Hasten_. To hurry is to hasten in a more or +less disorderly manner. Hurry is misused, also, in another sense: +"There is no hurry"--meaning, There is no reason for haste. + +_Hurt_ for _Harm_. "It does no hurt." To be hurt is to feel pain, but +one may be harmed without knowing it. To spank a child, or flout a +fool, hurts without harming. + +_Idea_ for _Thought_, _Purpose_, _Expectation_, etc. "I had no idea +that it was so cold." "When he went abroad it was with no idea of +remaining." + +_Identified with_. "He is closely identified with the temperance +movement." Say, connected. + +_Ilk_ for _Kind_. "Men of that ilk." This Scotch word has a narrowly +limited and specific meaning. It relates to an ancestral estate having +the same name as the person spoken of. Macdonald of that ilk means, +Macdonald of Macdonald. The phrase quoted above is without meaning. + +_Illy_ for _Ill_. There is no such word as illy, for ill itself is an +adverb. + +_Imaginary Line_. The adjective is needless. Geometrically, every line +is imaginary; its graphic representation is a mark. True the +text-books say, draw a line, but in a mathematical sense the line +already exists; the drawing only makes its course visible. + +_In_ for _Into_. "He was put in jail." "He went in the house." A man +may be in jail, or be in a house, but when the act of entrance--the +movement of something from the outside to the inside of another +thing--is related the correct word is into if the latter thing is +named. + +_Inaugurate_ for _Begin_, _Establish_, etc. Inauguration implies some +degree of formality and ceremony. + +_Incumbent_ for _Obligatory_. "It was incumbent upon me to relieve +him." Infelicitous and work-worn. Say, It was my duty, or, if enamored +of that particular metaphor, It lay upon me. + +_Individual_. As a noun, this word means something that cannot be +considered as divided, a unit. But it is incorrect to call a man, +woman or child an individual, except with reference to mankind, to +society or to a class of persons. It will not do to say, "An +individual stood in the street," when no mention nor allusion has been +made, nor is going to be made, to some aggregate of individuals +considered as a whole. + +_Indorse_. See _Endorse_. + +_Insane Asylum_. Obviously an asylum cannot be unsound in mind. Say, +asylum for the insane. + +_In Spite of_. In most instances it is better to say despite. + +_Inside of_. Omit the preposition. + +_Insignificant_ for _Trivial_, or _Small_. Insignificant means not +signifying anything, and should be used only in contrast, expressed or +implied, with something that is important for what it implies. The +bear's tail may be insignificant to a naturalist tracing the animal's +descent from an earlier species, but to the rest of us, not concerned +with the matter, it is merely small. + +_Insoluble_ for _Unsolvable_. Use the former word for material +substances, the latter for problems. + +_Inst._, _Prox._, _Ult._ These abbreviations of _instante mense_ (in +the present month), _proximo mense_ (in the next month) and _ultimo +mense_ (in the last month), are serviceable enough in commercial +correspondence, but, like A.M., P.M. and many other contractions of +Latin words, could profitably be spared from literature. + +_Integrity_ for _Honesty_. The word means entireness, wholeness. It +may be rightly used to affirm possession of all the virtues, that is, +unity of moral character. + +_Involve_ for _Entail_. "Proof of the charges will involve his +dismissal." Not at all; it will entail it. To involve is, literally, +to infold, not to bring about, nor cause to ensue. An unofficial +investigation, for example, may involve character and reputation, but +the ultimate consequence is entailed. A question, in the parliamentary +sense, may involve a principle; its settlement one way or another may +entail expense, or injury to interests. An act may involve one's honor +and entail disgrace. + +_It_ for _So_. "Going into the lion's cage is dangerous; you should +not do it." Do so is the better expression, as a rule, for the word it +is a pronoun, meaning a thing, or object, and therefore incapable of +being done. Colloquially we may say do it, or do this, or do that, but +in serious written discourse greater precision is desirable, and is +better obtained, in most cases, by use of the adverb. + +_Item_ for _Brief Article_. Commonly used of a narrative in a +newspaper. Item connotes an aggregate of which it is a unit--one thing +of many. Hence it suggests more than we may wish to direct attention +to. + +_Jackies_ for _Sailors_. Vulgar, and especially offensive to seamen. + +_Jeopardize_ for _Imperil_, or _Endanger_. The correct word is +jeopard, but in any case there is no need for anything so farfetched +and stilted. + +_Juncture_. Juncture means a joining, a junction; its use to signify a +time, however critical a time, is absurd. "At this juncture the woman +screamed." In reading that account of it we scream too. + +_Just Exactly_. Nothing is gained in strength nor precision by this +kind of pleonasm. Omit just. + +_Juvenile_ for _Child_. This needless use of the adjective for the +noun is probably supposed to be humorous, like "canine" for dog, +"optic" for eye, "anatomy" for body, and the like. Happily the offense +is not very common. + +_Kind of a_ for _Kind of_. "He was that kind of a man." Say that kind +of man. Man here is generic, and a genus comprises many kinds. But +there cannot be more than one kind of one thing. _Kind of_ followed by +an adjective, as, "kind of good," is almost too gross for censure. + +_Landed Estate_ for _Property in Land_. Dreadful! + +_Last_ and _Past_. "Last week." "The past week." Neither is accurate: +a week cannot be the last if another is already begun; and all weeks +except this one are past. Here two wrongs seem to make a right: we can +say the week last past. But will we? I trow not. + +_Later on_. On is redundant; say, later. + +_Laundry_. Meaning a place where clothing is washed, this word cannot +mean, also, clothing sent there to be washed. + +_Lay_ (to place) for _Lie_ (to recline). "The ship lays on her side." +A more common error is made in the past tense, as, "He laid down on +the grass." The confusion comes of the identity of a present tense of +the transitive verb to lay and the past tense of the intransitive verb +to lie. + +_Leading Question_. A leading question is not necessarily an important +one; it is one that is so framed as to suggest, or lead to, the answer +desired. Few others than lawyers use the term correctly. + +_Lease_. To say of a man that he leases certain premises leaves it +doubtful whether he is lessor or lessee. Being ambiguous, the word +should be used with caution. + +_Leave_ for _Go away_. "He left yesterday." Leave is a transitive +verb; name the place of departure. + +_Leave_ for _Let_. "Leave it alone." By this many persons mean, not +that it is to be left in solitude, but that it is to be untouched, or +unmolested. + +_Lengthways_ for _Lengthwise_. + +_Lengthy_. Usually said in disparagement of some wearisome discourse. +It is no better than breadthy, or thicknessy. + +_Leniency_ for _Lenity_. The words are synonymous, but the latter is +the better. + +_Less_ for _Fewer_. "The regiment had less than five hundred men." +Less relates to quantity, fewer, to number. + +_Limited_ for _Small_, _Inadequate_, etc. "The army's operations were +confined to a limited area." "We had a limited supply of food." A +large area and an adequate supply would also be limited. Everything +that we know about is limited. + +_Liable_ for _Likely_. "Man is liable to err." Man is not liable to +err, but to error. Liable should be followed, not by an infinitive, +but by a preposition. + +_Like_ for _As_, or _As if_. "The matter is now like it was." "The +house looked like it would fall." + +_Likely_ for _Probably_. "He will likely be elected." If likely is +thought the better word (and in most cases it is) put it this way: "It +is likely that he will be elected," or, "He is likely to be elected." + +_Line_ for _Kind_, or _Class_. "This line of goods." Leave the word to +"salesladies" and "salesgentlemen." "That line of business." Say, that +business. + +_Literally_ for _Figuratively_. "The stream was literally alive with +fish." "His eloquence literally swept the audience from its feet." It +is bad enough to exaggerate, but to affirm the truth of the +exaggeration is intolerable. + +_Loan_ for _Lend_. "I loaned him ten dollars." We lend, but the act of +lending, or, less literally, the thing lent, is a loan. + +_Locate_. "After many removals the family located at Smithville." Some +dictionaries give locate as an intransitive verb having that meaning, +but--well, dictionaries are funny. + +_Lots_, or _a Lot_, for _Much_, or _Many_. "Lots of things." "A lot of +talk." + +_Love_ for _Like_. "I love to travel." "I love apples." Keep the +stronger word for a stronger feeling. + +_Lunch_ for _Luncheon_. But do not use luncheon as a verb. + +_Mad_ for _Angry_. An Americanism of lessening prevalence. It is +probable that anger is a kind of madness (insanity), but that is not +what the misusers of the word mad mean to affirm. + +_Maintain_ for _Contend_. "The senator maintained that the tariff was +iniquitous." He maintained it only if he proved it. + +_Majority_ for _Plurality_. Concerning votes cast in an election, a +majority is more than half the total; a plurality is the excess of one +candidate's votes over another's. Commonly the votes compared are +those for the successful candidate and those for his most nearly +successful competitor. + +_Make_ for _Earn_. "He makes fifty dollars a month by manual labor." + +_Mansion_ for _Dwelling_, or _House_. Usually mere hyperbole, a +lamentable fault of our national literature. Even our presidents, +before Roosevelt, called their dwelling the Executive Mansion. + +_Masculine_ for _Male_. See _Feminine_. + +_Mend_ for _Repair_. "They mended the road." To mend is to repair, but +to repair is not always to mend. A stocking is mended, a road +repaired. + +_Meet_ for _Meeting_. This belongs to the language of sport, which +persons of sense do not write--nor read. + +_Militate_. "Negligence militates against success." If "militate" +meant anything it would mean fight, but there is no such word. + +_Mind_ for _Obey_. This is a reasonless extension of one legitimate +meaning of mind, namely, to heed, to give attention. + +_Minus_ for _Lacking_, or _Without_. "After the battle he was minus an +ear." It is better in serious composition to avoid such alien words as +have vernacular equivalents. + +_Mistaken_ for _Mistake_. "You are mistaken." For whom? Say, You +mistake. + +_Monarch_ for _King, Emperor_, or _Sovereign_. Not only hyperbolical, +but inaccurate. There is not a monarch in Christendom. + +_Moneyed_ for _Wealthy_. "The moneyed men of New York." One might as +sensibly say, "The cattled men of Texas," or, "The lobstered men of +the fish market." + +_Most_ for _Almost_. "The apples are most all gone." "The returning +travelers were most home." + +_Moved_ for _Removed_. "The family has moved to another house." "The +Joneses were moving." + +_Mutual_. By this word we express a reciprocal relation. It implies +exchange, a giving and taking, not a mere possessing in common. There +can be a mutual affection, or a mutual hatred, but not a mutual +friend, nor a mutual horse. + +_Name_ for _Title and Name_. "His name was Mr. Smith." Surely no babe +was ever christened Mister. + +_Necessaries_ for _Means_. "Bread and meat are necessaries of life." +Not so; they are the mere means, for one can, and many do, live +comfortably without them. Food and drink are necessaries of life, but +particular kinds of food and drink are not. + +_Necessities_ for _Necessaries_. "Necessities of life are those things +without which we cannot live." + +_Née_. Feminine of _né_, born. "Mrs. Jones, _née_ Lucy Smith." She +could hardly have been christened before her birth. If you must use +the French word say, _née_ Smith. + +_Negotiate_. From the Latin _negotium_. It means, as all know, to fix +the terms for a transaction, to bargain. But when we say, "The driver +negotiated a difficult turn of the road," or, "The chauffeur +negotiated a hill," we speak nonsense. + +_Neither--or_ for _Neither--nor_. "Neither a cat or fish has wool." +Always after neither use nor. + +_New Beginner_ for _Beginner_. + +_Nice_ for _Good_, or _Agreeable_. "A nice girl." Nice means +fastidious, delicately discriminative, and the like. Pope uses the +word admirably of a dandy who was skilled in the nice conduct +[management] of a clouded cane. + +_Noise_ for _Sound_. "A noise like a flute"; "a noise of twittering +birds," etc. A noise is a loud or disagreeable sound, or combination +or succession of sounds. + +_None_. Usually, and in most cases, singular; as, None has come. But +it is not singular because it always means not one, for frequently it +does not, as, The bottle was full of milk, but none is left. When it +refers to numbers, not quantity, popular usage stubbornly insists that +it is plural, and at least one respectable authority says that as a +singular it is offensive. One is sorry to be offensive to a good man. + +_No Use_. "He tried to smile, but it was no use." Say, of no use, or, +less colloquially, in vain. + +_Novel_ for _Romance_. In a novel there is at least an apparent +attention to considerations of probability; it is a narrative of what +might occur. Romance flies with a free wing and owns no allegiance to +likelihood. Both are fiction, both works of imagination, but should +not be confounded. They are as distinct as beast and bird. + +_Numerous_ for _Many_. Rightly used, numerous relates to numbers, but +does not imply a great number. A correct use is seen in the term +numerous verse--verse consisting of poetic numbers; that is, +rhythmical feet. + +_Obnoxious_ for _Offensive_. Obnoxious means exposed to evil. A +soldier in battle is obnoxious to danger. + +_Occasion_ for _Induce_, or _Cause_. "His arrival occasioned a great +tumult." As a verb, the word is needless and unpleasing. + +_Occasional Poems_. These are not, as so many authors and compilers +seem to think, poems written at irregular and indefinite intervals, +but poems written for _occasions_, such as anniversaries, festivals, +celebrations and the like. + +_Of Any_ for _Of All_. "The greatest poet of any that we have had." + +_Offhanded_ and _Offhandedly_. Offhand is both adjective and adverb; +these are bastard forms. + +_On the Street_. A street comprises the roadway and the buildings at +each side. Say, in the street. He lives in Broadway. + +_One Another_ for _Each Other_. See _Each Other_. + +_Only_. "He only had one." Say, He had only one, or, better, one only. +The other sentence might be taken to mean that only he had one; that, +indeed, is what it distinctly says. The correct placing of only in a +sentence requires attention and skill. + +_Opine_ for _Think_. The word is not very respectably connected. + +_Opposite_ for _Contrary_. "I hold the opposite opinion." "The +opposite practice." + +_Or_ for _Nor_. Probably our most nearly universal solecism. "I cannot +see the sun or the moon." This means that I am unable to see one of +them, though I may see the other. By using nor, I affirm the +invisibility of both, which is what I wanted to do. If a man is not +white or black he may nevertheless be a Negro or a Caucasian; but if +he is not white nor black he belongs to some other race. See +_Neither_. + +_Ordinarily_ for _Usually_. Clumsy. + +_Ovation_. In ancient Rome an ovation was an inferior triumph accorded +to victors in minor wars or unimportant battle. Its character and +limitations, like those of the triumph, were strictly defined by law +and custom. An enthusiastic demonstration in honor of an American +civilian is nothing like that, and should not be called by its name. + +_Over_ for _About_, _In_, or _Concerning_. "Don't cry over spilt +milk." "He rejoiced over his acquittal." + +_Over_ for _More than_. "A sum of over ten thousand dollars." "Upward +of ten thousand dollars" is equally objectionable. + +_Over_ for _On_. "The policeman struck him over the head." If the blow +was over the head it did not hit him. + +_Over with_. "Let us have it over with." Omit with. A better +expression is, Let us get done with it. + +_Outside of_. Omit the preposition. + +_Pair_ for _Pairs_. If a word has a good plural use each form in its +place. + +_Pants_ for _Trousers_. Abbreviated from pantaloons, which are no +longer worn. Vulgar exceedingly. + +_Partially_ for _Partly_. A dictionary word, to swell the book. + +_Party_ for _Person_. "A party named Brown." The word, used in that +sense, has the excuse that it is a word. Otherwise it is no better +than "pants" and "gent." A person making an agreement, however, is a +party to that agreement. + +_Patron_ for _Customer_. + +_Pay_ for _Give_, _Make_, etc. "He pays attention." "She paid a visit +to Niagara." It is conceivable that one may owe attention or a visit +to another person, but one cannot be indebted to a place. + +_Pay_. "Laziness does not pay." "It does not pay to be uncivil." This +use of the word is grossly commercial. Say, Indolence is unprofitable. +There is no advantage in incivility. + +_Peek_ for _Peep_. Seldom heard in England, though common here. "I +peeked out through the curtain and saw him." That it is a variant of +peep is seen in the child's word peek-a-boo, equivalent to bo-peep. +Better use the senior word. + +_Peculiar_ for _Odd_, or _Unusual_. Also sometimes used to denote +distinction, or particularity. Properly a thing is peculiar only to +another thing, of which it is characteristic, nothing else having it; +as knowledge of the use of fire is peculiar to Man. + +_People_ for _Persons_. "Three people were killed." "Many people are +superstitious." People has retained its parity of meaning with the +Latin _populus_, whence it comes, and the word is not properly used +except to designate a population, or large fractions of it considered +in the mass. To speak of any stated or small number of persons as +people is incorrect. + +_Per_. "Five dollars _per_ day." "Three _per_ hundred." Say, three +dollars a day; three in a hundred. If you must use the Latin +preposition use the Latin noun too: _per diem; per centum_. + +_Perpetually_ for _Continually_. "The child is perpetually asking +questions." What is done perpetually is done continually and forever. + +_Phenomenal_ for _Extraordinary_, or _Surprising_. Everything that +occurs is phenomenal, for all that we know about is phenomena, +appearances. Of realities, noumena, we are ignorant. + +_Plead_ (pronounced "pled") for _Pleaded_. "He plead guilty." + +_Plenty_ for _Plentiful_. "Fish and fowl were plenty." + +_Poetess_. A foolish word, like "authoress." + +_Poetry_ for _Verse_. Not all verse is poetry; not all poetry is +verse. Few persons can know, or hope to know, the one from the other, +but he who has the humility to doubt (if such a one there be) should +say verse if the composition is metrical. + +_Point Blank_. "He fired at him point blank." This usually is intended +to mean directly, or at short range. But point blank means the point +at which the line of sight is crossed downward by the trajectory--the +curve described by the missile. + +_Poisonous_ for _Venomous_. Hemlock is poisonous, but a rattlesnake is +venomous. + +_Politics_. The word is not plural because it happens to end with s. + +_Possess_ for _Have_. "To possess knowledge is to possess power." +Possess is lacking in naturalness and unduly emphasizes the concept of +ownership. + +_Practically_ for _Virtually_. This error is very common. "It is +practically conceded." "The decision was practically unanimous." "The +panther and the cougar are practically the same animal." These and +similar misapplications of the word are virtually without excuse. + +_Predicate_ for _Found_, or _Base_. "I predicate my argument on +universal experience." What is predicated of something is affirmed as +an attribute of it, as omnipotence is predicated of the Deity. + +_Prejudice_ for _Prepossession_. Literally, a prejudice is merely a +prejudgment--a decision before evidence--and may be favorable or +unfavorable, but it is so much more frequently used in the latter +sense than in the former that clarity is better got by the other word +for reasonless approval. + +_Preparedness_ for _Readiness_. An awkward and needless word much used +in discussion of national armaments, as, "Our preparedness for war." + +_Preside_. "Professor Swackenhauer presided at the piano." "The +deviled crab table was presided over by Mrs. Dooley." How would this +sound? "The ginger pop stand was under the administration of President +Woolwit, and Professor Sooffle presided at the flute." + +_Pretend_ for _Profess_. "I do not pretend to be infallible." Of +course not; one does not care to confess oneself a pretender. To +pretend is to try to deceive; one may profess quite honestly. + +_Preventative_ for _Preventive_. No such word as preventative. + +_Previous_ for _Previously_. "The man died previous to receipt of the +letter." + +_Prior to_ for _Before_. Stilted. + +_Propose_ for _Purpose_, or _Intend_. "I propose to go to Europe." A +mere intention is not a proposal. + +_Proposition_ for _Proposal_. "He made a proposition." In current +slang almost anything is a proposition. A difficult enterprise is "a +tough proposition," an agile wrestler, "a slippery proposition," and +so forth. + +_Proportions_ for _Dimensions_. "A rock of vast proportions." +Proportions relate to form; dimensions to magnitude. + +_Proven_ for _Proved_. Good Scotch, but bad English. + +_Proverbial_ for _Familiar_. "The proverbial dog in the manger." The +animal is not "proverbial" for it is not mentioned in a proverb, but +in a fable. + +_Quit_ for _Cease_, _Stop_. "Jones promises to quit drinking." In +another sense, too, the word is commonly misused, as, "He has quit the +town." Say, quitted. + +_Quite_. "She is quite charming." If it is meant that she is entirely +charming this is right, but usually the meaning intended to be +conveyed is less than that--that she is rather, or somewhat, charming. + +_Raise_ for _Bring up_, _Grow_, _Breed_, etc. In this country a +word-of-all-work: "raise children," "raise wheat," "raise cattle." +Children are brought up, grain, hay and vegetables are grown, animals +and poultry are bred. + +_Real_ for _Really_, or _Very_. "It is real good of him." "The weather +was real cold." + +_Realize_ for _Conceive_, or _Comprehend_. "I could not realize the +situation." Writers caring for precision use this word in the sense of +to make real, not to make seem real. A dream seems real, but is +actually realized when made to come true. + +_Recollect_ for _Remember_. To remember is to have in memory; to +recollect is to recall what has escaped from memory. We remember +automatically; in recollecting we make a conscious effort. + +_Redeem_ for _Retrieve_. "He redeemed his good name." Redemption +(Latin _redemptio_, from _re_ and _dimere_) is allied to ransom, and +carries the sense of buying back; whereas to retrieve is merely to +recover what was lost. + +_Redound_ for _Conduce_. "A man's honesty redounds to his advantage." +We make a better use of the word if we say of one (for example) who +has squandered a fortune, that its loss redounds to his advantage, for +the word denotes a fluctuation, as from seeming evil to actual good; +as villification may direct attention to one's excellent character. + +_Refused_. "He was refused a crown." It is the crown that was refused +to him. See _Given_. + +_Regular_ for _Natural_, or _Customary_. "Flattery of the people is +the demagogue's regular means to political preferment." Regular +properly relates to a rule (_regula_) more definite than the law of +antecedent and consequent. + +_Reliable_ for _Trusty_, or _Trustworthy_. A word not yet admitted to +the vocabulary of the fastidious, but with a strong backing for the +place. + +_Remit_ for _Send_. "On receiving your bill I will remit the money." +Remit does not mean that; it means give back, yield up, relinquish, +etc. It means, also, to cancel, as in the phrase, the remission of +sins. + +_Rendition_ for _Interpretation_, or _Performance_. "The actor's +rendition of the part was good." Rendition means a surrender, or a +giving back. + +_Reportorial_. A vile word, improperly made. It assumes the Latinized +spelling, "reporter." The Romans had not the word, for they were, +fortunately for them, without the thing. + +_Repudiate_ for _Deny_. "He repudiated the accusation." + +_Reside_ for _Live_. "They reside in Hohokus." Stilted. + +_Residence_ for _Dwelling_, or _House._ See _Mansion_. + +_Respect_ for _Way_, or _Matter_. "They were alike in that respect." +The misuse comes of abbreviating: the sentence properly written might +be, They were alike in respect of that--i.e., with regard to that. +The word in the bad sense has even been pluralized: "In many respects +it is admirable." + +_Respective_. "They went to their respective homes." The adjective +here (if an adjective is thought necessary) should be several. In the +adverbial form the word is properly used in the sentence following: +John and James are bright and dull, respectively. That is, John is +bright and James dull. + +_Responsible_. "The bad weather is responsible for much sickness." +"His intemperance was responsible for his crime." Responsibility is +not an attribute of anything but human beings, and few of these can +respond, in damages or otherwise. Responsible is nearly synonymous +with accountable and answerable, which, also, are frequently misused. + +_Restive_ for _Restless_. These words have directly contrary meanings; +the dictionaries' disallowance of their identity would be something to +be thankful for, but that is a dream. + +_Retire_ for _Go to Bed_. English of the "genteel" sort. See +_Genteel_. + +_Rev_. for _The Rev_. "Rev. Dr. Smith." + +_Reverence_ for _Revere_. + +_Ride_ for _Drive_. On horseback one does drive, and in a vehicle one +does ride, but a distinction is needed here, as in England; so, here +as there, we may profitably make it, riding in the saddle and driving +in the carriage. + +_Roomer_ for _Lodger_. See _Bedder_ and _Mealer_--if you can find +them. + +_Round_ for _About_. "They stood round." See _Around_. + +_Ruination_ for _Ruin_. Questionably derived and problematically +needful. + +_Run_ for _Manage_, or _Conduct_. Vulgar--hardly better than slang. + +_Say_ for _Voice_. "He had no say in determining the matter." Vulgar. + +_Scholar_ for _Student_, or _Pupil_. A scholar is a person who is +learned, not a person who is learning. + +_Score_ for _Win_, _Obtain_, etc. "He scored an advantage over his +opponent." To score is not to win a point, but to record it. + +_Second-handed_ for _Second-hand_. There is no such word. + +_Secure_ for _Procure_. "He secured a position as book-keeper." "The +dwarf secured a stick and guarded the jewels that he had found." Then +it was the jewels that were secured. + +_Seldom ever_. A most absurd locution. + +_Self-confessed_. "A self-confessed assassin." Self is superfluous: +one's sins cannot be confessed by another. + +_Sensation_ for _Emotion_. "The play caused a great sensation." "A +sensational newspaper." A sensation is a physical feeling; an emotion, +a mental. Doubtless the one usually accompanies the other, but the +good writer will name the one that he has in mind, not the other. +There are few errors more common than the one here noted. + +_Sense_ for _Smell_. "She sensed the fragrance of roses." Society +English. + +_Set_ for _Sit_. "A setting hen." + +_Settee_ for _Settle_. This word belongs to the peasantry of speech. + +_Settle_ for _Pay_. "Settle the bill." "I shall take it now and settle +for it later." + +_Shades_ for _Shade_. "Shades of Noah! how it rained!" "O shades of +Caesar!" A shade is a departed soul, as conceived by the ancients; one +to each mortal part is the proper allowance. + +_Show_ for _Chance_, or _Opportunity_. "He didn't stand a show." Say, +He had no chance. + +_Sick_ for _Ill_. Good usage now limits this word to cases of nausea, +but it is still legitimate in sickly, sickness, love-sick, and the +like. + +_Side_ for _Agree_, or _Stand_. "I side with the Democrats." "He +always sided with what he thought right." + +_Sideburns_ for _Burnsides_. A form of whiskers named from a noted +general of the civil war, Ambrose E. Burnside. It seems to be thought +that the word side has something to do with it, and that as an +adjective it should come first, according to our idiom. + +_Side-hill_ for _Hillside_. A reasonless transposition for which it is +impossible to assign a cause, unless it is abbreviated from side o' +the hill. + +_Sideways_ for _Sidewise_. See _Endways_. + +_Since_ for _Ago_. "He came here not long since and died." + +_Smart_ for _Bright_, or _Able_. An Americanism that is dying out. But +"smart" has recently come into use for fashionable, which is almost as +bad. + +_Snap_ for _Period_ (of time) or _Spell_. "A cold snap." This is a +word of incomprehensible origin in that sense; we can know only that +its parents were not respectable. "Spell" is itself not very +well-born. + +_So--as_. See _As--as_. + +_So_ for _True_. "If you see it in the Daily Livercomplaint it is so." +"Is that so?" Colloquial and worse. + +_Solemnize_. This word rightly means to make solemn, not to perform, +or celebrate, ceremoniously something already solemn, as a marriage, +or a mass. We have no exact synonym, but this explains, rather than +justifies, its use. + +_Some_ for _Somewhat_. "He was hurt some." + +_Soon_ for _Willingly_. "I would as soon go as stay." "That soldier +would sooner eat than fight." Say, rather eat. + +_Space_ for _Period_. "A long space of time." Space is so different a +thing from time that the two do not go well together. + +_Spend_ for _Pass_. "We shall spend the summer in Europe." Spend +denotes a voluntary relinquishment, but time goes from us against our +will. + +_Square_ for _Block_. "He lives three squares away." A city block is +seldom square. + +_Squirt_ for _Spurt_. Absurd. + +_Stand_ and _Stand for_ for _Endure_. "The patient stands pain well." +"He would not stand for misrepresentation." + +_Standpoint_ for _Point of View_, or _Viewpoint_. + +_State_ for _Say_. "He stated that he came from Chicago." "It is +stated that the president is angry." We state a proposition, or a +principle, but say that we are well. And we say our prayers--some of +us. + +_Still Continue_. "The rain still continues." Omit still; it is +contained in the other word. + +_Stock_. "I take no stock in it." Disagreeably commercial. Say, I have +no faith in it. Many such metaphorical expressions were +unobjectionable, even pleasing, in the mouth of him who first used +them, but by constant repetition by others have become mere slang, +with all the offensiveness of plagiarism. The prime objectionableness +of slang is its hideous lack of originality. Until mouth-worn it is +not slang. + +_Stop_ for _Stay_. "Prayer will not stop the ravages of cholera." Stop +is frequently misused for stay in another sense of the latter word: +"He is stopping at the hotel." Stopping is not a continuing act; one +cannot be stopping who has already stopped. + +_Stunt_. A word recently introduced and now overworked, meaning a +task, or performance in one's trade, or calling,--doubtless a variant +of stint, without that word's suggestion of allotment and limitation. +It is still in the reptilian stage of evolution. + +_Subsequent_ for _Later_, or _Succeeding_. Legitimate enough, but ugly +and needless. "He was subsequently hanged." Say, afterward. + +_Substantiate_ for _Prove_. Why? + +_Success_. "The project was a success." Say, was successful. Success +should not have the indefinite article. + +_Such Another_ for _Another Such_. There is illustrious authority for +this--in poetry. Poets are a lawless folk, and may do as they please +so long as they do please. + +_Such_ for _So_. "He had such weak legs that he could not stand." The +absurdity of this is made obvious by changing the form of the +statement: "His legs were such weak that he could not stand." If the +word is an adverb in the one sentence it is in the other. "He is such +a great bore that none can endure him." Say, so great a bore. + +_Suicide_. This is never a verb. "He suicided." Say, He killed +himself, or He took his own life. See _Commit Suicide_. + +_Supererogation_. To supererogate is to overpay, or to do more than +duty requires. But the excess must be in the line of duty; merely +needless and irrelevant action is not supererogation. The word is not +a natural one, at best. + +_Sure_ for _Surely_. "They will come, sure." Slang. + +_Survive_ for _Live_, or _Persist_. Survival is an outliving, or +outlasting of something else. "The custom survives" is wrong, but a +custom may survive its utility. Survive is a transitive verb. + +_Sustain_ for _Incur_. "He sustained an injury." "He sustained a +broken neck." That means that although his neck was broken he did not +yield to the mischance. + +_Talented_ for _Gifted_. These are both past participles, but there +was once the verb to gift, whereas there was never the verb "to +talent." If Nature did not talent a person the person is not talented. + +_Tantamount_ for _Equivalent_. "Apology is tantamount to confession." +Let this ugly word alone; it is not only illegitimate, but ludicrously +suggests catamount. + +_Tasty_ for _Tasteful_. Vulgar. + +_Tear Down_ for _Pull Down_. "The house was torn down." This is an +indigenous solecism; they do not say so in England. + +_Than Whom_. See _Whom_. + +_The_. A little word that is terribly overworked. It is needlessly +affixed to names of most diseases: "the cholera," "the smallpox," "the +scarlet fever," and such. Some escape it: we do not say, "the +sciatica," nor "the locomotor ataxia." It is too common in general +propositions, as, "The payment of interest is the payment of debt." +"The virtues that are automatic are the best." "The tendency to +falsehood should be checked." "Kings are not under the control of the +law." It is impossible to note here all forms of this misuse, but a +page of almost any book will supply abundant instance. We do not +suffer so abject slavery to the definite article as the French, but +neither do we manifest their spirit of rebellion by sometimes cutting +off the oppressor's tail. One envies the Romans, who had no article, +definite or indefinite. + +_The Following_. "Washington wrote the following." The following what? +Put in the noun. "The following animals are ruminants." It is not the +animals that follow, but their names. + +_The Same_. "They cooked the flesh of the lion and ate the same." "An +old man lived in a cave, and the same was a cripple." In humorous +composition this may do, though it is not funny; but in serious work +use the regular pronoun. + +_Then_ as an Adjective. "The then governor of the colony." Say, the +governor of the colony at that time. + +_Those Kind_ for _That Kind_. "Those kind of things." Almost too +absurd for condemnation, and happily not very common out of the class +of analphabets. + +_Though_ for _If_. "She wept as though her heart was broken." Many +good writers, even some devoid of the lexicographers' passion for +inclusion and approval, have specifically defended this locution, +backing their example by their precept. Perhaps it is a question of +taste; let us attend their cry and pass on. + +_Thrifty_ for _Thriving_. "A thrifty village." To thrive is an end; +thrift is a means to that end. + +_Through_ for _Done_. "The lecturer is through talking." "I am through +with it." Say, I have done with it. + +_To_. As part of an infinitive it should not be separated from the +other part by an adverb, as, "to hastily think," for hastily to think, +or, to think hastily. Condemnation of the split infinitive is now +pretty general, but it is only recently that any one seems to have +thought of it. Our forefathers and we elder writers of this generation +used it freely and without shame--perhaps because it had not a name, +and our crime could not be pointed out without too much explanation. + +_To_ for _At_. "We have been to church," "I was to the theater." One +can go to a place, but one cannot be to it. + +_Total_. "The figures totaled 10,000." Say, The total of the figures +was 10,000. + +_Transaction_ for _Action_, or _Incident_. "The policeman struck the +man with his club, but the transaction was not reported." "The picking +of a pocket is a criminal transaction." In a transaction two or more +persons must have an active or assenting part; as, a business +transaction, Transactions of the Geographical Society, etc. The +Society's action would be better called Proceedings. + +_Transpire_ for _Occur_, _Happen_, etc. "This event transpired in +1906." Transpire (_trans_, through, and _spirare_, to breathe) means +leak out, that is, become known. What transpired in 1906 may have +occurred long before. + +_Trifling_ for _Trivial_. "A trifling defect"; "a trifling error." + +_Trust_ for _Wealthy Corporation_. There are few trusts; capitalists +have mostly abandoned the trust form of combination. + +_Try an Experiment_. An experiment is a trial; we cannot try a trial. +Say, make. + +_Try and_ for _Try to_. "I will try and see him." This plainly says +that my effort to see him will succeed--which I cannot know and do not +wish to affirm. "Please try and come." This colloquial slovenliness of +speech is almost universal in this country, but freedom of speech is +one of our most precious possessions. + +_Ugly_ for _Ill-natured_, _Quarrelsome_. What is ugly is the temper, +or disposition, not the person having it. + +_Under-handed_ and _Under-handedly_ for _Under-hand._ See +_Off-handed._ + +_Unique_. "This is very unique." "The most unique house in the city." +There are no degrees of uniqueness: a thing is unique if there is not +another like it. The word has nothing to do with oddity, strangeness, +nor picturesqueness. + +_United States_ as a Singular Noun. "The United States is for peace." +The fact that we are in some ways one nation has nothing to do with +it; it is enough to know that the word States is plural--if not, what +is State? It would be pretty hard on a foreigner skilled in the +English tongue if he could not venture to use our national name +without having made a study of the history of our Constitution and +political institutions. Grammar has not a speaking acquaintance with +politics, and patriotic pride is not schoolmaster to syntax. + +_Unkempt_ for _Disordered_, _Untidy_, etc. Unkempt means uncombed, and +can properly be said of nothing but the hair. + +_Use_ for _Treat_. "The inmates were badly used." "They use him +harshly." + +_Utter_ for _Absolute_, _Entire_, etc. Utter has a damnatory +signification and is to be used of evil things only. It is correct to +say utter misery, but not "utter happiness;" utterly bad, but not +"utterly good." + +_Various_ for _Several_. "Various kinds of men." Kinds are various of +course, for they vary--that is what makes them kinds. Use various only +when, in speaking of a number of things, you wish to direct attention +to their variety--their difference, one from another. "The dividend +was distributed among the various stockholders." The stockholders +vary, as do all persons, but that is irrelevant and was not in mind. +"Various persons have spoken to me of you." Their variation is +unimportant; what is meant is that there was a small indefinite number +of them; that is, several. + +_Ventilate_ for _Express, Disclose_, etc. "The statesman ventilated +his views." A disagreeable and dog-eared figure of speech. + +_Verbal_ for _Oral_. All language is verbal, whether spoken or +written, but audible speech is oral. "He did not write, but +communicated his wishes verbally." It would have been a verbal +communication, also, if written. + +_Vest_ for _Waistcoat_. This is American, but as all Americans are not +in agreement about it it is better to use the English word. + +_Vicinity_ for _Vicinage_, or _Neighborhood_. "He lives in this +vicinity." If neither of the other words is desired say, He lives in +the vicinity of this place, or, better, He lives near by. + +_View of_. "He invested with the view of immediate profit." "He +enlisted with the view of promotion." Say, with a view to. + +_Vulgar_ for _Immodest_, _Indecent_. It is from _vulgus_, the common +people, the mob, and means both common and unrefined, but has no +relation to indecency. + +_Way_ for _Away_. "Way out at sea." "Way down South." + +_Ways_ for _Way_. "A squirrel ran a little ways along the road." "The +ship looked a long ways off." This surprising word calls loudly for +depluralization. + +_Wed_ for _Wedded_. "They were wed at noon." "He wed her in Boston." +The word wed in all its forms as a substitute for marry, is pretty +hard to bear. + +_Well_. As a mere meaningless prelude to a sentence this word is +overtasked. "Well, I don't know about that." "Well, you may try." +"Well, have your own way." + +_Wet_ for _Wetted_. See _Bet_. + +_Where_ for _When_. "Where there is reason to expect criticism write +discreetly." + +_Which_ for _That_. "The boat which I engaged had a hole in it." But a +parenthetical clause may rightly be introduced by which; as, The boat, +which had a hole in it, I nevertheless engaged. Which and that are +seldom interchangeable; when they are, use that. It sounds better. + +_Whip_ for _Chastise_, or _Defeat_. To whip is to beat with a whip. It +means nothing else. + +_Whiskers_ for _Beard_. The whisker is that part of the beard that +grows on the cheek. See _Chin Whiskers_. + +_Who_ for _Whom_. "Who do you take me for?" + +_Whom_ for _Who_. "The man whom they thought was dead is living." Here +the needless introduction of was entails the alteration of whom to +who. "Remember whom it is that you speak of." "George Washington, than +whom there was no greater man, loved a jest." The misuse of whom after +than is almost universal. Who and whom trip up many a good writer, +although, unlike which and who, they require nothing but knowledge of +grammar. + +_Widow Woman_. Omit woman. + +_Will_ and _Shall_. Proficiency in the use of these apparently +troublesome words must be sought in text-books on grammar and +rhetoric, where the subject will be found treated with a more +particular attention, and at greater length, than is possible in a +book of the character of this. Briefly and generally, in the first +person, a mere intention is indicated by shall, as, I shall go; +whereas will denotes some degree of compliance or determination, as, I +will go--as if my going had been requested or forbidden. In the second +and the third person, will merely forecasts, as, You (or he) will go; +but shall implies something of promise, permission or compulsion by +the speaker, as, You (or he) shall go. Another and less obvious +compulsion--that of circumstance--speaks in shall, as sometimes used +with good effect: In Germany you shall not turn over a chip without +uncovering a philosopher. The sentence is barely more than indicative, +shall being almost, but not quite, equivalent to can. + +_Win out_. Like its antithesis, "lose out," this reasonless phrase is +of sport, "sporty." + +_Win_ for _Won_. "I went to the race and win ten dollars." This +atrocious solecism seems to be unknown outside the world of sport, +where may it ever remain. + +_Without_ for _Unless_. "I cannot go without I recover." Peasantese. + +_Witness_ for _See_. To witness is more than merely to see, or +observe; it is to observe, and to tell afterward. + +_Would-be_. "The would-be assassin was arrested." The word doubtless +supplies a want, but we can better endure the want than the word. In +the instance of the assassin, it is needless, for he who attempts to +murder is an assassin, whether he succeeds or not. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Write It Right, by Ambrose Bierce + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WRITE IT RIGHT *** + +***** This file should be named 12474-8.txt or 12474-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/4/7/12474/ + +Produced by Clare Boothby, Ben Harris and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Write It Right + A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults + +Author: Ambrose Bierce + +Release Date: May 29, 2004 [EBook #12474] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WRITE IT RIGHT *** + + + + +Produced by Clare Boothby, Ben Harris and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="titlepage"> +<h1> + WRITE IT RIGHT +</h1> +<p> + <i>A LITTLE BLACKLIST OF LITERARY FAULTS</i> +</p> +<p><b> + BY AMBROSE BIERCE +</b></p> +<p> + 1909 +</p> +</div> + + + +<h2> + AIMS AND THE PLAN +</h2> +<p> + The author's main purpose in this book is to teach precision in + writing; and of good writing (which, essentially, is clear thinking + made visible) precision is the point of capital concern. It is + attained by choice of the word that accurately and adequately + expresses what the writer has in mind, and by exclusion of that which + either denotes or connotes something else. As Quintilian puts it, the + writer should so write that his reader not only may, but must, + understand. +</p> +<p> + Few words have more than one literal and serviceable meaning, however + many metaphorical, derivative, related, or even unrelated, meanings + lexicographers may think it worth while to gather from all sorts and + conditions of men, with which to bloat their absurd and misleading + dictionaries. This actual and serviceable meaning—not always + determined by derivation, and seldom by popular usage—is the one + affirmed, according to his light, by the author of this little manual + of solecisms. Narrow etymons of the mere scholar and loose locutions + of the ignorant are alike denied a standing. +</p> +<p> + The plan of the book is more illustrative than expository, the aim + being to use the terms of etymology and syntax as little as is + compatible with clarity, familiar example being more easily + apprehended than technical precept. When both are employed the precept + is commonly given after the example has prepared the student to apply + it, not only to the matter in mind, but to similar matters not + mentioned. Everything in quotation marks is to be understood as + disapproved. +</p> +<p> + Not all locutions blacklisted herein are always to be reprobated as + universal outlaws. Excepting in the case of capital + offenders—expressions ancestrally vulgar or irreclaimably + degenerate—absolute proscription is possible as to serious + composition only; in other forms the writer must rely on his sense of + values and the fitness of things. While it is true that some + colloquialisms and, with less of license, even some slang, may be + sparingly employed in light literature, for point, piquancy or any of + the purposes of the skilled writer sensible to the necessity and charm + of keeping at least one foot on the ground, to others the virtue of + restraint may be commended as distinctly superior to the joy of + indulgence. +</p> +<p> + Precision is much, but not all; some words and phrases are disallowed + on the ground of taste. As there are neither standards nor arbiters of + taste, the book can do little more than reflect that of its author, + who is far indeed from professing impeccability. In neither taste nor + precision is any man's practice a court of last appeal, for writers + all, both great and small, are habitual sinners against the light; and + their accuser is cheerfully aware that his own work will supply (as in + making this book it has supplied) many "awful examples"—his later + work less abundantly, he hopes, than his earlier. He nevertheless + believes that this does not disqualify him for showing by other + instances than his own how not to write. The infallible teacher is + still in the forest primeval, throwing seeds to the white blackbirds. +</p> +<div class="sig"> + A.B. +</div> + +<h2> + THE BLACKLIST +</h2> +<p> + <i>A</i> for <i>An</i>. "A hotel." "A heroic man." Before an unaccented aspirate + use an. The contrary usage in this country comes of too strongly + stressing our aspirates. +</p> +<p> + <i>Action</i> for <i>Act</i>. "In wrestling, a blow is a reprehensible action." + A blow is not an action but an act. An action may consist of many + acts. +</p> +<p> + <i>Admission</i> for <i>Admittance</i>. "The price of admission is one dollar." +</p> +<p> + <i>Admit</i> for <i>Confess</i>. To admit is to concede something affirmed. An + unaccused offender cannot admit his guilt. +</p> +<p> + <i>Adopt</i>. "He adopted a disguise." One may adopt a child, or an + opinion, but a disguise is assumed. +</p> +<p> + <i>Advisedly</i> for <i>Advertently</i>, <i>Intentionally</i>. "It was done + advisedly" should mean that it was done after advice. +</p> +<p> + <i>Afford</i>. It is not well to say "the fact affords a reasonable + presumption"; "the house afforded ample accommodation." The fact + supplies a reasonable presumption. The house offered, or gave, ample + accommodation. +</p> +<p> + <i>Afraid</i>. Do not say, "I am afraid it will rain." Say, I fear that it + will rain. +</p> +<p> + <i>Afterwards</i> for <i>Afterward</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Aggravate</i> for <i>Irritate</i>. "He aggravated me by his insolence." To + aggravate is to augment the disagreeableness of something already + disagreeable, or the badness of something bad. But a person cannot be + aggravated, even if disagreeable or bad. Women are singularly prone to + misuse of this word. +</p> +<p> + <i>All of</i>. "He gave all of his property." The words are contradictory: + an entire thing cannot be of itself. Omit the preposition. +</p> +<p> + <i>Alleged</i>. "The alleged murderer." One can allege a murder, but not a + murderer; a crime, but not a criminal. A man that is merely suspected + of crime would not, in any case, be an alleged criminal, for an + allegation is a definite and positive statement. In their tiresome + addiction to this use of alleged, the newspapers, though having mainly + in mind the danger of libel suits, can urge in further justification + the lack of any other single word that exactly expresses their + meaning; but the fact that a mud-puddle supplies the shortest route is + not a compelling reason for walking through it. One can go around. +</p> +<p> + <i>Allow</i> for <i>Permit</i>. "I allow you to go." Precision is better + attained by saying permit, for allow has other meanings. +</p> +<p> + <i>Allude to</i> for <i>Mention</i>. What is alluded to is not mentioned, but + referred to indirectly. Originally, the word implied a playful, or + sportive, reference. That meaning is gone out of it. +</p> +<p> + <i>And so</i>. <i>And yet</i>. "And so they were married." "And yet a woman." + Omit the conjunction. +</p> +<p> + <i>And which</i>. <i>And who</i>. These forms are incorrect unless the relative + pronoun has been used previously in the sentence. "The colt, spirited + and strong, and which was unbroken, escaped from the pasture." "John + Smith, one of our leading merchants, and who fell from a window + yesterday, died this morning." Omit the conjunction. +</p> +<p> + <i>Antecedents</i> for <i>Personal History</i>. Antecedents are predecessors. +</p> +<p> + <i>Anticipate</i> for <i>Expect</i>. "I anticipate trouble." To anticipate is to + act on an expectation in a way to promote or forestall the event + expected. +</p> +<p> + <i>Anxious</i> for <i>Eager</i>. "I was anxious to go." Anxious should not be + followed by an infinitive. Anxiety is contemplative; eagerness, alert + for action. +</p> +<p> + <i>Appreciate</i> for <i>Highly Value</i>. In the sense of value, it means value + justly, not highly. In another and preferable sense it means to + increase in value. +</p> +<p> + <i>Approach</i>. "The juror was approached"; that is, overtures were made + to him with a view to bribing him. As there is no other single word + for it, approach is made to serve, figuratively; and being graphic, it + is not altogether objectionable. +</p> +<p> + <i>Appropriated</i> for <i>Took</i>. "He appropriated his neighbor's horse to + his own use." To appropriate is to set apart, as a sum of money, for a + special purpose. +</p> +<p> + <i>Approve of</i> for <i>Approve</i>. There is no sense in making approve an + intransitive verb. +</p> +<p> + <i>Apt</i> for <i>Likely</i>. "One is apt to be mistaken." Apt means facile, + felicitous, ready, and the like; but even the dictionary-makers cannot + persuade a person of discriminating taste to accept it as synonymous + with likely. +</p> +<p> + <i>Around</i> for <i>About</i>. "The débris of battle lay around them." "The + huckster went around, crying his wares." Around carries the concept of + circularity. +</p> +<p> + <i>Article</i>. A good and useful word, but used without meaning by + shopkeepers; as, "A good article of vinegar," for a good vinegar. +</p> +<p> + <i>As</i> for <i>That</i>, or <i>If</i>. "I do not know as he is living." This error + is not very common among those who can write at all, but one sometimes + sees it in high place. +</p> +<p> + <i>As—as</i> for <i>So—as</i>. "He is not as good as she." Say, not so good. + In affirmative sentences the rule is different: He is as good as she. +</p> +<p> + <i>As for</i> for <i>As to</i>. "As for me, I am well." Say, as to me. +</p> +<p> + <i>At Auction</i> for <i>by Auction</i>. "The goods were sold at auction." +</p> +<p> + <i>At</i> for <i>By</i>. "She was shocked at his conduct." This very common + solecism is without excuse. +</p> +<p> + <i>Attain</i> for <i>Accomplish</i>. "By diligence we attain our purpose." A + purpose is accomplished; success is attained. +</p> +<p> + <i>Authoress</i>. A needless word—as needless as "poetess." +</p> +<p> + <i>Avocation</i> for <i>Vocation</i>. A vocation is, literally, a calling; that + is, a trade or profession. An avocation is something that calls one + away from it. If I say that farming is some one's avocation I mean + that he practises it, not regularly, but at odd times. +</p> +<p> + <i>Avoid</i> for <i>Avert</i>. "By displaying a light the skipper avoided a + collision." To avoid is to shun; the skipper could have avoided a + collision only by getting out of the way. +</p> +<p> + <i>Avoirdupois</i> for <i>Weight</i>. Mere slang. +</p> +<p> + <i>Back of</i> for <i>Behind</i>, <i>At the Back of</i>. "Back of law is force." +</p> +<p> + <i>Backwards</i> for <i>Backward</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Badly</i> for <i>Bad</i>. "I feel badly." "He looks badly." The former + sentence implies defective nerves of sensation, the latter, imperfect + vision. Use the adjective. +</p> +<p> + <i>Balance</i> for <i>Remainder</i>. "The balance of my time is given to + recreation." In this sense balance is a commercial word, and relates + to accounting. +</p> +<p> + <i>Banquet</i>. A good enough word in its place, but its place is the + dictionary. Say, dinner. +</p> +<p> + <i>Bar</i> for <i>Bend</i>. "Bar sinister." There is no such thing in heraldry + as a bar sinister. +</p> +<p> + <i>Because</i> for <i>For</i>. "I knew it was night, because it was dark." "He + will not go, because he is ill." +</p> +<p> + <i>Bet</i> for <i>Betted</i>. The verb to bet forms its preterite regularly, as + do wet, wed, knit, quit and others that are commonly misconjugated. It + seems that we clip our short words more than we do our long. +</p> +<p> + <i>Body</i> for <i>Trunk</i>. "The body lay here, the head there." The body is + the entire physical person (as distinguished from the soul, or mind) + and the head is a part of it. As distinguished from head, trunk may + include the limbs, but anatomically it is the torso only. +</p> +<p> + <i>Bogus</i> for <i>Counterfeit</i>, or <i>False</i>. The word is slang; keep it out. +</p> +<p> + <i>Both</i>. This word is frequently misplaced; as, "A large mob, both of + men and women." Say, of both men and women. +</p> +<p> + <i>Both alike</i>. "They are both alike." Say, they are alike. One of them + could not be alike. +</p> +<p> + <i>Brainy</i>. Pure slang, and singularly disagreeable. +</p> +<p> + <i>Bug</i> for <i>Beetle</i>, or for anything. Do not use it. +</p> +<p> + <i>Business</i> for <i>Right</i>. "He has no business to go there." +</p> +<p> + <i>Build</i> for <i>Make</i>. "Build a fire." "Build a canal." Even "build a + tunnel" is not unknown, and probably if the wood-chuck is skilled in + the American tongue he speaks of building a hole. +</p> +<p> + <i>But</i>. By many writers this word (in the sense of except) is regarded + as a preposition, to be followed by the objective case: "All went but + him." It is not a preposition and may take either the nominative or + objective case, to agree with the subject or the object of the verb. + All went but he. The natives killed all but him. +</p> +<p> + <i>But what</i>. "I did not know but what he was an enemy." Omit what. If + condemnation of this dreadful locution seem needless bear the matter + in mind in your reading and you will soon be of a different opinion. +</p> +<p> + <i>By</i> for <i>Of</i>. "A man by the name of Brown." Say, of the name. Better + than either form is: a man named Brown. +</p> +<p> + <i>Calculated</i> for <i>Likely</i>. "The bad weather is calculated to produce + sickness." Calculated implies calculation, design. +</p> +<p> + <i>Can</i> for <i>May</i>. "Can I go fishing?" "He can call on me if he wishes + to." +</p> +<p> + <i>Candidate</i> for <i>Aspirant</i>. In American politics, one is not a + candidate for an office until formally named (nominated) for it by a + convention, or otherwise, as provided by law or custom. So when a man + who is moving Heaven and Earth to procure the nomination protests that + he is "not a candidate" he tells the truth in order to deceive. +</p> +<p> + <i>Cannot</i> for <i>Can</i>. "I cannot but go." Say, I can but go. +</p> +<p> + <i>Capable</i>. "Men are capable of being flattered." Say, susceptible to + flattery. "Capable of being refuted." Vulnerable to refutation. Unlike + capacity, capability is not passive, but active. We are capable of + doing, not of having something done to us. +</p> +<p> + <i>Capacity</i> for <i>Ability</i>. "A great capacity for work." Capacity is + receptive; ability, potential. A sponge has capacity for water; the + hand, ability to squeeze it out. +</p> +<p> + <i>Casket</i> for <i>Coffin</i>. A needless euphemism affected by undertakers. +</p> +<p> + <i>Casualties</i> for <i>Losses</i> in Battle. The essence of casualty is + accident, absence of design. Death and wounds in battle are produced + otherwise, are expectable and expected, and, by the enemy, + intentional. +</p> +<p> + <i>Chance</i> for <i>Opportunity</i>. "He had a good chance to succeed." +</p> +<p> + <i>Chin Whiskers</i>. The whisker grows on the cheek, not the chin. +</p> +<p> + <i>Chivalrous</i>. The word is popularly used in the Southern States only, + and commonly has reference to men's manner toward women. Archaic, + stilted and fantastic. +</p> +<p> + <i>Citizen</i> for <i>Civilian</i>. A soldier may be a citizen, but is not a + civilian. +</p> +<p> + <i>Claim</i> for <i>Affirm</i>. "I claim that he is elected." To claim is to + assert ownership. +</p> +<p> + <i>Clever</i> for <i>Obliging</i>. In this sense the word was once in general + use in the United States, but is now seldom heard and life here is + less insupportable. +</p> +<p> + <i>Climb down</i>. In climbing one ascends. +</p> +<p> + <i>Coat</i> for <i>Coating</i>. "A coat of paint, or varnish." If we coat + something we produce a coating, not a coat. +</p> +<p> + <i>Collateral Descendant</i>. There can be none: a "collateral descendant" + is not a descendant. +</p> +<p> + <i>Colonel</i>, <i>Judge</i>, <i>Governor</i>, etc., for <i>Mister</i>. Give a man a title + only if it belongs to him, and only while it belongs to him. +</p> +<p> + <i>Combine</i> for <i>Combination</i>. The word, in this sense, has something of + the meaning of conspiracy, but there is no justification for it as a + noun, in any sense. +</p> +<p> + <i>Commence</i> for <i>Begin</i>. This is not actually incorrect, but—well, it + is a matter of taste. +</p> +<p> + <i>Commencement</i> for <i>Termination</i>. A contribution to our noble tongue + by its scholastic conservators, "commencement day" being their name + for the last day of the collegiate year. It is ingeniously defended on + the ground that on that day those on whom degrees are bestowed + commence to hold them. Lovely! +</p> +<p> + <i>Commit Suicide</i>. Instead of "He committed suicide," say, He killed + himself, or, He took his life. For married we do not say "committed + matrimony." Unfortunately most of us do say, "got married," which is + almost as bad. For lack of a suitable verb we just sometimes say + committed this or that, as in the instance of bigamy, for the verb to + bigam is a blessing that is still in store for us. +</p> +<p> + <i>Compare with</i> for <i>Compare to</i>. "He had the immodesty to compare + himself with Shakespeare." Nothing necessarily immodest in that. + Comparison with may be for observing a difference; comparison to + affirms a similarity. +</p> +<p> + <i>Complected</i>. Anticipatory past participle of the verb "to complect." + Let us wait for that. +</p> +<p> + <i>Conclude</i> for <i>Decide</i>. "I concluded to go to town." Having concluded + a course of reasoning (implied) I decided to go to town. A decision is + supposed to be made at the conclusion of a course of reasoning, but is + not the conclusion itself. Conversely, the conclusion of a syllogism + is not a decision, but an inference. +</p> +<p> + <i>Connection</i>. "In this connection I should like to say a word or two." + In connection with this matter. +</p> +<p> + <i>Conscious</i> for <i>Aware</i>. "The King was conscious of the conspiracy." + We are conscious of what we feel; aware of what we know. +</p> +<p> + <i>Consent</i> for <i>Assent</i>. "He consented to that opinion." To consent is + to agree to a proposal; to assent is to agree with a proposition. +</p> +<p> + <i>Conservative</i> for <i>Moderate</i>. "A conservative estimate"; "a + conservative forecast"; "a conservative statement," and so on. These + and many other abuses of the word are of recent growth in the + newspapers and "halls of legislation." Having been found to have + several meanings, conservative seems to be thought to mean everything. +</p> +<p> + <i>Continually</i> and <i>Continuously</i>. It seems that these words should + have the same meaning, but in their use by good writers there is a + difference. What is done continually is not done all the time, but + continuous action is without interruption. A loquacious fellow, who + nevertheless finds time to eat and sleep, is continually talking; but + a great river flows continuously. +</p> +<p> + <i>Convoy</i> for <i>Escort</i>. "A man-of-war acted as convoy to the flotilla." + The flotilla is the convoy, the man-of-war the escort. +</p> +<p> + <i>Couple</i> for <i>Two</i>. For two things to be a couple they must be of one + general kind, and their number unimportant to the statement made of + them. It would be weak to say, "He gave me only one, although he took + a couple for himself." Couple expresses indifference to the exact + number, as does several. That is true, even in the phrase, a married + couple, for the number is carried in the adjective and needs no + emphasis. +</p> +<p> + <i>Created</i> for <i>First Performed</i>. Stage slang. "Burbage created the + part of Hamlet." What was it that its author did to it? +</p> +<p> + <i>Critically</i> for <i>Seriously</i>. "He has long been critically ill." A + patient is critically ill only at the crisis of his disease. +</p> +<p> + <i>Criticise</i> for <i>Condemn</i>, or <i>Disparage</i>. Criticism is not + necessarily censorious; it may approve. +</p> +<p> + <i>Cunning</i> for <i>Amusing</i>. Usually said of a child, or pet. This is pure + Americanese, as is its synonym, "cute." +</p> +<p> + <i>Curious</i> for <i>Odd</i>, or <i>Singular</i>. To be curious is to have an + inquiring mind, or mood—curiosity. +</p> +<p> + <i>Custom</i> for <i>Habit</i>. Communities have customs; individuals, + habits—commonly bad ones. +</p> +<p> + <i>Decease</i> for <i>Die</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Decidedly</i> for <i>Very</i>, or <i>Certainly</i>. "It is decidedly cold." +</p> +<p> + <i>Declared</i> for <i>Said</i>. To a newspaper reporter no one seems ever to + say anything; all "declare." Like "alleged" (which see) the word is + tiresome exceedingly. +</p> +<p> + <i>Defalcation</i> for <i>Default</i>. A defalcation is a cutting off, a + subtraction; a default is a failure in duty. +</p> +<p> + <i>Definitely</i> for <i>Definitively</i>. "It was definitely decided." + Definitely means precisely, with exactness; definitively means + finally, conclusively. +</p> +<p> + <i>Deliver</i>. "He delivered an oration," or "delivered a lecture." Say, + He made an oration, or gave a lecture. +</p> +<p> + <i>Demean</i> for <i>Debase</i> or <i>Degrade</i>. "He demeaned himself by accepting + charity." The word relates, not to meanness, but to demeanor, conduct, + behavior. One may demean oneself with dignity and credit. +</p> +<p> + <i>Demise</i> for <i>Death</i>. Usually said of a person of note. Demise means + the lapse, as by death, of some authority, distinction or privilege, + which passes to another than the one that held it; as the demise of + the Crown. +</p> +<p> + <i>Democracy</i> for <i>Democratic Party</i>. One could as properly call the + Christian Church "the Christianity." +</p> +<p> + <i>Dépôt</i> for <i>Station</i>. "Railroad dépôt." A dépôt is a place of + deposit; as, a dépôt of supply for an army. +</p> +<p> + <i>Deprivation</i> for <i>Privation</i>. "The mendicant showed the effects of + deprivation." Deprivation refers to the act of depriving, taking away + from; privation is the state of destitution, of not having. +</p> +<p> + <i>Dilapidated</i> for <i>Ruined</i>. Said of a building, or other structure. + But the word is from the Latin <i>lapis</i>, a stone, and cannot properly + be used of any but a stone structure. +</p> +<p> + <i>Directly</i> for <i>Immediately</i>. "I will come directly" means that I will + come by the most direct route. +</p> +<p> + <i>Dirt</i> for <i>Earth</i>, <i>Soil</i>, or <i>Gravel</i>. A most disagreeable + Americanism, discredited by general (and Presidential) use. "Make the + dirt fly." Dirt means filth. +</p> +<p> + <i>Distinctly</i> for <i>Distinctively</i>. "The custom is distinctly Oriental." + Distinctly is plainly; distinctively, in a way to distinguish one + thing from others. +</p> +<p> + <i>Donate</i> for <i>Give</i>. Good American, but not good English. +</p> +<p> + <i>Doubtlessly</i>. A doubly adverbial form, like "illy." +</p> +<p> + <i>Dress</i> for <i>Gown</i>. Not so common as it was a few years ago. Dress + means the entire costume. +</p> +<p> + <i>Each Other</i> for <i>One Another</i>. "The three looked at each other." That + is, each looked at the other. But there were more than one other; so + we should say they looked at one another, which means that each looked + at another. Of two, say each other; of more than two, one another. +</p> +<p> + <i>Edify</i> for <i>Please</i>, or <i>Entertain</i>. Edify means to build; it has, + therefore, the sense of uplift, improvement—usually moral, or + spiritual. +</p> +<p> + <i>Electrocution</i>. To one having even an elementary knowledge of Latin + grammar this word is no less than disgusting, and the thing meant by + it is felt to be altogether too good for the word's inventor. +</p> +<p> + <i>Empty</i> for <i>Vacant</i>. Say, an empty bottle; but, a vacant house. +</p> +<p> + <i>Employé</i>. Good French, but bad English. Say, employee. +</p> +<p> + <i>Endorse</i> for <i>Approve</i>. To endorse is to write upon the back of, or + to sign the promissory note of another. It is a commercial word, + having insufficient dignity for literary use. You may endorse a check, + but you approve a policy, or statement. +</p> +<p> + <i>Endways</i>. A corruption of endwise. +</p> +<p> + <i>Entitled</i> for <i>Authorized</i>, <i>Privileged.</i> "The man is not entitled to + draw rations." Say, entitled to rations. Entitled is not to be + followed by an infinitive. +</p> +<p> + <i>Episode</i> for <i>Occurrence</i>, <i>Event</i>, etc. Properly, an episode is a + narrative that is a subordinate part of another narrative. An + occurrence considered by itself is not an episode. +</p> +<p> + <i>Equally as</i> for <i>Equally</i>. "This is equally as good." Omit as. "He + was of the same age, and equally as tall." Say, equally tall. +</p> +<p> + <i>Equivalent</i> for <i>Equal</i>. "My salary is equivalent to yours." +</p> +<p> + <i>Essential</i> for <i>Necessary</i>. This solecism is common among the best + writers of this country and England. "It is essential to go early"; + "Irrigation is essential to cultivation of arid lands," and so forth. + One thing is essential to another thing only if it is of the essence + of it—an important and indispensable part of it, determining its + nature; the soul of it. +</p> +<p> + <i>Even</i> for <i>Exact</i>. "An even dozen." +</p> +<p> + <i>Every</i> for <i>Entire</i>, <i>Full</i>. "The president had every confidence in + him." +</p> +<p> + <i>Every</i> for <i>Ever</i>. "Every now and then." This is nonsense: there can + be no such thing as a now and then, nor, of course, a number of now + and thens. Now and then is itself bad enough, reversing as it does the + sequence of things, but it is idiomatic and there is no quarreling + with it. But "every" is here a corruption of ever, meaning repeatedly, + continually. +</p> +<p> + <i>Ex</i>. "Ex-President," "an ex-convict," and the like. Say, former. In + England one may say, Mr. Roosevelt, sometime President; though the + usage is a trifle archaic. +</p> +<p> + <i>Example</i> for <i>Problem</i>. A heritage from the text-books. "An example + in arithmetic." An equally bad word for the same thing is "sum": "Do + the sum," for Solve the problem. +</p> +<p> + <i>Excessively</i> for <i>Exceedingly</i>. "The disease is excessively painful." + "The weather is excessively cold." Anything that is painful at all is + excessively so. Even a slight degree or small amount of what is + disagreeable or injurious is excessive—that is to say, redundant, + superfluous, not required. +</p> +<p> + <i>Executed</i>. "The condemned man was executed." He was hanged, or + otherwise put to death; it is the sentence that is executed. +</p> +<p> + <i>Executive</i> for <i>Secret</i>. An executive session of a deliberative body + is a session for executive business, as distinguished from + legislative. It is commonly secret, but a secret session is not + necessarily executive. +</p> +<p> + <i>Expect</i> for <i>Believe</i>, or <i>Suppose</i>. "I expect he will go." Say, I + believe (suppose or think) he will go; or, I expect him to go. +</p> +<p> + <i>Expectorate</i> for <i>Spit</i>. The former word is frequently used, even in + laws and ordinances, as a euphemism for the latter. It not only means + something entirely different, but to one with a Latin ear is far more + offensive. +</p> +<p> + <i>Experience</i> for <i>Suffer</i>, or <i>Undergo</i>. "The sinner experienced a + change of heart." This will do if said lightly or mockingly. It does + not indicate a serious frame of mind in the speaker. +</p> +<p> + <i>Extend</i> for <i>Proffer</i>. "He extended an invitation." One does not + always hold out an invitation in one's hand; it may be spoken or sent. +</p> +<p> + <i>Fail</i>. "He failed to note the hour." That implies that he tried to + note it, but did not succeed. Failure carries always the sense of + endeavor; when there has been no endeavor there is no failure. A + falling stone cannot fail to strike you, for it does not try; but a + marksman firing at you may fail to hit you; and I hope he always will. +</p> +<p> + <i>Favor</i> for <i>Resemble</i>. "The child favors its father." +</p> +<p> + <i>Feel of</i> for <i>Feel</i>. "The doctor felt of the patient's head." "Smell + of" and "taste of" are incorrect too. +</p> +<p> + <i>Feminine</i> for <i>Female</i>. "A feminine member of the club." Feminine + refers, not to sex proper, but to gender, which may be defined as the + sex of words. The same is true of masculine. +</p> +<p> + <i>Fetch</i> for <i>Bring</i>. Fetching includes, not only bringing, but going + to get—going for and returning with. You may bring what you did not + go for. +</p> +<p> + <i>Finances</i> for <i>Wealth</i>, or <i>Pecuniary Resources</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Financial</i> for <i>Pecuniary</i>. "His financial reward"; "he is + financially responsible," and so forth. +</p> +<p> + <i>Firstly</i>. If this word could mean anything it would mean firstlike, + whatever that might mean. The ordinal numbers should have no adverbial + form: "firstly," "secondly," and the rest are words without meaning. +</p> +<p> + <i>Fix</i>. This is, in America, a word-of-all-work, most frequently + meaning repair, or prepare. Do not so use it. +</p> +<p> + <i>Forebears</i> for <i>Ancestors</i>. The word is sometimes spelled forbears, a + worse spelling than the other, but not much. If used at all it should + be spelled <i>forebeers</i>, for it means those who have <i>been</i> before. A + forebe-er is one who fore-was. Considered in any way, it is a + senseless word. +</p> +<p> + <i>Forecasted</i>. For this abominable word we are indebted to the weather + bureau—at least it was not sent upon us until that affliction was + with us. Let us hope that it may some day be losted from the language. +</p> +<p> + <i>Former</i> and <i>Latter</i>. Indicating the first and the second of things + previously named, these words are unobjectionable if not too far + removed from the names that they stand for. If they are they confuse, + for the reader has to look back to the names. Use them sparingly. +</p> +<p> + <i>Funeral Obsequies</i>. Tautological. Say, obsequies; the word is now + used in none but a funereal sense. +</p> +<p> + <i>Fully</i> for <i>Definitively</i>, or <i>Finally</i>. "After many preliminary + examinations he was fully committed for trial." The adverb is + meaningless: a defendant is never partly committed for trial. This is + a solecism to which lawyers are addicted. And sometimes they have been + heard to say "fullied." +</p> +<p> + <i>Funds</i> for <i>Money</i>. "He was out of funds." Funds are not money in + general, but sums of money or credit available for particular + purposes. +</p> +<p> + <i>Furnish</i> for <i>Provide</i>, or <i>Supply</i>. "Taxation furnished the money." + A pauper may furnish a house if some one will provide the furniture, + or the money to buy it. "His flight furnishes a presumption of guilt." + It supplies it. +</p> +<p> + <i>Generally</i> for <i>Usually</i>. "The winds are generally high." "A fool is + generally vain." This misuse of the word appears to come of + abbreviating: Generally speaking, the weather is bad. A fool, to speak + generally, is vain. +</p> +<p> + <i>Gent</i> for <i>Gentleman</i>. Vulgar exceedingly. +</p> +<p> + <i>Genteel</i>. This word, meaning polite, or well mannered, was once in + better repute than it is now, and its noun, gentility, is still not + infrequently found in the work of good writers. Genteel is most often + used by those who write, as the Scotchman of the anecdote joked—wi' + deeficulty. +</p> +<p> + <i>Gentleman</i>. It is not possible to teach the correct use of this + overworked word: one must be bred to it. Everybody knows that it is + not synonymous with man, but among the "genteel" and those ambitious + to be thought "genteel" it is commonly so used in discourse too formal + for the word "gent." To use the word gentleman correctly, be one. +</p> +<p> + <i>Genuine</i> for <i>Authentic</i>, or <i>Veritable.</i> "A genuine document," "a + genuine surprise," and the like. +</p> +<p> + <i>Given</i>. "The soldier was given a rifle." What was given is the rifle, + not the soldier. "The house was given a coat (coating) of paint." + Nothing can be "given" anything. +</p> +<p> + <i>Goatee</i>. In this country goatee is frequently used for a tuft of + beard on the point of the chin—what is sometimes called "an + imperial," apparently because the late Emperor Napoleon III wore his + beard so. His Majesty the Goat is graciously pleased to wear his + beneath the chin. +</p> +<p> + <i>Got Married</i> for <i>Married</i>. If this is correct we should say, also, + "got dead" for died; one expression is as good as the other. +</p> +<p> + <i>Gotten</i> for <i>Got</i>. This has gone out of good use, though in such + compounded words as begotten and misbegotten it persists respectably. +</p> +<p> + <i>Graduated</i> for <i>Was Graduated</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Gratuitous</i> for <i>Unwarranted</i>. "A gratuitous assertion." Gratuitous + means without cost. +</p> +<p> + <i>Grueling</i>. Used chiefly by newspaper reporters; as, "He was subjected + to a grueling cross-examination." "It was grueling weather." Probably + a corruption of grilling. +</p> +<p> + <i>Gubernatorial</i>. Eschew it; it is not English, is needless and + bombastic. Leave it to those who call a political office a "chair." + "Gubernatorial chair" is good enough for them. So is hanging. +</p> +<p> + <i>Had Better</i> for <i>Would Better</i>. This is not defensible as an idiom, + as those who always used it before their attention was directed to it + take the trouble to point out. It comes of such contractions as he'd + for he would, I'd for I would. These clipped words are erroneously + restored as "he had," "I had." So we have such monstrosities as "He + had better beware," "I had better go." +</p> +<p> + <i>Hail</i> for <i>Come</i>. "He hails from Chicago." This is sea speech, and + comes from the custom of hailing passing ships. It will not do for + serious discourse. +</p> +<p> + <i>Have Got</i> for <i>Have</i>. "I have got a good horse" directs attention + rather to the act of getting than to the state of having, and + represents the capture as recently completed. +</p> +<p> + <i>Head over Heels</i>. A transposition of words hardly less surprising + than (to the person most concerned) the mischance that it fails to + describe. What is meant is heels over head. +</p> +<p> + <i>Healthy</i> for <i>Wholesome</i>. "A healthy climate." "A healthy + occupation." Only a living thing can be healthy. +</p> +<p> + <i>Helpmeet</i> for <i>Helpmate</i>. In Genesis Adam's wife is called "an help + meet for him," that is, fit for him. The ridiculous word appears to + have had no other origin. +</p> +<p> + <i>Hereafter</i> for <i>Henceforth</i>. Hereafter means at some time in the + future; henceforth, always in the future. The penitent who promises to + be good hereafter commits himself to the performance of a single good + act, not to a course of good conduct. +</p> +<p> + <i>Honeymoon</i>. Moon here means month, so it is incorrect to say, "a + week's honeymoon," or, "Their honeymoon lasted a year." +</p> +<p> + <i>Horseflesh</i> for <i>Horses</i>. A singularly senseless and disagreeable + word which, when used, as it commonly is, with reference to + hippophilism, savors rather more of the spit than of the spirit. +</p> +<p> + <i>Humans</i> as a Noun. We have no single word having the general yet + limited meaning that this is sometimes used to express—a meaning + corresponding to that of the word animals, as the word men would if it + included women and children. But there is time enough to use two + words. +</p> +<p> + <i>Hung</i> for <i>Hanged</i>. A bell, or a curtain, is hung, but a man is + hanged. Hung is the junior form of the participle, and is now used for + everything but man. Perhaps it is our reverence for the custom of + hanging men that sacredly preserves the elder form—as some, even, of + the most zealous American spelling reformers still respect the u in + Saviour. +</p> +<p> + <i>Hurry</i> for <i>Haste</i> and <i>Hasten</i>. To hurry is to hasten in a more or + less disorderly manner. Hurry is misused, also, in another sense: + "There is no hurry"—meaning, There is no reason for haste. +</p> +<p> + <i>Hurt</i> for <i>Harm</i>. "It does no hurt." To be hurt is to feel pain, but + one may be harmed without knowing it. To spank a child, or flout a + fool, hurts without harming. +</p> +<p> + <i>Idea</i> for <i>Thought</i>, <i>Purpose</i>, <i>Expectation</i>, etc. "I had no idea + that it was so cold." "When he went abroad it was with no idea of + remaining." +</p> +<p> + <i>Identified with</i>. "He is closely identified with the temperance + movement." Say, connected. +</p> +<p> + <i>Ilk</i> for <i>Kind</i>. "Men of that ilk." This Scotch word has a narrowly + limited and specific meaning. It relates to an ancestral estate having + the same name as the person spoken of. Macdonald of that ilk means, + Macdonald of Macdonald. The phrase quoted above is without meaning. +</p> +<p> + <i>Illy</i> for <i>Ill</i>. There is no such word as illy, for ill itself is an + adverb. +</p> +<p> + <i>Imaginary Line</i>. The adjective is needless. Geometrically, every line + is imaginary; its graphic representation is a mark. True the + text-books say, draw a line, but in a mathematical sense the line + already exists; the drawing only makes its course visible. +</p> +<p> + <i>In</i> for <i>Into</i>. "He was put in jail." "He went in the house." A man + may be in jail, or be in a house, but when the act of entrance—the + movement of something from the outside to the inside of another + thing—is related the correct word is into if the latter thing is + named. +</p> +<p> + <i>Inaugurate</i> for <i>Begin</i>, <i>Establish</i>, etc. Inauguration implies some + degree of formality and ceremony. +</p> +<p> + <i>Incumbent</i> for <i>Obligatory</i>. "It was incumbent upon me to relieve + him." Infelicitous and work-worn. Say, It was my duty, or, if enamored + of that particular metaphor, It lay upon me. +</p> +<p> + <i>Individual</i>. As a noun, this word means something that cannot be + considered as divided, a unit. But it is incorrect to call a man, + woman or child an individual, except with reference to mankind, to + society or to a class of persons. It will not do to say, "An + individual stood in the street," when no mention nor allusion has been + made, nor is going to be made, to some aggregate of individuals + considered as a whole. +</p> +<p> + <i>Indorse</i>. See <i>Endorse</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Insane Asylum</i>. Obviously an asylum cannot be unsound in mind. Say, + asylum for the insane. +</p> +<p> + <i>In Spite of</i>. In most instances it is better to say despite. +</p> +<p> + <i>Inside of</i>. Omit the preposition. +</p> +<p> + <i>Insignificant</i> for <i>Trivial</i>, or <i>Small</i>. Insignificant means not + signifying anything, and should be used only in contrast, expressed or + implied, with something that is important for what it implies. The + bear's tail may be insignificant to a naturalist tracing the animal's + descent from an earlier species, but to the rest of us, not concerned + with the matter, it is merely small. +</p> +<p> + <i>Insoluble</i> for <i>Unsolvable</i>. Use the former word for material + substances, the latter for problems. +</p> +<p> + <i>Inst.</i>, <i>Prox.</i>, <i>Ult.</i> These abbreviations of <i>instante mense</i> (in + the present month), <i>proximo mense</i> (in the next month) and <i>ultimo + mense</i> (in the last month), are serviceable enough in commercial + correspondence, but, like A.M., P.M. and many other contractions of + Latin words, could profitably be spared from literature. +</p> +<p> + <i>Integrity</i> for <i>Honesty</i>. The word means entireness, wholeness. It + may be rightly used to affirm possession of all the virtues, that is, + unity of moral character. +</p> +<p> + <i>Involve</i> for <i>Entail</i>. "Proof of the charges will involve his + dismissal." Not at all; it will entail it. To involve is, literally, + to infold, not to bring about, nor cause to ensue. An unofficial + investigation, for example, may involve character and reputation, but + the ultimate consequence is entailed. A question, in the parliamentary + sense, may involve a principle; its settlement one way or another may + entail expense, or injury to interests. An act may involve one's honor + and entail disgrace. +</p> +<p> + <i>It</i> for <i>So</i>. "Going into the lion's cage is dangerous; you should + not do it." Do so is the better expression, as a rule, for the word it + is a pronoun, meaning a thing, or object, and therefore incapable of + being done. Colloquially we may say do it, or do this, or do that, but + in serious written discourse greater precision is desirable, and is + better obtained, in most cases, by use of the adverb. +</p> +<p> + <i>Item</i> for <i>Brief Article</i>. Commonly used of a narrative in a + newspaper. Item connotes an aggregate of which it is a unit—one thing + of many. Hence it suggests more than we may wish to direct attention + to. +</p> +<p> + <i>Jackies</i> for <i>Sailors</i>. Vulgar, and especially offensive to seamen. +</p> +<p> + <i>Jeopardize</i> for <i>Imperil</i>, or <i>Endanger</i>. The correct word is + jeopard, but in any case there is no need for anything so farfetched + and stilted. +</p> +<p> + <i>Juncture</i>. Juncture means a joining, a junction; its use to signify a + time, however critical a time, is absurd. "At this juncture the woman + screamed." In reading that account of it we scream too. +</p> +<p> + <i>Just Exactly</i>. Nothing is gained in strength nor precision by this + kind of pleonasm. Omit just. +</p> +<p> + <i>Juvenile</i> for <i>Child</i>. This needless use of the adjective for the + noun is probably supposed to be humorous, like "canine" for dog, + "optic" for eye, "anatomy" for body, and the like. Happily the offense + is not very common. +</p> +<p> + <i>Kind of a</i> for <i>Kind of</i>. "He was that kind of a man." Say that kind + of man. Man here is generic, and a genus comprises many kinds. But + there cannot be more than one kind of one thing. <i>Kind of</i> followed by + an adjective, as, "kind of good," is almost too gross for censure. +</p> +<p> + <i>Landed Estate</i> for <i>Property in Land</i>. Dreadful! +</p> +<p> + <i>Last</i> and <i>Past</i>. "Last week." "The past week." Neither is accurate: + a week cannot be the last if another is already begun; and all weeks + except this one are past. Here two wrongs seem to make a right: we can + say the week last past. But will we? I trow not. +</p> +<p> + <i>Later on</i>. On is redundant; say, later. +</p> +<p> + <i>Laundry</i>. Meaning a place where clothing is washed, this word cannot + mean, also, clothing sent there to be washed. +</p> +<p> + <i>Lay</i> (to place) for <i>Lie</i> (to recline). "The ship lays on her side." + A more common error is made in the past tense, as, "He laid down on + the grass." The confusion comes of the identity of a present tense of + the transitive verb to lay and the past tense of the intransitive verb + to lie. +</p> +<p> + <i>Leading Question</i>. A leading question is not necessarily an important + one; it is one that is so framed as to suggest, or lead to, the answer + desired. Few others than lawyers use the term correctly. +</p> +<p> + <i>Lease</i>. To say of a man that he leases certain premises leaves it + doubtful whether he is lessor or lessee. Being ambiguous, the word + should be used with caution. +</p> +<p> + <i>Leave</i> for <i>Go away</i>. "He left yesterday." Leave is a transitive + verb; name the place of departure. +</p> +<p> + <i>Leave</i> for <i>Let</i>. "Leave it alone." By this many persons mean, not + that it is to be left in solitude, but that it is to be untouched, or + unmolested. +</p> +<p> + <i>Lengthways</i> for <i>Lengthwise</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Lengthy</i>. Usually said in disparagement of some wearisome discourse. + It is no better than breadthy, or thicknessy. +</p> +<p> + <i>Leniency</i> for <i>Lenity</i>. The words are synonymous, but the latter is + the better. +</p> +<p> + <i>Less</i> for <i>Fewer</i>. "The regiment had less than five hundred men." + Less relates to quantity, fewer, to number. +</p> +<p> + <i>Limited</i> for <i>Small</i>, <i>Inadequate</i>, etc. "The army's operations were + confined to a limited area." "We had a limited supply of food." A + large area and an adequate supply would also be limited. Everything + that we know about is limited. +</p> +<p> + <i>Liable</i> for <i>Likely</i>. "Man is liable to err." Man is not liable to + err, but to error. Liable should be followed, not by an infinitive, + but by a preposition. +</p> +<p> + <i>Like</i> for <i>As</i>, or <i>As if</i>. "The matter is now like it was." "The + house looked like it would fall." +</p> +<p> + <i>Likely</i> for <i>Probably</i>. "He will likely be elected." If likely is + thought the better word (and in most cases it is) put it this way: "It + is likely that he will be elected," or, "He is likely to be elected." +</p> +<p> + <i>Line</i> for <i>Kind</i>, or <i>Class</i>. "This line of goods." Leave the word to + "salesladies" and "salesgentlemen." "That line of business." Say, that + business. +</p> +<p> + <i>Literally</i> for <i>Figuratively</i>. "The stream was literally alive with + fish." "His eloquence literally swept the audience from its feet." It + is bad enough to exaggerate, but to affirm the truth of the + exaggeration is intolerable. +</p> +<p> + <i>Loan</i> for <i>Lend</i>. "I loaned him ten dollars." We lend, but the act of + lending, or, less literally, the thing lent, is a loan. +</p> +<p> + <i>Locate</i>. "After many removals the family located at Smithville." Some + dictionaries give locate as an intransitive verb having that meaning, + but—well, dictionaries are funny. +</p> +<p> + <i>Lots</i>, or <i>a Lot</i>, for <i>Much</i>, or <i>Many</i>. "Lots of things." "A lot of + talk." +</p> +<p> + <i>Love</i> for <i>Like</i>. "I love to travel." "I love apples." Keep the + stronger word for a stronger feeling. +</p> +<p> + <i>Lunch</i> for <i>Luncheon</i>. But do not use luncheon as a verb. +</p> +<p> + <i>Mad</i> for <i>Angry</i>. An Americanism of lessening prevalence. It is + probable that anger is a kind of madness (insanity), but that is not + what the misusers of the word mad mean to affirm. +</p> +<p> + <i>Maintain</i> for <i>Contend</i>. "The senator maintained that the tariff was + iniquitous." He maintained it only if he proved it. +</p> +<p> + <i>Majority</i> for <i>Plurality</i>. Concerning votes cast in an election, a + majority is more than half the total; a plurality is the excess of one + candidate's votes over another's. Commonly the votes compared are + those for the successful candidate and those for his most nearly + successful competitor. +</p> +<p> + <i>Make</i> for <i>Earn</i>. "He makes fifty dollars a month by manual labor." +</p> +<p> + <i>Mansion</i> for <i>Dwelling</i>, or <i>House</i>. Usually mere hyperbole, a + lamentable fault of our national literature. Even our presidents, + before Roosevelt, called their dwelling the Executive Mansion. +</p> +<p> + <i>Masculine</i> for <i>Male</i>. See <i>Feminine</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Mend</i> for <i>Repair</i>. "They mended the road." To mend is to repair, but + to repair is not always to mend. A stocking is mended, a road + repaired. +</p> +<p> + <i>Meet</i> for <i>Meeting</i>. This belongs to the language of sport, which + persons of sense do not write—nor read. +</p> +<p> + <i>Militate</i>. "Negligence militates against success." If "militate" + meant anything it would mean fight, but there is no such word. +</p> +<p> + <i>Mind</i> for <i>Obey</i>. This is a reasonless extension of one legitimate + meaning of mind, namely, to heed, to give attention. +</p> +<p> + <i>Minus</i> for <i>Lacking</i>, or <i>Without</i>. "After the battle he was minus an + ear." It is better in serious composition to avoid such alien words as + have vernacular equivalents. +</p> +<p> + <i>Mistaken</i> for <i>Mistake</i>. "You are mistaken." For whom? Say, You + mistake. +</p> +<p> + <i>Monarch</i> for <i>King, Emperor</i>, or <i>Sovereign</i>. Not only hyperbolical, + but inaccurate. There is not a monarch in Christendom. +</p> +<p> + <i>Moneyed</i> for <i>Wealthy</i>. "The moneyed men of New York." One might as + sensibly say, "The cattled men of Texas," or, "The lobstered men of + the fish market." +</p> +<p> + <i>Most</i> for <i>Almost</i>. "The apples are most all gone." "The returning + travelers were most home." +</p> +<p> + <i>Moved</i> for <i>Removed</i>. "The family has moved to another house." "The + Joneses were moving." +</p> +<p> + <i>Mutual</i>. By this word we express a reciprocal relation. It implies + exchange, a giving and taking, not a mere possessing in common. There + can be a mutual affection, or a mutual hatred, but not a mutual + friend, nor a mutual horse. +</p> +<p> + <i>Name</i> for <i>Title and Name</i>. "His name was Mr. Smith." Surely no babe + was ever christened Mister. +</p> +<p> + <i>Necessaries</i> for <i>Means</i>. "Bread and meat are necessaries of life." + Not so; they are the mere means, for one can, and many do, live + comfortably without them. Food and drink are necessaries of life, but + particular kinds of food and drink are not. +</p> +<p> + <i>Necessities</i> for <i>Necessaries</i>. "Necessities of life are those things + without which we cannot live." +</p> +<p> + <i>Née</i>. Feminine of <i>né</i>, born. "Mrs. Jones, <i>née</i> Lucy Smith." She + could hardly have been christened before her birth. If you must use + the French word say, <i>née</i> Smith. +</p> +<p> + <i>Negotiate</i>. From the Latin <i>negotium</i>. It means, as all know, to fix + the terms for a transaction, to bargain. But when we say, "The driver + negotiated a difficult turn of the road," or, "The chauffeur + negotiated a hill," we speak nonsense. +</p> +<p> + <i>Neither—or</i> for <i>Neither—nor</i>. "Neither a cat or fish has wool." + Always after neither use nor. +</p> +<p> + <i>New Beginner</i> for <i>Beginner</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Nice</i> for <i>Good</i>, or <i>Agreeable</i>. "A nice girl." Nice means + fastidious, delicately discriminative, and the like. Pope uses the + word admirably of a dandy who was skilled in the nice conduct + [management] of a clouded cane. +</p> +<p> + <i>Noise</i> for <i>Sound</i>. "A noise like a flute"; "a noise of twittering + birds," etc. A noise is a loud or disagreeable sound, or combination + or succession of sounds. +</p> +<p> + <i>None</i>. Usually, and in most cases, singular; as, None has come. But + it is not singular because it always means not one, for frequently it + does not, as, The bottle was full of milk, but none is left. When it + refers to numbers, not quantity, popular usage stubbornly insists that + it is plural, and at least one respectable authority says that as a + singular it is offensive. One is sorry to be offensive to a good man. +</p> +<p> + <i>No Use</i>. "He tried to smile, but it was no use." Say, of no use, or, + less colloquially, in vain. +</p> +<p> + <i>Novel</i> for <i>Romance</i>. In a novel there is at least an apparent + attention to considerations of probability; it is a narrative of what + might occur. Romance flies with a free wing and owns no allegiance to + likelihood. Both are fiction, both works of imagination, but should + not be confounded. They are as distinct as beast and bird. +</p> +<p> + <i>Numerous</i> for <i>Many</i>. Rightly used, numerous relates to numbers, but + does not imply a great number. A correct use is seen in the term + numerous verse—verse consisting of poetic numbers; that is, + rhythmical feet. +</p> +<p> + <i>Obnoxious</i> for <i>Offensive</i>. Obnoxious means exposed to evil. A + soldier in battle is obnoxious to danger. +</p> +<p> + <i>Occasion</i> for <i>Induce</i>, or <i>Cause</i>. "His arrival occasioned a great + tumult." As a verb, the word is needless and unpleasing. +</p> +<p> + <i>Occasional Poems</i>. These are not, as so many authors and compilers + seem to think, poems written at irregular and indefinite intervals, + but poems written for <i>occasions</i>, such as anniversaries, festivals, + celebrations and the like. +</p> +<p> + <i>Of Any</i> for <i>Of All</i>. "The greatest poet of any that we have had." +</p> +<p> + <i>Offhanded</i> and <i>Offhandedly</i>. Offhand is both adjective and adverb; + these are bastard forms. +</p> +<p> + <i>On the Street</i>. A street comprises the roadway and the buildings at + each side. Say, in the street. He lives in Broadway. +</p> +<p> + <i>One Another</i> for <i>Each Other</i>. See <i>Each Other</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Only</i>. "He only had one." Say, He had only one, or, better, one only. + The other sentence might be taken to mean that only he had one; that, + indeed, is what it distinctly says. The correct placing of only in a + sentence requires attention and skill. +</p> +<p> + <i>Opine</i> for <i>Think</i>. The word is not very respectably connected. +</p> +<p> + <i>Opposite</i> for <i>Contrary</i>. "I hold the opposite opinion." "The + opposite practice." +</p> +<p> + <i>Or</i> for <i>Nor</i>. Probably our most nearly universal solecism. "I cannot + see the sun or the moon." This means that I am unable to see one of + them, though I may see the other. By using nor, I affirm the + invisibility of both, which is what I wanted to do. If a man is not + white or black he may nevertheless be a Negro or a Caucasian; but if + he is not white nor black he belongs to some other race. See + <i>Neither</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Ordinarily</i> for <i>Usually</i>. Clumsy. +</p> +<p> + <i>Ovation</i>. In ancient Rome an ovation was an inferior triumph accorded + to victors in minor wars or unimportant battle. Its character and + limitations, like those of the triumph, were strictly defined by law + and custom. An enthusiastic demonstration in honor of an American + civilian is nothing like that, and should not be called by its name. +</p> +<p> + <i>Over</i> for <i>About</i>, <i>In</i>, or <i>Concerning</i>. "Don't cry over spilt + milk." "He rejoiced over his acquittal." +</p> +<p> + <i>Over</i> for <i>More than</i>. "A sum of over ten thousand dollars." "Upward + of ten thousand dollars" is equally objectionable. +</p> +<p> + <i>Over</i> for <i>On</i>. "The policeman struck him over the head." If the blow + was over the head it did not hit him. +</p> +<p> + <i>Over with</i>. "Let us have it over with." Omit with. A better + expression is, Let us get done with it. +</p> +<p> + <i>Outside of</i>. Omit the preposition. +</p> +<p> + <i>Pair</i> for <i>Pairs</i>. If a word has a good plural use each form in its + place. +</p> +<p> + <i>Pants</i> for <i>Trousers</i>. Abbreviated from pantaloons, which are no + longer worn. Vulgar exceedingly. +</p> +<p> + <i>Partially</i> for <i>Partly</i>. A dictionary word, to swell the book. +</p> +<p> + <i>Party</i> for <i>Person</i>. "A party named Brown." The word, used in that + sense, has the excuse that it is a word. Otherwise it is no better + than "pants" and "gent." A person making an agreement, however, is a + party to that agreement. +</p> +<p> + <i>Patron</i> for <i>Customer</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Pay</i> for <i>Give</i>, <i>Make</i>, etc. "He pays attention." "She paid a visit + to Niagara." It is conceivable that one may owe attention or a visit + to another person, but one cannot be indebted to a place. +</p> +<p> + <i>Pay</i>. "Laziness does not pay." "It does not pay to be uncivil." This + use of the word is grossly commercial. Say, Indolence is unprofitable. + There is no advantage in incivility. +</p> +<p> + <i>Peek</i> for <i>Peep</i>. Seldom heard in England, though common here. "I + peeked out through the curtain and saw him." That it is a variant of + peep is seen in the child's word peek-a-boo, equivalent to bo-peep. + Better use the senior word. +</p> +<p> + <i>Peculiar</i> for <i>Odd</i>, or <i>Unusual</i>. Also sometimes used to denote + distinction, or particularity. Properly a thing is peculiar only to + another thing, of which it is characteristic, nothing else having it; + as knowledge of the use of fire is peculiar to Man. +</p> +<p> + <i>People</i> for <i>Persons</i>. "Three people were killed." "Many people are + superstitious." People has retained its parity of meaning with the + Latin <i>populus</i>, whence it comes, and the word is not properly used + except to designate a population, or large fractions of it considered + in the mass. To speak of any stated or small number of persons as + people is incorrect. +</p> +<p> + <i>Per</i>. "Five dollars <i>per</i> day." "Three <i>per</i> hundred." Say, three + dollars a day; three in a hundred. If you must use the Latin + preposition use the Latin noun too: <i>per diem; per centum</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Perpetually</i> for <i>Continually</i>. "The child is perpetually asking + questions." What is done perpetually is done continually and forever. +</p> +<p> + <i>Phenomenal</i> for <i>Extraordinary</i>, or <i>Surprising</i>. Everything that + occurs is phenomenal, for all that we know about is phenomena, + appearances. Of realities, noumena, we are ignorant. +</p> +<p> + <i>Plead</i> (pronounced "pled") for <i>Pleaded</i>. "He plead guilty." +</p> +<p> + <i>Plenty</i> for <i>Plentiful</i>. "Fish and fowl were plenty." +</p> +<p> + <i>Poetess</i>. A foolish word, like "authoress." +</p> +<p> + <i>Poetry</i> for <i>Verse</i>. Not all verse is poetry; not all poetry is + verse. Few persons can know, or hope to know, the one from the other, + but he who has the humility to doubt (if such a one there be) should + say verse if the composition is metrical. +</p> +<p> + <i>Point Blank</i>. "He fired at him point blank." This usually is intended + to mean directly, or at short range. But point blank means the point + at which the line of sight is crossed downward by the trajectory—the + curve described by the missile. +</p> +<p> + <i>Poisonous</i> for <i>Venomous</i>. Hemlock is poisonous, but a rattlesnake is + venomous. +</p> +<p> + <i>Politics</i>. The word is not plural because it happens to end with s. +</p> +<p> + <i>Possess</i> for <i>Have</i>. "To possess knowledge is to possess power." + Possess is lacking in naturalness and unduly emphasizes the concept of + ownership. +</p> +<p> + <i>Practically</i> for <i>Virtually</i>. This error is very common. "It is + practically conceded." "The decision was practically unanimous." "The + panther and the cougar are practically the same animal." These and + similar misapplications of the word are virtually without excuse. +</p> +<p> + <i>Predicate</i> for <i>Found</i>, or <i>Base</i>. "I predicate my argument on + universal experience." What is predicated of something is affirmed as + an attribute of it, as omnipotence is predicated of the Deity. +</p> +<p> + <i>Prejudice</i> for <i>Prepossession</i>. Literally, a prejudice is merely a + prejudgment—a decision before evidence—and may be favorable or + unfavorable, but it is so much more frequently used in the latter + sense than in the former that clarity is better got by the other word + for reasonless approval. +</p> +<p> + <i>Preparedness</i> for <i>Readiness</i>. An awkward and needless word much used + in discussion of national armaments, as, "Our preparedness for war." +</p> +<p> + <i>Preside</i>. "Professor Swackenhauer presided at the piano." "The + deviled crab table was presided over by Mrs. Dooley." How would this + sound? "The ginger pop stand was under the administration of President + Woolwit, and Professor Sooffle presided at the flute." +</p> +<p> + <i>Pretend</i> for <i>Profess</i>. "I do not pretend to be infallible." Of + course not; one does not care to confess oneself a pretender. To + pretend is to try to deceive; one may profess quite honestly. +</p> +<p> + <i>Preventative</i> for <i>Preventive</i>. No such word as preventative. +</p> +<p> + <i>Previous</i> for <i>Previously</i>. "The man died previous to receipt of the + letter." +</p> +<p> + <i>Prior to</i> for <i>Before</i>. Stilted. +</p> +<p> + <i>Propose</i> for <i>Purpose</i>, or <i>Intend</i>. "I propose to go to Europe." A + mere intention is not a proposal. +</p> +<p> + <i>Proposition</i> for <i>Proposal</i>. "He made a proposition." In current + slang almost anything is a proposition. A difficult enterprise is "a + tough proposition," an agile wrestler, "a slippery proposition," and + so forth. +</p> +<p> + <i>Proportions</i> for <i>Dimensions</i>. "A rock of vast proportions." + Proportions relate to form; dimensions to magnitude. +</p> +<p> + <i>Proven</i> for <i>Proved</i>. Good Scotch, but bad English. +</p> +<p> + <i>Proverbial</i> for <i>Familiar</i>. "The proverbial dog in the manger." The + animal is not "proverbial" for it is not mentioned in a proverb, but + in a fable. +</p> +<p> + <i>Quit</i> for <i>Cease</i>, <i>Stop</i>. "Jones promises to quit drinking." In + another sense, too, the word is commonly misused, as, "He has quit the + town." Say, quitted. +</p> +<p> + <i>Quite</i>. "She is quite charming." If it is meant that she is entirely + charming this is right, but usually the meaning intended to be + conveyed is less than that—that she is rather, or somewhat, charming. +</p> +<p> + <i>Raise</i> for <i>Bring up</i>, <i>Grow</i>, <i>Breed</i>, etc. In this country a + word-of-all-work: "raise children," "raise wheat," "raise cattle." + Children are brought up, grain, hay and vegetables are grown, animals + and poultry are bred. +</p> +<p> + <i>Real</i> for <i>Really</i>, or <i>Very</i>. "It is real good of him." "The weather + was real cold." +</p> +<p> + <i>Realize</i> for <i>Conceive</i>, or <i>Comprehend</i>. "I could not realize the + situation." Writers caring for precision use this word in the sense of + to make real, not to make seem real. A dream seems real, but is + actually realized when made to come true. +</p> +<p> + <i>Recollect</i> for <i>Remember</i>. To remember is to have in memory; to + recollect is to recall what has escaped from memory. We remember + automatically; in recollecting we make a conscious effort. +</p> +<p> + <i>Redeem</i> for <i>Retrieve</i>. "He redeemed his good name." Redemption + (Latin <i>redemptio</i>, from <i>re</i> and <i>dimere</i>) is allied to ransom, and + carries the sense of buying back; whereas to retrieve is merely to + recover what was lost. +</p> +<p> + <i>Redound</i> for <i>Conduce</i>. "A man's honesty redounds to his advantage." + We make a better use of the word if we say of one (for example) who + has squandered a fortune, that its loss redounds to his advantage, for + the word denotes a fluctuation, as from seeming evil to actual good; + as villification may direct attention to one's excellent character. +</p> +<p> + <i>Refused</i>. "He was refused a crown." It is the crown that was refused + to him. See <i>Given</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Regular</i> for <i>Natural</i>, or <i>Customary</i>. "Flattery of the people is + the demagogue's regular means to political preferment." Regular + properly relates to a rule (<i>regula</i>) more definite than the law of + antecedent and consequent. +</p> +<p> + <i>Reliable</i> for <i>Trusty</i>, or <i>Trustworthy</i>. A word not yet admitted to + the vocabulary of the fastidious, but with a strong backing for the + place. +</p> +<p> + <i>Remit</i> for <i>Send</i>. "On receiving your bill I will remit the money." + Remit does not mean that; it means give back, yield up, relinquish, + etc. It means, also, to cancel, as in the phrase, the remission of + sins. +</p> +<p> + <i>Rendition</i> for <i>Interpretation</i>, or <i>Performance</i>. "The actor's + rendition of the part was good." Rendition means a surrender, or a + giving back. +</p> +<p> + <i>Reportorial</i>. A vile word, improperly made. It assumes the Latinized + spelling, "reporter." The Romans had not the word, for they were, + fortunately for them, without the thing. +</p> +<p> + <i>Repudiate</i> for <i>Deny</i>. "He repudiated the accusation." +</p> +<p> + <i>Reside</i> for <i>Live</i>. "They reside in Hohokus." Stilted. +</p> +<p> + <i>Residence</i> for <i>Dwelling</i>, or <i>House.</i> See <i>Mansion</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Respect</i> for <i>Way</i>, or <i>Matter</i>. "They were alike in that respect." + The misuse comes of abbreviating: the sentence properly written might + be, They were alike in respect of that—i.e., with regard to that. + The word in the bad sense has even been pluralized: "In many respects + it is admirable." +</p> +<p> + <i>Respective</i>. "They went to their respective homes." The adjective + here (if an adjective is thought necessary) should be several. In the + adverbial form the word is properly used in the sentence following: + John and James are bright and dull, respectively. That is, John is + bright and James dull. +</p> +<p> + <i>Responsible</i>. "The bad weather is responsible for much sickness." + "His intemperance was responsible for his crime." Responsibility is + not an attribute of anything but human beings, and few of these can + respond, in damages or otherwise. Responsible is nearly synonymous + with accountable and answerable, which, also, are frequently misused. +</p> +<p> + <i>Restive</i> for <i>Restless</i>. These words have directly contrary meanings; + the dictionaries' disallowance of their identity would be something to + be thankful for, but that is a dream. +</p> +<p> + <i>Retire</i> for <i>Go to Bed</i>. English of the "genteel" sort. See + <i>Genteel</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Rev</i>. for <i>The Rev</i>. "Rev. Dr. Smith." +</p> +<p> + <i>Reverence</i> for <i>Revere</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Ride</i> for <i>Drive</i>. On horseback one does drive, and in a vehicle one + does ride, but a distinction is needed here, as in England; so, here + as there, we may profitably make it, riding in the saddle and driving + in the carriage. +</p> +<p> + <i>Roomer</i> for <i>Lodger</i>. See <i>Bedder</i> and <i>Mealer</i>—if you can find + them. +</p> +<p> + <i>Round</i> for <i>About</i>. "They stood round." See <i>Around</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Ruination</i> for <i>Ruin</i>. Questionably derived and problematically + needful. +</p> +<p> + <i>Run</i> for <i>Manage</i>, or <i>Conduct</i>. Vulgar—hardly better than slang. +</p> +<p> + <i>Say</i> for <i>Voice</i>. "He had no say in determining the matter." Vulgar. +</p> +<p> + <i>Scholar</i> for <i>Student</i>, or <i>Pupil</i>. A scholar is a person who is + learned, not a person who is learning. +</p> +<p> + <i>Score</i> for <i>Win</i>, <i>Obtain</i>, etc. "He scored an advantage over his + opponent." To score is not to win a point, but to record it. +</p> +<p> + <i>Second-handed</i> for <i>Second-hand</i>. There is no such word. +</p> +<p> + <i>Secure</i> for <i>Procure</i>. "He secured a position as book-keeper." "The + dwarf secured a stick and guarded the jewels that he had found." Then + it was the jewels that were secured. +</p> +<p> + <i>Seldom ever</i>. A most absurd locution. +</p> +<p> + <i>Self-confessed</i>. "A self-confessed assassin." Self is superfluous: + one's sins cannot be confessed by another. +</p> +<p> + <i>Sensation</i> for <i>Emotion</i>. "The play caused a great sensation." "A + sensational newspaper." A sensation is a physical feeling; an emotion, + a mental. Doubtless the one usually accompanies the other, but the + good writer will name the one that he has in mind, not the other. + There are few errors more common than the one here noted. +</p> +<p> + <i>Sense</i> for <i>Smell</i>. "She sensed the fragrance of roses." Society + English. +</p> +<p> + <i>Set</i> for <i>Sit</i>. "A setting hen." +</p> +<p> + <i>Settee</i> for <i>Settle</i>. This word belongs to the peasantry of speech. +</p> +<p> + <i>Settle</i> for <i>Pay</i>. "Settle the bill." "I shall take it now and settle + for it later." +</p> +<p> + <i>Shades</i> for <i>Shade</i>. "Shades of Noah! how it rained!" "O shades of + Caesar!" A shade is a departed soul, as conceived by the ancients; one + to each mortal part is the proper allowance. +</p> +<p> + <i>Show</i> for <i>Chance</i>, or <i>Opportunity</i>. "He didn't stand a show." Say, + He had no chance. +</p> +<p> + <i>Sick</i> for <i>Ill</i>. Good usage now limits this word to cases of nausea, + but it is still legitimate in sickly, sickness, love-sick, and the + like. +</p> +<p> + <i>Side</i> for <i>Agree</i>, or <i>Stand</i>. "I side with the Democrats." "He + always sided with what he thought right." +</p> +<p> + <i>Sideburns</i> for <i>Burnsides</i>. A form of whiskers named from a noted + general of the civil war, Ambrose E. Burnside. It seems to be thought + that the word side has something to do with it, and that as an + adjective it should come first, according to our idiom. +</p> +<p> + <i>Side-hill</i> for <i>Hillside</i>. A reasonless transposition for which it is + impossible to assign a cause, unless it is abbreviated from side o' + the hill. +</p> +<p> + <i>Sideways</i> for <i>Sidewise</i>. See <i>Endways</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Since</i> for <i>Ago</i>. "He came here not long since and died." +</p> +<p> + <i>Smart</i> for <i>Bright</i>, or <i>Able</i>. An Americanism that is dying out. But + "smart" has recently come into use for fashionable, which is almost as + bad. +</p> +<p> + <i>Snap</i> for <i>Period</i> (of time) or <i>Spell</i>. "A cold snap." This is a + word of incomprehensible origin in that sense; we can know only that + its parents were not respectable. "Spell" is itself not very + well-born. +</p> +<p> + <i>So—as</i>. See <i>As—as</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>So</i> for <i>True</i>. "If you see it in the Daily Livercomplaint it is so." + "Is that so?" Colloquial and worse. +</p> +<p> + <i>Solemnize</i>. This word rightly means to make solemn, not to perform, + or celebrate, ceremoniously something already solemn, as a marriage, + or a mass. We have no exact synonym, but this explains, rather than + justifies, its use. +</p> +<p> + <i>Some</i> for <i>Somewhat</i>. "He was hurt some." +</p> +<p> + <i>Soon</i> for <i>Willingly</i>. "I would as soon go as stay." "That soldier + would sooner eat than fight." Say, rather eat. +</p> +<p> + <i>Space</i> for <i>Period</i>. "A long space of time." Space is so different a + thing from time that the two do not go well together. +</p> +<p> + <i>Spend</i> for <i>Pass</i>. "We shall spend the summer in Europe." Spend + denotes a voluntary relinquishment, but time goes from us against our + will. +</p> +<p> + <i>Square</i> for <i>Block</i>. "He lives three squares away." A city block is + seldom square. +</p> +<p> + <i>Squirt</i> for <i>Spurt</i>. Absurd. +</p> +<p> + <i>Stand</i> and <i>Stand for</i> for <i>Endure</i>. "The patient stands pain well." + "He would not stand for misrepresentation." +</p> +<p> + <i>Standpoint</i> for <i>Point of View</i>, or <i>Viewpoint</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>State</i> for <i>Say</i>. "He stated that he came from Chicago." "It is + stated that the president is angry." We state a proposition, or a + principle, but say that we are well. And we say our prayers—some of + us. +</p> +<p> + <i>Still Continue</i>. "The rain still continues." Omit still; it is + contained in the other word. +</p> +<p> + <i>Stock</i>. "I take no stock in it." Disagreeably commercial. Say, I have + no faith in it. Many such metaphorical expressions were + unobjectionable, even pleasing, in the mouth of him who first used + them, but by constant repetition by others have become mere slang, + with all the offensiveness of plagiarism. The prime objectionableness + of slang is its hideous lack of originality. Until mouth-worn it is + not slang. +</p> +<p> + <i>Stop</i> for <i>Stay</i>. "Prayer will not stop the ravages of cholera." Stop + is frequently misused for stay in another sense of the latter word: + "He is stopping at the hotel." Stopping is not a continuing act; one + cannot be stopping who has already stopped. +</p> +<p> + <i>Stunt</i>. A word recently introduced and now overworked, meaning a + task, or performance in one's trade, or calling,—doubtless a variant + of stint, without that word's suggestion of allotment and limitation. + It is still in the reptilian stage of evolution. +</p> +<p> + <i>Subsequent</i> for <i>Later</i>, or <i>Succeeding</i>. Legitimate enough, but ugly + and needless. "He was subsequently hanged." Say, afterward. +</p> +<p> + <i>Substantiate</i> for <i>Prove</i>. Why? +</p> +<p> + <i>Success</i>. "The project was a success." Say, was successful. Success + should not have the indefinite article. +</p> +<p> + <i>Such Another</i> for <i>Another Such</i>. There is illustrious authority for + this—in poetry. Poets are a lawless folk, and may do as they please + so long as they do please. +</p> +<p> + <i>Such</i> for <i>So</i>. "He had such weak legs that he could not stand." The + absurdity of this is made obvious by changing the form of the + statement: "His legs were such weak that he could not stand." If the + word is an adverb in the one sentence it is in the other. "He is such + a great bore that none can endure him." Say, so great a bore. +</p> +<p> + <i>Suicide</i>. This is never a verb. "He suicided." Say, He killed + himself, or He took his own life. See <i>Commit Suicide</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Supererogation</i>. To supererogate is to overpay, or to do more than + duty requires. But the excess must be in the line of duty; merely + needless and irrelevant action is not supererogation. The word is not + a natural one, at best. +</p> +<p> + <i>Sure</i> for <i>Surely</i>. "They will come, sure." Slang. +</p> +<p> + <i>Survive</i> for <i>Live</i>, or <i>Persist</i>. Survival is an outliving, or + outlasting of something else. "The custom survives" is wrong, but a + custom may survive its utility. Survive is a transitive verb. +</p> +<p> + <i>Sustain</i> for <i>Incur</i>. "He sustained an injury." "He sustained a + broken neck." That means that although his neck was broken he did not + yield to the mischance. +</p> +<p> + <i>Talented</i> for <i>Gifted</i>. These are both past participles, but there + was once the verb to gift, whereas there was never the verb "to + talent." If Nature did not talent a person the person is not talented. +</p> +<p> + <i>Tantamount</i> for <i>Equivalent</i>. "Apology is tantamount to confession." + Let this ugly word alone; it is not only illegitimate, but ludicrously + suggests catamount. +</p> +<p> + <i>Tasty</i> for <i>Tasteful</i>. Vulgar. +</p> +<p> + <i>Tear Down</i> for <i>Pull Down</i>. "The house was torn down." This is an + indigenous solecism; they do not say so in England. +</p> +<p> + <i>Than Whom</i>. See <i>Whom</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>The</i>. A little word that is terribly overworked. It is needlessly + affixed to names of most diseases: "the cholera," "the smallpox," "the + scarlet fever," and such. Some escape it: we do not say, "the + sciatica," nor "the locomotor ataxia." It is too common in general + propositions, as, "The payment of interest is the payment of debt." + "The virtues that are automatic are the best." "The tendency to + falsehood should be checked." "Kings are not under the control of the + law." It is impossible to note here all forms of this misuse, but a + page of almost any book will supply abundant instance. We do not + suffer so abject slavery to the definite article as the French, but + neither do we manifest their spirit of rebellion by sometimes cutting + off the oppressor's tail. One envies the Romans, who had no article, + definite or indefinite. +</p> +<p> + <i>The Following</i>. "Washington wrote the following." The following what? + Put in the noun. "The following animals are ruminants." It is not the + animals that follow, but their names. +</p> +<p> + <i>The Same</i>. "They cooked the flesh of the lion and ate the same." "An + old man lived in a cave, and the same was a cripple." In humorous + composition this may do, though it is not funny; but in serious work + use the regular pronoun. +</p> +<p> + <i>Then</i> as an Adjective. "The then governor of the colony." Say, the + governor of the colony at that time. +</p> +<p> + <i>Those Kind</i> for <i>That Kind</i>. "Those kind of things." Almost too + absurd for condemnation, and happily not very common out of the class + of analphabets. +</p> +<p> + <i>Though</i> for <i>If</i>. "She wept as though her heart was broken." Many + good writers, even some devoid of the lexicographers' passion for + inclusion and approval, have specifically defended this locution, + backing their example by their precept. Perhaps it is a question of + taste; let us attend their cry and pass on. +</p> +<p> + <i>Thrifty</i> for <i>Thriving</i>. "A thrifty village." To thrive is an end; + thrift is a means to that end. +</p> +<p> + <i>Through</i> for <i>Done</i>. "The lecturer is through talking." "I am through + with it." Say, I have done with it. +</p> +<p> + <i>To</i>. As part of an infinitive it should not be separated from the + other part by an adverb, as, "to hastily think," for hastily to think, + or, to think hastily. Condemnation of the split infinitive is now + pretty general, but it is only recently that any one seems to have + thought of it. Our forefathers and we elder writers of this generation + used it freely and without shame—perhaps because it had not a name, + and our crime could not be pointed out without too much explanation. +</p> +<p> + <i>To</i> for <i>At</i>. "We have been to church," "I was to the theater." One + can go to a place, but one cannot be to it. +</p> +<p> + <i>Total</i>. "The figures totaled 10,000." Say, The total of the figures + was 10,000. +</p> +<p> + <i>Transaction</i> for <i>Action</i>, or <i>Incident</i>. "The policeman struck the + man with his club, but the transaction was not reported." "The picking + of a pocket is a criminal transaction." In a transaction two or more + persons must have an active or assenting part; as, a business + transaction, Transactions of the Geographical Society, etc. The + Society's action would be better called Proceedings. +</p> +<p> + <i>Transpire</i> for <i>Occur</i>, <i>Happen</i>, etc. "This event transpired in + 1906." Transpire (<i>trans</i>, through, and <i>spirare</i>, to breathe) means + leak out, that is, become known. What transpired in 1906 may have + occurred long before. +</p> +<p> + <i>Trifling</i> for <i>Trivial</i>. "A trifling defect"; "a trifling error." +</p> +<p> + <i>Trust</i> for <i>Wealthy Corporation</i>. There are few trusts; capitalists + have mostly abandoned the trust form of combination. +</p> +<p> + <i>Try an Experiment</i>. An experiment is a trial; we cannot try a trial. + Say, make. +</p> +<p> + <i>Try and</i> for <i>Try to</i>. "I will try and see him." This plainly says + that my effort to see him will succeed—which I cannot know and do not + wish to affirm. "Please try and come." This colloquial slovenliness of + speech is almost universal in this country, but freedom of speech is + one of our most precious possessions. +</p> +<p> + <i>Ugly</i> for <i>Ill-natured</i>, <i>Quarrelsome</i>. What is ugly is the temper, + or disposition, not the person having it. +</p> +<p> + <i>Under-handed</i> and <i>Under-handedly</i> for <i>Under-hand.</i> See + <i>Off-handed.</i> +</p> +<p> + <i>Unique</i>. "This is very unique." "The most unique house in the city." + There are no degrees of uniqueness: a thing is unique if there is not + another like it. The word has nothing to do with oddity, strangeness, + nor picturesqueness. +</p> +<p> + <i>United States</i> as a Singular Noun. "The United States is for peace." + The fact that we are in some ways one nation has nothing to do with + it; it is enough to know that the word States is plural—if not, what + is State? It would be pretty hard on a foreigner skilled in the + English tongue if he could not venture to use our national name + without having made a study of the history of our Constitution and + political institutions. Grammar has not a speaking acquaintance with + politics, and patriotic pride is not schoolmaster to syntax. +</p> +<p> + <i>Unkempt</i> for <i>Disordered</i>, <i>Untidy</i>, etc. Unkempt means uncombed, and + can properly be said of nothing but the hair. +</p> +<p> + <i>Use</i> for <i>Treat</i>. "The inmates were badly used." "They use him + harshly." +</p> +<p> + <i>Utter</i> for <i>Absolute</i>, <i>Entire</i>, etc. Utter has a damnatory + signification and is to be used of evil things only. It is correct to + say utter misery, but not "utter happiness;" utterly bad, but not + "utterly good." +</p> +<p> + <i>Various</i> for <i>Several</i>. "Various kinds of men." Kinds are various of + course, for they vary—that is what makes them kinds. Use various only + when, in speaking of a number of things, you wish to direct attention + to their variety—their difference, one from another. "The dividend + was distributed among the various stockholders." The stockholders + vary, as do all persons, but that is irrelevant and was not in mind. + "Various persons have spoken to me of you." Their variation is + unimportant; what is meant is that there was a small indefinite number + of them; that is, several. +</p> +<p> + <i>Ventilate</i> for <i>Express, Disclose</i>, etc. "The statesman ventilated + his views." A disagreeable and dog-eared figure of speech. +</p> +<p> + <i>Verbal</i> for <i>Oral</i>. All language is verbal, whether spoken or + written, but audible speech is oral. "He did not write, but + communicated his wishes verbally." It would have been a verbal + communication, also, if written. +</p> +<p> + <i>Vest</i> for <i>Waistcoat</i>. This is American, but as all Americans are not + in agreement about it it is better to use the English word. +</p> +<p> + <i>Vicinity</i> for <i>Vicinage</i>, or <i>Neighborhood</i>. "He lives in this + vicinity." If neither of the other words is desired say, He lives in + the vicinity of this place, or, better, He lives near by. +</p> +<p> + <i>View of</i>. "He invested with the view of immediate profit." "He + enlisted with the view of promotion." Say, with a view to. +</p> +<p> + <i>Vulgar</i> for <i>Immodest</i>, <i>Indecent</i>. It is from <i>vulgus</i>, the common + people, the mob, and means both common and unrefined, but has no + relation to indecency. +</p> +<p> + <i>Way</i> for <i>Away</i>. "Way out at sea." "Way down South." +</p> +<p> + <i>Ways</i> for <i>Way</i>. "A squirrel ran a little ways along the road." "The + ship looked a long ways off." This surprising word calls loudly for + depluralization. +</p> +<p> + <i>Wed</i> for <i>Wedded</i>. "They were wed at noon." "He wed her in Boston." + The word wed in all its forms as a substitute for marry, is pretty + hard to bear. +</p> +<p> + <i>Well</i>. As a mere meaningless prelude to a sentence this word is + overtasked. "Well, I don't know about that." "Well, you may try." + "Well, have your own way." +</p> +<p> + <i>Wet</i> for <i>Wetted</i>. See <i>Bet</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Where</i> for <i>When</i>. "Where there is reason to expect criticism write + discreetly." +</p> +<p> + <i>Which</i> for <i>That</i>. "The boat which I engaged had a hole in it." But a + parenthetical clause may rightly be introduced by which; as, The boat, + which had a hole in it, I nevertheless engaged. Which and that are + seldom interchangeable; when they are, use that. It sounds better. +</p> +<p> + <i>Whip</i> for <i>Chastise</i>, or <i>Defeat</i>. To whip is to beat with a whip. It + means nothing else. +</p> +<p> + <i>Whiskers</i> for <i>Beard</i>. The whisker is that part of the beard that + grows on the cheek. See <i>Chin Whiskers</i>. +</p> +<p> + <i>Who</i> for <i>Whom</i>. "Who do you take me for?" +</p> +<p> + <i>Whom</i> for <i>Who</i>. "The man whom they thought was dead is living." Here + the needless introduction of was entails the alteration of whom to + who. "Remember whom it is that you speak of." "George Washington, than + whom there was no greater man, loved a jest." The misuse of whom after + than is almost universal. Who and whom trip up many a good writer, + although, unlike which and who, they require nothing but knowledge of + grammar. +</p> +<p> + <i>Widow Woman</i>. Omit woman. +</p> +<p> + <i>Will</i> and <i>Shall</i>. Proficiency in the use of these apparently + troublesome words must be sought in text-books on grammar and + rhetoric, where the subject will be found treated with a more + particular attention, and at greater length, than is possible in a + book of the character of this. Briefly and generally, in the first + person, a mere intention is indicated by shall, as, I shall go; + whereas will denotes some degree of compliance or determination, as, I + will go—as if my going had been requested or forbidden. In the second + and the third person, will merely forecasts, as, You (or he) will go; + but shall implies something of promise, permission or compulsion by + the speaker, as, You (or he) shall go. Another and less obvious + compulsion—that of circumstance—speaks in shall, as sometimes used + with good effect: In Germany you shall not turn over a chip without + uncovering a philosopher. The sentence is barely more than indicative, + shall being almost, but not quite, equivalent to can. +</p> +<p> + <i>Win out</i>. Like its antithesis, "lose out," this reasonless phrase is + of sport, "sporty." +</p> +<p> + <i>Win</i> for <i>Won</i>. "I went to the race and win ten dollars." This + atrocious solecism seems to be unknown outside the world of sport, + where may it ever remain. +</p> +<p> + <i>Without</i> for <i>Unless</i>. "I cannot go without I recover." Peasantese. +</p> +<p> + <i>Witness</i> for <i>See</i>. To witness is more than merely to see, or + observe; it is to observe, and to tell afterward. +</p> +<p> + <i>Would-be</i>. "The would-be assassin was arrested." The word doubtless + supplies a want, but we can better endure the want than the word. In + the instance of the assassin, it is needless, for he who attempts to + murder is an assassin, whether he succeeds or not. +</p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Write It Right, by Ambrose Bierce + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WRITE IT RIGHT *** + +***** This file should be named 12474-h.htm or 12474-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/4/7/12474/ + +Produced by Clare Boothby, Ben Harris and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Write It Right + A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults + +Author: Ambrose Bierce + +Release Date: May 29, 2004 [EBook #12474] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WRITE IT RIGHT *** + + + + +Produced by Clare Boothby, Ben Harris and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +WRITE IT RIGHT + +_A LITTLE BLACKLIST OF LITERARY FAULTS_ + +BY AMBROSE BIERCE + +1909 + + + + +AIMS AND THE PLAN + +The author's main purpose in this book is to teach precision in +writing; and of good writing (which, essentially, is clear thinking +made visible) precision is the point of capital concern. It is +attained by choice of the word that accurately and adequately +expresses what the writer has in mind, and by exclusion of that which +either denotes or connotes something else. As Quintilian puts it, the +writer should so write that his reader not only may, but must, +understand. + +Few words have more than one literal and serviceable meaning, however +many metaphorical, derivative, related, or even unrelated, meanings +lexicographers may think it worth while to gather from all sorts and +conditions of men, with which to bloat their absurd and misleading +dictionaries. This actual and serviceable meaning--not always +determined by derivation, and seldom by popular usage--is the one +affirmed, according to his light, by the author of this little manual +of solecisms. Narrow etymons of the mere scholar and loose locutions +of the ignorant are alike denied a standing. + +The plan of the book is more illustrative than expository, the aim +being to use the terms of etymology and syntax as little as is +compatible with clarity, familiar example being more easily +apprehended than technical precept. When both are employed the precept +is commonly given after the example has prepared the student to apply +it, not only to the matter in mind, but to similar matters not +mentioned. Everything in quotation marks is to be understood as +disapproved. + +Not all locutions blacklisted herein are always to be reprobated +as universal outlaws. Excepting in the case of capital +offenders--expressions ancestrally vulgar or irreclaimably +degenerate--absolute proscription is possible as to serious +composition only; in other forms the writer must rely on his sense of +values and the fitness of things. While it is true that some +colloquialisms and, with less of license, even some slang, may be +sparingly employed in light literature, for point, piquancy or any of +the purposes of the skilled writer sensible to the necessity and charm +of keeping at least one foot on the ground, to others the virtue of +restraint may be commended as distinctly superior to the joy of +indulgence. + +Precision is much, but not all; some words and phrases are disallowed +on the ground of taste. As there are neither standards nor arbiters of +taste, the book can do little more than reflect that of its author, +who is far indeed from professing impeccability. In neither taste nor +precision is any man's practice a court of last appeal, for writers +all, both great and small, are habitual sinners against the light; and +their accuser is cheerfully aware that his own work will supply (as in +making this book it has supplied) many "awful examples"--his later +work less abundantly, he hopes, than his earlier. He nevertheless +believes that this does not disqualify him for showing by other +instances than his own how not to write. The infallible teacher is +still in the forest primeval, throwing seeds to the white blackbirds. + +A.B. + + + + +THE BLACKLIST + +_A_ for _An_. "A hotel." "A heroic man." Before an unaccented aspirate +use an. The contrary usage in this country comes of too strongly +stressing our aspirates. + +_Action_ for _Act_. "In wrestling, a blow is a reprehensible action." +A blow is not an action but an act. An action may consist of many +acts. + +_Admission_ for _Admittance_. "The price of admission is one dollar." + +_Admit_ for _Confess_. To admit is to concede something affirmed. An +unaccused offender cannot admit his guilt. + +_Adopt_. "He adopted a disguise." One may adopt a child, or an +opinion, but a disguise is assumed. + +_Advisedly_ for _Advertently_, _Intentionally_. "It was done +advisedly" should mean that it was done after advice. + +_Afford_. It is not well to say "the fact affords a reasonable +presumption"; "the house afforded ample accommodation." The fact +supplies a reasonable presumption. The house offered, or gave, ample +accommodation. + +_Afraid_. Do not say, "I am afraid it will rain." Say, I fear that it +will rain. + +_Afterwards_ for _Afterward_. + +_Aggravate_ for _Irritate_. "He aggravated me by his insolence." To +aggravate is to augment the disagreeableness of something already +disagreeable, or the badness of something bad. But a person cannot be +aggravated, even if disagreeable or bad. Women are singularly prone to +misuse of this word. + +_All of_. "He gave all of his property." The words are contradictory: +an entire thing cannot be of itself. Omit the preposition. + +_Alleged_. "The alleged murderer." One can allege a murder, but not a +murderer; a crime, but not a criminal. A man that is merely suspected +of crime would not, in any case, be an alleged criminal, for an +allegation is a definite and positive statement. In their tiresome +addiction to this use of alleged, the newspapers, though having mainly +in mind the danger of libel suits, can urge in further justification +the lack of any other single word that exactly expresses their +meaning; but the fact that a mud-puddle supplies the shortest route is +not a compelling reason for walking through it. One can go around. + +_Allow_ for _Permit_. "I allow you to go." Precision is better +attained by saying permit, for allow has other meanings. + +_Allude to_ for _Mention_. What is alluded to is not mentioned, but +referred to indirectly. Originally, the word implied a playful, or +sportive, reference. That meaning is gone out of it. + +_And so_. _And yet_. "And so they were married." "And yet a woman." +Omit the conjunction. + +_And which_. _And who_. These forms are incorrect unless the relative +pronoun has been used previously in the sentence. "The colt, spirited +and strong, and which was unbroken, escaped from the pasture." "John +Smith, one of our leading merchants, and who fell from a window +yesterday, died this morning." Omit the conjunction. + +_Antecedents_ for _Personal History_. Antecedents are predecessors. + +_Anticipate_ for _Expect_. "I anticipate trouble." To anticipate is to +act on an expectation in a way to promote or forestall the event +expected. + +_Anxious_ for _Eager_. "I was anxious to go." Anxious should not be +followed by an infinitive. Anxiety is contemplative; eagerness, alert +for action. + +_Appreciate_ for _Highly Value_. In the sense of value, it means value +justly, not highly. In another and preferable sense it means to +increase in value. + +_Approach_. "The juror was approached"; that is, overtures were made +to him with a view to bribing him. As there is no other single word +for it, approach is made to serve, figuratively; and being graphic, it +is not altogether objectionable. + +_Appropriated_ for _Took_. "He appropriated his neighbor's horse to +his own use." To appropriate is to set apart, as a sum of money, for a +special purpose. + +_Approve of_ for _Approve_. There is no sense in making approve an +intransitive verb. + +_Apt_ for _Likely_. "One is apt to be mistaken." Apt means facile, +felicitous, ready, and the like; but even the dictionary-makers cannot +persuade a person of discriminating taste to accept it as synonymous +with likely. + +_Around_ for _About_. "The debris of battle lay around them." "The +huckster went around, crying his wares." Around carries the concept of +circularity. + +_Article_. A good and useful word, but used without meaning by +shopkeepers; as, "A good article of vinegar," for a good vinegar. + +_As_ for _That_, or _If_. "I do not know as he is living." This error +is not very common among those who can write at all, but one sometimes +sees it in high place. + +_As--as_ for _So--as_. "He is not as good as she." Say, not so good. +In affirmative sentences the rule is different: He is as good as she. + +_As for_ for _As to_. "As for me, I am well." Say, as to me. + +_At Auction_ for _by Auction_. "The goods were sold at auction." + +_At_ for _By_. "She was shocked at his conduct." This very common +solecism is without excuse. + +_Attain_ for _Accomplish_. "By diligence we attain our purpose." A +purpose is accomplished; success is attained. + +_Authoress_. A needless word--as needless as "poetess." + +_Avocation_ for _Vocation_. A vocation is, literally, a calling; that +is, a trade or profession. An avocation is something that calls one +away from it. If I say that farming is some one's avocation I mean +that he practises it, not regularly, but at odd times. + +_Avoid_ for _Avert_. "By displaying a light the skipper avoided a +collision." To avoid is to shun; the skipper could have avoided a +collision only by getting out of the way. + +_Avoirdupois_ for _Weight_. Mere slang. + +_Back of_ for _Behind_, _At the Back of_. "Back of law is force." + +_Backwards_ for _Backward_. + +_Badly_ for _Bad_. "I feel badly." "He looks badly." The former +sentence implies defective nerves of sensation, the latter, imperfect +vision. Use the adjective. + +_Balance_ for _Remainder_. "The balance of my time is given to +recreation." In this sense balance is a commercial word, and relates +to accounting. + +_Banquet_. A good enough word in its place, but its place is the +dictionary. Say, dinner. + +_Bar_ for _Bend_. "Bar sinister." There is no such thing in heraldry +as a bar sinister. + +_Because_ for _For_. "I knew it was night, because it was dark." "He +will not go, because he is ill." + +_Bet_ for _Betted_. The verb to bet forms its preterite regularly, as +do wet, wed, knit, quit and others that are commonly misconjugated. It +seems that we clip our short words more than we do our long. + +_Body_ for _Trunk_. "The body lay here, the head there." The body is +the entire physical person (as distinguished from the soul, or mind) +and the head is a part of it. As distinguished from head, trunk may +include the limbs, but anatomically it is the torso only. + +_Bogus_ for _Counterfeit_, or _False_. The word is slang; keep it out. + +_Both_. This word is frequently misplaced; as, "A large mob, both of +men and women." Say, of both men and women. + +_Both alike_. "They are both alike." Say, they are alike. One of them +could not be alike. + +_Brainy_. Pure slang, and singularly disagreeable. + +_Bug_ for _Beetle_, or for anything. Do not use it. + +_Business_ for _Right_. "He has no business to go there." + +_Build_ for _Make_. "Build a fire." "Build a canal." Even "build a +tunnel" is not unknown, and probably if the wood-chuck is skilled in +the American tongue he speaks of building a hole. + +_But_. By many writers this word (in the sense of except) is regarded +as a preposition, to be followed by the objective case: "All went but +him." It is not a preposition and may take either the nominative or +objective case, to agree with the subject or the object of the verb. +All went but he. The natives killed all but him. + +_But what_. "I did not know but what he was an enemy." Omit what. If +condemnation of this dreadful locution seem needless bear the matter +in mind in your reading and you will soon be of a different opinion. + +_By_ for _Of_. "A man by the name of Brown." Say, of the name. Better +than either form is: a man named Brown. + +_Calculated_ for _Likely_. "The bad weather is calculated to produce +sickness." Calculated implies calculation, design. + +_Can_ for _May_. "Can I go fishing?" "He can call on me if he wishes +to." + +_Candidate_ for _Aspirant_. In American politics, one is not a +candidate for an office until formally named (nominated) for it by a +convention, or otherwise, as provided by law or custom. So when a man +who is moving Heaven and Earth to procure the nomination protests that +he is "not a candidate" he tells the truth in order to deceive. + +_Cannot_ for _Can_. "I cannot but go." Say, I can but go. + +_Capable_. "Men are capable of being flattered." Say, susceptible to +flattery. "Capable of being refuted." Vulnerable to refutation. Unlike +capacity, capability is not passive, but active. We are capable of +doing, not of having something done to us. + +_Capacity_ for _Ability_. "A great capacity for work." Capacity is +receptive; ability, potential. A sponge has capacity for water; the +hand, ability to squeeze it out. + +_Casket_ for _Coffin_. A needless euphemism affected by undertakers. + +_Casualties_ for _Losses_ in Battle. The essence of casualty is +accident, absence of design. Death and wounds in battle are produced +otherwise, are expectable and expected, and, by the enemy, +intentional. + +_Chance_ for _Opportunity_. "He had a good chance to succeed." + +_Chin Whiskers_. The whisker grows on the cheek, not the chin. + +_Chivalrous_. The word is popularly used in the Southern States only, +and commonly has reference to men's manner toward women. Archaic, +stilted and fantastic. + +_Citizen_ for _Civilian_. A soldier may be a citizen, but is not a +civilian. + +_Claim_ for _Affirm_. "I claim that he is elected." To claim is to +assert ownership. + +_Clever_ for _Obliging_. In this sense the word was once in general +use in the United States, but is now seldom heard and life here is +less insupportable. + +_Climb down_. In climbing one ascends. + +_Coat_ for _Coating_. "A coat of paint, or varnish." If we coat +something we produce a coating, not a coat. + +_Collateral Descendant_. There can be none: a "collateral descendant" +is not a descendant. + +_Colonel_, _Judge_, _Governor_, etc., for _Mister_. Give a man a title +only if it belongs to him, and only while it belongs to him. + +_Combine_ for _Combination_. The word, in this sense, has something of +the meaning of conspiracy, but there is no justification for it as a +noun, in any sense. + +_Commence_ for _Begin_. This is not actually incorrect, but--well, it +is a matter of taste. + +_Commencement_ for _Termination_. A contribution to our noble tongue +by its scholastic conservators, "commencement day" being their name +for the last day of the collegiate year. It is ingeniously defended on +the ground that on that day those on whom degrees are bestowed +commence to hold them. Lovely! + +_Commit Suicide_. Instead of "He committed suicide," say, He killed +himself, or, He took his life. For married we do not say "committed +matrimony." Unfortunately most of us do say, "got married," which is +almost as bad. For lack of a suitable verb we just sometimes say +committed this or that, as in the instance of bigamy, for the verb to +bigam is a blessing that is still in store for us. + +_Compare with_ for _Compare to_. "He had the immodesty to compare +himself with Shakespeare." Nothing necessarily immodest in that. +Comparison with may be for observing a difference; comparison to +affirms a similarity. + +_Complected_. Anticipatory past participle of the verb "to complect." +Let us wait for that. + +_Conclude_ for _Decide_. "I concluded to go to town." Having concluded +a course of reasoning (implied) I decided to go to town. A decision is +supposed to be made at the conclusion of a course of reasoning, but is +not the conclusion itself. Conversely, the conclusion of a syllogism +is not a decision, but an inference. + +_Connection_. "In this connection I should like to say a word or two." +In connection with this matter. + +_Conscious_ for _Aware_. "The King was conscious of the conspiracy." +We are conscious of what we feel; aware of what we know. + +_Consent_ for _Assent_. "He consented to that opinion." To consent is +to agree to a proposal; to assent is to agree with a proposition. + +_Conservative_ for _Moderate_. "A conservative estimate"; "a +conservative forecast"; "a conservative statement," and so on. These +and many other abuses of the word are of recent growth in the +newspapers and "halls of legislation." Having been found to have +several meanings, conservative seems to be thought to mean everything. + +_Continually_ and _Continuously_. It seems that these words should +have the same meaning, but in their use by good writers there is a +difference. What is done continually is not done all the time, but +continuous action is without interruption. A loquacious fellow, who +nevertheless finds time to eat and sleep, is continually talking; but +a great river flows continuously. + +_Convoy_ for _Escort_. "A man-of-war acted as convoy to the flotilla." +The flotilla is the convoy, the man-of-war the escort. + +_Couple_ for _Two_. For two things to be a couple they must be of one +general kind, and their number unimportant to the statement made of +them. It would be weak to say, "He gave me only one, although he took +a couple for himself." Couple expresses indifference to the exact +number, as does several. That is true, even in the phrase, a married +couple, for the number is carried in the adjective and needs no +emphasis. + +_Created_ for _First Performed_. Stage slang. "Burbage created the +part of Hamlet." What was it that its author did to it? + +_Critically_ for _Seriously_. "He has long been critically ill." A +patient is critically ill only at the crisis of his disease. + +_Criticise_ for _Condemn_, or _Disparage_. Criticism is not +necessarily censorious; it may approve. + +_Cunning_ for _Amusing_. Usually said of a child, or pet. This is pure +Americanese, as is its synonym, "cute." + +_Curious_ for _Odd_, or _Singular_. To be curious is to have an +inquiring mind, or mood--curiosity. + +_Custom_ for _Habit_. Communities have customs; individuals, +habits--commonly bad ones. + +_Decease_ for _Die_. + +_Decidedly_ for _Very_, or _Certainly_. "It is decidedly cold." + +_Declared_ for _Said_. To a newspaper reporter no one seems ever to +say anything; all "declare." Like "alleged" (which see) the word is +tiresome exceedingly. + +_Defalcation_ for _Default_. A defalcation is a cutting off, a +subtraction; a default is a failure in duty. + +_Definitely_ for _Definitively_. "It was definitely decided." +Definitely means precisely, with exactness; definitively means +finally, conclusively. + +_Deliver_. "He delivered an oration," or "delivered a lecture." Say, +He made an oration, or gave a lecture. + +_Demean_ for _Debase_ or _Degrade_. "He demeaned himself by accepting +charity." The word relates, not to meanness, but to demeanor, conduct, +behavior. One may demean oneself with dignity and credit. + +_Demise_ for _Death_. Usually said of a person of note. Demise means +the lapse, as by death, of some authority, distinction or privilege, +which passes to another than the one that held it; as the demise of +the Crown. + +_Democracy_ for _Democratic Party_. One could as properly call the +Christian Church "the Christianity." + +_Depot_ for _Station_. "Railroad depot." A depot is a place of +deposit; as, a depot of supply for an army. + +_Deprivation_ for _Privation_. "The mendicant showed the effects of +deprivation." Deprivation refers to the act of depriving, taking away +from; privation is the state of destitution, of not having. + +_Dilapidated_ for _Ruined_. Said of a building, or other structure. +But the word is from the Latin _lapis_, a stone, and cannot properly +be used of any but a stone structure. + +_Directly_ for _Immediately_. "I will come directly" means that I will +come by the most direct route. + +_Dirt_ for _Earth_, _Soil_, or _Gravel_. A most disagreeable +Americanism, discredited by general (and Presidential) use. "Make the +dirt fly." Dirt means filth. + +_Distinctly_ for _Distinctively_. "The custom is distinctly Oriental." +Distinctly is plainly; distinctively, in a way to distinguish one +thing from others. + +_Donate_ for _Give_. Good American, but not good English. + +_Doubtlessly_. A doubly adverbial form, like "illy." + +_Dress_ for _Gown_. Not so common as it was a few years ago. Dress +means the entire costume. + +_Each Other_ for _One Another_. "The three looked at each other." That +is, each looked at the other. But there were more than one other; so +we should say they looked at one another, which means that each looked +at another. Of two, say each other; of more than two, one another. + +_Edify_ for _Please_, or _Entertain_. Edify means to build; it has, +therefore, the sense of uplift, improvement--usually moral, or +spiritual. + +_Electrocution_. To one having even an elementary knowledge of Latin +grammar this word is no less than disgusting, and the thing meant by +it is felt to be altogether too good for the word's inventor. + +_Empty_ for _Vacant_. Say, an empty bottle; but, a vacant house. + +_Employe_. Good French, but bad English. Say, employee. + +_Endorse_ for _Approve_. To endorse is to write upon the back of, or +to sign the promissory note of another. It is a commercial word, +having insufficient dignity for literary use. You may endorse a check, +but you approve a policy, or statement. + +_Endways_. A corruption of endwise. + +_Entitled_ for _Authorized_, _Privileged._ "The man is not entitled to +draw rations." Say, entitled to rations. Entitled is not to be +followed by an infinitive. + +_Episode_ for _Occurrence_, _Event_, etc. Properly, an episode is a +narrative that is a subordinate part of another narrative. An +occurrence considered by itself is not an episode. + +_Equally as_ for _Equally_. "This is equally as good." Omit as. "He +was of the same age, and equally as tall." Say, equally tall. + +_Equivalent_ for _Equal_. "My salary is equivalent to yours." + +_Essential_ for _Necessary_. This solecism is common among the best +writers of this country and England. "It is essential to go early"; +"Irrigation is essential to cultivation of arid lands," and so forth. +One thing is essential to another thing only if it is of the essence +of it--an important and indispensable part of it, determining its +nature; the soul of it. + +_Even_ for _Exact_. "An even dozen." + +_Every_ for _Entire_, _Full_. "The president had every confidence in +him." + +_Every_ for _Ever_. "Every now and then." This is nonsense: there can +be no such thing as a now and then, nor, of course, a number of now +and thens. Now and then is itself bad enough, reversing as it does the +sequence of things, but it is idiomatic and there is no quarreling +with it. But "every" is here a corruption of ever, meaning repeatedly, +continually. + +_Ex_. "Ex-President," "an ex-convict," and the like. Say, former. In +England one may say, Mr. Roosevelt, sometime President; though the +usage is a trifle archaic. + +_Example_ for _Problem_. A heritage from the text-books. "An example +in arithmetic." An equally bad word for the same thing is "sum": "Do +the sum," for Solve the problem. + +_Excessively_ for _Exceedingly_. "The disease is excessively painful." +"The weather is excessively cold." Anything that is painful at all is +excessively so. Even a slight degree or small amount of what is +disagreeable or injurious is excessive--that is to say, redundant, +superfluous, not required. + +_Executed_. "The condemned man was executed." He was hanged, or +otherwise put to death; it is the sentence that is executed. + +_Executive_ for _Secret_. An executive session of a deliberative body +is a session for executive business, as distinguished from +legislative. It is commonly secret, but a secret session is not +necessarily executive. + +_Expect_ for _Believe_, or _Suppose_. "I expect he will go." Say, I +believe (suppose or think) he will go; or, I expect him to go. + +_Expectorate_ for _Spit_. The former word is frequently used, even in +laws and ordinances, as a euphemism for the latter. It not only means +something entirely different, but to one with a Latin ear is far more +offensive. + +_Experience_ for _Suffer_, or _Undergo_. "The sinner experienced a +change of heart." This will do if said lightly or mockingly. It does +not indicate a serious frame of mind in the speaker. + +_Extend_ for _Proffer_. "He extended an invitation." One does not +always hold out an invitation in one's hand; it may be spoken or sent. + +_Fail_. "He failed to note the hour." That implies that he tried to +note it, but did not succeed. Failure carries always the sense of +endeavor; when there has been no endeavor there is no failure. A +falling stone cannot fail to strike you, for it does not try; but a +marksman firing at you may fail to hit you; and I hope he always will. + +_Favor_ for _Resemble_. "The child favors its father." + +_Feel of_ for _Feel_. "The doctor felt of the patient's head." "Smell +of" and "taste of" are incorrect too. + +_Feminine_ for _Female_. "A feminine member of the club." Feminine +refers, not to sex proper, but to gender, which may be defined as the +sex of words. The same is true of masculine. + +_Fetch_ for _Bring_. Fetching includes, not only bringing, but going +to get--going for and returning with. You may bring what you did not +go for. + +_Finances_ for _Wealth_, or _Pecuniary Resources_. + +_Financial_ for _Pecuniary_. "His financial reward"; "he is +financially responsible," and so forth. + +_Firstly_. If this word could mean anything it would mean firstlike, +whatever that might mean. The ordinal numbers should have no adverbial +form: "firstly," "secondly," and the rest are words without meaning. + +_Fix_. This is, in America, a word-of-all-work, most frequently +meaning repair, or prepare. Do not so use it. + +_Forebears_ for _Ancestors_. The word is sometimes spelled forbears, a +worse spelling than the other, but not much. If used at all it should +be spelled _forebeers_, for it means those who have _been_ before. A +forebe-er is one who fore-was. Considered in any way, it is a +senseless word. + +_Forecasted_. For this abominable word we are indebted to the weather +bureau--at least it was not sent upon us until that affliction was +with us. Let us hope that it may some day be losted from the language. + +_Former_ and _Latter_. Indicating the first and the second of things +previously named, these words are unobjectionable if not too far +removed from the names that they stand for. If they are they confuse, +for the reader has to look back to the names. Use them sparingly. + +_Funeral Obsequies_. Tautological. Say, obsequies; the word is now +used in none but a funereal sense. + +_Fully_ for _Definitively_, or _Finally_. "After many preliminary +examinations he was fully committed for trial." The adverb is +meaningless: a defendant is never partly committed for trial. This is +a solecism to which lawyers are addicted. And sometimes they have been +heard to say "fullied." + +_Funds_ for _Money_. "He was out of funds." Funds are not money in +general, but sums of money or credit available for particular +purposes. + +_Furnish_ for _Provide_, or _Supply_. "Taxation furnished the money." +A pauper may furnish a house if some one will provide the furniture, +or the money to buy it. "His flight furnishes a presumption of guilt." +It supplies it. + +_Generally_ for _Usually_. "The winds are generally high." "A fool is +generally vain." This misuse of the word appears to come of +abbreviating: Generally speaking, the weather is bad. A fool, to speak +generally, is vain. + +_Gent_ for _Gentleman_. Vulgar exceedingly. + +_Genteel_. This word, meaning polite, or well mannered, was once in +better repute than it is now, and its noun, gentility, is still not +infrequently found in the work of good writers. Genteel is most often +used by those who write, as the Scotchman of the anecdote joked--wi' +deeficulty. + +_Gentleman_. It is not possible to teach the correct use of this +overworked word: one must be bred to it. Everybody knows that it is +not synonymous with man, but among the "genteel" and those ambitious +to be thought "genteel" it is commonly so used in discourse too formal +for the word "gent." To use the word gentleman correctly, be one. + +_Genuine_ for _Authentic_, or _Veritable._ "A genuine document," "a +genuine surprise," and the like. + +_Given_. "The soldier was given a rifle." What was given is the rifle, +not the soldier. "The house was given a coat (coating) of paint." +Nothing can be "given" anything. + +_Goatee_. In this country goatee is frequently used for a tuft of +beard on the point of the chin--what is sometimes called "an +imperial," apparently because the late Emperor Napoleon III wore his +beard so. His Majesty the Goat is graciously pleased to wear his +beneath the chin. + +_Got Married_ for _Married_. If this is correct we should say, also, +"got dead" for died; one expression is as good as the other. + +_Gotten_ for _Got_. This has gone out of good use, though in such +compounded words as begotten and misbegotten it persists respectably. + +_Graduated_ for _Was Graduated_. + +_Gratuitous_ for _Unwarranted_. "A gratuitous assertion." Gratuitous +means without cost. + +_Grueling_. Used chiefly by newspaper reporters; as, "He was subjected +to a grueling cross-examination." "It was grueling weather." Probably +a corruption of grilling. + +_Gubernatorial_. Eschew it; it is not English, is needless and +bombastic. Leave it to those who call a political office a "chair." +"Gubernatorial chair" is good enough for them. So is hanging. + +_Had Better_ for _Would Better_. This is not defensible as an idiom, +as those who always used it before their attention was directed to it +take the trouble to point out. It comes of such contractions as he'd +for he would, I'd for I would. These clipped words are erroneously +restored as "he had," "I had." So we have such monstrosities as "He +had better beware," "I had better go." + +_Hail_ for _Come_. "He hails from Chicago." This is sea speech, and +comes from the custom of hailing passing ships. It will not do for +serious discourse. + +_Have Got_ for _Have_. "I have got a good horse" directs attention +rather to the act of getting than to the state of having, and +represents the capture as recently completed. + +_Head over Heels_. A transposition of words hardly less surprising +than (to the person most concerned) the mischance that it fails to +describe. What is meant is heels over head. + +_Healthy_ for _Wholesome_. "A healthy climate." "A healthy +occupation." Only a living thing can be healthy. + +_Helpmeet_ for _Helpmate_. In Genesis Adam's wife is called "an help +meet for him," that is, fit for him. The ridiculous word appears to +have had no other origin. + +_Hereafter_ for _Henceforth_. Hereafter means at some time in the +future; henceforth, always in the future. The penitent who promises to +be good hereafter commits himself to the performance of a single good +act, not to a course of good conduct. + +_Honeymoon_. Moon here means month, so it is incorrect to say, "a +week's honeymoon," or, "Their honeymoon lasted a year." + +_Horseflesh_ for _Horses_. A singularly senseless and disagreeable +word which, when used, as it commonly is, with reference to +hippophilism, savors rather more of the spit than of the spirit. + +_Humans_ as a Noun. We have no single word having the general yet +limited meaning that this is sometimes used to express--a meaning +corresponding to that of the word animals, as the word men would if it +included women and children. But there is time enough to use two +words. + +_Hung_ for _Hanged_. A bell, or a curtain, is hung, but a man is +hanged. Hung is the junior form of the participle, and is now used for +everything but man. Perhaps it is our reverence for the custom of +hanging men that sacredly preserves the elder form--as some, even, of +the most zealous American spelling reformers still respect the u in +Saviour. + +_Hurry_ for _Haste_ and _Hasten_. To hurry is to hasten in a more or +less disorderly manner. Hurry is misused, also, in another sense: +"There is no hurry"--meaning, There is no reason for haste. + +_Hurt_ for _Harm_. "It does no hurt." To be hurt is to feel pain, but +one may be harmed without knowing it. To spank a child, or flout a +fool, hurts without harming. + +_Idea_ for _Thought_, _Purpose_, _Expectation_, etc. "I had no idea +that it was so cold." "When he went abroad it was with no idea of +remaining." + +_Identified with_. "He is closely identified with the temperance +movement." Say, connected. + +_Ilk_ for _Kind_. "Men of that ilk." This Scotch word has a narrowly +limited and specific meaning. It relates to an ancestral estate having +the same name as the person spoken of. Macdonald of that ilk means, +Macdonald of Macdonald. The phrase quoted above is without meaning. + +_Illy_ for _Ill_. There is no such word as illy, for ill itself is an +adverb. + +_Imaginary Line_. The adjective is needless. Geometrically, every line +is imaginary; its graphic representation is a mark. True the +text-books say, draw a line, but in a mathematical sense the line +already exists; the drawing only makes its course visible. + +_In_ for _Into_. "He was put in jail." "He went in the house." A man +may be in jail, or be in a house, but when the act of entrance--the +movement of something from the outside to the inside of another +thing--is related the correct word is into if the latter thing is +named. + +_Inaugurate_ for _Begin_, _Establish_, etc. Inauguration implies some +degree of formality and ceremony. + +_Incumbent_ for _Obligatory_. "It was incumbent upon me to relieve +him." Infelicitous and work-worn. Say, It was my duty, or, if enamored +of that particular metaphor, It lay upon me. + +_Individual_. As a noun, this word means something that cannot be +considered as divided, a unit. But it is incorrect to call a man, +woman or child an individual, except with reference to mankind, to +society or to a class of persons. It will not do to say, "An +individual stood in the street," when no mention nor allusion has been +made, nor is going to be made, to some aggregate of individuals +considered as a whole. + +_Indorse_. See _Endorse_. + +_Insane Asylum_. Obviously an asylum cannot be unsound in mind. Say, +asylum for the insane. + +_In Spite of_. In most instances it is better to say despite. + +_Inside of_. Omit the preposition. + +_Insignificant_ for _Trivial_, or _Small_. Insignificant means not +signifying anything, and should be used only in contrast, expressed or +implied, with something that is important for what it implies. The +bear's tail may be insignificant to a naturalist tracing the animal's +descent from an earlier species, but to the rest of us, not concerned +with the matter, it is merely small. + +_Insoluble_ for _Unsolvable_. Use the former word for material +substances, the latter for problems. + +_Inst._, _Prox._, _Ult._ These abbreviations of _instante mense_ (in +the present month), _proximo mense_ (in the next month) and _ultimo +mense_ (in the last month), are serviceable enough in commercial +correspondence, but, like A.M., P.M. and many other contractions of +Latin words, could profitably be spared from literature. + +_Integrity_ for _Honesty_. The word means entireness, wholeness. It +may be rightly used to affirm possession of all the virtues, that is, +unity of moral character. + +_Involve_ for _Entail_. "Proof of the charges will involve his +dismissal." Not at all; it will entail it. To involve is, literally, +to infold, not to bring about, nor cause to ensue. An unofficial +investigation, for example, may involve character and reputation, but +the ultimate consequence is entailed. A question, in the parliamentary +sense, may involve a principle; its settlement one way or another may +entail expense, or injury to interests. An act may involve one's honor +and entail disgrace. + +_It_ for _So_. "Going into the lion's cage is dangerous; you should +not do it." Do so is the better expression, as a rule, for the word it +is a pronoun, meaning a thing, or object, and therefore incapable of +being done. Colloquially we may say do it, or do this, or do that, but +in serious written discourse greater precision is desirable, and is +better obtained, in most cases, by use of the adverb. + +_Item_ for _Brief Article_. Commonly used of a narrative in a +newspaper. Item connotes an aggregate of which it is a unit--one thing +of many. Hence it suggests more than we may wish to direct attention +to. + +_Jackies_ for _Sailors_. Vulgar, and especially offensive to seamen. + +_Jeopardize_ for _Imperil_, or _Endanger_. The correct word is +jeopard, but in any case there is no need for anything so farfetched +and stilted. + +_Juncture_. Juncture means a joining, a junction; its use to signify a +time, however critical a time, is absurd. "At this juncture the woman +screamed." In reading that account of it we scream too. + +_Just Exactly_. Nothing is gained in strength nor precision by this +kind of pleonasm. Omit just. + +_Juvenile_ for _Child_. This needless use of the adjective for the +noun is probably supposed to be humorous, like "canine" for dog, +"optic" for eye, "anatomy" for body, and the like. Happily the offense +is not very common. + +_Kind of a_ for _Kind of_. "He was that kind of a man." Say that kind +of man. Man here is generic, and a genus comprises many kinds. But +there cannot be more than one kind of one thing. _Kind of_ followed by +an adjective, as, "kind of good," is almost too gross for censure. + +_Landed Estate_ for _Property in Land_. Dreadful! + +_Last_ and _Past_. "Last week." "The past week." Neither is accurate: +a week cannot be the last if another is already begun; and all weeks +except this one are past. Here two wrongs seem to make a right: we can +say the week last past. But will we? I trow not. + +_Later on_. On is redundant; say, later. + +_Laundry_. Meaning a place where clothing is washed, this word cannot +mean, also, clothing sent there to be washed. + +_Lay_ (to place) for _Lie_ (to recline). "The ship lays on her side." +A more common error is made in the past tense, as, "He laid down on +the grass." The confusion comes of the identity of a present tense of +the transitive verb to lay and the past tense of the intransitive verb +to lie. + +_Leading Question_. A leading question is not necessarily an important +one; it is one that is so framed as to suggest, or lead to, the answer +desired. Few others than lawyers use the term correctly. + +_Lease_. To say of a man that he leases certain premises leaves it +doubtful whether he is lessor or lessee. Being ambiguous, the word +should be used with caution. + +_Leave_ for _Go away_. "He left yesterday." Leave is a transitive +verb; name the place of departure. + +_Leave_ for _Let_. "Leave it alone." By this many persons mean, not +that it is to be left in solitude, but that it is to be untouched, or +unmolested. + +_Lengthways_ for _Lengthwise_. + +_Lengthy_. Usually said in disparagement of some wearisome discourse. +It is no better than breadthy, or thicknessy. + +_Leniency_ for _Lenity_. The words are synonymous, but the latter is +the better. + +_Less_ for _Fewer_. "The regiment had less than five hundred men." +Less relates to quantity, fewer, to number. + +_Limited_ for _Small_, _Inadequate_, etc. "The army's operations were +confined to a limited area." "We had a limited supply of food." A +large area and an adequate supply would also be limited. Everything +that we know about is limited. + +_Liable_ for _Likely_. "Man is liable to err." Man is not liable to +err, but to error. Liable should be followed, not by an infinitive, +but by a preposition. + +_Like_ for _As_, or _As if_. "The matter is now like it was." "The +house looked like it would fall." + +_Likely_ for _Probably_. "He will likely be elected." If likely is +thought the better word (and in most cases it is) put it this way: "It +is likely that he will be elected," or, "He is likely to be elected." + +_Line_ for _Kind_, or _Class_. "This line of goods." Leave the word to +"salesladies" and "salesgentlemen." "That line of business." Say, that +business. + +_Literally_ for _Figuratively_. "The stream was literally alive with +fish." "His eloquence literally swept the audience from its feet." It +is bad enough to exaggerate, but to affirm the truth of the +exaggeration is intolerable. + +_Loan_ for _Lend_. "I loaned him ten dollars." We lend, but the act of +lending, or, less literally, the thing lent, is a loan. + +_Locate_. "After many removals the family located at Smithville." Some +dictionaries give locate as an intransitive verb having that meaning, +but--well, dictionaries are funny. + +_Lots_, or _a Lot_, for _Much_, or _Many_. "Lots of things." "A lot of +talk." + +_Love_ for _Like_. "I love to travel." "I love apples." Keep the +stronger word for a stronger feeling. + +_Lunch_ for _Luncheon_. But do not use luncheon as a verb. + +_Mad_ for _Angry_. An Americanism of lessening prevalence. It is +probable that anger is a kind of madness (insanity), but that is not +what the misusers of the word mad mean to affirm. + +_Maintain_ for _Contend_. "The senator maintained that the tariff was +iniquitous." He maintained it only if he proved it. + +_Majority_ for _Plurality_. Concerning votes cast in an election, a +majority is more than half the total; a plurality is the excess of one +candidate's votes over another's. Commonly the votes compared are +those for the successful candidate and those for his most nearly +successful competitor. + +_Make_ for _Earn_. "He makes fifty dollars a month by manual labor." + +_Mansion_ for _Dwelling_, or _House_. Usually mere hyperbole, a +lamentable fault of our national literature. Even our presidents, +before Roosevelt, called their dwelling the Executive Mansion. + +_Masculine_ for _Male_. See _Feminine_. + +_Mend_ for _Repair_. "They mended the road." To mend is to repair, but +to repair is not always to mend. A stocking is mended, a road +repaired. + +_Meet_ for _Meeting_. This belongs to the language of sport, which +persons of sense do not write--nor read. + +_Militate_. "Negligence militates against success." If "militate" +meant anything it would mean fight, but there is no such word. + +_Mind_ for _Obey_. This is a reasonless extension of one legitimate +meaning of mind, namely, to heed, to give attention. + +_Minus_ for _Lacking_, or _Without_. "After the battle he was minus an +ear." It is better in serious composition to avoid such alien words as +have vernacular equivalents. + +_Mistaken_ for _Mistake_. "You are mistaken." For whom? Say, You +mistake. + +_Monarch_ for _King, Emperor_, or _Sovereign_. Not only hyperbolical, +but inaccurate. There is not a monarch in Christendom. + +_Moneyed_ for _Wealthy_. "The moneyed men of New York." One might as +sensibly say, "The cattled men of Texas," or, "The lobstered men of +the fish market." + +_Most_ for _Almost_. "The apples are most all gone." "The returning +travelers were most home." + +_Moved_ for _Removed_. "The family has moved to another house." "The +Joneses were moving." + +_Mutual_. By this word we express a reciprocal relation. It implies +exchange, a giving and taking, not a mere possessing in common. There +can be a mutual affection, or a mutual hatred, but not a mutual +friend, nor a mutual horse. + +_Name_ for _Title and Name_. "His name was Mr. Smith." Surely no babe +was ever christened Mister. + +_Necessaries_ for _Means_. "Bread and meat are necessaries of life." +Not so; they are the mere means, for one can, and many do, live +comfortably without them. Food and drink are necessaries of life, but +particular kinds of food and drink are not. + +_Necessities_ for _Necessaries_. "Necessities of life are those things +without which we cannot live." + +_Nee_. Feminine of _ne_, born. "Mrs. Jones, _nee_ Lucy Smith." She +could hardly have been christened before her birth. If you must use +the French word say, _nee_ Smith. + +_Negotiate_. From the Latin _negotium_. It means, as all know, to fix +the terms for a transaction, to bargain. But when we say, "The driver +negotiated a difficult turn of the road," or, "The chauffeur +negotiated a hill," we speak nonsense. + +_Neither--or_ for _Neither--nor_. "Neither a cat or fish has wool." +Always after neither use nor. + +_New Beginner_ for _Beginner_. + +_Nice_ for _Good_, or _Agreeable_. "A nice girl." Nice means +fastidious, delicately discriminative, and the like. Pope uses the +word admirably of a dandy who was skilled in the nice conduct +[management] of a clouded cane. + +_Noise_ for _Sound_. "A noise like a flute"; "a noise of twittering +birds," etc. A noise is a loud or disagreeable sound, or combination +or succession of sounds. + +_None_. Usually, and in most cases, singular; as, None has come. But +it is not singular because it always means not one, for frequently it +does not, as, The bottle was full of milk, but none is left. When it +refers to numbers, not quantity, popular usage stubbornly insists that +it is plural, and at least one respectable authority says that as a +singular it is offensive. One is sorry to be offensive to a good man. + +_No Use_. "He tried to smile, but it was no use." Say, of no use, or, +less colloquially, in vain. + +_Novel_ for _Romance_. In a novel there is at least an apparent +attention to considerations of probability; it is a narrative of what +might occur. Romance flies with a free wing and owns no allegiance to +likelihood. Both are fiction, both works of imagination, but should +not be confounded. They are as distinct as beast and bird. + +_Numerous_ for _Many_. Rightly used, numerous relates to numbers, but +does not imply a great number. A correct use is seen in the term +numerous verse--verse consisting of poetic numbers; that is, +rhythmical feet. + +_Obnoxious_ for _Offensive_. Obnoxious means exposed to evil. A +soldier in battle is obnoxious to danger. + +_Occasion_ for _Induce_, or _Cause_. "His arrival occasioned a great +tumult." As a verb, the word is needless and unpleasing. + +_Occasional Poems_. These are not, as so many authors and compilers +seem to think, poems written at irregular and indefinite intervals, +but poems written for _occasions_, such as anniversaries, festivals, +celebrations and the like. + +_Of Any_ for _Of All_. "The greatest poet of any that we have had." + +_Offhanded_ and _Offhandedly_. Offhand is both adjective and adverb; +these are bastard forms. + +_On the Street_. A street comprises the roadway and the buildings at +each side. Say, in the street. He lives in Broadway. + +_One Another_ for _Each Other_. See _Each Other_. + +_Only_. "He only had one." Say, He had only one, or, better, one only. +The other sentence might be taken to mean that only he had one; that, +indeed, is what it distinctly says. The correct placing of only in a +sentence requires attention and skill. + +_Opine_ for _Think_. The word is not very respectably connected. + +_Opposite_ for _Contrary_. "I hold the opposite opinion." "The +opposite practice." + +_Or_ for _Nor_. Probably our most nearly universal solecism. "I cannot +see the sun or the moon." This means that I am unable to see one of +them, though I may see the other. By using nor, I affirm the +invisibility of both, which is what I wanted to do. If a man is not +white or black he may nevertheless be a Negro or a Caucasian; but if +he is not white nor black he belongs to some other race. See +_Neither_. + +_Ordinarily_ for _Usually_. Clumsy. + +_Ovation_. In ancient Rome an ovation was an inferior triumph accorded +to victors in minor wars or unimportant battle. Its character and +limitations, like those of the triumph, were strictly defined by law +and custom. An enthusiastic demonstration in honor of an American +civilian is nothing like that, and should not be called by its name. + +_Over_ for _About_, _In_, or _Concerning_. "Don't cry over spilt +milk." "He rejoiced over his acquittal." + +_Over_ for _More than_. "A sum of over ten thousand dollars." "Upward +of ten thousand dollars" is equally objectionable. + +_Over_ for _On_. "The policeman struck him over the head." If the blow +was over the head it did not hit him. + +_Over with_. "Let us have it over with." Omit with. A better +expression is, Let us get done with it. + +_Outside of_. Omit the preposition. + +_Pair_ for _Pairs_. If a word has a good plural use each form in its +place. + +_Pants_ for _Trousers_. Abbreviated from pantaloons, which are no +longer worn. Vulgar exceedingly. + +_Partially_ for _Partly_. A dictionary word, to swell the book. + +_Party_ for _Person_. "A party named Brown." The word, used in that +sense, has the excuse that it is a word. Otherwise it is no better +than "pants" and "gent." A person making an agreement, however, is a +party to that agreement. + +_Patron_ for _Customer_. + +_Pay_ for _Give_, _Make_, etc. "He pays attention." "She paid a visit +to Niagara." It is conceivable that one may owe attention or a visit +to another person, but one cannot be indebted to a place. + +_Pay_. "Laziness does not pay." "It does not pay to be uncivil." This +use of the word is grossly commercial. Say, Indolence is unprofitable. +There is no advantage in incivility. + +_Peek_ for _Peep_. Seldom heard in England, though common here. "I +peeked out through the curtain and saw him." That it is a variant of +peep is seen in the child's word peek-a-boo, equivalent to bo-peep. +Better use the senior word. + +_Peculiar_ for _Odd_, or _Unusual_. Also sometimes used to denote +distinction, or particularity. Properly a thing is peculiar only to +another thing, of which it is characteristic, nothing else having it; +as knowledge of the use of fire is peculiar to Man. + +_People_ for _Persons_. "Three people were killed." "Many people are +superstitious." People has retained its parity of meaning with the +Latin _populus_, whence it comes, and the word is not properly used +except to designate a population, or large fractions of it considered +in the mass. To speak of any stated or small number of persons as +people is incorrect. + +_Per_. "Five dollars _per_ day." "Three _per_ hundred." Say, three +dollars a day; three in a hundred. If you must use the Latin +preposition use the Latin noun too: _per diem; per centum_. + +_Perpetually_ for _Continually_. "The child is perpetually asking +questions." What is done perpetually is done continually and forever. + +_Phenomenal_ for _Extraordinary_, or _Surprising_. Everything that +occurs is phenomenal, for all that we know about is phenomena, +appearances. Of realities, noumena, we are ignorant. + +_Plead_ (pronounced "pled") for _Pleaded_. "He plead guilty." + +_Plenty_ for _Plentiful_. "Fish and fowl were plenty." + +_Poetess_. A foolish word, like "authoress." + +_Poetry_ for _Verse_. Not all verse is poetry; not all poetry is +verse. Few persons can know, or hope to know, the one from the other, +but he who has the humility to doubt (if such a one there be) should +say verse if the composition is metrical. + +_Point Blank_. "He fired at him point blank." This usually is intended +to mean directly, or at short range. But point blank means the point +at which the line of sight is crossed downward by the trajectory--the +curve described by the missile. + +_Poisonous_ for _Venomous_. Hemlock is poisonous, but a rattlesnake is +venomous. + +_Politics_. The word is not plural because it happens to end with s. + +_Possess_ for _Have_. "To possess knowledge is to possess power." +Possess is lacking in naturalness and unduly emphasizes the concept of +ownership. + +_Practically_ for _Virtually_. This error is very common. "It is +practically conceded." "The decision was practically unanimous." "The +panther and the cougar are practically the same animal." These and +similar misapplications of the word are virtually without excuse. + +_Predicate_ for _Found_, or _Base_. "I predicate my argument on +universal experience." What is predicated of something is affirmed as +an attribute of it, as omnipotence is predicated of the Deity. + +_Prejudice_ for _Prepossession_. Literally, a prejudice is merely a +prejudgment--a decision before evidence--and may be favorable or +unfavorable, but it is so much more frequently used in the latter +sense than in the former that clarity is better got by the other word +for reasonless approval. + +_Preparedness_ for _Readiness_. An awkward and needless word much used +in discussion of national armaments, as, "Our preparedness for war." + +_Preside_. "Professor Swackenhauer presided at the piano." "The +deviled crab table was presided over by Mrs. Dooley." How would this +sound? "The ginger pop stand was under the administration of President +Woolwit, and Professor Sooffle presided at the flute." + +_Pretend_ for _Profess_. "I do not pretend to be infallible." Of +course not; one does not care to confess oneself a pretender. To +pretend is to try to deceive; one may profess quite honestly. + +_Preventative_ for _Preventive_. No such word as preventative. + +_Previous_ for _Previously_. "The man died previous to receipt of the +letter." + +_Prior to_ for _Before_. Stilted. + +_Propose_ for _Purpose_, or _Intend_. "I propose to go to Europe." A +mere intention is not a proposal. + +_Proposition_ for _Proposal_. "He made a proposition." In current +slang almost anything is a proposition. A difficult enterprise is "a +tough proposition," an agile wrestler, "a slippery proposition," and +so forth. + +_Proportions_ for _Dimensions_. "A rock of vast proportions." +Proportions relate to form; dimensions to magnitude. + +_Proven_ for _Proved_. Good Scotch, but bad English. + +_Proverbial_ for _Familiar_. "The proverbial dog in the manger." The +animal is not "proverbial" for it is not mentioned in a proverb, but +in a fable. + +_Quit_ for _Cease_, _Stop_. "Jones promises to quit drinking." In +another sense, too, the word is commonly misused, as, "He has quit the +town." Say, quitted. + +_Quite_. "She is quite charming." If it is meant that she is entirely +charming this is right, but usually the meaning intended to be +conveyed is less than that--that she is rather, or somewhat, charming. + +_Raise_ for _Bring up_, _Grow_, _Breed_, etc. In this country a +word-of-all-work: "raise children," "raise wheat," "raise cattle." +Children are brought up, grain, hay and vegetables are grown, animals +and poultry are bred. + +_Real_ for _Really_, or _Very_. "It is real good of him." "The weather +was real cold." + +_Realize_ for _Conceive_, or _Comprehend_. "I could not realize the +situation." Writers caring for precision use this word in the sense of +to make real, not to make seem real. A dream seems real, but is +actually realized when made to come true. + +_Recollect_ for _Remember_. To remember is to have in memory; to +recollect is to recall what has escaped from memory. We remember +automatically; in recollecting we make a conscious effort. + +_Redeem_ for _Retrieve_. "He redeemed his good name." Redemption +(Latin _redemptio_, from _re_ and _dimere_) is allied to ransom, and +carries the sense of buying back; whereas to retrieve is merely to +recover what was lost. + +_Redound_ for _Conduce_. "A man's honesty redounds to his advantage." +We make a better use of the word if we say of one (for example) who +has squandered a fortune, that its loss redounds to his advantage, for +the word denotes a fluctuation, as from seeming evil to actual good; +as villification may direct attention to one's excellent character. + +_Refused_. "He was refused a crown." It is the crown that was refused +to him. See _Given_. + +_Regular_ for _Natural_, or _Customary_. "Flattery of the people is +the demagogue's regular means to political preferment." Regular +properly relates to a rule (_regula_) more definite than the law of +antecedent and consequent. + +_Reliable_ for _Trusty_, or _Trustworthy_. A word not yet admitted to +the vocabulary of the fastidious, but with a strong backing for the +place. + +_Remit_ for _Send_. "On receiving your bill I will remit the money." +Remit does not mean that; it means give back, yield up, relinquish, +etc. It means, also, to cancel, as in the phrase, the remission of +sins. + +_Rendition_ for _Interpretation_, or _Performance_. "The actor's +rendition of the part was good." Rendition means a surrender, or a +giving back. + +_Reportorial_. A vile word, improperly made. It assumes the Latinized +spelling, "reporter." The Romans had not the word, for they were, +fortunately for them, without the thing. + +_Repudiate_ for _Deny_. "He repudiated the accusation." + +_Reside_ for _Live_. "They reside in Hohokus." Stilted. + +_Residence_ for _Dwelling_, or _House._ See _Mansion_. + +_Respect_ for _Way_, or _Matter_. "They were alike in that respect." +The misuse comes of abbreviating: the sentence properly written might +be, They were alike in respect of that--i.e., with regard to that. +The word in the bad sense has even been pluralized: "In many respects +it is admirable." + +_Respective_. "They went to their respective homes." The adjective +here (if an adjective is thought necessary) should be several. In the +adverbial form the word is properly used in the sentence following: +John and James are bright and dull, respectively. That is, John is +bright and James dull. + +_Responsible_. "The bad weather is responsible for much sickness." +"His intemperance was responsible for his crime." Responsibility is +not an attribute of anything but human beings, and few of these can +respond, in damages or otherwise. Responsible is nearly synonymous +with accountable and answerable, which, also, are frequently misused. + +_Restive_ for _Restless_. These words have directly contrary meanings; +the dictionaries' disallowance of their identity would be something to +be thankful for, but that is a dream. + +_Retire_ for _Go to Bed_. English of the "genteel" sort. See +_Genteel_. + +_Rev_. for _The Rev_. "Rev. Dr. Smith." + +_Reverence_ for _Revere_. + +_Ride_ for _Drive_. On horseback one does drive, and in a vehicle one +does ride, but a distinction is needed here, as in England; so, here +as there, we may profitably make it, riding in the saddle and driving +in the carriage. + +_Roomer_ for _Lodger_. See _Bedder_ and _Mealer_--if you can find +them. + +_Round_ for _About_. "They stood round." See _Around_. + +_Ruination_ for _Ruin_. Questionably derived and problematically +needful. + +_Run_ for _Manage_, or _Conduct_. Vulgar--hardly better than slang. + +_Say_ for _Voice_. "He had no say in determining the matter." Vulgar. + +_Scholar_ for _Student_, or _Pupil_. A scholar is a person who is +learned, not a person who is learning. + +_Score_ for _Win_, _Obtain_, etc. "He scored an advantage over his +opponent." To score is not to win a point, but to record it. + +_Second-handed_ for _Second-hand_. There is no such word. + +_Secure_ for _Procure_. "He secured a position as book-keeper." "The +dwarf secured a stick and guarded the jewels that he had found." Then +it was the jewels that were secured. + +_Seldom ever_. A most absurd locution. + +_Self-confessed_. "A self-confessed assassin." Self is superfluous: +one's sins cannot be confessed by another. + +_Sensation_ for _Emotion_. "The play caused a great sensation." "A +sensational newspaper." A sensation is a physical feeling; an emotion, +a mental. Doubtless the one usually accompanies the other, but the +good writer will name the one that he has in mind, not the other. +There are few errors more common than the one here noted. + +_Sense_ for _Smell_. "She sensed the fragrance of roses." Society +English. + +_Set_ for _Sit_. "A setting hen." + +_Settee_ for _Settle_. This word belongs to the peasantry of speech. + +_Settle_ for _Pay_. "Settle the bill." "I shall take it now and settle +for it later." + +_Shades_ for _Shade_. "Shades of Noah! how it rained!" "O shades of +Caesar!" A shade is a departed soul, as conceived by the ancients; one +to each mortal part is the proper allowance. + +_Show_ for _Chance_, or _Opportunity_. "He didn't stand a show." Say, +He had no chance. + +_Sick_ for _Ill_. Good usage now limits this word to cases of nausea, +but it is still legitimate in sickly, sickness, love-sick, and the +like. + +_Side_ for _Agree_, or _Stand_. "I side with the Democrats." "He +always sided with what he thought right." + +_Sideburns_ for _Burnsides_. A form of whiskers named from a noted +general of the civil war, Ambrose E. Burnside. It seems to be thought +that the word side has something to do with it, and that as an +adjective it should come first, according to our idiom. + +_Side-hill_ for _Hillside_. A reasonless transposition for which it is +impossible to assign a cause, unless it is abbreviated from side o' +the hill. + +_Sideways_ for _Sidewise_. See _Endways_. + +_Since_ for _Ago_. "He came here not long since and died." + +_Smart_ for _Bright_, or _Able_. An Americanism that is dying out. But +"smart" has recently come into use for fashionable, which is almost as +bad. + +_Snap_ for _Period_ (of time) or _Spell_. "A cold snap." This is a +word of incomprehensible origin in that sense; we can know only that +its parents were not respectable. "Spell" is itself not very +well-born. + +_So--as_. See _As--as_. + +_So_ for _True_. "If you see it in the Daily Livercomplaint it is so." +"Is that so?" Colloquial and worse. + +_Solemnize_. This word rightly means to make solemn, not to perform, +or celebrate, ceremoniously something already solemn, as a marriage, +or a mass. We have no exact synonym, but this explains, rather than +justifies, its use. + +_Some_ for _Somewhat_. "He was hurt some." + +_Soon_ for _Willingly_. "I would as soon go as stay." "That soldier +would sooner eat than fight." Say, rather eat. + +_Space_ for _Period_. "A long space of time." Space is so different a +thing from time that the two do not go well together. + +_Spend_ for _Pass_. "We shall spend the summer in Europe." Spend +denotes a voluntary relinquishment, but time goes from us against our +will. + +_Square_ for _Block_. "He lives three squares away." A city block is +seldom square. + +_Squirt_ for _Spurt_. Absurd. + +_Stand_ and _Stand for_ for _Endure_. "The patient stands pain well." +"He would not stand for misrepresentation." + +_Standpoint_ for _Point of View_, or _Viewpoint_. + +_State_ for _Say_. "He stated that he came from Chicago." "It is +stated that the president is angry." We state a proposition, or a +principle, but say that we are well. And we say our prayers--some of +us. + +_Still Continue_. "The rain still continues." Omit still; it is +contained in the other word. + +_Stock_. "I take no stock in it." Disagreeably commercial. Say, I have +no faith in it. Many such metaphorical expressions were +unobjectionable, even pleasing, in the mouth of him who first used +them, but by constant repetition by others have become mere slang, +with all the offensiveness of plagiarism. The prime objectionableness +of slang is its hideous lack of originality. Until mouth-worn it is +not slang. + +_Stop_ for _Stay_. "Prayer will not stop the ravages of cholera." Stop +is frequently misused for stay in another sense of the latter word: +"He is stopping at the hotel." Stopping is not a continuing act; one +cannot be stopping who has already stopped. + +_Stunt_. A word recently introduced and now overworked, meaning a +task, or performance in one's trade, or calling,--doubtless a variant +of stint, without that word's suggestion of allotment and limitation. +It is still in the reptilian stage of evolution. + +_Subsequent_ for _Later_, or _Succeeding_. Legitimate enough, but ugly +and needless. "He was subsequently hanged." Say, afterward. + +_Substantiate_ for _Prove_. Why? + +_Success_. "The project was a success." Say, was successful. Success +should not have the indefinite article. + +_Such Another_ for _Another Such_. There is illustrious authority for +this--in poetry. Poets are a lawless folk, and may do as they please +so long as they do please. + +_Such_ for _So_. "He had such weak legs that he could not stand." The +absurdity of this is made obvious by changing the form of the +statement: "His legs were such weak that he could not stand." If the +word is an adverb in the one sentence it is in the other. "He is such +a great bore that none can endure him." Say, so great a bore. + +_Suicide_. This is never a verb. "He suicided." Say, He killed +himself, or He took his own life. See _Commit Suicide_. + +_Supererogation_. To supererogate is to overpay, or to do more than +duty requires. But the excess must be in the line of duty; merely +needless and irrelevant action is not supererogation. The word is not +a natural one, at best. + +_Sure_ for _Surely_. "They will come, sure." Slang. + +_Survive_ for _Live_, or _Persist_. Survival is an outliving, or +outlasting of something else. "The custom survives" is wrong, but a +custom may survive its utility. Survive is a transitive verb. + +_Sustain_ for _Incur_. "He sustained an injury." "He sustained a +broken neck." That means that although his neck was broken he did not +yield to the mischance. + +_Talented_ for _Gifted_. These are both past participles, but there +was once the verb to gift, whereas there was never the verb "to +talent." If Nature did not talent a person the person is not talented. + +_Tantamount_ for _Equivalent_. "Apology is tantamount to confession." +Let this ugly word alone; it is not only illegitimate, but ludicrously +suggests catamount. + +_Tasty_ for _Tasteful_. Vulgar. + +_Tear Down_ for _Pull Down_. "The house was torn down." This is an +indigenous solecism; they do not say so in England. + +_Than Whom_. See _Whom_. + +_The_. A little word that is terribly overworked. It is needlessly +affixed to names of most diseases: "the cholera," "the smallpox," "the +scarlet fever," and such. Some escape it: we do not say, "the +sciatica," nor "the locomotor ataxia." It is too common in general +propositions, as, "The payment of interest is the payment of debt." +"The virtues that are automatic are the best." "The tendency to +falsehood should be checked." "Kings are not under the control of the +law." It is impossible to note here all forms of this misuse, but a +page of almost any book will supply abundant instance. We do not +suffer so abject slavery to the definite article as the French, but +neither do we manifest their spirit of rebellion by sometimes cutting +off the oppressor's tail. One envies the Romans, who had no article, +definite or indefinite. + +_The Following_. "Washington wrote the following." The following what? +Put in the noun. "The following animals are ruminants." It is not the +animals that follow, but their names. + +_The Same_. "They cooked the flesh of the lion and ate the same." "An +old man lived in a cave, and the same was a cripple." In humorous +composition this may do, though it is not funny; but in serious work +use the regular pronoun. + +_Then_ as an Adjective. "The then governor of the colony." Say, the +governor of the colony at that time. + +_Those Kind_ for _That Kind_. "Those kind of things." Almost too +absurd for condemnation, and happily not very common out of the class +of analphabets. + +_Though_ for _If_. "She wept as though her heart was broken." Many +good writers, even some devoid of the lexicographers' passion for +inclusion and approval, have specifically defended this locution, +backing their example by their precept. Perhaps it is a question of +taste; let us attend their cry and pass on. + +_Thrifty_ for _Thriving_. "A thrifty village." To thrive is an end; +thrift is a means to that end. + +_Through_ for _Done_. "The lecturer is through talking." "I am through +with it." Say, I have done with it. + +_To_. As part of an infinitive it should not be separated from the +other part by an adverb, as, "to hastily think," for hastily to think, +or, to think hastily. Condemnation of the split infinitive is now +pretty general, but it is only recently that any one seems to have +thought of it. Our forefathers and we elder writers of this generation +used it freely and without shame--perhaps because it had not a name, +and our crime could not be pointed out without too much explanation. + +_To_ for _At_. "We have been to church," "I was to the theater." One +can go to a place, but one cannot be to it. + +_Total_. "The figures totaled 10,000." Say, The total of the figures +was 10,000. + +_Transaction_ for _Action_, or _Incident_. "The policeman struck the +man with his club, but the transaction was not reported." "The picking +of a pocket is a criminal transaction." In a transaction two or more +persons must have an active or assenting part; as, a business +transaction, Transactions of the Geographical Society, etc. The +Society's action would be better called Proceedings. + +_Transpire_ for _Occur_, _Happen_, etc. "This event transpired in +1906." Transpire (_trans_, through, and _spirare_, to breathe) means +leak out, that is, become known. What transpired in 1906 may have +occurred long before. + +_Trifling_ for _Trivial_. "A trifling defect"; "a trifling error." + +_Trust_ for _Wealthy Corporation_. There are few trusts; capitalists +have mostly abandoned the trust form of combination. + +_Try an Experiment_. An experiment is a trial; we cannot try a trial. +Say, make. + +_Try and_ for _Try to_. "I will try and see him." This plainly says +that my effort to see him will succeed--which I cannot know and do not +wish to affirm. "Please try and come." This colloquial slovenliness of +speech is almost universal in this country, but freedom of speech is +one of our most precious possessions. + +_Ugly_ for _Ill-natured_, _Quarrelsome_. What is ugly is the temper, +or disposition, not the person having it. + +_Under-handed_ and _Under-handedly_ for _Under-hand._ See +_Off-handed._ + +_Unique_. "This is very unique." "The most unique house in the city." +There are no degrees of uniqueness: a thing is unique if there is not +another like it. The word has nothing to do with oddity, strangeness, +nor picturesqueness. + +_United States_ as a Singular Noun. "The United States is for peace." +The fact that we are in some ways one nation has nothing to do with +it; it is enough to know that the word States is plural--if not, what +is State? It would be pretty hard on a foreigner skilled in the +English tongue if he could not venture to use our national name +without having made a study of the history of our Constitution and +political institutions. Grammar has not a speaking acquaintance with +politics, and patriotic pride is not schoolmaster to syntax. + +_Unkempt_ for _Disordered_, _Untidy_, etc. Unkempt means uncombed, and +can properly be said of nothing but the hair. + +_Use_ for _Treat_. "The inmates were badly used." "They use him +harshly." + +_Utter_ for _Absolute_, _Entire_, etc. Utter has a damnatory +signification and is to be used of evil things only. It is correct to +say utter misery, but not "utter happiness;" utterly bad, but not +"utterly good." + +_Various_ for _Several_. "Various kinds of men." Kinds are various of +course, for they vary--that is what makes them kinds. Use various only +when, in speaking of a number of things, you wish to direct attention +to their variety--their difference, one from another. "The dividend +was distributed among the various stockholders." The stockholders +vary, as do all persons, but that is irrelevant and was not in mind. +"Various persons have spoken to me of you." Their variation is +unimportant; what is meant is that there was a small indefinite number +of them; that is, several. + +_Ventilate_ for _Express, Disclose_, etc. "The statesman ventilated +his views." A disagreeable and dog-eared figure of speech. + +_Verbal_ for _Oral_. All language is verbal, whether spoken or +written, but audible speech is oral. "He did not write, but +communicated his wishes verbally." It would have been a verbal +communication, also, if written. + +_Vest_ for _Waistcoat_. This is American, but as all Americans are not +in agreement about it it is better to use the English word. + +_Vicinity_ for _Vicinage_, or _Neighborhood_. "He lives in this +vicinity." If neither of the other words is desired say, He lives in +the vicinity of this place, or, better, He lives near by. + +_View of_. "He invested with the view of immediate profit." "He +enlisted with the view of promotion." Say, with a view to. + +_Vulgar_ for _Immodest_, _Indecent_. It is from _vulgus_, the common +people, the mob, and means both common and unrefined, but has no +relation to indecency. + +_Way_ for _Away_. "Way out at sea." "Way down South." + +_Ways_ for _Way_. "A squirrel ran a little ways along the road." "The +ship looked a long ways off." This surprising word calls loudly for +depluralization. + +_Wed_ for _Wedded_. "They were wed at noon." "He wed her in Boston." +The word wed in all its forms as a substitute for marry, is pretty +hard to bear. + +_Well_. As a mere meaningless prelude to a sentence this word is +overtasked. "Well, I don't know about that." "Well, you may try." +"Well, have your own way." + +_Wet_ for _Wetted_. See _Bet_. + +_Where_ for _When_. "Where there is reason to expect criticism write +discreetly." + +_Which_ for _That_. "The boat which I engaged had a hole in it." But a +parenthetical clause may rightly be introduced by which; as, The boat, +which had a hole in it, I nevertheless engaged. Which and that are +seldom interchangeable; when they are, use that. It sounds better. + +_Whip_ for _Chastise_, or _Defeat_. To whip is to beat with a whip. It +means nothing else. + +_Whiskers_ for _Beard_. The whisker is that part of the beard that +grows on the cheek. See _Chin Whiskers_. + +_Who_ for _Whom_. "Who do you take me for?" + +_Whom_ for _Who_. "The man whom they thought was dead is living." Here +the needless introduction of was entails the alteration of whom to +who. "Remember whom it is that you speak of." "George Washington, than +whom there was no greater man, loved a jest." The misuse of whom after +than is almost universal. Who and whom trip up many a good writer, +although, unlike which and who, they require nothing but knowledge of +grammar. + +_Widow Woman_. Omit woman. + +_Will_ and _Shall_. Proficiency in the use of these apparently +troublesome words must be sought in text-books on grammar and +rhetoric, where the subject will be found treated with a more +particular attention, and at greater length, than is possible in a +book of the character of this. Briefly and generally, in the first +person, a mere intention is indicated by shall, as, I shall go; +whereas will denotes some degree of compliance or determination, as, I +will go--as if my going had been requested or forbidden. In the second +and the third person, will merely forecasts, as, You (or he) will go; +but shall implies something of promise, permission or compulsion by +the speaker, as, You (or he) shall go. Another and less obvious +compulsion--that of circumstance--speaks in shall, as sometimes used +with good effect: In Germany you shall not turn over a chip without +uncovering a philosopher. The sentence is barely more than indicative, +shall being almost, but not quite, equivalent to can. + +_Win out_. Like its antithesis, "lose out," this reasonless phrase is +of sport, "sporty." + +_Win_ for _Won_. "I went to the race and win ten dollars." This +atrocious solecism seems to be unknown outside the world of sport, +where may it ever remain. + +_Without_ for _Unless_. "I cannot go without I recover." Peasantese. + +_Witness_ for _See_. To witness is more than merely to see, or +observe; it is to observe, and to tell afterward. + +_Would-be_. "The would-be assassin was arrested." The word doubtless +supplies a want, but we can better endure the want than the word. In +the instance of the assassin, it is needless, for he who attempts to +murder is an assassin, whether he succeeds or not. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Write It Right, by Ambrose Bierce + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WRITE IT RIGHT *** + +***** This file should be named 12474.txt or 12474.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/4/7/12474/ + +Produced by Clare Boothby, Ben Harris and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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