229. “It was referred to theCommitteeon Ways and Means:” emphasize the second, not the first syllable.
230. “He is now settled inWorcester:” pronounce as if writtenWooster.GloucesterandLeicesterare pronouncedGlosterandLester. The terminationcesterorchester, occurring in the names of many English towns, is derived and corrupted from the LatinCastra, camps; and every town so named is supposed to have been the site of a camp of soldiers, during the possession of Britain by the Romans.
231. “RelativesandRelations:” both these words designate kinsfolk, and are in most instances used indiscriminately.Relatives, however, is by some deemed the more proper and elegant.
232. “What a longlirryhe has to say!” This word should be pronounced and speltlurry; its more general meaning is a “heap,” a “throng,” a “crowd,” but is often applied to a long dull speech.
233. “Diamondsare charcoals:” pronouncediamondsin three syllables.
234. “Honor to thepatriotand the sage:” divide the syllables likepa-tri-ot, notpat-ri-ot. Irish rowdyism has been called “Pat-riot-ism.”
235. “Do youbelievethat he willreceivemy letter?” observe that in the former word the diphthong isie, and in the latterei. A convenient rule for the spelling of such words is the following:ctakeseiafter it;all other consonants are followed byie:—as, deceive, reprieve.
236. “He is now confirmed inidiotcy:” say,idiocy; thetinidiotis dropped in forming the word.
237. “He raised thenationalstandard:” pronounce the first two syllables like the wordnation, never as if writtennash-ion-al.
238.PrincipalandPrinciple: be careful to observe the distinction between these words.Principalsignifieschief;principle,motive.
239. “He favors theAnti-Slaveryreform:” pronounceAntiwith a distinct sounding of thei; else the word becomesante, which means not “against,” but “before,”—as “ante-deluvian,” signifying “before the Deluge.”
240.Cincinnatiis often misspelledCincinnatti. The name is derived fromCincinnatus, a celebrated Roman.
241. “Her dress was made ofmoiré antique:”moiré antiqueis an article ofwatered silk, very well known to the “shopping” sisterhood, but very frequently called “Murray Antique.”
242. “It was mentioned in aCalifornian newspaper:” say,Californianewspaper. No one saysPhiladelphian, orChicagonianjournal.
243. “The lecture wascharacterizedas a brilliant performance:” accent the first, and not the second syllable.
244. “This is one of the traditions of St.Helena:” accentle, and notHel.
245. “The boy was found by awashwoman:” say,washerwoman.
246. “St. John’s is about two days nearer England than Halifax.” [From an account, in a New-York newspaper,of the Submarine Telegraph Expedition, September, 1855.] Does it mean that St. John’s is nearer to England than Halifax is, or nearer to England than to Halifax?
247. “He wears a blue-spottedneck-handkerchief:” say,neckerchief, or, still better,neck-cloth, orcravat. The original word iskerchief, and nothandkerchief, which is akerchieffor thehand.
248. “The city wasilluminedin honor of the victory:” better say,illuminated. Distinguish between the pronunciation ofilluminedandill-omened.
249. “She has brought thecloze pinsin a bag:” say,clothes’ pins.
250. “He met withluck:” say either “bad luck,” or “good luck;”luckprimarily refers to simple “chance,” although its derivatives,luckyandluckily, imply onlygood fortune.
251. “Thein-va-lidsigned a deed, that wasin-val-id:” pronounce the former “invalid” with the accent on thefirstsyllable; thelatter, with the accent on thesecond.
252. “Thedukedischarged hisduty.” Be careful to give the slender, clear sound ofu. Avoid sayingdookanddooty, ordoofordewordue. Sayflute, notfloot;suit, notsoot;mute, notmoot. As well might you saybuteforboot, orshutefor shoot.
253. “Genealogy,geography, andgeometryare words of Greek derivation:” beware of sayinggeneology,jography, andjometry, a very common practice.
254. “He made out theinventory:” place the accent ininventoryon the syllablein, andneveronven.
255. “He deserveschastisement:” say,chas-tiz-ment, with the accent onchas, andneverontise.
256. “He threw therindaway:” never callrind,rine.
257. “Hisknowledgeis very great:” always pronounceknowledgeso as to rhyme withcollege, andneversayknow-ledge.
258. “They contributed to hismaintenance:” pronouncemaintenancewith the accent onmain, and never saymaintainance.
259. “She wears a silkgown:” never saygownd.
260. “Maine is amaritimeState:” pronounce the last syllable ofmaritimeso as to rhyme withrim.
261. “Theydesistedfrom theirdesign:” pronounce theformer sindesistedwith a soft sound, andalwayspronouncedesignas if writtende-zine.
262. “They committed aheinouscrime:” pronounceheinousas if spelledhay-nus;nevercall the wordhee-nusorhain-yus.
263. “Hehoveredabout the enemy:” pronouncehoveredso as to rhyme withcovered.
264. “He is a powerfulally:”neverplace the accent onalinally, as many do.
265. “We have never been called, almost, to the considerationof the Apocalypse, without finding fresh reasons for our opinion.” [Such are the words of a very eminent reviewer.] He should have said, “We havescarcely everbeen called,” or, “we havealmost never.”
266. “He is verybigoted:” never spell the last word withdouble t, a very common mistake.
267. “TheWeekly Tribunehas a large circulation:” pronounce Tribune as if dividedTrib-une, and notTry-bune.
268. “He saidas howyouwasto do it:” say, he saidthat you were to do it.
269. Never say, “I acquiesce with you,” but, “I acquiesce in your proposal,in your opinion,” &c.
270. “He is a distinguishedantiquarian:” say,antiquary.Antiquarianis an adjective;antiquary, a noun.
271. An injudicious disposition of a clause in a sentence frequently creates great merriment in the reading. In Goldsmith’s “History of England,” a book remarkable for its carelessness of style, we find the following extraordinary sentence, in one of the chapters of the reign of Queen Elizabeth: “This” [a communication to Mary Queen of Scots] “they effected by conveying their letters to her by means of a brewer thatsupplied the family with ale through a chink in the wall of her apartment.” A queer brewer that—to supply ale through a chink in the wall! How easy the alteration to make the passage clear! “This they effected by conveying their letters to herthrough a chink in the wall of her apartment, by means of a brewer that supplied the family with ale.”
272. “Lavater wrote onPhysiognomy:” in the last word sound thegdistinctly, asgis always pronounced beforen, when it is not in the same syllable; as,indignity, &c.
273. “She is a very amiablegirl:” pronouncegirlas if writtengurl;galis a vulgarism;gehlorgulis an affectation of which many polite persons are guilty.
274. “He built a largegranary:”do notpronouncegranaryso as to rhyme withtannery. Call the wordgrainary. Both pronunciations, however, are given by scholars.
275. Beware of usingOh!andOindiscriminately:Oh!is used to express the emotion ofpain,sorrow, orsurprise;as, “Oh!the exceeding grace of God.”Ois used to expresswishing,exclamation, or a directaddressto a person; as,
“O mother, will the God aboveForgive my faults like thee?”
276. Be careful to sound distinctly therin such words asfarther,martyr,charter,murder, &c. Never say,fah-ther,mah-tyr,chah-terandmuh-der. On the other hand, avoidtrillingther, asmur-er-der,r'r'robber. It is altogether too tragical for common life.
277. “The Duke of Wellington was anIrishman, but knew nothing of theIrishlanguage:” beware of sayingIerishmanforIrishman, orIerishforIrish; a very common mistake, which the “Know-Nothings” are quick to detect.
278. “He did itunbeknownto us:” say,unknown, &c.
279. “He lives inaffluence, as he is inaffluentcircumstances:” beware of placing the accent inaffluenceandaffluenton the syllablefluinstead of onaf, a very common error.
280. “If I say, ‘They retreatedback,’ I use a word that issuperfluous, asbackis implied in the syllablereinretreated:” never place the accent onfluinsuperfluous, but always onper.
281. “In reading Paley’s ‘Evidences of Christianity,’ I unexpectedlylit onthe passage I wanted:” say,met withthe passage, &c.
282. A gentleman having selected a book from the library shelves of the Mechanics’ Institute, went to the librarian to have the volume registered under his name, and said, “I have taken the life of Julius Cæsar.” “Ishall then,” responded the librarian, “charge the work to Mr. Brutus!” Be careful how you “take the lives” of distinguished men.
283. “He has abayonetto his gun:” never saybaggonet. This error is a peculiarity of the Wiltshire dialect, in England. In an old Wiltshire song the following stanza occurs:
“A hornet zet in a holler tree,A proper spiteful twoad was he;And merrily zung while he did zet,—His sting as sharp as abaggonet.”
284. “Aunt Deborah is down with therheumatiz:” say,rheumatism; this is one among theisms, though a very unpopular one.
285. “It isobligatoryupon every honest man to go to the polls to-day:” accentlig, and notga.
286. “On thecontrary:” accentcon, nottra. The old song takes up with a bad pronunciation, for the sake of a good rhyme:
“Mistress Mary,Quitecontrary,How does your garden grow?”
287. “That is altogetherabove my bend:” say,out of my power.
288. “He hasabsquatulated, and taken the specie with him:”abscondedis a more classical word.
289. “It’seenamosttime we had started:” say,almost.
290. “I haven’t ary one:” say,I have neither, or,I haven’t either.
291. “That man is in abad box:” say,bad predicament, or badsituation.
292. It may be doubted whether to say of a man “thathe barked up the wrong tree,” is a complimentary or elegant metaphor.
293. “I will retain two-thirds, and give you thebalance:” say,remainder.
294. “Icalculateto go by steam:” say, “Iexpect.”
295. Avoid using the phrase “I cave in,” for “I give up.” It savors of slang.
296. Do not say, “chicken fixings,” for “trifles,” or “extras,” connected with dress.
297. “He is acuteman:” this is an inelegant abbreviation ofacute, and employed to meansmart. It may, however, be properly applied to Yankees!
298. “Hedickeredwith him an hour:” say, “hebargained.” This is a word somewhat peculiar to New-York.
299. “Do don’t” is a vulgar usage of the Southern States, especially Georgia, for “do not.”
300. “He isdone gone:” say,ruined.
301. “We had adreadfulfine time:” say,very, orexceedingly.
302. “It rains, and I want an umbrellathe worst kind:” say, “I am greatly in want,” &c. An umbrellaof the worst kindwould not be likely to answer the best of purposes on a rainy day!
303. “The whole concernfizzled out:” say,proved a failure.
304. “As soon as I mentioned it to him, heflared up:” say, hebecame excited, orgrew violent.
305. “The choir sangOld Hundred:” pronounceHundredas written, and notHunderd.
306. “The message was sent by hisaid-de-camp:”pronounce as if writtenade-de-kawng, avoiding, however, as much as possible a twang on the last syllable.
307. “Mybeardis long:” don’t saybaird.
308. “The blacksmith blows thebellows:” pronounce as written, and notbellus.
309. “Let me help you to somecatsup:” avoid sayingketchup.
310. “It is newChina ware:” do not say,chaney ware; this latter article exists only in the traditions of old women.
311. “Thecombatantsparted in good humor:” accent the first syllable—never the second.
312. “We poled the raft up thecreek:” pronounce as if writtenkrik.
313. “Then spake thewarriorbold:” pronounce in two syllables, aswar-yur, notwar-ri-or.
314. In using the wordvenison, sound thei:venzunis a common, though not elegant pronunciation.
315.Tapestryis dividedtap-es-tryand notta-pes-try.
316. “He is only asubaltern:” accent the first syllable ofsubaltern.
317. “The barge is at thequay:” pronouncequay,kay.
318. “The path over the meadow wasqueachy:” this word, meaningsoftorboggy, is now obsolete, and cannot be used with propriety.
319. “He talkspulpitically:” this word, which some who copy Chesterfield persist in using, has never by any good authority been admitted into the language.
320. Topeff, meaning tocough faintly(like a sheep), is hardly a useable word.
321. Be careful to distinguish betweenpencil, an instrument for writing, andpensile, meaninghanging down.
322.To yankis a vulgarism, meaningto twitch powerfully.
323. Avoid the slang phrase, “I used to could.” Say, “I could formerly.”
324. “Shetakes onabout it greatly:” say,grieves.
325. “Hestaved offthe case two days longer:” say, heput off, ordelayed.
326. “He made a greatsplurge:” say, he made ablustering effort.
327. “Ireckonit is going to rain:” say, Ithink, orexpect.Reckonapplies tocalculation.
328. “The basket ispretty large:” avoid, if possible, the use of the wordprettyout of its legitimate signification; the language abounds with substitutes more elegant.
329. “She weighs aplaguy sight:” say,a great deal.
330. “Hemade tracksat sundown:” say,he left, orescaped.
331. “He was compelled tofork over the cash:” say,to pay over.
332. “To flunk out” is a vulgar expression forto retire through fear; the most that can be tolerated is,to sneak out.
333. “When last observed, he wasgoing at full chisel:” say,at the top of his speed.
334. “That bill is acounterfeit:” the last syllable is pronounced as if writtenfit, and notfeet.
335. “I am very muchobligedto you:” do not sayobleeged.
336. The following sentence affords an example of three words of similar pronunciation, but different signification: “It is not easy topareapearwith apairof scissors.”
337. “Therobberentered the dwelling, and secretly carried off the silver:” say,thief; arobberattacks violently, and commits his depredations by main force; athiefis one who uses secrecy and deception.
338. “Go andfetchme my riding-whip:” say,bring.Fetchmeans togo and bring;go and fetchis repetition.
339.To leaveandto quitare often used as synonymous terms, though improperly;to leaveimplies a design of returning soon—to quit, an absence of a long time, or forever; as, in Shakespeare:—
“——the very ratsInstinctively hadquitit.”—Tempest, i. 2.
“I shallleavemy house for a month before next Autumn; but I shall not be obliged toquitit until after Christmas.”
340.Muteanddumb. Adumbman has not the power to speak; amuteman either does not choose, or is not allowed to speak. It is, therefore, more proper to say of a person who can neither hear nor speak, that he is “deaf anddumb,” than that he is a “deafmute.”
341.Strongandrobust. These words are frequently misused: astrongman is able to bear a heavy burden, but not necessarily for a long time; arobustman bearscontinualfatigue with ease; astrongman may be active and nimble; while an excess of muscular development, together with a clumsiness of action, exclude these qualities from therobustman:—
“Strongas a tower in hope, I cry Amen!”Shakespeare,Richard II.i. 3.“For one who, though of drooping mien, had yetFrom nature’s kindliness received a frameRobustas ever rural labor bred.”Wordsworth,Excursion, VI.
342. “Isaac Newtoninventedthe law of gravitation:” say,discovered. “Galileodiscoveredthe telescope:” say,invented.
343. Tohearand tolistenhave each distinct degrees of meaning. Tohearimplies no effort or particular attention. Tolistenimplies some eagerness to hear. An old proverb says, “They thatlistenseldomhearany good of themselves.”
344.Oughtandshouldboth express obligation, but the latter is not so binding as the former. “Childrenought tolove their parents, andshouldbe neat in their appearance.”
345.Aloneandonlyare often misapplied. “Heonlycould do it,” means that no other but himself could do it; “healonecould do it,” should mean that he, without the assistance of others, could do it.
346. “Please the pigs.”—(Old Proverb.) This is a corruption from “Please thepyx.” Thepyxis the receptacle which contains the consecrated wafer on Romish altars; and the exclamation is equal to “Please God.” This corruption is as curious a one as that of “tawdry” from “’t Audrey,” or “at St. Audrey’s Fair,” famous for the sale of frippery—showy, cheap, and worthless.
347. “Thepartridgeis a delightful bird:” do not saypatridge. Also, do not saypasleyforparsley.
348. “After this, let him hide hisdiminished head:” this common phrase is a poetical quotation from Milton,and is therefore proper to be used even when it does notliterallyexpress the idea:—
“At whose sight all the starsHide theirdiminished heads.”
349. “That bourne from whence no traveler returns.” How often are precisely these words spoken? They are improperly quoted from Shakespeare, in Hamlet, and correctly read as follows:—
“That undiscovered country, from whose bourneNo traveler returns.”
350. “Bring me mywaistcoat:” pronounce as if writtenwaste-coat, and notweskut. It should rhyme, as it did in an old ballad, with “laced coat.”
351. “Yourbonnetto its right use.”—(Shakespeare:) never saybunnet.
352. “It is not cold enough to wear mygloves:” pronounce as if writtengluvs, and to rhyme withloves. In “Fair Rosamond” the following illustrative stanza occurs:—
“He said he had hisglovesfrom France:The Queen said, ‘That can’t be:If you go there forglove-making,It is without theg.’”
353. “Egad!what great good luck!” This word is now inelegantly used, except in certain species of poetry, where it is introduced with much effect, as in the following distich:—
“All tragedies,egad!to me sound oddly;I can no more be serious, than you godly.”
354. “The frigate is now in the Yellow Sea, orthereabouts:” say,thereabout. This term is a transposed combination ofabout there; there is no such word asthereabouts. The same may be said ofhereabouts, andwhereabouts.
355. “Whether he will orno:” say,not. The reason of this correction is clearly seen by supplying what is needed to complete the sense: Whether he will orwill not.
356. “He looked at it firstlengthways, thensideways:” say,lengthwiseandsidewise. Also, sayotherwiseinstead ofotherways. A nobleman said to his fool, “I amwise, and you areotherwise.” “Yes,” replied his jester, “you arewise, and I amanother wise.”
357. If you are a landlord, beware of incorrectly using such an expression as in the following: A landed proprietor went to a tenant with a view of increasing his rent, and said to him, “Neighbor, I am going toraise your rent.” “Thank you, sir,” was the reply, “for I am utterly unable toraise it myself.”
358. “Will youacceptof this slight testimonial?” Omitof, which is superfluous, and weakens the sentence.
359. “He convinced his opponent bydintof good reasoning:”dint, meaningforceor strength, is an obsolete word, and should not now be employed.
360. “The Danubeemptiesinto the Black Sea:” say,flows; toemptymeansto make vacant; no river can properly be calledempty, until it is entirely dried up.
361. Such words asbamboozle,topsyturvy,helterskelter,hurlyburly, andpellmellare generally to be avoided. They answer, however, for familiar conversation.
362. Never sayseraphims, for the plural ofseraph,butseraphim; the same rule holds withcherubims.Cherubsandseraphsare proper plurals, suiting a familiar style of speaking or writing, whilecherubimandseraphimare to be used only in more dignified and solemn discourse.
363. “There’sthe books you wanted:” say,there are: avoid all abbreviations when they lead to a grammatical error, as in the present instance.
364. “This prisoner has, of all the gang, committedfewermisdemeanors:” say,fewest. We may sayfewer thanall, but we must sayfewest ofall.
365. “I esteem you more thanthe others:” this sentence is equivocal. Does it mean, “I esteem you more thanI esteem the others,” or, “I esteem you more thanthe others esteem you?”
366. “The most eminent scholars will, on some points, differamong one another:” say,among themselves.
367. “He, from that moment, doubled hiskindness and caresses of me:” say, “kindnessforand caresses of me;” by omittingcaresseswe have, “He doubled hiskindness ofme,” which is not good English.
368.To differ fromandto differ with: todiffer froma man means to have an opinion different from his; todiffer witha person signifies aquarrelorrupture.
369. “He barely escaped havingone or two broken heads:” a man has butonehead, let it be broken or whole. Say, “Heonce or twice barely escapedhaving a broken head.”
370. “WheneverI fall into that man’s conversationI am entertained and profited:” say,fall into conversation with that man.
371. “The lecturerspoke to several points:” say, “spokeonseveral points.” He spoketohis audience.
372. “I shall regard yourstricturesonly so far asconcernsmy own errors:” say,concern; the phrase when filled out should read, “only so far asthey concernmy own errors.”
373. “I found him better than I expectedto have found him:” say,to find him.
374. “I perceived that he was totally blindwith half an eye:” say, “I perceived, with half an eye, that he was totally blind.” Otherwise, to a mantotally blindyou allothalf an eye!
375. The wordonlyis often wrongly placed in the sentence, and made to express an idea which is not designed to be conveyed. “NotonlyChinese are superstitious,” implies that others besides the Chinese are superstitious. “Chinese are notonlysuperstitious,” implies that in addition to being superstitious, they have some other characteristics. “Chinese notonlyare superstitious,” leaves room for something still further to be implied of the Chinese than superstition, and which is not necessarily the predicate ofare; as, “Chinese not only are superstitious, but they persecute those who do not put faith in Confucius.”
376.Not the leastandnothing less than, sometimes literally convey just the opposite of what is intended. “He hasnot the leastexcuse for going,” may mean that he hasa great excuse, ornone at all. “He seeksnothing less thanworldly honor,” may signify that nothing inferior to worldly honor will satisfy his desire; or, on the other hand, it may mean that nothing is less sought by him than worldlyhonor. Such expressions, therefore, are to be used with caution, else they will mislead.
377. Care should be taken in the use of epithets. For instance, in the sentence, “A wise and good manshould be respected,” the wordswiseandgoodmay properly be applied to the same man; but if the sentence should be altered to read, “Anold and young man,” it is obvious that both epithets could not relate to the same person.
378. Never sayturkle soup, forturtle soup.
379. The wordlongshould not now be employed to signifymany. An example of this early usage is found in the Fifth Commandment, “that thy days may belongupon the land.” The following lines furnish an instance of the verbto lengthen, meaning tomake many:—
“The best of all waysTolengthenour days,Is to take a few hours from the night, my lad.”
380. “They returnedback againto thesamecityfromwhence they cameforth:” omit the italicized words, which are redundant and inelegant.
381. “Have you any leisureupon your hands?” omitupon your hands,—not so much because anything after “leisure” is superfluous, in such a sentence, as because the idea ofhaving leisure upon your handsis absurd.
382. “Seven lads were present, and he gave themalla book:” say,gave them eacha book.Allrefers to a number of persons or things takencollectively, asone body;eachrefers toevery individual, separately considered.
383. “Lend me yourumberell:” say,umbrella. The former pronunciation, however, is allowed bypoetic license, as in the following, adapted from Thomas Moore:—
“Oh, ever thus from childhood’s hour,Has chilling fate upon me fell!There always comes a soakin’ showerWhen I hain’t got anumbrell.”
384. We lately met a grammarian, who had just made a tour through the mines, conjugating, or, rather, cogitating thus: “Positive,mine; comparativeminer; superlative,minus!”
385. “Put not thy secret into the mouth of theBosphorus, for it will betray it to the ears of the Black Sea.”—(Oriental Proverb.) PronounceBosphorusas if writtenBosforus, and notBos-porous.
386. Be careful to use the hyphen (-) correctly: it joins compound words, and words broken by the ending of a line. The use of the hyphen will appear more clearly from the following example: “many coloredwings” meansmanywings which arecolored; but “many-coloredwings” means “wings ofmany colors.”
387. “I amafraidit will rain:” say,I fear.Afraidexpresses terror;fearmay mean onlyanxiety.
388. Never sayo-fencesforoffences;pisonforpoison;co-lectionforcollection;voiolentforviolent;kivverforcover;afeardforafraid;debbutyfordeputy. The last three examples are very common.
389. “It is a merecipher:” never spellcipherwith ay.
390. “I wasnecessitatedto do it:” a poor expression, and often made worse bynecessiatedbeing used: say, I wasobliged, orcompelled, to do it.
391. “Gibbon wrote theRiseand Fall of the Roman Empire:” pronounceRise, the noun, so as to rhyme withprice;Rise, the verb, rhymes withprize.
392. “He joined hisregimentlast week:” never say,ridgimentforregiment.
393. “He bought agimlet:” never spell the last wordgimblet, as many do.
394. “He is a supporter of theGovernment:” beware of omitting thenin the second syllable ofGovernment—a very common practice.
395. “Received this dayofMr. Brown ten dollars:” say, “Received this dayfrom,” &c.
396. “Of whatever youget, endeavor to save something; and with all yourgetting, getwisdom:” carefully avoid sayinggitforget, andgittingforgetting.
397. “So intent was he on the song he wassinging, while he stood by the fire, that he did not perceive that his clothes weresingeing.” Verbs ending with asingle e, omit theewhen the terminationingis added, as,give,giving; insingeing, however, theemust be retained, to prevent its being confounded withsinging. Theemust also be retained indyeing, to distinguish it fromdying.
398. The following sentences may be studied: “Thedyer dyesdaily, yet hediesnot.” “Theminer mindstheminor mines.” “It is notmeettometeout suchmeat.” “He performed a greatfeatwith hisfeetat thefête.” (Fêteis pronouncedfate.)
399. “Lowerthe sails, as the sky begins tolower:” pronouncelowin theformerso as to rhyme withmow, andlowin thelatterso as to rhyme withcow.
400. “There was a greatrowon Monday, in TryonRow:” pronounce the formerrowso as to rhyme withcow—the latterrow, so as to rhyme withmo.
401. “Hissurnameis Clifford:” never spell thesurin “surname”sir, which shows an ignorance of its true derivation, which is from the Latin.
402. “The buildings are so old that they payalmost no rentnow:”scarcely any rent, is better.
403. “Hismammasent him to a preparatory school:”mammais often written with onemonly, which is not, as may at first be supposed, in imitation of the Frenchmaman, but in sheer ignorance.
404. Active verbs often take a neuter sense; as, “The house is building:” here,is buildingis used in a neuter signification, because it has no object after it. By this rule are explained such sentences as, “Application is wanting;” “The Grammar is printing,” &c.
405. “Heattacktedme without the slightest provocation:” say,attacked.
406. “I called on him every day in the weeksuccessfully:” very common, but incorrect; say,successively.
407. “I fear I shalldiscommodeyou:” it is better to say,incommode.
408. “I can do itequally as well ashe:” leave outequally, which is superfluous.
409. “We could not forbearfromdoing it:” leave outfrom, which is unnecessary; or say,refrain from.
410. “He was totally dependentofhis father:” say, dependentonhis father.
411. “They accused himforneglecting his duty:” say,ofneglecting, &c.
412. “They have a great resemblancewitheach other:” say,toeach other.
413. “I entirely dissentwithhim:” say,fromhim.
414. “He was made muchonat the Springs:” say, made muchof, &c.
415. “He is a manonwhom you can confide:” say,inwhom, &c.
416. “He was obliged toflythe country:” say,fleethe country. A very common mistake.
417. “The snufferswantsmending:” say,wantmending. No one would say, “Mypantaloons isripped.”
418. “His conduct admitsofno apology:” omitof, which is quite unnecessary.
419. “Agenthas been here inquiring for you:” a detestable, but very common expression; say, agentlemanhas been, &c. Oliver Wendell Holmes hits off this liberty with language, in the following happy couplet:—
“The things calledpants, in certain documents,Were never made forgentlemen, butgents.”
420. “That wasall along ofyou:” say, “That wasall your fault.”
421. “You have nocallto be angry with me:” say, nooccasion, &c.
422. “Too free anindulgencein luxuriesenervateandinjurethe system:” say,enervatesandinjures, &c. The plural,luxuries, standing directly before the verb, (which should beenervates, in the singular,) deceives the ear. Errors of this kind are very common, though a moment’s thought would correct them. The verb must agree with its subject in person and in number; if thenounis in the singular, theverbthat belongs to it must also be in the singular.
423. “A father divided a portion of his propertyamonghis two children, and the remainder he distributedbetweenthe poor:” say,betweenhis two children, andamongthe poor.Betweenis applicable to two only,amongto three or more.
424. “Everychild should obeytheirparents:” say,hisparents. The pronoun must agree with the noun in number, &c.
425. “He is a personwhoI respect greatly:” say,whom. “Be carefulwhoyou trust:”whomyou trust.
426. “Let me considerofthis matter.” “The culprit dreaded to enterinthe prison.” “The laborers were not allowed to wantforanything.” Leave out theitalicizedwords—the sense being complete without them.
427.Cupolais often pronouncedcupalo;foliage,foilage;future,futur;nature,natur: all of which errors should be carefully avoided.
428. “’Ow ’appens it thatHenglishmen sohoften misplace theirhaitches?” It is a cockneyism; and if you have fallen into the habit, it will require perhaps more perseverance than you imagine, to correct it.
429. Do you saywagabond orvagabond,winegar orvinegar,wery orvery,valking orwalking,vatchman orwatchman? It is a local custom, but if you have any taint of it, don’t sing “Villikins and his Dinah.”
430. Providence, confidence, and similar words, are often pronounced Providunce, confidunce, &c., substitutingunceforence. So also, words ending inance, as maintenance, sustenance,surveillance, are pronounced falsely maintenunce, sustenunce, &c.
431.Coming,going,according, &c., are often pronounced without the finalg: speak them distinctly, and pronounce difficult words with de-lib-er-a-tion.
432. If you are a Yankee, you should (though, as a general thing, youwill not) take special pains with your vowel sounds, that they be not formed through the nasal cavities. Don’t sayheow,ceow,confeound, forhow,cow, &c.
433. If you are a Western man, you are liable to give your vowel sounds too great breadth. You should not saybarforbear,humforhome,dawlarfordollar; and it is better to avoid using such expressions asI reckon,I guess,I calculate, too frequently.
434. “I am goinga fishing:” be bold enough to be one among the foremost to break away from the bad habit of sayinga fishing,a talking,a courting, &c. This custom, however, should be retained in quoting proverbs and wise sayings; these are better in proportion as they are older; for example: “Who goes a-borrowing, goes a-sorrowing.” The quaintness would be destroyed by saying simplyborrowingandsorrowing.
435. Some people add a superfluous preposition at the end of a sentence—“More than you thinkfor.” This is awkward.
436. “Then thinkonthe friend who once welcomed it too,” &c. &c.: say,of.
437.Thouandtheeare no longer used in spelling or writing, except by some of The Friends; but proverbial citations, originally expressed in that form, lose much of their beauty and force by alteration; as, “If thou seest thy house in flames, approach and warm thyself by it.” How greatly would a change of person tame the spirit of this fine proverb!
438. “By the street of ‘By-and-By,’ one arrives at the house of ‘Never.’” Do not say,By’mby.
439. Be careful to observe thetwo pluralsof the following nouns:
440. Different shades of meaning may be expressed by slight variations in the position of the important words in a sentence. For example, “The Paradise Lost of Milton,” is not exactly the same in import as, “Milton’s Paradise Lost;” in the former, attention is called to the author—in the latter, to the poem.
441. In uniting the plural ofone,two,three,do not use the apostrophe [’] asone’s,two’s,three’s.Good writers never conform to the latter mode. Wordsworth, who was remarkably particular, not only in the choice of his words but in their orthography, wrote:
“The sun has long been set,The stars are out bytwos and threes;The little birds are piping yetAmong the bushes and the trees.”
442. “How’s yourself, this morning?” an exceedingly common, but very objectionable expression: say, “How are you;” &c.
443. “Wanted, two apprentices, who will be treated asoneof the family:” great practical difficulty would be found in realizing such treatment! Say, “asmembersof the family.”
444. The following lines afford an instance of the ingenious uses to which the English language may be put:
“Yousigh foracipher, butI sigh for you;Oh,sigh for no cipher, but oh,sigh for me;Oh, let not mysigh foraciphergo,But givesigh for sigh, for I sighfor you so!”
The above is more briefly expressed in the following manner:
“U O a O, but I O u,Oh, O no O, but oh, O me;Oh, let not my O a O go,But give O O I O u so!”
445. Sometimesbutis incorrectly substituted forthat: as, “I have no doubtbuthe will be here to-night.” Sometimes for the conjunctionif, as, “I shouldn’t wonderbutthat was the case.” And sometimestwoconjunctions are used instead of one, as, “If thatI have offended him,” “After thathe had seen the parties,” &c. All this is very awkward and should be avoided.
446. “My hands arechopped:” say,chapped.
447. “This will serve as apreventative:” say,preventive.
448. “Anisheyoung man,” “Whatmakeshyou laugh?” “If heoffendshyou, don’t speak to him,” “Ashyou please,” “Notjushyet,” “We alwayspasshyour house in going to call onMissh Yatesh.” This is decided, unmitigatedcockneyism, having its parallel in nothing except the broken English of the sons of Abraham, and to adopt it in conversation is certainly “not speaking like a Christian.”
449. Never say, “Cut it inhalf,” for this you cannot do unless you couldannihilate onehalf. You may “cut it intwo,” or “cut it in halves,” or “cut it through,” or “divide it,” but no human ability will enable youto cut it in half.
451.To lay and to lie.—To layis an active or transitive verb, and must always have an object, expressed or understood.To lie(not meaningto tell a falsehood) is a neuter or intransitive, and therefore does not admit of an object. The only real difficulty arises from the fact, that the past tense of “lie,” when used without an auxiliary, is the same as the present of “lay.” But a little attention will obviate this. Nothing can be more erroneous than to say, “I shall go and lay down.” The question which naturally arises in the mind of the discriminating hearer is, “Whatare you going to lay down—money, carpets, plans, or what?” for, as a transitive verb is used, an object is wanted to complete the sense. The speaker means, that he himself is going tolie down. “My brotherlaysill of a fever,” should be, “My brotherlies,” &c.
452. Many people have an odd way of saying, “I expect,” when they mean only “I think,” or “I conclude;” as, “I expect my brother went to Richmond to-day,” “I expect those books were sent to Paris last year.”Expectcan relate only tofuturetime, and must be followed by a future tense, or a verb in the infinitive mood; as, “I expect my brotherwill goto Richmond to-day,” “I expectto findthose books were sent to Paris last year.”
453. “Asummer’smorning,” should be, Asummermorning.
454. The vulgar speaker uses adjectives instead of adverbs, and says, “This letter is writtenshocking;” the genteel speaker uses adverbs instead of adjectives, and says, “This writing looksshockingly.”
455. “Nobody elsebut him,” should be,Nobodybut him.
456. “Thatain’tjust,” should be, Thatis notjust.
457. “He was killedbya cannon-ball,” should be, He was killedwitha cannon-ball. He was killedbythe cannoneer.
458. “Anew pairof gloves,” should be, Apair of newgloves.
459. “BeforeI do that, I mustfirstbe paid,” should be, Before I do that, I must be paid.
460. A grammatical play upon the wordthat:
“Nowthatis a word which may often be joined,Forthat thatmay be doubled is clear to the mind;Andthat that thatis right, is as plain to the view,Asthat that that thatwe use is rightly used too;Andthat that that that thatline has in it, is right—In accordance with grammar, is plain in our sight.”
461. “He will gofrom thenceto-morrow.” The preposition “from” is included in these adverbs, therefore it becomes tautology in sense when prefixed to them.
462. “Equally as well,” is a very common expression, and a very incorrect one; the adverb of comparison, “as,” has no right in the sentence. “Equally well,” “Equally high,” “Equally dear,” should be the construction; and if a complement be necessary in the phrase, it should be preceded by the preposition “with,” as, “The wall was equally high with the former one,” “The goods at Smith’s are equally dear with those sold at the shop next door,” &c. “Equally the same” is tautology.
463. Some persons talk of “continuing on:” in what other direction would it be possible tocontinue?
464. “The satin measured twelve yards before I cut this pieceoff ofit.” “The fruit was gatheredoff ofthat tree.” Omitof; or, omittingoff of,insertfrom.
465. “He left his horse, and goton toa stage-coach,” “He jumpedon tothe floor,” “She laid iton toa dish,” “I threw iton tothe fire.” Why use two prepositions where one would be quite as explicit, and far more elegant? Nobody would think of saying, “He came to New-York,forto go to the exhibition.”
466. “No other resourcebutthis was allowed him:” say, “No other resourcethanthis,” &c.
467. “I don’t know butwhatI shall go to White Plains to-morrow:” say, “I don’t know butthat,” &c.
468. “One of those housesweresold last week,” “Each of the daughtersareto have a separate share,” “Every tree in those plantationshavebeen injured by the storm,” “Either of the childrenareat liberty to claim it.” Hereit will be perceived that the pronouns “one,” “each,” “every,” “either,” are the true nominatives to the verbs; but the intervening noun in the plural number, in each sentence, deludes the ear; and the speaker, without reflection, renders the verb in the plural instead of the singular number.
469. “Many still die annuallyfromthe plague:” say,ofthe plague.
470. “He spokecontemptiblyof him,” should be, He spokecontemptuouslyof him.
471. “Wasyou?” should be,Wereyou?
472. “This is the moreperfectof the two:” say, Morecomplete.Perfectrarely admits comparison.
473. Avoid all slang and vulgar words and phrases, as,Anyhow,Bating,Bran new,To blow up,Bother,Cut,Currying favor,Fork out,Half an eye,I am up to you,Kick up,Scrape,The Scratch,Walk into.
474. “Gooverthe bridge,” should be, Goacrossthe bridge.
475. “I was some distance from home,” should be, I wasatsome distance from home.
476. “Is Mr. Smithin?” should be, Is Mr. Smithwithin?
477. “It isabovea month since,” should be, It ismorethan a month since.
478. “Vegetables wereplenty,” should be, Vegetables wereplentiful.
479. “We both werevery disappointed.” This is an incomplete expression: say,very much, orvery greatly. No one would think of saying, “We both werevery pleased.”
480. “It is I whoisto receive the appointment:” say, whoamto receive;whois in the first person, and the verb of which it is the subject must be in the same.
481. Never saybiscake, forbiscuit.
482. “Passengers arenot requestedto let down the chains, before the boat is fastened to the bridge.” [From a printed regulation on one of the New-York and Brooklyn ferry-boats.] The reading should be, “Passengersare requested not to let downthe chains.”
483. “How will youswapjack-knives?”swap,although it is a word familiarly used in connection with “jack-knives,” is a term that cannot lay the least claim to elegance. Use some other of the many mercantile expressions to which trade has given rise.
484. “He’s put his nose to thegrin-stoneat an early age.” [A remark usually made by old ladies, suggested by the first marriage among their grandsons.] Say,grind-stone. Agrin-stoneimplies a stone that “grins,” whereas, especially in this instance, the “nose” fulfills that office.
485. The importance of punctuating a written sentence is often neglected. Space does not permit the giving of rules on this subject, in this book. Business correspondence is generally blemished by many omissions of this character; for example, “Messrs G Longman & Co have recd a note from the Cor Sec Nat Shipwreck Soc informing them of the loss of one of their vessels off the N E Coast of S A at 8 P M on the 20 of Jan.” A clergyman, standing in his pulpit, was once handed a slip of paper, to be read in the hearing of the congregation, which was intended to convey the following notice: “A man going to sea, his wife desires the prayers of the church.” But thesentence was improperly punctuated, and he read, “A man going to see his wife, desires the prayers of the church!”
486. “The knave thereupon commenced rifling hisfriend’s(as he called him)pocket:” say, “The knave commenced rifling thepocket of his friend, as he facetiously called him.” The possessive case, and the word that governs it, must not be separated by an intervening clause.
487. “I owetheea heavy debt of gratitude, andyouwill not permit me to repay it:” say, either “I oweyou,” &c., preserving “andyouwill” in the second clause; or, “I owethee,” and altering “andyouwill” into “andthou wilt.”
488. “Every lancer and every riflemanwere at their post:” say,was at hispost.
489. “I can lift as many poundsas he has:” addlifted.
490. Do not useto, the sign of the infinitive mood, for the infinitive itself. “I have not written to him, and I am not likelyto,” should read, “I am not likelyto write to him.”
491. The wordagreeis sometimes followed by the wrong preposition. We should say, agreewitha person—toa proposition—upona thing among ourselves.
492. We should saycompare with, in respect of quality—compare to, for the sake of illustration.
493. We should say copyaftera person—copy froma thing.
494.Betweenis properly applied only to two objects;among, to three or more. “A father divided a portion of his propertybetweenhis two sons; the rest he distributedamongthe poor.”
495.Inshould not be used forinto, after verbs denotingentrance. “Comeinmy parlor,” should read, “Comeintomy parlor.”
496. “We confidein, and have respectfor, the good.” Such a form of expression is strained and awkward. It is better to say, “We confideinthe good, and have respect forthem,” or, “Wetrustandrespectthe good.”
497. “This veil of flesh parts the visible and the invisible world:” say, “parts the visiblefromthe invisible.” It certainly is not meant that the veil of fleshparts(ordivides) each of these worlds.
498. “Every leaf, every twig, every blade, every drop of water,teemwith life:” say,teems.
499. “Dr. Prideaux used to relate that when he brought the manuscript of his Connection of the Old and the New Testaments to the publisher,he told himit was a dry subject, and that the printing could not be safely ventured upon unless he could enliven the work with a little humor.” The sense alone, and not thesentence, indicates to whomheandhimrespectively refer; such a form of expression is faulty, because it may lead to a violation ofperspicuity, which is one of the most essential qualities of a good style.
500. The last direction which this little book will give, on the subject with which it has been occupied, is one that long ago was given in the greatest of books—“Let your conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ.” If obedience to this injunction may not guard him who heeds it against the commission of such mistakes as are numbered in this catalogue, it will not fail to lead him out of the way of errors more grievous and solemn.