Quotation marks are not needed when matter is indented, thus:The speaker said in part:
I do not believe that, etc.
Sometimes marks of punctuation belong inside quotation marks and sometimes outside, as: "Did you hear him say, 'I am here'?" But in this case: "I heard him say, 'Are you here?'" Continental usage permits this form: "Are you shot!?" but it is not in good use on this side.
Use no quotation marks with slang of your own writing.
Use no quotes in writing testimony with question and answer. This is the style:
Q.—What is your name?A.—John Jones.
Observe the style on quotes within quotes:The witness said: "I asked him, 'Where is my copy of "Paradise Lost"?'"
Writes Arnold Bennett: One is curious about one's fellow-creatures: therefore one watches them. And generally the more intelligent one is, the more curious one is, and the more one observes. The mere satisfaction of this curiosity is in itself a worthy end, and would alone justify the business of systemized observation. But the aim of observation may, and should, be expressed in terms more grandiose. Human curiosity counts among the highest social virtues (as indifference counts among the basest defects), because it leads to a disclosure of the causes of character and temperament and thereby to a better understanding of the springs of human conduct. Observation is not practiced directly with this high end in view (save by prigs and other futile souls); nevertheless it is a moral act and must inevitably promote kindliness—whether we like it or not. It also sharpens the sense of beauty. An ugly deed—such as a deed of cruelty—takes on artistic beauty when its origin and hence its fitness in the general scheme begin to be comprehended. In the perspective of history we can derive esthetic pleasure from the tranquil scrutiny of all kinds of conduct—as well, for example, of a Renaissance Pope as of a Savonarola. Observation endows our day and our street with the romantic charm of history, and stimulates charity—not the charity which signs cheques, but the more precious charity which puts itself to the trouble of understanding. The condition is that the observer must never lose sight of the fact that what he is to see is life, is the woman next door, is the man in the train—and not a concourse of abstractions. To appreciate all this is the first inspiring preliminary to sound observation.
Watch for nouns ending in-ics. Many of them are singular, such aspolitics,mathematics,ethics.
Make sums of money singular:Five dollars was spent, unless individual pieces of money are meant, as:Five silver dollars were placed on the table. Writemoneys, notmonies.
Remember thatdata,memoranda,phenomena,paraphernalia,bacteriaandstrataare plural.
Distinguish betweenmajorityandplurality.Majoritymeans the lead of a candidate overall othercandidates.Pluralitymeans the lead of a candidate overone othercandidate.
Event,incident,affair,occurrence,happening,circumstancedo not mean the same things. Look them up.
Usepreventive, notpreventative.
Distinguish betweenambassador,minister,consul,envoy.
Avoid feminine forms of such words asauthor,artist,dancer,violinist,pianist,poet. It may be necessary occasionally to change more than the spelling. For example,the world's greatest pianistemay not meanthe world's greatest pianist.
Prefer motorist to automobilist and autoist.
Seweris a drain.Sewageis what goes through it.Sewerageis a system of drains.
Don't usedivineas a noun.
Don't writecoupleunless you mean two things joined and not merely two.
Don't writepartyforperson, norpeopleforpersons.
Don't usecitizenswhen you mean simplypersons.
Don't writea large per cent ofwhen speaking of persons when you meana large proportion.
When nouns are attended by participles, two constructions are possible. One may say eitherI know of John's being there, orI know of John being there;The fact of the battle's having been lost, orThe fact of the battle having been lost. The possessive is to be preferred with proper names and in most simple constructions; it isaltogether to be preferred with pronounswhen the principal idea is in the participle. One says:I saw him going,I heard them singing; butI heard of his going;I urged his going;I advised their attending;I objected to his staying;I opposed their going;the fact of his being there made a difference;On his saying this the people shouted;With their consenting the thing was settled;He spoke of my setting out as already agreed to;He found fault with our accepting the place, etc.
Collective nouns are usually singular, as,The club has increased its membership. However, a collective noun, when it is used to refer more particularly to individuals than to the mass, is plural, asThe crowd was orderly, but,The crowd threw up their hats. In using collective nouns beware of mixing the number. Do not write,The audience was in their seats, butThe audience was seated, orThe audience were in their seats.
PREFERStation to depotHouse or home to residenceWoman to ladyMan to gentlemanTelephone to phoneAutomobile to autoMotor car to motorBridegroom to groomRest to balance
I believe in the profession of journalism.
I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the full measure of their responsibility, trustees for the public; that acceptance of lesser service than the public service is betrayal of this trust.
I believe that clear thinking and clear statement, accuracy and fairness are fundamental to good journalism.
I believe that a journalist should write only what he holds in his heart to be true.
I believe that suppression of the news for any consideration other than the welfare of society is indefensible.
I believe that no one should write as a journalist what he would not say as a gentleman; that bribery by one's own pocketbook is as much to be avoided as bribery by the pocketbook of another; that individual responsibility may not be escaped by pleading another's instruction or another's dividends.
I believe that advertising, news and editorial columns should alike serve the best interests of the readers; that a single standard of helpful truth and clearness should prevail for all; that the supreme test of good journalism is the measure of its public service.
I believe that the journalism which succeeds best—and best deserves success—fears God and honors man; is stoutly independent, unmoved by pride of opinion or greed of power; constructive, tolerant, but never careless; self controlled, patient; always respectful of its readers, but always unafraid; is quickly indignant at injustice; is unswayed by the appeal of privilege or the clamor of the mob; seeks to give every man a chance and, as far as law and honest wages and recognition of human brotherhood can make it so, an equal chance; is profoundly patriotic, while sincerely promoting international good will and cementing world comradeship; is a journalism of humanity, of and for today's world.
Never useIin referring to yourself except in a signed article.
Avoid the use ofhe or sheandhis or her. The use of either phrase is seldom required for clearness' sake. When a noun is used which may refer indifferently to both sexes, the accepted practice is to use the masculine pronoun. For example, say:Let the teacher do his duty and he need not fear criticism, notLet the teacher do his or her duty and he or she need not fear criticism.
Similarly after indefinite singulars likeeach,every,somebody,anybody, use the masculine singular pronoun. Thus,Everyone should do his duty and he should do it every day. Here one is not only to avoid the use ofhe or sheandhis or her, but also particularly and constantly to be on guard againsttheyandtheir. Sentences likeNobody knows what they can do till they try;Everyone is urged to come and bring their pocketbooks with them, are frequently heard and often get into print.
Do not usethe samefor a third personal or a demonstrative pronoun.The farmer brought a load of wheat to town and sold it(notthe same)at the mill.
Do not makesucha pronoun, except in the phrasesuch as.He has fruits of all sorts and his prices for such are unreasonable, is the sort of use to be avoided.
Distinguish betweenits, possessive pronoun, andit's, contraction ofit is.
Useeitherorneitheronly of two,any oneornoneof more than two, as:In one group are Russia, Germany and Austria, in another France and England. Any one of the first group acting with either of the second could determine the question. (As conjunctions,eitherandneithermay introduce the first of a series of particulars consisting of three or more. It is correct to sayNeither this nor that nor the other thing; but when used as pronouns,eitherandneithershould be rigidly confined to use with reference to two only.)
Prefer alwaysno oneandnobodytonot any oneornot anybody, asIt is no one's(ornobody's)business, not,It is not any one's(ornot anybody's)business.
Do not useapieceforeachof persons. Say:The men each took an appleortook an apple each, notThe men took an apple apiece. But they might have bought the apples at so muchapiece.
Be careful not to saythese sort of things,these kind of men, forthis sort of thingsorthis kind of men.
In questions direct or indirect be careful to usewhomwhen the objectivecase is required. Do not say,Who did you see there?or,I do not know who he meant.
The relativewhoshould be used only of persons (or of beasts or things personified). Do not say:The dog whom you saworHe drove the horse who made the best record. The relativewhichshould be used only of beasts and inanimate objects. Do not say:The women and children which were numerous then came trooping in.
The relativethatmay be used regardless of gender and the antecedent.
Thatshould be used after a compound antecedent mentioning both persons and animals or things, as,The soldiers, the ambulances and the pack mules that were recaptured, were sent to the rear.
Be careful of the case ofwhoif a parenthetical sentence intervenes between it and its verb.He said that Gen. Harrison, whom, everybody well knew, had long been interested in the case, would make the closing argument.Such faulty objective is often heard in daily speech and not infrequently gets into the papers. Of coursewhoshould be used. Butwhomshould be used when the infinitive follows:He said that Gen. Harrison, whom everybody admitted to be profoundly versed in the law, would discuss the point.
It is proper to omit the relative pronoun on occasion when it is the object of the following verb, asHe was among the men (whom) I saw.
Never uselikeas a conjunction. John may looklikeJames or actlikeJames or speaklikeJames, but he never looks, acts or speakslikeJames looks, acts or speaks; he never lookslikehe wanted to do something, nor conducts himselflikehe thought he owned the earth, orlikehe was crazy.Like(as in the first example) may be followed by an objective case of a substantive, with which the construction is completed:You are like me in this;You, like me, believe this;He conducted himself like a crazy man. When a clause is demanded,as ifshould be used:He looks as if he wanted something;he acts as if he were crazy.
Do not useifforwhetherin introducing indirect questions:I doubt whether(notif)this is true;I asked whether(notif)he would go.
Do not useasforthat. NotI do not know as this is so, butI do not know that this is so.
Do not usewithoutforunless.We cannot go unless(notwithout)he comes.
Do not usebut whatforbut thatorthat.I do not doubt that(orbut that)he will come, notbut what he will come;They did not know but that(notbut what)they might accept it.
Do not usewhileforalthough, as,while it is probable.Whilerefers to time.
The verb should agree with its subject in person and number. It ought not to be necessary to give this obvious rule, but hardly a day passes without violation of it in almost every paper. Its violation is especially common in the inverted sentence, introduced withthere.There is likely to be some changes;There is, at the present writing, some hopes of peace;There seems to be, in view of all the conditions, many objections to this plan, are examples of the faulty usage.
Thetoshould not be separated from the infinitive by word or phrase. The modifier should precede thetoor follow the verb. Do not sayto promptly act, butto act promptlyorpromptly to act. Such use as in the example just given is bad enough, but it is not so offensive as the intrusion of time adverbs and negatives as, for example,He decided to now go, orHe expected to not only go but to stay, orHe preferred to not stay.
Do not end a sentence with thetoof an omitted infinitive; as:He could not speak but tried to; butHe refused to go but he ought to go, orHe ought to go but he refuses.
Subordinate infinitives and participles take their time from the verb in the principal clause. They should therefore be the simple so-called present forms. Do not say:I intended to have gone, orI intended having gone, butI intended to go,I intended going; notHe had expected to have been present, butHe had expected to be present; notHe would have liked to have seen you; butHe would have liked to see you; notI was desirous to have gone, butI was desirous to go.
With the verbsappear(in the sense ofseem to be) andfeel,look,smellandsound(used intransitively) use an adjective and not an adverb, i. e.,The rose smells sweet;Miss Coghlan as Lady Teazle looked charming;She appeared happy. Butappearin the same sense ofbehaveis followed by an adverb, asHe appears well; and the other verbs used transitively of course take an adverb, asHe looked sharply at the man.
When one wishes to imply doubt or denial in a condition of present or indefinite time, the imperfect subjunctive should be used, asIf the book were here, I should show you—but the book is not here;If it were true, you would long ago have heard it—but it is not true. But if one is referring to past time, the imperfect indicative must be used, as,If he was here yesterday, I did not know it.
Be careful to distinguish betweenlayandlie,raiseandrise,setandsit. The first of each pair is transitive, and always requires an object; the second is intransitive and never takes an object. (The only exception issitused of arider, as,He sits his horse well.) Onelaysorsetsa thing down andraisesit up. Oneliesorsitsdown andrisesfrom one's place. Landliesthis way or that. (But we speak of thelayof the land.)
Especially pains must be taken to keep straight the past tenses and past participles oflayandlie. Oflaypast tense and participle are alikelaid.He laidorhe has laid the case before the authorities. The past tense oflieislay(the same as the present tense of the transitive verb), the past participle islain. These forms are seldom if ever used for parts oflay; but for themlaidis very often used, as,He laidorhe has laid down to take a nap, where the correct usage isHe layorhe has lain down, etc.
Pricesrise, wagesrise, breadrises, bread issettorise; menraiseprices or wages;He rose and raised his hand. Clothing of every sortsitswell or ill, it does notset. The corresponding noun, however, isset;He admired the set of the garment. Youseta hen, but the hensitsand is asittinghen. The heavenly bodiesset, but that is another word, which means tosinkor tosettle.
Inanimate objects are notinjuredbutdamaged.
Usewishto mean simple desire, as,I wish to see him. Usewantto mean acute need, as,I want food.
Only moving objectscollide. Two automobiles maycollide, but an automobile does notcollidewith a fence.
PREFER:lendtoloanlivestoresidesleavestodepartsobtainorprocuretosecureturn overtoturn turtleboughttopurchasedlive at hoteltostop at hotelrobbed oftorelieved of
Things of a general class are comparedwitheach other to bring out points of similarity or dissimilarity. One thing is comparedtoanother of a different class. He compared DetroitwithCleveland. He compared Detroittoa busy hive of bees.
Thingsoccurorhappenby chance andtake placeby design. An accidenthappensoroccurs; a pre-arranged acttakes place.
Except in legal papers useprovedinstead ofproven.
Transpiredoes not mean to take place but to leak out, as,They tried to keep their deliberations secret, but it transpired that * * *
Enthuseis not a good word. Saybecome enthusiastic.
Medicine, laws and oaths areadministered; blows and punishment aredealt.
Allegeis used only in referring to formal charges and not as a synonym forsayorassert.
The past tense and past participle ofdivearedived. Don't usedove.
The past tense and past participle offorecastareforecast. Don't useforecasted.
The past tense and past participle ofhangarehung, except in reference to an execution; then write,He was hanged.
The past tense and past participle ofpleadarepleadedand notpleadorpled. Don't write,He plead guilty, butHe pleaded guilty.
The past tense ofswimisswam, and the past participle isswum.
Newspaper men can read with profit this list of words and phrases to be avoided, compiled by Charles A. Dana for his associates on the New York Sun:
aboveoroverformore thanaggregatefortotalbalanceforremaindercall attentionfordirect attentionclaimforassertcommenceforbegincompriseforcomposeconsciousforawarecouplefortwoculturedforcultivateddate back tofordate fromdonateforgivefallforautumnfrom whenceforwhenceindorseforapproveinaugurateforestablish,instituteindividualforpersoninfiniteforgreat,vastlastforlatestlessforfewermateriallyforlargelynamed afterfornamed fornoticeforobserveontoforonoruponpartiallyforpartlypast two yearsforlast two yearspracticallyforvirtuallypartyforperson
Mark Twain in "A Tramp Abroad" wrote: "Harris said that if the best writer in the world once got the slovenly habit of 'doubling up his have's,' he could never get rid of it; that is to say, if a man gets the habit of saying 'I should have liked to have known more about it' instead of saying 'I should have liked to know more about it,' his disease is incurable."
. . . REFLECTOR OF EVERY HUMAN INTEREST . . . FRIEND OF EVERY RIGHTEOUS CAUSE . . . ENCOURAGER OF EVERY GENEROUS ACT.
Great liberty may be exercised in placing the adverb according to the emphasis desired. In general it should be placed near the word or phrase it modifies to express the thought most clearly. One should not say,Not only he spoke forcefully but eloquently; norHe was rather forceful than eloquent, butHe was forceful rather than eloquent.
Note particularly that when the adverb is placed within the verb, it should regularly follow the first auxiliary. For example:This cantruthfully be said, notThis can be truthfully said;He willprobably have set out by noon, notHe will have probably, etc.;Ithas long been expected, notIt has been long expected.
If the adverb is intended to modify the whole sentence, it very properly stands first, as,Decidedly, this is not true;Assuredly, he does notmean that. In such sentences the adverb really modifies some verb understood, as,I say decidedly this is not true.
Do not usethis,thatandsomeas adverbs. Never saythis high,this long,that broad,that good,this much,that much,some better,some earlier. Saythusorsowhenever tempted to usethisorthatin such connections, and usesomewhatinstead ofsome.
Do not say a man isdangerously ill; sayalarminglyorcritically. Never useilly; you might as well saywelly.
After a negative usesoin a comparison.This is as good as that, butThis is not so good as that.
Sayas far as,as long as, etc.; notso far as,so long as. Thus,As far as I know, this is true;As long as I stay here, you mayuse my book.
Usepreviously to,agreeably to,consistently with, etc., instead of the adjective forms, in such expressions asPreviously to myarrival, he had been informed;We acted agreeably to theinstructions.
Beware ofonly. Better not use it unless you are sure it is correctly placed. Observe the difference in the meaning here: I haveonlyspoken to him. I have spokenonlyto him.
Don't useliablewhen you meanlikely. A man islikelyto park his automobile so he will beliableto arrest.
Don't usepainfully cutand similar expressions. One is notpleasantly cut.
Occasionallymeanson occasion. So don't writevery occasionally, butvery seldomorinfrequently.
Fartheris used to denote distance;furtherin other senses, as,I told him further that I walked farther than he.
Be sparing in the use of epithets and of adjectives and adverbs generally. Especially avoid the use of superlatives. Superlatives are seldom true. Rarely is a man the most remarkable man in the country in any particular; rarely is an accident the worst in the history of the city. Better understate than overstate; better err on the side of moderation than excess. William Cobbett says: "Some writers deal in expletives to a degree that tires the ear and offends the understanding. With them everything is excessively, or immensely, or extremely, or vastly, or surprisingly, or wonderfully, or abundantly, or the like. The notion of such writers is that these words give strength to whattheyare saying. This is a great error. Strength must be found in the thought or it will never be found in the words. Big sounding words, without thoughts corresponding, are effort without effect."
Be sure to remember thatneemeans born. It is of course impossible then to speak ofMrs. Doe, nee Mary Roe, as one is never born with a Christian name, butMrs. Doe, nee Roe. And, of all things when a widow has remarried, do not writeMrs. Richard Roe, nee Mrs. John Doe.
Adjectives, if wisely used, give desirable color to a story. A thesaurus will brighten up a reporter's adjectival vocabulary. These are suggestions for possible substitutions of fresh words for more or less hackneyed words:
fast—fleet,swiftgood—meritorious,laudablerepentant—penitent,contritetemperate—abstemiousintemperate—penitent,contritemodest—decorousdistressing—piteous,pitiable,ruefulwitty—jocose,nimble-wittedfearful—timid,apprehensive,tremulouscrafty—cunning,artfulfrank—ingenuous,guileless
Preferagreeabletonice, which means accurate; andlongtolengthy.
Words likeperfectanduniquecannot be compared. Never write,more perfect,most perfect,most unique.
Eschew the wordvery. It seldom strengthens a sentence.
It is better to use such words asfeline,bovine,canine,humanas adjectives only.
Preferseveralormanytoa number of.
Healthymeans possessing health, as,a healthy man.Healthfulmeans conducive to health, as,healthful climate,surroundings,employment. Do not usehealthfulin speaking of food, butwholesome.
Parlousis archaic. Don't use the phrasein these parlous times. The word in good usage isperilous.
Nobody has explained the difference betweenactual photographsandphotographs.
Awfulmeans inspiringawe,fearfulinspiringfear, andterribleinspiringterror.
Anxiousimpliesanxiety. Sayeagerif you mean it.
The first meaning ofhecticis habitual. The second meaning isfevered. It connotesheatmore particularly thanred.
Great care is neededinusing these three words:livid,luridandweird.Lividmeans primarily black and blue. It also means a grayish blue or lead color, as flesh by contusion. It doesn't mean anything else.Luridmeans a pale yellow, ghastly pale, wan; figuratively it means gloomy or dismal, grimly terrible or sensational. When used in its first sense it is properly applicable to the yellow flames seen through smoke. It does not mean fiery red. In its figurative sense it can be used to describe a series of incidents calculated to shock or to stun by the enormity of them.Weirdmeans primarily pertaining to witchcraft and is used in reference to the witches in "Macbeth." It also means unearthly, uncanny, eerie. A green light might be calledweird. It must not be used to mean peculiar, as,She wore a weird hat.
Says Irvin S. Cobb: I'd rather have my work read by thousands of people throughout the country than be the author of the greatest classic that ever mouldered on a shelf.
In my opinion, the masses are worth our art. If we believe in a democratic form of government we should believe in a democratic attitude toward the art of the short story, and I, for one, frankly admit that I write for the shop girl and business man rather than for the high-brow critic. That does not mean you must necessarily choose between them, but if I had to choose I would let the critic go.
DEFENDER OF CIVIL LIBERTY . . . STRENGTHENER OF LOYALTY . . . PILLAR AND STAY OF DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT.
Be careful to use the proper prepositions in all connections.
Saydifferent from, notdifferent to.
We say a man liveson, notin, a street, an avenue, etc. Children playinthe street, butonthe pavement.
One writesunder, notover, a signature. The preposition has no reference to the place of the signature.
Do not overworkon the part of. This phrase is often used wherebyoramongis to be preferred, as,Much patriotism is displayed on the part of the Greeks.
Sayoff, notoff fromoroff of.He fell off his horse, orHe fell from his horse.
Discriminate carefully betweenbesideandbesides. The first is always a preposition and means eitherby the side of, as,He stood beside me, oraside from, orout of, as,This is beside our present purpose;He was beside himself for joy.Besidesis either preposition or adverb: as the former it meansin addition to, asSeveral others were present besides those you saw; as adverb it meansmoreoverormore than that, asThere were, besides, many pompous volumes.
Be careful withbetweenandamong;betweenis used with reference to two persons, parties or things;amongwith reference to many:In this city Democrats and Republicans divide the offices between them; in some cities they are distributed among all the parties.
Distinguish betweeninandinto.Intoimplies action. A man goesintohis house and then he isinthe house.
A person diesoftyphoid fever rather thanfromtyphoid fever.
Distinguish betweenconsist inandconsist of. Virtue consistsinright living. The family consistsofseven persons.
A book is illustratedwithsketches and it is illustratedbythe artist who made the sketches.
Omitfromfrom the phrasesfrom hence,from thence,from whence.
MIRROR OF THE PUBLIC MIND . . . INTERPRETER OF THE PUBLIC INTENT . . . TROUBLER OF THE PUBLIC CONSCIENCE.
Use an article with every noun of a series unless the nouns are so closely related that one concept is implied. Say,The bread and jam was good, butThe bread and the jam were good. Say,A horse and buggy, butA man and a woman.
Do not repeat an article before each adjective of a series when all modify the same noun. Say,A red, white and blue flag. If you mean three flags, say,A red, a white, and a blue flag.
Do not writeaoranaftersort ofandkind of. Make it:He is the right sort of man for mayor.
The definite article is used too often when it might better be omitted, as in this sentence:The study of the dictionary is helpful. Write it:Study of the dictionary.
The general rule on The News is that all numbers above nine shall be written in figures, and that all numbers below 10 shall be spelled out. There are, of course, many exceptions to this rule. Figures are always used for degrees of latitude and longitude, degrees of temperature, per cent, prices, racing time, scores, definite sums of money, time, votes, dates (as Sept. 27), ages, street numbers and tabulated statistics.
Spell out indefinite figures, asabout a dollar's worth.
Use Roman numerals in writing of kings, asGeorge V, and then without a period. Do not use Roman numerals in designating centuries. Write itfourteenth century, notXIVth century.
WriteMonday at 8 a. m., notat 8 o'clock on Monday morning.
Spell out such expressions asthe early seventies.
Use figures in dimensions when written thus:a lot 4×6 feet.
All ages shall be written thus:John Smith, 8 years old. Do not write it:John Smith, aged 8, oraged eight. It will be easy to remember the rule if you observe that in writing it thus:John Smith, aged 18, 48 Jones street, you are opening an opportunity for an error easily made. It may appear:John Smith, aged 184, 8 Jones street.
All ordinals are spelled out. Write itthirtieth, not30th. Write a date:Feb. 6, notFebruary 6th, orFebruary sixth.
Do not use both numerals and figures spelled out in one phrase. Write it:Eight feet eleven inches. If in a phrase a number over 10 precedes a number under 10, express both in figures, thus18 hours 4 minutes. If vice versa, express it thus:two hours eighteen minutes.
7.92 inches make 1 link.25 links make 1 rod.16.50 feet make 1 rod.4 rods make 1 chain.10 chains make 1 furlong.8 furlongs make 1 mile.320 rods make 1 mile.5,280 feet make 1 mile.10 square chains make 1 acre.160 square rods make 1 acre.640 acres make 1 square mile.43,560 square feet make 1 acre.69 geographical miles make 1 degree of latitude.1,728 cubic inches make 1 cubic foot.27 cubic feet make 1 cubic yard.Gunter's chain, 22 yards of 100 links.A section is 640 acres.A township is 36 sections, each 1 square mile.A span is 9 inches.A hand—horse measurement—is 4 inches.A knot—nautical—is 6,086 feet.A fathom—nautical—is 6 feet.A stone is 14 pounds.A square acre is 208 7-10 feet on each side.
The metric system is the system of measurement of which the meter is the fundamental unit. It was first adopted in France and is now in general use in most civilized countries except the English-speaking countries. The system is now used throughout the world for scientific measurements. Its use was legalized in the United States in 1866.
The meter, the unit of length, was intended to be one ten-millionth part of the earth's meridian quadrant and is nearly so. Its length is 39.370 inches. The unit of surface is the are, which is 100 square meters. The theoretical unit of volume is the stere, which is a cubic meter. The unit of volume for the purposes of the market is the liter, which is the volume of one kilogram of distilled water at its maximum density and is intended to be one cubic decimeter. For 10 times,100 times, 1,000 times and 10,000 times one of these units, the prefixes, deca-, hecto-, kilo- and myria- are used. For 1-10, 1-100 and 1-1,000 of the units, the prefixes deci-, centi- and milli- are used.
In this table the equivalents are measures common in the United States and are not to be confused with British measures, which in some cases vary slightly.