Category: Language & Communication
The fact that this little book has passed through many editions, and now enters on a new one in revised form, is ample answer to its writer’s prayer when, with the aid of his Publishers, he launched it on an uncertain voyage over the seas of time--
The fact that this little book has passed through many editions, and now enters on a new one in revised form, is ample answer to its writer’s prayer when, with the aid of his Pu...
13. Part 13~talented~: Inasmuch as adjectives of the participial form are justified by strict grammarians only if derived from an existing verb, this word has been caviled at by Coleridge...
6. Part 6~feel good~, ~feel well~: Distinguish carefully between these phrases. _Good_ signifies having physical qualities that are useful, or that can be made productive of comfort, sat...
12. Part 12~right~: In the adverbial sense of _in a great degree_, is archaic or colloquial, except in some titles, as _Right_ Reverend. Say of a thing that it is _utterly_ (not _right_) n...
9. Part 9~masses~: The _masses_, in the sense of the common people, the great body of the people, exclusive of the wealthy or privileged, has so entered into popular speech that the expr...
8. Part 8~Is that so?~ One of a class of vulgar phrases of which other examples are “You don’t say”; “Don’t you know”; “You know”; “Well I never,” commonly used but all of which should b...
7. Part 7~habit~, ~custom~, ~usage~: Discriminate carefully between these words. In strict usage _habit_ pertains exclusively to the individual; _custom_ to a race or nation of people, a...
3. Part 3~base~, ~bass~: Discriminate carefully between these terms. _Base_ means the bottom or support of anything, that part on which it rests; also, that which is low. _Base_ is somet...
5. Part 5~discreet~, ~discrete~: Both words are derived from the Latin _discretus_, pp. of _discerno_, _dis_ + _cerno_, separate, and formerly _discreet_ was also spelt _discrete_, and e...
10. Part 10~of~: That the force of this word is not fully understood is proved by the fact that many ministers choose to omit it from the title of Scriptural books. Dean Alford in referrin...
2. Part 2Allude is from the Latin _alludo_, treat lightly, from _ad_, at, and _ludo_, play, and should be used only with the sense of “to refer incidentally, indirectly, or by suggestion...
4. Part 4~carry~: Although formerly used with the meaning of “conduct,” “guide,” or “escort” the term in this sense is now archaic. Do not say “Mr. A. _carried_ Miss B. to the party;” sa...
11. Part 11Occasionally, the possessive appears in double form, the substantive being preceded by _of_ and followed by the apostrophe with _s_. This occurs, however, only in idiomatic phra...
14. Part 14~visit~: A term sometimes misused. Do not say “The actor has just _visited_, with much abuse, the head of the critic,” when you mean that he abused him roundly. This is an erron...