CHAPTER VIII

ON CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS

=Authority.=—If the art of writing is the art of saying what we mean, we must use words that the reader will understand. Of course the word _reader_ is rather general: there are readers and readers. An article written for adults would show different words from one written for children. For the purposes of this chapter, our typical reader is the American or the Englishman who has a good public school training. This “average man” may in theory happen to live in London, or in Maine, or, again, in Texas. Now, there are certain words used in Texas that are not used in London or in Maine. In parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania a small pail is called a “blickey.” Most natives of Chicago never heard the word. Such words as “blickey” are called _provincialisms_ or _localisms_, and are ruled out. Our words must be _national_. This need not mean international; many words are used in England that need not be used in America, and _vice versâ_. The American speaks of _switching_ a train; the Englishman speaks of _shunting_ it. With the former the train goes up a steep _grade_; with the latter it goes up a _gradient_. The Englishman calls _baggage_, _luggage_, a word that Americans are more likely to use of those pieces only that can be carried in the hand. It is to be presumed that national differences of this sort are known to American and Englishman alike; therefore there is no reason why either should change from the usage of his country. Good English is essentially the same in all English-speaking countries.

One other matter is suggested by the words _national usage_. A nation is composed of all sorts and conditions of men. Each class, each trade and profession, has its own pet expressions and contractions. Good usage does not recognize these. The dialect of the college, or the ball-ground, or the counting-room, or the law-courts, is racy enough and proper enough in its place; but it has no place in standard English. A student may _flunk_, but only in school. A book of accounts can be _posted_, but not a man.

Again, our words must not be so old-fashioned or obsolete that they are unintelligible. They must be _present_. _Let_ once meant “to hinder.” Naturally no one would use it in this sense to-day.

Many words that are both national and present are not permitted, since they are not _reputable_. They are used, but wrongly so; used by the careless and the uneducated. A great number of such expressions are perfectly well understood wherever English is spoken, but if one employs them one will be set down as careless or ignorant; for example, _ain’t_ is intelligible to all, but its use is known to be a mark of vulgarity; such a word is called a _vulgarism_. Most slang consists of vulgarisms, though some slang finally becomes reputable English. Reputable words are those employed by the best writers. By _best_ is meant writers who have literary distinction, and who know and regard the structure and history of English literary words. In this day, when everybody scribbles and prints, there are countless writers whose usage is not really reputable. The newspapers, though they have done much to free modern English from pedantry, are not usually reputable in usage. The English of very many novelists is in bad repute. Even certain writers of eminence, such as Dickens and Thomas Hughes, are guilty of using unreputable words and senses of words. Such essayists as Matthew Arnold and John Fiske; such writers of fiction as Thackeray, Hawthorne, Stevenson, and Henry James; such historians as Green and Parkman—these men are in general safe models in matters of usage.

To sum up, then; if we would be understood, and would be reckoned as educated persons, we must use words that are reputable, national, and present. _Good usage is the employment of such words and, senses of words as the body of reputable writers sanction by their own practice to-day._ Notice that _the body_ of reputable writers is specified. No one author makes good use, any more than one swallow makes a summer. When a critic wishes to prove by authority that a given expression is English, he must be able to quote it from many authors.

=The Dictionary.=—A dictionary is a codification of good usage. Indeed, a large dictionary codifies also much bad usage, explaining in the case of the latter the particular form of badness, whether local usage, or colloquial usage, or vulgar usage. Such a dictionary also outlines the history of each word, so far as this is known; it can here be learned what was standard English yesterday, what three centuries ago. A dictionary habit is indispensable to every one. When in doubt about the present meaning or pronunciation of a word, or curious as to its history, look it up. Have an abridged dictionary of your own,—the less abridged the better,—but consult also the unabridged books frequently. Every author rediscovers the charm that lies in the dictionary. To find that charm, every word of the given explanations should be read, and the system of _diacritical marks_, which show syllabification, accent, vowel, and consonant sounds, should be studied.

=Barbarisms.=—Lord Chesterfield writes to his son: “The first thing you should attend to is, to speak whatever language you do speak, in its greatest purity, and according to the rules of grammar; for we must never offend against grammar, nor make use of words which are not really words.”

A word that is not in a good dictionary, or is there branded as provincial or as vulgar, is not really a word, and should not be used. An expression that has not been recognized by good use is called a _barbarism_. Often such terms are incorrectly formed, as when they are coined by ignorant persons; often they are corruptions of words. _Motorneer_ is wrongly coined; _slick_ is corrupted from _sleek_. _Motorneer_ is made up of _motor_ plus the ending _er_. The _ne_ is left over from the discarded steam engine, for _motorneer_ is made by false analogy from _engineer_. The proper word is _motorman_. If there is need for a new word in the language,—and the need often arises in these days of invention,—its component parts should be from the same tongue, and it should be formed by strict analogy, on the model of some correct, accepted word. Examine such a word as _shadowgraph_, which the more careless newspapers began to use as soon as the “Roentgen rays” were discovered. _Shadow_ is English; _graph_ is Greek,—a termination that should be added only to a Greek word. Various correct formations have been proposed for the ray-picture—_scotograph_, _radiograph_, _skiagraph_, etc. It remains to be seen which one of these words will become established. Examine the word _electrocution_. It is formed on the false analogy of _execution_. _Execution_ is from the Latin _ex_ + _sequor_, meaning “to follow up,” or, so to speak, “to chase down.” The man who invented _electrocution_ could not have known that _sequor_ was a part of _execution_. He merely tied together _electro_ and _cution_, thinking perhaps that _cution_ meant cutting or killing. _Electro_ is from the Greek (meaning “amber,” the substance by rubbing which some one discovered electricity), and in strictness should not be joined to a Latin termination, even if that be correct. We might easily have had a good English word for death in the electrical chair; but as matters stand, there is no one recognized word for this idea.

Other barbarisms are: _burglarize_, _to enthuse_ (a bad coinage from _enthusiasm_), _an invite_, _double entendre_ and _nom de plume_ (two expressions which are neither accepted French nor accepted English), _walkist_, _a combine_, _preventative_ (for _preventive_), _reportorial_, _managerial_, _to suicide_, _gent_, _pants_ (the trade name, but not the literary), _photo_, _prof._, _spoonsful_. Words brought into the English from other languages, and not yet recognized by good use, are also barbarisms. Such words are said to be not yet _Anglicized_. They are referred to as _alienisms_, and most may be classified as Latinisms, Hellenisms (or Greek words), Teutonisms (chiefly German words), Gallicisms (French words). A word peculiar to America is an _Americanism_; one peculiar to England is a _Briticism_. Some Americanisms and Briticisms are not really barbarisms, but are warranted by the canon of national use.

The following words are as yet alienisms: _artiste_, _sobriquet_, _beau monde_, _faux pas_, _entre nous_, etc. Certain other words are Anglicized: _amateur_, _omelette_, _etiquette_, _litterateur_, etc. The temptation to sprinkle foreign words unnecessarily into one’s English reaches most persons sooner or later. It should be withstood. The English language is rich enough to furnish forth any man’s vocabulary.

Many words that may finally become good English are not yet accepted. To be on the safe side one should say: _point of view_, not _standpoint_; _upon_, not _onto_; _written permission_, not _a permit_; _he doesn’t_, not _he don’t_.[30]

In the list given above it is remarked of _pants_ that it is a trade name (for what are ordinarily known as trousers or pantaloons). Commercial English and literary English are two different things; and while a careful novelist would hardly write about _wheatena_, or _flexibone_, or _autoharp_, he might talk about them in the shops. Yet these words are not correctly formed; and the same thing is unhappily true of other trade names.

=Improprieties.=—Suppose, now, that a writer uses a good English word, but uses it in a sense not found in the best authors. In this case he uses the word improperly; he commits an _impropriety_. Sometimes two words sound so much alike that they are mistaken one for the other; for instance, _accept_ and _except_. Sometimes the two words mean nearly the same thing, and so come to be confused; for example, _continual_ and _continuous_. The following list gives the words that are most frequently mistaken for each other. In the illustrative sentences each such word is correctly used, and in all cases the other word would be incorrect or at least less desirable if substituted for it.

NOUNS

Ability, capacity.

1. The _capacity_ of man’s memory is great.

2. _Capacity_ for learning and _ability_ for doing are secrets of success.

What idea do these words share?

Acceptance, acceptation.

1. His _acceptance_ was graceful.

2. You use the word in its usual _acceptation_.

Each of these words contains the idea to _take_. In what sense may this be said?

Access, accession.

1. _Access_ to the director is easy.

2. The library has received an _accession_ of books.

3. She was seized with an _access_ of grief.

4. The Tsar celebrated his _accession_ to the throne.

Each of these words contains the idea of _entrance_. _Access_ means the entrance of a person into a room or into the presence of another; also the entrance of a flood of emotion into the mind. _Accession_ means the entrance of a person into the rights of a position; also the entrance of books or other objects to a collection,—an addition to the collection.

Act, action.

1. Character is developed by _action_.

2. Our own _acts_ for good or ill speak for us.

Explain how both these words hold the idea of _do_.

Advance, advancement.

1. The swallow comes with the _advance_ of the season.

2. He has received _advancement_.

3. Each _advance_ of Napoleon was swift.

What idea have these two words in common? Explain how they differ.

Alternative, choice.

1. There is no _alternative_; he must go.

2. There are only three _choices_.

_Alternative_ is a choice between —— things.

Avocation, vocation.

1. My regular calling, or _vocation_, is teaching; but for an _avocation_ I spend my holidays in photography.

2. Dr. Weir Mitchell is a physician; but his regular _vocation_ of medicine doesn’t prevent him from following the delightful _avocation_ of letters.

Both these words have the idea of _calling_. Explain how they differ. (What does _ab_ mean in Latin?)

Balance, remainder.

1. The _balance_ of the sum is due.

2. The _remainder_ of the day is spent.

What relation exists between _balancing_ (_a book_) and _remainder_?

Character, reputation.

1. His _reputation_ for integrity is good.

2. His _character_ is beyond reproach.

3. A man cannot always control his _reputation_, but he can control his _character_.

Character is what a man ——; reputation is what people —— of him.

Compliment, complement.

1. Woman’s mind is by many considered the _complement_ of man’s, supplying certain things that the masculine mind has not.

2. His _compliments_ are really _flatteries_.

3. The secretary supplied the army with its _complement_ of stores.

Council, counsel.

1. His _counsel_ defended him in the trial.

2. Let good _counsel_ prevail.

3. The _council_ of ten gave good _counsel_.

Define these two words. What idea have they in common?

Falseness, falsity.

Arnold was a traitor; and the _falseness_ of his character was proved by the _falsity_ of his statements.

What idea do these words share? Frame definitions.

Invention, discovery.

Edison _discovered_ certain laws of sound and by them _invented_ the phonograph. This _invention_ is not as yet very useful; but the _discovery_ of the laws was important.

What idea do these words share? Frame definitions.

Limit, limitation.

1. There should be no _limitation_ of the commander’s authority.

2. There were no _limits_ to his delight.

What common idea have these words? Define each.

Majority, plurality.

A _majority_ is more than half the whole number. A _plurality_ is the excess of votes received by one candidate above another. When there are several candidates, the one who receives more votes than any other has a plurality.

In what respect are these words alike in meaning? in what unlike?

Observation, observance.

1. His _observation_ of the habits of birds was keen.

2. His _observance_ of the Sabbath was strict.

Is _watch_ the best word for the idea shared by these words? Discuss.

Observation, remark.

1. Johnson’s _observations_ of men were keen.

2. Johnson’s _observations_ were made with his eyes; his _remarks_, with his tongue; and Boswell, by recording the remarks, recorded the _observations_.

What relation has a _remark_ to an _observation_?

Party, person.

1. A _party_ in a silk hat must be a party of Liliputians.

2. The _party_ of the first part was two _persons_.

3. A seedy _person_ joined the party.

4. I refuse to be a _party_ to the deed.

Is the idea of a _part_ always contained in the word _party_? Discuss.

Part, portion.

1. Esau sold his _portion_, the part allotted him.

2. The human body has many _parts_.

3. Waiter, one _portion_ of roast beef will do!

What is a _portion_?

Prominent, predominant.

There were many _prominent_ men in Lincoln’s cabinet, but the President was always _predominant_ among them.

Consult the unabridged as to the origin of these words.

Recipe, receipt.

If _receipt_ comes from the Latin meaning “taken,” it is easy to see why when money is taken a _receipt_ is given. _Recipe_ is a Latin imperative, meaning “take”; naturally it is the right word for a formula in cooking; “take” so much salt, so much meal, so much water—and lo! a johnny cake.

Relative, relation.

One may have many _relatives_ with whom he does not keep up close _relations_.

Is _relation_ preferably an abstract noun, or a concrete?

Residence, house.

1. Do not say _residence_ when you mean house; the simpler word is the better.

2. He has his _residence_ in his house.

3. His _residence_, or place of _residence_, is Montreal.

Sewage, sewerage.

The _sewage_ flows through the system of _sewerage_.

Site, situation.

1. Lovely is Zion for _situation_.

2. The _site_ of Troy was repeatedly built upon, each new Troy being in turn destroyed by fire or by some enemy.

3. The _situation_ of Chicago by the lake gives the city fresh breezes.

What kind of place is a _site_? What is a _situation_?

VERBS

Accept, except.

1. All Cretans are liars, runs the proverb: the proverb _excepts_ none.

2. He _accepted_ the invitation.

Both words have the idea of _take_. How is this true of except?

Affect, effect.

1. Even the rumor _affected_ his belief, changing it slightly.

2. He _effected_ a junction with the other army.

Which of these words could properly govern _reconciliation_? _mind_? _health_? _release_? _conduct after release_? _destruction_? _conscience_? _peace of mind_? Which one of the two words requires for an object a noun expressing an action?

Aggravate, irritate, tantalize.

1. Tantalus was _tantalized_ by the sight of inaccessible fruit.

2. He _aggravates_ the difficulty by trying to excuse his act.

3. He is _aggravating_ his cold by going out.

4. He _irritates_ me by his teasing.

5. The gravity of our case is but _aggravated_ by delay.

Allude, mention.

1. Nobody would _allude_ to an experience so unpleasant to all that party.

2. He _alluded_ to Washington as the Father of his Country.

3. He _mentioned_ several ways of accomplishing the work; then he went back to his duties, not _alluding_ to the subject again.

Can a person _allude_ to a thing without assuming knowledge of it on the part of an audience? Can a thing be _alluded_ to for the first time? if so, would it be the first time it was spoken of? Make _allusions_ to several great men without _mentioning_ their names.

Antagonize, alienate.

1. By _antagonizing_ the views of his friends, he _alienated_ their sympathies from him.

2. He _alienated_ his friends by _antagonizing_ them.

Begin, commence.

These words are often interchangeable, but _commence_ is the more formal. _Begin_ is the better word ordinarily.

Bring, fetch.

1. Come here and _bring_ the book.

2. Go and _fetch_ the book.

Define these two words. What is their common idea?

Claim, assert, etc.

1. _Claim_ means to assert a right to a thing as one’s own. It means neither _to say_, _to assert_, _to declare_, _to maintain_, _to hold_, _to allege_, nor _to contend_.

2. He _claims_ the right to be heard.

3. He _maintains_ that he ought to be heard.

4. He _asserts_ that such is the fact.

NOTE.—It is better not to use _claim_ with the conjunction _that_.

Degrade, demean, debase.

1. Being in disgrace, the captain was _degraded_ from his rank.

2. He _demeans_ himself sometimes well, sometimes ill.

3. He _debases_ [or _degrades_] himself by his profanity.

Give a synonym for _demean_.

Drive, ride.

In England one _rides_ only when one is on horseback; one is said to _drive_ if in a carriage. In America one _drives_ when one holds the reins; but we _go driving_ even when the coachman drives. There is also excellent authority for _take a ride_, and _go riding_, when conveyance in a carriage is meant.

Endorse, approve, second.

1. He _seconded_ all his friend’s propositions.

2. He _endorsed_ the check across the top.

3. He _approved_ his colleague’s act.

What is a _dorsal_ fin? What does _endorse_ mean, by etymology?

Got, gotten, have.

1. _Got_ is perhaps preferable to _gotten_.

2. Don’t say you’ve _got_ a thing when you merely _have it_, without having secured it.

What idea is common to _get_ and _have_?

Guess, think, reckon.

1. I _think_ I shall go.

2. He _reckoned_ the cost before he started.

3. I _guess_ there are a hundred.

[The habitual misuse of _guess_ is an American fault.]

Intend, calculate.

1. She received his apologies with a resentment they were _likely_, but were not intended, to inspire.[31]

2. He aimed at the animal a blow _calculated_ to kill it.

3. I fully _intend_ to go, but cannot _calculate_ how soon.

Let, leave.

1. _Let_ me be! Don’t bother me when I want to study.

2. _Let_ me alone!

3. _Leave_ me alone here.

4. _Let_ go! Unhand me.

_Let_ once meant “to hinder.” Now it means the opposite—“permit.”

Lie, lay.

The chief trouble with the first of these two words seems to concern the past tense: “He _laid down_ on the sofa.”

Locate, settle.

1. He _located his house_ there (not _located there_).

2. He _settled_ in Chicago.

Loan, lend.

It is not incorrect to use _loan_ in the sense of _lend_, but _lend_ is the less formal and the preferable word.

May, can.

_May_ it not be said that any person who has not learned the difference between these two words, _can_ hardly be permitted to call himself a user of good English?

It is not hard to see why people confuse these two words. Often the questioner feels that, for all practicable purposes, the refusal of his request will make a barrier over which he _cannot_ go. When he says “Can I go,” he is feeling, “Will you make it possible for me to go? for unless you consent I cannot go—I cannot afford to, or I cannot conscientiously, or I cannot and remain on right terms with you.” Nevertheless, _may_ is the only right word to use in asking permission.

Proved, proven.

1. The point was not _proved_.

2. Verdict: “Not proven.” _Proven_ is a Scotch legal term, wrongly supposed by some persons to be preferable to _proved_ out of the court-room.

Purpose, propose.

1. One can’t _propose_ unless he proposes something to somebody.

2. One can _purpose_ to do a thing, without _proposing_ it to any one.

How do both these words contain the idea of _placing_?

Sit, set.

The chief errors in the use of _sit_ and _set_ are two. Some people insist on saying “_setting hen_” for “_sitting hen_,” and “the coat _sets_ well” for “_sits_ well.” A few say, “_Sit_ yourself down,” for the somewhat old-fashioned “_sit_ you down” (where the _you_ is nominative) or for “_set_ yourself down.” Similarly this error has been known to occur—“he sat the basket of eggs down.”

Stay, stop.

1. He _stopped_ at Albany; he went no farther.

2. At what hotel are you _staying_, these days?

Transpire, happen.

A good many things _happened_ that dark night when the boys were out for a lark; but it never _transpired_ what really did happen; nothing leaked out or got to the light.

_Spiro_ means “to breathe.” _Trans_ (across) when in composition means through, out. Is it not clear how the present use of the word comes about? Explain. Compare the words _expire_, _conspire_, _inspire_. How does each get its present meaning?

Wish, want, desire.

1. It is sometimes correct enough to say _want_ in the place of _wish_.

2. You shall _want_ nothing; all shall be supplied.

3. You shall not want anything you may _desire_.

Which idea springs out of the other—_want_ from _wish_, or _wish_ from _want_?

ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

Apt, likely, liable.

1. He is _apt_ at languages.

2. He is _likely_ to fail if he does not properly prepare himself. [Here _apt_ was possible, but not so good as _likely_.]

_Apt_ means “fitted,” “fit.” How could such an idea as “It is _apt_ to rain this month” spring from the idea of _fit_?

3. He is _likely_ to succeed if only he tries.

4. He is _liable_ to arrest and quarantine,—though not _likely_ to be arrested,—merely because he is _liable_ to come down with a contagious disease.

With what kind of feeling does a person look forward to a thing to which he is _liable_?

Continual, continuous.

1. A _continual_ dropping is a Biblical phrase.

2. A _continuous_ dropping would not be a dropping at all. It would be a stream.

What idea have these words in common?

Funny, odd.

1. It is _odd_ that I haven’t heard of this before.

2. It is a _funny_ sight to see Fido trying desperately to catch his own tail.

Can you explain something of the mental process by which a child comes to say _funny_ so frequently, and _strange_ so rarely? Is it all a matter of imitation, or is there some other reason? Are there not more of _strange_ things in a child’s experience than of _funny_ things?

Healthy, healthful.

_Healthful_ food makes a _healthy_ man.

Give a synonym for _healthful_ as applied to food.

Imminent, eminent, immanent.

1. The _eminent_ Latin writer, Livy, speaks of Hannibal’s elephants as looming up—_eminentes_—through the mist.

2. That God is _immanent_ in all the world was a doctrine of the Greek fathers; they meant that he pervades and is diffused throughout it.

3. The sword of Damocles hung _imminent_, suspended by a hair.

4. He is in _imminent_ danger of disgrace.

With which two of these words is the idea of _threaten_ connected? Which has the idea of _remain_, or _stay_, in it?

In, into.

1. Bruno looked up _into_ his master’s face.

2. He got _into_ the chariot.

3. He sprang _into_ the lake, while I stayed _in_ the boat.

4. Once _in_ the lake, he swam round.

What difference in the use of these words?

Last, latest.

1. The _last_ page of the book is done.

2. The _latest_ news from the patient is bad.

Does _latest_ imply anything as to the future?

Last, preceding.

1. Let each paragraph be joined smoothly with the _preceding_.

2. The _last_ paragraph ends the theme.

Mad, angry.

1. There is no reason for being _angry_.

2. Much learning hath made thee _mad_.

3. He was _mad_ with rage—fairly insane.

Most, almost.

1. _Most_ men are optimists.

2. _Almost_ every man loves praise.

Parse the words italicized above.

Mutual, common.

1. Our _common_ friend is the better expression, though Dickens has made famous the corresponding worse usage.

2. Friendship may be _mutual_; a friend cannot.

3. Separated by mountains and by _mutual_ fear.

What is meant by reciprocal? Which word is a synonym of reciprocal?

Oral, verbal.

1. Miles Standish’s act of sending the Indians a snake-skin filled with powder and ball, was a message, but not a _verbal_ message.

2. If you are to see John, let me send him this _oral_ message: Never say die.

3. The corrections did not affect the truth of the statements, but only the manner: they were _verbal_ corrections.

4. The telegraph operator translates into _verbal_ form the message that he hears in the ticking of his receiver.

The Latin word _os_ means mouth; the Latin word _verbum_ means a word. Do _oral_ and _verbal_ keep the sense of the Latin words? Can a verbal message be oral? Can an oral message be verbal? Is an oral message ordinarily verbal? Can you imagine an oral message that is not verbal?

Posted, informed.

1. The ledger is well _posted_.

2. The editor is well _informed_.

Can you see the slightest reasonable advantage in speaking of a person as well _posted_? In other words, does this commercial slang lend any real force?

Practicable, practical.

His scheme won’t work; it isn’t _practicable_. I’m afraid he isn’t so _practical_ a schemer as we thought.

Quite, somewhat, very, rather, entirely, wholly.

1. _Quite_ never means “very,” “rather,” or “somewhat.” It means “wholly.”

2. Harry is _quite_ well; he is never sick.

3. Yes, I like him _rather_ well.

4. Thank you; I’m _quite_ myself again.

Curtail _quite_, and you get another good English adjective from the same root. How is this shorter word related in sense to the longer? With which of the following expressions can _quite_ be used? Well (adj.), sick, recovered, pretty, finished, settled, nice, good, assured, patient, used up, satisfied, a good deal, fine, a hero, a way, a mile, a noise, a failure, a lot, a hundred, a few, a good many, a million, a dozen, some, well (adv.), a while, an hour, your debtor, every one, all, around, through, under, o’erthrown, down, elated, in a rage, underestimate, vanquished, quarrelsome, lovely, everywhere, crestfallen.

Real, really, extremely.

1. I think he’s a _real_ Count.

2. I think he’s _extremely_ mean.

3. He’s _really_ a very fine fellow.

Parse the words italicized above.

Some, somewhat.

1. The sick man is _somewhat_ better this morning.

2. _Some_ men have greatness thrust upon them.

Parse the words italicized above.

Without, unless.

1. I can’t go _unless_ there is a holiday.

2. I can’t go _without_ getting permission.

Parse the words italicized above.

=Oral Exercise.=—The following sentences are from John Ruskin. No improprieties occur in the originals. Within each pair of brackets a word is given, sometimes the right word, sometimes the wrong word. Study the meaning of each sentence, and satisfy yourself as to what is the best expression for each place in question.

1. The ennobling difference between one man and another—between one animal and another—is precisely in this, that one feels more than another. If we were sponges, perhaps sensation might not be easily [gotten] for us; if we were earth-worms, [apt] at every instant to be cut in two by the spade, perhaps too much sensation might not be good for us.

2. But chiefly of all, she is taught to extend the [limitations] of her sympathy.

3. Very ready we are to say of a book, “How good this is—that’s exactly what I think!” But the right feeling is, “How [odd] that is! I never thought of that before, and yet I see it is true; or if I do not now, I hope I shall some day.”

4. I believe, then, with this exception, that a girl’s education should be nearly, in its course and material of study, the same as a boy’s; but [entirely] differently directed. A woman in any rank of life ought to know whatever her husband is [liable] to know, but to know it in a different way.

5. I do not blame them for this, but only for their narrow motive in this. I would have them [want] and [assert] the title of “lady” provided they [allege] not merely the title, but the office and duty signified by it.

6. And not less wrong—perhaps even more foolishly wrong (for I will [expect] thus far what I hope to prove)—is the idea that woman is only the shadow and attendant image of her lord.

7. But now, having no true [avocation], we pour our whole masculine energy into the false business of money-making.

8. Having then faithfully listened to the great teachers, that you may enter into their thoughts, you have yet this higher [advancement] to make,—you have to enter into their hearts.

9. And, lastly, a great nation does not mock Heaven and its Powers by pretending belief in a revelation which [asserts] the love of money to be the root of _all_ evil, and [claiming], at the same time that it is actuated, and [proposes] to be actuated, in all chief national deeds and measures, by no other love.

10. But an education “which shall keep a good coat on my son’s back; which shall [capacitate] him to ring with confidence the visitors’ bell at double-belled doors; which shall result ultimately in the establishment of a double-belled door to his own [residence]—in a word, which shall lead to [advance] in life—_this_ we pray for on bent knees; and this is _all_ we pray for.” It never seems to occur to the parents that there may be an education which in itself _is_ [advance] in Life; that any other than that may perhaps be [advancement] in Death; and that this essential education might be more easily [gotten] or given, than they [guess], if they set about it in the right way, while it is for no price and by no favor to be [got], if they set about it in the wrong.

11. The chance and scattered evil that may here and there haunt, or hide itself in, a powerful book, never does any harm to a noble girl; but the emptiness of an author oppresses her, and his amiable folly [degrades] her. And if she can have [access] to a good library of old and classical books, there need be no choosing at all. Keep the modern magazine and novel out of your girl’s way; turn her loose into the old library every day, and [let] her alone.

=Oral Exercise.=—Examine the italicized words in the following sentences, taken from a newspaper. According to a good dictionary, which are barbarisms? What ones are here incorrectly used? Which ones are colloquial—permitted in talking familiarly, but not in writing? Suggest better expressions.

1. Her prospects for a long career on this earth are _quite_ favorable.

2. The galvanic battery was applied every hour without producing any more satisfactory results, but hope did not abandon the _resurrectionists_.

3. When the police arrived they discovered that Burdick was wearing a _bogus_ police star and he was arrested.

4. “If you’ll throw that gun away and put up your _dukes_ like a gentleman, I’ll come down there and sew a button _onto_ you!”

5. Mr. Hanna was decidedly late in _showing up_ at headquarters.

6. It buttons down the front with the finest white pearl buttons of _quite_ large size.

7. Makers of sporting goods say there are _a lot_ of bicyclists who are ready and waiting to take up every new thing.

8. I _spotted_ two of my countrywomen at once.

9. It has been thus far an _exceptionably_ busy campaign.

=Oral Exercise.=—The following sentences are from Stevenson’s volume, _Virginibus Puerisque_. As in the preceding exercise, decide on the best word for each place in question.

1. Think of the heroism of Johnson, think of that superb indifference to mortal [limit] that set him upon his dictionary, and carried him through triumphantly to the end!

2. [Most] everybody in our land ... can understand and sympathize with an admiral or a prize-fighter.

3. When he comes to ride with the king’s pardon, he must bestride a chair, which he will so hurry and belabor and on which he will so furiously [demean] himself, that the messenger will arrive, if not bloody with spurring, at least fiery red with haste. If his romance involves an accident upon a cliff, he must clamber in person about the chest of drawers and fall bodily [onto] the carpet, before his imagination is satisfied.

4. Surely all these are [practicable] questions to a neophyte entering upon life with a view to play.

5. A sedentary population ... can [noways, in no wise] explain to itself the gaiety of these passers-by.

6. To borrow and [demean] an image, all the evening street-lamps burst into song.

7. But the conservative, while lauding progress, is ever timid of innovation; his is the hand upheld to [council] pause; his is the signal advising slow [advance].

=Oral Exercise.=—The following sentences are from Mrs. Gaskell’s _Cranford_. As before, decide on the best word for each place in question.

1. There were rules and regulations for visiting and calls; and they were announced to any young people, who might be [stopping] in the town.

2. He must have been upwards of sixty at the time of the first visit I paid to Cranford after I had left it as a [residence].

3. She was evidently nervous from having [expected] my call.

4. My request evidently pleased the old gentleman, who took me all [round, around[32]] the place, and showed me his six and twenty cows, named after the different letters of the alphabet.

5. I can’t [wholly] remember the date, but I think it was in 1805 that Miss Jenkyns wrote the longest [series, succession] of letters.

6. She never laughed at his jokes ...; and that [aggravated] him.

7. He was very, very [mad] indeed, and before all the people he lifted up his cane and flogged Peter!

8. “Shell-fish are sometimes thought not very [healthy].”

9. The writer of the letter ... was dead long ago; and I, a stranger, not born at the time when this occurrence [took place], was the one to open it.

10. I seized the opportunity, and wrote and despatched an [acceptation] in her name.

11. He thought each shawl more beautiful than the [last].

12. I could not see that the little event in the shop below had in the least damped Miss Matty’s curiosity as to the make of sleeves or the [set, sit] of skirts. [If neither _sit_ nor _set_ is right here, how recast the sentence?]

13. Miss Matty [anticipated] the sight of the glossy folds.

14. The Gordons ... were now [expected] to return very soon; and Miss Matty, in her sisterly pride, [expected] great delight in the joy of showing them Mr. Peter.

15. However, we all sat eyes right, square front, gazing at the [tantalizing] curtain.

16. We (at least I) had doubts as to whether she really would enjoy the little adventure of having her house [burglarized], as she [protested] she would.

17. Miss Jenkyns ... never got over what she called Captain Brown’s disparaging [observations] upon Dr. Johnson as a writer of light and agreeable fiction.

18. It (Death) was a word not to be [alluded to] to ears polite.

=Oral Exercise.=—The following sentences are from Lord Chesterfield’s letters to his son. As in the preceding exercise, choose the best word for each place in question.

1. Your own [remarks] upon mankind, when compared with those which you will find in books, will help you fix the true point.

2. There is nothing which I more wish that you should know, and which [less] people do know, than the true use and value of time.

3. Your [neglect] of dress, while you were a schoolboy, was pardonable, but would not be so now.

4. The [reputations] of kings and great men are only to be learned in conversation; for they are never fairly written during their lives.

5. What does Chesterfield mean by “in a good sense,” in the following? “Another, speaking in defence of a gentleman upon whom a censure was moved, happily said that he thought the gentleman was more _liable_ to be thanked and rewarded, than censured. You know, I presume, that _liable_ can never be used in a good sense.”

=Review Exercise.=—Let each word of the following list be taken up by itself. Each member of the class should give a sentence of his own, using the given word correctly.

Access, acceptance, alternative, avocation, observation, ability, capacity, character, discovery, limitation, party, portion, predominance, residence, except (verb), affect, effect, allude, claim, purpose, transpire, liable, apt, somewhat, quite, mad, practicable.