Frank H. Vizetelly

“ Indeed, it is so flexible that some of its idioms are positively startling. Could any phrase be more so than “I don’t think it will rain”?—Simple enough as an idiom but positively absurd when analyzed. We say “I don’t think it will rain” when we mean “I do think it will not rain.” [vii] Again, we say “All over the world” when we should say “Over all the world,” and “the reason why” instead of “the reason that.” Usage has made our language what it is; grammatical rules strive to limit it to what it ought to be. In many instances usage has supplanted grammatical rules. ”

“ The only argument against the use of two first, and in favor of substituting first two, so far as I can recollect, is this: In the nature of things, there can be only one first and one last, in any series of things. But—is it true that there can never be more than one first and one last? If it be so, then the adjective first and last must always be of the singular number, and can never agree with nouns in the plural. ”

“ Gratitude, from the Latin gratitudo, from gratus, kind, is a sense of appreciation of favors received, as indicated by actions. It is the actual feeling, of which thankfulness, or the fulness of thanks, is the mere outward expression. It is therefore quite possible, and indeed often the case, for a person who at one time is full of thanks to show subsequently a want of gratitude. ”

“ We guess when we are content to hazard an opinion based on data which are admittedly insufficient, but we suppose when we have good ground for assuming a thing to be true. When we think, we give thought to a matter on which we yet admit the thought has been insufficient to furnish us with exact or certain knowledge. ”

“ Sympathy implies a degree of equality which pity does not. We may pity one whom we disdain but we can not sympathize with him.
place: Used objectively without a preposition, or even adverbially, a provincialism common in parts of the United States; as, “She is always wanting to go places”; “Can’t I go any place (correctly anywhere) ?” “I must go some place (somewhere) ”; “I can’t find it any place.” Such forms are solecisms.
place, plaice: Homophones, so care should be exercised in their use and spelling. A place is a particular point or portion of space; a plaice is a fish. ”

“ But, notwithstanding these efforts to correct careless diction, the abuse and misuse of words continue. The one besetting sin of the English-speaking people is a tendency to use colloquial inelegancies, slang, and vulgarisms, and against these, as against the illiteracies of the street, it is our duty to guard, nowadays more so than at any other time, since what is learnt in the schoolroom is soon forgotten or displaced by association with illiterate playfellows, or by occasionally hearing words misused at home. ”

“ These can be most readily acquired by noting the meaning of every new word across which one may come in reading, and by constantly consulting a dictionary, preferably one which compares or contrasts words in such a manner as to bring out clearly the finer and nicer distinctions in their meanings—such distinctions as are necessary to the student to put him into possession of the essential differences of the words compared. Learn the meaning of words and your tongue will never slip. ”

“ Shakespeare’s use of the word with “much” as an adjective is indeed most forcible—“for this relief much thanks.”
than me should never be used for than I. Say, “He is taller than I”; not “He is taller than me.”
than whom: A phrase objected to by some grammatical critics, in such locutions as “Cromwell, than whom no man was better skilled in artifice”; but shown to be “a quite classic expression.” Formerly than was often but not always used as a preposition, and than whom is probably a survival of such usage. ”

“ As to which sentence shall be first and which second, there is commonly but little compulsion: it is a mat [149] ter of choice. But should this choice affect the verb?—“The wages of sin is death.” “Death is the wages of sin.” It is merely a matter of taste in forceful diction which nominative shall precede. Yet which is to govern the number of the verb? “What we seek is riches”; “Riches are what we seek”—Probably these two forms of one idea best illustrate the better usage, which appears to be that the verb is dependent upon the nominative which precedes. ”

“ Avoid using the past participle of verbs instead of the imperfect. Do not say, “You done it,” or “you seen it,” when you mean “you did it,” or “you saw it.” Nor use the past tense for the perfect participle, as in, “If you had came” when you mean “If you had come.”
don’t is a contraction of do not, and in this sense is permissible; but as signifying does not, the proper contraction for which is doesn’t, its use is inaccurate. In writing, the uncontracted forms are much to be preferred, though in conventional speech the abbreviations are accepted. ”

“ Again, the use of this adverb in the sense of precisely and without delay is not approved by many purists, who suggest that some more suitable term be chosen. “Stand right there,” for “Stand precisely where you are” or “stand just at that spot” is not approved; so is it also with “Do this right away” for “do this instantly.”
right as a noun should not be used for “just cause to expect” or the verb “deserve.” Thus, instead of “You have a right to suffer” say “You deserve (or have just cause to expect) to suffer.” ”

“ Polite denotes a quality; polished denotes a state.
politics is a singular word of plural form. “His hobby is politics”—not “Politics are his hobby.”
[169]
polity and policy both come from the Latin politica, (Gr. politeia, polity, polis, city) ; but they must not be confounded. “Polity is the permanent system of government of a state, a church, or a society; policy is the method of management with reference to the attainment of certain ends. The national polity of the United States is republican; each administration has a policy of its own.” ”

“ As a noun used instead of recommendation, this word is a colloquialism the use of which should be discouraged.
recourse, resource: Two words often confounded. Recourse means a resort to, as for help or protection; the adoption of a means to an end. A resource is that which one resorts to, as in case of need; the source of aid or support; an expedient. In the plural, resources are one’s means, funds, or property of any kind, as distinguished from one’s liabilities. ”

“ In the United States “woman” is preferable; in England “lady” is used chiefly when the term is not preceded by a qualifying adjective. The word woman best expresses the relation of the female sex to the human race. Some ill-informed persons use lady for woman under the mistaken idea that woman is a derogatory term; such use is downright vulgarity. As one never hears salesgentleman but salesman, therefore saleslady should be avoided; say, rather, saleswoman.
lambaste is slang and as such should not be used as a substitute for “flog,” “whip,” or “beat.” ”

“ 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 expression is now beyond criticism, although exception has been taken to it, on the ground that the subject of the mass should be specifically named. ”

“ In general simple futurity is expressed by shall in the first person and will in the second and third, while determination is expressed by will in the first and shall in the second and third. In interrogations in the second and third persons the usage is not so simple, the speaker often putting himself in the place of the one spoken to or spoken of, and using shall or will, as if for the first person.”—Standard Dictionary. ”

“ A promise always implies futurity. Do not say “He [177] was alarmed, I promise you;” say, rather, “I assure you.”
pronouns in the objective: Often the coupling of one pronoun with another leads a careless speaker into error, where had one pronoun only been used, no doubt or difficulty would have been experienced. “If he calls for (you and) I, we will go.” If the words in parenthesis be omitted no one would think of saying “for I,” but would naturally use the correct pronoun me. This method of elision will generally elucidate the correct usage. ”

“ A speech may be finished but far from complete. To finish is to bring to an end, but to complete is to bring to a state in which there is nothing more to do. You finish your dinner, but complete your toilet. ”

“ As a past participle of strike, archaic in England, except when there is an implication in it of misfortune; as, “He was stricken with paralysis.” In the United States stricken, in general application, [204] is not so distinctly archaic, and its use in reference to the erasure of words is very frequent; as, “It is ordered that the words objected to be stricken out.” In the best literary usage of both countries struck is preferred to stricken when no implication of misfortune is conveyed in it. Stricken is the appropriate participial adjective; as, “a stricken man” ”

“ These terms are not exactly synonymous. A decided fact is one that is unmistakable and beyond dispute; a decisive fact is one that terminates a discussion. A decided victory is not necessarily a battle decisive of a campaign. ”

“ If you mean to express the idea that you are ailing in health, feel bad is correct. Feel bad is synonymous with feel ill and is correct. One might as well say feel illy as feel badly if the latter were correct as applied to health. However, feel badly is correct when the intention is to say that one’s power of touch is defective as through a mishap to the fingers. ”

“ Discriminate carefully between these words. A siege is an investment as of a city by military forces; as, “the siege of Paris”; a seige is a flock [198] of birds; as, “a seige of cranes.” Note especially the orthography of these words.
sieve, seive: Homophones of widely different meaning. A sieve is a utensil for sifting; a seive is a rush or rush-wick.
sight: As a colloquialism meaning a very great quantity, number, or amount; as, “a sight of people,” the noun is to be avoided, as in the still more objectionable expression, “powerful sight,” in which the adjective is altogether misapplied. ”

“ It is, rather, to point out common errors which he may unconsciously commit, and to help him to avoid them and the vulgarisms of the street which have crept into the language, as well as those absurd blunders that have been recorded as the unconscious acts of persons qualified in other respects to rank as masters of English. ”

“ A slang term used occasionally by journalists and members of the theatrical profession as an equivalent for “banter” or “ridicule,” as in a press notice.
rooster: A word often incorrectly restricted in its meaning. This is due in a measure to usage as recorded by lexicographers. If a roost is a perch upon which fowls rest at night, then a rooster is any fowl which perches on a roost, be it cock or hen. But the domestic fowl is not the only bird that roosts, therefore any bird that does so, be it what it may, is as much a rooster as the male or female domestic fowl. ”

“ Moreover, it has of late been pointed out by the best authorities that the true sense of a word is not what it ought to mean, but what it does mean, in the mouths and ears of the upper half of the people. ”

“ The meanings of these words are sometimes confused. Neglect is the act of failing to perform something, as a duty or task, to leave undone; negligence is the habitual omission of that which should be done. ”

“ Bad is a term often misapplied. One may say “a bad boy,” “a bad egg,” but not a “bad accident”; say rather, “a serious accident.” In referring to things which are necessarily bad, or the reverse of good, select some less pleonastic adjective. An acute, a severe or gnawing pain would be preferable expressions to a bad pain.
bad egg: An undesirable expression used colloquially to designate a worthless person: not used in polite society.
bad grammar: This phrase has been condemned as false syntax by some persons unfamiliar with the different meanings of the word bad. ”

“ Indefensible slang. We blame a person for a fault, or lay the blame upon him. Not, as in a New York newspaper, after the last Presidential election, “I do not blame the defeat on the President,” but “I do not blame the President for the defeat,” or “I do not lay the blame ... upon,” etc.
blow: A colloquialism for boastful talk, which is expressed less coarsely but with as much force by “bluster” or “brag.” ”

“ Where individual persons, or a number of such, are intended, this word should be discarded in favor of persons; as, “most persons are of this opinion.” People means persons collectively; as “People say.”
per: This is a Latin preposition, correctly joined only with Latin words; as, per centum, abbreviated per cent.; per diem; per annum. Per head and per person, per year, per day are common commercial locutions; use preferably the English forms a head, a person, a year, a day. If you must use a Latin phrase be sure you use all Latin. ”

“ When like is followed by an objective case, as “Be brave like him,” the preposition unto must be supplied by ellipsis. For this reason as for the fact that like here has the force of a conjunction, introducing the implied phrase “he is brave,” it is better to say “Be brave as he is.”
like, love: Discriminate carefully between these words, which are often erroneously used interchangeably. A woman may love her children and like fruit, but not like her children and love fruit. ”

“ A vulgar corruption of “curse,” designating a worthless or disagreeable person, and as such it should be avoided.—To cuss and swear, that is, “to use blasphemous language” is a phrase that also should be avoided by persons having pretensions to refinement.
custom, habit: It is the custom of a person to do a thing until it becomes a habit. From a voluntary act of the will it has grown into an involuntary practise. It will thus be seen that whereas a custom is followed, a habit is acquired. ”

“ Vulgarism used in the imperative for get out.
go. See WENT.
go back on: A colloquialism for abandon, deceive, play false. Inelegant and not used by persons accustomed to nice discriminations of speech.
going is sometimes used as a synonym for just about. One frequently hears, “I am just going to sing,” from a person who is about to do so. The verb go, in the transitive, is sometimes used loosely in the colloquial sense of “endure” or “wager.” Polite speech does not sanction such locutions as “I can not go that music;” “I will go you a dollar on the race.” ”

“ That is hearty which proceeds from the heart; to extend the sentiment to the appetite, or to a meal, or to its eater, as is done by common usage, seems taking a liberty with the word, and applying a fine and expressive term to a comparatively unworthy object. ”

“ The colloquialism by which plenty, which is a noun, is treated as an adjective or adverb is altogether inadmissible. In such cases plentiful and plentifully should be used. “We have plenty of money.” “Cash is plentiful.” “We are plentifully supplied”—not “We have plenty enough cash.”
plunk: A vulgarism for a silver dollar.
polite, civil, polished: Civil, from the Latin civilis, from civis, a citizen, denotes that which is becoming to a citizen. Polite is the Latin politus, participle of polio, polish. ”