 Slips of Speech by John H. Bechtel, Chapter 2, Part 1, read for the LibriVox Language Learning Collection, Volume 2. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. CHAPTER 2 CHOICE OF WORDS Our American writers events much variety in their grace as addiction, but in the accurate choice of words, James Russell Lowell and William Cullen Bryant, stand out conspicuous above the rest. So careful and persistent was the latter that during the time that he was editor of the Evening Post of New York City, he required the various writers upon that paper to avoid the use of a long list of words and expressions, which he had prepared for them, and which were commonly employed by other papers. This list was not only used but enlarged by his successors. STRIVE TO CULTIVATE THE HABIT OF OBSERVING WORDS Trace their delicate shades of meaning as employed by the most polished writers. Note their suggestiveness. Mark the accuracy with which they are chosen. In this way your mind will be kept on the alert to discover the beauties as well as the blemishes of all the thought pictures that are presented, and your vocabulary will be greatly enlarged and enriched. Here's Bryant's list of objectionable expressions. Above and over use more than. Artiste use artist. Aspirant. Authorist. Beat use defeat. Bagging use capturing. Balance use remainder. Banquet use dinner or supper. Bogus. Casket use coffin. Claimed use asserted. Collided. Commence use begin. Compete. Cortege use procession. Contemporary use contemporary. Couple use two. Darkie use negro. Day before yesterday use the day before yesterday. Debut. Decease as a verb. Democracy applied to a political party. Develop use expose. Devouring element use fire. Donate. Employ. Enacted use acted. Endorse use approve. Enroute. Esquire. Graduate use is graduated. Gents use gentlemen. On HON period. House use House of Representatives. Humbug. Inaugurate use begin. In our midst. Item use particle extract or paragraph. Is being done in all similar passive forms. Jeopardize. Jubilant use rejoicing. Juvenile use boy. Lady use wife. Last use latest. Lengthy use long. Lieniency use lenity. Lover. Loan or loan use lend or lent. Located. Majority use most. Mrs. President, Mrs. Governor, Mrs. General. Mutual use common. Official use officer. Ovation. On yesterday. Over his signature. Pants use pantaloons. Parties use persons. Partially use partly. Past two weeks use last two weeks. Poetess. Portion use part posted. Use informed. Progress use advance. Quite when prefixed. Too good. Large, etc. Raid use attack. Realized use obtained. Reliable use trustworthy. Rendition use performance. Repudiate use reject or disown. Retire as an active verb. Very reverend use the reverend. Roll use part. Roughs. Rowdies. Sessesh. Sensation use noteworthy event. Standpoint use point of view. Start in the sense of setting out. State use say. Taboo. Talent use talents or ability. Talented. Tapas. The deceased. War. Use dispute or disagreement. Stilts. Avoid bombastic language. Work for plain expressions rather than for the unusual. Use the simplest words that the subject will bear. The following clipping, giving an account of the commencement exercises of a noted female college, strikingly illustrates what to avoid. Like some beacon light upon a rock-bound coast against which the surges of the ocean unceasingly roll, and casting its beams far across the waters warning the mariner for the danger near, the college like a Gibraltar stands upon the high plains of learning, shedding its rays of knowledge from the murmurings of the Atlantic to the whirlwinds of the Pacific, guiding womankind from the dark valley of ignorance and wooing her with wisdom's lore, leads creation's fairest, purest best into flowery dels, where she can pluck the richest food of knowledge and crowns her brow with a coronet of gems whose brilliancy can never grow dim. For they glisten with the purest thought. That seems as a spark struck from the mind of deity. There is no need for the daughters of this community to seek at colleges of distant climes where at to be educated. For right here in their own city God's paradise on earth is situated a noble college, the bright diadem of that paradise, that has done more for the higher education of women than any institution in our land. Purity. An author's diction is pure when he uses such words only as belong to the idiom of the language. The only standard of purity is the practice of the best writers and speakers. A violation of purity is called a barbarism. Unlike the Latin, Greek, or Hebrew, the English is a living language, and like all living organisms manifests its life by taking in new material and casting off old waste continually. Science, art, and philosophy give rise to new ideas which in turn demand new words for their expression. Some gain a permanent foothold while others float a while upon the currents of conversation and newspaper literature, and then disappear. Good usage is the only real authority in the choice of reputable words, and to determine in every case what good usage dictates is not an easy matter. Authors like words must be tested by time before their forms of expression may become a law for others. Pope, in his essay on criticism, laid down a rule which, for point and brevity, has never been excelled. In words as fashions the same rule will hold, alike fantastic if to new or old, be not the first by whom the new are tried, nor yet the last to lay the old aside. Campbell, in his philosophy of rhetoric, says that a word to be legitimate must have these three signs of authority. It must be reputable or that of educated people as opposed to that of the ignorant or vulgar. It must be national as opposed to what is either local or technical. It must be present as opposed to what is obsolete. Any word that does not have these three qualities may, in general, be styled a barbarism. Anglicized Words Many foreign words in process of time become so thoroughly domesticated that their translation or the use of an awkward equivalent would be a greater mark of pedantry than the use of the foreign word itself. The proper use of such terms as fiat, palladium, cabal, quorum, omnibus, antique, artiste, coquet, ennui, physique, régime, tableau, amateur cannot be censored on the ground of their foreign character. Obsolete Words Some writers affect an antiquated style by the introduction of such words as per adventure, per chance, a non-best quote. Farewell. The use of such words gives a strange sound to the sentence and generally indicates that the writer is not thoroughly earnest. The expression is lowered in tone and is made to sound fantastic. New Words A word should not be condemned because it's new. If it's really needed it will be welcomed and soon find a permanent place. Shakespeare, Addison, and Johnson introduced many new words to which their names afterward gave a sanction. Carlisle, Coleridge, Tennyson, and Browning have introduced or given currency to new words and made strange ones familiar. New words are objectionable when they are employed without proper authority. The chief sources of supply of the objectionable kind are the current slang of the street in the sensational newspaper. They are often the result of a desire to say things in such a manner as to reflect smartness upon the speaker or to present things in a humorous or picturesque way. That they are frequently very effective cannot be gained set. Sometimes they are coined in the heat of a political or social discussion and, for a time, express what everybody is talking about, but it's impossible to tell whether they will live beyond the occasion that produced them. So long as their usage is doubtful it's safer not to employ them. Slang Slang is somewhat like chicken pox or measles, very catching, and just as inevitable in its run, and very few of us escape it. It is severest, too, where the sanitary conditions are most favorable to its development. Where there is least thought and culture to counteract its influence, slang words crowd out those of a more serious character, until in time the young and inexperienced speaker or writer is unable to distinguish between the counterfeit and the genuine. While most persons condemn slang, there are very few who are entirely free from its use. It varies greatly in its degrees of coarseness or refinement, and adapts itself to all classes and conditions. Many know no other language, and we are unwillingly compelled to admit that while their speech is often ungrammatical and unrhetorical, it is generally clear, concise, and forcible. Strive to acquire a vocabulary so large and to cultivate a taste so fine that when a slang expression rises to your mind you can use it if you think it best fits the occasion, or substitute something better in its place. Furity of diction is a garden of slow growth, even under the most favorable conditions, and the unrestrained indulgence in slang is like scattering seeds of the violist plants among the choicest flowers. Society Slang This is an elegant day. That is an elegant view. Mary is awfully nice. Jenny is dreadfully sweet. Gertrude is delicious, and Tom is perfectly splendid. The use of such extravagant phrases tends to weaken the significance of the words when legitimately employed. Common Slang Commercial terms are employed in the common language of everyday life to such an extent as to constitute a form of commercial slang. The following will serve for illustration, the balance of the journey for remainder. He was well posted for well-informed. I calculate he will come to-morrow for believe or think. I reckon he is your friend, for I suppose. Common Slang To materialize, to burglarize, to enthuse, to suicide, to wire, to jump upon, to sit upon, to take in are a few of the many examples of slang that should be avoided. Provincialisms A word that is used only in a limited part of the country is called a provincialism. It must be known and recognized for what it is worth, but not uptrooted where it does not belong. Whatever may be said of the false of speech of the American people, it is doubtful if any other nation, whether it covers a large territory or is limited in area, speaks the language native to the country with the uniformity that we do. Yet there are peculiarities that mark the expression of most of our people, even among the best informed. The words calculate, reckon, and guess are not the only words that portray the locality of the speaker. Any person who has been five hundred miles from home cannot fail to have observed words that were used differently from the way in which he had been accustomed to use them, and he probably heard terms of expression that seemed strange to him. In like manner his own expressions sounded strange to those who heard him. That which distinguished his speech from theirs, and theirs from his, would in large part be covered by the word provincialism. Not only do we have local and sectional peculiarities of speech, but we may be said to have national mannerisms. Mr. Alexander Melville Bell, the eminent elocutionist, relates that some years ago when residing in Edinburgh, a stranger called to make some inquiries in regard to professional matters. I have called on you, sir, for the purpose of, etc., etc. When did you cross the Atlantic? Bell asked. The stranger looked up with surprise, amounting almost to consternation. How do you know that I have crossed the Atlantic? Your manner of using the little word sir is not heard in England or Scotland. This gentleman, Mr. Bell, says, was one of the most eminent teachers of elocution in America, and his speech was perfectly free from ordinary local colouring, and all the one little element which had escaped observation. Which much diversity of usage exists, and some difference of opinion prevails concerning the proper expression to use when you are addressed and failed to understand just what has been said. Such interrogative rejoinders as what, how, which, hey, are plainly objectionable. Sir and Madam, once common and no longer tolerated in society, the English expression, beg pardon, has found favour, but it is not wholly acceptable. Excuse me, is suggested by a writer on the subject. It has no more syllables than beg pardon, and is nearly equivalent in the signification. But it is also subject to the objection that it is often used to imply a difference of opinion, as when a person makes a statement to which you take exception, you begin your reply with the expression, excuse me? Whatever is adopted will doubtless be a convenient contraction like beg pardon, which is a short way of saying I beg your pardon for failing to understand what you said, or excuse me, which is a condensation of excuse me for not fully grasping your meaning. Words improperly used. Commodious. Convenient. The word of caution in the use of the smaller dictionaries is necessary. The most elaborate definition often fails to give an adequate idea of the significance of a term, unless it is accompanied with one or more quotations illustrating its use. The small dictionaries give only the briefest definitions without illustration, and therefore should be interpreted with caution. Some years ago a young man of moderate attainments was very desirous of enlarging his vocabulary and of using words beyond the ordinary vernacular of his neighborhood. To this end he made a small vest pocket lexicon his constant companion. Having consulted it in the course of a conversation with a friend, he remarked as he was about to return it to his pocket. What a commodious book this is! His friend suggested that he again consult the commodious volume with a look of the utmost importance. He turned to the word and exclaimed, There! I knew I was right. Commodious means convenient and that's just what this little book is. It was useless to explain that smallness sometimes renders a thing inconvenient. And this young man doubtless still felicitates himself upon his intimate acquaintance with that commodious pocket dictionary. Ability. Capacity. A fond mother was told by the principle of a boarding school that her daughter would not be graduated as she lacked capacity. Well, get her a capacity. Her father won't stand on a matter of expense. Get her anything she wants. He'll foot the bill. But for once the indulgent mother was obliged to learn that there are some things money will not purchase. The father had the financial ability, but the daughter lacked the necessary intellectual capacity. But we may have literary as well as financial ability. Ability implies the power of doing. Capacity. The faculty of receiving. About. Almost. This work is about done, used almost done. Acceptance or Acceptation. These words cannot be used interchangeably. He wrote signifying his acceptance of the office according to the common exception of this term. He is a nave. Access. Accession. He gained access to the fort. The only accession which the Roman Empire received was the province of Britain. Accident. Injury. Accident is sometimes used incorrectly for injury as his accident was very painful. Mutual. Common. Some men seek to be great by copy and great men's faults. Dickens say our mutual friend, but Dickens' strong point was not grammar. If you have a friend in common with Smith, and speaking of him to Smith say our common friend, the word mutual should always convey a sense of reciprocity as happy in our mutual help and mutual love. Myself. This word is generally used for emphasis as I myself will do it and I wrote it myself. It should not be used for the unemphatic pronouns I and me as in James and myself are going to town. He gave the books to James and myself. It's properly used with a reflexive verb without emphasis as I will defend myself. Negligence. Neglect. Negligence is the habit. Neglect the act of leaving things undone. The adjectives negligent and neglectful should in like manner be discriminated. Never. Not. The word never is sometimes colloquially used for not as I never remember to have seen Lincoln. Say I do not remember, etc. Never should not be used in reference to events that can take place but once as Warren never died at Lexington. Love. Like. We may love our parents, our children, our country, the truth, and we may like roast turkey and cranberry sauce. I love cherries. I adore strawberries, our schoolgirl expressions that should be avoided. Love is an emotion of the heart and not of the palate. Cheap. Low-priced. These words are often used synonymously. A picture purchased for ten thousand dollars may be cheap. Another for which ten dollars was paid although low-priced may be dear. Mad. Angry. The frequent use of mad in the sense of angry should be avoided. A person who is insane is mad. A dog that has hydrophobia is mad. Figuratively we say mad with rage, mad with terror, mad with pain, but to be vexed or angry or out of patience does not justify the use of so strong a term as mad. Most. Almost. Very. Sometimes incorrectly used for almost as he writes to me most every week. It's often loosely used in the sense of very as this is a most interesting book. Aim to use most only as the superlative of much or many. Do not use the indefinite article before it as this is a most beautiful picture. We may say this is the most beautiful picture, for here comparison is implied. Portion. Part. Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. We traveled a part of the distance on foot. Portion is applied to that which is set aside for a special purpose, often as the share or allotment of an individual as the wife's portion. The portion of the oldest son, etc. Part is a more general term. Postal. Bryant would not have said I will send you a postal by tomorrow's mail. Postal card or postcard would be better. Practical. Practicable. These words are sometimes confounded. Practicable means that may be done or accomplished and implies that the means or resources are available. As a practicable road, a practicable aim. Practical means capable of being turned to use or account as the practical man begins by doing. The theorist often ends by thinking. Predicate. This word is sometimes incorrectly used in the sense of form or base as he predicated his statement on the information he had just received. Neither should it be used in the sense of predict as the sky is overcast and I predicate a storm tomorrow. Prefer than. I prefer to walk than to ride. Say I prefer walking to riding or I would rather walk than ride. To skate is preferable than to coast. Say skating is preferable to coasting. Amount or number. Amount applies to what is thought of in the mass or bulk as money, wheat, coal. Number is used when we think of the individuals composing the mass as men, books, horses, or vessels. Answer. Reply. An answer implies a question. We may reply to a remark or assertion. A reply is more formal than an answer. Antagonize. Alienate. Oppose. The word antagonize should not be used in the sense of alienate as your proposition will antagonize many supporters of the measure. The Senate opposed the bill which passed the house as better than antagonized the bill. Anticipate. Expect. The arrival of the president was hourly anticipated as pompous. Use expected. Any. At all. He was so far from the speaker's platform that he could not hear any. Better. That he could not hear or hear at all or hear what was said. Apparent. Evident. These words are often used interchangeably. That which is apparent may be what it appears to be or it may be very different. That which is evident admits of no doubt. The same is true of apparently and evidently. Prejudice. He is not the best person for the position but his many kindness is to me prejudice me and his favor. We may be prejudiced against a person or thing but cannot be prejudiced in favor. Use predispose. Presume. This word is often employed when think, believe, or dare say would be better. Pretend. Professe. I do not pretend to be an orator. Pretend means to fame to sham as he pretends to be asleep and should not be used when claim or profess would better suit the purpose. Preventative. The correct form of the word is preventive and not preventative. Previous. Previously. The adjective previous is often incorrectly used for the adverb previously as previous to his imprisonment he made a confession of his crime. Promise. Assure. I promise you we had a good time yesterday. Promise relates to the future. Hence, I assure you, et cetera, would be better. Propose or purpose. To propose is to set before the mind for consideration. To purpose is to intend. I propose ascending my son to college should be. I purpose, et cetera. I propose that you go to college, my son. Thank you, Father. I accept the proposal. Sparrowgrass. The word sparrowgrass, which is a corruption of the word asparagus, illustrates how readily the uneducated mind associates an unusual term with another that is familiar. And as the mental impression is received through the ear and lacks that definitiveness which the printed form would give, the new idea, when repeated, often assumes a picturesque, if not a ludicrous, form. Many of Mrs. Partington's quaint sayings furnish further illustration. The following incident from a western paper shows the successive stages in the farmer's mental operations from the familiar terms skin, hide, oxide, up to the unfamiliar chemical term oxide, through which he was obliged to pass before he succeeded in making known as once. The man was in a brown study when he went into the drugstore. What can we do for you, inquired the clerk? I want black. Something—something, he said. Have you got any? Probably we have, replied the clerk, but you'll have to be more definitive than that to get it. The farmer thought for a moment. Have you got any black sheepskin of something? He asked. No, no, we don't keep sheepskin. We have chamoiskin, though. That ain't it, I know, said the customer. Have you got any other kind of skins? No. Skin, skin, skin! Slowly repeated the man, struggling with his slippery memory. A calfskin seems to be something like it. Got any black calfskins of anything? No, no, not a one, and the clerk laughed. The customer grew red in the face. Confounded, he said. If it ain't a skin, what thunder is it? Possibly it's a behide, as suggested the clerk. That's it, that's it, exclaimed the man. Have you got any black hides of something or anything? The clerk shook his head sadly as the man trapped up and down the store gate. Got any black cowhide of anything? He asked, after a moment's thought. The clerk's face showed a gleam of intelligence, and broke into a smile. Possibly it's black oxide of manganese you want, he said, quietly. Of course, that's it, the farmer exclaimed as he threw his arms around the clerk's neck. I know, blamed well, there was a skin or hide or something, somewhere about the thing, and he calmed down quietly and waited for what he wanted. Accord, give. They accorded him due praise. They gave him the desired information. Act, action. The best portion of a good man's life is as little nameless unremembered acts of kindness and of love. Suit the action of the word. Action suggests the operation. Act, the accomplished result. Adherence, adhesion. These words were once interchangeable but are now distinct. Adhesion relates to physical bodies. Adherence to mental states. Adopt, take. What course will you take is better than what course will you adopt? Affect and effect. These words are sometimes confounded. The climate affected their health. They sailed away without effecting their purpose. Aggravate, exasperate. To aggravate means to intensify to make worse. To exasperate means to provoke, to irritate. To aggravate the horrors of the scene. His remarks exasperated me. His conduct aggravates me, should be. His conduct annoys, or displeases, or irritates, or exasperates me. Alleviate, relieve. These words differ chiefly in degree. The latter is the stronger word. Proposal, proposition. A proposition implies consideration or discussion. A proposal contemplates acceptance or rejection. Your proposition to build our new warehouse has received favorable consideration, and we are ready to receive your proposals. Providing, provided. You may go to skate, providing you first finish your task. That's incorrect. You should say provided. Proved, proven. Proven is sometimes incorrectly used for proved. The evidence was complete and his guilt was fully proved, not proven. There's a legal term used in England to denote that the guilt of the accused is not made out, though not disproved. Quantity, number. Quantity refers to the how much, number to the how many. There's a large quantity of wheat, corn, apples, lime, and sand, and a number of houses, stores, chairs, and books. It is therefore incorrect to say there was a large quantity of bicycles in the yard. He sold a large quantity of books at auction. Quite a few. In some parts of the country this expression is in common use in the sense of many, a large number, etc. How many people were a church today? Quite a few, meaning a considerable number. Commence, begin. Some persons always commence, but never begin. The tendency toward pomp and parade in speech prompts many persons to avoid the use of our strong, rugged Anglo-Saxon words, and to substitute their high-sounding Latin equivalent, until in time the preferable native forms come to be regarded as commonplace and objectionable. American usage is more faulty than English in this regard. Use begin and beginning more, and commence and commencement less. Complete, finished. There's a distinction in the use of these words that's not always observed. Complete signifies nothing lacking, every element and part being supplied, that which is finished as had all done to it intended, a vessel may be finished, and yet be incomplete. Conclusion, end. The more pretentious word conclusion is often used where the simple Anglo-Saxon word end would be preferable. Conscious, aware. He was aware of the enemy's designs. Conscious of his fate he boldly approached the furious beast. Conscious relates to what is within our own mind. Aware to what is without. Continual, continuous. Continuous implies uninterrupted, unbroken. Continual relates to acts that are frequently repeated. The continuous ride is often finished in five hours, but owing to continual delays, we were eight hours on the way. Convict, convince. The Irishman who brandished his club and exclaimed that he was open to conviction, but he would like to see the man that could convince him, used a form of argument that was most convincing, but failed in his discrimination of language. Convict refers to the outer condition and generally applies to something wrong. Convince, which may be used of either right or wrong, refers to the judgment. Custom, habit. Habit is a tendency which leads us to do easily. Custom grows out of the habitual doing or frequent repetition of the same act. Custom refers to the usages of society or of the individual. Habit refers more frequently to the individual acts. Ill habits gather by unseen degrees. Man yields to custom as he bows to fate in all things ruled, mind, body, and estate. Want, need. These words are often used interchangeably but should be discriminated. Need implies the lack. Want also implies the lack but couples with it the wish to supply the lack. Some men need help but will not ask for it. Others want help, that is, they need help or think they do and ask for it. And get it, too. Away. His way down in Florida is incorrect. He is a way down in Florida is better, grammar. He is in Florida is still better. Down indicates the direction and a way magnifies the distance. As most persons know the direction and as modern railway travel shortens long distances, the abbreviated sentence is sufficiently full. Ways, way. He is a long ways from home. Home is very common but faulty expression. Say, Uncle Charles is now a long way on his journey. The boat is a good way off the shore. Whole. All. The whole of the scholars went to the fair today. All of the school went to the fair today. The sentence will be improved by transposing whole and all. All of the scholars went to the fair today, not half of them. The school went to the fair today, not a part of it. All refers to the individual scholars. Whole to the school as a unit. Without. Unless. He cannot miss the way without he forgets my instructions. I will not dig the potatoes without Tom comes to help. Use unless instead of without. Worse. More. He dislikes arithmetic worse than grammar. More instead of worse. Rarely. Rare. It is rarely that you hear of a prodigal youth growing into an economical man. Rarely should be rare to form the adjective attribute of the verb. Real. Really. Real is often incorrectly used as an adverb, especially by school girls, as I think he is real mean. The grammar will be improved by substituting really for real, but the expression as a whole being applied to all kinds and degrees of offenses has become meaningless. Real is often carelessly used in the sense of the very, as real pretty, real bright, real kind. Recipe or receipt? A recipe is a formula for making some mixture of preparation of materials. A receipt is an acknowledgment of that which has been received. Region. Neighborhood. Region is a broader and more comprehensive term and should not be applied to the narrow limits of a neighborhood. Remit. Send. The word remit is often used when send would be better. Remit means to send back, to forgive, to relax. In its commercial sense it means to transmit or send money and payment of a demand, as he remitted the amount by mail. Residence. House. This pretentious word is often used when house or home would be in better taste. Diffase. Disfigure. The walls of many public buildings are defaced by persons who desire that their name shall remain when they are gone. They disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men too fast. Disfigure applies more generally to persons defaced to things. Demean. Degrade. The word demean is often incorrectly used in the sense of degrade or lower. It should be used in the sense of behave, conduct, deport, and not in the sense of degrade. Depot. Station. For many years the word depot was largely employed in the sense of a railway station. Its primary meaning is a warehouse or storehouse or military station. As applied to a stopping place for railroad trains the English word station is greatly to be preferred to the French word depot, and is rapidly coming into general use in this country. Description. Kind. Flowers of every description were found in his garden above since the word kind or variety would be more appropriate. Bring. Fetch. Carry. Bring implies motion from the object toward the person who issues the commander makes the request. Fetch implies two motions. First toward the object, second toward the person who wishes it. The gardener who is in the garden calls to his servant who is at the barn, John, bring me the rake. You will find it in the barn. And if John is with him in the garden he would say, John, fetch me the rake from the barn. The use of fetch is more common among English writers than with us. In fact, many speakers and writers in America rarely use the word. Carry is a more general term and means to convey without thought of the direction. Character. Reputation. These words are often confounded. Character says Abbott is what a person is. Reputation is what he is supposed to be. Character is in himself. Reputation is in the minds of others. Character is injured by temptations and by wrongdoing. Reputation by slanders and libels. Character endures throughout defamation in every form but perishes where there is a voluntary transgression. Reputation may last through numerous transgressions but be destroyed by a single and even an unfounded accusation of aspersion. Farther. Further. Although these words are often used interchangeably even by good writers, yet a finer taste and a keener power of discrimination is shown in the use of farther when referring to literal distance and a further in reference to quantity or degree as each day's journey removes them farther from home. He concluded his speech by remarking that he had nothing further to say. Farther is the comparative of far. Further is the comparative of fourth. Fault. Defect. Speakers and writers often fail to discriminate in the use of these words. Defect implies a deficiency, a lack, a falling short, while a fault signifies that there is something wrong. Men still have faults and men still have them still. He that hath none and lives as angels do must be an angel. It is in general a more profitable to reckon up our defects than to boast of our attainments. Few. Little. These words and their comparatives, fewer, less, are often confounded. Few relates to number or to what may be counted. Little refers to quantity or to what may be measured. A man may have few books and little money. He may have fewer friends and less influence than his neighbor. But do not say the man has less friends than his neighbor. Each. Other. One another. While some excellent authorities use these expressions interchangeably, most primarians and authors employ each other in referring to two persons or things, and one another when more than two are considered as in. Both contestants speak kindly of each other. Gentlemen are always polite to one another. Those who prefer to have wide latitude in speech will be glad to know that Murray, in one of the rules of grammar, says, two negatives in English destroy one another. Shakespeare says, it's a good divine that follows his own instructions. I can easily teach twenty, what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow my own teaching. This is as true of expression as of morals. Either. Neither. Palms and beautiful flowers lined to the hall on either side is a common but faulty form of expression. Either refers to one of two things. In the foregoing sentence the thought is that both sides of the hall were lined, hence the word both should have been used. If however each side of the hall is thought up separately, then each would be the proper word to employ. Either of the two books will please you. Any of the three books will prove satisfactory. Any one of the five men would make a good candidate. Neither of the two men will serve. None of the ten men were present. Not one of all the houses was left standing. These sentences represent the best usage with regard to either, neither, and also of any, none, anyone, not one. These kind. Adjectives implying number must agree with the nouns which they qualify. This and that qualify nouns in the singular. These and those belong to nouns in the plural. These kind of potatoes grow well in the soil. Use this. This twenty years have I known him. Use these. The beam was two foot above my head. Use feet. For this among other reasons I abandoned the profession. Say for this reason among others I abandoned the profession. He rides the bicycle daily, and by this means he preserves his health. The partners were all honest, courteous, and industrious, and by these means acquired wealth. The word means being either singular or plural. The two preceding sentences are both correct. Some means or another. By some means or another he always gets the better part of the bargain. This sentence may be corrected by saying one means or another or some means or other. Than. After other otherwise else or an adjectively comparative degree, than should be used and not but or accept. No other way but this was open to him. Use than. History and philosophy cannot otherwise affect the mind, but for its enlargement and benefit. Use than. Flowers are often nothing else but cultivated weeds. Use than. He no sooner entered the bridge but he met the infuriated bull coming toward him. Use than. He offered no other objection except that one already mentioned. Use than. He read five other books on crime and its causes in addition to those you named. Use than. With equal propriety we may say he offered no objection except the one already mentioned or he read five books on crime and its causes in addition to those you named. It's the use of the word other or otherwise or else that makes unnecessary the correlative term than. Besides. After else and other the preposition besides is sometimes employed. Other boys besides these are mischievous. Other arts besides music are elevating and inspiring. We must have recourse to something else besides punishment. It will be observed that the use of besides in this section differs from the use of than in the preceding discussion. Other than is exclusive of those mentioned whereas other besides includes those mentioned. Other. Iron is more useful in all the metals. The faultiness of this sentence becomes apparent when we remember that iron itself is a metal and is included in the word metals which forms one side of the comparison. Iron is more useful in iron together with all the other metals. This statement is obviously absurd. The sentence should therefore read iron is more useful than all the other metals. The Washington Monument is higher than any Monument in America. Since it is in America and as it cannot be higher than itself the sentence is made correct by adding the word other as the Washington Monument is higher than any other Monument in America. This book which I have just finished is superior to any work on the subject that I have yet seen to any other work. Of all other creatures man is the most highly endowed say of all creatures etc. No general was ever so beloved by his soldiers say instead no other general. Nothing delights him so much as a storm at sea. Nothing else delights him etc. Ones or his. Whether we should say one ought to know one's own mind or one ought to know his own mind is a question that the critics have earnestly discussed but have never settled except as each settles it for himself. The masculine pronoun is often used with an antecedent whose gender is not known. There can therefore be no objection to the use of his on the question of gender. As a matter of euphony his is preferable to one's. Both have the sanction of good usage. None. Although literally signifying no one the word none may be used with a plural verb having the force of a collective noun. None but the brave deserve the fair, Dryden. None knew thee but to love thee, None named thee but to praise. Alec. I look for ghosts but none will force their way to me. Wordsworth. Of all the girls that ere were seen there's none so fine as Nellie. Swift. All. Whole. The word all is often incorrectly used for the whole. The river rose and spread over all the valley. This should be over the whole valley. The day being stormy the members of Class A were all the children at school today. Correct by saying, were the only children at school today. Perpetually. Continually. Perpetually is not synonymous with continually. Perpetually means never ceasing. That which is done continually may be subject to interruptions. Persuade. Advice. Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Paul had advised many persons to become Christians. Some of whom, like Agrippa, were almost persuaded. Wharf. Dock. These words are sometimes confounded. The wharf is the pier or landing upon which the vessel unloads or cargo. The dock is the artificial waterway or basin formed by the wharves. The vessel came into the dock and was made fast to the wharf. Contemptable, contemptuous. Contemptable is sometimes incorrectly used for contemptuous. A story is told of Richard Parson, an English scholar and critic. A gentleman being in dispute with him angrily exclaimed, My opinion of you is most contemptible, sir! upon which Parson quickly retorted. I never knew an opinion of yours that was not contemptible. Healthy. Wholesome. These terms are not synonymous. Toed stools may be healthy, but they would not be regarded as wholesome. Plants and animals are healthy when the conditions of their growth are favourable. They are wholesome when, as food, they promote the health of those persons who eat them. In a Fix. These persons, instead of saying he is in trouble or he is in an awkward position or he is perplexed or embarrassed, employ the vulgarism, he's in a fix. Although Shakespeare may say this was the most unkindest cut of all, and de Quincey may write, Poor Aurora cannot live and cannot die so that he is in an almighty fix. We lesser mortals are forbidden such expressions. Fly versus Flea. In a general sense, fly is applied to winged creatures and flea to persons. What exile from himself can flea when the swallow's homeward fly? The past tense forms are sometimes confused as the inhabitants flew to the fort for safety. The wild geese have all fled to the south. The principal parts of the verbs are for present, past and perfect participle. Fly flew flown and flea fled fled. The verbs flew and fled in the foregoing sentences should be transposed. Fly implies motion either from or toward. Flea implies motion from. Fly may be used in a figurative sense of persons to indicate great speed as of wings. I flew to his rescue. He flew to my rescue. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. The word flown is sometimes used erroneously as the past tense or perfect participle of the verb flow. The parts of this verb are flow, flowed, flowed. The river has overflowed, not overflown. It's banks. Get got. Because a horse is willing is no reason why he should be ridden to death. The verb get and its past tense form got. Admit of many meanings as the following from an old English publication fully proves. I got on horseback within ten minutes after I got your letter. When I got to Canterbury I got a chase for town, but I got wet through before I got to Canterbury, and I have got such a cold as I shall not be able to get rid of in a hurry. I got to the treasury about noon, but first of all I got shaved and dressed. I soon got into the secret of getting a memorial before the board, but I could not get an answer then. However, I got intelligence from the messenger that I should most likely get an answer the next morning. As soon as I got back to my inn I got my supper and got to bed. It was not long before I got to sleep. When I got up in the morning I got myself dressed and then got my breakfast that I might get out in time to get an answer to my memorial. As soon as I got it I got into the chase and got to Canterbury by three, and about tea time I got home. I have got nothing more to say. Those who are disposed to overwork the words get and got will find it interesting and profitable to read the foregoing exercise substituting other words for got printed in italics. With have the word got is generally superfluous. As I have got a cold I have got to go to Boston this evening. Have you got hires root beer undraft? For I did not get to meet your cousin say I had no opportunity, or I was prevented, et cetera. Another very faulty use of got is heard in such expressions as he got killed, they got beaten, she got cured, et cetera. Was or were would be more appropriate. Since to get means to obtain, to procure, to gain the use of the word is justified in such expressions as I have got a larger farm than you have because I have worked harder for it. I have got a better knowledge of the Pacific coast than he has because I traveled extensively through that region, and yet when we have been overworked the physician usually prescribes a period of absolute rest. So in view of the multifarious uses to which get has been applied would it not be well to permit it to retire for a time in order that it may be the more quickly. Rejuvenated. Guess, or reckon, calculate, allow? I guess he is not going to vote today. I reckon we are going to have fair weather now. I calculate this ground would grow good potatoes. I allow she is the prettiest girl that ever visited these parts. The foregoing sentences may be improved by recasting them. I think he is not going to or will not vote today. I believe we shall now have fair weather. I suppose this ground would yield fine potatoes. I regard her as the handsomest lady that has ever visited this place, or neighborhood, or locality. Gums versus overshoes. Tom is outside cleaning his gums on the mat. Not one a mat will do very well for overshoes. A toothbrush and sozadot would probably be better for the gums. Funny. Isn't it funny that Smith, who resided in Chicago, should have died the same day that his father died in Boston? Isn't it funny that the murderer who escaped hanging on a mere technicality of the law should have been killed the next day in a railroad accident? How funny that these maples should grow so tall on this mountain top? It is funny to think that James, who now pays his addresses to me, should once have been in love with my youngest sister. The foregoing illustrations are not more incongruous than those we daily hear. Odd, strange, peculiar, unusual represents some of the ideas intended to be conveyed by that much abused word, funny. Good deal? Or great deal? This idiom is defended by some authority as being perfectly good use. And by others it is denounced as being incorrect. Both good deal and great deal are somewhat colloquial and should be used sparingly in writing. Had better? Would better. Like a good deal and some other idioms, this expression is denounced by some writers and defended by others. Grammatical construction supports more strongly the forms would better, would rather, etc. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my god than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. I would rather read than drive today. I would rather not go. Omit rather and the superiority of would overhead becomes apparent. If versus weather. I do not know if he sold his farm or exchanged it for city property. Use weather. Illy or ill. Do not use illy for ill. The former is becoming obsolete and the latter as an adverb is taking its place. Say an ill ventilated room, not an illy ventilated room. Implicit. This word means tacitly understood. Resting on the word or authority of another, it should not be used in the sense of unbounded, unlimited. Individual. This word should not be used broadly in the sense of a person, but should always convey some thought of a single thing or person as opposed to many. Journal. As the word is from the French. J'eure pour des. It should not be applied to a monthly or quarterly magazine. No as. I do not know as I can see you today. Say, know that. Last or latest. Did you receive my last letter? I hope not. I enjoy your letters very much and I trust you may live to write many more. Cunning. This word is much used by young ladies in speaking of what is small or dainty or pleasing as a cunning little bonnet, a cunning little watch, etc. While the word properly embodies the idea of skill or dexterity on the part of the workman, and the appreciation of such skill in speaking of the artist or artisan might be expressed by cunning, it is better not to use the word in referring to the product of the workmanship. Curious. Curious means inquisitive, rare, in the sense of strange or remarkable its use should be guarded. Cute. This word is often used colloquially in the sense of clever, sharp, shrewd and genius cunning. Doubtless and abbreviation of acute. It is not found in good literary usage. Favor. Resemble. The use of the word favor in the sense of resemble is a provincialism that should be avoided. The son favors the father is correct if the meaning being that the son shows favor or kindness to the father. But if reference to their similarity of appearance is intended, the verb resemble should be employed. Balance versus remainder. This word like numerous others has been borrowed from the commercial world and has had such a wide use that its faultiness has not noticed even by many who regard themselves as careful speakers and writers. I cut down part of the timbre this year and expect to cut the balance next spring. My cousin will remain with us the balance of this week. James ate half of the melon today and will eat the balance tomorrow. In these and all similar cases the word remainder should be used. Balance is a term that applies to accounts and signifies the amount necessary to be added to one side of the account in order to make it equal the other. Behave. Now, my children, you must behave while I am gone. The mother intended to ask her children to behave well, but as behave is a neutral word and may be followed by well or ill. Her form of expression permits to supply whichever adverb suits them the better. Behave requires a qualifying word to make the meaning clear. Bound. He was determined to study medicine not he was bound, etc. Bound implies that he was under a bond of obligation to another rather than impelled by the action of his own mind. Better versus best. While some good writers violate the rule, yet the best authorities restrict the use of the comparative degree to two objects. Mary is the better scholar of the two, although both are young. Susan is the younger. Of two evils choose the lesser, not the least. Former. First. Former and latter being adjectives of the comparative degree should be used in speaking of two objects when more than two objects are named and last. My sons, John and Luther, are both at college. The first expects to study law and the last to study medicine. Use former and latter. New York, Philadelphia and Chicago are the most populous cities in the United States. The former has long been at the front. The latter has only recently entered the race. Use first and last instead of former and latter. These and those. When objects near and remote are referred to, this and its plural these are applied to the objects near at hand. That and its plural those do objects at a distance. When reference is made to contrasted antecedent terms, this and these are applied to the latter. That and those to the former as farewell, my friends, farewell, my foes, my peace with these, my love with those. That burns. Fictitious writer. Do not say a fictitious writer when you mean a writer of fiction. Firstly. First is an adverb as well as an adjective. We should therefore say first, secondly, thirdly, and not firstly, secondly, etc. First rate. An article may be rated in quality as first or second or third. If it rates first, it may be called the first rate article. The word is properly used as an adjective but should not be employed as an adverb as in the sentence. He sings first rate. Fix or mend or repair. Fix means to make fast, but it's incorrect use in the sense of mend, repair, arrange is so common that the word when properly used sounds strange if not strained. To fix up the room. To fix up the accounts. To fix up the shares with my creditors. To fix the rascals who betrayed me. Our examples illustrating the looseness with which the word is used. Round versus square. When a thing is round or square it cannot be rounder or squareer. These adjectives do not admit of comparative and superlative forms but we may say more nearly round or less nearly square. States versus says. He states he's going fishing tomorrow. States is too formal a word and should be used only of some important assertion. He says he is going, etc. Stop versus stay. To stop is to cease moving. At what hotel do you stop? Should be at what hotel do you stay? When you come to the city stay with me, not stop with me. Subtile versus subtle. Subtile means thin, fine, rare, and delicate. Subtle means sly, artful, cunning, elusive. More subtile web arachne cannot spin. He had to contend with a subtle foe. Summons. He was summons to appear before the judge should be. He was summoned to appear. Tasty. Often used in colloquial speech when tasteful would be better. Tastefully, for tastefully is still worse. Team. Properly, this word relates only to the horses and does not include the carriage. Those kind versus these sort. It is unpleasant to have to associate with those kind of people. These sort of sheep are the most profitable. Kind and sort are nouns of a singular number. These and those are plural according to the laws of grammar. The adjective and noun must agree in number. The corrected sentences will read, It is unpleasant to have to associate with this kind of people. This sort of sheep is the most profitable. The fall arises by associating in the mind the adjectives these and those with the nouns sheep and people which nouns are more prominent in the mind than the nouns kind and sort. If the ear is not satisfied the sentences may readily be recast as It is unpleasant to have to associate with people of that kind. Sheep of this sort are the most profitable. Transpire versus happen. This word from trans across through and Spirare to breathe means physiologically to pass off in the form of vapor or insensible perspiration or botanically to evaporate from living cells. Its general meaning is to become known to escape from secrecy. It is frequently employed in the sense of to occur to come to pass, but this use is condemned by the best critics in England and America. The proceedings of the secret session of the council soon transpired. This sentence illustrates the true meaning of the word make versus manufacture. These words may in some cases be used interchangeably, but make has much the wider range of meanings. The following story, related by Eli Perkins, will illustrate this point. I was talking one day with Mr. DePew, president of the New York Central Railroad, about demand and supply. I said the price of any commodity is always controlled by the demand and supply. Not always, Eli, said DePew, demand and supply don't always have prices. Business tax sometimes governs them. When I asked, did an instance ever occur when the price did not depend on demand and supply? Well, said Mr. DePew, the other day I stopped up to a German butcher and out of curiosity asked, what's the price of sausages? The vendicine's a bomb, he said. You asked twenty-five this morning, I replied. Yeah, that was when I add some. I got none, I sell them for twenty cents. That makes out a petition for selling cheap, and I don't lose nothings. You see, Mr. DePew said laughing, I don't want any sausage and demand didn't have any. No demand and no supply and still. The price of sausage went down five cents. Well, there are strange things in this world, I said. Now, take the words manufacture and make. I always thought that both words were a thing. Why, why, they do, Eli said, Mr. DePew. Not always, I said. Now, when could they have a different meaning? Well, why, this morning I came down from Albany on a central car, manufactured to carry fifty passengers, but it was made to carry seventy-two people. Yes, I daresay. But we'll now talk about the Bering Sea question. End of Slips of Speech, Chapter 2, Part 1 Director, read by Mike Harris.