 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. l-i-b-r-i-v-o-x dot o-r-g. Recording by Andrew LeBron, Boston, Massachusetts. How to Speak and Write Correctly by Joseph Delvin Introduction In the preparation of this little work, the writer has kept one end in view, viz. to make it serviceable for those for whom it is intended. That is, for those who have neither the time nor the opportunity, the learning nor the inclination to peruse elaborate and abstruse treatises on rhetoric, grammar, and composition. To them, such works are as gold encased in chests of steel and locked beyond the power of opening. This book has no pretension about it, whatever. It is neither a manual of rhetoric, expatiating on the dogmas of style, nor a grammar full of arbitrary rules and exceptions. It is merely an effort to help ordinary, everyday people to express themselves in ordinary, everyday language in a proper manner. Some broad rules are laid down, the observance of which will enable the reader to keep within the pale of propriety in oral and written language. Many idiomatic words and expressions peculiar to the language have been given, besides which a number of the common mistakes and pitfalls have been placed before the reader, so that he may know and avoid them. The writer has to acknowledge his indebtedness to no one in particular, but to all in general who have ever written on the subject. The little book goes forth, a finger post on the road of language pointing in the right direction. It's hoped that they who go according to its index will arrive at the goal of correct speaking and writing. End of introduction. How to Speak and Write Correctly by Joseph Devlin Chapter 1 Requirements of Speech Vocabulary, Parts of Speech, Requizits It is very easy to learn how to speak and write correctly, as for all purposes of ordinary conversation and communication only about two thousand different words are required. The mastery of just twenty-hundred words, the knowing where to place them, will make us not masters of the English language, but masters of correct speaking and writing. Small number, you will say, compared with what is in the dictionary. But nobody ever uses all the words in the dictionary, or could use them. Did he live to be the age of Methuselah? And there is no necessity for using them. There are upwards of two hundred thousand words in the recent editions of the large dictionaries, but the one hundredth part of this number will suffice for all your wants. Of course you may think not, and you may not be content to call things by their common names. You may be ambitious to show superiority over others and display your learning, or rather your pedantry and lack of learning. For instance you may not want to call a spade a spade. You may prefer to call it a spatula's device for abrading the surface of the soil. Better, however, to stick to the old familiar simple name that your grandfather called it. It has stood the test of time, and old friends are always good friends. To use a big word, or a foreign word, when a small one and a familiar one will answer the same purpose, is a sign of ignorance. Great scholars and writers, and polite speakers, use simple words. To go back to the number necessary for all purposes of conversation, correspondence and writing, two thousand, we find that a great many people who pass in society as being polished, refined and educated use less, for they know less. The greatest scholar alive hasn't more than four thousand different words at his command, and he never has occasion to use half the number. In the works of Shakespeare, the most wonderful genius the world has ever known, there is the enormous number of fifteen thousand different words, but almost ten thousand of them are obsolete or meaningless today. Every person of intelligence should be able to use his mother tongue correctly. It only requires a little pains, a little care, a little study to enable one to do so, and the recompense is great. Consider the contrast between the well-bred, polite man, who knows how to choose and use his words correctly, and the underbred, vulgar bore, whose language grates upon the ear, and jars the sensitiveness of the finer feelings. The blunders of the latter, his infringement of all the cannons of grammar, his absurdities, and monstrosities of language, make his very presence a pain, and one is glad to escape from his company. The proper grammatical formation of the English language, so that one may acquit oneself as a correct conversationalist in the best society, or be able to write and express his thoughts and ideas upon paper in the right manner, may be acquired in a few lessons. It is the purpose of this book, as briefly and concisely as possible, to direct the reader along a straight course, pointing out the mistakes he must avoid, and giving him such assistance as will enable him to reach the goal of a correct knowledge of the English language. It is not a grammar in any sense, but a guide, a silent signal post pointing the way in the right direction. The English language in a nutshell All the words in the English language are divided into nine great classes. These classes are called the parts of speech. They are article, noun, adjective, pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. Of these the noun is the most important, as all the others are more or less dependent upon it. A noun signifies the name of any person, place or thing, in fact anything of which we can have either thought or idea. There are two kinds of nouns, proper and common. Common nouns are names which belong in common to a race or class, such as man or city. Proper nouns distinguish individual members of a race or class, such as John, Philadelphia. In the former case, man is a name which belongs in common to the whole race of mankind, and city is also a name which is common to all large centres of population. But John signifies a particular individual of the race, while Philadelphia denotes a particular one from among the cities of the world. Nouns are varied by person, number, gender, and case. Person is that relation existing between the speaker, those addressed, and the subject under consideration, whether by discourse or correspondence. The persons are first, second, and third, and they represent respectively the speaker, the person addressed, and the person or thing mentioned or under consideration. Number is the distinction of one from more than one. There are two numbers, singular and plural. The singular denotes one, the plural, two, or more. The plural is generally formed from the singular by the addition of s or es. Gender has the same relation to nouns that sex has to individuals, but while there are only two sexes, there are four genders, viz masculine, feminine, neuter, and common. The masculine gender denotes all those of the male kind, the feminine gender, all those of the female kind. The neuter gender denotes inanimate things, or whatever is without life. And common gender is applied to animate things, the sex of which for the time being is indeterminable, such as fish, mouse, bird, etc. Sometimes things which are without life as we conceive it, and which, properly speaking, belong to the neuter gender, are, by a figure of speech called personification, changed into either the masculine or feminine gender, as for instance we say of the sun, he is rising, of the moon, she is setting. Case is the relation one noun bears to another, or to a verb, or to a preposition. There are three cases, the nominative, the possessive, and the objective. The nominative is the subject of which we are speaking, or the agent which directs the action of the verb. The possessive case denotes possession, while the objective indicates the person or thing which is affected by the action of the verb. An article is a word placed before a noun to show whether the latter is used in a particular or general sense. There are but two articles, a or an, and the. An adjective is a word which qualifies a noun, that is, which shows some distinguishing mark or characteristic belonging to the noun. Definitions. A pronoun is a word used for or instead of a noun to keep us from repeating the same noun too often. Pronouns, like nouns, have case, number, gender, and person. There are three kinds of pronouns, personal, relative, and adjective. A verb is a word which signifies action or the doing of something. A verb is inflected by tense and mood and by number and person, though the latter too belongs strictly to the subject of the verb. An adverb is a word which modifies a verb, an adjective, and sometimes another adverb. A preposition serves to connect words and to show the relation between the objects which the words express. A conjunction is a word which joins words, phrases, clauses, and sentences together. An interjection is a word which expresses surprise or some sudden emotion of the mind. Three essentials. The three essentials of the English language are purity, perspicuity, and precision. By purity is signified the use of good English. It precludes the use of all slang words, vulgar phrases, obsolete terms, foreign idioms, ambiguous expressions, or any ungrammatical language whatsoever. Neither does it sanction the use of any newly coined word until such word is adopted by the best writers and speakers. Perspicuity demands the clearest expression of thought conveyed in unequivocal language so that there may be no misunderstanding whatever of the thought or idea the speaker or writer wishes to convey. All ambiguous words, words of double meaning and words that might possibly be construed in a sense different from that intended are strictly forbidden. Perspicuity requires a style at once clear and comprehensive and entirely free from pomp and pedantry and affectation or any straining after effect. Precision requires concise and exact expression, free from redundancy and tautology. A style terse and clear and simple enough to enable the hearer or reader to comprehend immediately the meaning of the speaker or writer. It forbids, on the one hand, all long and involved sentences and on the other those that are too short and abrupt. Its object is to strike the golden mean in such a way as to rivet the attention of the hearer or reader on the words uttered or written. End of chapter 1 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Opheliaad in New South Wales, Australia, November 2006 How to Speak and Write Correctly by Joseph Devlin Essentials of English Grammar In order to speak and write the English language correctly, it is imperative that the fundamental principles of the grammar be mastered for no matter how much we may read of the best authors, no matter how much we may associate with and imitate the best speakers, if we do not know the underlying principles of the correct formation of sentences and the relation of words to one another. We will be to a great extent like the parrot, that merely repeats what it hears without understanding the import of what is said. Of course, the parrot, being a creature without reason, cannot comprehend. It can simply repeat what is said to it, and as it utters phrases and sentences of profanity with as much facility as those of virtue. So, by like analogy, when we do not understand the grammar of the language, we may be making egregious blunders while thinking we are speaking with the utmost accuracy. Divisions of Grammar There are four great divisions of grammar, viz, orthography, etymology, syntax, and prosody. Orthography treats of letters and the mode of combining them into words. Etymology treats of the various classes of words and the changes they undergo. Syntax treats of the connection and arrangements of words and sentences. Prosody treats of the manner of speaking and reading and the different kinds of verse. The three first mention concern us most. Letters A letter is a mark or character used to represent an articulate sound. Letters are divided into vowels and consonants. A vowel is a letter which makes a distinct sound by itself. Consonants cannot be sounded without the aid of vowels. The vowels are A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes W and Y when they do not begin a word or syllable. Syllables and Words A syllable is a distinct sound produced by a single effort of Transcribers note one to two words illegible. Shall Pig Dog In every syllable there must be at least one vowel. A word consists of one syllable or a combination of syllables. Many rules are given for the dividing of words into syllables, but the best is to follow as closely as possible the divisions made by the organs of speech in properly pronouncing them. The parts of speech Article An article is a word placed before a noun to show whether the noun is used in a particular or general sense. There are two articles A or An and C. A or An is called the indefinite article because it does not point to any particular person or thing but indicates the noun in its widest sense. Thus A man means any man whatsoever of the species or race. The is called the definite article because it points out some particular person or thing. Thus The man means some particular individual. Noun A noun is the name of any person, place or thing as John, London, Book. Nouns are proper and common. Proper nouns are names applied to particular persons or places. Common nouns are names applied to a whole kind or species. Nouns are inflected by number, gender and case. Number is that inflection of the noun by which we indicate whether it represents one or more than one. Gender is that inflection by which we signify whether the noun is the name of a male, a female, of an inanimate object or something which has no distinction of sex. Case is that inflection of the noun which denotes the state of the person, place or thing represented as the subject of an affirmation or question, the owner or possessor of something mentioned or the object of an action or of a relation. Thus in the example John tore the leaves of Sarah's book. The distinction between book which represents only one object and leaves which represents two or more objects of the same kind is called number. The distinction of sex between John a male and Sarah a female and book and leaves things which are inanimate and neither male nor female is called gender. And the distinction of state between John the person who tore the book and the subject of the affirmation, Mary the owner of the book, leaves the object's torn and book the object related to leaves as the whole of which they were apart is called case. Adjective. An adjective is a word which qualifies a noun that is shows or points out some distinguishing mark or feature of the noun as a black dog. Adjectives have three forms called degrees of comparison, the positive, the comparative and the superlative. The positive is the simple form of the adjective without expressing increase or diminution of the original quality. Nice. The comparative is that form of the adjective which expresses increase or diminution of the quality. Nicer. The superlative is that form which expresses the greatest increase or diminution of the quality. Nicest. Or an adjective is in the positive form when it does not express comparison as a rich man. An adjective is in the comparative form when it expresses comparison between two or between one and a number taken collectively as John is richer than James. He is richer than all the men in Boston. An adjective is in the superlative form when it expresses a comparison between one and a number of individuals taken separately as John is the richest man in Boston. Adjectives expressive of properties or circumstances which cannot be increased have only the positive form as a circular road. The chief end. An extreme measure. Adjectives are compared in two ways either by adding er to the positive to form the comparative and est to the positive to form the superlative or by prefixing more to the positive for the comparative and most to the positive for the superlative as handsome, handsomeer, handsome est or handsome, more handsome, most handsome. Adjectives of two or more syllables are generally compared by prefixing more and most. Many adjectives are irregular in comparison as bad, worse, worst, good, better, best. Pronoun. A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun as John gave his pen to James and he lent it to Jane to write her copy with it. Without the pronouns we would have had to write this sentence. John gave John's pen to James and James lent the pen to Jane to write Jane's copy with the pen. There are three kinds of pronouns personal, relative and adjective pronouns. Personal. Pronouns are so called because they are used instead of the names of persons, places and things. The personal pronouns are I, thou, he, she and it with their plurals we, ye or you and they. I is the pronoun of the first person because it represents the person speaking. Thou is the pronoun of the second person because it represents the person spoken to. He, she, it are the pronouns of the third person because they represent the persons or things of whom we are speaking. Like nouns the personal pronouns have number, gender and case. The gender of the first and second person is obvious as they represent the person or person speaking and those who are addressed. The personal pronouns are thus declined. First person. Masculine or feminine. N singular. I. N plural. We. P singular. Mine. P plural. Ours. O singular. Me. O plural. Us. Second person. Or feminine. N singular. Thou. N plural. You. P singular. Thine. P plural. Yours. O singular. Thee. O plural. You. Third person. Masculine. N singular. He. N plural. They. P singular. His. P plural. There's. O singular. Him. O plural. Them. Third person. Feminine. N singular. She. N plural. They. P singular. Hers. P plural. There's. O singular. Her. O plural. Them. Third person. Neuter. N singular. It. N plural. They. P singular. It's. P plural. There's. O singular. It. O plural. Them. NB. In colloquial language and ordinary writing thou, thine and thee are seldom used except by the society of friends. The plural form you is used for both the nominative and objective singular in the second person and yours is generally used in the possessive in place of thine. The relative pronouns are so called because they relate to some word or phrase going before as the boy who told the truth. He has done well which gives me great pleasure. Here who and which are not only used in place of other words but who refersed immediately to boy and which to the circumstance of his having done well. The word or clause to which a relative pronoun refersed is called the antecedent. The relative pronouns are who, which, that and what. Who is applied to persons only as the man who was here. Which is applied to the lower animals and things without life as the horse which I sold, the hat which I bought. That is applied to both persons and things as the friend that helps, the bird that sings, the knife that cuts. What is a compound relative including both the antecedent and the relative and is equivalent to that which as I did what he desired, i.e. I did that which he desired. Relative pronouns have the singular and plural alike. Who is either masculine or feminine? Which and that are masculine, feminine or neuter. What as a relative pronoun is always neuter. That and what are not inflected. Who and which are thus declined? Singular and plural. N, who. N, which. P, who's. P, who's. O, whom. O, which. Who, which and what when used to ask questions are called interrogative pronouns. Adjective. Pronouns partake of the nature of adjectives and pronouns and are subdivided as follows. Demonstrative adjective pronouns which directly point out the person or object. They are this, that, with their plurals, these, those and yon, same and self-same. Distributive adjective pronouns used distributively. They are each, every, either, neither. Indefinite adjective pronouns used more or less indefinitely. They are any, all, few, some, several, one, other, another, none. Possessive adjective pronouns denoting possession. They are my, thy, his, her, its, our, your, their. NB. The possessive adjective pronouns differ from the possessive case of the personal pronouns in that the latter can stand alone while the former cannot. Who owns that book? It is mine. You cannot say it is my. The word book must be repeated. The verb. A verb is a word which implies action or the doing of something, or it may be defined as a word which affirms, commands or asks a question. Thus the words john the table contain no assertion, but when the word strikes is introduced something is affirmed. Hence the word strikes is a verb and gives completeness and meaning to the group. The simple form of the verb without inflection is called the root of the verb, e.g. love is the root of the verb, to love. Verbs are regular or irregular, transitive or intransitive. A verb is said to be regular when it forms the past tense by adding ed to the present, or d if the verb ends in e. When its past tense does not end in ed, it is said to be irregular. A transitive verb is one the action of which passes over to or affects some object, as I struck the table. Here the action of striking affected the object, table, hence struck is a transitive verb. An intransitive verb is one in which the action remains with the subject, as I walk, I sit, I run. Many intransitive verbs however can be used transitively. Thus I walk the horse, walk is here transitive. Verbs are inflected by number, person, tense and mood. Number and person as applied to the verb really belong to the subject. They are used with the verb to denote whether the assertion is made regarding one or more than one, and whether it is made in reference to the person speaking, the person spoken to, or the personal things spoken about. Tense. In their tenses verbs follow the divisions of time. They have present tense, past tense and future tense, with their variations to express the exact time of action as to an event happening, having happened or yet to happen. Mood. There are four simple moods, the infinitive, the indicative, the imperative and the subjunctive. The mood of a verb denotes the mode or manner in which it is used. Thus if it is used in its widest sense without reference to person or number, time or place, it is in the infinitive mood as to run. Here we are not told who does the running, when it is done, where it is done or anything about it. When a verb is used to indicate or declare or ask a simple question or make any direct statement, it is in the indicative mood. The boy loves his book. Here a direct statement is made concerning the boy. Have you a pin? Here a simple question is asked which calls for an answer. When the verb is used to express a command or in treaty, it is in the imperative mood as go away, give me a penny. When the verb is used to express doubt, supposition or uncertainty, or when some future action depends upon a contingency, it is in the subjunctive mood as if I come, he shall remain. Many grammarians include a fifth mood called the potential to express power, possibility, liberty, necessity, will or duty. It is formed by means of the auxiliaries may, can, ought and must, but in all cases it can be resolved into the indicative or subjunctive. Thus in I may write if I choose, may write is by some classified as in the potential mood, but in reality the phrase I may write is an indicative one while the second clause, if I choose, is the expression of a condition upon which not my liberty to write depends, but my actual writing. Verbs have two participles, the present or imperfect sometimes called the active ending in ing and the past or perfect often called the passive ending in ed or d. The infinitive expresses the sense of the verb in a substantive form, the participles in an adjective form as to rise early is helpful, an early rising man, the newly risen son. The participle in ing is frequently used as a substantive and consequently is equivalent to an infinitive. Thus to rise early is helpful and rising early is helpful are the same. The principal parts of a verb are the present indicative, past indicative and past participle as love, loved, loved. Sometimes one or more of these parts are wanting and then the verb is said to be defective. Present, can, past, could, passive participle wanting. Present, may, past, might, passive participle wanting. Present, shall, past, should, passive participle wanting. Present, will, past, would, passive participle wanting. Present, ought, past, ought, passive participle wanting. Verbs may also be divided into principle and auxiliary. A principle verb is that without which a sentence or clause can contain no assertion or affirmation. An auxiliary is a verb joined to the root or participle of a principle verb to express time and manner with greater precision than can be done by the tenses and moods in their simple form. Thus the sentence, I am writing an exercise, when I shall have finished it I shall read it to the class, has no meaning without the principle verbs writing, finished, read. But the meaning is rendered more definite, especially with regard to time, by the auxiliary verbs am, have, shall. There are nine auxiliary or helping verbs, vis, be, have, do, shall, will, may, can, ought and must. They are called helping verbs because it is by their aid the compound tenses are formed. To be The verb to be is the most important of the auxiliary verbs. It has eleven parts, vis, am, ought, is, are, was, wast, were, wort, be, being and been. Voice The active voice is that form of the verb which shows the subject not being acted upon but acting, as. The cat catches mice. Charity covers a multitude of sins. The passive voice When the action signified by a transitive verb is thrown back upon the agent, that is to say, when the subject of the verb denotes the recipient of the action, the verb is said to be in the passive voice. John was loved by his neighbours. Where John the subject is also the object affected by the loving, the action of the verb is thrown back on him, hence the compound verb, was loved, is said to be in the passive voice. The passive voice is formed by putting the perfect participle of any transitive verb with any of the eleven parts of the verb to be. Conjugation The conjugation of a verb is its orderly arrangement in voices, moods, tenses, persons and numbers. Here is the complete conjugation of the verb love active voice. Principal parts Present, love Past, loved Past participle, loved Infinitive mood to love Indicative mood, present tense Singular first person, I love Plural first person, we love Singular second person, you love Plural second person, you love Singular third person, he loves Plural third person, they love Past tense Singular first person, I loved Plural first person, we loved Singular second person, you loved plural second person you loved singular third person he loved plural third person they loved future tense singular first person i shall love plural first person they will love singular second person you will love plural second person you will love singular third person he will love plural third person we shall love transcribers note first person plural and third person plural reversed in original present perfect tense first person singular i have loved first person plural we have loved second person singular you have loved second person plural you have loved third person singular he has loved third person plural they have loved past perfect tense first person singular i had loved first person plural we had loved second person singular you had loved second person plural you had loved third person singular he had loved third person plural they had loved future perfect tense first person singular i shall have loved first person plural we shall have loved second person singular you will have loved second person plural you will have loved third person singular he will have loved third person plural they will have loved imperative mood present tense only second person singular love you second person plural love you subjunctive mood present tense first person singular if i love first person plural if we love second person singular if you love second person plural if you love third person singular if he love third person plural if they love past tense first person singular if i loved first person plural if we loved second person singular if you loved second person plural if you loved third person singular if he loved third person plural if they loved present perfect tense first person singular if i have loved first person plural if we have loved second person singular if you have loved second person plural if you have loved third person singular if he has loved third person plural if they have loved past perfect tense first person singular if i had loved first person plural if we had loved second person singular if you had loved second person plural if you had loved third person singular if he had loved third person plural if they had loved infinitives present to love perfect to have loved participants present loving past loved perfect having loved conjugation of to love passive voice indicative mood present tense first person singular I am loved first person plural we are loved second person singular you are loved second person plural you are loved third person singular he is loved third person plural they are loved past tense first person singular I was loved first person plural we were loved second person singular you were loved second person plural you were loved third person singular he was loved third person plural they were loved future tense first person singular I shall be loved first person plural we shall be loved second person singular you will be loved second person plural you will be loved third person singular he will be loved third person plural they will be loved present perfect tense first person singular I I have been loved. First person plural. We have been loved. Second person singular. You have been loved. Second person plural. You have been loved. Third person singular. He has been loved. Third person plural. They have been loved. Past perfect tense. First person singular. I had been loved. First person plural. We had been loved. 2nd person singular. You had been loved. 2nd person plural. You had been loved. 3rd person singular. He had been loved. 3rd person plural. They had been loved. Future perfect tense. 1st person singular. I shall have been loved. 1st person plural. We shall have been loved. 2nd person singular. You will have been loved. 2nd person plural. You will have been loved. Third person singular, he will have been loved. Third person plural, they will have been loved. Imperative mood, present tense only. Second person singular, be, you, loved. Second person plural, be, you, loved. Subjunctive mood, present tense. First person singular, if I be loved. First person plural, if we be loved. Second person singular, if you be loved. Second person plural, if you be loved. Third person singular, if he be loved. Third person plural, if they be loved. Past tense. First person singular, if I were loved. First person plural, if they were loved. Second person singular if you were loved Second person plural if you were loved Third person singular if he were loved Third person plural if we were loved Present perfect tense First person singular if I have been loved First person plural if we have been loved Second person singular if you have been loved second person plural if you have been loved third person singular if he has been loved third person plural if they have been loved past perfect tense first person singular if I had been loved first person plural if we had been loved second person singular if you had been loved second person plural if you had been loved third person singular if he had been loved third-person plural if they had been loved. infinitives. present. to be loved. perfect. to have been loved. participles. present. being loved. past. being loved. perfect. having been loved. nb. note that the plural form of the personal pronoun u is used in the second person singular throughout. the old form thou, except in the conjugation of the verb to be, may be said to be obsolete. in the third person singular he is representative of the three personal pronouns of the third person. he, she, and it. adverb. an adverb is a word which modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. thus in the example he writes well, the adverb shows the manner in which the writing is performed. in the examples he is remarkably diligent and he works very faithfully. the adverbs modify the adjective diligent and the other adverb faithfully by expressing the degree of diligence and faithfulness. adverbs are chiefly used to express in one word what would otherwise require two or more words. thus there signifies in that place, whence from what place? usefully in a useful manner. adverbs like adjectives are sometimes varied in their terminations to express comparison and different degrees of quality. some adverbs form the comparative and superlative by adding er and est as soon, sooner, soonest. adverbs which end in ly are compared by prefixing more and most as nobly, more nobly, most nobly. a few adverbs are irregular in the formation of the comparative and superlative as well, better, best. preposition a preposition connects words, clauses and sentences together and shows the relation between them. my hand is on the table, shows relation between hand and table. prepositions are so called because they are generally placed before the word whose connection or relation with other words they point out. conjunction a conjunction joins words, clauses and sentences as john and james. my father and mother have come but i have not seen them. the conjunctions in most general use are and, also, either, or, neither, nor, though, yet, but, however, for, that, because, since, therefore, wherefore, then, if, unless, lest. interjection an interjection is a word used to express some sudden emotion of the mind. thus in the examples are there he comes, alas, what shall I do? are expresses surprise and, alas, distress. nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs become interjections when they are uttered as exclamations as nonsense, strange, hail, away, etc. we have now enumerated the parts of speech and, as briefly as possible, stated the functions of each. as they all belong to the same family, they are related to one another, but some are in closer affinity than others. to point out the exact relationship and the dependency of one word on another is called passing. and in order that every etymological connection may be distinctly understood, a brief resume of the foregoing essentials is here given. the signification of the noun is limited to one, but to any one of the kind by the indefinite article, and to some particular one or some particular number by the definite article. nouns in one form represent one of a kind, and in another any number more than one. they are the names of males or females, or of objects which are neither male nor female, and they represent the subject of an affirmation, a command or a question, the owner or possessor of a thing, or the object of an action, or of a relation expressed by a preposition. adjectives express the qualities which distinguish one person or thing from another. in one form they express quality without comparison, in another they express comparison between two or between one and a number taken collectively, and in a third they express comparison between one and a number of others taken separately. pronouns are used in place of nouns. one class of them is used merely as the substitutes of names. the pronouns of another class have a peculiar reference to some preceding words in the sentence of which they are the substitutes, and those of a third class refer adjectively to the persons or things they represent. some pronouns are used for both the name and the substitute, and several are frequently employed in asking questions. affirmations and commands are expressed by the verb, and different inflections of the verb express number, person, time and manner. with regard to time an affirmation may be present or past or future. with regard to manner an affirmation may be positive or conditional. it being doubtful whether the condition is fulfilled or not, or it being implied that it is not fulfilled. the verb may express command or entreaty, or the sense of the verb may be expressed without affirming or commanding. the verb also expresses that an action or state is or was going on by a form which is also used sometimes as a noun, and sometimes to qualify nouns. affirmations are modified by adverbs, some of which can be inflected to express different degrees of modification. words are joined together by conjunctions, and the various relations which one thing bears to another are expressed by prepositions. sudden emotions of the mind and exclamations are expressed by interjections. some words according to meaning belong sometimes to one part of speech, sometimes to another. thus in after a storm comes a calm, calm is a noun. in it is a calm evening, calm is an adjective, and in calm your fears, calm is a verb. the following sentence containing all the parts of speech is passed etymologically. i now see the old man coming, but alas he has walked with much difficulty. i a personal pronoun, first person singular, masculine or feminine gender, nominative case, subject of the verb see. now an adverb of time modifying the verb see. see an irregular transitive verb, indicative mood, present tense, first person singular to agree with its nominative or subject, i. v the definite article particularizing the noun man. old an adjective positive degree qualifying the noun man. man a common noun, third person singular, masculine gender, objective case governed by the transitive verb see. coming the present or imperfect participle of the verb to come referring to the noun man. but a conjunction. alas an interjection expressing pity or sorrow. he a personal pronoun, third person singular, masculine gender, nominative case, subject of verb has walked. has walked a regular intransitive verb, indicative mood, perfect tense, third person singular to agree with its nominative or subject, he. with a preposition governing the noun difficulty. much an adjective positive degree qualifying the noun difficulty. difficulty a common noun, third person singular, new to gender, objective case governed by the preposition with nb. much is generally an adverb. as an adverb it is thus compared. positive much comparative more superlative most end of chapter two. this is a LibriVox recording. all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. how to speak and write correctly by Joseph Devlin. chapter three the sentence different kinds arrangement of words and paragraph. a sentence is an assemblage of words so arranged as to convey a determinant sense or meaning. in other words to express a complete thought or idea. no matter how short it must contain one finite verb and a subject or agent to direct the action of the verb. birds fly, fish swim, men walk are sentences. a sentence always contains two parts something spoken about and something said about it. the word or words indicating what is spoken about form what is called the subject and the word or words indicating what is said about it form what is called the predicate. in the sentences given above birds fish and men are the subjects while fly swim and walk are the predicates. there are three kinds of sentences simple compound and complex. the simple sentence expresses a single thought and consists of one subject and one predicate as man is mortal. a compound sentence consists of two or more simple sentences of equal importance the parts of which are either expressed or understood as the men work in the fields and the women work in the household or the men work in the fields and the women in the household or the men and women work in the fields and in the household. a complex sentence consists of two or more simple sentences so combined that one depends on the other to complete its meaning as when he returns I shall go on my vacation. here the words when he returns are dependent on the rest of the sentence for their meaning. a clause is a separate part of a complex sentence as when he returns in the last example. a phrase consists of two or more words without a finite verb. without a finite verb we cannot affirm anything or convey an idea therefore we can have no sentence. infinitives and participles which are the infinite parts of the verb cannot be predicates. I looking up the street is not a sentence for it is not a complete action expressed. when we hear such an expression as a dog running along the street we wait for something more to be added something more affirmed about the dog whether he bit or barked or fell dead or was run over. thus in every sentence there must be a finite verb to limit the subject. when the verb is transitive that is when the action cannot happen without affecting something the thing affected is called the object. thus in cane killed able the action of the killing affected able in the cat has caught a mouse. mouse is the object of the catching arrangement of words in a sentence. of course in simple sentences the natural order of arrangement is subject verb object in many cases no other form is possible thus in the sentence the cat has caught a mouse we cannot reverse it and say the mouse has caught a cat without destroying the meaning and in any other form of arrangement such as a mouse the cat has caught we feel that while it is intelligible it is a poor way of expressing the fact and one which jars upon us more or less. in longer sentences however when there are more words than what are barely necessary for subject verb and object we have greater freedom of arrangement and can so place the words as to give the best effect the proper placing of words depends upon perspicuity and precision these two combined give style to the structure most people are familiar with gray's line in the immortal elegy the ploughman homeward plods his weary way this line can be paraphrased to read 18 different ways here are a few variations homeward the ploughman plods his weary way the ploughman plods his weary way homeward plods homeward the ploughman his weary way his weary way the ploughman homeward plods homeward his weary way plods the ploughman plods the ploughman his weary way homeward his weary way the ploughman plods homeward his weary way homeward the ploughman plods. The plowman plods homeward his weary way. The plowman his weary way plods homeward. And so on. It is doubtful if any of the other forms are superior to the one used by the poet. Of course his arrangement was made to comply with the rhythm and rhyme of his verse. Most of the variations depend upon the emphasis we wish to place upon the different words. In arranging the words in an ordinary sentence we should not lose sight of the fact that the beginning and end are the important places for catching the attention of the reader. Words in these places have greater emphasis than elsewhere. In Gray's line the general meaning conveyed is that a weary plowman is plodding his way homeward. But according to the arrangement a very slight difference is effected in the idea. Some of the variations make us think more of the plowman, others more of the plodding, and still others more of the weariness. As the beginning and end of a sentence are the most important places it naturally follows that small or insignificant words should be kept from those positions. Of the two places the end one is the more important. Therefore it really calls for the most important word in the sentence. Never commence a sentence with and, but, since, because, and other similar weak words, and never end it with prepositions, small weak adverbs or pronouns. The parts of a sentence which are most closely connected with one another in meaning should be closely connected in order also. By ignoring this principle many sentences are made, if not nonsensical, really ridiculous and ludicrous. For instance, ten dollars reward is offered for information of any person injuring this property by order of the owner. This monument was erected to the memory of John Jones who was shot by his affectionate brother. In the construction of all sentences the grammatical rules must be inviolably observed. The laws of concord, that is the agreement of certain words, must be obeyed. The verb agrees with its subject in person and number. I have thou hast. The pronoun thou is here used to illustrate the verb form, though it is almost obsolete. He has. These show the variation of the verb to agree with the subject. A singular subject calls for a singular verb. A plural subject demands a verb in the plural as the boy writes, the boy's write. The agreement of a verb and its subject is often destroyed by confusing collective and common nouns. A collective noun is a number of individuals or things regarded as a whole as class regiment. When the individuals or things are prominently brought forward use a plural verb as the class were distinguished for ability. When the idea of the whole as a unit is under consideration employ a singular verb as the regiment was in camp, foreign and English nouns. It is sometimes hard for the ordinary individual to distinguish the plural from the singular in foreign nouns, therefore he should be careful in the selection of the verb. He should look up the word and be guided accordingly. He was an alumnus of Harvard. They were alumni of Harvard. Compound and simple subjects. When a sentence with one verb has two or more subjects denoting different things connected by and, the verb should be plural as snow and rain are disagreeable. When the subjects denote the same thing and are connected by all the verb should be singular as the man or the woman is to blame and real and apparent subjects. When the same verb has more than one subject of different persons or numbers it agrees with the most prominent in thought as he and not you is wrong. Whether he or I am to be blamed, never use the past participle for the past tense nor vice versa. This mistake is a very common one. At every turn we hear he done it for he did it. The jar was broke instead of broken. He would have went for he would have gone etc. The use of the verbs shall and will is a rock upon which even the best speakers come to wreck. They are interchanged recklessly. Their significance changes according as they are used with the first, second or third person. With the first person shall is used in direct statement to express a simple future action as I shall go to the city tomorrow. With the second and third persons shall is used to express a determination as you shall go to the city tomorrow. He shall go to the city tomorrow. With the first person will is used in direct statement to express determination as I will go to the city tomorrow. With the second and third persons will is used to express simple future action as you will go to the city tomorrow. He will go to the city tomorrow. A very old rule regarding the uses of shall and will is thus expressed in rhyme. In the first person simply shall foretells in will a threat or else a promise dwells. Shall in the second and third does a threat, will simply then foretells the future feat. Take special care to distinguish between the nominative and objective case. The pronouns are the only words which retain the ancient distinctive case ending for the objective. Remember that the objective case follows transitive verbs and prepositions. Don't say the boy who I sent to see you, but the boy whom I sent to see you. Whom is here the object of the transitive verb sent? Don't say she bowed to him and I, but she bowed to him and me, since me is the objective case following the preposition to understood. Between you and I is a very common expression. It should be between you and me, since between is a preposition calling for the objective case. Be careful in the use of the relative pronouns who, which and that. Who refers only to persons, which only to things as the boy who was drowned, the umbrella which I lost. The relative that may refer to both persons and things as the man that I saw, the hat that I bought. Don't use the superlative degree of the adjective for the comparative as he is the richest of the two, for he is the richer of the two. Other mistakes often made in this connection are using the double comparative and superlative as these apples are much more preferable. The most universal motive to business is gain. Comparing objects which belong to dissimilar classes as there is no nicer life than a teacher, including objects in classes to which they do not belong as the fairest of her daughters Eve. Excluding an object from a class to which it does belong as Caesar was braver than any ancient warrior. Don't use an adjective for an adverb or an adverb for an adjective. Don't say he acted nice towards me, but he acted nicely towards me. And instead of saying she looked beautifully, say she looked beautiful. Place the adverb as near as possible to the word it modifies. Instead of saying he walked to the door quickly, say he walked quickly to the door. Not alone be careful to distinguish between the nominative and objective cases of the pronouns, but try to avoid ambiguity in their use. The amusing effect of disregarding the reference of pronouns is well illustrated by Burton in the following story of Billy Williams, a comic actor who thus narrates his experience in riding a horse owned by Hamblin, the manager. So down I goes to the stable with Tom Flynn and told the man to put the saddle on him. On Tom Flynn? No, on the horse. So after talking with Tom Flynn a while I mounted him. What? Mounted Tom Flynn? No, the horse. And then I shook hands with him and rode off. Shook hands with a horse, Billy? No, with Tom Flynn. And then I rode off up the bowery. And who should I meet but Tom Hamblin? So I got off and told the boy to hold him by the head. What? Hold Hamblin by the head? No, the horse. And then we went and had a drink together. What? You and the horse? No, me and Hamblin. And after that I mounted him again and went out of town. What? Mounted Hamblin again? No, the horse. And when I got to Burnham who should be there but Tom Flynn? He'd taken another horse and rode out ahead of me. So I told the hostler to tie him up. Tie Tom Flynn up? No, the horse. And we had a drink there. What? You and the horse? No, me and Tom Flynn. Finding his auditors by this time in a horse laugh Billy wound up with, now look here, every time I say horse you say Hamblin and every time I say Hamblin you say horse. I'll be hanged if I tell you any more about it. Sentence classification. There are two great classes of sentences according to the general principles upon which they are founded. These are termed the loose and the periodic. In the loose sentence the main idea is put first and then follow several facts in connection with it. Defoe is an author particularly noted for this kind of sentence. He starts out with a leading declaration to which he adds several attendant connections. For instance in the opening of the story of Robinson Crusoe we read, I was born in the year 1632 in the city of York of a good family, though not of that country, my father being a foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull. He got a good estate by merchandise and leaving off his trade lived afterward at York. From whence he had married my mother whose relations were named Robinson, a very good family in the country, and from whom I was called Robinson Creutzner. But by the usual corruption of words in England we are now called, may we call ourselves and write our name, Crusoe, and so my companions always called me. In the periodic sentence the main idea comes last and is preceded by a series of relative introductions. This kind of sentence is often introduced by such words as that, if, since, because. The following is an example. That through his own folly and lack of circumspection he should have been reduced to such circumstances as to be forced to become a beggar on the streets soliciting arms from those who had formerly been the recipients of his bounty was a sore humiliation. On account of its name many are liable to think the loose sentence an undesirable form in good composition, but this should not be taken for granted. In many cases it is preferable to the periodic form. As a general rule in speaking as opposed to writing the loose form is to be preferred in as much as when the periodic is employed in discourse the listeners are apt to forget the introductory clauses before the final issue is reached. Both kinds are freely used in composition, but in speaking the loose which makes the direct statement at the beginning should predominate. As to the length of sentences much depends on the nature of the composition. However the general rule may be laid down that short sentences are preferable to long ones. The tendency of the best writers of the present day is towards short snappy pithy sentences which rivet the attention of the reader. They adopt as their motto multum in parvo much in little and endeavour to pack a great deal in small space. Of course the extreme of brevity is to be avoided. Sentences can be too short, too jerky, too brittle to withstand the test of criticism. The long sentence has its place and a very important one. It is indispensable in argument and often is very necessary to description and also in introducing general principles which require elaboration. In employing the long sentence the inexperienced writer should not strain after the heavy ponderous type. Johnson and Carlisle used such a type, but remember an ordinary mortal cannot wield the sledgehammer of a giant. Johnson and Carlisle were intellectual giants and few can hope to stand on the same literary pedestal. The Tyro in composition should never seek after the heavy style. The best of all authors in the English language for style is Addison. McCawley says, quote, if you wish a style learned but not pedantic, elegant but not ostentatious, simple yet refined, you must give your days and nights to the volumes of Joseph Addison, unquote. The simplicity, apart from the beauty of Addison's writings, causes us to reiterate the literary command, never use a big word when a little one will convey the same or a similar meaning. McCawley himself is an elegant stylist to imitate. He's like a clear brook kissed by the noonday sun in the shining bed of which you can see and count the beautiful white pebbles. Goldsmith is another writer whose simplicity of style charms. The beginner should study these writers, make their works his vaude mecum. They have stood the test of time and there has been no improvement upon them yet nor is there likely to be, for their writing is as perfect as it is possible to be in the English language. Apart from their grammatical construction there can be no fixed rules for the formation of sentences. The best plan is to follow the best authors and these masters of language will guide you safely along the way. The paragraph The paragraph may be defined as a group of sentences that are closely related in thought and which serve one common purpose. Not only do they preserve the sequence of the different parts into which a composition is divided but they give a certain spice to the matter like raisins in a plum pudding. A solid page of printed matter is distasteful to the reader. It taxes the eye and tends towards the weariness of monotony but when it is broken up into sections it loses much of its heaviness and the consequent lightness gives it charm as it were to capture the reader. Paragraphs are like stepping stones on the bed of a shallow river which enable the foot passenger to skip with ease from one to the other until he gets across. But if the stones are placed too far apart in attempting to span the distance one is liable to miss the mark and fall in the water and flounder about until he's again able to get a foothold. It is the same with written language. The reader by means of paragraphs can easily pass from one portion of connected thought to another and keep up his interest in the subject until he gets to the end. Throughout the paragraph there must be some connection in regard to the matter under consideration a sentence dependency. For instance in the same paragraph we must not speak of a house on fire and a runaway horse unless there is some connection between the two. We must not write consecutively. The fire raged with fierce intensity consuming the greater part of the large building in a short time. The horse took fright and wildly dashed down the street scattering pedestrians in all directions. These two sentences have no connection and therefore should occupy separate and distinct places. But when we say the fire raged with fierce intensity consuming the greater part of the large building in a short time and the horse taking fright at the flames dashed wildly down the street scattering pedestrians in all directions there is a natural sequence vis the horse taking fright as a consequence of the flames and hence the two expressions are combined in one paragraph. As in the case of words in sentences the most important places in a paragraph are the beginning and the end. Accordingly the first sentence and the last should by virtue of their structure and nervous force compel the reader's attention. It is usually advisable to make the first sentence short. The last sentence may be long or short but in either case should be forcible. The object of the first sentence is to state a point clearly. The last sentence should enforce it. It is a custom of good writers to make the conclusion of the paragraph a restatement or counterpart or application of the opening. In most cases a paragraph may be regarded as the elaboration of the principal sentence. The leading thought or idea can be taken as a nucleus and around it constructed the different parts of the paragraph. Anyone can make a context for every simple sentence by asking himself questions in reference to the sentence. Thus the foreman gave the order suggests at once several questions. What was the order? To whom did he give it? Why did he give it? What was the result? etc. These questions when answered will depend upon the leading one and be an elaboration of it into a complete paragraph. If we examine any good paragraph we shall find it made up of a number of items each of which helps to illustrate, confirm or enforce the general thought or purpose of the paragraph. Also the transition from each item to the next is easy, natural and obvious. The items seem to come of themselves. If, on the other hand, we detect in a paragraph one or more items which have no direct bearing, or if we are unable to proceed readily from item to item, especially if we are obliged to rearrange the items before we can perceive their full significance, then we are justified in pronouncing the paragraph construction faulty. No specific rules can be given as to the construction of paragraphs. The best advice is study closely the paragraph structure of the best writers for it is only through imitation, conscious or unconscious, of the best models that one can master the art. The best paragraphist in the English language for the essay is Macaulay. The best model to follow for the oratorical style is Edmund Burke and for description and narration probably the greatest master of paragraph is the American goldsmith Washington Irving. A paragraph is indicated in print by what is known as the indentation of the line that is by commencing it a space from the left margin. End of chapter three. Chapter four figurative language. How to speak and write correctly by Joseph Devlin. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Sean McGahey. Figures of speech. Definitions and examples. Use of figures. In figurative language we employ words in such a way that they differ somewhat from their ordinary significance in commonplace speech and convey our meaning in a more vivid and impressive manner than when we use them in their everyday sense. Figures make speech more effective. They beautify and emphasize it and give to it a relish and pecancy as salt does to food. Besides they add energy and force to expression so that it irresistibly compels attention and interest. There are four kinds of figures. One. Figures of orthography which change the spelling of a word. Two. Figures of etymology which change the form of words. Three. Figures of syntax which change the construction of sentences. Four. Figures of rhetoric or the art of speaking and writing effectively which change the mode of thought. We shall only consider the last mentioned here as they are the most important. Really giving to language the construction and style which makes it a fitting medium for the intercommunication of ideas. Figures of rhetoric have been variously classified. Some authorities extending the list to a useless length. The fact is that any form of expression which conveys thought may be classified as a figure. The principle figures as well as the most important and oftenest used are simile metaphor, personification, allegory, synecdoche, metonymy, exclamation, hyperbole, apostrophe, vision, antithesis, climax, epigram, interrogation and irony. The first four are founded on resemblance. The second six on contiguity and the third five on contrast. A simile from the latin semilis like is the likening of one thing to another. A statement of the resemblance of objects acts or relations as in his awful anger he was like the storm driven waves dashing against the rock. A simile makes the principal object planar and impresses it more forcibly on the mind. His memory is like wax to receive impressions and like marble to retain them. This brings out the leading idea as to the man's memory in a very forceful manner. Contrast it with the simple statement his memory is good. Sometimes simile is prostituted to a low and degrading use as his face was like a danger signal in a fog storm. Her hair was like a furs bush in bloom. He was to his lady love as a poodle to its mistress. Such burlesque is never permissible. Mere likeness it should be remembered does not constitute a simile. For instance there is no simile when one city is compared to another. In order that there may be a rhetorical simile the objects compared must be of different classes. Avoid the old trite similes such as comparing a hero to a lion. Such were played out long ago. And don't hunt for far-fetched similes. Don't say her head was glowing as the glorious god of the day when he sets in a flambo of splendor behind the purple tinted hills of the west. It is much better to do without such a simile and simply say she had fiery red hair. A metaphor from the Greek metaphorine to carry over or transfer is a word used to imply a resemblance but instead of likening one object to another as in the simile we directly substitute the action or operation of one for another. If of a religious man we say he is as a great pillar upholding the church the expression is a simile but if we say he is a great pillar upholding the church it is a metaphor. The metaphor is a bolder and more lively figure than a simile. It is more like a picture and hence the graphic use of metaphor is called word painting. It enables us to give the most abstract ideas form color and life. Our language is full of metaphors and we often use them quite unconsciously. For instance when we speak of the bed of a river the shoulder of a hill the foot of a mountain the hands of a clock the key of a situation. We are using metaphors. Don't use mixed metaphors that is different metaphors in relation to the same subject. Since it was launched our project has met with much opposition but while its flight has not reached the hate-sambitioned we are yet sanguine we shall drive it to success. Here our project begins as a ship then becomes a bird and finally winds up as a horse. Personification from the Latin persona person and facere to make is the treating of an inanimate object as if it were animate and is probably the most beautiful and effective of all the figures. The mountains sing together the hills rejoice and clap their hands. Earth felt the wound and nature from her seat sighing through all her works gave signs of woe. Personification depends much on a vivid imagination and is adapted especially to poetical composition. It has two distinguishable forms one when personality is ascribed to the inanimate as in the foregoing examples and two when some quality of life is attributed to the inanimate as in a raging storm an angry sea a whistling wind etc. An allegory from the Greek alos other and agorian to speak is a form of expression in which the words are symbolical of something. It is very closely allied to the metaphor in fact is a continued metaphor. Allegory metaphor and simile have three points in common they are all founded on resemblance. Ireland is like a thorn in the side of England this is a simile. Ireland is a thorn in the side of England this is a metaphor. Once a great giant sprang up out of the sea and lived on an island all by himself. On looking around he discovered a little girl on another small island nearby. He thought the little girl could be useful to him in many ways so he determined to make her subservient to his will. He commanded her but she refused to obey then he resorted to very harsh measures with the little girl but still she remained obstinate and obdurate. He continued to oppress her until finally she rebelled and became as a thorn in his side to prick him for his evil attitude towards her. This is an allegory in which the giant plainly represents England and the little girl Ireland. The implication is manifest though no mention is made of either country. Strange to say the most perfect allegory in the English language was written by an almost illiterate and ignorant man and written to in a dungeon cell. In the pilgrims progress Bunyan the itinerant tinker has given us by far the best allegory ever penned. Another good one is The Fairy Queen by Edmund Spencer. Synecdoche from the greek son with an ecthexathai to receive is a figure of speech which represents either more or less than it literally denotes. By it we give to an object a name which literally expresses something more or something less than we intend. Thus we speak of the world when we mean only a very limited number of people who compose the world as the world treated him badly. Here we use the whole for a part but the most common form of this figure is that in which a part is used for the whole as I have 20 head of cattle. One of his hands was assassinated meaning one of his men. 20 stale came into the harbour meaning 20 ships. This is a fine marble meaning a marble statue. Metonymy from the greek meta change and onima a name is the designation of an object by one of its accompaniments. In other words it is a figure by which the name of one object is put for another when the two are so related that dimension of one readily suggests the other. Thus when we say of a drunkard he loves the bottle. We do not mean that he loves the glass receptacle but the liquor that it is supposed to contain. Metonymy generally speaking has three subdivisions. One when an effect is put for cause or vice versa as gray hair should be respected meaning old age. He writes a fine hand that is handwriting. Two when the sign is put for the thing signified as the pen is mightier than the sword meaning literary power is superior to military force. Three when the container is put for the thing contained as the house was called to order meaning the members in the house. Exclamation from the Latin X out and clamary to cry is a figure by which the speaker instead of stating a fact simply utters an expression of surprise or emotion. For instance when he hears some harrowing tale of woe or misfortune instead of saying it is a sad story he exclaims what a sad story. Exclamation may be defined as the vocal expression of feeling though it is also applied to written forms which are intended to express emotion. Thus in describing a towering mountain we can write heavens what a piece of nature's handiwork how majestic how sublime how awe-inspiring in its colossal impressiveness this figure rather belongs to poetry and animated oratory than to the cold prose of everyday conversation and writing. Hyperbole from the Greek hyper beyond and bellion to throw is an exaggerated form of the statement and simply consists in representing things to be either greater or less better or worse than they really are. Its object is to make the thought more effective by overstating it. Here are some examples he was so tall his head touched the clouds he was as thin as a poker he was so light that a breath might have blown him away most people are liable to overwork this figure we are all more or less given to exaggeration and some of us do not stop there but proceed onward to falsehood and downright lying there should be a limit to hyperbole and in ordinary speech and writing it should be well qualified and kept within reasonable bounds an apostrophe from the Greek apple from and strafin to turn is a direct address to the absent as present to the inanimate as living or to the abstract as personal thus oh illustrious washington father of our country could you visit us now my country tis of thee sweet land of liberty of thee i sing oh grave where is thy victory oh death where is thy sting this figure is very closely allied to personification vision from the latin vederi to see consists in treating the past the future or the remote as if present in time or place it is appropriate to animated description as it produces the effect of an ideal presence the old warrior looks down from the canvas and tells us to be men worthy of our sires this figure is much exemplified in the bible the book of revelation is a vision of the future the author who uses the figure most is carlyle an antithesis from the greek anti against antithenae to set is founded on contrast it consists of putting two unlike things in such a position that each will appear more striking by the contrast ring out the old ring in the new ring out the false ring in the true let us be friends in peace but enemies in war here is a fine antithesis in the description of a steam engine it can engrave a seal and crush masses of obdurate metal before it draw out without breaking a thread as fine as a gossamer and lift up a ship of war like a bubble in the air it can embroider muslin and forge anchors cut steel into ribbons and impell-loaded vests against the fury of winds and waves climax from the greek climax a ladder is an arrangement of thoughts and ideas in a series each part of which gets stronger and more impressive until the last one which emphasizes the force of all the preceding ones he risked truth he risked honor he risked fame he risked all that men hold dear yay he risked life itself and for what for a creature who was not worthy to tie his shoe latchets when he was his better self epigram from the greek epi upon and graphene to write originally meant an inscription on a monument hence it came to signify any pointed expression it now means a statement or any brief saying in prose or poetry in which there is an apparent contradiction as conspicuous for his absence beauty when unadorned is most adorned he was too foolish to commit folly he was so wealthy that he could not spare the money interrogation from the latin interrogatio a question is a figure of speech in which an assertion is made by asking a question as does god not show justice to all is he not doing right in his course what can a man do under the circumstances irony from the greek ironsia the simulation is a form of expression in which the opposite is substituted for what was intended with the end in view that the falsity or absurdity may be apparent as benedict arnold was an honorable man a judicis cariat never betrays a friend you can always depend on the word of a liar irony is cousin germane to ridicule derision mockery satire and sarcasm ridicule implies laughter mingled with contempt derision is ridicule from a personal feeling of hostility mockery is insulting derision satire is witty mockery sarcasm is bitter satire and irony is disguised satire there are many other figures of speech which give pecansi to language and play upon words in such a way as to convey a meaning different from their ordinary signification in common everyday speech and writing the golden rule for all is to keep them in harmony with the character and purpose of speech and composition end of chapter four this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this reading by Kara Schellenberg how to speak and write correctly by Joseph Devlin chapter five punctuation principal points illustrations capital letters Lindley Murray and Gould Brown laid down cast iron rules for punctuation but most of them have been broken long since and thrown into the junk heap of disuse they were too rigid too strict went so much into minutiae that they were more or less impractical to apply to ordinary composition the manner of language of style and of expression has considerably changed since then the old abstruse complex sentence with its hidden meanings has been relegated to the shade there is little of prolixity or long drawn out phrases ambiguity of expression is avoided and the aim is toward terceness brevity and clearness therefore punctuation has been greatly simplified to such an extent indeed that it is now as much a matter of good taste and judgment as adherence to any fixed set of rules nevertheless there are laws governing it which cannot be abrogated their principles must be rigidly and inviolably observed the chief end of punctuation is to mark the grammatical connection and the dependence of the parts of a composition but not the actual pauses made in speaking very often the points used to denote the delivery of a passage differ from those used when the passage is written nevertheless several of the punctuation marks serve to bring out the rhetorical force of expression the principal marks of punctuation are one the comma two the semicolon three the colon four the period five the interrogation six the exclamation seven the dash eight the parenthesis nine the quotation there are several other points or marks to indicate various relations but properly speaking such come under the heading of printers marks some of which are treated elsewhere of the above the first four may be styled the grammatical points and the remaining five the rhetorical points the comma the office of the comma is to show the slightest separation which calls for punctuation at all it should be omitted whenever possible it is used to mark the least divisions of a sentence one a series of words or phrases has its parts separated by commas lying comma trickery comma chicanery comma perjury comma were natural to him the brave comma daring comma faithful soldier died facing the foe if the series is in pairs commas separate the pairs rich and poor comma learned and unlearned comma black and white comma christian and jew comma mohammedan and buddhist must pass through the same gate two a comma is used before a short quotation it was patrick henry who said comma give me liberty or give me death three when the subject of the sentence is a clause or a long phrase a comma is used after such subject that he has no reverence for the god i love comma proves his insincerity simulated piety comma with a black coat and a sanctimonious look comma does not proclaim a christian four an expression used parenthetically should be enclosed by commas the old man comma as a general rule comma takes a morning walk five words in apposition are set off by commas mckinley comma the president comma was assassinated six relative clauses if not restrictive require commas the book comma which is the simplest comma is often the most profound seven in continued sentences each should be followed by a comma electricity lights our dwellings and streets comma pulls cars comma trains comma drives the engines of our mills and factories eight when a verb is omitted a comma takes its place lincoln was a great statesman grant comma a great soldier nine the subject of address is followed by a comma john comma you are a good man 10 in numeration commas are used to express periods of three figures mountains 25 comma 000 feet high one comma 000 comma 000 dollars the semicolon marks a slighter connection than the comma it is generally confined to separating the parts of compound sentences it is much used in contrasts one gladstone was great as a statesman semicolon he was sublime as a man two the semicolon is used between the parts of all compound sentences in which the grammatical subject of the second part is different from that of the first the power of england relies upon the wisdom of her statesman semicolon the power of america upon the strength of her army and navy three the semicolon is used before words and abbreviations which introduce particulars or specifications following after such as namely as e g vid i e etc he had three defects semicolon namely carelessness lack of concentration and obstinacy in his ideas an island is a portion of land entirely surrounded by water semicolon as cuba the names of cities should always commence with a capital letter semicolon e g new york paris the boy was proficient in one branch semicolon viz mathematics no man is perfect semicolon i.e free from oblemish the colon except in conventional uses is practically obsolete one it is generally put at the end of a sentence introducing a long quotation the cheers having subsided mr bryan spoke as follows colon two it is placed before an explanation or illustration of the subject under consideration this is the meaning of the term colon three a direct quotation formally introduced is generally preceded by a colon the great orator made this funny remark colon four the colon is often used in the title of books when the secondary or subtitle is in opposition to the leading one and when the conjunction or is emitted acoustics colon the science of sound five it is used after the salutation in the beginning of letters sir colon my dear sir colon gentlemen colon dear mr jones colon etc in this connection a dash very often follows the colon six it is sometimes used to introduce details of a group of things already referred to in the mass the boy's excuses for being late were colon firstly he did not know the time secondly he was sent on an errand thirdly he tripped on a rock and fell by the wayside the period is the simplest punctuation mark it is simply used to mark the end of a complete sentence that is neither interrogative nor exclamatory one after every sentence conveying a complete meaning birds fly period plants grow period man is mortal period two in abbreviations after every abbreviated word rt period rev period t period c period alexander d period d period l period l period d period three a period is used on the title pages of books after the name of the book after the author's name after the publisher's imprint american trails period by theodore roosevelt period new york period scribner company period the mark of interrogation is used to ask or suggest a question one every question admitting of an answer even when it is not expected should be followed by the mark of interrogation who has not heard of napoleon interrogation mark two when several questions have a common dependence they should be followed by one mark of interrogation at the end of the series where now are the playthings and friends of my boyhood the laughing boys the winsome girls the fond neighbors whom i loved mark of interrogation three the mark is often used parenthetically to suggest doubt in 1893 parenthetical mark of interrogation gladstone became converted to home rule for ireland the exclamation point should be sparingly used particularly in prose its chief use is to denote emotion of some kind one it is generally employed with interjections or clauses used as interjections alas exclamation point i am forsaken what a lovely landscape exclamation point two expressions of strong emotion call for the exclamation charge chester charge exclamation point on stanley on exclamation point three when the emotion is very strong double exclamation points may be used assist him double exclamation point i would rather assist satan double exclamation point the dash is generally confined to cases where there is a sudden break from the general run of the passage of all the punctuation marks it is the most misused one it is employed to denote sudden change in the construction or sentiment the heroes of the civil war dash how we cherish them he was a fine fellow dash in his own opinion two when a word or expression is repeated for oratorical effect a dash is used to introduce the repetition shakespeare was the greatest of all poets dash shakespeare the intellectual ocean whose waves washed the continents of all thought three the dash is used to indicate a conclusion without expressing it he is an excellent man but dash four it is used to indicate what is not expected or what is not the natural outcome of what has gone before he delved deep into the bowels of the earth and found instead of the hidden treasure dash a button five it is used to denote the omission of letters or figures j-n j-s for john jones 1908-9 for 1908 and 1909 matthew 7 5-8 for matthew 7 5 6 7 and 8 6 when an ellipsis of the words namely that is to wit etc takes place the dash is used to supply them he excelled in three branches dash arithmetic algebra and geometry seven a dash is used to denote the omission of part of a word when it is undesirable to write the full word he is somewhat of a r-l rascal this is especially the case in profane words eight between a citation and the authority for it there is generally a dash all the world's a stage dash shakespeare nine when questions and answers are put in the same paragraph they should be separated by dashes are you a good boy yes sir dash do you love study i do marks of parentheses are used to separate expressions inserted in the body of a sentence which are illustrative of the meaning but have no essential connection with the sentence and could be done without they should be used as little as possible for they show that something is being brought into a sentence that does not belong to it one when the unity of a sentence is broken the words causing the break should be enclosed in parentheses we cannot believe a liar parentheses and jones is one parentheses even when he speaks the truth two in reports of speeches marks of parentheses are used to denote interpolations of approval or disapproval by the audience the masses must not submit to the tyranny of the classes parentheses here here parentheses we must show the trust magnets parentheses groans parentheses that they cannot ride rough shod over our dearest rights parentheses cheers parentheses if the gentleman from Ohio parentheses mr. brown parentheses will not be our spokesman we must select another parentheses a voice get robinson parentheses when a parentheses is inserted in the sentence where no comma is required no point should be used before either parentheses when inserted at a place requiring a comma if the parenthetical matter relates to the whole sentence a comma should be used before each parentheses if it relates to a single word or short clause no stop should come before it but a comma should be put after the closing parentheses the quotation marks are used to show that the words enclosed by them are borrowed one a direct quotation should be enclosed within the quotation marks abraham lincoln said quotation mark i shall make this land too hot for the feet of slaves quotation mark two when a quotation is embraced within another the contained quotation has only single marks franklin said quotation most men come to believe single quotation mark honesty is the best policy single quotation mark quotation mark three when a quotation consists of several paragraphs the quotation marks should precede each paragraph four titles of books pictures and newspapers when formally given are quoted five often the names of ships are quoted though there is no occasion for it the apostrophe should come under the comma rather than under the quotation marks or double comma the word is greek and signifies a turning away from the letter elided or turned away is generally an e in poetry and familiar dialogue the apostrophe marks the elision of a syllable as i apostrophe ve for i have thou apostrophe rt for thou art you apostrophe ll for you will etc sometimes it is necessary to abbreviate a word by leaving out several letters in such case the apostrophe takes the place of the omitted letters as cont apostrophe d for continued the apostrophe is used to denote the elision of the century in dates where the century is understood or to save the repetition of a series of figures as the spirit of apostrophe 76 i served in the army during the years 1895 apostrophe 96 apostrophe 97 apostrophe 98 and apostrophe 99 the principal use of the apostrophe is to denote the possessive case all nouns in the singular number whether proper names or not and all nouns in the plural ending with any other letter than s form the possessive by the addition of the apostrophe and the letter s the only exceptions to this rule are that by poetical license the additional s may be elided in poetry for the sake of the meter and in the scriptural phrases for goodness apostrophe sake for conscience apostrophe sake for jesus apostrophe sake etc custom has done away with the s and these phrases are now idioms of the language all plural nouns ending in s form the possessive by the addition of the apostrophe only as oyes apostrophe horses apostrophe the possessive case of the personal pronouns never take the apostrophe as ours yours hers theirs capital letters capital letters are used to give emphasis to or call attention to certain words to distinguish them from the context in manuscripts they may be written small or large and are indicated by lines drawn underneath two lines for small capitals and three lines for capitals some authors notably carlyle make such use of capitals that it degenerates into an abuse they should only be used in their proper places as given in the table below one the first word of every sentence in fact the first word in writing of any kind should begin with a capital as capital t time flies capital m my dear friend two every direct quotation should begin with a capital dewey said capital f fire when you're ready gridly three every line of poetry begins with a capital capital b breathes there a man with soul so dead five every numbered clause calls for a capital the witness asserts one capital t that he saw the man attacked two capital t that he saw him fall three capital t that he saw his assailant flee the headings of essays and chapters should be wholly in capitals as the following is all in capital letters chapter eight rules for use of capitals seven in the titles of books nouns pronouns adjectives and adverbs should begin with a capital as capital j johnson's capital l lives of the capital p poets eight in the roman notation numbers are denoted by capitals as these are all capitalized i i i i i v x l c d m which stand for one two three five ten fifty one hundred five hundred and a thousand nine proper names begin with a capital as capital j jones capital j johnson capital c capital m mark capital a antony capital e england capital p pacific capital c christmas such words as river sea mountain etc when used generally are common not proper nouns and require no capital but when such are used with an adjective or adjunct to specify a particular object they become proper names and therefore require a capital as capital m mississippi capital r river capital n north capital s c capital a alagany capital m mountains etc in like manner the cardinal points north south east and west when they are used to distinguish regions of a country are capitals as the capital and north fought against the capital s south when a proper name is compounded with another word the part which is not a proper name begins with a capital if it precedes but with a small letter if it follows the hyphen as capital p post-homeric capital s sunday school ten words derived from proper names require a capital as capital a american capital irish capital c christian capital a american eyes capital c christian eyes in this connection the names of political parties religious sects and schools of thought begin with capitals as capital r republican capital d democrat capital w wig capital c catholic capital p presbyterian capital r rationalists capital f free capital t thinkers 11 the titles of honorable state and political offices begin with a capital as capital p president capital c chairman capital g governor capital a alderman 12 the abbreviations of learned titles and college degrees call for capitals as the following letters are all capitalized l l d m a b s etc also the seats of learning conferring such degrees as capital h harvard capital u university capital m manhattan capital c college etc 13 when such relative words as father mother brother sister uncle and etc precede a proper name they are written and printed with capitals as capital f father capital a abraham capital m mother capital e eddie capital b brother capital j john capital s sister capital j jane capital u uncle capital j jacob capital a ant capital e iliza father when used to denote the early christian writer is begun with a capital augustine was one of the learned capital f fathers of the church 14 the names applied to the supreme being begin with capitals capital g god capital l lord capital c creator capital p providence capital a almighty capital t the capital d deity capital h heavenly capital f father capital h holy capital o one in this respect the names applied to the savior also require capitals capital j jesus capital c christ capital s son of capital g god capital m man of capital g galley capital t the capital c crucified capital t the capital a anointed capital o one also the designations of biblical characters as capital l lily of capital i israel capital r rose of capital s sharon capital c comfortress of the capital a afflicted capital h help of capital c christians capital p prince of the capital a apostles capital s star of the capital s c etc pronouns referring to god and christ take capitals as capital h his work the work of capital h him etc 15 expressions used to designate the bible or any particular division of it begin with a capital as capital h holy capital w writ capital t the capital s sacred capital b book capital h holy capital b book capital g gods capital w word capital o old capital t testament capital and new capital t testament capital g gospel of capital s saint capital m matthew capital s seven capital p penitential capital p Psalms 16 expressions based upon the bible or in reference to biblical characters begin with a capital capital w water of capital l life capital h hope of capital m men capital h help of capital c christians capital s scourge of capital n nations 17 the names applied to the evil one require capitals capital b bls above capital p prince of capital d darkness capital s satan capital k king of capital h hell capital d devil capital i incarnate capital f fiend capital t tempter of capital m men capital f father of capital l lies capital h hater of capital g good 18 words of very special importance especially those which stand out as the names of leading events in history have capitals as capital t the capital r revolution capital t the capital c civil capital w war capital t the capital m middle capital a ages capital t the capital a age of capital i iron et cetera 19 terms which refer to great events in the history of the race require capitals capital t the capital f flood capital m magna capital c karta capital d declaration of capital i independence 20 the names of the days of the week and the months of the year and the seasons are commenced with capitals capital m monday capital m march capital a autumn 21 the pronoun i and the interjection oh always require the use of capitals in fact all the interjections when uttered as exclamations commence with capitals capital a alas he is gone capital a ah capital i i pitied him 22 all gnomes daguer assumed names as well as names given for distinction call for capitals as capital t the capital w wizard of the capital n north capital p paul capital p pri capital t the capital n northern capital g jail capital s sandy capital s sanderson capital p poor capital r robin et cetera 23 in personification that is when inanimate things are represented as endowed with life and action the noun or object personified begins with a capital as the starry capital n night shook the dew from her wings mild-eyed capital d day appeared the capital o oak said to the capital b beach i am stronger than you end of chapter five read by kara shallenberg www.kray.org on november 11 2006 in oceanside california this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox.org recording by rosland wills of silverspring maryland how to speak and write correctly by joseph devlin chapter six letter writing principles of letter writing forms notes many people seem to regard letter writing as a very simple and easily acquired branch but on the contrary it is one of the most difficult forms of composition and requires much patience and labor to master its details in fact there are very few perfect letter writers in the language it constitutes the direct form of speech and maybe called conversation at a distance its forms are so varied by every conceivable topic written at all times by all kinds of persons in all kinds of moods and tempers and addressed to all kinds of persons of various degrees in society and of different pursuits in life that no fixed rules can be laid down to regulate its length style or subject matter only general suggestions can be made in regard to scope and purpose and the forms of indicting set forth which custom and precedent have sanctioned the principles of letter writing should be understood by everybody who has any knowledge of written language for almost everybody at some time or other has necessity to address some friend or acquaintance at a distance whereas comparatively few are called upon to direct their efforts towards any other kind of composition formerly the illiterate countrymen when he had occasion to communicate with friends or relations called in the parapetetic school master as his imanuensis but this had one drawback secrets had to be poured into an ear other than that for which they were intended and often the confidence was betrayed now that education is abroad in the land there is seldom any occasion for any person to call upon the service of another to compose and write a personal letter very few nowadays are so grossly illiterate as not to be able to read and write no matter how crude his effort may be it is better for anyone to write his own letters than trust to another even if he should commence dear friend i lift up my pen to let you know that i have been sick for the past three weeks hopping this will find you the same his spelling and construction can be excused in view of the fact that his intention is good and that he is doing his best to serve his own turn without depending upon others the nature substance and tone of any letter depend upon the occasion that calls it forth upon the person writing it and upon the person for whom it is intended whether it should be easy or formal in style plain or ornate light or serious gay or grave sentimental or matter of fact depend upon these three circumstances in letter writing the first and most important requisites are to be natural and simple there should be no straining after effect but simply a spontaneous outpouring of thoughts and ideas as they naturally occur to the writer we are repelled by a person who is stiff and labored in his conversation and in the same way the stiff and labored letter bores the reader whereas if it is light and in a conversational vein it immediately engages his attention the letter which is written with the greatest facility is the best kind of letter because it naturally expresses what is in the writer he has not to search for his words they flow in a perfect unison with the ideas he desires to communicate when you write to your friend john brown to tell him how you spent sunday you have not to look around for the words or study set phrases with a view to please or impress brown you just tell him the same as if you were present before you how you spent the day where you were with whom you associated and the chief incidents that occurred during the time thus you write natural and it is such writing that is adapted to epistolary correspondence there are different kinds of letters each calling for a different style of address and composition nevertheless the natural key should be maintained in all that is to say the writer should never attempt to convey an impression that he is other than what he is it would be silly as well as vain for the common street laborer of a limited education to try to put on literary errors and emulate a college professor he may have as good a brain but it is not as well developed by education and he lacks the polish which society confers when writing a letter the street laborer should bear in mind that only the letter of a street laborer is expected from him no matter to whom his communication may be addressed and that neither the grammar nor the diction of a chest afield or gladstone is looked for in his language still the writer should keep in mind the person to whom he is writing if it is to an archbishop or some other great dignitary of church or state it certainly should be couched in terms different from those he uses to john brown his intimate friend just as he cannot say dear john to an archbishop no more can he address him in the familiar words he uses to his friend of everyday acquaintance and companionship yet there is no great learning required to write to an archbishop no more than to an ordinary individual all the laborer needs to know is the form of address and how to properly utilize his limited vocabulary to the best advantage here is the form for such a letter 17 second avenue new york city january 1st 1910 most reverend pa jordan archbishop of new york most reverend and dear sir while sweeping the crossing at fifth avenue and fiftieth street on last wednesday morning i found the enclosed fifty dollar bill which i am sending to you in the hope that it may be restored to the rightful owner i beg you will acknowledge receipt and should the owner be found i trust you will notify me so that i may claim some reward for my honesty i am most reverend and dear sir very respectfully yours thomas jones observe the brevity of the letter jones makes no suggestions to the archbishop how to find the owner for he knows the course the archbishop will adopt of having the finding of the bill announced from the church pulpits could jones himself find the owner there would be no occasion to apply to the archbishop this letter it is true is different from that which he would send to brown nevertheless it is simple without being familiar is just a plain statement and is as much to the point for its purpose as if it were garnished with rhetoric and words of learned length and thundering sound letters may be divided into those of friendship acquaintance ship those of business relations those written in an official capacity by public servants those designed to teach and those which give accounts of the daily happenings on the stage of life in other words newsletters letters of friendship are the most common and their style and form depend upon the degree of relationship and intimacy existing between the writers and those addressed between relatives and intimate friends the beginning and end may be in the most familiar form of conversation either affectionate or playful they should however never overstep the boundaries of decency and propriety for it is well to remember that unlike conversation which is only heard by the ears for which it is intended written words may come under other eyes than those for whom they were designed therefore it is well never to write anything which the world may not read without detriment to your character or your instincts you can be joyful playful jacos give vent to your feelings but never stoop to low language and above all to language savoring in the slightest degree of moral impropriety business letters are of the utmost importance on account of the interests involved the business character of a man or of a firm is often judged by the correspondence on many occasions letters instead of developing trade and business interests and gaining clientele predispose people unfavorably towards those whom they are designed to benefit ambiguous slipshod language is a detriment to success business letters should be clear concise to the point and above all honest giving no wrong impressions are holding out any inducements that cannot be fulfilled in business letters just as in business conduct honesty is always the best policy official letters are mostly always formal they should possess clearness brevity and dignity of tone to impress the receivers with the proper respect for the national laws and institutions letters designed to teach or didactic letters are in a class all by themselves they are simply literature in the form of letters and are employed by some of the best writers to give their thoughts and ideas a greater emphasis the most conspicuous example of this kind of composition is the book on etiquette by lord chesterfield which took the form of a series of letters to his son newsletters are accounts of world happenings and descriptions of ceremonies and events sent into the newspapers some of the best authors of our time are newspaper men who write in an easy flowing style which is most readable full of humor and fancy in which carries one along with breathless interest from beginning to end the principal parts of a letter are one the heading or introduction to the body or substance of the letter three the subscription or closing expression and signature for the address or direction on the envelope for the body of a letter no forms or rules can be laid down as it altogether depends upon the nature of the letter and the relationship between the writer and the person addressed there are certain rules which govern the other three features and which custom has sanctioned everyone should be acquainted with these rules the heading the heading has three parts is the name of the place the date of writing and the designation of the person or persons addressed thus 73 new street new work new jersey February 1st 1910 missers gin and company new york gentlemen the name of the place should never be omitted in cities street and number should always be given and except when the city is large and very conspicuous so that there can be no question as to its identity with another of the same or similar name the abbreviation of the state should be appended as in the above new work and j there is another new work in the state of Ohio owing to failure to comply with this rule many letters go astray the date should be on every letter especially business letters the date should never be put at the bottom in a business letter but in friendly letters this may be done the designation of the person or persons addressed differs according to the relations of the correspondence letters of friendship may begin in many ways according to the degrees of friendship or intimacy thus my dear wife my dear husband my dear friend my darling mother my dearest love dear aunt dear uncle dear george etc to mark a lesser degree of intimacy such formal designations as the following may be employed dear sir my dear sir dear mr smith dear madam etc for clergyman who have the degree of doctor of divinity the designation is as follows reverend albin johnson d d my dear sir or reverend and dear sir or more familiarly dear dr johnson bishops of the roman and anglican communions are addressed as right reverend the right reverend the bishop of long island or the right reverend frederick burgess bishop of long island right reverend and dear sir archbishops of the roman church are addressed as most reverend and cardinals as eminence thus the most reverend archbishop cat sir most reverend and dear sir his eminence james cardinal gibbons archbishop of baltimore may it please your eminence the title of the governor of a state or territory and of the president of the united states is excellency however honorable is more commonly applied to governors his excellency william howard taft president of the united states sir his excellency charles evans hughes governor of the state of new york sir honorable franklin fort governor of new jersey sir the general salutation for officers of the army and navy is sir the rank and station should be indicated in full at the head of the letter thus general joseph thompson commanding the seventh infantry sir rear admiral robert atkinson commanding the atlantic squadron sir the title of officers of the civil government is honorable and they are addressed as sir honorable nelson duncan senator from ohio sir honorable norman wingfield secretary of the treasury sir honorable rupert gresham mayor of new york sir presidents and professors of colleges and universities are generally addressed as sir or dear sir professor ferguson janks president of blank university sir or dear sir presidents of societies and associations are treated as businessmen and addressed as sir or dear sir mr joseph banks president of the night owls dear sir or sir doctors of medicine are addressed as sir my dear sir dear sir and more familiarly my dear doctor or dear doctor as ryerson pitkin md sir dear sir my dear doctor ordinary people with no degrees or titles are addressed as mr and mrs and are designed dear sir dear madam and an unmarried woman of any age is addressed on the envelope as miss so-and-so but always designed in the letter as dear madam the plural of mr as in addressing a firm is missers and the corresponding salutation is dear sirs or gentlemen in england esquire is used for mr as a mark of slight superiority and in this country it is sometimes used but it is practically obsolete custom is against it an american sentiment as well if it is used it should only be applied to lawyers and justices of the peace subscription the subscription or ending of a letter consists of the term of respect or affection and the signature the term depends upon the relation of the person addressed letters of friendship can close with such expressions as yours lovingly yours affectionately devotedly yours ever yours etc as between husbands and wives or between lovers such gushing terminations as your own darling your own dovey and other pet and silly ending should be avoided as they denote shallowness love can be strongly expressed without dipping into the nonsensical and the farcical formal expressions of subscription are yours sincerely yours truly respectfully yours and the like and these may be varied to denote the exact bearing or attitude the writer wishes to assume to the person addressed as very sincerely yours very respectfully yours with deep respect yours yours very truly etc such elaborate endings as in the meantime with the highest respect i am yours to command i have the honor to be sir your humble servant with great expression of esteem i am sincerely yours believe me my dear sir ever faithfully yours are condemned as savoring too much of affectation it is better to finish formal letters without any such qualifying remarks if you are writing to mr ryan to tell him you have a house for sale after describing the house and stating the term simply sign yourself your obedient servant yours very truly yours with respect james wilson don't say you have the honor to be anything or ask him to believe anything all you want to tell him is that you have a house for sale and that you are sincere or hold him in respect as a prospective customer don't abbreviate the signature as yours riskfully and always make your sex obvious write plainly yours truly john field and not jayfield so that the person to whom you send it may not take you for jane field it is always best to write the first name in full married women should prefix mrs to their names as very sincerely yours mrs theodore watson if you are sending a letter acknowledging a compliment or some kindness done you may say yours gratefully or yours very gratefully in proportion to the act of kindness received it is not customary to sign letters of degrees or titles after your name except you are a lord earl or duke and only known by the title but as we have no such titles in america it is unnecessary to bring this matter into consideration don't sign yourself sincerely yours obadiah jackson m a or lld if you're an m a or an lld people generally know it without your sounding your own trumpet many people and especially clergymen are fond of flaunting after their names degrees they have received honor is causa that is degrees as a mark of honor without examination such degrees should be kept in the background many a deadhead has these degrees which he could never have earned by brainwork married women whose husbands are alive may sign the husband's name with the prefix mrs thus yours sincerely mrs william sathy but when the husband is dead the signature should be yours sincerely mrs sarah sathy so when we receive a letter from a woman we are unable to tell whether she has a husband living or is a widow a woman separated from her husband but not a divorcee should not sign his name address the address of a letter consists of the name the title and the residence mr hu black 112 south gate street altuna pennsylvania intimate friends have often familiar names for each other such as pet names nicknames etc which they use in the freedom of conversation but such names should never under any circumstances appear on the envelope the subscription on the envelope should always be written with propriety and correctness and as if penned by an entire stranger the only difficulty in the envelope inscription is the title every man is entitled to mr and every lady to mrs and every unmarried lady to mrs even a boy is entitled to master when more than one is addressed the title is mrs madams is sometimes written of women if the person addressed has a title it is courteous to use it but titles never must be duplicated thus we can write robert stitt md but never dr robert stitt md or mr robert stitt md in writing to a medical doctor it is well to indicate his profession by the letters md so as to differentiate him from a dd it is better to write robert stitt md than dr robert stitt in the case of clergyman the prefix reverend is retained even when they have other titles as reverend tracy took lld when a person has more titles than one it is customary to only give him the leading one thus instead of writing reverend samuel macomb b a m a b s c p h d l l d d the form employed is reverend samuel macomb l l d l l d is appended in preference to d d because in most cases the rev implies a d d while comparatively few with the prefix rev are entitled to l l d in the case of honorables such as governors judges members of congress and others of the civil government the prefix on does away with mr and esquire thus we write honorable josia sniffkins not honorable mr josia sniffkins or honorable josia sniffkins esquire though this prefix h on is also often applied to governors they should be addressed as excellency for instance his excellency charles e hughes albany new york in writing to the president the superscription on the envelope should be to the president executive mansion washington dc professional men such as doctors and lawyers as well as those having legitimately earned college degrees may be addressed on the envelopes by their titles as jonathan janeway md hubert houston b l matthew marx m a etc the residents of the person addressed should be plainly written out in full the street and numbers should be given and the city or town written very legibly if the abbreviation of the state is liable to be confounded or confused with that of another then the full name of the state should be written in writing the residents on the envelope instead of putting it all in one line as is done at the head of a letter each item of the residents forms a separate line thus liberty sullivan county new york 215 minna street san francisco california there should be left a space for the postage stamp in the upper right hand corner the name and title should occupy a line that is about central between the top of the envelope and the bottom the name should be neither too much to right or left but located in the center the beginning and end at equal distances from either end in writing to large business concerns which are well known or to public or city officials it is sometimes customary to leave out number in street thus missers seagull cooper company new york city honorable william j gainer new york city notes notes may be regarded as letters in miniature confined chiefly to invitations, acceptances, regrets, and introductions and modern etiquette tends towards informality of their composition card etiquette in fact has taken the place of ceremonious correspondence and informal notes are now the rule invitations to dinner and receptions are now mostly written on cards regrets are sent back on visiting cards with just the one word regrets plainly written there on often on cards and notes of invitation we find the letters rsvp at the bottom these letters stand for the french responde si vous plaît which means reply if you please but there is no necessity to put this on an invitation card as every well-bred person knows that a reply is expected in writing notes to young ladies of the same family it should be noted that the eldest daughter of the house is entitled to the designation miss without any christian name only the surname appended thus if there are three daughters in the thompson family martha the eldest susan and jemima martha is addressed as miss thompson and the other two as miss susan thompson and miss jemima thompson respectively don't write the word addressed on the envelope of a note don't seal a note delivered by a friend don't write a note on a postal card here are a few common forms formal invitations mr and mrs henry wag staff request the honor of mr macadoo's presence on friday evening june 15th at eight o'clock to meet the governor of the fort 19 woodbind terrace june 8th 1918 this is an invitation to a formal reception calling for evening dress here is mr macadoo's reply in the third person mr macadoo presents his compliments to mr and mrs henry wag staff and accepts with great pleasure their invitation to meet the governor of the fort on the evening of june 15th 215 beacon street june 10th 1910 here is how mr macadoo might decline the invitation mr macadoo regrets that owing to a prior engagement he must forego the honor of paying his respects to mr and mrs wag staff and the governor of the fort on the evening of june 15th 215 beacon street june 10th 1910 here is a note addressed say to mr germaya reynolds mr and mrs oldham at home on wednesday evening october 9th from 7 to 11 21 ashland avenue october 5th mr reynolds makes reply mr reynolds accepts with high appreciation the honor of mr and mrs oldham's invitation for wednesday evening october 9th Windsor hotel october 7th or mr reynolds regrets that his duties render it impossible for him to accept mr and mrs oldham's kind invitation for the evening of october 9th Windsor hotel october 7th sometimes less informal invitations are sent on small specially designed note paper in which the first person takes the place of the third thus 360 pine street december 11th 1910 dear mr sainsbury mr johnson and i should be much pleased to have you dine with us in a few friends next thursday the 15th at half past seven you're sincerely Emma bernside mr sainsbury's reply 57 carlyle strand december 13th 1910 dear mrs bernside let me accept very appreciatively your invitation to dine with mr bernside and you on next thursday the 15th at half past seven you're sincerely henry sainsbury mrs alexander bernside notes of introduction notes of introduction should be very circumspect as the writers are in reality vouching for those who may introduce here is a specimen of such a note 603 lexington avenue new york city june 15th 1910 reverend cyrus c wiley dd newark new jersey my dear dr wiley i take the liberty of presenting to you my friend stacey redfern md a young practitioner who is anxious to locate in newark i have known him many years and can vouch for his integrity and professional standing any courtesy and kindness which you may show him will be very much appreciated by me very sincerely yours franklin jewitt end of chapter six how to speak and write correctly by joseph devlin chapter seven errors this is a liber vox recording all liber vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer visit the liber vox dot org chapter seven errors mistakes slips of authors examples and corrections errors of redundancy in the following examples the word or words in parentheses and emphasized are uncalled for and should be omitted one fill the glass full two they appeared to be talking together on private affairs three i saw the boy and his sister both in the garden four he went into the country last week and returned back yesterday five the subject matter of his discourse was excellent six you need not wonder that the subject matter of his discourse was excellent it was taken from the bible seven they followed after him but could not overtake him eight the same sentiments may be found throughout the whole of the book i was very ill every day of my life last week ten that was the some and substance of his discourse eleven he took wine and water and mixed them both together twelve he descended down the steps to the seller thirteen he fell down from the top of the house fourteen i hope you will return again soon fifteen the things he took away he restored again sixteen the thief who stole my watch was compelled to restore it back again seventeen it is equally the same to me whether i have it today or tomorrow eighteen she said she says the report is false and he replied says he if it be not correct i have been misinformed nineteen i took my place in the cars four to go to new york twenty they need not to call upon him twenty one nothing else but that would satisfy him twenty two whenever i ride in the cars i always find it prejudicial to my health twenty three he was the first of all at the meeting twenty four he was the tallest of all the brothers twenty five you are the tallest of all your family twenty six whenever i pass the house he is always at the door twenty seven the rain has penetrated through the roof twenty eight besides my uncle and aunt there was also my grandfather at the church twenty nine it should ever be your constant endeavor to please your family thirty if it is true as you have heard then his situation is indeed pitiful thirty one either this here man or that their woman has got it thirty two where is the fire at thirty three did you sleep in church not that i know of thirty four i have never before in my life met with such a stupid man thirty five four why did he postpone it thirty six because why he could not attend thirty seven what age is he why i don't know thirty eight he called on me four to ask my opinion thirty nine i don't know where i am at forty i looked in at the window forty one i passed by the house forty two he always came every saturday forty three moreover also we wish to say he was an error forty four it is not long ago since he was here forty five two men went into the wood in order to cut down trees further examples of redundancy might be multiplied it is very common in newspaper writing where not alone single words but entire phrases are sometimes brought in which are unnecessary to the sense or explanation of what is written grammatical errors of standard authors even the best speakers and writers are sometimes caught napping many of our standard authors to whom we have been accustomed to look up as infallible have sinned more or less against the fundamental principles of grammar by breaking the rules regarding one or more of the nine parts of speech in fact some of them have recklessly trespassed against all nine and still they sit on their pedestals of fame for the admiration of the crowd macaulay mistreated the article he wrote that a historian should not record trifles is perfectly true he should have used an dickens also used the article incorrectly he refers to robinson caruso as an universally popular book instead of a universally popular book the relation between nouns and pronouns has always been a stumbling block to speakers and writers hallam in his literature of europe writes no one as yet had exhibited the structure of the human kidneys the salleous having only examined them in dogs this means that the salleous examined human kidneys in dogs the sentence should have been no one has yet exhibited the kidneys in human beings the salleous having examined such organs in dogs only sir arthur helps in writing of dickens states i knew a brother author of his who received such criticisms from him dickens very lately and profited by it instead of it the word should be them to agree with criticisms here are a few other pronomial errors from leading authors sir thomas more in general so writes it although not many others so late as him should be he trenches english past and present what should we gain by it but that we should speedily become as poor as them should be they allison's essay on macaulay if the king gives us leave you or i may as lawfully preach as them that do should be they or those the latter having persons understood hobbs's history of civil wars the drift of all his sermons was to prepare the jews for the reception of a prophet mightier than him and whose shoes he was not worthy to bear should be he atterbury sermons phalaris who was so much older than her should be she bentley's dissertation on phalaris king charles and more than him the duke and the polish faction were at liberty to form new schemes should be then he in bolingbrook's dissertation on parties we contributed a third more than the dutch who were obliged to the same proportion more than us should be then we swift's conduct of the allies in all the above examples the objective cases of the pronouns have been used while the construction calls for the nominative case let thou and i the battle try anonymous here let is the governing verb and requires an objective case after it therefore instead of thou and i the word should be you singular and me forever in this humble cell let thee and i my fair one dwell prior here thee and i should be the objectives you and me the use of the relative pronoun trips the greatest number of authors even in the bible we find the relatively wrongly translated whom do men say that i am and say math whom think ye that i am the acts of the apostles who should be written in both cases because the word is not in the objective governed by say or think but in the nominative dependent on the verb am who should i meet at the coffee house tethernight but my old friend steel it is another pattern of this answer is fair dealing to give us hints that the author is dead and yet lay the suspicion upon somebody i know not who in the country swift's tale of a tub my son is going to be married to i don't know who goldsmith's good-natured man the nominative who in the above examples should be the objective whom the plural nominative ye of the pronoun thou is very often used for the objective you as in the following his wrath which will one day destroy ye both milton the more shame for ye holy man i thought ye shakespeare i feel the gales that from ye blow gray tyrants dread ye lest your just decree transfer the power and set the people free prior many of the great writers have played havoc with the adjective in the indiscriminate use of the degrees of comparison of two forms of the same word use the fittest morel the author here in trying to give good advice sets a bad example he should have used the comparative degree fitter adjectives which have a comparative or superlative signification do not admit the addition of the words more most or the terminations are s hence the following examples break this rule money is the most universal incitement of human misery given the decline and fall the chiefest of which was known by the name archon among the greecians dryden's life plutar the chiefest and largest are removed to certain magazines they call libraries swifts the battle of the books the two chiefest properties of air its gravity and elastic force have been discovered by mechanical experiments our booth know from these various causes which in greater or lesser degree affect every individual in the colony the indignation of the people became general robertson's history of america the extremist parts of the earth were mediating a submission atterbury's sermons from these various causes which in greater or lesser degree affected every individual in the colony the ingredients of the people became general robertson's history of america the extremist parts of the earth were mediating a submission atterbury's sermons the last are indeed more preferable because they are founded on some new knowledge or improvement in the mind of man addison spectator this was in reality the easiest manner of the two shaftsbury advice to an author in every well-formed mind this second desire seemed to be the strongest of the two smith's theory of moral sentiments in these examples the superlative is wrongly used for the comparative when only two objects are compared the comparative form must be used of impossibility there are no degrees of comparison yet we find the following as it was impossible they should know the words thoughts and secret actions of all men so it was more impossible they should pass judgment on them according to these things with these necessity of the christian religion a great number of authors employ adjectives for adverbs thus we find i shall endeavor to live hereafter suitable to a man in my station addison i can never think so very mean of him bentley's dissertation on fallorus his expectations run high and the fund to supply them is extreme scanty Lancaster's essay on delicacy the commonest error in the use of the verb is the disregard of the concord between the verb and its subject this occurs most frequently when the subject and the verb are widely separated especially if some other noun of a different number immediately precedes the verb false concords occur very often after either or neither nor and much more many everyone each here are a few authors slips the terms in which the sale of a patent were communicated to the public junius's letters the richness of her arms and apparel were conspicuous gibbons decline and fall everyone of this grotesque family were the creatures of national genius israeli he knows not what spleen langure or listlessness are blairs sermons each of these words imply some pursuit or object relinquished blairs sermons magnus with four thousand of his supposed accomplices were put to death given no nation gives greater encouragement to learning than we do yet at the same time none are so injudicious in the application goldsmith there's two or three of us have seen strange sights shakespeare the past participle should not be used for the past tense yet the learned byron overlooked this fact he thus writes in the lament of tasso and with my years my soul begun to pant with feeling of strange tumult and soft pain here is another example from savage wanderer in which there is double sinning from liberty each nobler science sprung a bacon brightened and a Spencer's song other breaches in regard to the participle's occur in the following every book ought to be read with the same spirit in the same manner as it is writ fieldings tom jones the court of augustus had not wore off the manners of the republic hewms essays moses tells us that the fountains of the earth were broke open or clove asunder or net a free constitution when it has been shook by the inequity of former administrations ballingbroke in this respect the seeds of future divisions were sewed abundantly ballingbroke in the following example the present participle is used for the infinitive mood it is easy distinguishing the rude fragment of a rock from the splinter of a statue gill fillins literary portraits distinguishing here should be replaced by to distinguish the rules regarding shall and will are violated in the following if we look within the rough and awkward outside we will be richly rewarded by its perusal gill fillins literary portraits if i should declare them and speak of them they should be more than i am able to express prayer book revision of psalm 11 if i would declare them and speak of them they are more than can be numbered prayer book revision of psalms 11 without having attended to this we will be at a loss in understanding several passages in the classics layers lectures we know to what cause our past reverses have been owing and we will have ourselves to blame if they are again incurred allison's history of europe adverbial mistakes often occur in the best writers the adverb rather is a word very frequently misplaced archbishop trench in his English past and present writes it rather modified the structure of our sentences than the elements of our vocabulary this should have been written it modified the structure of our sentences rather than the elements of our vocabulary so far as his mode of teaching goes he is rather a disciple of socrates than of st paul or westley thus writes leslie stevens of dr johnson he should have written so far as his mode of teaching goes he's a disciple of socrates rather than of st paul or westley's the preposition is a part of speech which is often wrongly used by some of the best writers certain nouns adjectives and verbs require particular prepositions after them for instance the word different always takes the preposition from after it prevail takes upon adverse takes to a chord takes with and so on in the following examples the prepositions in parentheses and emphasized are the ones that should have been used he found the greatest difficulty of in writing humes history of english if a policy can prevail upon over force adison he made the discovery and communicated to with his friends swiss tale of the tub every office of command should be entrusted to persons on in whom the parliament shall confide mccawley several of the most celebrated writers infringe the canons of style by placing prepositions at the end of sentences for instance carlyle in referring to the study of burns writes our own contributions to it we are aware can be but scanty and feeble but we offer them with goodwill and trust they may meet with acceptance from those they are intended for for whom they are intended he should have written most writers have some one vein which they peculiarly and obviously excel in william minto this sentence should read most writers have some one vein in which they peculiarly and obviously excel many authors use redundant words which repeat the same thought and idea this is called tautology not withstanding which however poor poly embraced them all around chickens i judged that they would mutually find each other crocket as having created a joint partnership between the two powers in the morocco question the times the only sensible position there seems to be is to frankly acknowledge our ignorance of what lies beyond daily telegraph lord rosemary has not budgeted from his position splendid no doubt of lonely isolation the time miss fox was often in the habit of assuring mrs chick chickens the deck it was their field of fame gamble he had come up one morning as was now frequently his wand trollop the counselors of the sultan continue to remain skeptical the times seriously and apart from jesting this is no light matter badge hot to go back to your own country with the consciousness that you go back with the sense of duty well done lord housebury the pares viet lost both her fighting tops and in appearance looked the most damaged of all the ships the times council admitted that that was a fair suggestion to make but he submitted that it was borne out by the surrounding circumstances the times another unnecessary use of words and phrases is that which is termed circumlocution going around the bush when there is no occasion for it safe to fill space it may be likened to a person walking the distance of two sides of a triangle to reach the objective point for instance in the quotation hope professed to have learned his poetry from driden whom whenever an opportunity was presented he prays through the whole period of his existence with unrivaled liberality and perhaps his character may receive some illustration of a comparison he instituted between him and the man whose pupil he was much of the verbiage may be eliminated in the sentence thus condensed hope professed himself the pupil of driden whom he lost no opportunity of praising and his character may be illustrated by a comparison with his master his life was brought to a close in 1910 at an age not far from the one fixed by the sacred writer is the term of human existence this in brevity can be put his life was brought to a close at the age of 70 or better yet he died at the age of 70 the day was intensely cold so cold in fact that the thermometer crept down to the zero mark can be expressed the day was so cold the thermometer registered zero many authors resort to circumlocution for the purpose of padding that is filling space or when they strike a snag in writing upon subjects of which they know little or nothing young writers should steer clear of it and learn to express his thoughts and ideas as briefly as possible commensurate with lucidity of expression volumes of errors in fact in grammar diction and general style could be selected from the works of the great writers a fact which eloquently testifies that no one is infallible and that the very best is liable to air at times however most of the airing in the case of these writers arises from carelessness or hurry not from lack of knowledge as a general rule it is in writing that the scholar is liable to slip in oral speech he seldom makes a blender in fact there are many people who are perfect masters of speech who never make a blender in conversation yet who are ignorant of the very principles of grammar and would not know how to write a sentence correctly on paper such persons have been accustomed from infancy to hear the language spoken correctly and so the use of the proper words and the forms becomes a second nature to them a child can learn what is right as easy as what is wrong and whatever impressions are made on the mind when it is plastic will remain there even a parrot can be taught the proper use of language repeat to a parrot two and two make four and it will never say two and two makes four in writing however it is different without a knowledge of the fundamentals of grammar we may be able to speak correctly from association with good speakers but without such a knowledge we cannot hope to write the language correctly to write even a common letter we must know the principles of construction the relationship of one word to another therefore it is necessary for everybody to understand at least the essentials of the grammar of his own language end of chapter seven chapter eight of how to speak and write correctly this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org how to speak and write correctly by Joseph Devlin chapter eight pitfalls to avoid common stumbling blocks peculiar constructions and misused forms attraction very often the verb is separated from its real nominative or subject by several intervening words and in such cases one is liable to make the verb agree with the subject nearest to it here are a few examples showing that the leading writers now and then take a tumble into this pitfall quote the partition which the two ministers made of the powers of government were singularly happy unquote Macaulay were should be was to agree with its subject partition quote one at least of the qualities which fit it for training ordinary men unfit it for training an extraordinary man unquote Agarho unfit should be unfits to agree with the subject one quote the Tibetans have engaged to exclude from their country those dangerous influences whose appearance were the chief cause of our action unquote the times were should be was to agree with appearance quote an immense amount of confusion and indifference prevail in these days unquote the telegraph prevail should be prevails to agree with amount ellipsis errors in ellipsis occur chiefly with prepositions his objection and condoning of the boy's course seemed to say the least paradoxical the preposition too should come after objection many men of brilliant parts are crushed by force of circumstances and their genius forever lost to the world some maintain that the missing verb after genius is are but such is ungrammatical in such cases the right verb should be always expressed as their genius is forever lost to the world the split infinitive even the best speakers and writers are in the habit of placing a modifying word or words between the two and the remaining part of the infinitive it is possible that such will come to be looked upon in time as the proper form but at present the splitting of the infinitive is decidedly wrong he was scarcely able to even talk she commenced to rapidly walk around the room to have really loved is better than not to have at all loved in these constructions it is much better not to split the infinitive in everyday speech the best speakers sin against this observance in new york city there is a certain magistrate a member of the 400 who prides himself on his diction in language he tells this story a prisoner a faded battered specimen of mankind on whose haggard face deeply lined with the marks of dissipation their still lingered faint reminders of better days long past stood dejected before the judge where are you from asked the magistrate from boston answered the accused indeed said the judge indeed yours is a sad case and yet you don't seem to thoroughly realize how low you have sunk the man stared as if struck your honor does me an injustice he said bitterly the disgrace of arrest for drunkenness the mortification of being thrust into a noisome dungeon the publicity and humiliation of trial in a crowded and dingy courtroom i can bear but to be sentenced by a police magistrate who splits his infinitives that is indeed the last blow one the indefinite adjective pronoun one when put in place of a personal substantive is liable to raise confusion when a sentence or expression is begun with the impersonal one the word must be used throughout in all references to the subject thus one must mind one's own business if one wishes to succeed may seem prolix and awkward nevertheless it is the proper form you must not say one must mind his business if he wishes to succeed for the subject is impersonal and therefore cannot exclusively take the masculine pronoun with anyone it is different you may say if anyone sins he should acknowledge it let him not try to hide it by another sin only this is a word that is a pitfall to the most of us whether learned or unlearned probably it is the most indiscriminately used word in the language from the different positions it is made to occupy in a sentence it can relatively change the meaning for instance in the sentence i only struck him that time the meaning to be inferred is that the only thing i did to him was to strike him not kick or otherwise abuse him but if the only is shifted so as to make the sentence read i struck him only that time the meaning conveyed is that only on that occasion and at no other time did i strike him if another shift is made to i struck only him that time the meaning is again altered so that it signifies he was the only person i struck in speaking we can by emphasis impress our meaning on our hearers but in writing we have nothing to depend upon but the position of the word in the sentence the best rule in regard to only is to place it immediately before the word or phrase it modifies or limits alone alone is another word which creates ambiguity and alters meaning if we substitute it for only in the preceding example the meaning of the sentence will depend upon the arrangement thus i alone struck him at that time signifies that i and no other struck him when the sentence reads i struck him alone at that time it must be interpreted that he was the only person that received a blow again if it is made to read i struck him at that time alone the sense conveyed is that that was the only occasion on which i struck him the rule which governs the correct use of only is also applicable to alone other and another these are words which often give to expressions a meaning far from that intended thus i have nothing to do with that other rascal across the street certainly means that i am a rascal myself i sent the dispatch to my friend but another villain intercepted it clearly signifies that my friend is a villain a good plan is to omit these words when they can be readily done without as in the above examples but when it is necessary to use them make your meaning clear you can do this by making each sentence or phrase in which they occur independent of contextual aid and with the relative never use and with the relative in this manner that is the dog i meant and which i know is of pure breed this is an error quite common the use of and is permissible when there is a parallel relative in the preceding sentence or clause thus there is the dog which i meant and which i know is of pure breed is quite correct loose participles a participle or participial phrase is naturally referred to the nearest nominative if only one nominative is expressed it claims all the participants that are not by the construction of the sentence otherwise fixed john working in the field all day and getting thirsty drank from the running stream here the participants working and getting clearly referred to john but in the sentence swept along by the mob i could not save him the participle as it were is lying around loose and may be taken to refer to either the person speaking or to the person spoken about it may mean that i was swept along by the mob or the individual whom i tried to save was swept along going into the store the roof fell can be taken that it was the roof which was going into the store when it fell of course the meaning intended is that some person or persons were going into the store just as the roof fell in all sentence construction with participles there should be such clearness as to preclude all possibility of ambiguity the participle should be so placed that there can be no doubt as to the noun to which it refers often it is advisable to supply such words as will make the meaning obvious broken construction sometimes the beginning of a sentence presents quite a different grammatical construction from its end this arises from the fact probably that the beginning is lost sight of before the end is reached this occurs frequently in long sentences thus honesty integrity and square dealing will bring anybody much better through life than the absence of either here the construction is broken at than the use of either only used in referring to one of two shows that the fact is forgotten that three qualities and not two are under consideration any one of the three meanings might be intended in the sentence this absence of any one quality absence of any two of the qualities or absence of the whole three qualities either denotes one or the other of two and should never be applied to any one of more than two when we fall into the error of constructing such sentences as above we should take them apart and reconstruct them in a different grammatical form thus honesty integrity and square dealing will bring a man much better through life than a lack of these qualities which are almost essential to success double negative it must be remembered that two negatives in the english language destroy each other and are equivalent to an affirmative thus i don't know nothing about it is intended to convey that i am ignorant of the matter under consideration but it defeats its own purpose in as much as the use of nothing implies that i know something about it the sentence should read i don't know anything about it often we hear such expressions as he was not asked to give no opinion expressing the very opposite of what is intended this sentence implies that he was asked to give his opinion the double negative therefore should be carefully avoided for it is insidious and is liable to slip in and the writer remain unconscious of its presence until the eye of the critic detects it first personal pronoun the use of the first personal pronoun should be avoided as much as possible in composition don't introduce it by way of apology and never use such expressions as in my opinion as far as i can see it appears to me i believe etc in what you write the whole composition is expressive of your views since you are the author therefore there is no necessity for you to accentuate or emphasize yourself at certain portions of it moreover the big eyes savor of egotism steer clear of them as far as you can the only place where the first person is permissible is in passages where you are stating a view that is not generally held and which is likely to meet with opposition sequence of tenses when two verbs depend on each other their tenses must have a definite relation to each other i shall have the pleasure in accepting your kind invitation is wrong unless you really mean that just now you decline though by and by you intend to accept or unless you mean that you do accept now though you have no pleasure in doing so but look forward to be more pleased by and by in fact the sequence of the compound tenses puzzles experienced writers the best plan is to go back in thought to the time in question and use the tense you would then naturally use now in the sentence i should have liked to have gone to see the circus the way to find out the proper sequence is to ask yourself the question what is it i should have liked to do and the plain answer is to go to see the circus i cannot answer to have gone to see the circus for that would imply that at a certain moment i would have liked to be in the position of having gone to the circus but i do not mean this i mean that at the moment at which i'm speaking i wish i had gone to see the circus the verbal phrase i should have liked carries me back to the time when there was a chance of seeing the circus and once back at the time the going to the circus is a thing of the present this whole explanation resolves itself into the simple question what should i have liked at that time and the answer is to go to see the circus therefore this is the proper sequence and the expression should be i should have liked to go to see the circus if we wish to speak of something relating to a time prior to that indicated in the past tense we must use the perfect tense of the infinitive as he appeared to have seen better days we should say i expected to meet him not i expected to have met him we intended to visit you not to have visited you i hoped they would arrive not i hoped they would have arrived i thought i should catch the bird not i thought i should have caught the bird i had intended to go to the meeting not i had intended to have gone to the meeting between among these prepositions are often carelessly interchanged between has reference to two objects only among two more than two the money was equally divided between them is right when there are only two but if there are more than two it should be the money was equally divided among them less fewer less refers to quantity fewer to number no man has less virtues should be no man has fewer virtues the farmer had some oats and a fewer quantity of wheat should be the farmer had some oats and a less quantity of wheat further father further is commonly used to denote quantity father to denote distance i have walked farther than you i need no further supply are correct each other one another each other refers to two one another two more than two jones and smith quarrelled they struck each other is correct jones smith and brown quarrelled they struck one another is also correct don't say the two boys teach one another or the three girls love each other each every either neither these words are continually misapplied each can be applied to two or any higher number of objects to signify every one of the number independently every requires more than two to be spoken of and denotes all the persons or things taken separately either denotes one or the other of two and should not be used to include both neither is the negative of either denoting not the other and not the one and relating to two persons or things considered separately the following examples illustrate the correct usage of these words each man of the crew received a reward every man in the regiment displayed bravery we can walk on either side of the street neither of the two is to blame neither nor when two singular subjects are connected by neither nor use a singular verb as neither john nor james was there not were there none custom has sanctioned the use of this word both with a singular and plural as none is so blind as he who will not see and none are so blind as they who will not see however as it is a contraction of no one it is better to use the singular verb rise raise these verbs are very often confounded rise is to move or pass upward in any manner as to rise from bed to increase in value to improve in position or rank as stocks rise politicians rise they have risen to honor raise is to lift up to exalt to enhance as i raise the table he raised his servant the baker raised the price of bread lay lie the transitive verb lay and lay the past tense of the neuter verb lie are often confounded though quite different in meaning the neuter verb to lie meaning to lie down or rest cannot take the objective after it except with the preposition we can say he lies on the ground but we cannot say he lies the ground since the verb is neuter and intransitive and as such cannot have a direct object with lay it is different lay is a transitive verb therefore it takes a direct object after it as i lay a wager i laid the carpet etc of a carpet or any inanimate subject we should say it lies on the floor a knife lies on the table not lays but if a person we say he lays the knife on the table not he lies lay being the past tense of the neuter to lie down we should say he lay on the bed and lain being its past participle we must also say he has lain on the bed we can say i lay myself down he laid himself down and such expressions it is imperative to remember in using these verbs that to lay means to do something and to lie means to be in a state of rest says i i said says i is a vulgarism don't use it i said is the correct form in into be careful to distinguish the meaning of these two little prepositions and don't interchange them don't say he went in the room nor my brother is into the navy in denotes the place where a person or thing whether at rest or in motion is present and into denotes entrance he went into the room my brother is in the navy are correct eat eight don't confound the two eat is present eight is past i eat the bread means that i'm continuing the eating i ate the bread means that the act of eating is past eaten is the perfect participle but often eat is used instead and as it has the same pronunciation of et care should be taken to distinguish the past tense i ate from the perfect i have eaten sequence of person remember that the first person takes precedence of the second and the second takes precedence of the third when cardinal walls he said ego et rex i and the king he showed he was a good grammarian but a bad courtier am come have come i am come points to my being here while i have come intimates that i have just arrived when the subject is not a person the verb to be should be used in preference to the verb to have as the box is come instead of the box has come past tense past participle the interchange of these two parts of the irregular or so-called strong verbs is perhaps the breach often is committed by careless speakers and writers to avoid mistakes it is requisite to know the principal parts of these verbs and this knowledge is very easy of requirement as there are not more than a couple of hundred of such verbs and of this number but a small part is in daily use here are some of the most common blunders i seen for i saw i done it for i did it i drunk for i drank i begun for i began i rung for i rang i run for i ran i sung for i sang i have chose for i have chosen i have drove for i have driven i have wore for i have worn i have trod for i have trodden i have shook for i have shaken i have fell for i have fallen i have drank for i have drunk i have began for i have begun i have rang for i have rung i have rose for i have risen i have spoke for i have spoken i have broke for i have broken it has froze for it has frozen it has blowed for it has blown it has flowed of a bird for it has flown nb the past tense and past participle of to hang is hanged or hung when you are talking about a man meeting death on the gallows say he was hanged when you are talking about the carcass of an animal say it was hung as the beef was hung dry also say your coat was hung on a hook prepositions and the objective case don't forget that prepositions always take the objective case don't say between you and i say between you and me two prepositions should not govern one objective unless there is an immediate connection between them he was refused admission to and forcibly ejected from the school should be he was refused admission to the school and forcibly ejected from it summon summons don't say i shall summons him but i shall summon him summon is a verb summons a noun it is correct to say i shall get a summons for him but not a summon undeniable unexceptionable my brother has an undeniable character is wrong if i wish to convey the idea that he has a good character the expression should be in that case my brother has an unexceptionable character an undeniable character is a character that cannot be denied whether good or bad an unexceptionable character is one to which no one can take exception the pronouns very many mistakes occur in the use of the pronouns let you and i go should be let you and me go let them and we go should be let them and us go the verb let is transitive and therefore takes the objective case give me them flowers should be give me those flowers i mean them three should be i mean those three them is the objective case of the personal pronoun and cannot be used adjectively like the demonstrative adjective pronoun i am as strong as him should be i am as strong as he i am younger than her should be i am younger than she he can write better than me should be he can write better than i for in these examples the objective cases him her and me are used wrongfully for the nominatives after each of the misapplied pronouns a verb is understood of which each pronoun is the subject thus i am as strong as he is i am younger than she is he can write better than i can don't say it is me say it is i the verb to be of which is is a part takes the same case after it that it has before it this holds good in all situations as well as with pronouns the verb to be also requires the pronouns joined to it to be in the same case as a pronoun asking a question the nominative i requires the nominative who and the objectives me him her it's you and them require the objective whom whom do you think i am should be who do you think i am and who do they suppose me to be should be whom do they suppose me to be the objective form of the relative should be always used in connection with the preposition who do you take me for should be whom do etc who did you give the apple to should be whom did you give the apple to but as pointed out elsewhere the preposition should never end a sentence therefore it is better to say to whom did you give the apple after transitive verbs always use the objective cases of the pronouns for he and they we have seen say him and them we have seen that for so the hurt it was that painful it made me cry say so painful these those don't say these kind those sort kind and sort are each singular and require the singular pronouns this and that in connection with these demonstrative adjective pronouns remember that this and these refer to what is near at hand that and those to what is more distant as this book near me that book over there these boys near those boys at a distance this much thus much this much is certain should be thus much or so much is certain flee fly these are two separate verbs and must not be interchanged the principle parts of flee are flee fled fled those of fly are fly flew flown to flee is generally used in the meaning of getting out of danger to fly means to saw as a bird to say of a man he has flown from the place is wrong it should be he has fled from the place we can say with propriety that a bird has flown from the place through throughout don't say he is well known through the land but he is well known throughout the land vocation and avocation don't mistake these two words so nearly alike vocation is the employment business or profession one follows for a living avocation is some pursuit or occupation which diverts the person from such employment business or profession thus his vocation was the law his avocation farming was were in the subjunctive mood the plural form were should be used with a singular subject as if i were not was remember the plural form of the personal pronoun you always takes were though it may denote but one thus you were never you was if i was him is a very common expression note the two mistakes in it that of the verb implying a condition and that of the objective case of the pronoun it should read if i were he this is another illustration of the rule regarding the verb to be taking the same case after it as before it were is part of the verb to be therefore as the nominative i goes before it the nominative he should come after it a or an a becomes an before a vowel or before h mute for the sake of euphony or agreeable sound to the ear an apple an orange an air an honor etc end of chapter eight this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Andrew Lebrun Boston Massachusetts how to speak and write correctly by Joseph Delvin chapter nine style diction purity propriety precision it is the object of every writer to put his thoughts into as effective form as possible so as to make a good impression on the reader a person may have noble thoughts and ideas but be unable to express them in such a way as to appeal to others consequently he cannot exert the full force of his intellectuality nor leave the imprint of his character upon his time whereas many a man but indifferently gifted may wield such a facile pen as to attract attention and win for himself an envious place among his contemporaries in everyday life one sees illustrations of men of excellent mentality being cast aside and ones of mediocre or in some cases little if any ability chosen to fill important places the former are unable to impress their personality they have great thoughts great ideas but these thoughts and ideas are locked up in their brains and are like prisoners behind the bars struggling to get free the key of language which would open the door is wanting hence they have to remain locked up many a man has to pass through the world unheard of and of little benefit to it or himself simply because he cannot bring out what is in him and make it subservient to his will it is the duty of everyone to develop his best not only for the benefit of himself but for the good of his fellow men it is not at all necessary to have great learning or requirements the laborer is as useful in his own place as the philosopher in his nor is it necessary to have many talents one talent rightly used is much better than 10 wrongly used often a man can do more with one than his contemporary can do with 10 often a man can make one dollar go farther than 20 in the hands of his neighbor often the poor man lives more comfortably than the millionaire all depends on the individual himself if he make right use of what the creator has given him and live according to the laws of god and nature he is fulfilling his allotted place in the universal scheme of creation in other words when he does his best he is living up to the standard of a useful manhood now in order to do his best a man of ordinary intelligence and education should be able to express himself correctly both in speaking and in writing that is he should be able to convey his thoughts in an intelligent manner which the simplest can understand the manner in which a speaker or writer conveys his thoughts is known as his style in other words style may be defined as the peculiar manner in which a man expresses his conceptions through the medium of language it depends upon the choice of words and their arrangement to convey a meaning scarcely any two writers have exactly the same style that is to say express their ideas after the same peculiar form just as no two mortals are fashioned by nature in the same mold so that one is an exact counterpart of the other just as men differ in the accent and tones of their voices so do they differ in the construction of their language two reporters sent out on the same mission say to report a fire will verbally differ in their accounts though materially both descriptions will be the same as far as the leading facts are concerned one will express himself in a style different from the other if you are asked to describe the dancing of a red-haired lady at the last charity ball you can either say the ruby sursey with the titan locks glowing like the oriflam which surrounds the golden god of day as he sinks to rest amid the crimson glory of the burnished west gave a divine exhibition of the terpsichorean art which thrilled the souls of the multitude or you can simply say the red-haired lady danced very well and pleased the audience the former is a specimen of the ultra florid or bombastic style which may be said to depend upon the pomposity of verbosity for its effect the latter is a specimen of simple natural style needless to say it is to be preferred the other should be avoided it stamps the writer as a person of shallowness ignorance and inexperience it has been eliminated from the newspapers even the most flatulent of yellow sheets no longer tolerated in their columns affectation and pedantry in style are now universally condemned it is the duty of every speaker and writer to labor after a pleasing style it gains him an entrance where he would otherwise be debarred often the interest of a subject depends as much on the way it is presented as on the subject itself one writer will make it attractive another repulsive for instance take a passage in history treated by one historian it is like a desiccated mummy dry dull disgusting while under the spell of another it is as it were galvanized into a virile living thing which not only pleases but captivates the reader diction the first requisite of style is choice of words and this comes under the head of diction the property of style which has reference to the words and phrases used in speaking and writing the secret of literary skill from any standpoint consists in putting the right word in the right place in order to do this it is imperative to know the meaning of the words we use their exact literal meaning many synonymous words are seemingly interchangeable and appear as if the same meaning were applicable to three or four of them at the same time but when all such words are reduced to a final analysis it is clearly seen that there is a marked difference in their meaning for instance grief and sorrow seem to be identical but they are not grief is active sorrow is more or less passive grief is caused by troubles and misfortunes which come to us from the outside while sorrow is often the consequence of our own acts grief is frequently loud and violent sorrow is always quiet and retiring grief shouts sorrow remains calm if you are not sure of the exact meaning of a word look it up immediately in the dictionary sometimes some of our great scholars are puzzled over simple words in regard to meaning spelling or pronunciation whenever you meet a strange word note it down until you discover its meaning and use read the best books you can get books written by men and women who are acknowledged masters of language and study how they use their words where they placed them in sentences and the meanings they convey to the readers mix in good society listen attentively to good talkers and try to imitate their manner of expression if a word is used you do not understand don't be ashamed to ask its meaning true a small vocabulary will carry you through but it is an advantage to have a large one when you live alone a little pot serves just as well as a large one to cook your victuals and it is handy and convenient but when your friends or neighbors come to dine with you you will need a much larger pot and it is better to have it in store so that you will not be put to shame for your scantiness of furnishings get as many words as you possibly can if you don't need them now pack them away in the garrets of your brain so that you can call upon them if you require them keep a notebook jot down the words you don't understand or clearly understand and consult the dictionary when you get time purity purity of style consists in using words which are reputable national and present which means that the words are in current use by the best authorities that they are used throughout the nation and not confined to one particular part and that they are words in constant use at the present time there are two guiding principles in the choice of words good use and good taste good use tells us whether a word is right or wrong good taste whether it is adapted to our purpose or not a word that is obsolete or too new to have gained a place in the language or that is a provincialism should not be used here are the ten commandments of english style one do not use foreign words two do not use a long word when a short one will serve your purpose fire is much better than conflagration three do not use technical words or those understood only by specialists in their respective lines except when you are writing especially for such people four do not use slang five do not use provincialisms as i guess for i think i reckon for i know etc six do not in writing prose use poetical or antiquated words as lore air mourn yay nay verily per adventure seven do not use trite and hacknate words and expressions as on the job up and in down and out eight do not use newspaper words which have not established a place in the language as to bugle to suicide etc nine do not use ungrammatical words and forms as i ain't he don't ten do not use ambiguous words or phrases as he showed me all about the house trite words similes and metaphors which have become hackneyed and worn out should be allowed to rest in the oblivion of past usage such expressions and phrases as sweet 16 the almighty dollar uncle sam on the fence the glorious fourth young america the lords of creation the rising generation the weaker sex the weaker vessel sweetness long drawn out and chief cook and bottle washer should be put on the shelf as they are utterly worn out from too much usage some of the old similes which have outlived their usefulness and should be penchant off are sweet as sugar bold as a lion strong as an ox quick as a flash cold as ice stiff as a poker white as snow busy as a bee hail as a ghost rich as crisis cross as a bear and a great many more far too numerous to mention be as original as possible in the use of expression don't follow in the old rut but try and strike out for yourself this does not mean that you should try to set the style or do anything outlandish or out of the way or be an innovator on the prevailing custom in order to be original there is no necessity for you to introduce something novel or establish precedent the probability is you are not fit to do either by education or talent while following the style of those who are acknowledged leaders you can be original in your language try and clothe an idea different from what it has been clothed and better if you are speaking or writing of dancing don't talk or write about tripping the light fantastic toe it is over 200 years since Milton expressed it that way in la legro you're not a Milton and besides over a million have stolen it from Milton until it is now no longer worth stealing don't resurrect obsolete words such as willow eclipt whiz etc and be careful in regard to obsolescent words that is words that are at the present time gradually passing from use such as quote trial betwixt amongst fro word etc and beware of new words be original in the construction and arrangement of your language but don't try to originate words leave that to the masters of language and don't be the first to try such words wait until the chemists of speech have tested them and passed upon their merits quintillion said prefer the oldest of the new and the newest of the old hope put this in rhyme and it still holds good in words as fashions the same rule will hold alike fantastic if too new or old be not the first by whom the new are tried nor yet the last to lay the old aside propriety propriety of style consists in using words in their proper sense and as in the case of purity good usage is the principal test many words have acquired in actual use a meaning very different from what they once possessed prevent formally meant to go before and that meaning is implied in its latin derivation now it means to put a stop to to hinder to attain propriety of style it is necessary to avoid confounding words derived from the same root as respectfully and respectively it is necessary to use words in their accepted sense or the sense which everyday use sanctions simplicity simplicity of style has reference to the choice of simple words and their unaffected presentation simple words should always be used in preference to compound and complicated ones when they express the same or almost the same meaning the Anglo-Saxon element in our language comprises the simple words which express the relations of everyday life strong terse vigorous the language of the fireside street market and farm it is this style which characterizes the bible and many of the great english classics such as the pilgrims progress robinson crusoe and gulliver's travels clearness clearness of style should be one of the leading considerations with the beginner in composition he must avoid all obscurity and ambiguous phrases if he write a sentence or phrase and say that a meaning might be inferred from it otherwise than intended he should rewrite it in such a way that there can be no possible doubt words phrases or clauses that are closely related should be placed as near to each other as possible that their mutual relation may clearly appear and no word should be omitted that is necessary to the complete expression of thought unity unity is that property of style which keeps all parts of a sentence in connection with the principal thought and logically subordinate to it a sentence may be constructed as to suggest the idea of oneness to the mind or it may be so loosely put together as to produce a confused and indefinite impression ideas that have but little connection should be expressed in separate sentences and not crowded into one keep long parentheses out of the middle of your sentences and when you have apparently brought your sentences to a close don't try to continue the thought or idea by adding supplementary clauses strength strength is that property of style which gives animation energy and a vivacity to language and sustains the interest of the reader it is as necessary to language as good food is to the body without it the words are weak and feeble and create little or no impression on the mind in order to have strength the language must be concise that is much expressed in little compass you must hit the nail fairly on the head and drive it in straight go critically over what you write and strike out every word phrase and clause the omission of which impairs neither the clearness nor force of the sentence and so avoid redundancy tautology and circumlocution give the most important words the most prominent places which as has been pointed out elsewhere are the beginning and end of the sentence harmony harmony is that property of style which gives a smoothness to the sentence so that when the words are sounded their connection becomes pleasing to the ear it adapts sound to sense most people construct their sentences without giving thought to the way they will sound and as a consequence we have many jarring and discordant combinations such as though strengthened it's thy position and acted arbitrarily and derogatorily to my interests harsh disagreeable verbs are liable to occur with the quaker form thou of the personal pronoun this form is now nearly obsolete the plural you being almost universally used to obtain harmony in the sentence long words that are hard to pronounce and combinations of letters of one kind should be avoided expressive of writer style is expressive of the writer as to who he is and what he is as a matter of structure in composition it is the indication of what a man can do as a matter of quality it is an indication of what he is kinds of style style has been classified in different ways but it admits of so many designations that it is very hard to enumerate a table in fact there are as many styles as there are writers for no two authors write exactly after the same form however we may classify the styles of the various authors in broad divisions as one dry two plain three neat four elegant five florid six bombastic the dry style excludes all ornament and makes no effort to appeal to any sense of beauty its object is simply to express the thoughts in a correct manner this style is exemplified by berkeley the plain style does not seek ornamentation either but aims to make clear and concise statements without any elaboration or embellishment lock and waitly illustrates the plain style the neat style only aspires after ornament sparingly its object is to have correct figures pure diction and clear and harmonious sentences goldsmith and gray are the acknowledged leaders in this kind of style the elegant style uses every ornament that can beautify and avoids every excess which would degrade makali and adison have been enthroned as the kings of this style to them all writers bend the knee in homage the florid style goes to excess in superfluous and superficial ornamentation and strains after a highly colored imagery the poems of ossean typify this style the bombastic is characterized by such an excess of words figures and ornaments as to be ridiculous and disgusting it is like a circus clown dressed up in gold tinsel dickens gives a fine example of it in sergeant buzzfuzz's speech in the pickwick papers among other varieties of style may be mentioned the colloquial the laconic the concise the diffuse the abrupt the flowing the quaint the epigrammatic the flowery the feeble the nervous the vehement and the affected the manner of these is sufficiently indicated by the adjective used to describe them in fact style is as various as character and expresses the individuality of the writer or in other words as the french writer buffon very aptly remarks the style is the man himself end of chapter nine this is a livervox recording all livervox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit livervox.org how to speak and write correctly by joseph devlin chapter 10 suggestions how to write what to write correct speaking and speakers rules of grammar and rhetoric are good in their own place their laws must be observed in order to express thoughts and ideas in the right way so that they shall convey a determinant sense and meaning in a pleasing and acceptable manner hard and fast rules however can never make a writer or author that is the business of old mother nature and nothing can take her place if nature has not endowed a man with faculties to put his ideas into proper composition he cannot do so he may have no ideas worthy of the recording if a person has not a thought to express it cannot be expressed something cannot be manufactured out of nothing the author must have thoughts and ideas before he can express them on paper these come to him by nature and environment and are developed and strengthened by study there is an old latin quotation in regard to the poet which says poeta nasseter non fit the translation of which the poet is born not made to a degree the same applies to the author some men are great scholars as far as book learning is concerned yet they cannot express themselves in passable composition their knowledge is like gold locked up in a chest where it is of no value to themselves or the rest of the world the best way to learn to write is to sit down and write just as the best way to learn to ride a bicycle is to mount the wheel and pedal away right first about common things subjects that are familiar to you try for instance an essay on a cat say something original about her don't say she is very playful when young but becomes grave as she grows old that has been said more than 50 000 times before tell what you have seen the family cat doing how she caught a mouse in the garret and what she did after catching it familiar themes are always the best for the beginner don't attempt to describe a scene in australia if you have never been there and know nothing of the country never hunt for subjects there are thousands around you describe what you saw yesterday a fire a runaway horse a dogfight on the street and be original in your description imitate the best writers in their style but not in their exact words get out of the beaten path make a pathway of your own know what you write about write what you know this is a golden rule to which you must adhere to know you must study the world is an open book in which all who run may read nature is one great volume the pages of which are open to the peasant as well as to the peer study nature's moods and tenses for they are vastly more important than those of the grammar book learning is most desirable but after all it is only theory and not practice the grandest allegory in the English in fact in any language was written by an ignorant so-called ignorant tinker named John Bunyan Shakespeare was not a scholar in the sense we regard the term today yet no man ever lived or probably ever will live that equalled or will equal him in the expression of thought he simply read the book of nature and interpreted from the standpoint of his own magnificent genius don't imagine that a college education is necessary to success as a writer far from it some of our college men are deadheads drones parasites on the body social not alone useless to the world but to themselves a person may be so ornamental that he is valueless from any other standpoint as a general rule ornamental things serve but little purpose a man may know so much of everything that he knows little of anything this may sound paradoxical but nevertheless experience proves its truth if you are poor that is not a detriment but an advantage poverty is an incentive to endeavor not a drawback better to be born with a good working brain in your head than with a gold spoon in your mouth if the world had been depending on the so-called pets of fortune it would have deteriorated long ago from the pits of poverty from the arenas of suffering from the hovels of neglect from the backward cabins of obscurity from the lanes and byways of oppression from the dingy garrots and basements of unending toil and drudgery have come men and women who have made history made the world brighter better higher holier for their existence in it made of it a place good to live in and worthy to die in men and women who have hallowed it by their footsteps and sanctified it with their presence and in many cases consecrated it with their blood poverty is a blessing not an evil a venison from the father's hand if accepted in the right spirit instead of retarding it has elevated literature in all ages Homer was a blind beggar man singing his snatches of song for the dole of charity grand old Socrates oracle of wisdom many a day went without his dinner because he had not the wherewithal to get it while teaching the youth of Athens the divine Dante was nothing better than a beggar houseless homeless friendless wandering through Italy while he composed his immortal cantos Milton who in his blindness looked were angels fear to tread was steeped in poverty while writing his sublime conception paradise lost Shakespeare was glad to hold and water the horses of patrons outside the Whitehorse theater for a few pennies in order to buy bread Burns burst forth in never dying song while guiding the plowshare for Heinrich Hein neglected and in poverty from his mattress grave of suffering in Paris added literary laurels to the wealth of his German fatherland in America Elihu Burrett while attending the anvil made himself a master of a score of languages and became the literary lion of his age and country in other fields of endeavor poverty has been the spur to action Napoleon was born in obscurity the son of a hand-to-mouth scrivener in the backward island of Corsica Abraham Lincoln the boast and pride of America the man who made this land too hot for the feet of slaves came from a log cabin in the Ohio backwards so did James A. Garfield Ulysses Grant came from a tanyard to become the world's greatest general Thomas A. Edison commenced as a newsboy on a railway train the examples of these men are incentives to action poverty thrust them forward instead of keeping them back therefore if you are poor make your circumstances a means to an end have ambition keep a goal in sight and bend every energy to reach that goal a story is told of Thomas Carlyle the day he attained the highest honor the literary world could confer upon him when he was elected Lord Rector of Edinburgh University after his installation speech and going through the halls he met a student seemingly deep in study in his own peculiar abrupt crusty way the sage of Chelsea interrogated the young man for what profession are you studying I don't know return the youth you don't know thundered Carlyle young man you are a fool then he went on to qualify his vehement remark my boy when I was your age I was stooped in the grinding gripping poverty in a little village of Echelfecken in the wilds of Blankfrasher wherein all the place only the minister and myself could read the bible yet poor and obscure as I was in my mind's eye I saw a chair awaiting for me in the temple of fame and day and night and night and day I studied until I sat in that chair today as Lord Rector of Edinburgh University another Scotchman Robert Buchanan the famous novelist set out for London from Glasgow with but a half crown in his pocket here goes said he for a grave in Westminster Abbey he was not much of a scholar but his ambition carried him on and he became one of the great literary lions of the world's metropolis Henry M. Stanley was a poor house waif whose real name was John Rowlands he was brought up in a Welsh workhouse but he had ambition so he rose to be a great explorer a great writer became a member of parliament and was knighted by the British sovereign have ambition to succeed and you will succeed cut the word failure out of your lexicon don't acknowledge it remember quote in life's earnest battle they only prevail who daily march onward and never say fail end quote let every obstacle you encounter be but a stepping stone in the path of onward progress to the goal of success if untoward circumstances surround you resolve to overcome them Bunyan wrote the pilgrims progress in Bedford jail on scraps of wrapping paper while he was half starved on a diet of bread and water that unfortunate American genius Edgar Allen Poe wrote the Raven the most wonderful conception as well as the most highly artistic poem in all English literature in a little cottage in the Fordham section of New York while he was in the direst straits of want throughout all his short and wonderfully brilliant career poor Poe never had a dollar he could call his own such however was both his fault and his misfortune and he is a bad exemplar don't think that the knowledge of a library of books is essential to success as a writer often a multiplicity of books is confusing master a few good books and master them well and you will have all that is necessary a great authority has said beware of the man of one book which means that a man of one book is a master of the craft it is claimed that a thorough knowledge of the bible alone will make any person a master of literature certain it is that the bible and Shakespeare constitute an epitome of the essentials of knowledge Shakespeare gathered the fruitage of all who went before him he has sown the seeds for all who shall ever come after him he was the great intellectual ocean whose waves touch the continents of all thought books are cheap nowadays the greatest works thanks to the printing press are within the reach of all and the more you read the better providing they are worth reading sometimes a man takes poison into a system unconscious of the fact that it is poison as in the case of certain foods and it is very hard to throw off its effects therefore be careful in your choice of reading matter if you cannot afford a full library and as has been said such is not necessary select a few of the great works of the master minds assimilate and digest them so that they will be of advantage to your literary system elsewhere in this volume is given a list of some of the world's masterpieces from which you can make a selection your brain is a storehouse don't put useless furniture into it to crowd it to the exclusion of what is useful lay up only the valuable and serviceable kind which you can call into requisition at any moment as it is necessary to study the best authors in order to be a writer so it is necessary to study the best speakers in order to talk with correctness and in good style to talk rightly you must imitate the masters of oral speech listen to the best conversational lists and how they express themselves go to hear the leading lectures speeches and sermons no need to imitate the gestures of elocution it is nature not art that makes the elocutionist and the orator it is not how a speaker expresses himself but the language which he uses and the manner of its use which should interest you have you heard the present day masters of speech there have been pastime masters but their tongues are stilled in the dust of the grave and you can only read their eloquence now you can however listen to the charm of the living to many of us voices still speak from the grave voices to which we have listened when fired with the divine essence of speech perhaps you have hung with rapture on the words of Beecher and Talmadge both thrilled the souls of men and won countless thousands over to a living gospel both were masters of the word they scattered the flowers of rhetoric on the shrine of elegance and hurled veritable bouquets at their audiences which were eagerly seized by the latter and treasured in the storehouse of memory both were scholars and philosophers yet they were far surpassed by Spurgeon a plain man of the people with little or no claim to education in the modern sense of the word Spurgeon by his speech attracted thousands to his tabernacle the Protestant and Catholic Turk Jew and Mohammedan rushed to hear him and listened and tranced to his language such another was Dwight L. Moody the greatest evangelist the world has ever known Moody was not a man of learning he commenced life as a shoe salesman in Chicago yet no man ever lived who drew such audiences and so fascinated them with the spell of his speech oh that was personal magnetism you will say but it was nothing of the kind it was the burning words that fell from the lips of these men and the way the manner the force with which they use those words that counted and attracted the crowds to listen on to them personal magnetism or personal appearance entered not as factors into their success indeed as far as physique were concerned some of them were handicapped Spurgeon was a short paugie fat little man Moody was like a country farmer Talmadge in his big cloak was one of the most lovingly of men and only Beecher was passable in the way of refinement and gentlemanly bearing physical appearance as so many think is not the sesame to the interest of an audience Daniel O'Connell the Irish Tribune was a homely ugly awkward ungainly man yet his words attracted millions to his side and gained for him the hostile ear of the British Parliament he was a master of verbiage and knew just what to say to captivate his audiences it is words and they're placing that count on almost all occasions no matter how refined in our respects the person may be if he use words wrongly and express himself in language not in accordance with proper construction he will repel you whereas the man who places his words correctly and employs language and harmony with the laws of good speech let him be ever so humble will attract and have an influence over you the good speaker the correct speaker is always able to command attention and doors are thrown open to him which remain closed to others not equipped with a like facility of expression the man who can talk well and to the point need never fear to go idle he is required in nearly every walk of life and field of human endeavor the world wants him at every turn employers are constantly on the lookout for good talkers those who are able to attract the public and convince others by the force of their language a man may be able educated refined of unblemished character nevertheless if he lacked the power to express himself put forth his views and good and appropriate speech he has yet to take a back seat while someone with much less ability gets the opportunity to come to the front because he can clothe his ideas in ready words and talk effectively you may again say that nature not art makes a man a fluent speaker to a degree this is true but it is art that makes him a correct speaker and correctness leads to fluency it is possible for everyone to become a correct speaker if he will but persevere and take a little pains and care at the risk of repetition good advice may be here emphasized listen to the best speakers and note carefully the words which impress you most keep a notebook and jot down words phrases sentences that are in any way striking or out of the ordinary run if you do not understand the exact meaning of words you have heard look it up in the dictionary there are many words called synonyms which have almost a like signification nevertheless when examined they express different shades of meaning and in some cases instead of being close related are widely divergent beware of such words find the exact meaning and learn to use them in the right places be open to criticism don't resent it but rather invite it and look upon those as friends who point out your defects in order that you may remedy them end of chapter 10 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org how to speak and write correctly by Joseph Devlin chapter 11 slang origin American slang foreign slang slang is more or less common in nearly all ranks of society and in every walk of life at the present day slang words and expressions have crept into our everyday language and so insidiously that they have not been detected by the great majority of speakers and so have become part and parcel of their vocabulary on an equal footing with the legitimate words of speech they are called upon to do similar service as the ordinary words used in everyday conversation to express thoughts and desires and convey meaning from one to another in fact in some cases slang has become so useful that it has far out stripped classic speech and made for itself such a position in the vernacular that it would be very hard in some cases to get along without it slang words have usurped the place of regular words of language in very many instances and reign supreme in their own strength and influence cant and slang are often confused in the popular mind yet they are not synonymous though very closely allied and proceeding from a common gypsy origin cant is the language of a certain class the peculiar phraseology or dialect of a certain craft trade or profession and is not readily understood saved by the initiated of such craft trade or profession it may be correct according to the rules of grammar but it is not universal it is confined to certain parts and localities and is only intelligible to those for whom it is intended in short it is an esoteric language which only the initiated can understand the jargon or pattern of thieves is cant and is only understood by thieves who have been let into its significance the initiated language of professional gamblers is cant and is only intelligible to gamblers on the other hand slang as it is nowadays belongs to no particular class but is scattered all over and gets on train to every kind of society and is understood by all where it passes current and everyday expression of course the nature of slang to a great extent depends upon the locality as it chiefly is concerned with colloquialisms or words and phrases common to a particular section for instance the slang of london is slightly different from that of new york and some words in the one city may be unintelligible in the other they're well understood in that which they are current nevertheless slang may be said to be universally understood to kick the bucket to cross the jordan to hop the twig are just as expressive of the departing from life in the backwoods of america or the wilds of australia as they are in london or dublin slang simply consists of words and phrases which pass current but are not refined nor elegant enough to be admitted into polite speech or literature whenever they are recognized as such but as has been said a great many use slang without their knowing it is slang and incorporate it into their everyday speech and conversation some authors purposely use slang to give emphasis and spice and familiar and humorous writing but they should not be imitated by the tyro a master such as dickens is forgivable but in the novice it is unpardonable there are several kinds of slang attached to different professions in classes of society for instance there is college slang political slang sporting slang etc it is the nature of slang to circulate freely among all classes yet there are several kinds of this current form of language corresponding to the several classes of society the two great divisions of slang are the vulgar of the uneducated and course-minded and the high-toned slang of the so-called upper classes the educated and the wealthy the hoidon of the gutter does not use the same slang as my lady in her boudoir but both use it and so expressive is it that the one might readily understand the other if brought in contact therefore there are what may be styled an ignorant slang and an educated slang the one common to the perlouze in the alleys the other to the parlour in the drawing room in all cases the object of slang is to express an idea in a more vigorous peckant and terse manner than standard usage ordinarily admits a schoolgirl when she wants to praise a baby exclaims oh isn't he awfully cute to say that he is very nice would be too weak a way to express her admiration when a handsome girl appears on the street an enthusiastic masculine admirer to express his appreciation of her beauty tells you she is a peach a bird a cuckoo any of which accentuates his estimation of the young lady and is much more emphatic than saying she is a beautiful girl a handsome maiden or a lovely young woman when a politician defeats his rival he will tell you it was a cinch he had a walkover to impress you how easy it was to gain victory some slang expressions are of the nature of metaphors and are highly figurative such are to pass in your checks to hold up to pull the wool over your eyes to talk through your hat to fire out to go back on to make yourself solid with to have a jag on to be loaded to freeze on to to bark up the wrong tree don't monkey with the buzz saw and in the soup most slang had a bad origin the greater part originated in the cante of thieves latin but it broke away from this cante of malefactors in time and gradually evolved itself from its unsavory past until it developed into a current form of expressive speech some slang however can trace its origin back to very respectable sources stolen fruits are sweet may be traced to the bible in sentiment provibs 917 has it stolen waters are sweet what are you giving me supposed to be a thorough americanism is based upon genesis 3816 the common slang a bad man in referring to western desperados in almost the identical sense now used is found in spencer's fairy queen massingers play a new way to pay old debts and in shakespeare's king henry the eighth the expression to blow on meaning to inform is in shakespeare's as you like it it's all greek to me is traceable to the play of julia caesar all cry and no wool is in butler's hoodabras highest frauds meaning hypocrites is from the same source too thin referring to an excuse is from smollett's harrigan pickle shakespeare also used it america has had a large share in contributing to modern slang the heathen shiny and ways that are dark and tricks that are vain are from brethart's truthful james not for joe arose during the civil war when one soldier refused to give a drink to another not if i know myself had its origin in chicago what's the matter with blank he's all right had its beginning in chicago also and first was what's the matter with hannah referring to a lazy domestic servant there's millions in it and by a large majority came from mark twain's gilded age pull down your vest jim jams got him bad that's what's the matter go hire a hall take in your sign dry up hump yourself it's the man around the corner putting up a job put a head on him no back talk bottom dollar went off on his ear chalk it down staving him off making it warm dropping him gently dead gone busted counter-jump put up a shut up bang up smart alec too much jaw chin music top heavy barefooted on the top of the head a little too fresh champion liar chief cook and bottle washer bag in baggage as fine as silk name your poison died with his boots on old horse hunky dory hold your horses galute and many others in use at present are all americanisms and slang california especially has been most fecundin's class of figurative language to this state we owe go off and die don't you forget it rough deal square deal flush times pool your issues go bury yourself go drown yourself give your tongue a vacation a bad egg go climb a tree plug hats dolly vardens well fixed down to bedrock hard pan pay dirt petered out it won't wash slug of whiskey it pans out well and i should smile small potatoes and a few in the hill soft snap all fired gold jurnit an uphill job slick shortcut guess not correct thing are bostonisms the terms innocent acknowledge the corn bark up the wrong tree great snakes i reckon playing possum dead shot had their origins in the southern states dog gone it that beats the dutch you bet you bet your boots sprang from new york step down and out originated in the beecher trial just as brainstorm originated in the thaw trial among the slang phrases that have come directly to us from england maybe mentioned throw up the sponge draw it mild give us a rest deadbeat on the shelf up the spout stunning gift of the gab etc the newspapers are responsible for a large part of the slang reporters staff writers and even editors put words and phrases into the mouths of individuals which they never utter new york is supposed to be the headquarters of slang particularly that portion of it known as the bowery all transgressions and corruptions of language are supposed to originate in that unclassic section while the truth is that the laws of polite english are as much violated on fifth avenue of course the foreign element mincing their pigeon english have given the bowery an unenviable reputation but there are just as good speakers of the vernacular on the bowery as elsewhere in the greater city yet every inexperienced newspaper reporter thinks that it is incumbent on him to hold the bowery up to ridicule and laughter so he sits down and out of his circumscribed brain mutilates the english tongue he can rarely coin a word and blames the mutilation on the bowery he's the same with newspapers and authors too detracting the irish race men and women who have never seen the green hills of ireland paint irish characters as boors and blunderers and make them say ludicrous things and use such language as is never heard within the four walls of ireland it is very well known that ireland is the most learned country on the face of the earth is and has been the school master has been abroad there for hundreds almost thousands of years and nowhere else in the world today is the king's english spoken so purely as in the cities and towns of the little western isle current events happenings of everyday life often give rise to slang words and these after a time come into such general use that they take their places in everyday speech like ordinary words and as has been said their users forget that they were once slang for instance the days of the land league in ireland originated the word boycott which was the name of a very unpopular landlord captain boycott the people refused to work for him and his crops rotted on the ground from this time anyone who came into disfavor and whom his neighbors refused to assist in any way was said to be boycotted therefore to boycott means to punish by abandoning or depriving a person of the assistance of others at first it was a notoriously slang word but now it is standard in the english dictionaries politics add to our slang words and phrases from this source we get dark horse the gray mare is the better horse barrel of money buncombe gerrymander scallowag henchmen log rolling pulling the wires taking the stump machine slate etc the money market furnishes us with corner bull bear lamb slump and several others the custom of the times and the requirements of current expression require the best of us to use slang words and phrases on occasion often we do not know they are slang just as a child often uses profane words without consciousness of their being so we should avoid the use of slang as much as possible even when it serves to convey our ideas in a forceful manner and when it has not gained a firm foothold in current speech it should be used not at all remember that most all slang is a vulgar origin and bears upon its face the bend sinister of vulgarity of the slang that is of good birth pass it by if you can for it is like a broken down gentleman of little good to anyone imitate the great masters as much as you will in classical literature but when it comes to their slang draw the line deans swift the great irish satirist coined the word fizz for face don't imitate him if you are speaking or writing of the beauty of a lady's face don't call it her fizz the dean as an intellectual giant had a license to do so you haven't Shakespeare used the word flush to indicate plenty of money well just remember there was only one Shakespeare and he was the only one that had a right to use that word in that sense you'll never be a Shakespeare there will never be such another nature exhausted herself and producing him bull were use the word stretch for hang as to stretch his neck don't follow his example in such use of the word above all avoid the low coarse vulgar slang which is made to pass for wit among the riffraff of the street if you are speaking or writing of a person having died last night don't say all right he hopped the twig or he kicked the bucket if you are compelled to listen to a person discoursing on a subject of which he knows little or nothing don't say he is talking through his hat if you are telling of having shaken hands with mr. Roosevelt don't say he tipped me his flipper if you are speaking of a wealthy man don't say he has plenty of spondulics or the long green all such slang is low coarse and vulgar and is to be frowned upon on any and every occasion if you use slang use the refined kind and use it like a gentleman that it will not hurt or give offense to anyone cardinal Newman defined gentlemen as he who never inflicts pain be a gentleman in your slang never inflict pain end of chapter 11 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Andrew Lebrun Boston Massachusetts how to speak and write correctly by Joseph Devlin chapter 12 writing for newspapers qualification appropriate subjects directions the newspaper nowadays goes into every home in the land what was formally regarded as a luxury is now looked upon as a necessity no matter how poor the individual he is not too poor to afford a penny to learn not only what is taking place around him in his own immediate vicinity but also what is happening in every quarter of the globe the laborer on the street can be as well posted on the news of the day as the banker in his office through the newspaper he can feel the pulse of the country and find whether its vitality is increasing or diminishing he can read the signs of the times and scan the political horizon for what concerns his own interests the doings of foreign countries are spread before him and he can see at a glance the occurrences in the remotest corners of the earth if a fire occurred in London last night he can read about it at his breakfast table in New York this morning and probably get a better account than the Londoners themselves if a duel takes place in Paris he can read all about it even before the contestants have left the field there are upwards of 3 000 daily newspapers in the united states more than 2 000 of which are published in towns containing less than 100 000 inhabitants in fact many places of less than 10 000 population can boast the publishing of a daily newspaper there are more than 15 000 weekly published some of the so-called country papers wield quite an influence in their localities and even outside and are money making agencies for their owners and those connected with them both by way of circulation and advertisements it is surprising the number of people in this country who make a living in the newspaper field apart from the regular toilets there are thousands of men and women who make newspaper work a side issue who add tiny sums of pin money to their incomes by occasional contributions to the daily weekly and monthly press most of these people are only persons of ordinary everyday ability having just enough education to express themselves intelligently in writing it is a mistake to imagine as so many do that an extended education is necessary for newspaper work not at all on the contrary in some cases a high-class education is a hindrance not a help in this direction the general newspaper does not want learned disquisitions nor philosophical theses as its name implies it wants news current news interesting news something to appeal to its readers to arouse them and rivet their attention in this respect very often a boy can write a better article than a college professor the professor would be apt to use words beyond the capacity of most of the readers while the boy not knowing such words would probably simply tell what he saw how great the damage was who were killed or injured etc and use language which all would understand of course there are some brilliant scholars deeply read men and women in the newspaper realm but on the whole those who have made the greatest names commenced ignorant enough and most of them graduated by way of the country paper some of the leading writers of England and America at the present time started their literary careers by contributing to the rural press they perfected and polished themselves as they went along until they were able to make names for themselves in universal literature if you want to contribute to newspapers or enter the newspaper field as a means of livelihood don't let lack of a college or university education stand in your way as has been said elsewhere in this book some of the greatest masters of English literature were men who had but little advantage in the way of book learning Shakespeare Bonion Burns and scores of others who have left their names indelibly inscribed on the tablets of fame had little to boast in the way of book education but they had what is popularly known as horse sense and a good working knowledge of the world in other words they understood human nature and were natural themselves Shakespeare understood mankind because he was himself a man hence he has portrayed the feelings the emotions the passions with a master's touch delineating the king in his place as true to nature as he has done the peasant in his hut the monitor within his own breast gave him warning as to what was right and what was wrong just as the daemon ever by the side of old Socrates whispered in his ear the course to pursue under any and all circumstances burns guiding the plow conceived thoughts and clothed them in a language which has never more probably ever will be surpassed by all the learning which art can confer these men were natural and it was the perfection of this naturality that reathed their brows with the never fading laurels of undying fame if you would essay to write for the newspaper you must be natural and express yourself in your accustomed way without putting on airs or frills you must not ape ornaments and indulge in bombast or rudimentaid which stamp a writer as not only superficial but silly there is no room for such in the everyday newspaper it wants facts stated in plain unvarnished unadorned language true you should read the best authors and as far as possible imitate their style but don't try to literally copy them be yourself on every occasion no one else not like Homer would I write not like Dante if I might not like Shakespeare at his best not like Goethe or the rest like myself however small like myself or not at all put yourself in the place of the reader and write what will interest yourself and in such a way that your language will appeal to your own ideas of the fitness of things you belong to the great commonplace majority therefore don't forget that in writing for the newspapers you are writing for that majority and not for the learned and aesthetic minority remember you are writing for the man on the street and in the streetcar you want to interest him to compel him to read what you have to say he does not want a display of learning he wants news about something which concerns himself and you must tell it to him in a plain simple manner just as you would do if you were face to face with him what can you write about why about anything that will constitute current news some leading event of the day anything that will appeal to the readers of the paper to which you wish to submit it no matter in what locality you may live however backward it may be you can always find something of genuine human interest to others if there is no news happening write of something that appeals to yourself we are all constituted alike and the chances are that what will interest you will interest others descriptions of adventure are generally acceptable tell of a fox hunt or a badger hunt or a bear chase if there is any important manufacturing plant in your neighborhood describe it and if possible get photographs for photography plays a very important part in the news items of today if a great man lives near you one whose name is on the tip of every tongue go and get an interview with him obtain his views on the public questions of the day describe his home life and his surroundings and how he spends his time try and strike something germane to the moment something that stands out prominently in the limelight of the passing show if a noted personage some famous man or woman is visiting the country it is a good time to write up the place from which he or she comes and the record he or she has made there for instance it was opportune to write of sulu and the little pacific archipelago during the sultan's trip through the country if an attempt is made to blow up an american battleship say in the harbor of apia in samoa it affords a chance to write about samoa and robert louis stevensson when manuel was hurled from the throne of portugal it was a ripe time to write of portugal and portuguese affairs if any great occurrence is taking place in a foreign country such as the crowning of a king or the dethronement of a monarch it is a good time to write up the history of the country and describe the events leading up to the main issue when a particularly savage outbreak occurs amongst wild tribes in the dependencies such as arising of the manobos in the philippines it is opportune to write of such tribes and their surroundings and the causes leading up to the revolt be constantly on the lookout for something that will suit the passing hour read the daily papers and probably in some obscure corner you may find something that will serve you as a foundation for a good article something at least that will give you a clue be circumspect in your selection of a paper to which to submit your copy know the tone and general import of the paper its social leanings and political affiliations also its religious sentiments and in fact all the particulars you can regarding it it would be injudicious for you to send an article on a prize fight to a religious paper or vice versa an account of a church meeting to the editor of a sporting sheet if you get your copy back don't be disappointed nor yet disinherited perseverance counts more in the newspaper field than anywhere else and only perseverance wins in the long run you must become resilient if you are pressed down spring up again no matter how many rebuffs you may receive do not be discouraged but call fresh energy to your assistance and make another stand if the right stuff is in you it is sure to be discovered your light will not remain long hidden under a bushel in the newspaper domain if you can deliver the goods editors will soon be begging you instead of your begging them those men are constantly on the lookout for persons who can make good once you get into print the battle is won for it will be an incentive to you to persevere and improve yourself at every turn go over everything you write cut and slash and prone until you get it into as perfect form as possible eliminate every superfluous word and be careful to strike out all ambiguous expressions and references if you are writing for a weekly paper remember it differs from a daily one weeklies want what will not alone interest the man on the street but the woman at the fireside they want out of the way facts curious scraps of lore personal notes of famous or eccentric people reminiscences of exciting experiences interesting gleaning's in life's numberless byways in short anything that will entertain amuse instruct the home circle there is always something occurring in your immediate surroundings some curious event or thrilling episode that will furnish you with the data for an article you must know the nature of the weekly to which you submit your copy the same as you must know the daily for instance the christian herald while avowedly a religious weekly treats such secular matters as makes the paper appeal to all on its religious side it is non-sectarian covering the broad field of christianity throughout the world on its secular side it deals with human events in such an impartial way that everyone no matter to what class they may belong or to what creed they may subscribe can take a living personal interest the monthly's offer another attractive field for the literary aspirant here again don't think that you must be a university professor to write for a monthly magazine many indeed most of the foremost magazine contributors are men and women who have never passed through college except by going into the front door and emerging from the back one however for the most part they are individuals of wide experience who know the practical side of life as distinguished from the theoretical the ordinary monthly magazine treats of the leading questions and issues which are engaging the attention of the world for the moment great inventions great discoveries whatever is engrossing the popular mind for the time being such as flying machines battleships skyscrapers the opening of minds the development of new lands political issues views of party leaders character sketches of distinguished personages etc however before trying your skill for a monthly magazine it would be well for you to have a good apprenticeship in writing for the daily press above all things remember that perseverance is the key that opens the door of success persevere if you are turned down don't get disheartened on the contrary let the rebuff act as a stimulant to further effort many of the most successful writers of our time have been turned down again and again for days and months even years some of them have hawked their wares from one literary door to another until they found a purchaser you may be a great writer in embryo but you will never develop into a fetus not to speak of full maturity unless you bring out what is in you give yourself a chance to grow and seize upon everything that will enlarge the scope of your horizon keep your eyes wide open and there is not a moment of the day in which you will not see something to interest you and in which you may be able to interest others learn to how to read nature's book there's a lesson in everything in the stones the grass the trees the babbling brooks and the singing birds interpret the lesson for yourself then teach it to others always be in earnest in your writing go about it in a determined kind of way don't be faint-hearted or backward be brave be brave and evermore be brave on the wide-tended field in the battle of life with an army of millions before you like a hero of old gird your soul for the strife and let not the fomen trample over you act act like a soldier and proudly rush on the most valiant in bravery's van with keen flashing sword cut your way to the front and show to the world you're a man if you are of the masculine gender be a man in all things in the highest and best acceptation of the word that is the noblest title you can boast higher far than that of earl or duke emperor or king in the same way womanhood is the grandest crown the feminine head can wear when the world frowns on you and everything seems to go wrong possess your soul in patience and hope for the dawn of a brighter day it will come the sun is always shining behind the darkest clouds when you get your manuscripts back again and again don't despair nor think the editor cruel and unkind he too has troubles of his own keep up your spirits until you have made the final test and put your talents to a last analysis then if you find you cannot get into print be sure that newspaper writing or literary work is not your forte and turn to something else if nothing better presents itself try shoemaking or digging ditches remember honest labor no matter how humble is ever dignified if you are a woman throw aside the pen sit down and darn your brothers your fathers or your husband socks or put on a calico apron take soap and water and scrub the floor no matter who you are do something useful that old sophistry about the world owing you a living has been exploded long ago the world does not owe you a living but you owe it servitude and if you do not pay the debt you are not serving the purpose of an all wise providence and filling the place for which you were created it is for you to serve the world to make it better brighter higher holier grander nobler richer for your having lived in it this you can do in no matter what position fortune has cast you whether it be that of street laborer or president fight the good fight and gain the victory above all to thine own self be true and twill follow as the night the day thou canst not then be false to any man end of chapter 12 writing for newspapers this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this reading by Kara Schellenberg how to speak and write correctly by Joseph Devlin chapter 13 choice of words small words very importance the Anglo-Saxon element in another place in this book advice has been given to never use a long word when a short one will serve the same purpose this advice is to be emphasized words of learned length and thundering sound should be avoided on all possible occasions they proclaim shallowness of intellect and vanity of mind the great purists the masters of diction the exemplars of style used short simple words that all could understand words about which there could be no ambiguity as to meaning it must be remembered that by our words we teach others therefore a very great responsibility rests upon us in regard to the use of a right language we must take care that we think and speak in a way so clear that there may be no misapprehension or danger of conveying wrong impressions by vague and misty ideas enunciated in terms which are liable to be misunderstood by those whom we address words give a body or form to our ideas without which they are apt to be so foggy that we do not see where they are weak or false we must make the endeavor to employ such words as will put the idea we have in our own mind into the mind of another this is the greatest art in the world to clothe our ideas in words clear and comprehensive to the intelligence of others it is the art which the teacher the minister the lawyer the orator the businessman must master if they would command success in their various fields of endeavor it is very hard to convey an idea to and impress it on another when he has but a faint conception of the language in which the idea is expressed but it is impossible to convey it at all when the words in which it is clothed are unintelligible to the listener if we address an audience of ordinary men and women in the english language but use such words as they cannot comprehend we might as well speak to them in coptic or chinese for they will derive no benefit from our address in as much as the ideas we wish to convey are expressed in words which communicate no intelligent meaning to their minds long words learned words words directly derived from other languages are only understood by those who have had the advantages of an extended education all have not had such advantages the great majority in this grand and glorious country of ours have to hustle for a living from an early age though education is free and compulsory also very many never get further than the three ours these are the men with whom we have to deal most in the arena of life the men with the horny palms and the iron muscles the men who build our houses construct our railroads drive our streetcars and trains till our fields harvest our crops in a word the men who form the foundation of all society the men on whom the world depends to make its wheels go around the language of the colleges and universities is not for them and they can get along very well without it they have no need for it at all in their respective callings the plain simple words of everyday life to which the common people have been used around their own firesides from childhood are the words we must use in our dealings with them such words are understood by them and understood by the learned as well why then not use them universally and all the time why make a one sided affair of language by using words which only one class of the people the so-called learned class can understand would it not be better to use on all occasions language which the both classes can understand if we take the trouble to investigate we shall find that the men who exerted the greatest sway over the masses and the multitude as orators lawyers preachers and in other public capacities were men who used very simple language daniel webster was among the greatest orators this country has produced he touched the hearts of senates and assemblages of men and women with the burning eloquence of his words he never used a long word when he could convey the same or nearly the same meaning with a short one when he made a speech he always told those who put it in form for the press to strike out every long word study his speeches go overall he ever said or wrote and you will find that his language was always made up of short clear strong terms although at times for the sake of sound and oratorical effect he was compelled to use a rather long word but it was always against his inclination to do so and where was the man who could paint with words as webster painted he could picture things in a way so clear that those who heard him felt that they had seen that of which he spoke abraham lincoln was another who stirred the souls of men yet he was not an orator not a scholar he did not write ma or phd after his name or any other college degree for he had none he graduated from the university of hard knocks and he never forgot this severe alma mater when he became president of the united states he was just as plain just as humble as in the days when he split rails or applied a boat on the sanghamon he did not use big words but he used the words of the people and in such a way as to make them beautiful his gettysburg address is an english classic one of the great masterpieces of the language from the mere fact that a word is short it does not follow that it is always clear but it is true that nearly all clear words are short and that most of the long words especially those which we get from other languages are misunderstood to a great extent by the ordinary rank and file of the people indeed it is to be doubted if some of the scholars using them fully understand their import on occasions a great many such words admit of several interpretations a word has to be in use a great deal before people get thoroughly familiar with its meaning long words not alone obscure thought and make the ideas hazy but at times they tend to mix up things in such a way that positively harmful results follow from their use for instance crime can be so covered with the folds of long words as to give it a different appearance even the hideousness of sin can be cloaked with such words until its outlines look like a thing of beauty when a bank cashier makes off with a hundred thousand dollars we politely term his crime defocation instead of plain theft and instead of calling himself a thief we grandiosly allude to him as a defaulter when we see a wealthy man staggering along a fashionable thoroughfare under the influence of alcohol waving his arms in the air and shouting boisterously we smile and say poor gentleman he is somewhat exhilarated or at worst we say he is slightly inebriated but when we see a poor man who has fallen from grace by putting an enemy into his mouth to steal away his brain we express our indignation in the simple language of the words look at the wretch he is dead drunk when we find a person in downright lying we cover the falsehood with the finally spun cloak of the word prevarication shakespeare says a rose by any other name would smell as sweet and by a similar sequence a lie no matter by what name you may call it is always a lie and should be condemned then why not simply call it a lie mean what you say and say what you mean call a spade a spade it is the best term you can apply to the implement when you try to use short words and shun long ones in a little while you will find that you can do so with ease a farmer was showing a horse to a city bread gentleman the animal was led into a paddock in which an old sow pig was rooting what a fine quadruped exclaimed the city man which of the two do you mean the pig or the horse queried the farmer for in my opinion both of them are fine quadrupeds of course the visitor meant the horse so it would have been much better had he called the animal by its simple ordinary name there would have been no room for ambiguity in his remark he profited however by the incident and never called a horse a quadruped again most of the small words the simple words the beautiful words which express so much within small bounds belong to the pure anglo-saxon element of our language this element has given names to the heavenly bodies the sun moon and stars to three out of the four elements earth fire and water three out of the four seasons spring summer and winter its simple words are applied to all the natural divisions of time except one as day night morning evening twilight noon midday midnight sunrise and sunset the names of light heat cold frost rain snow hail sleep thunder lightning as well as almost all those objects which form the component parts of the beautiful as expressed in external scenery such as sea and land hill and dale wood and stream etc our anglo-saxon to this same language we are indebted for those words which express the earliest and dearest connections and the strongest and most powerful feelings of nature and which as a consequence are interwoven with the fondest and most hallowed associations of such words are father mother husband wife brother sister son daughter child home kindred friend hearth roof and fireside the chief emotions of which we are susceptible are expressed in the same language love hope fear sorrow shame and also the outward signs by which these emotions are indicated as tear smile laugh blush weep sigh groan nearly all our national proverbs are anglo-saxon almost all the terms and phrases by which we most energetically express anger contempt and indignation are of the same origin what are known as the smart set and so called polite society are relegating a great many of our old anglo-saxon words into the shade faithful friends who served their ancestors well these self-appointed arbiters of diction regard some of the anglo-saxon words as too coarse too plebeian for their aesthetic tastes and refined ears so they are eliminating them from their vocabulary and replacing them with mongrels of foreign birth and hybrids of unknown origin for the ordinary people however the man in the street or in the field the woman in the kitchen or in the factory they are still tried and true and like old friends should be cherished and preferred to all strangers no matter from what source the latter may spring end of chapter 13 read by Kara Schellenberg www.kra.org on November 10th 2006 in Oceanside California chapter 14 the English language this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer visit LibriVox.org how to speak and write correctly by Joseph Devlin chapter 14 the English language beginning different sources the present the English language is the tongue now current in England and her colonies throughout the world and also throughout the greater part of the United States of America it sprang from the German tongue spoken by the two tongues who came over to Britain after the conquest of that country by the Romans these two times comprised Angles Saxons Jutes and several other tribes from the northern part of Germany they spoke different dialects but these became blended in the new country and the composite tongue came to be known as the Anglo-Saxon which has been the main basis for the language as at present constituted and is still the prevailing element therefore those who are trying to do away with some of the purely Anglo-Saxon words on the ground that they are not refined enough to express their aesthetic ideas are undermining main props which are necessary for the support of some important parts in the edifice of the language the Anglo-Saxon element supplies the essential parts of speech the article pronoun of all kinds the preposition the auxiliary verbs the conjunctions and the little particles which bind words into sentences and form the joints sinews and ligaments of the language it furnishes the most indispensable words of the vocabulary nowhere is the beauty of Anglo-Saxon better illustrated than in the Lord's prayer 54 words are pure Saxon and the remaining ones could easily be replaced by Saxon words the gospel of st. John is another illustration of the almost exclusive use of Anglo-Saxon words Shakespeare at his best is Anglo-Saxon here is a quotation from the merchant of Venice and of the 55 words 52 or Anglo-Saxon the remaining three French all that glitters is not gold often have you heard that told many a man his life hath sold but my outside to behold gilded tombs do worms in fold had you been as wise as bold young and limbs in judgment old your answer had not been in scrolled very well your suit is cold the lines put into the mouth of Hamlet's father in fierce intenseness second only to Dante's inscription on the gate of hell have 108 Anglo-Saxon and but 15 Latin words the second constituent element of present English is Latin which comprises those words derived directly from the old Roman and those which came indirectly through the French the former were introduced by the Roman Christians who came to England at the close of the sixth century under Augustine and relate chiefly to ecclesiastical affairs such as Saint from Sanctus religion from religio chalice from colleagues mass from Misa etc some of them had origin in Greek as priest from presbyter which in turn was a direct derivative from the Greek presbyteros also deacon from the Greek diaconos the largest class of Latin words are those which came through the Norman French or romance the Normans had adopted with the Christian religion the language laws and arts of the Romanized Gauls and Romanized Franks and after a residence of more than a century in France they successfully invaded England in 1066 under William the Conqueror and a new era began the French Latin isms can be distinguished by the spelling thus savior comes from the Latin salvator through the French Sauver judgment from the Latin judicum through the French jugement people from the Latin populace through the French peuple etc for a long time the Saxon and Norman tongues refused to coalesce and were like two distinct currents flowing in different directions Norman was spoken by the lords and barons in their feudal castles in parliament and in the courts of justice Saxon by the people in their rural homes fields and workshops for more than 300 years the streams flowed apart but finally they blended taking in the Celtic and Danish elements and as a result came the English language with its simple system of grammatical inflection and its rich vocabulary the father of English prose is generally regarded as Wycliffe who translated the bible in 1380 while the paternal laurels and the secular poetical field are twined around the brows of Chaucer besides the Germanic and Romantic which constitute the greater part of the English language many other tongues have furnished their quota of these the Celtic is perhaps the oldest the Britons at Caesar's invasion were a part of the Celtic family the Celtic idiom is still spoken in two dialects the Welsh in Wales and the Gaelic in Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland the Celtic words in English are comparatively few cart dock wire rail rug cradle babe groan griddle lad lass are some in most common use the Danish element dates from the piratical invasions of the 9th and 10th centuries it includes anger awe baffle bang bark ball blunder boulder box club crash dairy dazzle fellow gable gain ill jam kidnap kill kidney kneel limber litter dog lull lump mast mistake nag nasty niggered horse plow rug rump sail scald shriek skin skull sledge sleigh tackle tangle tipple trust Viking window wing etc from the Hebrew we have a large number of proper names from Adam and Eve down to John and Mary in such words as Messiah Rabbi hallelujah cherub seraph hosanna manna satan Sabbath etc many technical terms and names of branches of learning come from the greek in fact nearly all the terms of learning and art from the alphabet to the highest peaks of metaphysics and theology come directly from the greek philosophy logic anthropology psychology aesthetics grammar rhetoric history philology mathematics arithmetic astronomy anatomy geography stenography physiology architecture and hundreds more in similar domains the subdivisions and ramifications of theology as exegesis hermeneutics apologetics polemics dogmatics ethics homiletics etc are all greek the dutch have given us some modern c terms as sloop schooner yacht and also a number of others as boom bush bore brandy duck reef skate wagon the dutch of manhattan gave us boss the name for employer or overseer also cold slaw cut cabbage and vinegar and a number of geographical terms many of our most pleasing euphonic words especially in the realm of music have been given to us directly from the italian of these are piano violin orchestra kanto allegro piazza gazette umbrella gondola bandit etc spanish has furnished us with alligator alpaca bigot cannibal cargo filibuster freebooter guano hurricane mosquito negro stampede potato tobacco tomato tariff etc from arabic we have several mathematical astronomical medical and chemical terms as alcohol alcove olympic algebra alkali almanac assassin azure cypher elixir harem hijira sofa talisman zenith and zero bazaar dervish lilac pagoda caravan scarlet shawl tartar tiara and peach have come to us from the persian turban tulip divan and firman are turkish draski naut ruble step yukazi are russian the indians have helped us considerably and the words they have given us are extremely euphonic as exemplified in the names of many of our rivers and states as mississippi Missouri mini ha ha sus quenna monongahila niagra ohio massachusetts canadian iowa nebraska dakota etc in addition to these proper names we have from the indians wigwam squaw hammock tomahawk canoe moccasin hominy etc there are many hybrid words in english that is words springing from two or more different languages in fact english has drawn from all sources and it is daily adding to its already large family and not alone is it adding to itself but it is spreading all over the world and promises to take in the entire human family beneath its folds air long it is the opinion of many that english in a short time will become the universal language it is now being taught as a branch of the higher education in the best colleges and universities in europe and in all commercial cities in every land throughout the world in asia it follows the british sway and the highways of commerce through the vast empire of east india with its 250 millions of heathen and mohammedan inhabitants it is largely used in the seaports of japan and china and the number of natives of these countries who are learning is increasing every day it is firmly established in south africa liberia seara leone and in many of the islands of the indian and south seas it is the language of australia new zealand tazmania and christian missionaries are introducing it into all the islands of polonisia it may be said to be the living commercial language of the north american continent from baffins bay to the gulf of mexico and from the atlantic to the pacific and it is spoken largely in many of the republics of south america it is not limited by parallels of latitude or meridians of longitude the two great english-speaking countries england and the united states are disseminating it north south east and west over the entire world end of chapter 14 read by denis sears and madesto california for libervox winter 2007 this is a libervox recording all libervox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer visit libervox.org how to speak and write correctly by joseph deflan chapter 15 masters and masterpieces of literature great authors classification the world's best books the bible is the world's greatest book apart from its character as a work of divine revelation it is the most perfect literature extant leaving out the bible the three greatest works are those of homer dante and shakespeare these are closely followed by the works of virgil and milton indispensable books homer dante servantes shakespeare and girtha the best translation of homer for the ordinary reader is by chatman norton's translation of dante and taylor's translation of girtha's foust are recommended a good library besides the works mentioned everyone should endeavor to have the following clutarch's lives meditations of marcus her alias chaucer imitation of christ by tomas akampus holy living and holy dying by jeremy taylor pilgrim's progress mccally's essays bacon's essays addison's essays essays of alia or charles lamb lame is rob by hugo heroes and hero worship by carlyle paul grave's golden treasury wordsworth the vicar of wakefield adam bead by george elliott vanity fair by thackeray ivanhoe by scott on the heights by arabak eugenie grande by balzac scarlet letter by hawthorne emerson's essays bozwell's life of johnson history of the english people by green outlines of universal history the origin of species montaigne's essays longfellow tenison browning wittier ruskin and herbert spencer a good encyclopedia is very desirable and a reliable dictionary indispensable masterpieces of american literature the scarlet letter parkman's histories motley's dutch republic grant's memoirs franklin's autobiography webster's speeches lol's bigelow papers also his critical essays the rose walden leaves of grass by wittman leather stocking tails by cooper autocrat of the breakfast table ben hur and uncle tom's cabin the ten greatest american poets bryant poe whittier longfellow lull emerson wittman laniere aldrich and stoddard the ten greatest english poets chaucer spencer shakespeare milton burns wordsworth keats shelly tenison and browning the ten greatest english essays bacon adison steel mccawley lamb jeffrey jequincey carlyle thackeray and matthew arnold the best plays of shakespeare in order of merit are hamlet king lear othello antony and cleopatra macbeth the merchant of venice henry the fourth as you like it winter's tale romeo and juliet the midst of a night's dream 12 night and the tempest only the good if you are not able to procure a library of the great masterpieces get at least a few read them carefully intelligently and with a view to enlarging your own literary horizon remember a good book cannot be read too often one of a deteriorating influence should not be read at all in literature as in all things else the good alone should prevail end of chapter 15 end of how to speak and write correctly by joseph deblin