A Dictionary of Cont..

A 

DICTIONARYOF 

CONTEMPORARY 

by BERGEN EVANS 

and COR.NELIA EVANS 

RANDOM HOUSE NEW YORK

Fourteenth Printing 

@Copyright, 1957, by Bergen Evans and Cornelia Evans 

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American 

Copyright Conventions 

Published in New York by Random House, Inc., and 

simultaneously in Toronto, Canada by Random House 

of Canada Limited. 

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 57-5379 

Manufactured in the United States of America

When we speak or write we want to be 

understood and respected. We want to convey 

our meaning and we want to do it in a 

way that will command admiration. To 

accomplish these ends we must know the 

meanings of words, their specific meanings 

and their connotations, implications and 

overtones, and we must know how to combine 

words effectively into sentences. 

A dictionary can help us to understand 

the meaning of a word. But the only way 

to understand a word fully is to see it in 

use in as many contexts as possible. This 

means that anyone who wants to improve 

his vocabulary must read a great deal and 

must make sure that he understands what 

he reads. There is no short cut to this kind 

of knowledge. If a man thinks that noisome 

and noisy are synonyms, if he uses focus 

and nexlls interchangeably, if he sees no 

difference between refute and deny and if 

he assumes that disinterested means uninterested, 

he will not say what he means. 

Indeed, he may even say the exact opposite 

of what he means. 

Respectable English is a much simpler 

matter. It means the kind of English that 

is used by the most respected people, the 

sort of English that will make readers or 

listeners regard you as an educated person. 

Doubts about what is respectable English 

and what is not usually involve quest:ions 

of grammar. There are some grammatical 

constructions, such as that there dog and 

he ain’t come yet, that are perfectly intelligible 

but are not standard English. Such 

expressions are used by people who are not 

PREFACE 

interested in “book learning.” They are not 

used by educated people and hence are 

regarded as “incorrect” and serve as the 

mark of a class. There is nothing wrong 

about using them, but in a country such as 

ours where for a generation almost everybody 

has had at least a high school education 

or its equivalent few people are willing 

to use expressions that are not generally 

approved as “correct.” 

A man usually thinks about his work in 

the language that his co-workers use. Turns 

of speech that may have been natural to a 

statistician when he was a boy on a farm 

simply do not come to his mind when he is 

talking about statistics. Anybody whose 

work requires intellectual training-and 

this includes everybody whose work involves 

any amount of writing-speaks 

standard English naturally and inevitably, 

with possibly a few insignificant variations. 

But many people who speak well write 

ungrammatical sentences. There seems to 

be some demon that numbs their fingers 

when they take hold of a pen, a specter 

called “grammar” which they know they 

never understood in school and which rises 

to fill them with paralyzing uncertainty 

whenever they stop to think. 

The only way to exorcise this demon is 

to state some of the fundamental facts of 

language. And one of the most fundamental 

is that language changes constantly. People 

living in the United States in the middle of 

the twentieth century do not speak the 

English of Chaucer or of Shakespeare. 

They don’t even speak the English of

vi PREFACE 

Woodrow Wilson. The meanings of words 

change and the ways in which words are 

used in sentences change. Silly once meant 

“holy,” fond meant “foolish,” beam meant 

“tree” and tree meant “beam,” and so on 

through many thousands of words. The 

pronoun you could once be used with a 

singular verb form, as in Was you ever in 

Baltimore? Today we must say were you. 

The word news could once be used as a 

plural, as in These news were suddenly 

spread throughout the city. Today we must 

treat it as a singular and say This news was 

spread. 

Since language changes this much, no 

one can say how a word “ought” to be 

used. The best that anyone can do is to 

say how it is being used, and this is what 

a grammar should tell us. It should give us 

information on what is currently accepted 

as good English, bringing together as many 

details as possible under a few general rules 

or principles, so that it will be easier for us 

to remember them. 

The older grammars, by some one of 

which almost every adult today was bewildered 

in his school days, were very full 

of the spirit of what “ought” to be done 

and drew the sanction of their “oughts” 

from logic rather than from what people 

actually said. Thus in such a sentence as 

There is an apple and a pear in the basket 

most school grammars up until a generation 

ago would have said that one “ought” 

to use are and not is. And the schoolchildren 

(some of whom later became schoolteachers) 

docilely accepted the pronouncement. 

However the child would have heard 

the minister, the doctor, and even the 

schoolteacher out of school, say is, and 

since he couldn’t bring himself to say that 

the book was wrong in school or these 

eminent people wrong out of school, he 

would probably conclude that he didn’t 

“understand” grammar. Unfortunate as that 

conclusion might have been, it was at least 

intelligent and preferable to attempting all 

the rest of his life to speak and write in 

the unreal manner recommended by the 

textbook. 

The first grammars published in English 

were not intended to teach English but to 

get a child ready for the study of Latin. 

They were simplified Latin grammars with 

English illustrations. Of course they were 

incomprehensible, though they probably 

made Latin easier when the child got to it. 

Later, when Latin was no longer an important 

part of education, the schools continued 

to use books of this kind on the 

theory that they taught “superior” English, 

that is, English that resembled Latin. 

But the rules of Latin grammar require 

constructions that are absurd and affected 

in English, totally unsubstantiated by English 

usage. And they often condemn constructions 

that the greatest writers of 

English use freely. The common man, even 

the common educated man, has had no 

desire to be “superior” in some mysterious 

way and these Latin rules have had very 

little effect on the way English is actually 

used by educated adults. But the rules have 

had this effect, that millions of adults believe 

that what seems natural to them is 

probably wrong. 

In analyzing the language the old-fashioned 

textbooks use concepts, or terms, 

that are valid when applied to Latin but 

are almost meaningless when applied to an 

uninflected language such as modern English. 

The difference between a noun and an 

adjective, or between an adjective and an 

adverb, for example, is plain in Latin but 

not in English. No grammar can explain 

these differences in English without becoming 

too involved for an elementary student. 

Instead of explaining them, therefore, the 

authors often write as if no explanation 

were needed, as if the differences were 

obvious to all but the dullest. And most of 

us succumb to this. We get tired of feeling 

stupid and decide, for instance, that an 

adverb ends in -ly, such as really, and an 

adjective doesn’t, such as real. This leads us 

to feel uneasy at Swing low, sweet chariot, 

to wonder how road commissioners can be 

so illiterate as to urge us to drive slow, and 

to get all hot and bothered in fifty useless 

ways. The child who leaves school knowing

that he doesn’t know the ditierence between 

an adjective and an adverb is unusualIy 

strong minded and lucky. 

For the last fifty years, however, certain 

grammarians have been making a scientific 

study of English. They have been finding 

out how English is really used by different 

groups of people, instead of theorizing 

about how it might be used or dogmatizing 

about how it ought to be used. The investigations 

of these men have shown us which 

grammatical forms are used by educated 

people and which are not. They make it 

possible to define and analyze what is 

standard speech and what is not. 

They show us that standard English 

allows a certain amount of variation. That 

is, there is often more than one acceptable 

way of using the same words. The most 

obvious variations are geographical, Some 

words are used differently in different parts 

of the country, but each use is respectable 

in its own locality. Some variations are 

peculiar to a trade or profession (such as 

the medical use of indicate). These are as 

respectable as the group that uses them but 

they are likely to be unintelligible to the 

general public. When they are used solely 

to mark a difference, to give an esoteric 

flavor, they constitute a jargon. 

There are also differences between formal 

and informal English. Formal English 

is solemn and precise. It dots all the i’s 

and crosses all the t’s. Informal or colloquial 

English is more sprightly and leaves 

more to the imagination. Forty years ago 

it was considered courteous to use formal 

English in speaking to strangers, implying 

they were solemn and important people. 

Today it is considered more flattering to 

address strangers as if they were one’s intimate 

friends. This is a polite lie, of 

course; but it is today’s good manners. 

Modern usage encourages informality wherever 

possible and reserves formality for 

very few occasions. 

This dictionary is intended as a reference 

book on current English in the United 

States. It is designed for people who speak 

standard English but are uncertain about 

PREFACE 

some details. lr attempts to list the que-stions 

that most people ask, or should ask, 

about what is now good practice and to 

give the best answers available. It also contains 

a full discussion of English grammar, 

a discussion which does not assume that 

the student can already read and write 

Latin. 

If any reader wants to make a systematic 

study of English grammar he should begin 

with the entry parts of speech and follow 

through alI the cross references. Some of 

these may prove difficult, but no one needs 

to study it who is not interested. One can 

use good English without understanding the 

principles behind it just as one can drive 

a car without understanding mechanics. 

The individual word entries do not assume 

that the reader is interested in grammatical 

principles. They assume that he 

wants the answer to a specific question in 

the least possible time. The information in 

them has been drawn chiefly from the Oxford 

English Dictionary, the seven-volume 

English grammar of Otto Jespersen, and 

the works of Charles Fries. This has been 

supplemented by information from A Dictionary 

of American English, edited by Sir 

William Craigie and James Hulbert, A Dictionary 

of Americanisms, by Mitford M. 

Mathews, The American Language, with 

its two supplements, by H. L. Mencken, 

and The American College Dictionary. Further 

information has been drawn from articles 

appearing in American Speech over 

the past twenty years and from the writings 

of George 0. Curme, John Lesslie Hall, 

Robert A. Hall, Jr., Sterling A. Leonard, 

Albert H. Marckwardt, Robert C. Pooley, 

Thomas Pyles, and others. Some of the 

statements concerning differences in British 

and American usage are based on the writings 

of H. W. Fowler, Eric Partridge, Sir 

Alan Herbert, Ivor Brown, Sir Ernest Gowers 

and H. W. Horwih. 

The authors want to thank George ElIison, 

Sarah Bekker, Bernice Levin, Irene Le 

Compte and James K. Robinson for help 

in assembling and organizing this material. 

They also want to thank Esther Sheldon for

. . . 

VII1 PREFACE 

many helpful comments, Jess Stein and 

Leonore C. Hauck for the contributions 

they made in editing this work, and Joseph 

M. Bernstein for his thoughtful proofreading. 

Throughout the book the authors have 

tried to present the facts about current 

usage fairly and accurately. They are aware 

that there is more than one kind of English. 

As children, living in the north of England, 

they spoke a dialect that was in many ways 

nearer to the English of Chaucer than to 

that of the New York Times. They have, 

therefore, a personal affection for forms 

that are older than our current Iiterary 

forms. As adults they have both had occasion, 

over many years, to read a great deal 

of manuscript English, the unedited writings 

of college students and adults working 

in various professions. They are therefore 

familiar with current tendencies in English. 

They hope that this wide acquaintance with 

the language has kept them from giving too 

much weight to their personal preferences. 

But they have a personal bias, and this 

should be stated clearly. The authors are 

prejudiced in favor of literary forms. They 

prefer the forms used by the great writers 

of English to forms found only in technical 

journals. This means that if they list a nonliterary 

form as acceptable there is conclusive 

evidence that it is accepted. But 

they may have listed some forms as questionable 

that are standard in some areas or 

professions. The reader must decide these 

things for himself. To anyone who has a 

serious interest in the language that he 

hears and uses, the authors would like to 

say, in the words of Socrates, “Agree with 

me if I seem to speak the truth.”

A 

DICTIONARY OF 

CONTEMPORARY 

AMERICAN 

USAGE 

To Aunt Cornelia

a and an are two forms of the same word. The 

form an is used before a vowel sound, as in an 

umbrella, an honest man. The form a is used 

before a consonant sound, as in a European, a 

one-horse town, a historical novel, a hotel. The 

form a should be used before an h that is pronounced, 

as in history and hotel. Formerly these 

h sounds were not pronounced and an historical 

novel, an hotel, were as natural as an honorable 

man, an hour, an heiress. This is no longer true 

and these archaic an’s, familiar from English 

literature, should not be repeated in modem 

writing. 

A, an, and any are all derived from the same 

source. A (or an) is called the indefinite article. 

Actually. -_ it is used to indicate a definite but un- 

specified individual, as in a man in our town, a 

library book. In this sense the individual may 

represent the type, or the entire class, as in a cat 

has nine lives. When we wish to refer indefinitely 

to a single person or thing we say any, as in 

any man in our town, any library book. A may 

also be used to mean one, as in wait a minute 

and in a day or two. In its first sense, a may be 

be used before the word one, as in we did not 

find a one. This is acceptable English whenever 

there is good reason to stress the idea of oneness. 

But some people consider the construction 

improper, or unreasonable, and claim that it is 

better to say a single one. It is hard to see why 

it should be wrong to express the idea of unity 

twice (a, one) and right to do so three times 

(a, single, one). 

The word a (or an) stands before other qualifying 

words, as in a very large sum of money, 

except words or phrases which indicate an extreme 

degree of something. These are adverbial 

phrases and precede the word a, as in so very 

large a sum of money and too small a sum of 

money. 

abandoned; depraved; vicious. An abandoned person-when 

the word is used with moral implications-is 

one who has given himself up, without 

further concern for his reputation or welfare, to 

immoral courses, one hopelessly sunk in wickedness 

and the indulgence of his appetites (an 

abandoned woman, hardened in sin). It usually 

suggests a passive acceptance of immorality (Is 

he so abandoned as to feel no shame at such an 

accusation?). A depraved person is one so dis- 

A 

torted in character, so vitiated, debased, and 

corrupt that he seeks out evil (These dens are 

the haunts of the worst and most depraved men 

in the city). When applied to character, as it 

often is, it again suggests a wilful corruption, 

springing from a distorted or perverted nature 

(Only a depraved taste could regard these daubs 

as art). A vicious person is addicted to vice, 

malignant and aggressive in his wickedness, 

violent and dangerous (Drunkenness does not 

make men vicious, but it shows those who are 

to be so). 

abbreviations are shortened or contracted forms 

of words or phrases, used as a symbol of the 

whole. They are designed for the eye as acronyms 

are designed for the ear. In written 

language the abbreviation has always been valuable, 

for scribes must save time and space 

whether they write on papyrus, paper or stone. 

The most famous abbreviation of antiquity, 

perhaps of all time, was SPQRSenatus Populusque 

Romanus-the great insigne of Rome. 

In general, a reader coming across an abbrevation 

visualizes or sounds the whole word 

represented by it, as in Dr. Co., mfg., cf., pres. 

and so on. Many abbreviations, however, have 

been taken over into speech, probably, as a rule, 

when the original word or phrase was cumbersome, 

as in C.O., DP, IQ, S.R.O., R.S.V.P., 

G.A.R., D.A.R., and the like. This tendency to 

enunciate the abbreviation, rather than the full 

word or phrase for which it stands, is increasing. 

College students talk of math, lit, poly sci and 

econ courses without any feeling of being breezy 

or slangy. What was once the province of vulgar 

speech and the literary domain of such writers 

as Ring Lardner and S. J. Perelman now freely 

serves the popular press where the full forms of 

V.I.P., MC. (often written emcee), G.I., and 

scores of other abbreviations would now seem 

very strange. 

Some names and terms are so unpronounceable 

that abbreviations are always used in both 

writing and speaking. Indeed the original forms, 

so far as the general public is concerned, are 

completely unknown: DDT for dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane, 

ACTH for adrenocorticotropic 

hormone, KLM for the Dutch airline 

Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maat-schaapij voor 

Nederland en Kolonien N.V.

abdomen 4 

Probably the commonest type of abbreviation 

today, and one that seems to be growing 

ever more common, consists of the initials of 

the words of a name or a phrase: PTA, R.F.D., 

r.p.m., p.o.w. The government and the army 

have contributed many of these new abbreviations. 

There is no general rule, but there is a 

tendency, which in time may establish a rule, 

to omit periods in the names of government 

agencies but to include them in other cases. 

This would at least allow us to distinguish AAA 

(Agricultural Adjustment Administration) from 

A.A.A. (American Automobile Association). 

Another common form of abbreviation is the 

shortening of words: capt., diam., treas. In 

many instances the shortened forms have been 

taken over into the vernacular and occasionally 

even into standard usage. Ad, especially for a 

short advertisement (as a want ad), must now 

be accepted as standard, as also must vet for 

veterinnry, though it is still colloquial for 

veteran except in certain combined forms like 

Amvets. Co-op is now so universally employed 

that it would be pedantic to insist on cooperative. 

Some abbreviations are formed by contraction: 

supt., patd., arty. or by the retention 

of only the key consonants: blvd., hdqrs., tsp. 

Latin phrases are frequently abbreviated, and 

in the same ways that English words and phrases 

are abbreviated. Some appear only as initials: 

c., e.g. Q.E.D., by the way, is always capitalized. 

Some are shortened: id., et al., cet. par., aet. 

Some are contracted: cf., pxt. VOX pop is an 

example of a shortened Latin phrase that has 

crept into common English speech. Ad Zibitrrm 

(“at pleasure,” that is, at the discretion of the 

performer) was originally primarily applied to 

music. As an abbreviation-ad lib.-it moved 

over into the drama, took on broader connotations 

and is now accepted as a noun, verb, or 

adjective. 

Here are some abbreviations which fall outaide 

the ordinary patterns: 

G.Z.The initials of a phrase (“government 

issue”) which have taken on a meaning different 

from the original term but wryly related to it. 

AlStrictly speaking not an abbreviation, 

since it is not a shortening of anything but simply 

a symbol. 

IOU-A phrase put in terms of initials, although 

they are not literally the initials of the 

words they represent. This is one abbreviation 

which is based on sound rather than on sight. 

There is a euphemistic use of abbreviationin 

such expressions as g.d. and s.o.b.-which 

seeks to make certain phrases not ordinarily 

used in polite conversation less offensive. To 

some ears, however, the abbreviation is an added 

offense, heaping timidity or affected gentility on 

indecency or profanity. 

The ultimate in abbreviation-the abbreviation 

of an abbreviation-is furnished by 

CSCN/CHSA which is an abbreviation of 

COMSUBCOMNEl..M/COMHEDSUPPACl? 

which is an abbreviation of Commander, Subordinate 

Command, U. S. Naval Forces East- 

ern Atlantic and Mediterranean, Commander, 

Headquarters Support Activities. 

abdomen. See belly. 

aberration means wandering from the usual way 

or from the normal course. There are various 

technical uses of the word in biology, optics, 

and other sciences, but the most common popular 

use is in the phrase an aberration of the 

mind, where it means a departure from a sound 

mental state. It does not mean mere absentmindedness. 

It should always be used with a 

qualifying adjective or prepositional phrase descriptive 

of the nature of the aberration. 

abhor. See hate. 

abide. The past tense is abided or abode. The 

participle is also abided or abode. 

Abode is preferred to abided when the word 

means dwelled, as in he abode in Boston almost 

all of his life. When the word is used in its 

broader meaning abided is preferred, as in he 

abided by his promise. But both forms can be 

used in both senses. 

Abide is heavyweight for remain or stay. 

It is properly used in the great hymn “Abide 

With Me.” It is no lighter when used in the 

sense of live or dwell. In all of these uses it 

retains an obsolescent, medieval quality. 

This very quality, however, gives the note of 

solemnity that certain occasions deserve. When 

it means to stand by a person, or one’s word, or 

to await the consequences of some momentous 

act (Abide the event. Others abide the question:/Thou 

art free), the very quality which 

makes it improper for lesser uses makes it valuable. 

Nations abide by the terms of a treaty. 

The use of the phrase can’t abide to express 

dislike (I can’t abide that mnn!) is commonly 

disparaged. But it has force and flavor. Its use to 

describe situations, or more often persons, that 

are intolerable and not to be endured strikes the 

proper note of vehemence that certain old English 

words and words associated with Scripture 

convey. 

ability; capacity. Ability is the power to do, capacity 

is the power to receive. Ability can be 

acquired; capacity is innate. Ability is improved 

by exercise; capacity requires no exercise. A 

pump has an ability to pump a certain amount 

of fluid. A tank has the capacity to hold a certain 

amount. A boxer has the ability to hit, the capacity 

to take punishment. 

abject apology. When Milton spoke of the fallen 

angels rolling in the fires of hell thick bestrown, 

abject and lost, he was using abject in 

its original sense of cast out or rejected. In 

the hackneyed phrase an abject apology it is 

not the apology that is abject but the one who 

is making the apology. But since there is something 

contemptible in one who abases himself 

too much, a feeling perhaps that he is sacrificing 

his dignity in the hope of escaping a 

possible punishment, abject in this phrase, as it 

reflects on the one apologizing, has come to 

have a connotation of despicable. It is an overworked 

phrase and should be used sparingly. 

abject poverty is poverty so severe or so prolonged 

that the sufferer from it feels cast

out from human society. Here, again, there is 

a feeling that human dignity has been impaired 

and there is something slightly despicable in 

the excess of humility exhibited. Dire poverty 

(from the Latin dirus, terrible) is poverty so 

extreme that it is terrible to behold. 

Both phrases have been weakened by repetition 

and should be used only when they convey 

the exact meaning that the speaker or writer 

desires to express. 

abjure and adjure belong, with quiddities and quillets, 

to the solemnity of the legal brief and the 

juridical charge. Abjure, virtually undigested 

from the Latin abjurure, means to solemnly forswear, 

to renounce, to repudiate. The prefix ab- 

(as in absent, abdicate, etc.) negates an oath 

that has been sworn. 

Conversely, the prefix ad- atlirms the act of 

swearing (as it affirms ministration in administration 

and monition in admonition) in adjure, 

which means to command solemnly, under 

oath or the threat of a curse. 

Neither word is to be used lightly, and it is 

paramount that their similarity of sound should 

not confuse their completely opposite meanings. 

ablative case. The ablative is a Latin case used principally 

to show that a noun or pronoun stands 

in some qualifying relation to the verb. In modern 

English the ablative relationships are shown 

principally by prepositions. Old English did not 

have an ablative and for this reason the word is 

not used in English grammars as often as the 

other Latin case names. 

ablution; washing. Ablutions are performed in a 

church; washing is done in a sink or bathroom. 

Ablution now refers exclusively to the use of 

water for cleansing in religious rites, the ceremonial 

bathing of the body or the rinsing of 

sacred vessels. To describe anyone’s washing of 

his hands and face as performing his ablutions 

is to be ponderously jocular and slightly sacrilegious. 

Keats, in the last poem that he wrote, used 

the word correctly when he spoke of the 

moving waters at their priestlike task/ Oj pure 

ablution round earth’s human shores. 

abnormal; subnormal; supernormal. Abnormal, in 

the strictest sense, denotes any deviation from 

the normal. An abnormally pretty girl or an 

abnormally pleasant day would certainly be 

understood. In general, however, the deviation 

is towards imperfection. Abnormal driving conditions 

will not mean exceptional visibility but, 

rather, fog, ice, irregular pavement or something 

of that sort. Abnormal behavior may be 

exceptional, but it is never exemplary. College 

courses in Abnormul Psychology devote little 

time to the exceptionally brilliant or the ttnusually 

happy. 

Subnormal denotes things below the average 

(Subnormal intelligence is characteristic of 

morons. Hibernating animals have subnormal 

temperatures). A chilly day in Florida or 

southern California is certain to be described 

as subnormal. 

Supernormal is not often used-and just as 

well, for it is awkward. However, it could be 

used to describe superior intelligence, superhuman 

capabilities, and supernatural occurrences. 

Certain visionaries may be said to have 

had supernormal powers of sight or hearing. 

It might be insisted that a fever is a supernormal 

temperature, but here abnormal, with 

its suggestion of an undesirable deviation, is 

used. 

aboard (on board), to board and boarding were 

originally sea terms. In America, where the 

tradition of the sea and respect for its terms 

(except in the Navy where the insistent retention 

of nautical terms in land stations often 

seems absurd to the landlubber) was not as 

strong as it was in England, the term was 

transferred to railroad trains. Where our conductor 

calls “All aboard!” the English stationmaster 

says, “Take your seats, please!” 

The airplane has taken over many nautical 

terms, and being welcomed aboard by the 

stewardess has a mildly adventurous sound 

without seeming affected. The wings and the 

motors have to be tersely designated and port 

and starboard, inboard and outboard seem 

natural and sensible. (It is a nice illustration 

of the development of language that although 

motor and engine are synonymous in popular 

usage, an outboard motor and an outboard 

engine are wholly different things.) 

abode. An abode was formerly merely a waiting 

or an abiding (Through his body his sword 

glodeJ Dead he fell, without nbode). Later 

it came to mean the place in which the abiding 

was done. Milton calls Paradise Adam’s abode. 

The body was often called the abode of the 

spirit. But to apply the word today to an 

ordinary house is affectation or heavy jocularity. 

See abide. 

abominate. This word may be followed by the 

-ing form of a verb, as in I abominate dancing, 

but not by an infinitive, as in I abominate to 

dunce. The construction with the infinitive fs 

not standard. 

about. The basic meaning of about is around or 

circling. It may mean physically around, as in 

there are spies about and he walked about the 

garden, or it may mean approximately, as in 

there are about a hundred people. A compound 

verb including about is always weaker or 

vaguer than the original verb, as I know him 

and Z know about him, 2 had forgotten that 

and I had forgotten about that. About may be 

followed by the -ing form of a verb, as in he 

thought about leaving, or by an infinitive, ti 

in he was about to leave. When followed by 

an infinitive, about means on the point of. 

The compound at about, as in he arrived at 

about 3 o’clock, is condemned by some grammarians 

on the grounds that it is redundant. 

This is not a reasonable claim. At is frequently 

followed by words showing degree, as in ut 

almost, at nearly, at exactly, and there is no 

reason why about should not be used in the 

same way. About is used after a great many 

other prepositions, as in for about an hour, in 

about a week, by about Christmas, and the 

compound at about is sometimes required, as

above 6 

in they sold at about $3 n share. It is true that 

in expressions of time about can be used without 

a preposition, as in he arrived about 

3 o’clock. But there is no reason why anyone 

should feel compelled to use it in this way. 

At about 3 o’clock is well established, reputable 

English. 

above is used in written English to mean mentioned 

earlier, as in the above examples. Some 

grammarians object to the above examples 

on the grounds that above is an adverb and 

should not stand immediately before a noun. 

Such people have no objection to the abovementioned 

examples or the examples above. 

And they should not object to the above 

examples. Above is accepted as an adjective 

by the best English scholars and writers. It is 

used in this way by Franklin, Hawthorne, 

Scott, Dickens, Thackeray, Quiller-Couch, 

H. W. Fowler, Bertrand Russell, Gilbert 

Murray, and by most of the grammarians who 

condemn it, when they are off their guard. 

abrogate; arrogate. To abrogate is to annul summarily, 

to abolish authoritatively or formally 

(The power which formed the laws may abrogate 

them). The word cannot properly be 

applied to anything but established custom or 

usage. When Sir Nathaniel in Love’s Labour’s 

Lost beseeches Holofernes to abrogate scurrility, 

the use is probably intended to be 

humorous. 

To arrogate is to claim presumptuously as 

a right some dignity or authority to which one 

is not entitled (groups which arrogate to themselves 

the right to use coercion). 

abscissa. The plural is abscissas or abscissae. 

absolute. When used as a grammatical term, 

absolute means grammatically independent. The 

word is applied to forms of speech that ordinarily 

are not independent, such as participles, 

adjectives, transitive verbs, and phrases. The 

words in small capitals are absolute in: a 

HORSE! a HORSE! my KINGDOM for a horse and 

THIS SAID, he formed thee, ADAM!, thee, o MAN! 

DUST of the ground! 

Adjectives which name a “complete” quality, 

such as perfect, and unique, are sometimes 

called “absolutes.” For a discussion of this, 

see comparison of adjectives and adverbs. 

For a discussion of absolute phrases, see 

participles. 

absolutely and positively are synonyms, containing 

the same degree of emphasis, interchangeable 

in any given case, and similarly 

abused. The meaning of wholly, unconditionally, 

and completely (He is absolutely determined 

to go through with it. He is positively 

obsessed with the idea of death) ought not be 

degraded into helping to form second-rate 

superlatives (absolutely swell, positively magnificent), 

or, by themselves, into becoming inflated 

substitutes for yes. 

abstract nouns. Some grammarians distinguish 

between concrete and abstract nouns, defining 

concrete nouns as those that refer to physical 

things, such as house, mud, child, and abstract 

nouns as those that refer to qualities which 

physical things may have but which do not 

exist by themselves, such as redness, beauty, 

childhood. This distinction raises interesting 

philosophical questions. How should one classify 

heat? or the equator? Fortunately, one does 

not have to answer these questions in order to 

use the words correctly because this distinction 

has no bearing on English grammar. An 

abstract noun is grammatically like any other 

noun. See mass nouns. 

But abstract may also mean more general, 

less specific. In this sense container is more 

abstract than barrel, and resources more abstract 

than money. The more abstract a word 

is, the more objects it refers to and the less 

it tells us about them. The more specific a 

word is, the more information it conveys. It is 

very easy to use words that are too general. 

In fact, this is the most obvious characteristic 

of ineffective writing. A good writer fits his 

words as closely as possible to his meaning. He 

will use container only if he is talking about 

several kinds of containers. If he is talking 

about a barrel, he will call it a barrel. 

A poor writer who would like to be better 

should ask himself constantly: Does what I 

have written cover more ground than I meant 

to cover? Writing with this question always 

in mind will do more to develop a respectable 

style than all the grammar books and vocabulary 

builders in the world. 

abuse; inv’ective; obloquy; scurrility; vituperation. 

These words convey various degrees of bitterness 

and roughness in verbal attack. 

Abuse and vituperation are synonymous and 

mean coarse and insulting language, used, 

generally, in some private quarrel or attack 

Vituperation has come to have a slight sense 

of greater fierceness in the reviling. This may 

be due. as V. H. Collins suaaests. to the fact 

that the five syllables “conned the idea of a 

torrential flow” or it may be due to an echoic 

suggestion of viper in the sound of the word. 

Znvective may be vehement and violent and 

railing, but it may also, differing from abuse, 

be polished. Indeed, when it is coarse that 

adjective is usually employed to mark the fact. 

Some of the most elegant orations ever delivered 

have been invectives, though from less 

able speakers we are likely to have more spite 

than elegance. 

Obloquy is censure or blame, or even 

abusive language, but it is public and general. 

It is condemnation by many people rather than 

an attack by one person (They held their convictions 

in spite of obloquy). Abuse causes 

anger and resentment; obloquy causes shame 

and disgrace. 

Scurrility is abuse characterized by coarseness 

and jocularity. It is railing marked by 

indecency and couched in buffoonery. 

The exact meaning of any one of these 

words is affected, of course, by one’s point of 

view. Emerson probably felt himself abused 

when Swinburne referred to him as “a gap

toothed and hoary ape . . . coryphaus of 

[a] Bulgarian tribe of auto-coprophagous 

baboons,” but Swinburne insisted he was merely 

making a scientifically accurate description. 

What to the speaker may seem polished 

invective may strike the one spoken d as 

vituperation and even scurrility. 

abysmal; abyss; abyssal. Abyss means a bottomless 

space. It was below the thunders elf the 

upper deep/ Far, far beneath in the abysmal 

sea that Tennyson’s Kraken slept. But science 

has now taken soundings and, in consequence, 

abysmal and abyss are relegated to figu:rative 

uses (Her air of attentiveness conceal’s an 

abysmal ignorance). Abyss is allowed in Milton’s 

imaginary landscape of Chaos and other 

old-fashioned literary imaginings or, with abysmal, 

to describe the geography of the mind 

(Despair opened an abyss before his mind’s 

eye). 

Abyssal is a technical term used in de:seriptions 

of the ocean floor or of depths below 

three hundred fathoms. The steep descent from 

the continental shelf is also called the abyss. 

Academe. If used seriously, Academe refers to 

Plato’s Academy in ancient Athens. As a term 

for a place of instruction, Academe is a pomposity, 

as in Mary McCarthy’s satirical :novel 

of faculty life, Groves of Academe. So used, 

the word is self-destructive and can survive 

only in cynical uses. The best policy is to use 

Academe with historical accuracy or not at all. 

accede. See allow. 

accelerate and exhilarate are like two people who 

are unrelated but look alike and have become 

good friends. Acceleration means going faster; 

exhilaration means getting gladder (Much of the 

exhilaration of driving is due to the acceleration 

of the car). 

The confusion between going faster and 

getting happier is one of the fundamental 

errors of our time and it is not surprising that 

it has extended to the words. But exhilaration 

is always a mental state, connoting a dlegree 

of excitement. Acceleration describes matter increasing 

the rapidity of its motion-though it 

is possible to conceive of a figurative, mental 

application of the word, such as the acceleration 

of the learning process with practics. 

accent; accentual; accentuate. Accent is the characteristic 

of a vowel or a syllable, having .to do 

with the degree or pattern of stress placed on it. 

When we say that a foreigner speaks with an 

accent we mean that he knows the words but 

that his speech is distinguishable because he does 

not use the same pattern of stresses that native 

speakers employ. 

Like so many useful words, however, accent 

has been engulfed in its figurative extensions. 

Advertisements, especially of products designed 

for women, would be lost without the word in 

their own special application of it. Mascara 

accents the eyebrows, tight skirts accent the 

hips, and so on. 

Accentuate is reserved in England, as Fowler 

notes, for the figurative sense of accent and 

7 access 

is so used by Americans who find the over-use 

of accent distasteful. Its use should be re+ 

stricted, however, to the amenities, the trivia, 

and the esthetics of ordinary life. The prairies 

do not accentuate the grandeur of the Rockies, 

but it is permissible to accentuate the color 

of the floral centerpiece with the whiteness of 

the table linen. 

Accentual is a technical word, reserved for 

the description of a rhythm or a pattern of 

stresses (The accentual peculiarities of free 

verse lie in its apparent irregularities). 

accept; except. The essential confusion between 

accept and except is one of sound and where 

there is a doubt which is meant only the 

context can determine it. Accept means to 

receive willingly (I accept your offer). Except 

means to omit or exclude (Brown was excepted 

from the list of those to be pardoned). 

acceptance; acceptation. Acceptance, a noun, 

means the act of accepting or of being accepted 

(His acceptance of the gift found acceptance 

with his superiors). 

Acceptation has been restricted to questions 

of interpretation, principally the interpretation 

of words (The original acceptation of “communism” 

as a political theory differs greatly 

from its present general acceptation). More 

and more, however, acceptance tends to take 

the place of acceptation which is now, by some 

authorities, classified as an archaism. 

access; accession. The difference between access 

and accession is largely the difference between 

the act as a possibility and its accomplishment. 

As Princess, Queen Elizabeth had access to 

the throne. Her accession followed upon her 

father’s death. 

While the opportunity or possibility of entering 

as it is expressed in access (See access; 

excess) remains flexible, accession is limited to 

the idea of entering into a higher rank or a 

new status, as in the accession of a territory 

to statehood or of a senator to the presidency. 

access; excess. Confusion between access and excess 

is chiefly due to the similarity of their 

sound, but there is a band of meaning in which 

they overlap. 

Access is a noun meaning an approach, a coming 

into, or the means by which entry is obtained. 

Access to a house is by way of the door. 

Access to a great man requires money or influence. 

Excess means going out, the direct opposite 

of access. In the sense of going out of one’s 

mind or beyond one’s means, excess has come 

to mean immoderation (He drinks to excess); 

superfluity, in the sense of more than enough, 

overflowing (Children are full of excess 

energy); the extent to which one thing is more 

than another (His appetite is in excess of his 

capacity); it has also come to stand in a pejorative 

sense as a generic term for any immoral, 

licentious extravagances (Oscar Wilde’s epigram: 

Nothing succeeds like excess). 

Access is sometimes used for “a coming into” 

an emotional storm, a sudden outburst of

accessa ry 8 

passion (In an access of rage he stabbed his 

friend). Here excess might be used, and some 

English authorities deny the correctness of 

access in this context. But the Oxford English 

Dictionary accepts it. Many distinguished English 

authors have so used it. And it is certainly 

sanctioned by American usage. 

accessory and accessory are linguistic lovers, 

perpetually exchanging vowels. In American 

usage accessary is recognized only as a noun, but 

accessory is accepted as both noun and adjective. 

Accessury is limited, with us, chiefly to 

the legal significances of the word, though, 

even there, accessory can be used. 

In law an accessary or accessory plays a 

minor part in a crime. An accessory before 

the fact is one who helped, or at least had 

knowledge of and did not hinder, the committing 

of a crime but was not present when 

the act was done; an accessory ufter the fact 

knowingly assists or conceals another who has 

committed a felony. 

In common usage accessory means something 

added or attached for convenience or 

attractiveness and it emphasizes the subordinate 

nature of the contribution (The accessory 

details of the building). It is an interesting 

illustration of the confusion latent in the most 

common words that this word which is in daily 

use amongst us has different meanings for men 

and women. To most American women 

accessories means the portable or detachable 

additions to her costume-hat, bag, earrings, 

scarf, and so on. To most American men 

accessories means additions to the car-radio, 

heater, spotlight, and so on. 

accident. See mishap. 

accidents will happen. The suggestion, in many 

forms, that “time and chance happeneth to all” 

is common to all languages and where, as in 

Ecclesiastes, it is a sincere comment, the bitter 

fruit of observation and experience, it can 

have dignity and force. 

But accidents will happen. apart from being a 

clichC, has an exasperating levity to it and a 

patronizing air of unfeeling consolation- 

esneciallv . if the almost inevitable “in the best- 

regulated families” is tacked on to it. 

All clichCs are tedious, but those that are 

used when real feeling is expected-as in consolation-are 

dangerous in that their cut-anddried 

nature makes one suspect the sincerity 

of the emotion expressed. This may be unfair, 

for many worthy people express sincere feelings 

in cliches and quotations, pathetic in their 

inarticulateness and more pathetic in the likelihood 

of being misunderstood. 

accommodation; accommodations. With the preposition 

to, accommodation is the act of adapting 

or being adapted to (The accommodation of 

modern furniture to the human figure). 

The use of the word to designate lodgings 

or food and lodgings is expressed in American 

usage by the plural, accommodations, and in 

English usage by the singular, accommodation. 

Originally the English used accommodation. 

Othello demanded for his wife such accommo- 

dation and besort as levels with her breeding. 

Later they used accommodations. Defoe, 

Boswell, and Jane Austen so used it. But they 

have now reverted to the singular, and the 

plural in this sense is unknown among them. 

In America the plural is now universally 

used. One wires a hotel for accommodations 

when only a single room is desired. Pullman 

accommodations may be a roomette, a bedroom, 

or several sleeping sections thrown together. 

Hotels have “Accommodations Desks.” 

accompanist has supplanted accompanyist in 

general preference as one who accompanies in 

the musical sense. 

according; accordingly. Accordingly is the form 

used alone to qualify a verb, as in he wrote 

accordingly. The form according is required 

before to, as in he wrote according to orders. 

According may also be used to qualify a noun, 

as in the according hearts of men, and with 

as to introduce a clause, as in according as it 

is understood or not, but these last constructions 

are not often heard today. 

accountable means responsible, liable. But since 

only a human agent can be called on to 

account for his actions (animal trials having 

ceased in the eighteenth century), the word 

can only be used to describe human liability 

(The dog was responsible for tearing the coat 

and its owner was held accountable for the 

damage). 

accredit. See credit. 

accrue. Although accrue has long carried the 

general sense of to happen or result as a 

natural growth, to arise in due course, to come 

or fall as an addition or increment, it is most 

safely used in a specifically legal context, 

meaning to become a present and enforceable 

right or demand (Interest accrues at the rate 

of two percent per annum). It is ostentatious 

and inaccurate to use accrue as a synonym for 

result or happen when there are no legal or 

financial implications, as in It is unlikely that 

benefits will accrue from such a belligerent 

policy. 

accumulative has been replaced in almost all uses 

by cumulative, surviving only in the sense generally 

expressed by acquisitive (Zfis accumulative 

instinct led him to buy real estate). 

accusative case. The accusative is a Latin case 

used principally to mark the object of a verb. 

In modern English this relationship is shown 

by position. See object of a verb and objective 

pronouns. 

accuse. See charge. 

accustom. This word may be followed by an 

infinitive, as in I am not accustomed to lie, 

or by the -ing form of a verb with the preposition 

to, as in I am not accustomed to lying. 

Both forms are standard. 

acid test. Gold, chemically inactive, resists the 

action of acids that corrode other metals. The 

acid test was, therefore, a test calculated to 

distinguish gold from other substances such a.~ 

iron or copper pyrites. As a term for a severe 

test, the acid test has become a clich6. 

acknowledge. See confess.

acquaint. See tell 

acquaintanceship. The suffix -ship denotes a state, 

condition, or quality (as in friendship or 

scholarship), an office or profession (as in 

professorship), an art or skill (as in the new 

humorous word gamesmanship), something 

embodying a quality or state (as in courtship), 

or one entitled to a specified rank (as in his 

lordship). 

Since the word acquaintance means not only 

one who is known to a certain degree (He is 

an old acquaintance of mine) but also the state 

of being acquainted (The cultured man will 

have some acquaintance with mathematics), 

the adding of the suffix to form acquaintanceship 

is totally unnecessary. It means nothing 

that acquaintunce does not mean and probably 

came into existence as a false analogy to 

friendship, fellowship. 

acquirement and acquisition are both nouns 

that designate things gained by the expenditure 

of effort or cash. But an acquirement is something 

that has been developed in a persona 

faculty, a skill, a talent. An acquisition, on 

the other hand, is a material object bought, or 

obtained by some other means, by a person 

(Petronius Arbiter’s acquirements in taste 

qualified him to direct Nero’s acquisitions of 

art treasures). 

Acquirement is acceptable in the singular 

and the plural (acquirements), although it is 

more frequently used in the plural, indicating 

a diversity of things which collectively make 

up a talent or faculty. 

acronyms are acrostic words formed from the 

initial letters of other words, or from initial 

letters or syllables of the successive parts of a 

compound term, or from initial letters plus 

final letters of the final part of a compound 

term. 

They serve the same purpose as abbreviations, 

but are primarily designed for speech 

and appeal more to the ear than to the eye. 

They are a form of word play. Some seem 

to be happy accidents-such as WRENS, from 

Women’s Royal Naval Service. Others seem 

more self-conscious; they were obviously made 

up first and the compound term then derived 

from them. WAVES certainly seem to be 

chickens that came before the egg. The acronym 

suggests the sea effectively but it is hard 

to imagine that the coiners first thought of the 

tong form, Women Accepted for Voluntary 

Emergency Service. The name of the Women’s 

Reserve of the United States Coast Guard 

Reserve, SPAR, is among the most ingenious 

of acronyms. It derives from the Coast Guard 

motto and its translation, “Semper Paratus- 

Always Ready,” or perhaps simply from the 

first letter of the first word of the motto and 

the 6rst three letters of the second word. In 

the case of WASP some liberties had to be 

taken to make the acronym from the phrase 

Women’s Air Forces Service Pilots. 

Among the most unfortunate of acronyms 

was CINCUS (pronounced “sink us”) for the 

Commander in Chief of the United Sta:tes 

9 act 

Navy. In the reorganization of the command 

of the Navy following Pearl Harbor it was 

dropped from use. 

The acronym seems largely an outgrowth of 

World War II, though WRENS was coined in 

World War I. Out of the second conflict came 

such salty acronyms as SNAFU and TARFU, 

usually translated as “Situation Normal-All 

Fouled Up” and “Things Are Really Fouled 

Up.” There were also technical acronyms such 

as the British ASDZC for Anti-Submarine Detection 

Investigation Committee, and the 

American SONAR for Sound NAvigation 

Ranging. On both sides of the Atlantic there 

was RADAR for RAdio Detecting And 

Ranging. 

A WOL was an abbreviation in World War I 

and became an acronym in World War II. 

That is, in World War I it was pronounced as 

four letters; in World War II, it was pronounced 

as a word (B’wol). It is still military 

slang and not accepted as standard English, 

however. 

There seems to be no generally applicable 

rule as to which abbreviations become acronyms 

and which do not. Pronounceability of 

the abbreviation is not the sole deciding factor, 

else why NATO, for instance, but not OPA? 

Some of the older abbreviations, such as 

F.O.B. and G.A.R., are probably too established 

to be changed. Acronyms represent a 

new tendency in the language. 

Certainly unpronounceability or uncertainty 

regarding pronunciation rules out some abbreviations 

as acronyms. Thus Pun-Am (for 

Pan-American Airways) is obvious, but BOAC 

(for British Overseas Airway Corporation) 

is not. 

Commercial enterprises and products that 

have acronyms for names have an important 

advertising advantage over their less-easilyremembered 

competitors. Alcoa and Nabisco 

are two examples that come immediately to 

mind. 

acropolis. The plural is acropolises or acropoles. 

across; acrost. Across is the only acceptable form. 

Although acrost is formed on the same pattern 

as amongst and whilst, both of which are 

acceptable it has never been literary English. 

act; action. The distinction between these two 

words is difficult to define. Often they are 

completely synonymous (His heroic act was 

long remembered. His heroic action was long 

remembered), but there are many places where 

one would not be substituted for the other 

(Rapid action is needed if we are to be saved. 

It was his act and he must accept the consequences). 

Fowler points out that action alone has the 

collective sense (We must look to Congress 

for action in this crisis) and that where there 

is doubt action tends to displace act. (As he 

says, we would now be inclined to speak not 

of the Acts of the Apostles but of their 

Actions). In the sense where the reference is 

to the nature of a deed or the characteristic of 

a deed (An act of thoughtfulness; the act of

act 1 

a busybody) act is invariably used; but where 

it is simply a deed or where the meaning 

expressed in the noun phrase is expressed in 

an adjective, action is preferred (the act of a 

careless person; a careless action). 

A deed referred to at the immediate moment 

of its doing (in the very act of making off 

with it) or contrasted with words or thought 

(acts, not words, are what we need) is likely 

to be referred to as an act, but even here if 

the sense is collective action will probably be 

used (speech and action are different things). 

act; play. Used as a verb in the same sense as 

ploy (play the fool), act has a serious handicap, 

that of ambiguity. Its importance as a verb 

meaning to do, to perform, to execute, and so 

on, overshadows its theatrical connotations of 

pretense and dissimulation. The command to 

act the man means something different, and 

more, than to play the man. Therefore where 

pretense is meant, play is preferable. 

In slang act, as a noun, has come almost 

entirely to mean pretense (Oh, he’s just putting 

on an act). The extension of this usage no 

doubt reffects the cynicism of the age but it is 

dangerous and corrosive, for how shall we 

speak of acts of kindness, of generosity, of 

courage, and of love? 

activate; actuate. To activate is to make active 

(It was believed that the Sibyl was activated 

by the Devil). In physics it means to render 

radioactive. In the United States Army it 

means to place a military unit in an active 

status by assigning to it officers, enlisted men, 

and all necessary equipment for war strength 

and training for war service. 

To actuate is to move mechanical things to 

action (The electro-magnet actuated the armature) 

or to incite human beings to action by 

acting upon the will, as motives do (His 

motives differed from those by which his predecessor 

had been actuated. The murderer had 

not, apparently, been actuated by the desire for 

money, for over a thousand dollars was found 

in the dead man’s wallet). 

active voice. A verb is said to be in the active 

voice when it represents its subject as active, 

that is, as doing, being, or becoming something, 

as in he believes the story and this is 

true. A verb is said to be in the passive voice 

when it represents its subject as acted upon, 

or passive, as in the story is believed. See passive 

voice. 

actress. See poet; poetess. 

actually; really. Actually is an adverb synonymous 

with really used in questions to connote 

disbelief (Did you actually see the rope trick?); 

in replies to questions in which doubt has been 

expressed, re-affirming the original assertion 

(Yes, Z actually saw it!); and in statements 

which profess to reveal hitherto concealed 

truths concerning a matter under discussion 

(Actually, it is no great mystery; it’s simply a 

clever deception). 

The last example is a worn-out import from 

England, a verbal swagger stick used in polite 

0 

conversation to point up minor revelations 

(Jones is a bore, but actually he means well). 

The suggestion it carries of superior knowledge 

on the part of the speaker and the air 

of condescension that so often accompanies 

the revelations make it an irritating word. It 

can become a nuisance, actually. See also precisely. 

actuate. See activate. 

adapt; advpt. The confusion between adapt and 

adopt may be avoided if one recognizes apt 

in the second syllable of the first word. Apt 

means suited to the purpose. Adapt means to 

make suitable, to adjust to. We say that an 

object is adapted to its purpose, an animal to 

its environment. (To adapt an apt proverb: 

A bassoon is an ill wind that nobody blows 

good). 

To adopt, on the other hand, is to choose 

or to make one’s own by selection or assent 

(American women eagerly adopt the styles 

which New York dressmakers adapt from 

French fashions). 

adapted; suitable. Adapted is not a synonym for 

suitable. Appropriate or fitting would be better 

for suitable. Adapted means that something has 

been changed to fit and, unless the idea of 

change or adaptation is in the thought, it would 

be better to use another word. 

addendum. The plural is addendums or addenda. 

addicted; devoted. Although both words mean 

habitual attachment, addicted now means being 

attached to something which the speaker regards 

as undesirable (He is addicted to lying). 

Sometimes it is used for humorous effect of 

things that the ordinary person would not 

consider undesirable in order to show that the 

speaker does (He is addicted to artichokes. 

He is addicted to good works), 

Devoted means attachment or habitual action, 

but to good things (She is devoted to her 

mother). 

add(ing) insult to injury. The saying is very old. 

There are several Latin and Greek passages 

that reflect on the exacerbation that contumely 

gives to an injury. But the very things that 

make it a saying-its obviousness, its rhythm, 

and the balance of the two in-‘s-make it a 

cliche, something that slips into the mind easily 

and is used without further consideration of 

its appropriateness. If this is exactly what is 

meant, if it is an insult and not a further 

injury that has been added, and if this way of 

saying seems the proper way, despite the fact 

that it has been expressed this way many 

millions of times. then sav it this wav. But it 

is wiser to avoid the phrase. 

addle. An addle (or addled) egg is a rotten egg 

and an addlebrain or addlehead is not only 

confused, but sterile and stinking. It is not 

only muddled but muddy. The term is a contemptuous 

one and not to be used in place of 

featherheaded or giddy. 

Dizzy, by the way, which is now used 

widely as a slang term for ludicrously stupid 

(a dizzy blond) originally meant stupid. Slang,

which often has a fine feeling for the meaning 

of words, has brought it full circle. 

address; speech; lecture. An address is more formal 

than a speech (the inaugural address). A 

lecture was originally something which was read. 

It, too, is formal, though not so formal as an 

address, and it has acquired the connotation of 

instruction. This latter meaning has given lecture 

the further meaning of a tedious reprimancl. 

adduce is to bring forward but only in the 

metaphorical sense of to bring forward in 

argument, to cite as pertinent or conclusive 

(He adduced Joe Louis as proof that a man 

could be a champion prizefighter and still a 

modest man). It is sometimes used erroneously 

for deduce (as in From that I adduce you 

ugree with me). 

adept. This word is preferably followed by in 

rather than at, as in adept in getting out of work. 

adequate enough is tautological. Since both 

words mean the same thing nothing is gained 

by bringing them together. 

adherence; adhesion. In general, adherence is figurative, 

adhesion literal. We speak of a person’s 

adherence to a party or a principle and a th:ing’s 

adhesion to something else. None the less, adhesion 

to a principle or a party would not be 

incorrect. 

adherent. See appositive. 

adherent adjectives. See position of adjectives. 

adieu. The plural is adieus or adieux. 

adjacent; contiguous. Things that are adjacent to 

each other are near to each other (Austria 

and Switzerland are adjacent countries). They 

may touch each other, but it is not necessary. 

Contiguous means touching, in actual contact. 

Adjacent houses might have a yard between 

them; contiguous houses would have a common 

wall. 

However, contiguous is sometimes used to 

mean in close proximity without actually touching 

and has come to be so used to the extent 

that this use cannot be considered an err_or. On 

the whole, though, contiguous suggests that two 

things are closer than if they were only adjucent. 

adjectivally is to be preferred to adjectively. 

adjectives. An adjective is a word that is neither 

singular nor plural and that is used to qualify 

a noun, as in true love, green grass, early bird. 

Most adjectives have three forms, known as 

the positive, the comparative, and the superlative, 

as in green, greener, greenest. See comparison 

of adjectives and adverbs. 

In an inflected language such as Latin (but 

not in English), adjectives have special endings 

corresponding to various noun endings 

and these show which noun in the sentence the 

adjective is qualifying, or belongs with. An 

adjective-like word that has not been made to 

“match” some neighboring noun is not attached 

to any noun and is therefore not an adjective. 

Any qualifying word that is not an adjective is 

an adverb. This is all very simple, and with 

just a little knowledge of an inflected langusage 

one can tell an adjective from an adverb 

without knowing the meaning of the word. 

11 adjectives 

But in English, adjectives look just like adverbs. 

It is not true that a word is an adverb 

if it ends in -1~. Kindly, sickly, deadly, are 

normally adjectives. Early and leisurely are 

both adjectives and adverbs, and so are hard, 

fast, slow. Perhaps the distinction between 

adjectives and adverbs should be abandoned 

in English. But if we are to maintain it with 

our present definitions of the words, we can 

only say that a word of this kind is an 

adjective if it can be used to qualify a noun, 

and an adverb if it can be used to qualify any 

of the other parts of speech or the sentence as 

a whole. 

Nouns, and therefore pronouns, can also be 

used to qualify nouns, as goose in goose 

feathers. Such words do not have a comparative 

and superlative form but neither do all 

adjectives, and it is sometimes hard to say 

whether a word in a particular sentence is an 

adjective or a noun or pronoun being used aa 

an adjective. But this is a question of terminology 

and does not affect the use of the 

words. (See nouns as adjectives.) Sometimes 

an adjective is used “absolutely,” that is, 

without naming the noun which it qualifies, as 

in the brave deserve the fair, where the nouns 

men and women are understood. Here the 

adjective is being used as if it were a noun. 

This sometimes creates a question as to 

whether the word is to be treated as a singular 

or as a-plural. (An adjective may also become 

a true noun, as in the alert sounded.) See 

adjectives as nouns. 

An adjective that is qualifying one noun 

may also have another noun as its “object.” 

Usually this relationship is shown by the word 

of, as in fearful of, mindful of. capable of. 

Sometimes another preposition is used, as in 

impatient with, comparable to, anxious about. 

Which preposition is used depends partly on 

convention and partly on the meaning of the 

word. (See the individual prepositions.) A few 

adjectives, such as like and worth, may be 

followed immediately by an object without the 

use of a preposition. 

Adjectives can be made from nouns by 

adding any of a great number of endings, 

such as -ish, -like, -ly, -y, -en, -al, -ar, -ory. 

Adjectives ending in -ish are often derogatory, 

as childish and womanish, and other forms, 

such as childlike and womanly, are used when 

speaking with approval. Only a woman can 

be mannish. A man would necessarily be 

manly. The ending -ish may also be added to 

adjectives to mean “approaching” or “like,” 

as in greenish, oldish, smallish. The -y ending 

also means “like” and can be used in making 

adjectives from nouns or from verbs, as in 

flowery, creepy, slinky. The -en is used most 

often with names of materials, such as golden, 

leaden, woolen, oaken. The endings -al, -ar, 

-ory, are used chiefly for more learned words 

that suggest a Latin origin, such as autumnal, 

spectacular, transitory. There is a strong tendency 

in current English to drop both the -en

adjectives 12 

and the -al endings and use the noun form 

itself as a qualifier, as in oak table, wool shirt, 

autumn leaves, coast line. 

Phrases and even full clauses may sometimes 

stand before a noun as if they were 

simple adjectives, as in the man with the 

l-turn-the-crank-of-the-universe air. For more 

commonplace examples of this, see compound 

words. See also clauses. 

KINDS OF ADJECTNES 

The function of an adjective depends to a 

great extent upon its position in a sentence. 

Adjectives are classified according to position 

as (1) adherent (when they stand before the 

noun they qualify), (2) appositive (when they 

follow the noun), (3) predicate (when they 

follow a verb), and (4) factitive or “objective 

complement” (when they follow the object of 

a verb with a special sense). Adjectives are said 

to be either limiting or descriptive, but this too 

depends upon their position in the sentence. See 

position of adjectives. 

Adjectives may be classified in many ways 

according to meaning, but only a few of these 

classifications have any bearing on the use of 

the words. Adjectives that are made from 

proper nouns are called proper adjectives and 

are written with a capital letter. (See proper 

nouns.) The two participles of a verb are 

usually adjectives, as in falling rock and fallen 

rock, and are called verbal adjectives. (See 

participles.) Number words are usually adjectives. 

These include the cardinal numbers, such 

as two, twenty, and such related words as 

dozen, few, many; and the ordinal numbers, 

such as third, fifth. and such related words as 

first, last, other. (See number terms.) A great 

many pronouns may also be used as adjectives. 

When used to qualify a noun, the words this, 

that, fhwe, those, are called demonstrative 

adjectives, and the possessive pronouns, my, 

his, their, and so on, are called possessive 

adjectives. The articles a, an, the, are also 

adjectives. These last three groups together with 

the indefinite pronominal adjectives, such as 

some, any, each, every, and the genitive case 

of nouns, such as father’s, are sometimes 

classed together as definitives, because they 

make the reference as definite or specific as 

the facts allow. (See definitive adjectives.) 

Some of these classifications are reflected in 

the order that is followed when several adjectives 

qualify the same noun. 

ORDER IN A SERIES 

A noun may be qualified by more than one 

adjective. Izaak Walton wrote that he would 

consider the lilies, and also those very many 

other various little living creatures that are fed 

by the goodness of the God of nature. 

In piling up his adjectives in this way, 

Walton had no choice about the order in 

which he must use them. Words such as very, 

which apply to only one word in the series, 

are adverbs and always stand next to the word 

they qualify. True adjectives may be joined 

by and, as in strong and beautiful children, or 

they may be set off from one another by 

commas, as in strong, happy, beautiful children. 

In either case, they are said to be 

“leveled” and all of them have exactly the 

same relation to the noun they qualify. Otherwise, 

in a series of adjectives each word qualifies 

or limits the meaning of all the words that 

follow, up to and including the noun. That is, 

the words which restrict the total meaning 

most stand first and there is a gradual progression 

through wider and wider meanings 

until the noun is reached. 

This is so much a part of the natural order 

in an English sentence that it will ordinarily 

take care of itself. One does not have to know 

which kinds of adjectives come first and which 

second in order to use them properly. But the 

rules are relatively rigid and can be described 

in detail. 

With certain exceptions which will be mentioned 

later, the definitive adjectives must 

stand first. Two words of this kind never 

qualify the same noun unless they are leveled. 

Number terms come next, and frequently more 

than one of them is used. For the order that 

must be followed when several words of this 

class qualify the same noun, see number terms. 

These are followed by words implying a judgment, 

such as beautiful, terrible, expensive, 

true, diflerent. There may be several words of 

this kind. If there are, they are always leveled 

and it makes no difference what order they are 

used in. Finally there are the purely descriptive 

words. Here some variation is allowed, but as 

a rule the order is size, shape, other characteristics. 

The other characteristics are usually 

listed with the most obvious first. Then comes 

the noun, which may be additionally qualified 

by a following phrase or clause. 

No one is likely to use all the kinds of 

adjectives there are in the same phrase. But 

the ones that are used will have to follow this 

order if the sentence is to lie flat. In the 

Walton sentence quoted above, the word 

various is likely to jump to the modem ear. 

He meant by the word “of different kinds” or 

“to be classified differently.” It is therefore 

a judgment word and belongs where he placed 

it. But if we hear it as meaning “several” it 

belongs in place of “very many.” If we hear 

it as “‘varied” or “having different appearances,” 

it is a general descriptive word and 

should follow little. 

The orderly progression of adjectives just 

described may be disturbed for any of three 

reasons. (1) Certain words, such as dear little 

children and nice old lady, are used together 

so constantly that they may come to be felt as 

a single idea and one may hesitate to break 

into a compound of this sort. As a result, one 

might say these curly-headed dear little children 

or that little nice old lady. (2) The words 

all, both, and the names of some fractions, may 

stand before a definitive as if they were being 

used with the word of, although the of actually 

is not there, as in all the day, both the boys, 

half the price. (3) Words used to mean “in a 

high degree” are being used as adverbs. They

cannot qualify a noun directly, but they may 

qualify a definitive adjective and so have the 

force of qualifying the noun. When they 

qualify a definitive adjective they stand before 

it, as in many a day, what a man, such a 

storm. When a word of this kind, or the interrogative 

adverb how, applies to a particular 

adjective it will bring that adjective forward 

with it, as in so rich a man, too rainy a day, 

how sad a case. But with these exceptions, the 

order of adjectives outlined above is always 

followed. 

adjectives as adverbs. Almost any word that can 

be used to qualify a noun can also be used to 

qualify some words that are not nouns. There 

are some words in English, such as slow, high, 

even, early, that can be used with a noun and 

also with a verb. These words are clearly 

adverbs as well as adjectives. But there are 

other adjective-like words which cannot be used 

to qualify a verb but can be used to qualify 

the positive form of adjectives, such as dark, 

black, and bitter, in a dark blue dress, a blackeyed 

child, a bitter cold night. 

There are several things a grammarian might 

say about this situation. He-might say that-in 

Ennlish adiectives mav __ sualifv _ adjectives. . This 

represents the facts, but it would require a 

new definition of an adjective and very few 

grammarians take such a stand. On the other 

hand, he might recognize all these words as 

adverbs, and this is what most grammarians 

do. But this means that practically all adjectives 

are also adverbs and the classification 

ceases to have much value. That is, the fact 

that a dictionary lists a given word as an 

adverb tells nothing about whether or not that 

word can be used to qualify a verb. Some 

grammarians follow a middle course. They find 

special explanations for some of these adjective 

combinations, and those that they can’t explain 

they condemn as an improper use of the word. 

An adjective before a color word is always 

acceptable, as in a dark blue dress, a greenish 

yellow car. Some grammarians say that the 

color word is here a noun, and therefore properly 

qualified by an adjective. Others say that 

the two words, such as dark blue, are actually 

one compound adjective. This difference of 

opinion may determine whether or not. a 

hyphen is used in such terms. In any case, the 

adjective before a color word is normal English 

today. An adverb may also be used here and 

is sometimes preferred when the adjective form 

is ambiguous. For example, in roll on, thou 

deep and dark blue ocean, the words deep and 

dark may refer to blue or they may refer to 

ocean. On the other hand, when the sea is 

described as darkly, deeply, beautifully blue, 

the adverb forms can only refer to the word 

blue. But these are problems of poetry and 

exalted prose. In everyday English, a darkly 

blue dress would suggest something mysterious 

and exotic, certainly nothing as prosaic as a 

dress that is dark blue. 

A combined noun and adjective, such as 

warm heart, noble mind, clear sight, empty 

13 adjectives 

head, may be made into an adjective by adding 

-ed to the noun, as in warm hearted, noble 

minded, clear sighted, empty headed. These are 

usually classed as compound adjectives and are 

usually hyphenated in deference to this fact. 

Whether they really are compounds or not is 

debatable. When the two words are treated as 

one in making a comparative or superlative 

form, as in a warm-hearteder, the emptyheadedest, 

we clearly have a compound adjective. 

Forms of this kind do appear but they 

are rare. We more often treat the first word as 

an independent adjective (or adverb) and say 

u warmer hearted, the emptiest headed. In this 

case it is impossible to say that the two words 

are a compound, and a hyphen is never used 

when the first element has a comparative or 

superlative form. The number of words that 

can be used in this way is almost unlimited. 

We say white haired, blue eyed, quick witted, 

decent sized, good natured, and so on indefinitely. 

The past participle of a verb is sometimes 

merely a descriptive adjective and when it is, 

it too may be qualified by an adjective-like 

word, as in native born, foreign made, soff 

spoken, fresh oiled, new laid eggs, new mown 

hay. Sometimes the participle keeps its verbal 

force and in this case a clearly adverbial form 

is required to qualify it, as in warmly dressed, 

well behaved, highly priced, deeply rooted. 

Often the speaker may use whichever form 

suits him best and say soft spoken or softly 

spoken, high priced or highly priced. But the 

adverbial form always gives the following word 

a verb-like feeling. A beautiful colored object 

is an object that has beautiful color. But a 

beautifully colored object is an object that has 

been colored beautifully. 

Adjective forms are also used before adjectives 

as qualifiers, as red in red hot and stark 

in stark naked. These words are clearly “adverbs 

of degree” and cannot be explained 

away. Faced with such combinations, anyone 

who has been claiming that there is an innate 

difference between an adjective and an adverb 

must either recognize that there is something 

wrong with his system or conclude that the 

language itself is wrong. Some have decided 

that it must be the language. 

Constructions of this kind are common ln 

the finest literary English, as in and it grew 

wondrous cold and St. Agnes’ Eve-ah, bitter 

chill it was! Some words that were originally 

adjectives, such as very and pretty, are used 

in this way so consistently that no one would 

think of objecting to them. Others have now 

disappeared from the language, or at least 

have a decidedly nineteenth century flavor, as 

an uncommon fine fellow, devilish handsome, 

deuced uncomfortable. Some are still in use 

but are not considered standard, as dreadful 

sorry, Clementine. But there are a great many 

more that are in standard use and pass unnoticed. 

We may still say icy cold and bitter 

cold though we no longer say it is cruel cold. 

We may still use the -ing adjectives in this

adjectives 14 

way, as burning hot, howling drunk. We may 

still say dead tired and dead certain. Some 

words of this kind are now in use but are 

under attack, such as mighty fine, real clever, 

awful nice, right smart, sure good. Whether 

they remain standard English or not will depend 

on who uses them and who doesn’t. There is no 

question of logic, or of grammatical principles, 

involved. If the respected members of the community 

use these words, the words are respectable, 

and if they do not, the words are not. 

(See the individual words.) 

adjectives as nouns. Nouns may be made from 

adjectives, or adjectives may be used as if they 

were nouns. Both kinds of words can be seen 

in the sentence by Fielding, we moderns are to 

the ancients what the poor are to the rich. The 

words moderns and ancients are made from 

adjectives but they are true nouns, if only 

because they have been given the ending s 

which does not belong to the adjective. A 

great many nouns are formed from adjectives 

in this way, such as news, slacks, heroics, 

economics. In the case. of moderns and ancients 

the words also have a singular form and the 

plural form can be used with a numeral, as in 

any modern is worth a hundred ancients. Words 

that have both a singular and a plural form 

are nouns. Words that have been formed from 

adjectives by adding s are also nouns, even 

when they do not have the two forms. Neither 

of these things is true of the words rich and 

poor. They have the simple form of the adjective. 

And we cannot speak of an individual 

one or use the words with a number term 

unless we supply the missing noun man, as in 

this poor man and three rich men. Adjectives 

that appear to be nouns because the noun they 

qualify is not expressed are said to be “adjectives 

used absolutely.” When the meaning of 

the word depends upon the context, as in the 

same, the like, the latter, some grammarians 

say that the adjective is being used “pronominally.” 

As we have seen, a noun can be qualified 

by an adjective even when the noun is not 

expressed. The fact that we can use an adjective 

before a word, as in the miserable poor, 

the fortunate rich, does not prove that the 

word is a noun. The adjectives, miserable and 

fortunate, may apply to an unexpressed noun 

such as men. On the other hand, a noun cannot 

be qualified by an adverb and an adjective 

can. The fact that adverbs can be used before 

such words, as in the miserably poor, the 

extremely rich, shows that they are still felt as 

adjectives. Sometimes this is the only test of 

whether or not a word has become a noun. 

Most of the adjectives that are used as 

nouns either (1) name a quality, such as the 

small, the pleasant, the new, and refer to 

everything that has that quality, or (2) name 

a group of human beings having a certain 

characteristic, such as the wise, the powerful, 

the unborn. Adjectives in the first class, that 

name a quality, are always treated as singulars 

although they refer to countless examples of 

the quality. At one time such words were felt 

as plurals. Pope said, be not the first by whom 

the new are tried. But today we say the best 

is the cheapest in the long run, the unknown 

is always frightening, the familiar is comfortable. 

Words of the second class also name a 

quality. But they refer to a group of human 

beings who are identified by this characteristic. 

They do not refer to the quality itself or to the 

individuals as instances of the quality. Words 

of this kind are usually treated as plurals, as 

in the lament, the best lack all conviction 

while the worst are full of passionate intensity 

and in there the wicked cease from troubling 

and there the wear? are at rest. Bums uses the 

singular form in the rigid righteous is a fool, 

but this is very rare. 

The group that an adjective identifies is not 

necessarily as broad, or as timeless, as the 

rich, the poor, the wicked, the weary. It may 

represent an actual, countable, number of 

people, as it does in the wounded were removed. 

When a word has this limited meaning 

it may be used with a numeral in speaking of 

some members of the group, as in twenty 

wounded were removed. When the word is 

unlimited in its application it can only be used 

in speaking about the entire group. It cannot 

be used with a numeral or in speaking of 

some members of the group. We cannot say 

five wise or five foolish. 

There are ten adjectives which are also used 

as nouns to name a nationality group. We 

speak of the British, the English, the Irish, the 

Cornish, the Spanish, the Welsh, the Scotch, 

the Dutch, the French. and the Manx. (In 

speaking of other nationality groups we use 

words which are primarily nouns, such as 

the Poles, the Swedes, the Chinese.) Formerly, 

the ten adjective-nouns could be qualified by 

a numeral, as in twenty thousand Cornish bold, 

but this is no longer true. In present-day 

English these words always represent the entire 

nation. We may speak of the Irish or the 

French but not of six Irish or six French. In 

order to speak of the individuals we must 

introduce a true noun, such as man, woman, 

person. 

There are a few adjectives in English that 

represent a single individual, such as the accused, 

the departed, the beloved. These words 

do not have plural forms and under some circumstances 

they may be qualified by adverbs, 

as in dearly beloved and the lately departed. 

This makes them adjectives according to the 

definitions adopted in this dictionary and an 

exception to the rule that the English adjective 

is used to indicate groups and not individuals. 

Under a different system of definitions these 

words could be classed as singular nouns. But 

another system would have other problems and 

other types of words would have to be listed as 

exceptions to the rules. 

Nouns may be used before other nouns as 

qualifiers, as sea in sea wall and horse in

horse race. in this case one may say that the 

noun is being used as an adjective or that it is 

the first element in a compound. Nouns that 

have been formed from adjectives, such as 

criminal and juvenile, and adjectives that are 

being used as nouns, such as the sick, the 

insane, the condemned, may also be used in 

this way without losing their noun meanings, 

as in criminal law, a juvenile court, a sick 

room, an insane asylum, condemned cells. This 

is a standard English construction. Occasionally 

someone notices that the first element in one 

of these compounds can be read as an adjective. 

This is all very well as a source of 

innocent merriment. But anyone who concludes 

that the compound is a grammatical 

mistake and solemnly goes about condemning 

it and those who use it, is being ridiculous. 

These words are part of the fabric of the 

language and anyone who hopes to get rid of 

them will have to remake the language. The 

-ing form of a verb is often used in this way. 

These may be true nouns, as in a dining room, 

a landing field, or they may be an adjective 

used as a noun, as in a dying wish. In either 

case, the construction is normal English and 

needs no apology. See -ing. 

adjudicate. See judge. 

adjure. See abjure. 

administer. One sense of administer is to give 

(He administered the medicine which the doctor 

had prescribed), but the word in this sense 

is generally restricted to the giving of things 

which are helpful. It is true that we often hear 

of a rebuke or even a blow being administered; 

but unless it is implied that these were salutary 

corrections (and, of course, most people who 

bestow rebukes and blows on others think they 

are salutary), the use, while not incorrect, is 

not a happy one. 

administration; ministry. In America the government 

in power is called the administration. In 

England it is called the ministry or simply the 

Government. 

admission; admittance. Much ink has been expended 

to prove that admittance refers to 

physical entrance and admission to an entrance 

into rights and privileges, but with the exception 

of the sign No Admittance, admittance is 

rarely seen or heard. Admission serves in all 

cases (The thief gained admission through a 

broken window. Admission to the club is 

eagerly sought). 

admit. This word may be followed by the -ing 

form of a verb, as in he admits having seen us, 

or by a clause, as in he admits he saw us. It 

is not followed by an infinitive and constructions 

such as he admits to have seen us are not 

standard. 

admit; admit of. Admit, to allow to enter (Many 

colleges will admit only those who have done 

well in the entrance examinations), to allow as 

valid (He admits the justness of your claim), to 

acknowledge or confess, and so on. In contemporary 

usage admit of is rarely heard, 

though it is quite proper in the sense of 

1 5 adverbial 

leaving room for (His conduct will not admit 

of any other construction). See confess. 

adopt; assume. To adopt is to take to oneself, to 

make one’s own. It is sometimes used as if it 

meant to feign (He adopted I guise of humility). 

But this is unfortunate. The word should 

be assume. To adopt a position or an interpretation 

would be to take it sincerely as one’s 

own. To assume it is, in this context, merely 

to pretend that it is one’s own. See also adapt. 

adopted; adoptive. When a child has been taken 

as one’s own by a formal legal act, it is an 

adopted child. But what are the parents? To 

say that they are foster parents may not express 

the exact meaning because foster parents 

have not necessarily made a legal adoption. 

In American usage they are commonly called 

adopted parents, but this is awkward since 

there is the feeling that they have adopted the 

child, not the child them. Adoptive (which the 

British use for the relationship either way) is 

used by many and seems a happy solution 

(The adopted child became very fond of her 

adoptive parents). 

adorable. See amatory. 

adore. See reverence. 

adumbrate, meaning to foreshadow or to prefigure, 

is a word too confined to literature to 

be used in ordinary speech or writing without 

risking the charge of affectation. 

advance; advancement. In the sense of promotion 

advancement is the word (His being made 

president of the company was a great advancement 

for him). In the sense of moving forward 

or upward, the act of advancing, or progress, 

advance is proper. The advance of civilization 

is the forward progress of civilization. The 

advancement of civilization would be an act 

whereby the advance would be facilitated. 

advanced (in years). See old. 

advantage. See possession, vantage. 

advent; arrival. Advent, possibly because of its 

religious uses (when capitalized it refers to the 

coming of Christ into the world), marks a high 

and solemn attitude of mind towards an arrival. 

We speak of the arrival of a plane or a 

bus, but (if we are minded to view it solemnly) 

of the advent of Spring, or the advent of 

death, and so on. 

adventure. See venture. 

adverbial accusative. Under some circumstances 

a noun may be used directly as an adverb 

without first being made part of a prepositional 

phrase, as years in three years she grew 

in sun and shower. When such nouns are in 

the common case, that is, when they are not 

genitives, the construction is called an adverbial 

accusative. See nouns as adverbs. 

adverbial genitive. At one time the genitive form 

of certain words could be used as an adverb. 

Most of our adverbs that end in an s (or z) 

sound, such as nowadays, since, sometimes, 

upwards, are survivals from this period. The 

final s in on all fours, at sixes and sevens, and 

in needs in he needs must, is also a sign of 

the adverbial genitive. Today there is no feeling

adverbs 16 

that this is a genitive relationship and an 

apostrophe is never used in words of this kind. 

Although the construction is no longer 

understood, the habit of forming adverbs on 

the old genitive pattern is not entirely dead. 

It shows itself in certain final s’s and substitute 

of phrases, such as I work evenings and I work 

of an evening. (See genitive case.) Some 

grammarians object to these forms on the 

grounds that the construction ought to be 

dead. It is dead in England, where both types 

of expression are unacceptable and the onIy 

acceptable form is in the evening. 

But the old genitive is very much alive in 

the United States. When it leads to an extra s 

on a word that is already an adverb, as in 

somewheres, it is not standard, at least in written 

material. But the genitive is in good repute 

and thoroughly acceptable for expressions of 

repeated time, such as I like to read of a rainy 

afternoon and Wednesdays 2 work in the 

garden. See also way and nouns as adverbs. 

adverbs. A qualifying word that is not qualifying 

a noun is an adverb. This means that a great 

many different kinds of words with different 

functions in a sentence will all be adverbs. 

Adverbs are sometimes defined as qualifying 

words that indicate time, place, manner, or 

degree. When, now, soon, are adverbs of time, 

and where, here, there, are adverbs of place. 

Quickly, suddenly, sweetly, and how, are adverbs 

of manner. ‘Degree” is not as clear cut 

a concept as the others, but exceedingly, excessively, 

very, are ordinarily adverbs of degree. 

Frequently a word that is an adverb of 

degree in a particular sentence has other uses 

in other sentences. For example, great is an 

adverb of degree in a great many people were 

there, but it is an adjective in he is a great 

man. Any qualifying word that indicates time, 

place, manner, or degree, is being used as an 

adverb. But there are some words that are 

unquestionably adverbs and that do not fit 

easily into any one of these four groups, such 

as why, not, only, twice. 

All adverbs, linguistic scholars believe, were 

originally nouns, pronouns, or adjectives. They 

are words that were used adverbially so much 

of the time that they lost all other uses. The 

word very is moving in this direction at present. 

Originally it was an adjective, as it is in 

this very morning, but it is now used more 

often as an adverb of degree, as in he is very 

tired. Eventually, it might lose its adjective 

meaning entirely. 

Today we use nouns as adverbs in certain 

situations. Sunday is an adverb of time in we 

were there Sunday, and air mail is an adverb 

of manner in send it air mail. (See nouns 

as adverbs.) Adjectives are frequently used 

as adverbs of degree, as red in a red hot poker 

and bitter in a bitter cold night. (See adjectives 

as adverbs.) We may also form adverbs from 

nouns by adding -ways or -wise, as in endwuys 

and endwise; and from adjectives by adding -ly, 

as in bitterly, artistically, thoughtfulfy. For- 

merly, adverbs might be formed from adjectives 

by adding s, as in backwards. 

Groups of words may also function as 

adverbs, as in it came at the right time, we 

were waiting in the garden, he wus not in the 

least worried. See clauses. 

KINDSOF’ADVERBS 

The ideas which are expressed by means of 

adverbs can be classified approximately under 

the words time, place, manner, and degree. But 

in order to discuss how words of this kind are 

used, we need a different grouping. They can be 

handled most conveniently if they are divided 

into five classes: ( 1) interrogative adverbs, (2) 

relative adverbs, (3) negative adverbs, (4) adverbs 

of direction, and (5) descriptive adverbs. 

1. The words whezz, where, how, why, are 

interrogatives when they are used to ask a 

question, as in when is he coming back? These 

words are also interrogatives when they introduce 

an indirect, or a “buried,” question, as in 

he didn’t tell me when he would be back. (It 

should be noticed that these four words can 

also be used without any implication of a 

question, as in he told me when he wns here 

and how he laughed! When that is the case 

they are not called interrogatives.) 

2. Any adverb that introduces a subordinate 

clause is a relative adverb. This class 

includes the words when, where, how, and 

why (whether they are being used as interrogatives 

or not); the word as; and some time 

words, such as before, after, since. Relative 

adverbs serve the purpose of conjunctions. 

3. The negative adverbs include the obvious 

negatives, such as not and never, and 

also words which are negative in intention, 

such as hardly and scarcely. These words are 

negative because they are used to mean 

“almost not,” “not quite,” “probably not.” For 

example, little is a negative adverb in the 

world will little note. 

4. Adverbs of direction exist in pairs, such 

as up and down, in and out, over and under, 

buck and forth. Words of this kind were originally 

the second element in a compound verb 

and are still used in this way a great deal 

of the time. In pick up the paper, we say that 

pick up is a compound verb (similar to lift) 

with a direct object the paper. But these detached 

elements tend to lose their connection 

with the verb and to be treated as independent 

words with an “object” of their own. When 

this happens the word has become a preposition. 

In stand by the door, for example, stand 

is considered the full verb and by a preposition 

introducing an adverbial phrase of place. 

When no object follows, as in stand by for 

half an hour and it stands out like a sore 

thumb, it is obvious that we have a compound 

verb. When there is an object, the difference 

between an adverb and a preposition is not 

as easy to see. But in cut off an inch the last 

three words do not form a prepositional 

phrase. Instead, the word ofl is an adverb 

qualifying cut, and an inch is the object of

the compound verb cur off. This is the proper 

interpretation whenever it is possible to place 

the object between the verb and the other word 

without altering the sense, as in cut an inch 

off. Zn step off the rug, on the other hand, the 

word ofi is a preposition and has its own 

object rug. This is the proper interpretation 

when we cannot place the object immediately 

after the verb and say step the rug 08. 

Compound verbs, such as pick up and cut 

08 are natural English. They are simple and 

forceful and are generally preferred to their 

Latin equivalents. So give up is often preferred 

to relinquish; give in to acquiesce: call out to 

evoke; take up to assume; bring in to introduce. 

The form fits our speech rhythm so well 

that we often use these extra syllables when 

they add nothing to the meaning, as in fill up, 

eat up, drink down. The independent element 

in a compound verb which is not affected by 

changes in tense is an adverb, although it is 

not used exactly as other adverbs are. 

5. Any adverb that does not belong in one 

of the preceding groups is to be classed as a 

descriptive adverb. Adverbs of degree, such as 

too, so, very, pretty, are included in this class. 

A great many descriptive adverbs are formed 

from adjectives by adding -ly, as in quickly, 

slowly, highly, hardly. Some of these adverbs 

have two forms: with and without the -ly, as 

in drive slow, drove slowly; come quick, come 

quickly. Descriptive adverbs may also have 

three forms known as the positive, the comparative, 

and the superlative. See comparison 

of adjectives and adverbs. 

USES OF ADVERBS 

1. The principal function of an adverb 

is to qualify a verb, as in run quickly, speak 

louder. Since the verb is the essential element 

in a statement and not a detachable part of 

it, an adverb in this role normally qualifies 

the entire statement. For example, in I never 

saw a purple cow the word never applies to 

suw a purple cow and not to the single word 

saw. Adverbs used in this way are called sentence 

adverbs. They may stand in any of 

several positions in a sentence, but each position 

has its special limitations or special 

emphasis and as a rule there is very little 

choice about where a particular adverb should 

be placed. The most important problems in the 

use of adverbs have to do with placing sentence 

adverbs. See sentence adverbs. 

In some situations an adverb may qualify 

the verb itself rather than the entire statement. 

Adverbs of direction are not sentence adverbs. 

They affect the meaning of the verb 

itself and cannot be used in the various 

positions that are characteristic of sentence 

adverbs. In modern English an adverb of 

direction that stands before the verb is usually 

written as a solid compound with it, as in 

undertake, overturn, upset. Occasionally an 

adverb that is actually the second element, and 

not the first, is placed before the subject of the 

verb, as in up he got and down he came. This 

17 adverbs 

word order is so unusual that it is felt as “poetic 

license.” In natural English, an adverb of this 

kind that is treated as an independent word must 

follow the verb. 

Even then, there is very little choice about 

where it can be placed. The indirect object of 

a compound verb must always stand between the 

two parts of the compound, as Mother in send 

Mother up some tea and her in send her up 

some. If an indirect object is undesirable in 

this position for any reason, it must be re 

placed by a prepositional phrase, as in send 

some up to Mother. (See indirect object.) A 

pronoun usually stands between the two elements 

even when it is a direct object as in send 

it up. A noun that is the direct object of a 

compound verb may stand between the two 

elements or may follow the second, as in send 

the box up and send up the box. 

People who claim that “a preposition cannot 

follow its object” sometimes do not recognize 

the difference between a preposition and the 

second element in a compound verb. In their 

anxiety to be correct, they may misplace these 

adverbs. In a construction of this kind it is 

always proper for the adverb to follow the 

object. And if the object is a pronoun, that 

is the preferred position for the adverb. Send 

up it is not literary English! 

Occasionally an adverb belonging to one of 

the other groups is used to qualify the verb 

itself rather than the full statement. In this 

case, the adverb stands immediately before 

the element in the verb that it qualifies. This 

is often one of the positions for a sentence 

adverb. The fact that the adverb is qualifying 

only one word is shown in speech by a heavy 

stress on that one word. For example, if a 

special stress is given to said in Z never said 

he was a fool, the implication is I only thought 

so. In this case never qualifies the isolated 

word said. But this is an unusual construction. 

In written English the words will be read 

without stress and the adverb taken as a 

sentence adverb unless it is made clear that 

this is not the proper interpretation. 

2. An adverb may qualify an adjective. As 

a rule, an adverb that qualifies an adjective 

is an adverb of degree, as in a very red face, 

a mildly hot day, an astonishingly thin child. 

Occasionally it may show manner, as in a 

charmingly naive reply, an attractively stout 

matron. A predicate adjective or an appositive 

adjective may sometimes be followed by a 

qualifying adverb, as in it is lukewarm only, 

I am sick almost, a piece of rope longer still. 

But the normal position for any adverb except 

a sentence adverb is immediately before the 

word it qualifies. In this role it normally qualities 

the following word and no others. 

Adverbs of degree, however, may qualify 

the word a or an, and so have the effect of 

qualifying the following noun and any intervening 

adjectives. For example, in a quite 

small child, quite is an adverb of degree qualifying 

small. But in quite a small child it

adversary 18 

qualifies the article and so has the effect of 

qualifying the phrase a small child. An adverb 

of degree combined with an adjective may 

function as a compound adverb and qualify 

a or an in exactly the same way, as in 

so short a time, too low a price, so young 

and pretty a woman, no more remarkable a 

man. 

3. Adverbs may also qualify adverbs, and 

in this way one sometimes gets an accumulation 

of adverbs, as in quite hopelessly entangled, 

not so very well done. This is very 

different from an accumulation of adjectives. 

(See adjectives.) In a series of adjectives each 

word qualifies the noun, as qualified by all 

the intervening words. But in a series of adverbs 

each word qualifies only the word that 

immediately follows it. The relationship is very 

simple and the position of each word depends 

entirely on the meaning. 

4. Since adverbs qualify adverbs and some 

adverbs easily turn into prepositions, it is not 

surprising that an adverb sometimes qualifies 

a preposition, as jlcst in just across the street 

and nearly in nearly fhrough the door. Here 

the adverb may be interpreted as qualifying 

the entire prepositional phrase. 

5. Certain adverbs may be treated as if they 

were nouns, principally adverbs of time and 

place. They may be qualified by adjectives, as 

in this once, every now and then. They may 

be the object of a preposition, as in by now, 

nntil then, from there, or even the object of 

a verb, as in leave here, reach there. This is so 

far removed from the functions of an adverb 

that some grammarians say that any word 

that can be used in this way is a noun, in 

addition to being an adverb. 

adversary. See antagonist. 

adverse. See contrary. 

advert; avert. To advert means to refer to in the 

course of a speech or conversation. To averi 

means to turn away or aside (The auditor 

adverted to the deficit and the treasurer 

averted his eyes). Avert also means to prevent 

(Many superstitious practices seek to avert 

evil). 

advertising. From radio, newspaper, billboard, 

car card, television, from the backs of taxis, 

the sides of trucks, from skywriting airplanes 

-from every inch of space that can be painted 

over, through every moment of the day and 

night, we are besought, implored, flattered, 

cajoled, and threatened by advertising. It 

would be astonishing if the language of this 

clamorous din did not in some way have a 

lasting effect on our speech. 

In so far as advertising English fulfills one 

of its two chief functions, letting us know 

what has been produced, it differs little from 

any other factual writing. Federal, state, and 

local laws see to it that there is a reasonable 

degree of accuracy in describing a product 

offered for sale. The manufacturer’s-or his 

sales department’s-only way around this is 

to give some common substance or performante 

an unusual name, so that the public will 

think that in this mcomprehensible ttung they 

are obtaining mysterious excellence. And so 

we have irium and gardol and Xg4 and cationic 

action which may sell the product but 

are, fortunately, barred by common sense from 

entering the language. 

It is in its fulfilling of its second and major 

function, urging us to buy, beseeching us to 

indulge ourselves, to gratify our whims and 

vanities, that advertising strains the language. 

For every product must not only insist that it 

is the best of its kind but that it is even 

superior to its own self of six months ago. 

Superlatives have long since been exhausted 

and intensives relaxed with overuse and the 

desperate copy writers have fallen back upon 

comparisons that do not compare: “Blitz contains 

32.5% more cleansing action.” “Moues 

guarantee 3.1416% more s&faction.” One is 

not told than what. It is simply assumed that 

the reader is an idiot or is too worn out to 

care. 

The evil effect is actually not very great, 

for advertising engenders its own anti-toxin, 

but it must contribute somewhat to the deadening 

of expression by exaggeration. On the other 

hand, it is likely to be sensitive to the idiom of 

spoken English. For, except for one or two 

products, most things that advertise extensively 

are dependent upon the mass market and seek 

to appeal to it in the everyday language of the 

people., A schoolteacher who said “like” where 

the grammars recommend “as” might be reprimanded; 

a copy writer for a cigarette advertisement 

who used “as” in such a context 

would be fired. 

advice; advise; inform. Advice is an opinion, 

recommended or offered as worthy to be followed. 

To advise is to proffer such an opinion. 

The first is a noun, the second a verb. (Zr is 

good advice not to advise people too freely). 

The use of ro advise in business letters (beg 

to advise) meaning to inform is happily falling 

into disuse. To inform is to communicate certain 

facts, but to advise is to suggest that a 

course of conduct be followed. Since such a 

suggestion must, of necessity, imply that whatever 

course of conduct was being followed 

before the advice was received was either inadequate 

or wrong, the suggestion is patronizing 

and may be resented. See also tell. 

Advise may be followed by an infinitive, as 

in I advise him to start at once, or by the -ing 

form of a verb, as in I advise his starting at 

once. It may also be followed by a that clause. 

But in this case, if advise means recommend, 

the clause verb must be a subjunctive or a 

subjunctive equivalent, as in I advise that he 

go at once. The infinitive construction is preferred. 

If advise is used to mean merely inform, 

the clause verb is in the indicative, as in 

I advised him I was going. 

advisedly; intentionally. That which is done advisedly 

is done deliberatelv. after due consideration. 

That which is ddne intentionally is 

done by design, with an object, a purpose, an 

end in view, But human nature being what it

is, the two things are far from the same. All 

first-degree murders are done intentionally; few 

are done advisedly. 

aegis. In Greek mythology the aegis is the shield 

of Zeus. There is only one aegis and in its 

classical sense the word does not have a plural. 

Anyone, therefore, who feels the need for a 

plural should use the English form aegises, 

rather than the pseudo-classical aeges. 

aerie is the preferred spelling for the nest of a 

bird of prey, though aery, eyrie, and eyry are 

also acceptable. 

aesthetics means the philosophy of the beautiful. 

The adjective aesthetic, which is older than the 

noun aesthetics, means responsive to the beautiful. 

Darwin wrote: Birds appear to be the 

most aesthetic of all animals, excepting of 

course man. and they have nearly the same 

taste for the beautiful as we have. Today 

aesthetic may also be used to mean conforming 

to the principles of aesthetics, and one may 

hear of aesthetic wallpaper. This makes some 

people wish that we had the second adjective 

aesthetical in common use, in order to distinguish 

between these very different meanings 

of the word. 

affect; effect. These are totally different words. 

Affect is always a verb (except in a special use 

in psychology where it denotes a feeling or 

emotion). It means to act on, to impress, to 

produce a change in, and it also means to 

pretend, to feign, to make a show of (Music 

affects some people very strongly. She affects 

great delicacy). See also pretend. 

The verb effect means to produce as a 

result, to bring about, to accomplish, to make 

happen (He etfected his escape by slugging a 

guard). 

The noun effect means result or consequence 

(The effect of her scolding was to make the 

boy angry); power to produce results (His 

pleas were of no effect); a mental impression 

produced by painting or a speech or music or 

some other art or skill (The decorations made 

quite an eflect). 

Efiects, the plural, means personal possessions 

(The dead soldier’s effects were sent to 

his family). 

The adjectives stemming from effect are 

often confusing. There are four of them. 

Eficacious means that which produces a 

desired effect (The treatment was eficacious 

and the patient recovered). Eficient means 

adequate in performance, having and using the 

requisite knowledge and skill, competent (The 

diesel engine is highly eficient. He was an 

efficient man and soon got the job done). 

Effectual means adequate, capable of producing 

the desired effect (The hydrogen bomb is an 

effectual weapon only against a few very 

large cities). Ineffectual, applied to persons, 

has come to mean vaguely and generally incompetent 

and useless. Effective means producing 

an intended result (The tax was effective 

in limiting incomes) or it can mean 

actuallv in effect (Prohibition became effective 

in 1919). 

19 afraid 

affection; affectation. In its most general sense, 

uflection means settled good will, love, warm 

attachment (His affection for his children was 

touching to see). Affectation means the striving 

for the appearance of some quality or ability 

not actually possessed, pretense, artificiality of 

manner or conduct, an attempt to attract attention 

by an assumed manner, and so on. 

(An affectation of manner can easily alienate 

aflection). 

Formerly the words were interchangeable. 

Sheridan in The School for Scandal sueaks of 

a gross affection of good. manners and Gibbon 

refers, with obvious approbation, to a lady’s 

affectation of the manners, the language, and 

the literature of France. 

affiliate; affiliation. To aflliate is to assume the 

relation of a child to a parent. This meaning 

is retained in law where the term means to 

affix the paternity of a child (The mother 

a#iliated the child upon Richard Roe). Branch 

banks are affiliated witb the parent bank and 

in England (where the word is restricted 

almost exclusively to this meaning) colleges 

are affiliated with the university. 

In America the term is used loosely for 

joining, accepting membership in, or even for 

merely associating or being friendly with (He 

afhliated with the Baptist Church. Our nearest 

neighbors live several miles away, and we don’t 

afiliate with them much). There is an element 

of pompousness in these uses, however, and 

unless a closer relationship than just joining or 

associating with is meant, it is better to avoid 

afiliate. 

affinity. Since nfinity means an attraction to or 

a natural liking for, the use of to or for with 

it is redundant. Affinity is with a thing, between 

two things or persons. 

affirm. See declare. 

affix. An afix. in grammar, is any meaningful element 

(prefix, infix, suffix) added to a stem or 

base, as -ed is added to kill to make killed or 

intra- is prefixed to mural to make intramural. 

afflatus. The plural is aflatuses or afflatus, not 

aflati. 

afflict. See inflict. 

affluent. See rich. 

afford may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

I can’t af7ord to go every night, or by the -ing 

form of a verb, as in I can’t afford going every 

night. The infinitive is generally preferred. 

a fortiori is not the same as a priori. A priori 

is arguing from cause to effect, from a 

general law to a particular instance (its 

opposite, a posteriori, is arguing back from 

effects to causes). A fortiori is stating a fact 

which must be even more obviously true if one 

already accepted is true. Thus if it is accepted 

that so-and-so drank a gallon of beer, it is an 

a fortiori fact that he must have drunk two 

quarts. See also a priori. 

afraid. This adjective cannot be used immediately 

before a noun. We may say the man wus afraid 

but not the afraid man. 

Afraid may be followed by a clause, as in 

he is afraid he will die, or by an infinitive, as

African 20 

in he is afraid to die. These two constructions 

do not mean exactly the same thing. Afraid 

may also be followed by the -ing form of a 

verb with the preposition of, as in he is afraid 

of dying. This construction may mean just what 

the clause means, or just what the infinitive 

means. 

African. In England and America an African is 

a Negro, a member of one of the black races 

inhabiting Africa. An Afrikaner, however, in 

Afrikaans, the language of the Afrikaners, is 

a white man of Boer descent living in South 

Africa. The English form of Afrikaner is 

Afrikander. A South African, in either English 

or Afrikaans, is a white citizen of any European 

descent who claims South Africa as his 

homeland. 

Native is the official term for Negro in the 

Union of South Africa. Most natives call themselves 

natives, but the educated among them 

dislike the term and call themselves Africans. 

This is in accord with English and American 

usage, but it conflicts with Afrikaans in which 

Afrikaner means a white, not a black. In 

English as used in South Africa no white man 

is a native (even though native) and no black 

man is a South African (even though he and 

his ancestors have lived in South Africa for 

many generations). See also Caucasian, European, 

mulatto, Negro. 

after. This word may be used as a simple adverb, 

as in fill came tumbling after; as a preposition 

with an object, as in after you, my dear; or as 

a conjunction introducing a clause, as in after 

yo~c leave. It is also well established as an 

adjective, as in the after life, in after years. 

The adjective has a superlative form aftermost, 

which can also be used as a noun. 

The basic meaning of after 1s behind or 

later. This easily becomes following, as in they 

throng after him. From the sense of following, 

after has come to show the aim or object of 

certain actions, as in look after the cats and 

strive after sl/ccess. This use of after is not 

very widespread; in many cases for is preferred. 

When after is used as a conjunction, the 

subordinate verb (in the after clause) may be 

in the simple present tense or the simple past 

tense instead of in the present perfect or past 

perfect tense. That is, we may say Z will tell 

them after you leave instead of after you have 

left, and I told them after you left instead of 

after yolc had left. In Ireland a similar construction 

is sometimes heard in the principal verb in 

a sentence, as in Z am after saying instead of 

Z have been saying, but this is not standard English 

in either the United States or Great Britain. 

aftermath. An aftermath was a second mowing 

of a crop of grass from the same land in the 

same season (The aftermath seldom or never 

equals the first herbage). Except as a deliberate 

archaism this literal use is now never heard. 

The word is now used solely in a figurative 

sense, meaning results, and usually unpleasant 

results of some disastrous occurrence (the 

aftermath of war, the aftermath of the storm). 

To use it to mean merely anything that follows 

is to use it loosely (as in The ancient football 

rivalry between Washington State College and 

the University of Zdaho includes a timehonored 

custom. As an aftermath of each game 

students from the losing school must walk to 

the winning campus for appropriate ceremonies). 

This whole quotation, by the way, 

illustrates the pretentiousness and exaggeration 

so common in sports writing, in which aftermath 

is a favorite word. Since one of the 

colleges mentioned was founded in 1889 and 

the other in 1890, “ancient” and “timehonored” 

are a little strained. 

Any careful use of aftermath will at least 

suggest its literal meaning. Pestilence may 

properly be called the aftermath of war if it 

is caused by the dislocation during war of 

peacetime protections against disease, because 

it is a second, bitter harvest. The San Francisco 

fire was an aftermath of the earthquake. 

after my own heart. The expression He is a man 

after my own heart is a clich6. The careful 

writer will avoid it. After here means like or 

after the nature of. It is a biblical echo (who 

walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit) 

and should not be used except when its exact 

meaning is fully understood. 

afterward; afterwards. Both forms are used in the 

United States, where afterward is generally 

preferred. Afterwards is the only form used in 

England. 

again; against. At one time these words were 

used interchangeably but they now have different 

meanings and different uses. Again now 

means once more and does not have an object, 

as in he ran again. Against means opposed to 

and always has an object, as in he ran against 

a wall. 

Again usually, but not necessarily, follows 

its verb, as in he ran again. When it precedes 

the verb it may mean “on the other hand” or 

“speaking again,” as in he fell, but then again 

he ran. 

agate, meaning a printing type (5% point) of a 

size between pearl and nonpareil, is the American 

term for what in England is called ruby. 

agendum. An agendum is something to be done. 

The word has two plural forms, agendums and 

agenda. Agenda may also be used to mean a 

list of agendums and it is then treated as a 

singular, as in the agenda is being prepared. 

In this sense agenda has its own plural 

agendas, meaning several such lists, as in the 

agendas were compared. 

agent. In various specialized uses the word agent 

has different meanings in America and 

England. The American ticket agent is in 

England a booking clerk. The English newsagent 

is in America a newsdealer. 

In the early days of the West a road agent 

was a highwayman. It was often shortened to 

agent. The designation was probably originally 

intended to be humorous and sometimes 

appeared within quotation marks. 

aggravate; annoy; irritate: exasperate; provoke. To 

aggravate means to make heavier. It can be 

used properIy only of the augmentation or in-

tensification of some evil, some sorrow, grievance, 

or oBense (The failure of his business 

aggravated Mr. Domhey’s grief for the death 

of his son). Its common use to mean annoy 

(Don’t aggravate me, child) and still more 

common adjectival use (He’s such an aggrc;Nvatiflg 

man) are colloquialisms (“feminine or 

childish,” Fowler sternly calls them) not used 

in formal speech or writing. 

Annoy is simply the French word ennui 

which now means boredom and that is all 

annoy meant at first, though it now expresses 

a somewhat stronger feeling of discomfort. 

To irritate is to fret, to chafe, to gall, to 

excite to impatience or to feelings of anger, 

though not of any great depth or of any great 

duration. We speak of a wound as being irritated 

when through the chafing or rubbing of 

a coarse bandage it has been superficially 

inflamed. 

Exasperate is a stronger word than irritate 

(though it is sometimes weakened to a mere 

synonym for annoy). The Latin root word 

asper means rough and harsh. A man is exasperated 

when he has been annoyed or irritated 

to the point where his self-control is threatened 

or lost. An exasperated man is a dangerous man. 

To provoke is to stir up (literally, to call 

forth) sudden and strong feelings of anger 

or resentment, usually by some unwarrantable 

act or wanton annoyance (The rage which 

Oswald’s impertinence provoked in Lear, 

already annoyed by the delay of his dinner, 

was aggravated to fury by Goneril’s insole.nce 

und the exasperated man rushed wildly from 

the palace). 

gnostic; atheist; heathen; infidel; pagan. The word 

agnostic was coined in 1869 by Thomas Henry 

Huxley to describe one who, like himself, :felt 

that the ultimate nature of things, including 

the existence of a God, is unknown and 

probably unknowable. 

An atheist is one who denies the existence 

of God or of gods (Socrates was accused of 

atheism because he did not believe in Zeus). 

An infidel is an unbeliever. The word was 

rather specialized among Christians in former 

times to apply to Mohammedans and among 

Mohammedans to Jews and Christians. In 

recent years there has been a tendency in 

America to give the word a wider significance 

and have it apply to agnostics and atheists. 

Indeed many Americans if they felt that a 

Mohammedan was a devout believer in his own 

religion would be reluctant to call him an 

infidel. 

The unconverted of other religions were 

called heathens or pagans, both words meaning 

originally country dwellers, i.e., rustic, backward 

folk who clung to their own religion after 

Christianity had been accepted in the cities. 

Both words, in current usage, tend to be used 

in slightly comic contexts. Heathen is often 

used jestingly of one who shows gross ignorance 

of some tenet of his professed faith. 

Pagan is often used to suggest a gay abandon 

and frank sensuality, such as is imagined at 

2!I 

agreement 

least to have been enjoyed before the dominance 

of Christian ethics. 

agony; agonize. Agony is one of the strongest 

words in English. It means extreme, and 

generally prolonged, pain and suffering. And 

to agonize means to writhe with such pain 

(The agony of the injured man was dreadful 

to see. He agonized for months over the 

thought of his son’s execution). To use it-as 

it is so often used-as a term for mere discomfort 

(I was in agony in those new shoes) 

doesn’t even convey, as it is probably meant 

to, a feeling of one’s suffering because the 

listener, hearing so violent a word and knowing 

from the speaker’s appearance of health 

that it can’t be justified, at once discounts it. 

The speaker is usually aware of this and in 

his turn seeks to bolster the word with extreme 

emphasis, usually prolonging the sound of the 

initial a into a wail. But it doesn’t do much 

good. My feet hurt would most likely be more 

effective. 

agree may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

he agreed to go, or by a clause, as in he agreed 

that he would go. If the -ing form of a verb 

is used we must say agree on, as in he agreed 

on going. 

agreement: pronouns. See pronouns. 

agreement: verbs. A verb is said to “agree with 

its subject in number and person.” Number 

means the distinction between singular and 

pltiral. Person means the distinction between 

the speaker (called the first person), the person 

spoken to (called the second person), and the 

person or thing spoken about (called the third 

person). English verbs do not show number 

or person in the past tense. We say I spoke, 

he spoke, they spoke. In the present tense the 

first and second person in the singular and all 

three persons in the plural have the same form. 

We say I. we, you, and they speak. But the 

third person singular has a distinctive final s, 

as in he speaks. There are a few defective 

verbs, such as may, can, might, which do not 

show number or person in any tense. The verb 

to be is the only other exception to what has 

just been said. In the past tense it has two 

forms, was and were. In the present tense it 

has a distinctive first person singular (am) as 

well as a third person singular (is) and a 

general plural form (are). (For archaic forms 

of the verb, see thee; thou.) In American 

English, there is no difference in number or 

person in the future tense. (In Great Britain 

shall and will are used differently in different 

persons. See shall; will.) 

NUMBER 

Since we can get along with only one form 

in the past tense, it is obvious that we do not 

need two forms in the present, but we have two 

forms and, whether we want to or not, we must 

decide whether a present tense verb is to be 

singular or plural. We cannot avoid committing 

ourselves one way or the other. 

The number of an English verb is determined 

by the actual meaning of the subject 

or by the grammatical form of the subject

agreement 22 

element standing closest to the verb. In the 

King James Bible there is a sentence, light and 

understanding and excellent wisdom is found in 

thee. Here the singular form is may have been 

used because the writer felt that one thing had 

been mentioned three times rather than three 

separate things, or because the word wisdom 

is singular. In a recent translation of the Bible 

this sentence reads: light and understanding 

and excellent wisdom are found in thee. Here 

the plural form are following the singular 

form wisdom abruptly reminds us that more 

than one thing is being talked about. The 

reader who has not realized this must go back 

and ponder over the meaning of the preceding 

words. 

Usually, as in the last example, a compound 

subject that involves the word and is plural. 

This is always the case when two distinct 

things are meant even though only one word 

is used, and that a singular, as in the red and 

the white rose are both beautiful. When obviously 

only one thing is meant, as in the sum 

and substance is, a plural verb is ridiculous. 

Between these extremes is a middle ground 

where the speaker can decide which form he 

wants to use, as in the tumult and the shouting 

dies. 

A compound subject involving or is usually 

treated as singular if the separate elements are 

singular and the statement is affirmative, as in 

either Dorothy or Andy is at home. But if the 

second element is plural, the verb too will be 

plural, as in one or two friends are coming. 

Constructions in which the first element is 

plural and the second singular are avoided. In 

a negative statement, a compound subject involving 

or or nor is usually treated as plural, 

as in neither Dorothy nor Andy are at home. 

(Some grammarians object to this and claim 

that a singular verb is required in this construction 

but neither current usage nor literary 

tradition support their claim.) 

A singular subject followed by a parenthetical 

phrase may be treated as a singular, as in 

the island of Australia together with Tasmania 

constitutes the commonwealth of Australia, or 

as a plural, as in the sherifl with all his men 

were at the door. If an affirmative and a negative 

idea are combined, the verb agrees with the 

affirmative, as in justice, not better jobs, is our 

goal. 

Measures or quantity words that are grammaticaIly 

singular may be treated as singulars 

or as plurals, depending on whether the quantity 

spoken about is thought of as a unit or as 

a collection of separate items, as in one half 

of the country is desert and one half of the 

population are illiterate. A plural verb is 

usually preferred in speaking about human 

beings. Words of this kind that are grammatically 

plural may also be treated as singulars 

when what is mentioned is thought of as a 

unit, as in ten days is a long time and two 

paces of the vilest earth is room enough. 

Sometimes a subject that would have a 

singular verb if it and the verb were standing 

together is given a plural verb because a plural 

word is standing between them. For example, 

a singular verb is used in no one was listening 

and there is a pile of books on the table. But 

the verb is made plural in not one of them 

were listening and a pile of books were on the 

table. Although some people protest, there is 

nothing objectionable about this use of a plural 

verb. A statement of this kind is actually about 

a group of people or things, which may be considered 

as a singular or as a plural. In cases of 

this kind we usually settle for the form of the 

word that is standing closest to the verb. 

Titles of books which have a plural form, 

such as Canterbury Tales and Dickenf American 

Notes, may be treated as singular or as 

plural. 

Even when the subject of a verb is a single 

word, the number of the verb will depend 

upon the meaning rather than the form of the 

subject. Singular nouns are sometimes used in 

a plural sense and some nouns which have a 

plural form are nevertheless singular in meaning. 

(For special problems of this kind, see 

adjectives as nouns, generic nouns, group 

names, mass nouns, plural nouns, singular 

nouns, and the individual words.) 

An interrogative pronoun is usually treated 

as a singular. That is, we may say who is 

coming? and what is in the box? regardless of 

how many people or things are to be expected. 

Who and which may also be followed by a 

plural verb. We may say who are coming? and 

which are finished? But a great many people 

dislike this construction and feel obliged to 

insert a plural word, as in who all are coming?, 

which ones are finished?. A relative pronoun is 

singular or plural depending upon its antecedent. 

That is, we say the man who was here 

and the men who were here. 

PERSON 

AI1 nouns and almost all pronouns are third 

person and their problems are taken care of 

under questions of number. The only exceptions 

are the personal pronouns I, me, we, us, you, 

and interrogatives or relatives representing one 

of these. The words me and us cannot be used 

as the subject of a verb. The word we is plural 

and the word you is always treated as a plural. 

In American English no verb shows person in 

the plural. This means that questions of person 

are reduced to the question of what form of the 

verb should be used with I or a word standing 

for I. In all verbs except to be, I has the form 

that is used in the plural. We say I have, they 

have, Z do, they do. In the verb to be, Z has the 

present tense form am and the past tense form 

was. 

As a rule, the verb following an interrogative 

pronoun is in the third person. But when 

an interrogative who or what is followed by a 

form of the verb to be and a persona1 pronoun, 

the interrogative is felt to be the cornplement 

rather than the subject of the verb 

and the form of the verb is determined by the

personal pronoun, as in who am I?, who is he?, 

who are you?. The interrogative which ma:y be 

used in the same way. That is, we might say 

which are you? or which am I?, meaning to 

which group do you belong or do I belong? 

But which may also be felt as the subject of 

the verb and treated as a third person singular. 

That is, in looking at a picture of a group of 

people, we might say which is you? 

Theoretically, the relative pronouns who, 

which, and that require the form of the verb 

that would be used with the antecedent. That 

is, one should say it is silly to ask me who 

know nothing about it and it is silly to ask 

you who know nothing about it because one 

would say Z know, you know. In practice, a 

great many people treat the relatives who, 

which, and that as third person pronouns 

which may be singular or plural but which 

do not carry over any difference in person. 

That is, many people would say it is silly to 

ask me who knows nothing about it. This is 

not literary English. But very few people hear 

it as a grammatical mistake and some feel 

uncomfortable when the technically correct 

literary form is used. 

An explanatory noun following Z or you does 

not affect the person of the verb. That is, we 

say I, your teacher, am aware and ~014, my 

teacher, are aware, and not is aware. 

When a verb has both an afhrmative and a 

negative subject, it follows the person of the 

affirmative, as in Z, not you, am to blame and 

you, not I, are to blame. Theoretically, with any 

other kind of compound subject the person of 

the verb is determined by the word standing 

nearest it, as in death and I am found eternal 

and neither he nor Z am timid. In practice, most 

people treat these compound subjects as plural 

wherever possible. They may be treated as plural 

when the compound is made with and, as in 

death and Z are found eternal, or is negative, 

as in neither he nor Z are timid. 

A compound subject involving either - - or 

is much harder to handle. According to the 

rules, the last pronoun is the decisive one and 

we should say either he or I am responsible 

and either you or I am responsible. This 

“correct” form is seldom heard. Some people 

would use is and some people would use are 

in each of these constructions. But most people 

would avoid the question by saying either he 

is responsible or I am. One grammarian, cornmenting 

on this, says, “most people dodge the 

necessity of making a choice between the two 

persons as though it were an educational test 

which they dreaded to meet.” But it might be 

that we dodge it because there is no satisfactory 

answer. Problems of persons are so 

rare in English that any construction which 

calls attention to them seems unnatural. 

agree to disagree. The value of antithesis is that 

it rho& us into attention. Pope’s description 

of a huge, pretentious, but basically commonplace 

country mansion as a heap of liftleneq 

or his statement that Man ia the glory, jest, and 

23 airplane 

riddle of tlze world fix themselves in our minds 

by the striking contrast of the opposing ideas 

that he brings together. But when repetition 

has removed the element of surprise, indispensable 

to the shock, antithesis is likely to be 

annoying, because it suggests that the speaker 

thinks he can be clever without making any 

effort of his own. One can q/tote a brilliant 

antithesis, since the acknowledgment removes 

any suggestion that one is claiming the wit as 

one’s own, but one must always bear in mind 

that a little quoting goes a long way. 

Agree to disagree is a cliche, clever when 

first thought of but long since worn out, along 

with the patience of those who must hear it. 

aid. See help. 

ailment. See sickness. 

aim. When aim is used in a physical sense, the 

place is introduced by at, as in aim the gun at 

the barn door. In the United States, when aim 

is used in the sense of intend it is followed 

by an infinitive, as in I aim to be friendly. 

When used in this sense in Great Britain, it is 

followed by a? and the -ing form of the verb, 

as in Z aim at being friendly. 

ain’t. This word may mean am not, is nof, are 

not, have not, or has not. It is heard in I ain’t 

ready, that ain’t true, they ain’t here, Z ain’t 

got it, he ain’t got it, and so on. It is not considered 

standard in any of these cases, with the 

possible exception of am not used in a question, 

that is, ain’t I? 

In the United States most people consider 

ain’t I? in a class with he ain’t and the other 

unacceptable forms. But a few bold spirits 

insist on using it because the language needs 

an expression of this sort. Am I not? is much 

too stiff for ordinary conversation and amn’f 

I? is practically impossible to say. In England 

aren’t I? is considered acceptable spoken 

English. But in England the r in aren’t is not 

pronounced. What is actually said is more like 

aunt I? The difference between the English 

aren’t I? and the American ain’t I? is simply 

the difference that we have in the two pronunciations 

of tomato. However, some Americans 

who would not say ain’t I? feel that aren’t 

I?, pronounced with its full American r, is 

very respectable. Others consider it affected 

or “kittenish.” 

air line. The phrase air line, which today in 

American usage means a company furnishing 

air transport (usually in scheduled flights), 

meant up until fifty years ago what we now 

call a bee line, i.e., a straight line, as through 

the air (Take any common map . . . and 

rule an air line across it from Baltimore to 

St. Louis). Several railroads incorporated the 

term into their names to remind the public of 

the economical directness of their routes. Of 

these the best known now is the Seaboard 

Air Line. 

ah-plane is now the universal American spelling 

and pronunciation. The English still use aeroplane, 

though airplane is becoming increasingly 

common among them.

airship 2:4 

airship, when used at all, designates what is now 

more generally called a dirigible, a lighterthan-air 

craft which, in contradistinction to a 

free-floating balloon, may be navigated. 

aisle. The English, for the most part, restrict aisle 

to the lateral division of a church separated 

from the nave by piers or columns or to the 

passageway between the seats in a church. In 

America both of these meanings are known 

and used, but the word is extended to denote 

any kind of passageway between seats, as in 

theaters and public conveyances. Two on rhe 

aisle, which would be incomprehensible to the 

English, or suggest a marooned couple, means 

to an American two especially desirable seats 

in a theater. 

alas, poor Yorick! It is sad that “a fellow of 

infinite jest, of most excellent fancy” should 

be known to us only through such a threadbare 

quotation. Alas, indeed, poor Yorick! 

There is another line from Hamlet that should 

always be uttered after this one: “What, has 

this thing appear’d again tonight?” Or, if one 

perceives that it is about to be spoken, appeal 

to the speaker’s better nature: “Refrain tonight, 

and that shall lend a kind of easiness to the 

next abstinence.” And if he does forbear: “For 

this relief, much thanks.” 

albino. The plural is albinos, not albinoes. A 

female albino used to be called an albiness, 

but the word has fallen into disuse. Sex distinctions 

have nothing to do with albinism. 

albumen; albumin. Albumen is the white of an 

egg. Albumin is a biochemical term for any 

of a class of water-soluble proteins. The chemical 

term is sometimes spelled albumen, but the 

white of an egg is never spelled albumin. 

alcoholic. See drunkard. 

alga. The plural is algae. 

alias means another. The legal term alias dictus, 

of which the common term is an abbreviation, 

means called at another time or place. Thus 

Smith alias Jones indicates that a man who 

now calls himself Smith had at some other 

time or place called himself or had been called 

Jones. 

alibi in law means the defense of having been 

somewhere else when a crime of which one 

stands accused was committed (The fact f/rat 

he was speaking before a large audience in 

Boston, three hundred miles away from the 

scene of the crime, at the time the murder 

was committed proved a perfect alibi). By a 

natural extension it has come to be used in 

common speech as a synonym for excuse and, 

as a verb, to offer an excuse. Ring Lardner’s 

Alibi Ike was a baseball player who always 

had a self-exculpating excuse for anything 

wrong that he did. When Life referred to a 

certain prizefighter (July 26, 1954) as un 

inveterate alibier, it meant that he could always 

explain away his failures. When, however, 

George Orwell (in “England Your England”) 

says that the wealthy ship-owner or cottonmiller 

set up for himself an alibi as a country 

Rentleman, he may mean that the businessman 

wished to prove that he could not have been 

responsible for the crimes of his business, since 

he was tending his acres, an innocent bucolic, 

at the time they were committed. Or he may 

have meant alias, that is that the ship-owner 

or cotton operative wished to go under the 

then more respectable name of a country 

gentleman. 

Cynicism and the common man’s distrust of 

the law have tinged alibi with a suggestion of 

improbability and even of dishonesty. Purists 

insist that it should be restricted to its legal 

meaning, and those who wish to be formally 

correct will so restrict it. In so doing, however, 

they will lose the connotation of cunning and 

dishonesty which distinguishes it from excrdse. 

alight. The past tense is alighted or alit. The 

participle is also alighted or alit. Alighted is 

the preferred form for the past tense and the 

participle. Alit is archaic. 

Alight means to come down deliberately, or 

with dignity, and we may say he alighted from 

the plane. Things which are not under their 

own control, such as stones and snow flakes, 

are said to light, and not to alight, and we 

therefore say he lighted (or lit) on his head. 

Alight was once also used in the sense of 

kindle. This usage has completely disappeared 

except for the adjective alight, as in my candle 

is alight. 

alike. Thirty or forty years ago some textbooks 

on English claimed that alike could not be 

used to mean similarly, as in he treats everyone 

alike. There is no justification for this 

cIaim. Alike has been used in this way at Ieast 

as long as we have had printed books. 

alit. See alight. 

alJ may be used with a singular noun, as in all 

flesh is mortal, or with a plural noun, as in 

all men are brothers. When used with a singular, 

all means “the whole of it.” With a plural, 

all was originally used collectively to mean the 

entire number taken as a whole or unit, as in 

all the angles in a triangle are equal to 180 

degrees. Later, it was also used distributively 

to mean every one of the individuals referred 

to, as in all the angles in a triangle are less 

than 180 degrees. Today, all with a plural noun 

usually means “every” but it may-also mean 

“the total.” Conceivably, _ this could create a 

misunderstanding in some situations. 

All is primarily an adjective and qualifies a 

noun, as in all things to all men. It usually 

precedes its noun, as in all children believe, 

but may also follow it, as in children all 

believe. When it precedes the noun it also 

precedes all other qualifiers, as in all these dear 

little children. 

All is sometimes used as a noun, as in one 

who gave all. It may be used after an objective 

pronoun, as in us all, which is grammatically 

comparable to us men; and either before or 

after a subjective pronoun. Formerly it frequently 

came before a subjective pronoun, as 

in all we like sheep have gone astray. This 

order is still acceptable, but in current English

the all is more often placed second, as in we 

all have strayed. When used with the pronoun 

it, cdl must be placed second, as in it all came 

to nothing. We can no longer say all it. In 

literary English all is not used with what, as 

in what all did he say? This is an Americanism. 

It is acceptable spoken English in the United 

States but does not often appear in print. 

The phrase all of, as in all of us, is a relatively 

new construction and fifty years ago was 

considered rare except with pronouns. It is 

formed on the pattern of none of, some of, 

any of, where of means belonging to or lpart 

of. Some grammarians feel that it is illogical 

to treat the whole as a part, but it is hard to 

see why this is any more illogical than treating 

none as a part. In any case, the grammatical 

form is now well established and is freely used 

with nouns as well as pronouns, as in ulr! of 

the people. 

In literary English the word all does not 

form a genitive. We do not say ulPs opinion 

but the opinion of all or everybody’s opinion. 

This is also true when all is combined with a 

pronoun. You all’s is heard in the South and 

is respectable English in some areas, But it is 

condemned by many Southerners who are 

nevertheless proud to say you all. We all’s, as 

in we all’s house, is not standard anywhere. 

All never qualifies a possessive pronoun. In 

it was all our fault, the all attaches itself to it; 

in all our faults, it attaches to faults. If what 

is meant is it was the fault of us all, the idea 

cannot be expressed by a genitive or a possessive 

pronoun. 

All may be used as an adverb (qualifying 

words that are not nouns) whenever the word 

entirely could be substituted, as in His Royal 

Highness was all smiles and his consort all 

diamonds: the heart, ull exhausted by doubt; 

and the familiar phrases all powerful, all too 

soon. In they were all dressed up, the meaning 

is not “entirely” but “very much.” Some grammarians 

object to this -use of all but-it is 

accepted spoken English in the United States 

today. All but means “everything short of” 

and can be used to mean “almost,” as in the 

all but overpowering urge. 

All the before a comparative form, as in 

they laughed all the louder and she was all the 

better for it, is standard English whenever the 

comparative itself is justified, as in they 

laughed louder, she was better. This is not the 

case with that’s all the further it goes and is 

that all the later it is? Forms like these were 

used in English literature until about 1600, and 

they can still be heard in the speech of educated 

Americans. But they are now considered 

nonstandard by most grammarians and do not 

often appear in print. In literary English one 

says that’s us far as it goes and isn’t it czny 

later than that? 

Not all is and all is not usually mean exactly 

the same thing. Some grammarians claim that 

the last part of the line What though the field 

be lost? All z’s not lost! is a slovenly construc- 

2 allege 

tion which, in strict logic, means that none is 

lost. By the same reasoning, not all the water 

in the rough rude sea can wash the balm from 

an anointed king, is held to mean, again speaking 

strictly, merely that some cannot. There 

is no foundation at all for this distinction. 

In both cases, regardless of where it appears, 

not negatives the entire sentence. In the strictest 

logic, both sentences mean: it is not true 

that all is lost or that all the water can wash 

and so on. The sentences as they stand are 

not ambiguous. If they had been, the critic 

could not have been so sure that they did 

not say exactly what they meant. Distinctions 

such as this, between all is not and not all is, 

appeal to a fictitious logic and seem to have 

been invented for the purpose of proving other 

people in the wrong. They are not good for 

much else. Certainly no one should be encouraged 

to think that all is not lost is one 

way of saying nothing is lost. See also at all 

and still and all. 

alI right. The form alright sometimes appears in 

print. It is as justifiable, on theoretical grounds, 

as already and would allow us to make the 

distinction between the unswers are ulright 

(satisfactory) and the answers are all right 

(every one of them). But at present most 

people object to the form ulright and prefer 

to see it written as two words. 

all things considered. This cautious introduction 

is better replaced with some specific suggestion 

or objection. 

all things to all men. All men seek in complaisance 

to adapt their words and often their 

actions and opinions to suit those whose favor 

or friendship they desire. In ourselves this is 

tact or adaptability. In others it is servility, 

hypocrisy, or downright villainy. The cliche 

all things to all men which commonly describes 

this tendency has in its ordinary use a derogatory 

tinge, though St. Paul, from whose 

writings it is taken (I Corinthians, 9:22), 

makes it a boast. 

all to the good. Originally spoken of something 

not good in itself but which conduced to a 

whole that was good, all to the good is now 

a hackneyed phrase that has lost all meaning 

except as an expression of approval at the 

accretion of something desirable. It has little 

specific meaning and should be avoided. 

allege; assert. To allege originally meant to state 

under oath (If thou canst ought allege that 

may be against him, come before the judge). 

Then it came to mean to state positively 

(Tertullian alleges the contrary). In current 

usage it means to state something without adequate 

proof (But men in love with their 

opinions may not only suppose what is in 

question, but allege wrong mutter of fact). 

To assert now has the older meaning of to 

allege: to state as true (She asserted her innocence 

in the strongest terms. It is not directly 

asserted, but it seems to be implied). 

It is alleged is sometimes used as a disclaimer 

of responsibility, but those who so use

ah3ory 

it should know that its use does not confer 

immunity from prosecution for libel. The law 

punishes the publication of a libel and publication, 

in the legal sense, means making public. 

If you repeat a libel in print, with or without 

disclaimers, you have published it; you do not 

have to originate the statement to be liable 

for it. (See also publish.) 

allegory. An allegory is a sustained metaphor, a 

narrative in which the characters and actions 

are veiled representations of meanings implied 

but not stated. The best known allegories in 

English are the parables of the Gospels. The 

longest and most intricate is Spenser’s The 

Faerie Oueene. The wittiest is Swift’s A Tale 

of a Tcb. One of the most successful recent 

allegories is George Orwell’s Animal Farm. 

The virtue of allegory is that it leads the 

reader to think for himself, or at least to 

think that he has thought for himself and so 

to accept the author’s conclusions as his own. 

The fault of allegory is that its implications 

may be lost in the story and a false moral 

deduced instead of the intended one. Thus a 

child told that the early bird gets the worm 

may identify himself with the worm and not 

be incited to rise betimes. Then, like all metaphors, 

allegories easily become ludicrous if one 

or more of the details is inappropriate. 

allergic; antipathetic. An allergy is an abnormal 

sensitivity to certain things, such as dust, 

molds, pollens, and foods. A generation ago 

the word was a medical term, almost unknown 

to the layman. But with the growth of popular 

interest in allergies, the term allergic has come 

into use among the educated as a humorous 

term for a violent antipathy. The fact that 

sufferers from allergies on the ingestion or inhalation 

of even microscopic quantities of the 

substance to which they are allergic break out 

in hives, itch, sneeze, and weep makes the term 

both strong and ludicrous. Antipathetic 

(though it also means having a constitutional 

aversion) is too long and too serious, too 

pompous, for the purposes to which allergic is 

applied. It is still a slang term, but it shows 

every sign of becoming standard, though with 

humorous connotations. 

alliance. See liaison. 

alliteration is the repetition of the same sound 

(vowel or consonant, though the term is usually 

applied to the repetition of consonants) at 

the beginning of two or more consecutive or 

near words or stressed syllables. It was very 

common in older English poetry (Then from 

the moorlands, by misty- headlands,/ With 

God’s wrath laden, Grendel came. In the habit 

of a hermit, unholy of works,/ I went wide in 

the world, wonders to hear). It was a part of 

the highly artificial style called euphuism which 

Lyly’s-Ehphues made a vogue in Elizabethan 

Eneland (“wherein there is small offence by 

lightness given to the wise, and less occasion 

of looseness proffered to the wanton”). The 

romantic poets revived it and some of the 

nineteenth century poets carried it almost to 

26 

the limits of endurance (The fair breeze blew, 

the white foam flew,/ The furrow followed 

free. The moan of doves in immemorial elms,/ 

and murmuring of innumerable bees). 

Apt alliteration’s artful aid is now rarely 

invoked. Serious poetry, in its reaction against 

the stylistic excesses of the poetry of the 

nineteenth century, shuns it, but popular 

poetry still uses it (He hit Tom Hall with a 

bursting ball/ A hand’s breadth over the knee. 

It takes a heap o’living and some love to make 

a home). Serious prose avoids it as strenuously 

now as it once sought it, but humor employs 

it and it is useful for emphasis and euphony. 

Because it is one of the strongest of mnemonic 

devices, it is used a great deal by advertisers 

who hope to have their slogans stick in the 

public mind (Not a cough in a carload. A 

treat instead of a treatment). 

Like rhyme, however, of which it is a kind, 

alliteration can easily be overdone. To contemporary 

taste, it is one of those things of 

which “a little more than a little is by much 

too much.” The safe rule is never to use it 

without a definite purpose and to be sure that 

the purpose could not be as well served in any 

other way. 

allow. When this word means permit it may be 

followed by an object and an infinitive, as in 

he allows us to smoke, or, when there is no 

personal object, by the -ing form of a verb, 

as in he allows smoking. When the word 

means admit it may be followed by a clause, 

as in he allowed that we were right. 

allow of; allow for. To allow of is to permit 

(His weakened condition would not allow of 

his being questioned by the police). To allow 

for is to leave a margin of time or space, to 

make a concession or to bear in mind as an 

extenuating circumstance (You can’t make it 

in an hour; you must allow for the detour. He 

allowed for her great age and was very patient 

in listening to her complaints). Allow for, like 

allow of, may be followed by the -ing form 

of a verb, as in allow for his being late. 

allow; permit; consent; let; accede. Allow implies 

the absence of any intent to hinder (Does your 

mother allow you to go alone this way?). 

Permit is often used as a synonym of allow 

but it has a connotation of more formality in 

the authorization. There must be a permission 

(Though some things are commanded us and 

others forbidden, we are in many others permitted 

to follow our inclinations). Let is the 

common everyday word for allow and permit. 

If it has a special connotation it is of allowing 

something to remain as it is or to suffer it to 

continue or proceed if it is already in motion. 

To consent is to yield when one has the 

right to oppose, or at least to refrain voluntarily 

from opposing (My poverty, but not my 

will, consents). Accede is closely synonymous 

to consent, but it often implies a more active 

agreement, a joining oneself to or sharing in 

that which is consented to (There are many 

who would accede without the faintest re-

luctance to a barbarous custom, but would be 

quite incapable of un equally barbarous act 

which custom had not consecrated). 

allspice is the name of a particular spice, pimento, 

and should not be called allspices. 

allude; refer. To allude is to refer casually or 

indirectly. It calls attention covertly. When a 

man is alluded to he is not named; it is simply 

obvious that the remark is applicable to him 

(He alludes to enterprises which he cannot 

reveal but with the hazard of his life). 

To refer is to direct attention specifically. 

One refers to a book by its title and author 

and to a passage in it by the page. When one 

seeking employment gives a reference, he 

names a particular person from whom his 

prospective employer may obtain information 

about him. 

allure; lure; attract; invite; entice. Allure, like 

attract, has a neutral connotation. One may be 

allured or attracted to things harmful or beneficial 

(The thirst for glory has allured many a 

man to his death. The beauty of the day 

allured the ladies into the garden). To lure, 

however, to attract as by a falconer’s lure or 

decoy, has a suggestion of evil. One is lured 

to ruin or lured away from one’s work (The 

proffered toleration was merely a bait to lure 

the Puritan party to destruction). So also 

entice, to excite hope or desire by presenting 

pleasurable motives or ideas, is almost always 

used in a bad sense. The twisting and squirming 

of live bait, says gentle, lovable old Laak 

Walton, much enticeth the fish to bite without 

suspicion. One is rarely enticed to good. 

Znvite when applied to persons means to 

ask them to come, to solicit their company, 

and carries a suggestion of kindness or courtesy. 

But when applied to things or conditions, 

it has an invidious connotation with ironical 

overtones (Recklessness invites disaster. Not to 

resent these insults is to deserve and to invite 

them). 

Attract, as has been said, is neutral (His 

vices have attracted much attention. Adorned 

she was indeed, and lovely to attract thy love), 

but attractive is favorable, except in the legal 

phrase an attractive nuisance where the adjective 

has been tainted by its noun. 

allusion; illusion; elusion; delusion. The words 

allusion and illusion are often pronounced alike 

and this has led to confusion. An allusion is 

a passing or casual reference, an incidental 

mention of something, whether directly or by 

implication (These frequent allusions to the 

details of his private life eventually compelled 

him to proffer his resignation. The angry flush 

that at once overspread his face showed that 

he understood the allusion). An illusion is 

something that deceives by producing a f.alse 

impression, a deception, a mockery (Zt was 

only an optical illusion). An elusion is an 

avoidance of something, an escape (The planting 

of flowers on Fanny’s grave had been but 

a species of elusion of the primary grief). It 

often has the connotation of a clever escape. 

27 

It is a rare word but its adjective, elusive, is 

common and easily confused with allusive and 

illusive. 

A delusion differs from an ilLsion in that 

it is accepted without question (some juggler’s 

delusion. The unhappy woman labored under 

the delusion that her dead son was working in 

the next room and would appsar within a few 

minutes). That the sun goes around the earth 

is accepted today by educated people as an 

illusion: our senses say that it is so, but we 

know that it is not. Those who accept the 

appearance of its motion as a reality are 

deluded. Most of us have heard, at one time 

or another, why the appearance of the sun’s 

motion is illusory, but we cannot remember 

the exact explanation; it has eluded our 

memories. 

almighty. See mighty. 

almighty dollar. When Washington Irving, in 

1836, first used this expression to describe “the 

great object of universal devotion throughout 

our land,” he coined an effective phrase because 

the word then most commonly associated 

with almighty was “God” and he was saying, 

in effect, that our commercialism was idolatrous. 

Few who use it today think of its 

implied rebuke for false worship. It is thought 

to describe the power which our wealth exercises 

in domestic and international affairs. But 

even in this sense it has been worn out. It is 

better not to use it at all. 

almost ordinarily qualifies a verb, as in he almost 

fell, or an adjective, as in he was almost 

certain. It may also be used to qualify a noun, 

as in the almost oblivion and in almost terror; 

This is an extremely literary construction but it 

is used by Hawthorne, Coleridge, Thackeray, 

and others and is recognized by the Oxford 

English Dictionary. 

almost and nearly both mean within a small 

degree of or within a short space of, but 

almost designates a smaller degree or a shorter 

space than nearly. A book that is almost completed 

is nearer its completion than one that 

is nearly completed. 

In America almost is used with the negative 

(There was almost no snow that winter). In 

England hardly any or scarcely any would be 

more commonly used. See also practically. 

alms. Originally this word was a singular, as in 

this alms is given for the sick. This construction 

may still be used but it has an archaic 

flavor. Today the word is usually treated as a 

plural, as in these alms are given for the sick. 

But there is no singular form an alm and we 

cannot speak of several alms. The form alms 

is used as the first element in a compound, as 

in an alms box. 

alone. See lonely. 

along; along&. Along is the only acceptable 

form; alongst is not standard now. At one time 

alongst too was standard, as in he sent his 

gallies alongst the coast, but it has not been 

used in literary English for more than a 

hundred years.

alpha 28 

alpha and omega. See from A to Z. 

already. See yet. 

alright. See all right. 

altercation; fight. An altercation is a fierce dispute, 

a contentious debate (A judicious reader 

looks for arguments und loathes altercations), 

but it is a verbal encounter. It may easily lead 

to a fight, or physical encounter, but it isn’t 

one. To say In the altercation noses were 

bloodied and eyes were blackened is to misuse 

the word, though it may be done humorously. 

alternatively; alternately. Alternatively means the 

choosing of one or the other of two things or 

courses (Alternatively, if you do not choose to 

fight you may run away). Alternately means 

the coming of things of two kinds one after 

the other (The black and white squares on a 

checker board are arranged alternately), or 

turn and turn about (We work our shifts 

alternately). 

alternatives. Some people feel that alternative 

means “one of two” and that it should never 

be used in any other sense. But a great many 

more people do use it to mean “one of any 

number.” Gladstone, writing in 18.57, said: 

My decided preference is for the fourth and 

last of these alternatives. 

although. See though. 

altogether; all together. Altogether is an adverb 

meaning wholly, entirely, completely (He was 

altogether in the wrong), or in all (Altogether 

there were six of us) or on the whole (Altogether, 

it’s just as well you didn’t argue with 

him). 

All together means that the members of a 

group are or were or will be gathered together 

in one place (I have put the bolts all together 

in the lower drawer. The family will be all 

together at Thanksgiving for the first time in 

ten years. 

aluminum is the American form, aluminium the 

British. Some American chemists use aluminium 

to conform to the analogy of sodium, 

beryllium, potassizcm, and so on. 

alumnus; alumni; alumna; alumnae. Learning, or 

the lack of it, was for centuries enshrouded 

in Latin and everything about a college had 

to be dignified with a Latin name. In Europe 

college graduates were known by the degrees 

they held, but in America a great many people 

went to college who never got degrees but 

who--to the delight and amazement of fundraising 

officials-were often more vociferous 

and even more generous in their support of 

the college than many who had obtained 

degrees. It was plainly desirable to include 

them in a group that contained the graduates 

and to find a solemn name for the lot. The 

Latin word alumnus, foster son, was chosen 

for the individual and alltmni for the group. 

The term had been used in England earlier, 

but it was and has remained rare there. 

Alumnus is a masculine word, but that was 

all right at first because almost all college 

students were men, but when women started 

going to college it was felt that they ought to 

have a special designation and the feminine 

form, alumna, with the plural alumnae was 

adopted (She is an alumna of Wilson College, 

in Chambersburg, Pa. The statistics of the 

comparative death rates of the alumnae and 

alumni of Oberlin . . .). This usage is exclusively 

American but anyone who wants to use 

it is correct in doing so. However, the masculine 

applies to all former students in general 

(All alumni are invited and urged to bring 

their husbands and wives) and it is not an 

error to refer to a female graduate as an 

alumnus and to include women with men in 

the general group of alumni. It is an error, 

however, to use alumna as a plural or alumni 

as a singular. If you insist on talking Latin, 

it is not unreasonable to hold you to at least 

an elementary knowledge of it. 

While some women’s colleges may stress 

their femininity by referring to their Alumnae 

Guest House or Alumnae Magazine, alumni is 

the usual plural in combinations (Alumni Day, 

alumni trustees, alumni banquet). 

When women were first admitted to American 

colleges there was a great to-do about 

their degrees. Logicians and feminists agreed 

that girls could not be bachelors of arts or of 

science and it was proposed, at various times 

and places, that they should be called Maids 

of Philosophy, Laureates of Science, or Vestals 

of Arts. But, as it so often does in linguistic 

matters, usage triumphed over logic and every 

year thousands of young ladies become bachelors 

of arts and of science without anyone 

thinking them a whit less feminine for doing 

so. 

always; all ways. Always is an adverb meaning 

all the time, perpetually, uninterruptedly (1’11 

be loving you, always. There’ll always be an 

England. The faucet always drips that way; 

we can’t turn it clear off) or every time, as 

opposed to occasionally or sometimes (He 

always takes the biggest share. He always 

leaves the house by six o’clock). 

At one time there was a word alway, but 

this is now archaic and confined to poetry. 

Both words are used in the King James Bible, 

and with the same meaning, as in ye have the 

poor with you always and I am with you alway, 

even unto the end of the world. 

All ways means all possible ways (All ways 

to cure him have been tried). 

am. See be. 

a.m.; p.m. A.M. (also a.m. and A.M.), in its 

commonest meaning is an abbreviation of 

ante meridiem, before noon. Nine a.m. is correct. 

Nine a.m. in the morning is redundant. 

Nine o’clock a.m. is overworded. To say 

I’ll see you in the a.m. is dreary jocosity. 

P.M. (also p.m. and P.M.), is an abbreviation 

of post meridiem, after noon. All the above 

comments on A.M. apply also to P.M. 

Sometimes, in writing the phrase out, meridian 

is written for meridiem. This is an understandable 

blunder, since meridian also means 

midday and post meridian means after noon.

But blunder it is, even though it will pass uanoticed 

by most readers. 

amanuensis. The plural is amanuenses. 

amateur; novice. An amateur is one who t.akes 

an interest in something, usually in an art or 

sport, for the pure love of it. The gentlemen 

amateurs in the early days of boxing were not 

necessarily practicers of the “manly art” themselves, 

but its patrons and spectators. Today the 

word implies an interest sufficiently strong to 

include some participation. There is about it 

a faint flavor of bungling and a strong flavor 

of enthusiasm. It is often used in condescension 

and derogation (Zt was not Eikely that an 

amateur . . . should convict these astronomers 

of gross ignorance). 

A novice is a beginner, whether professional 

or amateur. A man may be a novice at his 

trade or at a game, if he is only mastering 

the rudiments. In ecclesiastical usage novice 

has the special meaning of one who is on 

probation or under training. 

Amateur in American usage has a rather 

specialized application to sports, where: it 

means an athlete who has never competed for 

money. When such an athlete does receive 

money, he is said to have lost his amateur 

standing. 

amatory; amorous; loving; lovable; adorable. 

Amatory and amorous have a more frankly 

sexual connotation than loving. Aphrodisiacs 

have been called amorous medicines, ama,tory 

fascinations, and amatories. An amatory glance 

is not the same thing as a loving look. IPerhaps 

it is due to an association of amorous 

with the French amour (everything French is 

“sexy” in the popular imagination) or, perhaps, 

to its frequent riming, in popular song, 

with glamorous [q.v.]. 

Loving is chaste as an adjective (I will make 

him a true and loving wife) but concupiscent 

as a noun in popular usage (I need loving, 

that’s what Z need!). 

Lovable is almost entirely divorced from 

direct sexual connotation and, synonymous 

with amiable and winning, is reserved for the 

elderly, the charming, and the whimsical (The 

humorous pity that is so lovable a quality in 

Chaucer). The amatory synonym, in popular 

parlance, is adorable; though the sexual meaning 

is lacking, at least at the conscious level, 

when the word is applied to children, especially-as 

it so often is-to little girls. It may 

then be considered as the superlative of cute. 

Purists who insist that words must mean 

“what they say” and refuse to accept the fact 

that usage changes their meanings, should ask 

themselves whether adorable which was applied 

exclusively to religious meanings so recently 

that the Oxford English Dictionary 

recognizes no other applications of it could 

now be applied to God, in America, without 

moving the devout to uneasiness and the irreverent 

to levity? 

amaze; surprise; astonish; startle; dumbfound. 

To be amazed is, literally, to be lost in a maze, 

29 ambiguity 

to be bewildered, overwhelmed, confused, 

stunned. A writer in 1586 said of a woman 

that she struck her head so hard against a wall 

that she fell down amazed. To be surprised is 

to be come upon unexpectedly, to be taken 

unawares (. . . the surprise and combustion of 

Troy). To be astonished is, literally, to be 

changed to stone, as if one had seen Medusa. 

There is an Elizabethan reference to certain 

medicinal waters that have the power to revive 

the astonished and benumbed parts of the body 

and another to those sick who lie apoplectical 

and astonished. To be startled is to be so taken 

by surprise as to make an involuntary start or 

sudden movement (After the first startle she 

stood still). To be dumbfounded is to be 

stricken dumb with amazement. The word 

seems to have been coined as a blend of dumb 

and confound. But the -found in dumbfound 

has no meaning; it is purely fantastic, like the 

-mufin in ragamuffin. 

Words do not, of course, always keep their 

literal original meanings, but these particular 

words keep enough of theirs to make the 

careful writer, one who wishes to express the 

exact shade of his meaning, choose among 

them and not use them indiscriminately. There 

is an apocryphal story told about Dr. Samuel 

Johnson, the wit and lexicographer, which, 

while it gives an erroneous picture of him, 

illustrates the essential difference in meaning 

between at least two of these words. The story 

is that Johnson’s wife came unexpectedly upon 

him kissing the maid and exclaimed, “I am 

surprised!” “No, Madam,” he is reputed to 

have answered, “I am surprised; you are 

astonished.” 

ambiguity. The English language, with its immense 

vocabulary, its paucity of inflections, its 

thousands of homonyms, its flexible grammar 

and loose syntax, offers endless danger of (or 

opportunity for) ambiguity. Ours is a language 

in which almost every statement must be 

watched lest it be open to another interpretation 

than the intended or the seeming one. 

Unintentional ambiguity, of course, has 

nothing to commend it. It only baffles the 

reader or listener and leads to endless confusion 

and irritation or even disaster. Sometimes 

the ambiguity resides in a single word. 

When we are told, for example, that Newtonian 

science makes us grasp only certain connections 

in nature, are we to understand certain 

as meaning “unquestionable” or “selected”? 

More often the ambiguity emerges from a 

whole construction. The biggest offender in 

this respect in common speech and writing is 

the pronoun in indirect discourse. In such a 

sentence as “He told his brother that he had 

been talking too much,” the whole meaning 

is dependent upon the antecedent of the second 

“he” and the antecedent is not clear. Pronouns, 

as a group, are probably responsible for more 

unintentional ambiguity than any other part 

of speech. Were our pronouns inflected, most 

of this would disappear. But since they are

ambiguous 30 

not, one of the cardinal requirements for clarity 

in English speech is to make sure that the 

antecedents of all pronouns are clearly perceived. 

A great charitable foundation which must 

solicit millions of dollars from the public in 

order to carry out its work among those 

afllicted with infantile paralysis had as its 

slogan at the time of its drive a few years ago 

the sentence “You’ll never walk alone” under 

the picture of a child with leg braces and 

other supports. The meaning was that a child 

so afflicted need not be in despair; he would 

always have the foundation beside him in his 

difficult years ahead. But the sentence could 

also mean “You will never again walk unaided 

by braces,” a thought, especially when backed 

by the prestige of the foundation, that must 

have reduced many sufferers to pitiable despondency, 

thus doing the very opposite of what 

it was intended to do. 

Other sources of ambiguity are dangling 

modifiers and participles (After graduating 

from high school my father gave me a job 

selling cars), misplaced modifiers (I said when 

the short subject was over Z would leave the 

theater) and incomplete comparisons. The assertionl 

like Joe us well as Jack could mean 

Z like Joe as well as Jack likes Joe or Z like 

Joe as well as Z like Jack or Z like Jack and 

Joe. 

Intentional ambiguity, the deliberate wording 

of a statement in such a way that two or 

more meanings may be drawn from it, has its 

literary and practical uses. Literary ambiguity 

serves to give extension to meaning, to open 

up several avenues of thought for the mind to 

explore, to give overtones to writing in the 

same way that symbols do. Like symbols, 

literary ambiguity makes the reader a creative 

partner of the writer rather than a mere passive 

receptor. 

Practical ambiguity, by blurring meaning, 

serves diplomacy and humor. In serious use its 

intent is to evade, to avoid commitment; hence 

it is often found in political, diplomatic, advertising, 

professional and official language. It 

sometimes enables the speaker to speak the 

truth while allowing the listener to deduce a 

falsehood. More often it enables the speaker 

to avoid responsibility for his words by insisting 

that the meaning accepted was not the one 

intended. 

The master of diplomatic ambiguity, setting 

a standard that has never been raised (or 

lowered), was the Oracle at Delphi. Some of 

its famous utterances-as Pyrrhus the Romans 

shall, Z say, subdue-have never been improved 

on. Either side could take such a prediction 

as favorable and the oracle could 

always be wise after the event and side with 

the winner. Coolidge. up to the point of siding 

with the winner, was in the Delphic tradition 

with his Z do not choose to run. 

Every profession has its own cliches of 

evasion which the layman is expected to take 

at face value. Such diagnoses as “upper respir- 

atory infection” for a cold or “gastro-enteritis’* 

for a stomach ache pacify the patient with 

polysyllables and leave the doctor uncommitted. 

A successful Chicago physician used 

to reassure patients who were worried about 

their hearts: Your heart will last as long as 

you will. One of the spiritual oracles of our 

day, in his syndicated column, informed his 

readers that all nervous troubles “not organic 

or functional” were due to a lack of faith. 

Anyone who has to evaluate another’s work 

or behavior and make a public report of his 

evaluation-as in work reports, book reviews, 

students’ report cards-must practice ambiguity 

to a certain extent in order to preserve the 

peace. To say, for instance, that a child is 

“not over-aggressive in the group” may avoid 

an argument with both the principal and the 

parent. 

Ambiguity serves modesty. It serves to avoid 

a conflict of official position with personal 

conviction. And it permits ignorance to hide 

itself in vagueness. 

Any pronouncement of policy or procedure 

that emanates from an official source-governmental 

or private-is likely to suffer in 

clarity from having passed through many 

revising hands. Generally, no one wants or is 

able to take full or specific responsibility, and 

no one wants to make it so rigid as to prevent 

adaptation to circumstances as yet unknown 

or unforeseen. Typically, the result is qualification 

piled on qualification, evasion under 

evasion, and the meaning faint and obscure. 

For humor, ambiguity is the favorite resource 

of the wisecracker. When asked whether 

she had had anything on when the picture 

was taken, Miss Monroe replied, “The radio.” 

ambiguous and equivocal both mean having 

different meanings equally possible, susceptible 

of a double interpretation. The difference between 

them is that in equivocal the deception 

possible in the confusion of a double meaning 

is intentional. In ambiguous the deception may 

or may not be intentional. Equivocation is a 

word of strong condemnation; it means not 

only a lie but a carefully worded and, at the 

same time, a cowardly lie. 

amend; emend. Amend means to alter for the 

better (Do thou amend thy face, Falstaff says 

to the red-nosed Bardolph, and 1’11 amend my 

life). Its commonest current usage is a specialized 

meaning of altering a motion or bill or 

the Constitution by due legal and parliamentary 

procedure. Such amendments are presumably 

alterations for the better but since, 

in most cases, this presumption is disputed by 

those who oppose the amendment, the word 

to many people has come to mean merely to 

change. Certainly the Eighteenth and the 

Twenty-first Amendments to the Constitution 

of the United States cannot both be improvements 

since one nullifies the other. 

Emend was once only another spelling of 

amend but it has become specialized and now 

means to amend a text by removing errors 

(Theobald’s substitution of “a’ babbled of

green fields” for the First Folio’s “a Table of 

greene fields,” in Henry V, II. iii. 17-18, is 

probably the most brilliant emendation in our 

language). 

amends, meaning reparation for an injury, may 

be treated as a singular, as in a full amends 

was made and every possible amends has been 

made, or as a plural, as in these amends were 

due us but he was in no hurry to make them. 

Both of these constructions are standard English. 

But the word is not a true plural and 

we cannot speak of several amends. A singular 

form amend was once in use, as in a full 

amend was made. This is now obsolete or 

nonstandard. 

America; The United States of America. It does 

seem a little hard on Canada and all the other 

countries that comprise the Western Hemisphere 

for the United States of America to be 

called America, as if it were all. But, if it’s 

any comfort to those who resent it, the usage 

is founded on a lazy disinclination to pronounce 

the longer name rather than arrogance 

and it has no official sanction. Dominant countries 

have always either taken over the name 

of an entire region or imposed their own names 

on the regions around them. Nothing can be 

done about it and it’s silly to complain. After 

all, it can never equal the original injustice 

of calling two whole continents after Amerigo 

Vespucci. 

amiable; amicable. People are usually spoken of 

as amiable; attitudes, dispositions, arrangements 

and settlements as amicable (An amiable 

man is usually willing to make an amicable 

settlement). An amiable person is sweet tempered, 

kind, gentle, thoughtful of others.. He 

differs from a lovable person in that he does 

not so much invite as give affection. An 

amicable settlement usually means no more 

than a peaceful one: the parties need not be 

amiably disposed towards each other; it is 

enough that they are not in open conflict. 

amid; amidst. Both forms are acceptable, but 

both are bookish. In the United States lzmid 

is considered a little less bookish than amidst. 

In Great Britain it is the other way around 

and amidst is considered the more natural 

word of the two. See also among. 

ammunition. See munitions. 

amoeba. The plural is amoebas or amoebae. 

amok. See amuck. 

among; amongst. Both forms are acceptable. 

Among is the preferred form in the United 

States, where amongst is often considered 

“over-refined.” But amongst is also correct and 

is tbe preferred form in England. 

Among is related to the word mingle. It 

means, roughly, in the midst of or surrounded 

by, and implies a group. It therefore cannot be 

used in speaking of only two objects, as the word 

between can. But nor can it be used in speaking 

of three or more objects unless these are 

thought of as a group. Between must be used 

if we want to suggest a relation or a difference 

between individuals, no matter how 

31 ample 

English Dictionary says: “Between has been 

from its earliest appearance extended to more 

than two. . . . It is still the only word available 

to express the relation of a thing to 

many surrounding things severally and individually; 

among expressing a relation to them 

collectively [as a group] and vaguely.” That 

is, we may say the house stood among the 

trees but we cannot define a triangle as the 

space lying among three points; we may say 

he sat among the candidates but we cannot say 

he must choose among six candidates. We 

speak of a treaty between three nations because 

each nation is bound individually to 

each of the others. We say the five diplomats 

settled the question between them in order to 

emphasize the fact that each member of the 

group agreed individually with each of the 

others. On the other hand, if we say the three 

men had $30 among them, we are treating the 

three men as a group and leaving the possibility 

open that one man had $30 and the 

other two had nothing at all. 

Among cannot be followed by a subjective 

pronoun or any word or group of words that 

is obviously singular. However, it is sometimes 

followed by each other or one another where 

literary English requires themselves or ourselves, 

as in they agreed among each other. 

This is not at present acceptable in written 

English. 

Although among and amid are sometimes 

used interchangeably, among is more likely to 

mean surrounded by or in relation to many 

things and is followed by a plural word 

(among friends). Amid, strictly, describes a 

middle position between two other things or 

groups of things and hence is followed by a 

singular word (Amid the confusion, he stood 

calm). 

amoral. See immoral. 

amorous. See amatory. 

amount; number. Amount means bulk, sum 

total, aggregate, quantity (The sheer amount 

of rubble was appalling. The amount of 2 

and 2 is 4. The amount of resistance he met 

astonished him). In accounting it has the 

special meaning of the sum of the principal 

and interest of a loan (What is the full 

amount I owe you?) which has led to its being 

used as a synonym for total. 

Number (in such uses as are likely to be 

confused with amount) applies to separable 

units (There were a great number of bricks in 

the street. There was a vast amount of debris 

in the street). 

ampersand. The ampersand is the character &. 

It should be used only in the writina of business 

addresses which- include it (if a firm 

calls itself Smith & Jones, it should be so 

addressed; if it calls itself Smith and Jones, 

the ampersand should not be used), in formulas, 

and so on. The ampersand should not 

be used for and in ordinary writing. 

ample; enough. That is enough which is adequate 

or sufficient to the need (There is enough 

many individuals are involved. The Oxford treason mere to hang a dozen men). That

ample 3 2 

which is ample is more than enough, enough 

and to spare (But Knowledge to their eyes her 

ample page/Rich with the spoils of time did 

ne’er unroll). But since more than enough 

must include enough, and since what constitutes 

enough is often disputable and temperaments 

differ in their estimates, one cannot 

quarrel with those bold souls who make 

enough synonymous with ample or those timid 

souls who make ample synonymous with 

enough. Any qualifying of ample, however, 

such as barely ample, is absurd. 

Fowler insists that ample, when used attributively 

in the sense of plenty of, must be 

confined to nouns denoting immaterial or 

abstract things. Careful writers and precise 

thinkers would do well to heed his delicate and 

discerning distinctions, but the common man 

will be safe from all but philosophic grammarians 

if he merely remembers that ample 

is more than enough. 

For all practical purposes abundance would 

be a satisfactory synonym for ample and suficient 

for enough. 

amnle onnortunitv has become a cliche. Usuallv 

- _^ 

opportunity or opportunities will suffice. 

amuck; amok. The Malayans have a special 

nervous malady that induces, or a special social 

custom that sanctions, wild fits of murderous 

frenzy. Those who are subject to these dangerous 

seizures are said, when the fit is upon 

them, to be amoq, furious. The word came 

into English in various spellings as early as 

the 16th century and finally settled down, in 

the 17th century, as amuck, especially in the 

phrase to run amuck which was used to describe 

someone having an uninhibited tantrum 

or rushing headlong into some injudicious 

course of action. 

In recent times, when Conrad and Somerset 

Maugham had made us conscious of Malaya, 

those in the know preferred the spelling amok. 

There’s no law against it, but it’s pretentious 

and invites an embarrassing probe of the user’s 

knowledge of Malayan. 

an. See a. 

anabasis. The plural is anabases. 

anacoluthon is a term in rhetoric and grammar 

for a construction involving a break in grammatical 

sequence. Usually it is the product of 

ignorance or haste or confusion, but it may be 

employed as a rhetorical device when the 

author wants to suggest that the emotion of 

the speaker is so great that he cannot wait to 

finish the sentence he began (as in Milton’s 

If thou beest he-But, 0, how fall’n! how 

changedl) . 

A famous example of anacoluthon in the 

King James Version of Luke 5:14-And he 

charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew 

thyself to the priest-is rectified in the Revised 

Standard Version by the insertion of quotation 

marks: And he charged him to tell no one; 

but “go and show yourself to the priest.” 

analogous. See similar. 

analysis. The plural is analyses. 

- 

analyst; annalist. An analyst is one who analyzes 

(Mr. Russell Lynes, our analyst of taste), a 

chemist or mathematician, or, more recently, 

a psychoanalyst (As an analyst Dr. Horney’s 

views were not always strictly Freudian). An 

annalist is a historian, or one who writes 

annals, events year by year in chronological 

order (The pedantic historian can easily sink 

into the annalist). 

anaphora is a term in rhetoric for a repetition 

of the same word or words at the beginning of 

two or more successive verses, clauses, or 

sentences. It is a common device in oratory 

and much used in the Bible (Where is the 

wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer 

of this world?) but it should be employed, 

particularly in political speeches, with great 

care. One repetition too many and the audience 

may laugh and there is always the danger 

that some quick-witted, irreverent wag will 

shout out a ludicrous answer. 

anastrophe is a term in rhetoric or grammar 

designating a reversal of the usual order of 

words (Came the dawn for The dawn came). 

It was once much employed by poets but is 

now definitely out of fashion among good 

writers, though writers of popular romances 

are addicted to it under the impression, apparently, 

that it gives their work a fine archaic 

flavor. 

anathema. The plural is anathemasor anathemata, 

not anathemae. 

ancestor; ancestress. Our ancestors include our 

ancestresses. If we attribute some saying to 

our ancestors or speak poetically of one who 

sleeps among his ancestors, there is no implied 

differentiation of male from female. An 

ancestress is just as much an ancestor as a 

male forebear. But if for some reason one 

wishes to indicate that a particular ancestor 

was a woman, ancestress is useful. Thus when 

Sir Arthur Helps in his Social Pressure said 

that The ladies of the present day . . . sufler 

[tolerate] much more waste in their households 

than their ancestresses did, the word permits 

him to make it plain that he is referring to 

extravagance wholly within the province and 

control of the lady of the house. 

ancient. See old. 

and is a conjunction and is used to connect 

words or groups of words that are grammatically 

alike, as he and I, him and me, coming 

and going. The subject of a verb is sometimes 

made up of words connected by and. When 

these represent more than one person or thing 

the verb is plural, as in love and hate are 

strong. When they represent the same thing 

the verb is singular, as in my friend and advisor 

is dead. Between these two examples is 

a large middle ground where the verb may be 

singular or plural according to the intention of 

the speaker, as in the grouping of the horses, 

and the beauty, correctness, and energy of 

their delineation, is remarkable. See agreement: 

verbs. 

In certain constructions, and may be used

in place of to after come, go, run, and try. 

(For a fuller discussion of this, see the individual 

verbs.) In the United States it is 

occasionally used in this way with other verbs, 

as in be sure and cask, take care and see he 

gets it, remember and tell me. These forms are 

acceptable English in this country. 

Good and is sometimes used as an intensifier, 

as in I’m good and tired, it’s good and 

cold out. The construction is condemned by 

some grammarians but is acceptable spoken 

English in the United States. Nice and is used 

in much the same way, except that it .always 

implies approval, as in nice and cold. This is 

not similarly condemned because it is always 

possible to believe that the words are meant 

separately and independently, and that the 

speaker might equally well have said cold and 

nice. 

And could once be used with the sense of if, 

as in 1’11 speak to them and they were Popes. 

Today, and is only used in this way as a 

deliberate archaism and when it is, it is usually 

spelled an. 

and how! To agree has always been the most 

obvious way of being agreeable. But the line 

between affability and servility is fine. The 

“yes man” is something worse than merely 

agreeable. 

American energy and love of exaggeration 

demand something more than agreement. The 

listener must express not only assent to our 

wisdom but amazement at it. He must seize 

the speaker’s assertion and push it forward, 

implying that the other is far too modelst and 

reserved in his utterances. And so we: hear 

You can say that again! and And how! 

The fault in the use of such phrases is not 

grammatical but moral. Those who use them 

do not need dictionaries so much as clean 

hands and pure hearts. 

and/or. This word form is very popular today. 

It is seen in the most respectable places and 

is therefore acceptable current English. But it 

should be recognized that and/or is a legalism, 

equivalent to each and every, all and sundry, 

that it is commonly used in non-legal English 

where the simple word or would carry exactly 

the same meaning, and that when it is; used 

in this way it is verbiage and not evidence of 

the precise thinker. 

In most sentences the meaning of two words 

joined by or includes the meaning of those: same 

two words joined by and. For example, almost 

anything we say about people who read French 

or German is also true of people who read 

French and German, since anyone who reads 

both languages also reads one of them. Similarly, 

when we say he does not read French or 

German we have also said that he does not 

read French and German. The use of and/or 

in sentences of this kind adds nothing but 

confusion. 

Sometimes the physical facts themselves are 

exclusive and prevent or from carrying the 

meaning of and, as in up or down, dead or 

33 anomalous 

alive. Sometimes the facts are not exclusive 

but we want to limit the choice to one. At 

present we show this by saying “one or the 

other but not both.” It is practically never 

necessary to point out that or includes and, 

but it often is necessary to point out that or 

does not include nnd. We can’t accomplish 

this by using and/or in some other situation. 

Perhaps it would help if we took to writing 

students may elect French or/notand German! 

anent. Except in a highly restricted legal sense, 

anent is archaic and had better be left in the 

oblivion to which time has consigned it. Those 

who use it as a synonym for about or concerning 

(in such sentences as Anent the real 

power of the faculty, there can be little doubt; 

it doesn’t exist) display a stiffness, a selfconsciousness, 

and a pompousness that reflect 

on the sincerity of what they have to say. 

angle is a standard term for point of view in 

American usage, but it is woefully strained 

and abused when used, as it so often is in 

journalism, to mean interpretation or even 

oficial position (as in O.K., what’s the angle? 

What are we supposed to say?). Purists, tilting 

at a geometrical windmill in the hopes of 

stopping a grammatical error, have complained 

that you cannot approach anything from an 

angle (as in Yes, but you’ve got to approach 

it from his angle), that you have to approach 

at an angle. But this is a futile plaint. The 

term may be killed by its own excesses. Sir 

Ernest Gowers quotes a matter of personal 

angularity for point of view. 

Anglo-Indian. See mulatto. 

angry. See mad. 

animalculum. The plural is animalcula. Animalcula 

is sometimes treated as a singular and 

given a new plural form animalculae. This 

won’t do. A singular animalcula with a regular 

plural animalculas would make good English. 

But when the word carries the learned ending 

ae it has to be condemned as bad Latin. 

annalist. See analyst. 

annoy. See aggravate. 

anomalous; irregular; defective. That which is 

anomalous deviates from the ordinary rule, 

type, or form. It is irregular and does not 

conform to fixed principles or established procedures. 

An amusing instance of the use of 

the word, amusing in the extremity of its correctness, 

was Sir Thomas Browne’s statement 

in his Pseudodoxia Epidemica that Eve anomalously 

proceeded from Adam. 

To the formalist all irregularity is a fault 

but there are many, less strict, to whom some 

anomalies are virtues. But that which is dejective 

must in all vocabularies be imperfect. 

Anomalous vision might mean eyesight of unusual 

acuity, but defective vision can only 

mean faulty and imperfect vision. 

Anomalous is sometimes confused with 

anonymous, but this is simply a blunder of 

ignorance, a malapropism so glaring that 

humanity dictates that one pretend not to have 

heard it. Anonymous means nameless. Of

answer 34 

course an anonymous work can be anomalous. 

The Tale of a Tub was. 

answer; reply; rejoinder; response; retort; riposte. 

Answer and reply, the everyday words, are 

almost synonymous. A rejoinder is an answer 

to a reply and since tempers are likely to rise 

when answers begin to be bandied there is in 

rejoinder often the suggestion of incisiveness. 

Retort has a definite connotation of retaliation. 

It is cutting, severe, witty, a definite counter 

to a statement or argument. 

A riposte is a quick thrust in fencing, given 

after parrying a lunge, and its application to 

a maneuver in conversation frankly acknowledges 

the encounter to be a duel. However, 

the fact that it is not an English word, the fact 

that it is drawn from a sport (for Englishspeaking 

people have not taken dueling seriously 

for more than a hundred years), and 

perhaps the fact that most people do not think 

of conversation as a contest, gives a riposte 

the meaning of a studiedly clever but not very 

crushing retort. Repartee, also a term from 

fencing, implies an even lighter answer, though 

a witty one. 

antagonist; opponent; adversary. An opponent is 

one who opposes, who takes the opposite side, 

usually in a controversy or a debate (My distinguished 

opponent, whom I regret to see 

among his present associates . . .). An antagonist, 

in the strict sense, is one who opposes 

in a physical struggle (He that wrestles with 

us . . . our antagonist . . .). It is not always 

restricted to its strict sense but in extension it 

carries with it the suggestion of opposition in 

a hostile spirit, often in a particular contest or 

struggle (But at lust in Johnson, Macpherson 

found a formidable antagonist). The desire of 

journalists to heighten the drama of everyday 

events and, especially, to add to the tension 

and resentment of every disagreement has led 

to the abuse of antagonist. It is too often used 

as a mere synonym for opponent. See also 

protagonist. 

Adversary suggests an enemy who fights 

determinedly and continuously and relentlessly 

(Satan, adversary of God and man). 

antagonize; oppose. Though to antagonize can 

mean to oppose (The Democrats are resolved 

to antagonize this and all other bills . . .), 

this meaning is now rare and it has come, 

particularly in America, to mean to cause to 

oppose, to arouse hostility in (The passage of 

the bill is certain to antagonize the labor 

unions). It is something more, too. Those who 

are antagonized are not only aroused to opposition 

but are made irritable and resentful. To 

be so affected is, perhaps, in all but the most 

philosophic, an inescapable concomitant of 

being opposed and this suggestion in the word 

illustrates nicely the manner in which words 

acquire added shades of meaning. 

ante-; anti-. Ante- means before, either in place 

or time. An antechamber is a small room that 

comes before a large one. Antediluvian times 

were times before the Flood and antebellum 

means before the war. (In American usage 

antebellum means almost exclusively the decades 

immediately preceding the Civil War and, 

for some reason, is applied chiefly to the 

South.) 

Anti- means opposed to. An antitoxin opposes 

the effect of a toxin or poison. An 

anticlimax opposes the effect of a climax. 

Anticipate is an exception. Here anti- equals 

ante-. It is simply an established variant in 

spelling. 

antecedent. When used as a grammatical term 

antecedent means the word or group of words 

referred to by a pronoun. It does not necessarily 

come before the pronoun and it may 

not be mentioned at all. For example, leaf is 

the antecedent of its in the one red leaf, the 

last of its clan. But mastiff is the antecedent 

of her in outside her kennel the mastifl old 

lay fast asleep, and the antecedent of what in 

what can ail the mastiff bitch? is unknown. 

Under some circumstances certain pronouns 

cannot be used without an antecedent which 

actually precedes them. These words are said 

to “carry back” or to be “anaphoric.” For example, 

them, some, any, are anaphoric when 

they do not refer to human beings. Anaphoric 

pronouns must be handled carefully. In a carelessly 

constructed sentence they sometimes pick 

up an antecedent that was not intended. In 

the figure of speech he put his foot in it, the 

pronoun it has a general or indefinite reference. 

But in everytime he opens his mouth he 

puts his foot in it, the it suddenly becomes 

anaphoric and carries back to mouth. 

A pronoun is said to agree with its antecedent 

in number. That is, the pronoun should 

be singular if the antecedent is singular and 

plural if the antecedent is plural. In English, 

the number of the pronoun depends on the 

meaning of the antecedent more than on its 

strict grammatical form. See indefinite pronouns 

and agreement: verbs. 

antelope. The plural is antelopes or antelope. 

antenna. The plural is antennas or antennae. In 

speaking of radios, antennas is the only plural 

form used. In speaking of insects, either form 

may be used but antennae is generally preferred. 

antepenult. The antepenult (a shortened form of 

antepenultima) is the last syllable but two in 

a word, as syl in monosyllable. See penult. 

anticipate; expect; hope; await. Anticipate, in its 

strictest sense, meant to seize or take possession 

of beforehand. (The Oxford English Dictionary 

quotes, under the date of 1623, a soldier who 

feared that his enemy might anticipate the tops 

of the mountains and hence have him at a 

disadvantage.) From this sense it was a natural 

development to conceive of emotions, whether 

pleasant or unpleasant, being experienced 

before the event, so that one could, in anticipation, 

foretaste experiences (Some lives do 

actually anticipate the happiness of heaven). 

To expect means to believe that something 

will occur. The greatness of Nelson’s famous

signal, England expects every man to do his 

duty, lay in the calm assurance that the duty 

would be done. Expect, especially when spoken 

with shrill emphasis by harassed parents or 

executives uncertain of their authority, meaning 

require or order (I expect this to be done 

by the time I get back!) is a weak bluster 

word, for the emphasis belies the assurance 

which is the word’s strength. To anticipate 

means to look forward eagerly to the event, to 

picture it in the mind’s eye, to seize in 

advance, as it were, the experience to come. So 

that to make anticipate merely a synonym of 

expect is to deprive it of much of its meaning. 

This has already been done in American usage 

to such an extent that it can hardly be regarded 

as a serious fault. But enough of distinct 

meanings remains for the discriminating writer 

to prefer one to the other. 

TO hope is to wish that some favo:rable 

event will take place, with some expectation 

that it will. When Swift, in his dreadful last 

years, on parting from a friend, said quietly 

I hope we may never meet again, the anguish 

of his pessimism and the depth of his weariness 

with life were brilliantly expressed by 

thrusting hope with all its common conmotations 

into this unexpected context. 

To await simply means to be prepared to 

accept something when it comes (We await 

your reply). One hopes for good. One awaits 

good or evil. 

anticlimax. The word climax derives from a 

Greek word for ladder. In rhetoric it signifies 

a figure in which the meaning rises in a series 

of images each of which exceeds the one before 

it in dignity, splendor, or passion. In popular 

use the word means the last step in a rising 

series, the point of highest development, though 

in the eternal search for more superlative superlatives 

that marks popular speech and 

writing, capping the climax has come to mean 

much what climaxing meant. 

An anticlimax is that which is opposed (in 

spirit or by its nature) to a climax. It opposes, 

that is, the climactic effect which the climax 

sought to achieve. Since an anticlimax must 

come after the climax (otherwise the climax 

would be the climax still, though possibly impaired), 

it consists of a ludicrous descent when 

the rhythm or the sense or the development 

of the action leads the listener or the reader 

to expect a continued ascent. 

Of course, whether something is a climax 

or an anticlimax depends on the values of the 

one who judges it. Thus when an enthusiastic 

Scotch bard apostrophized one Dalhousie, a 

warrior, as the great God of War,/ Lieutenant- 

Colonel to the Earl of Mar, the order of titles 

seems to one unfamiliar with the Earl of Mar 

to be improper. But by standards of Scottish 

loyalty it may not be. When Hugh Kingsmill, 

after commenting unfavorably on a poem of 

Joseph Cottle’s, said that Cottle’s other works 

are three epic poems and a new kin(d of 

blacking, the anticlimax was intentional and 

35 antonomasia 

meant to drag the luckless bookseller-author 

down with it. Fowler cites I Kings, 15:23, as 

an example of anticlimax: The rest of all fhe 

acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he 

did, and the cities which he built, are they not 

written in the book of the chronicles of the 

Kings of Judah? Nevertheless in the time of 

his old age he was diseased in his feet. But 

Asa’s sore feet were a matter of great interest 

to the various historians of the Old Testament. 

He is never mentioned without a reference to 

them. And it may have been that the allusion 

to them was meant as an anticlimax, a humbling 

of his greatness. 

One of the most-quoted anticlimaxes in 

English literature is the conclusion of Enoch 

Arden: So past the strong heroic soul away./ 

And when they buried him, the little port/ 

Had seldom seen a costlier funeral. Well, the 

Victorians attached great importance to funeral 

expenses. 

antithesis (the plural is antitheses) is a term in 

rhetoric for setting contrasting phrases opposite 

to each other for emphasis (as Bacon’s Crafty 

men contemn studies: simple men admire them; 

and wise men use them or Dryden’s description 

of a parsimonious zealot: Cold was his kitchen, 

but his h&ad was hot). The great master of 

antithesis (as of almost every other rhetorical 

device) in English is Alexander Pope. And 

perhaps his most effective use of it is in his 

description of the affected and effeminate but 

brilliant and in many ways attractive Lord 

Hervey: Amphibious thing! that acting either 

part,/ The trifling head, or the corrupted 

heart;/ Fop at the toilet, flatterer at the board,/ 

Now trips a lady, and now struts a lord./ . . . 

Beauty that shocks you, parts that none will 

trust,/ Wit that can creep, and pride that licks 

the dust. 

The virtuosity of the lines lies in the startling 

contrasts of the juxtaposed phrases, but their 

transcendent art lies in the fact that they are 

used to describe one who (in Pope’s estimation) 

was himself one vile antithesis. 

antonomasia means a “calling instead.” It consists 

of using an epithet or appellative other 

than his personal name to identify an individual, 

or of using a proper name to identify 

an individual with a certain class of persons. 

An example of the first sort of antonomasia 

is the use of a title instead of person’s name: 

“his grace” for a duke; “the reverend” for a 

clergyman (colloq.); “his nibs” for an important 

person (slang). There has been quite 

a vogue for antonomasia of this kind in 

twentieth century America. Clara Bow was “the 

It girl,” John Barrymore “The Profile,” Frank 

Sinatra “The Voice,” Marie McDonald “The 

Body” and Stan Musial “The Man.” In highland 

Scotland the male head of the house has 

been “himself” for centuries. 

Of the second form, the substitution of a 

personal name as an epithet, many examples 

are in current use. F. Scott Fitzgerald recalls 

a familiar one in The Great Gatsby when he

antonym 3 6 

has the owl-eyed man describe Gatsby as an 

impresario because he has real books in his 

librarv: This fella’s a regular Belasco. Even 

the most illiterate are likely to know that a 

Jonah brings bad luck, a Scrooge is a tightwad, 

a Shylock an extortionate usurer, a Solomon a 

wise man, a Barney Oldfield a fast driver, an 

Einstein a scientific genius, an Adonis a handsome 

young man, a Romeo a romantic young 

lover, a Casanova or a Don Juan a ladykiller, 

a Mentor a teacher or adviser, a Micawber an 

incurable optimist, a Hercules a strong man. 

Very few women’s names have acquired 

symbolic or generic stature. A Bernhardt, to 

describe an actress, is one of the very few. 

American literature has contributed surprisingly 

few names to describe a general characteristic. 

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom is 

one, though Mrs. Stowe would be aghast to 

learn that it is now an epithet of contempt. 

Perhaps the best known is Sinclair Lewis’s 

Babbitt. Faulkner’s Snopes, for a rising 

Southern poor white, and Sartoris, for a declining 

Southern gentleman, deserve currency. 

antonym. An antonym is a word opposed in 

meaning to another. Good is the antonym of 

bad, hot of cold. Antonym is the antonym of 

synonym. 

anxious; eager. One who is anxious is full of 

anxiety, troubled solicitude, uneasiness (Why 

didn’t you telephone? You knew how anxious, 

how frantic, Z was!) One who is eager is 

ardently desirous (I am eager fo see the check. 

He only said it would be “big”). Originally 

eager meant pungent or sharp (Shakespeare 

refers to condiments as eager compounds that 

urge the palate, and there is the famous reference 

in Hamlet to a nipping and an eager air 

on the icy battlements of Elsinore). An element 

of this sharpness still remains in the 

strictly proper use of eager. The anxious person 

is in a state of suspense. The eager person 

strains in thought towards the coming event. 

The anxious are fearful, the eager hopeful. 

With such fundamental differences in meaning, 

it would not seem likely that the two 

words would ever become synonymous or confused. 

But though eager is never used where 

anxious is meant, anxious is often used for 

eager (The child is anxious to go with you). 

The use has been protested, but protests are 

of little avail against usage and usage has a 

psychological if not a linguistic justication 

here: for all anxietv is eager for relief and all 

eagerness, looking forward, has an element of 

uncertainty, and in all uncertainty there is a 

measure of anxiety. 

any. This word may be used as an adjective 

qualifying a noun, or as a pronoun standing 

in place of a noun. When used as a singular 

it means “one, no matter which.” When used 

as a plural, it means “some, no matter which.” 

As an adjective, it may qualify a singular noun, 

as in any child, or a plural noun, as in any 

children. As a pronoun, it could once be used 

as a singular, as in unseen of any. This is now 

archaic. In current English the pronoun any 

is always treated as a plural, as in if any think 

they are wise. 

With certain limitations, any may also be 

used as an adverb, to qualify words that are 

not nouns. In Great Britain any is acceptable 

before a comparative form, as in any nearer, 

any less true, any the worse for it: before 

too, as in any too much time; and before more, 

as in have you any more money and he doesn’t 

come here any more. In the United States any 

may also be used alone with a verb, as in did 

you sleep any? Here the pronoun any is being 

used instead of the adverbial phrase at all. 

This use of any is comparable to the use of 

everyplace for everywhere and what time for 

when. It is acceptable English in the United 

States. 

Any may be used as an adverb in a 

question, an if clause, or a statement that is 

negative at least by implication, such as I’m 

surprised you come here any more. In literary 

English it cannot be used in a simple affirmative 

statement. In some parts of the United 

States any is used in affirmative statements, 

such as we go there often any more (where 

any more means “now”). This is not standard 

in most parts of the country. 

anybody; anyone. These words are singular and 

take a singular verb, as in has anybody called? 

Since it usually isn’t known whether the 

“anybody” spoken about is a man or a woman, 

forms of the pronoun they are generally preferred 

to forms of he when referring back to 

anybody, as in if anybody calls tell them Z 

have gone. This is less true of anyone. Forms 

of they are used in speaking of anyone, but 

forms of he are also heard frequently. 

anyhow; anyhows. The only acceptable form is 

anyhow. Anyhows is not standard. 

anyone. See anybody. 

anyplace. The use of anyplace as a substitute for 

anywhere, as in Z could not find it anyplace, is 

condemned by many grammarians because the 

noun place is here being used instead of the 

adverb where. This usage is not acceptable in 

Great Britain but it occurs too often in the 

United States, in written as well as in spoken 

English, to be called nonstandard. It is acceptable 

English in this country. 

anytime. In Great Britain the word anytime is 

never used as an adverb, as it is in the sentence 

he will see you anytime, and a preposition is 

required, as in he will see you at any time. But 

the construction without at is standard in the 

United States and can be heard in the most 

impressive offices. 

anyway; anyways; anywise. Both -way forms are 

standard English in such constructions as if 

you are anyway concerned and if they are 

anyways useful. In the United States anyway 

is preferred to anyways. The form anywise is 

also standard English, but it is not often heard 

in this country. 

Some grammarians condemn the use of 

anyway as a connective between sentences, as

in anyway, he didn’t come. Here anyway is 

perhaps short for anyway you look at it. The 

construction is acceptable in spoken English 

and in written English that hopes to capture 

the force and charm of speech. 

anywhere; anywheres. Anywhere is the only acceptable 

form in written English. In the United 

States anywheres is often heard in the speech 

of well educated people, but it does not alppear 

in print. 

Anywhere is often used with an unnecessary 

that, as in anywhere that a mule can go. This 

construction has been in use for a very short 

time but it is accepted English in the United 

States. . 

apartment. In the United States a suite of rooms 

is called an apartment and treated as a singular, 

as in a three-room apartment. In Great 

Britain this use of the word is consildered 

archaic; an apartment there means one room, 

and a suite of rooms is treated as a plural and 

called apartments. If treated as a singular it is 

called a flat. What Americans call an apartment 

hotel is known in England as a block of 

service flats. 

apex. See top, The plural is apices. 

aphis. The plural is aphides, not aphes. A new 

singular, aphid, with a regular plural aphids, 

is in use and is generally preferred to the 

classical aphis, aphides. 

apiece; a piece. apiece means one to each or each 

by itself, as Our cakes are a dollar apiece. A 

piece is a fragment, as Our cake is ten cents 

a piece. 

apocrypha. This word, meaning a collection of 

writings of doubtful authenticity, was originally 

plural but is now regularly treated as a 

singular, as in the apocrypha is not included. 

It has a regular plural, apocryphas, meaning 

more than one such collection. 

When the form apocrypha was used as a 

plural, meaning a number of documents, there 

was a singular form apocryphon, meaning one 

document. This is no longer heard in the 

United States. 

apocryphal means of doubtful authenticity, spurious 

(The apocryphal books of the Bible are 

those not included in the canon). It is used of 

anecdotes and legends which cannot be shown 

to be genuine (The story of his kissing the 

maid is apocryphal). 

apologia. The word is a singular, but is sometimes 

mistaken for a plural. If a plural form 

is used, it should be apologias. 

apology; excuse. An apology implies that one has 

been, at least apparently, in the wrong. It is 

a formal word and expresses the hope of setting 

things right by explaining the circumstanc:es or 

by acknowledging a fault and expressing regret 

for it. There is usually an element of humiliation 

in having to make an apology. 

An excuse is a plea in extenuation of a 

more trivial fault; and where an apology 

accepts guilt and seeks to make reparation, an 

excuse seeks, rather, to shift the blame: and 

repudiate guilt. 

37 apostrophe 

Since excuses and apologies are often farfetched 

and do not always seem sincere to the 

injured, insulted, or inconvenienced person, 

both excuse and apology are used facetiously 

to mean makeshift. When so used they are 

often preceded by poor, shabby, or some other 

derogatory adjective (a poor excuse for a 

house). 

Pardon me is a little stilted when used 

where excuse me would be better. Excuse me 

is simply a polite request to someone to let 

us pass or to overlook some minor, accidental 

breach of etiquette. Pardon me implies that the 

other person has power over our fate and 

has to be besought to forgive us. 

a posteriori. See a priori. 

apostles. See disciples. 

apostrophe. The apostrophe is used primarily to 

show that letters have been omitted, as in 

we’re coming and don’t hurry. Contractions 

such as these represent normal spoken English 

and there is no reason why they should not 

be used in writing. In speech we do not say 

we are coming or do not hurry unless we want 

to make the point emphatic, and the practice 

of not using the contracted form in writing 

sometimes gives the writing a didactic or 

quarrelsome tone. 

An apostrophe is sometimes used in forming 

plurals of figures, letters, and words that are 

not nouns but are being treated as nouns, as 

in the 1920’s, your p’s and q’s, the why’s and 

wherefore’s. Many publishers today omit these 

apostrophes and write the 192Os, the ps and qs, 

the whys and wherefores. 

An apostrophe is also used to show the 

genitive case of nouns, as in the horse’s mouth, 

a snail’s pace, America’s heritage. It is never 

used with a possessive pronoun. An apostrophe 

following a personal pronoun always indicates 

an omitted letter and usually a contracted is 

or are. It’s means it is; who’s means who is; 

they’re means they are; and you’re means you 

are. There is no difference in spoken English 

between the words boys, boy’s, and boys’. Since 

we do not need to hear a difference in these 

words in order to understand what is said, it is 

obvious that we do not need to see a difference 

when the words are written. The apostrophe is 

entirely a printer’s problem and has nothing to 

do with the language itself. It was first used to 

indicate a genitive singular about 1680, and to 

indicate a genitive plural about a hundred years 

later. It is now in the process of disappearing. 

Bernard Shaw helped to speed this by disregarding 

apostrophes in his own writing. In 

using a proper name it is courteous to observe 

the established form, as in Teacher’s College, 

the Court of St. James’s, Harpers Ferry. Otherwise, 

the fewer apostrophes one uses the better. 

If you use an apostrophe where it does not 

belong, it shows that you do not know what you 

are doing. If you omit an apostrophe where one 

is usually expected, it may only prove that you 

admire Bernard Shaw. 

For the formation of genitive singular and

apostrophe 3 

plurals, see genitlve case. For the use of the 

apostrophe in measure terms, see measures. 

apostrophe (rhetoric). As a term in rhetoric 

apostrophe designates a digressive address, the 

interruption of the course of a speech or a 

piece of writing to address some person or 

persons, whether present or absent, real or 

imaginary (At the close of his argument, he 

turned to his client in an affecting apostrophe). 

By extension it is also applied to any abrupt 

interjectional speech. Lear, pleading passionately 

with his daughters that it is not a question 

of his physical needs, interrupts his argument 

with an apostrophe to the gods: But, for true 

need-/ You heavens, give me that patience, 

patience I need!/ You see me here, you gods, 

a poor old man,/ As full of grief as age; 

wretched in both. . . . 

apotheosis. The plural is apotheoses. 

apparatus. The plural is apparatuses or apparatus, 

not apparafi. 

apparent; obvious; evident; patent. Obvious 

meant, originally, that which stood in the way 

and was, therefore, unavoidable to view or 

knowledge. That which is evident is that which 

is made unquestionable by demonstrable facts. 

A thing or proposition which is patent is open 

to the view or comprehension of all. 

The difficulty with apparent is that it has 

two meanings. It can mean capable of being 

clearly seen or understood and it can mean 

seeming (as opposed to real): It is apparent 

that the apparent honesty of some criminals 

is their greatest asset. 

An heir apparent is one whose right to an 

inheritance is indefeasible if he survives the 

ancestor. The plural is heirs apparent. 

A patent is a document conferring certain 

privileges. The word means that it is open for 

all to see, a public document, and since all may 

see it no one can claim that he could not know 

of its provisions. Yet because patents are taken 

out to cover the manufacturing rights of proprietary 

medicines and mechanical devices 

whose construction before the issuing of the 

patent was often a closely guarded secret, the 

word has, in popular usage, the connotation 

of secrecy, the exact opposite of its standard 

meaning. 

appeal. In American usage appeal is intransitive 

and transitive. (She appeals to me. The convicted, 

if dissatisfied with the verdict, can 

appeal his case to a higher court.) In British 

usage the transitive form is obsolete. 

appear. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he appeared to leave, but not by 

the -ing form of a verb. Appear may be 

followed by an adjective describing what 

appears, as in he appeared sad, or by an 

adverb describing the appearing, as in he 

appeared suddenly. 

appendix. The plural is appendixes or app,endices. 

apperception. See perception. 

apple of one’s eye (the pupil of the eye) was 

formerly thought to be a solid, spherical body. 

The phrase is an echo of the eighth verse of 

the seventeenth Psalm (Keep me as the apple 

of the eye) which, in turn, is probably an echo 

of the tenth verse of the thirty-second chapter 

of Deuteronomy (He led him about, he instructed 

him, he kept him as the apple of his 

eye). As a term for something exceedingly 

precious and dear it has been worn to meaninglessness 

by repetition. As an image, in fact, 

it seems repulsively bloodshot and grotesque. 

appointment ; assignment; office; post; station. 

Appointment and assignment in the sense of a 

position or a task to be performed are closely 

synonymous, though Americans are inclined 

to use assignment in many instances where the 

English use appointment. A newspaper reporter’s 

assignment and the daily assignment 

allotted to a class, together with the assignment 

of wages in payment of a debt are peculiarly 

American uses. 

An office, like a position, suggests an employment 

of some trust and importance. O$ce, 

with us, is largely confined to a political 

position. Post in the United States means a 

military or some other public position; in 

England it is used almost as a synonym for 

job. Station refers to the sphere of duty or 

occupation (his station in life) or to the location 

of the task (He was stationed at 

Albuquerque). 

appositive. A word, or group of words, which 

follows immediately after another word or 

group of words and which means the same 

thing is called an appositive, as our first President 

in George Washington, our first President, 

lived in Virginia. An appositive may be set off 

by commas. When commas are not used, as in 

Peter the Hermit and the poet Keats, the 

second word or group is sometimes called an 

adherent. When there is no punctuation, the 

second part is felt as closer to the first and 

necessary to it. When commas are used, they 

sometimes make the second element seem like 

a parenthetical aside. 

appositive adjectives. See position of adjectives. 

appreciate means to form an estimate of, usually 

favorable and marked by sensitivity and delicate 

perceptions in the appreciator. It also 

means to increase in value (Gold has appreciated 

steadily for two hundred years). In this 

sense it is the antonym of depreciate. 

Originally appreciate, in the first of the two 

meanings just given, meant to make an estimate, 

even an unfavorable one. Burke said: 

We must appreciate these dreadful hydras, and 

it is to be hoped that college courses in 

Musical Appreciation do not teach their 

students to approve of every piece they hear. 

But this meaning is now rare. 

The word is used chiefly, in several ways, as 

an elaborate and slightly grudging means of 

saying Thank you or Z will thank you. Early 

visitors to America were struck by the fact 

that in the West, at least, people were reluctant 

to say Thank you, preferring various 

circumlocutions such as Much obliged, Well 

now, that’s mighty good of you, and 1’11 do the 

same for you some day. Apparently plain 

thanks was felt to be undemocratic. Perhaps

it was thought to imply an acknowledgment of 

at least temporary inferiority, an acknowledgment 

which the frontiersman was in no way 

and at no time inclined to make. 

In its commonest contemporary use, uppreciute 

has a vestige of this feeling. I appreciate 

what you’ve done for me does not directly say 

Thanks. It says, I have formed a just estimate 

(with my customary keen insight and delicate 

perception) of your act and [by implication] 

I am favorably impressed by it. Now -this is 

lordly. A king could not be more graciously 

condescending. But it’s a little dishone:st (as 

most circumlocutions are) in that it twists 

matters in such a way that the recipient of 

the favor seems to be bestowing it. Of course 

the ordinary man has very little awareness of 

all this when he uses the phrase; but he must 

have some perception of it-he must appreciate 

it, to some extent-because he so often seeks 

to bolster the assurance with supporting emphasis 

(I certainly appreciate what you’ve done 

for me! I sure do appreciate it!). 

Where appreciation is intended, appreciate 

should be used, but when gratitude has to be 

expressed it is better to swallow one’s pride 

and say Thank you. 

apprehend; comprehend. As synonyms of understand 

(the only one of their many meanings 

in which they are likely to be confused), 

apprehend means getting hold of and comprehend 

means embracing fully. What one cannot 

apprehend one cannot even know about. (A 

child does not apprehend danger in an er’ectric 

wire.) What one cannot comprehend one is 

simply unable to understand fully. 

Comprehensive means inclusive. Apprehensive 

means perceptive, but apparently, what 

the perceptive perceive in life is alarming, for 

it also means anxious, uneasy, and fearful. 

apprise; apprize. Apprise means to inform or to 

notify (He was apprised of the danger. He was 

apprised of his appointment to the professorship). 

It is a rather formal word, often overworked 

in business correspondence. (See also 

tell.) 

Apprize means to put a value upon, to appraise. 

Actually it is the same word as appraise, 

although it has had a different history. Apprize 

is not used very much, being confined largely 

to legal matters. 

Since apprise is sometimes spelled apprize 

and since apprize is sometimes spelled apprise, 

any attempt to distinguish between them is 

absurd. It is simply better-as most people 

do-to use appraise when “to put a value 

upon,” is the meaning. 

approach. When used as a noun approach is 

followed by to, as in the approach to the 

house. The verb is used without to, as in 

they approached the house. 

appropriate; expropriate; impropriate. The verb 

appropriate is distinguished from rake or give 

in that it means to give for a particular rlerson 

or purpose or to take from a particular person 

or for a particular purpose. Congress appropriates 

money because it supplies money only 

39 apt 

to meet the purposes of definite bills that have 

been enacted. 

The widespread erroneous use of the word 

may have had its beginning in the grandiloquent 

humor of the frontier where a man 

seeing something that he wanted might say, 

1’11 just appropriate that, meaning I will assign 

it to my own particular use. 

To expropriate is to take, by legal action, 

land from a private person for the general use. 

The rare word impropriate is limited to ecclesiastical 

writings. It means the bestowal of 

church property (as at the time of the dissolution 

of the monasteries in England) upon 

private individuals. 

approximate- That which is approximate is nearly 

exact; it approaches closely to something or 

brings it near. To approximate is to approach 

closely. 

It is desirable to avoid using the word as if 

it meant to resemble or to make resemble. 

That which approximates something comes 

close to it but does not necessarily appear to 

be it. 

a priori; prima facie. A priori means from cause 

to effect, from a general law to a particular 

instance, valid independently of observationas 

opposed to a posteriori (We cannot a priori 

determine the value of anything wholly new. 

We should be guided by observational evidence 

and not by a priori principles. Knowledge a 

posteriori is a synonym for . . . knowledge 

from experience). 

A priori is sometimes misused for prima 

facie, which means at first view, on the first 

impression, before making an investigation, 

especially in the phrase an a priori case. The 

two phrases are not the same. The use of 

technical philosophical terms, especially in a 

foreign language, lays one open to the accusation 

of pedantry anyway and to misuse them 

will quickly get one convicted of both pedantry 

and ignorance. 

apropos. This word is sometimes followed by to, 

but of is preferrable, as in this is apropos of 

what you were saying. 

apt; likely. Apt and likely are close synonyms, 

but the careful speaker or writer will make a 

distinction between them. Apt, in its primary 

sense, means fit or suitable. Likely indicates a 

probability arising from the nature of the 

situation. Of a witty and cutting reply to 

some insolent remark it might be said that 

It was an apt answer: just the sort of thing 

that so-and-so would be likely to say. 

When applied to persons, apt means inclined 

or prone; when applied to things, it means 

habitually liable. Apt is often applied to the 

general situation, likely to the specific. We say, 

Snow is apt to fall in Chicago in late November. 

On a day in late November in Chicago 

when the weather conditions indicate that there 

probably will be snow, we say, It is likely to 

snow today. 

Apt, when used in the sense of prone or 

liable, may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

hP is apt to forget, but not by the -ing form

aquarium 40 

of a verb. When it means capable, it ma.y be 

followed by at and the -ing form, as in he is 

upr ar painting, but not by an infinitive. 

aquarium. The plural is aquariums or aquaria. 

Arab; Arabian; Arabic. Arab pertains to the 

Arabs, Arabian to Arabia, and Arabic (with 

the exception of gum arabic and the names of 

certain shrubs) to the languages which have 

developed out of the language and culture of 

the Arabians at the time of Mohammed Ior to 

the standard literary and classical language 

established by the Koran. 

There is a tendency to call the inhabitants of 

Arabia Arabians to distinguish them from the 

Arabs of North Africa. We call our numerals 

arabic because we acquired them from the 

Arabs at the great period of their culture. 

arbiter; arbitrator. An arbiter is one who has 

power to decide according to his own pleasure. 

We speak of a social arbiter, one whose social 

preeminence is so widely acknowledged that 

his word suffices to settle disputes of precedence 

and custom. Byron spoke of Napole80n as 

the arbiter of others’ fate,/ A suppliant for 

his own. 

An arbiter differs from a judge in that, once 

chosen or appointed, his decision in the disputed 

matter can be purely personal and is not 

subject to review. He need offer no explanation 

for it. It is, as we say, arbitrary. 

Arbiter and orbitrutor were formerly synonymous 

and are still recognized as such by most 

dictionaries. But the use of the latter term in 

recent years to designate one assigned to settle 

labor disputes has led to a change in its 

meaning. When labor was weak and disorganized 

an arbitrator might proceed in an arbitrary 

manner, but now that labor is stron,g and 

organized he is expected to be conciliatory 

and to bring the conflicting parties, as diplomatically 

as possible, to accept a compromise. 

So that arbitrator now carries-in popular 

usage-a definite suggestion of tactfulness and 

patience. The distance the word has moved 

from arbiter in the past generation is made 

plain by the reflection that an arbitrary man 

would be most unsuitable today as an 

arbitrator. 

arboretum. The plural is arboretums or arboreta. 

arcanum. The plural is arcanums or arcana. 

archaism. When a word is described as an 

archaism it means that it is old-fashioned and 

no longer used in general, informal writing. 

An obsolete word is one that has fallen 

completely into disuse. Swink, a verb meaning 

to work hard, is an example. Chaucer uses 

it consistently (Let Austin have his swink to 

him reserved). But it has not been in use now 

for centuries and would be meaningless to all 

but a few scholars. 

An archaic word would probably be understood, 

but it would seem strange. Forsooth, 

belike, and parlous are examples. Educated 

people have encountered most of them in 

poetry and usually know their meanings; but 

they would regard their use in ordinary prose 

or speech as an affectation. 

Of course if a skilled writer or speaker 

chooses to use an archaic word for a distinct 

purpose-to add a touch of the ridiculous, to 

indicate affectation in another, or even just 

to give an archaic flavor-he is free to do 

so; but he runs the risk of having his subtlety 

misunderstood and himself scorned. 

archives. This word may mean a collection of 

documents, as in he rummaged among the 

archives, or a building in which such documents 

are kept, as in the Archives are on 

Constitution Avenue. In either case, the word 

is treated as a plural. 

A singular form archive was once in use 

and could mean one document or one building. 

This is now obsolete in the United States. 

are. See be. 

arena. The plural is arenas or arenae. 

aren’t I?. See ain’t. 

Argentina; Argentine. The country is Argentina 

or, formally, The Argentine Republic. An 

Argentine is one of its inhabitants. It is often 

called the Argentine, as the United States is 

called the States, and the term which on its 

introduction had an air of knowing familiarity 

about it has increased in popularity to the 

point where it cannot be regarded as wrong. 

But those who use it should bear in mind that 

it is an informal designation. 

argot; jargon. An argot is a language, usually 

esoteric, used by a peculiar group, class, or 

occupation. It was originally thieves’ cant, a 

form of speech which deliberately employed 

extravagant slang and strange terms in order 

to conceal its true meaning from outsiders. 

Jargon means unintelligible writing or talk. 

It originally meant a twittering sound and 

poets have referred to the sweet jargoning of 

birds. Of course argot is jargon to those who 

do not understand it, but to accuse the special 

vocabulary of some branch of science or of 

some sect of being unintelligible is risky since 

in so doing one lays one’s self open to the 

counter charge of being unintelligent. Jargon 

is a term of contempt and must be used 

carefully. 

arise. The past tense is arose. The participle is 

arisen. 

arise; rise. Arise in the literal sense of getting up 

from a sitting or lying position (Arise, and 

take up thy bed and walk. My lady sweet, 

arise) is now rather archaic. We say rise, as 

Farmers rise early, The sun rises in the east, 

and so on. 

Arise is used in preference to rise in metaphorical 

senses, when something is coming 

into being (as How did this quarrel arise?) 

or when something results or proceeds from 

something else (as Enmities often arise from 

jests). 

arm; sleeve. A reference to the sleeve of a 

garment as its arm is a natural extension and 

would be understood by anyone and, surely, 

it is as much the arm of the garment as the 

arm of a chair is its arm. None the less it is 

not accepted in formal usage: A man puts his 

arm into the sleeve of his coat,

armed to the teeth. This expression would se:em 

to refer to pirates or sailors who in a naval 

engagement, pistols and knives thrust in their 

belts, held their cutlasses in their teeth at the 

moment of boarding, so that they might have 

their hands free to clutch the rigging or the 

gunwales. Or at least they are occasionally 

so depicted in romantic drawings and stories. 

The excess of ferocity of such overloading with 

implements of war has about it-at least from 

the safety of our distance from it-something 

comic, and the phrase is almost always used 

now with a humorous intention. Indeed, it 

strikes us as incongruous to find the phrase 

used seriously, as in William Cullen Bryant’s 

apostrophe to Freedom: Armed to the teeth, 

art thou. 

It has, however, been more than a century 

now since pirates have boarded ships, with or 

without cutlasses in their teeth, and the phrase 

is stale and should be avoided. 

arms. When referring to weapons, this is a mass 

word with plural form. It is followed by a 

plural verb but cannot be used with a numeral 

or a numeral word such as many or few. It 

has no singular form an arm. 

This does not apply to the compound firearms. 

This is treated as a regular plural, as 

in he had three firearms. The singular form 

a firearm is rare but can be used. 

aroma. An aroma was originally a spice. The 

Ancren Riwle, an old English religious work, 

says that the three Maries brought aromas for 

to smear our Lord. Then it came to mean .the 

odor of spices and then, its current meaning, 

a spicy odor or bouquet. 

Our forefathers, much given to euphemism 

and jocularity, often used aroma facetiously 

as a synonym for smell and, their humorous 

intention forgotten, some continue to use it in 

this way seriously, though they still keep 

enough of the proper meaning to apply it to 

pleasant smells. But, even so, it is better to 

restrict it to its specific meaning. 

The plural is aromas or aromata, not aromae. 

arose. See arise. 

around; round. In the United States round is 

used to describe an object, as in this round 

world, but otherwise the form around is preferred, 

as in they flew around the world and 

the earth turns around. In Great Britain around 

has almost disappeared from speech and round 

is generally preferred, as in they flew round 

the-world and sleeping the clock round. The 

British form is unusual in the United States 

but it is acceptable. It should not be written 

with an apostrophe, as in ‘round. 

In Great Britain round always suggests a 

circle. It means circular or surrounding. In 

the United States around can also be used to 

mean within a certain area, as in they traveled 

around Europe, and approximately, as in he 

is worth around a million. These uses have 

been standard in the United States for at least 

seventy-five years. 

arrange. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in I arranged to meet him at five, 

41 artillery 

If the -ing form of a verb is used it must be 

introduced by the preposition for, as in I 

arranged for meeting him at five. Arrange may 

also be followed by a clause, but the clause 

verb must be a subjunctive or a subjunctive 

equivalent, as in I arranged that 1. should 

meet him at five. The infinitive construction is 

generally preferred. 

arrant. See errant. 

arresting; striking; impressive. Arresting is recognized 

by almost all dictionaries as a synonym 

for striking, in the sense of impressive. But 

the careful writer will, as always, try to select 

the adjective that gives the exact meaning he 

wants to express. An arresting occurrence is 

one that stops and holds the attention. Impressive 

(perhaps merely in its sound, which 

is a considerable reason) suggests a more 

massive impact than striking. 

arrival. See advent. 

arrive on the scene. It is better just to arrive. 

The histrionics, obvious in the phrase, have 

been overworked. 

arrogance. See pride. 

arrogate; arrogant. See abrogate. 

art; artifice; artful; artificial; arty. The ordinary 

man mistrusts the skilled man, assuming 

(probably with full justification) that he will 

employ his skill unscrupulously to his own 

advantage. And the man who lacks a skill has 

a tendency to revenge himself upon anyone 

who has it by despising him. Hence although 

art keeps its primary meaning of skill or the 

product of a skill, it has a secondary meaning 

of wiliness or trickery, and in most of its 

derivatives the derogatory meaning has come 

to predominate. 

An artifice is now almost always a cunning 

or crafty stratagem. (Both cunning and crafty 

were once quite innocent words, meaning 

simply knowing and able.) It was not always 

so; formerly God himself was often called the 

Great Artificer of the universe. 

Artful is now definitely condemnatory, suggesting 

one who takes unfair advantage, though 

it once meant wise or admirably clever. Dickens’ 

Artful Dodger seems a more proper expression 

to us today than Milton’s artful strains. 

Artificial, as opposed to natural, has always 

been condemnatory, though, amusingly, handmade 

(which means the same thing) has come 

in our machine age to be a term of high 

approbation with much of the estimation 

attached to natural. See also synthetic. 

Arty is slang. The suffix expresses contempt. 

Sometimes the contempt is just for art itself 

but there is usually at least a pretense that it 

is for exaggerated or deliberately contrived 

effects that are more obvious than true skill 

would have made them. 

articles. In English grammar there are two 

“articles” -the word a or an, which is called 

the indefinite article, and the word the, which 

is called the definite article. Articles qualify 

nouns and are therefore a kind of adjective. 

artillery. When referring to men this word usually 

takes a plural verb, as in the artillery were

artist 42 

lo the righr of us. When referring to the guns 

it always takes a singular verb, as in the 

artillery was lefr behind. 

artist; artiste; adsa& An artist is anyone who 

follows any pursuit or employment in. which 

a high degree of skill is obtainable. The 

modern tendency to restrict the word to those 

engaged in the fine arts, especially in painting, 

has led to the introduction, or more accurately 

the re-introduction, of the French word artiste 

to describe a public performer, suclh as a 

dancer or singer. 

There are many others, of course, who think 

they have carried their occupation to the point 

of its being an art and they-especially in 

such employments as dressmaking, cooking, 

and hairdressing that have, in the popular 

estimation, their best practitioners in France 

-often refer to themselves or are referred to 

as artistes also. But it is better, and really 

more complimentary, to call them ar,Gsts. 

An artisan was originally an artist, one who 

cultivated an art. But he is now one employed 

in the industrial arts, a mechanic or handicraftsman. 

nrtless; ignorant. Artless used to be used as a 

close synonym of ignorant. Johnson refers to 

the artless industry which many contemptuously 

assume is all that is needed to write a dictionary. 

But with the gradual strengthening of 

the derogatory in so many meanings of art, 

artless has come to mean innocent, ingenuous, 

unaffected. The artless prattle of children 

conveys the modern meaning. When applied 

to’style, artless means simple and sincere. 

With the immense increase in the world’s 

knowledge in the past century and the demand 

for a considerable amount of it in the iactivities 

of the commonest person, ignorant has been 

acquiring increasing condemnation. It was once 

pitying; it is now almost abusive. See also 

unsophisticated. 

as is a conjunction. It is used to introduclP clauses 

of various kinds and to make a comparison 

between things that are claimed to be equal 

in some respect. 

ACCEPTABLE USES 

As is primarily an adverbial conjunction. It 

can be used to introduce almost any kind of 

adverbial clause, that is, almost any clause that 

does not qualify a noun or pronoun, or stand 

in the place of a noun. A single as can be used 

to introduce clauses of manner (do as Z do), 

of time (as Z was leaving), and of cause (as Z 

was tired, Z went to bed). As if alwa.ys introduces 

an unreal condition, as in you l’ook as if 

you were dead, and therefore requires a past 

subjunctive verb form, that is, a past tense verb 

used with present tense meaning or one of the 

past subjunctive auxiliaries, such as. should, 

would, might. We do not say you look as if you 

may be tired. See subjunctive mode. 

As may also be used as a relative. That is, 

it may refer back to and qualify any of the 

four words, as, so, the same, such. (If the 

same or such is being used as a pronoun, as 

is said to be a relative pronoun. Otherwise, it 

is called a relative adverb.) 

A comparison logically involves the form 

as - - as, as in there are as good fish in the 

sea (IS ever came out of it and she’s as pretty 

us a picture. In current English we often drop 

the first as, as in it is clear as crystal. In this 

sense as can be said to introduce clauses of 

degree. Occasionally the second half of a comparison 

may be dropped because it is obvious, 

as in Z can see as well from here, where as 

from there is understood. As - - as may also 

be used in making a concession, as in as 

universal a practice as lying is, and as easy 

a one as it seems, Z do not remember to 

have heard three good lies in all my conversation. 

Here too the first as may now be dropped, 

as in bad as it was, it could have been 

worse. 

A few phrases involving as - - as are peculiar 

in one way or another. In a clause 

introduced by as soon as a past tense form 

of the verb may be used instead of a past 

perfect (completed action) tense. That is, we 

may say as soon as he arrived instead of as 

soon as he had arrived. Similarly, a present 

tense form is always used instead of a future 

perfect form. That is, we say as soon as you 

arrive rather than as soon as you will have 

arrived. As long as is sometimes used to mean 

since, as in as long as you are here, we might 

as well begin; and as much as is sometimes 

used to mean practically, as in he as much as 

told me. These expressions are both acceptable 

spoken English, but they are not used in 

formal writing. As well as is ordinarily used 

after a full statement, as in Bob was there as 

well as Frank. But it is sometimes used to 

join two words, both of which are the subject 

of the same verb. In this case, the verb may 

be either singular or plural, as in Bob as well 

as Frank was (or were) there. 

So and as come originally from the same 

word and so - - as can often be used in place 

of as - - as. Some grammarians claim that 

as - - as cannot be used in a negative sentence, 

as in he is not as serene as his mother, and 

that so - - as is required here. This is not 

true. Either form may be used in a sentence 

of this kind. But so is frequently used to mean 

in an unusually high degree, as in do you know 

anyone so capable as Irene? Here it has the 

effect of an intensive, as if the voice was being 

raised. Most good writers and speakers, therefore, 

prefer as - - as in a negative as well 

as in an affirmative sentence, except when they 

want this heightened tone. 

Grammarians who claim that so - - as must 

be used in a negative statement sometimes 

explain their position by saying that as - - as 

can be used only in comparisons of equality 

and that so - - as is required in comparisons 

of inequality. This is confused and confusing. 

A comparison of inequality requires than, as 

in less serene than his mother, and the inequality 

may be either affirmed or denied,

Similarly, as - - as and so - - as both express 

equality, whether it is affirmed or denied. 

so - - as may be used with an infinitive to 

show purpose or result, as in it was so loud 

as to be deafening. Formerly, it could be used 

to introduce a full clause of purpose or result, 

as in this so amazed our men as they forsook 

their commanders. This construction is now 

obsolete. In current English a full clause of this 

kind must be introduced by that and not as. 

The same may always be followed by as. 

We may say I read the same books as you or 

I read the same books as you do. When, as 

in the first example, no verb follows, the word 

that cannot be used and as is required. When, 

as in the second example, there is a following 

verb, either that or as may be used. In current 

English, that is the preferred form, as in I read 

the same books that you do. 

Similarly, the word such can always be 

followed by as. We may say on such a night 

as this or opinions should be such as could 

be discussed pleasantly at dinner, not such as 

men would fight for. When, as in the first 

example, no verb follows, that cannot be used 

and as is required. When, as in the second 

example, as is followed by a full clause containing 

a verb, the word that and a personal 

pronoun may be used instead of as, as in such 

that they could be discussed and such that men 

would fight for them. The construction with 

us is preferred. 

UNACCEPTABLE USES 

As could once be used to introduce a clause 

which was the object of say, think, know, or 

see, as in I don’t say as you are right. In current 

English, that is required here and the construction 

with as is not generally standard. But a few 

survivals of the old form, such as Z don’t know 

as Z can, are still used by educated people in the 

United States and are acceptable spoken English 


In current English, as cannot refer back to 

any word except one of the four mentioned 

above. It cannot refer to or represent a noun 

or any pronoun except the same or such. This 

was not always true. At one time as could 

refer to those, as in those of the foot soldiers 

as had not found a place upon the ship. This 

construction was used in the United States 

after it had become obsolete in England, as 

in the ballad, those as don’t like me can leave 

me alone. But it is now nonstandard in both 

countries. Similarly, as can no longer be used 

to refer to a personal pronoun, as in let them 

marry you as don’t know you. It cannot be 

used to introduce a clause that qualifies a noun. 

We may say I know such a man as you 

describe, because here as refers to such. But 

we cannot say I know a man as has a horse, 

where us refers directly to man. 

SUBJECTIVE OR OBJECTIVE PRONOUN 

In literary English, as does not affect the case 

of the following word. That is, a pronoun after 

OS in a comparison has the same form that it 

would have if it were standing alone without the 

43 ascribe 

comparison. For example, he is used in scrch 

men as he are intolerable because he would 

be used in he is intolerable; and him is used 

in I cannot tolerate such men as him because 

him would be used in I cannot tolerate him. 

Some grammarians say that a subjective 

pronoun is allowable after as whenever it is 

possible to read “a suppressed verb” into the 

sentence, as in I cannot tolerate such men as 

he (is). This is theoretically permissible, but 

people who have learned English from literature 

rather than from textbooks will usually 

hear it as a grammatical mistake. In the best 

modern English a subjective pronoun is not 

used after as unless it is followed by a verb, 

as in I work as hard as he does. If it is impossible 

to use a following verb, as in I blame 

you as much as him, or if the following verb 

sounds silly, as in such men as he is, an objective 

pronoun is used instead. 

Very often a comparison with as involves 

some form of the verb to be. It is still true 

that the pronoun has the same form that it 

would have if it were standing alone without 

the comparison. The question here is, which 

form of the pronoun is to be used after a 

linking verb. The formal rules of grammar 

require a subjective pronoun, as in is she as 

tall as I? But an objective pronoun, as in is 

she as tall as me?, is generally preferred. See 

linking verbs. 

As is sometimes used to mean in the capacity 

of, as in he appeared on the stage us 

me. In this sense, it is followed by an objective, 

and never by a subjective, pronoun. 

He appeared on the stage as I would be understood 

to mean as I did. See also because. 

as a matter of fact. A cliche sometimes interjected 

into the conversation in order to give 

the interjecter time to think of some way of 

evading the facts. 

ascend up. Despite the fact that the phrase 

occurs three times in the King James version 

of the Bible, ascend up is redundant. The “up” 

is implicit in ascend. 

ascent; ascension. The English use ascent where 

Americans keep the older form ascension. An 

English fair would announce a balloon ascent, 

an American circus a balloon ascension. 

Gibbon speaks of a man’s ascent to one of 

the most eminent dignities of the republic: 

H. F. Pringle, an American historian, speaks 

of the ascension to power of Woodrow Wilson. 

When the initial letter is capitalized the 

word refers exclusively to the bodily passing 

of Christ from earth to heaven. 

ascribe; attribute. To ascribe something is to add 

it (originally in writing) to an account. It 

now means, generally, to impute, assign, or 

refer (The disaster was ascribed to his negligence). 

Attribute means to consider as belonging 

of right (Mercy is attributed to God). 

In grammar an attribute is a word or phrase 

subordinate to another and serving to limit its 

meaning. In the brown cow, brown limits the 

meaning of cow; it is an attribute of cow.

ash 44 

ash; ashes. These words mean exactly the same 

thing. Ash is grammatically singular and ashes 

grammatically plural, but both are mass nouns. 

Ashes does not mean any more of the stuff 

than ash does. 

Some grammarians claim that the form ash 

is only used in speaking of ash from tobacco 

and in compounds such as bone ash and volcanic 

ash, and that other substances, such as 

coal and trash, are always said to leave ashes. 

This distinction is not observed in the United 

States. We sometimes speak of the ash ia a 

furnace and sometimes of cigarette ashes. 

Only the form ash is used as the first element 

in a compound, as in ash tray, ash can. 

ask. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in I asked him to leave. It may also be 

followed by a that clause, but the clause verb 

must be a subjunctive or a subjunctive equivalent, 

as in I asked that he leave. The infinitive 

construction is generally preferred. risk for 

followed by an infinitive, as in I asked for him 

to leave, is heard frequently but is considered 

unacceptable by some people. 

When not followed by a verb, ask and ask 

for are equally acceptable, as in ask mercy and 

ask for mercy. Ask for is generally preferred 

in this construction. See inquire. 

asparagus. The plural is asparaguses or asparagi. 

The plural form is used only in speaking of 

the plants. The food is always treatled as a 

singular, as in this asparagus is good and how 

long did you cook it? 

aspect. See phase. 

aspiration, See inspiration. 

aspire may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

he aspires to write poetry. It is also heard with 

the -ing form of a verb, as in he aspires to 

writing poetry, but this is not standard usage. 

assay; essay. Both words originally meant the 

same thing, to test or try. Essay got its meaning 

of a short literary composition by the 

accident of Montaigne’s modestly calling his 

meditations essais or “attempts” at. setting 

down his thoughts. Bacon took over the word 

from Montaigne and the success of his Essays 

fixed this meaning on the word in English. 

The older meaning still lingers on. James 

Russell Lowell speaks of essaying a tusk, but 

it is close to an archaism now. Assay is now 

confined entirely to the testing of metals. 

assembly; assemblage. Assembly applies to a 

company of persons gathered together (the 

General Assembly of the United Nations). An 

assemblage can be of persons or things; when 

it is applied to persons it suggests a more 

informal group than an assembly (a,4 assemblage 

of bird watchers, an assemblage of wires 

and switches). It is a less respectful te.rm. 

assert. See allege; claim; declare. 

asset; assets. Assets is a singular noun with a 

plural form. It comes from the French asset, 

enough, and was originally a law term meaning 

(property) enough (to satisfy certain 

claims). Asset is a false form, baseld on the 

mistaken assumption that assets is plural. The 

Oxford English Dictionary does not recognize 

its existence. Fowler regards it with stern disapproval 

and adjures his readers to shun it. 

Yet it is a common word in our language now 

and a useful one. It is an asset to the language. 

That it is a false singular is of no importance; 

so is pea, a false singular from Pease. To say 

of such-and-such a member that he is an asset 

to the club or of another that his good nature 

is his chief asset is to express oneself concisely 

in terms that are certain to be understood. 

See also possession. 

assignation, when used to designate a tryst, 

carries the suggestion that the meeting is illicit. 

Houses of prostitution were formerly, especially 

in America, called assignation houses or 

houses of assignation and this probably fixed 

the meaning, though its over-elegance would, 

in itself, suggest that there was something inelegant 

being hidden behind it. The colloquial 

date, which has replaced in common speech 

almost every other word for an appointment, 

has, when applied to lovers’ meetings, a 

suggestion of innocence. This may be due to 

its having been introduced by teen agers. 

assignment. See appointment. 

assist may be followed by the -ing form of a 

verb, introduced by the preposition in, as in 

he assisted us in screening the applicants. It is 

sometimes heard with a to-infinitive, as in he 

assisted us to screen the applicants, or with the 

simple form of a verb, as in he assisted us 

screen the applicants, but these forms are not 

standard usage. See help. 

assonance. See pun. 

as such is often interposed in a sentence with 

solemn gravity yet in a way that is meaningless. 

Thus in such sentences as The threat, as 

such, may be disregarded or The house, as 

such, adds nothing to the value of the property, 

it is hard to see what as such adds. If the 

threat may be disregarded as a threat, it may 

be disregarded. If the house does not add value 

to the property as a house, could it possibly 

add it any other way? In the very rare case 

where it might be a shrine or a ruin so 

picturesque that people would pay to see it, 

it might add to the value of the property. But 

such a possibility is highly uncommon and 

as such is all too common. 

assume. See adopt. 

assume; presume. In the sense of infer, suppose, 

or take for granted, assume and presume are 

closely synonymous and often interchangeable. 

The maker of fine discriminations, however, 

will use presume when he wishes to express a 

strong conviction of likelihood, assume when 

merely advancing an hypothesis. (I presume 

he is not guilty conveys my belief that he is 

probably innocent. You may assume whatever 

you choose has an element of scorn in it, since 

assume may include any supposition, however 

wild. One would never, in scorn, say You may 

presume whatever you choose.) 

The primary meaning of assume is to feign 

(He assumed the guise of a fool). Here

presume cannot be used as a synonym. And 

assume cannot be used as a synonym of 

presume when presume means to use unwarrantable 

boldness, to thrust oneself forward 

(Ne presumed to walk at the head of the 

procession). The presumptuous person always 

encroaches upon the rights of others but 

presume should not be used when encroach 

should be used, She presumes upon my 

patience is not as acceptable as She encroaches 

upon my patience. 

assumption; presumption. A presumption is a 

supposition based on probable evidence; whereas 

an assumption can be made without any 

evidence at all, merely as the beginning of a 

chain of reasoning. 

When assumption is capitalized it refers to 

the bodily taking up into heaven of the Virgin 

Mary after her death. 

assurance; insurance. Assurance is the older term, 

now almost completely replaced in the United 

States by insurance. In Canada and England 

assurance is still used to some extent and the 

term is fixed in the names of some large insurance 

companies there. 

assure; ensure; insure. The commonest meaning 

of assure is to tell a person confidently that 

something exists or will happen, so that he 

may be encouraged and rely on it with full 

trust (I assured him of my undying aflection). 

To ensure is to make sure or certain (The 

very mention of his name will ensure you a 

respectful hearing. Snow tires will ensure safer 

driving in winter). 

Insure is a variant spelling of ensure which 

is applied, in its commonest use, to the securing 

of indemnity in case of loss or death by 

the payment of stated sums, premiums, at 

definite intervals or by the payment of a lump 

sum. (To be well insured ensures peace of 

mind and is vastly assuring.) 

asterisks are used primarily in reference work. 

The main uses are: 

1. To mark material for footnotes when so 

few footnotes are used that numbering is unnecessary. 

The asterisk goes after the period 

of the statement to be footnoted, and again. at 

the bottom of the text at the beginning of the 

footnote. 

2. To indicate omission in a quotation, 

though three dots are used more often. See 

ellipsis. 

3. To indicate hesitation or passage of time 

in narrative writing. See ellipsis. 

as the crow flies. This clichC for going in a 

straight line without regard to topographical 

obstacles had some meaning at its introduction 

a hundred years or so ago when roads twisted 

and wound and the slow, low-winging flight of 

the crow was known to everyone. But it is 

sometimes affected today, especially in America 

where four-fifths of the roads west of lhe 

Alleghenies go straighter than any crow ever 

flew and where the methods of flight of 

various birds are totally unknown to the 

common man. It lingers on only as a part of 

45 at 

the earthy rusticity which becomes an increasing 

affectation as our lives become increasingly 

urbanized. 

astonish. See amaze. 

at. This word is a preposition and requires an 

object. We may say what hotel are you staying 

at? but not where are you staying at? The 

second sentence is wrong, not because it ends 

with a preposition, but because the word where 

is an adverb meaning “at which place,” and 

cannot be used as the object of at. It would 

not improve matters in the least to say at 

where are you staying? 

The simple tenses of the verb to be may be 

followed by at but not by to. We say they were 

at church, and they were to church is not 

standard. But the perfect (that is, the completed 

action) tenses may be followed by either 

at or to, as in they had been at church and 

they had been to church. At suggests the place 

while they were there; to suggests the journey 

to and from the place and suggests that they 

are no longer there. 

At and in can sometimes be used interchangeably, 

as in the meeting was held at the 

hotel, and the meeting was held in the hotel. 

In suggests that something was surrounded or 

contained in a way that at does not. In the 

theater suggests the inside of the building; at 

the theater suggests a spectator. As a rule, in 

is preferred in speaking of cities. We may say 

he was at the conference, but we would say 

he was in New York. 

When at is combined with a verb, it usually 

means that the action of the verb was attempted 

rather than accomplished, as in catch at, 

strike at, guess at. For this reason, curse at 

is milder than curse. 

at all. This phrase can be used in a question, an 

if clause, and a statement that is by implication 

negative, such as I’m surprised you 

came at all. It could once be used in an 

affirmative statement and meant “wholly,” as 

in they were careless at all. This is no longer 

possible. The construction is heard in some 

parts of the United States but is now nonstandard 

or unintelligible. 

at a loose end; at loose ends. To be at a loose 

end generally seems to mean to be without 

anything planned or without anything to do. 

Partridge thinks the expression is derived 

“from a horse whose tether has broken or 

slipped.” But Heywood in his Proverbs (1546) 

gives: Some loose or od ende will come man, 

some one daie, a version which suggests some 

other origin. 

In American English one often hears at 

loose ends and the phrase is meant to convey 

not only having nothing to do but bewilderment 

and perplexity. Some think it refers to 

the loose ends of a tangled skein of yarn and 

the difficulty of unraveling it. 

Whatever its origin and meaning, the phrase 

is a clich6. 

at death’s door. Whether one lies at death’s door 

or simply is there or has been brought there

ate 46 

by disease or villainy, the phrase usually should 

be avoided. The meaning of the phrase is 

obvious but as a metaphor it is obscure. 

Perhaps it owes its existence entirely to its 

alliteration. At any rate, it is a phrase that 

may well be left at oblivion’s door. 

ate. See eat. 

atJwJst. See aguostlc. 

at long last. That the Duke of Windsor was able 

to charge these words with such deep feeling 

at the opening of his abdication radio speech 

(Dec. 11, 1936) only shows that special circumstances 

and passionate sincerity can infuse 

meaning into any phrase, however hackneyed 

in ordinary use. In the speech of most other 

men, however, who have not had to endure 

the prolonged ordeal of his extreme perplexity, 

the phrase is a clichC and to be avoided. The 

Duke’s very use of it makes it all the more to 

be avoided since the echo of his use is in our 

minds and makes its use with lesser provocation 

all the more empty and stilted. 

at one fell swoop. The phrase is taken from 

Macduff’s cry in Macbeth (Act IV, Scene 3, 

1. 218) when he is told that his wife and 

children have been murdered at Macbeth’s 

command: Did you say all/ 0 hell-kite! All?/ 

What, all my pretty chickens and their dam/ 

At one fell swoop? 

A kite is a hawk [the toy is named after the 

hovering bird] that preys on rodents and 

smaller, weaker birds. The phrase conveys not 

only Macduff’s sense of the suddenness of the 

murderous descent, of his wife and children’s 

innocence and helplessness against the tyrant’s 

attack, but also of his detestation of Macbeth, 

for a kite is not one of the nobler falcons. 

The word fell in the phrase mean:s fierce, 

savage, cruel, and ruthless. It is akin not to 

the past of fall but to felon and has connotations 

of wickedness and bitter savagery. It is, 

plainly, exactly the word that Macduff wanted 

and, fortunately, Shakespeare was right there 

to supply it for him. 

But the phrase is now worn smooth of 

meaning and feeling. Anyone who uses it deserves 

to be required to explain publicly just 

what he thinks it means. 

at one’s wit’s end. The wit of this tired phrase 

is the same as in scared out of his wits. It 

means mind, not repartee. 

atop. In literary English this word is used without 

an object, as in from the fluted spine atop. 

When an object is required, it is introduced by 

of, as in the greensward atop of the clitf. These 

constructions are over-literary and should be 

avoided. In the United States, atop is used with 

an object, as if it were a preposition, as in 

he stood otop the house. This is not literary 

English and not spoken English, but it seems 

to be well established journalese. 

atrocious; bad. The atrocious is that Iwhich is 

characterized by savagery of exceptional violence 

and brutality. It is something extraordinarily 

wicked, exceptionally cruel. 

Plainly this is one of the strongest terms of 

disapprobation in the language and, equally 

plainly, to use it as a mere synonym for bad 

is to weaken it. Those who do so belong for 

the most part to the fashionable world and 

perhaps hope to imply, in the excess of the 

word’s opprobrium, the excess of their own 

sensitiveness and uerceutivitv. He that finds 

a pun or a play “a&cio;s” &at another would 

regard as only “bad” must have au exceptional 

perception of badness. Or perhaps he’s just 

a fool. 

attached hereto; attached together. Attached hereto 

is not only redundant but a little pompous. 

Attached by itself does just as well. Attached 

together is also redundant, since to attach 

things is to join one to the other. 

attain; accomplish. To attain is to reach, achieve, 

or accomplish by continued effort (He attained 

success. He attained maturity). Attain to 

connotes an unusual effort or a lofty accomplishment 

(He attained to greatness. He 

attained to fame). 

To accomplish is to carry out, perform, or 

finish a distinct task (Mission accomplished. 

One must accomplish much before one attains 

success). 

attempt. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he attempted to lie, or by an 

-ing form, as in he attempted lying. The infinitive 

is more forceful and carries a stronger 

sense of action than the -ing. But the two 

forms are equally acceptable. See endeavor. 

attend. See tend. 

at the end of one’s tether. As a phrase signifying 

the extreme limit of one’s resources or powers 

of endurance, the cliche is plainly drawn from 

the condition of a tethered animal. Dr. Charles 

Funk believes that there has come into the 

phrase a secondary, more sinister meaningthat 

someone has reached the end of the hangman’s 

rope. But whatever it means, it is a 

worn phrase and should be used with care. 

at the lirst blush. Blush in this old and worn 

phrase means glance. That is the older meaning 

of the word. We are told in fourteenthcentury 

writings that King Arthur blushed on 

a young knight, that a man in flight blushed 

backwards towards the sea, that a King looking 

through a window blushed on a beautiful 

damsel, and so on. The meaning now attached 

to the word, of a sudden reddening of the face 

through modesty, is a later development. The 

old meaning stays on in our vocabularies in 

this one phrase only, like a fossil, and it seems 

a pity to attempt to dislodge it, but the phrase 

is a clichC and should be avoided in ordinary 

speech. 

attic. See garret. 

attorney; lawyer. An attorney is one empowered 

to act for another. Power of attorney can be 

assigned to anyone; he does not have to be a 

lawyer. It simply means that he is duly 

appointed to act for another. A lawyer is one 

who practices law and such a one is best 

qualified to be an attorney at law. In America 

the term attorney is almost synonymous with

lawyer. In England lawyers are today classified 

as barristers and solicitors. A barrister is a 

counselor admitted to plead at the bar in any 

court. A solicitor is a lawyer who advises 

clients, represents them before the lower courts 

and prepares cases for the barristers to try 

in the higher courts. An attorney in England 

is a lawyer considerably beneath a barrister in 

dignity. For some reason the name became 

tainted with opprobrium and is rarely used, 

solicitor being preferred. Samuel Johnson’s 

remark, of one who had just left the room, 

that he did not care to speak ill of any man 

behind his back, but he believed the gentleman 

was an attorney would strike an American as 

a gratuitous insult. An English lawyer, on the 

other hand, would be taken aback at the sign 

in many American office buildings, even in the 

courts, Solicitors not allowed, for solicitor in 

America does not mean a lawyer at all but one 

who solicits, usually for charities. 

attract. See allure. 

attributive, as a grammatical term, means expressing 

an attribute and is applied especially 

to adjectives and adverbs preceding the words 

which they modify. Thus funeral, most 

commonly now thought of as a noun, is also 

an adjective. But it has been used as a noun 

so long that it can now be used as an adjective 

only attributively (funeral director, 

funeral hymns). Any noun may be used as an 

adjective attributively and the custom of so 

using nouns is growing. 

attributive adjectives. See position of adjectives. 

audience; spectators. Literally an audience is 

composed of those who listen. There is no 

question that those who attend a concert 

comprise an audience, But do those who attend 

a moving picture? Purists have insisted that 

where looking is the sole or chief activity of 

those being instructed or amused they should 

be called spectators, and it’s no crime to make 

the distinction. But it is a waste of time and 

energy to try to make others make it. Those 

extraordinary people who attended the studios 

to watch the production of radio shows were 

called the studio audience as those who were 

listening elsewhere were called the radio audience. 

Television has taken over the term and 

an audience they will be, collectively, whether 

hearing or seeing. 

Sports have kept, at least for those attending 

in person, the homely term crowd, though 

those who watch and listen over television and 

radio are an audience. 

auditorium. The plural is auditoriums or auditoria. 

aught; naught. Originally these words meant, respectively, 

“anything” and “nothing,” as in if 

aught but death part thee and me and she 

naught esteems my aged eloquence. In these 

senses they have a decidedly archaic tone and 

are not used in natural speech today except in 

a few set phrases, such as for aught I care and 

it came to naught. Our common word not is 

a modern form of naught. 

Both aught and naught are used today to 

4 17 author 

mean a cipher, or zero. This is understandable 

for naught, which means “nothing,” and the 

form aught is supposed to have grown out of 

pronouncing a naught as an aught. Literary 

people sometimes object to the use of nught 

for zero, because they consider it a corruption. 

People who work with figures often prefer 

aught, because it seems to them to suggest the 

symbol 0. In the United States today, both 

forms are acceptable. Aught is generally 

preferred. 

Both words, aught and naught, may be 

spelled with an ou instead of au, as in ought 

and nought. The au forms are preferred in 

the United States. 

aura. The plural is auras or aurae. The essential 

thing about an aura is that it is an emanation, 

a “flowing out from.” In the setting sun cast 

u golden aura upon her head, the word is misused, 

being confused, apparently, with aureole. 

If there is a proper aura of mystery about a 

man, it will have to proceed from him, not 

from what others think about him. 

aural; oral. Aural means of or pertaining to the 

ear. An aural aid would be a hearing device. 

Oral means of or pertaining to the mouth. It 

can refer to the mouth as a part of the body, 

as oral hygiene or medicine taken orally, or 

it may refer to spoken words in distinction 

to written, as oral testimony. See also oral; 

verbal. 

aurora borealis is singular, though the English 

name for the phenomenon, the northern lights, 

is, of course, plural. 

auspices. A singular form of this word, auspice, 

exists. It is not used as much today as formerly 

but it is still accentable Enrrlish. Under the 

auspice of the Student Council would be unusual 

but still standard. The plural auspices is 


authentic and genuine are synonymous in many 

uses, both meaning reliable or trustworthy. 

But in specific uses they are different. 

Authentic means not fictitious, corresponding 

to the known facts. Genuine means sincere, 

not spurious. An authentic historical novel 

would be one that truthfully portrayed the 

manners, customs, personages and scenery of 

the age it was concerned with. A genuine 

diamond is one that is a true diamond, not a 

zircon or a cleverly mounted piece of glass. 

Perhaps the essential difference is that in 

authentic there is a sense of correspondence; 

in genuine, a sense of actual being. 

To use authentic as meaning good or admirable 

(He has an authentic style) is undesirable. 

author; authoress. It has now been almost a 

century since a literate woman was sufficiently 

a curiosity to have the fact of her sex noted 

every time her literary activities were mentioned, 

and so authoress is obsolescent. Fowler 

thought it “a useful word” and thought the 

public would “keep it in existence,” but no one 

could have foreseen, fifty years ago, that 

women were soon to do so much that men

authoritative 48 

had thought they alone could do that to 

attempt to call attention to it would burden 

the language. See also man of letters. 

authoritative; authoritarian. That which is 

nuthoritative has the sanction or weight of 

authority; or it has the air of authority; it is 

peremptory, dictatorial. Authoritarian is favoring 

the principle of subjection to authority, 

opposing the principle of individual :freedom. 

Or it can be one who so favors or opposes. 

auto; automobile. As a noun auto is less heard 

now than it used to be. It has been almost 

completely replaced by car. One hears it in 

adjectival uses (the auto industry) but this is 

almost shop-talk and in even semi-formal contexts 

automobile is used. 

autograph. See signature. 

automaton. The plural is automatons or automatn. 

autumn; autumnal. In the United States autumn 

is formal or poetic for the third season of the 

year. In England it is the usual word. Of the 

two adjectival forms, autumn, in the general 

usage, is more informal (autumn fruits, autumn 

flowers, aufumn days). Autumnal is more 

formal and poetic, is applied more to figurative 

extensions, and seems, possibly because of its 

poetic associations, to suggest the more sombre 

aspects of autumn (The tumult of thy mighty 

harmonies/ Will take from both a deep, 

autumnal tone). 

auxiliary verbs. English has two simple tenses. 

One form, such as he walks, shows that we 

are talking about the present; and the other, 

such as he walked, shows that we are talking 

about what is no longer present. (See present 

tense and past tense.) All other distinctions 

are expressed in verbal phrases. When it suits 

us we can also turn these simple tenses into 

phrases by using a form of the verb do, as in 

he does walk and he did walk. 

The last element in a verbal phrase is an 

infinitive or participia1 form of a meaningful 

verb. The preceding elements have no independent 

meaning but add refinements to the 

total statement. These preceding elements are 

called auxiliaries. The first auxiliary always 

shows tense and person, as in he has walked, 

they are walking. Any intervening elements are 

infinitive or participial forms of an auxiliary 

verb, as in he will hnve been walking. Grammatically, 

the verb forms following an auxiliary 

are exactly like the object of a transitive 

verb or the complement of the verb to be. 

(See participles and infinitives.) 

The principal auxiliary verbs are: be, have, 

do, will and would, shall and should, can and 

could, may and might, must. The verbs need 

and dare are also listed as auxiliaries by some 

grammarians. 

The word ought and the word used function 

like auxiliary verbs, as in he ought to know 

and he used to know, but the fact that they 

require the preposition to after them puts them 

grammatically in a different class. That is, 

technically ought and used are independent 

verbs and a following verb, such as know, is 

really the object of the preposition to. This is 

not an important difference. Some grammarians 

treat these words as auxiliaries and some do 

not. Similarly the verb let and the verb get 

in some of its uses serve the purpose of auxiliaries, 

as in let’s start soon and I’ve got to 

finish this first. But they are not always classified 

as such. (See the individual words.) 

avenge; revenge; vengeance; vengeful. Vengeance 

is retributive punishment (Lord God, to whom 

vengeance belongeth) and the verb that goes 

with it is to avenge. We avenge the wrong 

done another and the suggestion of disinterestedness 

and wild justice that this conveys has 

given the word an exaIted connotation. We 

revenge ourselves for a wrong done to us and 

here noun and verb are the same-revenge. 

But since in exacting revenge men make themselves 

judge and executioner, thus violating a 

fundamental principle of justice, and since we 

are inclined to exaggerate the wrongs done to 

us and to feel that no penalty is too severe 

for those who have offended us, revenge has 

connotations of violence and cruelty. 

The words are often confused because the 

feelings and the situations are often confused. 

Men frequently seek revenge under the guise 

of vengeance and champion another whose 

wrongs are similar to their own. 

Vengeful has very little of the idea of seeking 

justice in it. It has come to mean vindictive, 

persistent in seeking revenge. 

There is a fine use of the word revenge in 

King Lear (Act III, Scene 5) when the haughty 

and ferocious Duke of Cornwall, hearing that 

the old Earl of Gloucester has befriended the 

sick and distracted Lear, says: I will have my 

revenge ere I depart his house. Now no wrong 

has been done Cornwall. He has nothing whatever 

to avenge or revenge. He has indicated 

that Lear is to suffer the consequences of his 

obstinacy and the vaIue of the word is its 

revelation of the fact that he chooses to regard 

an act of kindness towards one who is in his 

displeasure as a deliberate wrong against him, 

something to be revenged! 

avenue; street. An nvenue was originally the 

approach to a country seat, bordered with 

trees planted at regular intervals, and in 

England it is still felt that a street is not an 

avenue unless it is tree-lined. 

In America the term is used to describe a 

major thoroughfare, with or without trees and 

increasingly without. In many American cities 

avenues and streets run at right angles to each 

other; if the streets run east and west, the 

avenues will run north and south. This has 

exasperated visiting philologists, but the untutored 

natives find the practice a convenience 

and are likely to persist in it. 

avenue, explore every. Since an avenue is, strictly, 

a broad, straight, tree-lined approach to a 

country house and, by extension, a main 

thoroughfare of a city, it is hard to conceive 

of anything less suitable for exploration. Yet 

avenues are “explored” every day and some

of them very strange avenues indeed. Sir Alan 

Herbert quotes from the preface to a cookbook 

a statement that, in the interests of advancing 

our knowledge of nutrition, a trapdoor 

had been fitted in the stomach of a cow 

in order that her digestive processes might be 

observed. The preface assured the reader that 

every avenue had been explored. Well, one 

may doubt the avenue but certainly not the 

exploration. 

The phrase will be avoided by the sensible 

because it is absurd and by the sensitive because 

it is a clich& 

average; common; ordinary; typical; mean. An 

average is an arithmetical mean, a quantity 

intermediate to a set of quantities. If there 

are two bushels, one weighing 56 lbs. and one 

weighing 58 lbs., the average is 57 lbs., though 

it is to be noted that the average, in this 

example (as in so many others), is nonexistent. 

Common is that which belongs equally 

to all or is shared alike, as a common denominator. 

It marks things which are widespread, 

familiar, and usual. It is generally 

synonymous with ordinary. Typical is that 

which marks a type. The mean is that which 

is intermediate between extremes. 

It should be plain, then, that average should 

not be used as a synonym for comm,on, 

ordinary, typical, or mean. One often hears of 

the average man, when the common ([or 

ordinary) man is intended. The typical Norwegian, 

for example, is thought of as blond. 

But since there are many brunettes in Norway, 

the average would be between light and dark 

and hence in no way typical. 

Since everyone strives to be superior and 

most forms of courtesy gratify our wish to be 

thought unusual and excellent, common and 

ordinary have acquired a slightly derogatory 

meaning. Since they are synonyms, it is redundant 

to use them together, but common 

ordinary is widely used colloquially. 

averse; adverse; aversion. Both adjectives averse 

and adverse mean opposed. Adverse winds or 

adverse circumstances are winds or circumstances 

opposed to those we would like, 

Averse means disinclined or reluctant and 

this introduction of the idea of feelings is the 

chief distinction. We claim to be averse to 

flattery and despise barbarians for being averse 

to learnireg. What female heart can gold despise?/Whnt 

Cut’s averse to fish? asked Gray. 

An adverse witness is averse to testifying in 

our favor. 

Averse may be followed by from or to, with 

exactly the same meaning, as in men averse 

from war and men averse to wur. Both forms 

have a long literary history and both are acceptable 

today, but to is generally preferred. 

Aversion may also be followed by from, but 

this is rarely heard today. It is more often 

used with to or for. Both words may be followed 

by the -ing form of a verb introduced 

by a preposition, as in averse to fighting, an 

aversion to fighting. Averse may also be fol- 

49 avouch 

lowed by an infinitive, as in we are not averse 

to acknowledge. The -ing form is heard more 

often. 

aviator; aviatress; aviatrix. An aviator is one who 

pilots an airplane. In the early days when a 

woman’s doing it seemed amazing it was 

thought necessary to emphasize her sex, but 

aviatress and aviatrix are falling into disuse 

and the one word applies to all. 

avid, keenly desirous, greedy, intensely eager, is 

a word more often read than heard. And 

because of its meaning of excessive desire, it 

is well to use it sparingly. All men desire 

praise, but only a few are avid for it and the 

word should be reserved for them. 

avocation; vocation. In America the older meanings 

of the words are kept: A man’s vocation 

is his ordinary occupation, business, or profession 

(that particular state or function to 

which it has pleased God to call him). His 

avocation is that which calls him away from 

his vocation-some minor occupation or 

hobby. 

Colloquially in America and more frequently 

in England, avocation is sometimes used as if 

it meant vocation, but this is wrong. 

Vocational has acquired a special meaning 

in education. Vocational guidance means guidance 

in selecting one’s life work. It can, and 

usually does, mean that a student with the 

ability and inclination is advised to enter one 

of the professions. But a vocational school 

means a school, often a high school, that 

teaches its students “practical” courses-manual 

training, home economics, stenography, 

automobile repairing, and the like. A vocational 

school is a trade school, a terminal 

school. In this sense the word has come a 

long way from its original meaning of “calling.” 

Vocation was at first a calling from 

God, such as that experienced by the youthful 

Samuel, and for a long time it was applied 

only to a religious occupation and was conceived 

as something wholly apart from ability 

or inclination. There had to be a definite 

supernatural summons before one entered the 

ministry and the word vocation (and especially 

its homely translation “calling”) still has this 

meaning in some of its uses. But it is hard to 

conceive of any supernatural injunction to 

repair cars or to fix television sets. See also 

calling, business. 

avoid. This word may be followed by the -ing 

form of a verb, as in he avoided saying. It 

could once be followed by an infinitive, as in 

he avoided to say, but this is now obsolete. 

avoid like the plague. See plague. 

avouch; avow; vouch for. To nvouch is to assert 

positively, to assume responsibility for, to 

guarantee (His death was avouched by three 

separate messengers). The word is now falling 

into disuse and is generally replaced by the 

phrase vouch for. 

To avow is to declare frankly or openly 

(The Senator avowed his devotion to his constituenfs) 

.

await 50 

await. See anticipate. 

awake; awaken. See wake. 

award; reward. The verb award means to assign 

or bestow according to adjudged merit. The 

noun award means that which is so assigned 

or bestowed. In its proper uses it is a lofty 

and dignified word. When there is not sufficient 

dignity in the gift or the judges, it is a 

slightly pompous word better replaced by gift. 

A reward is something given in recompense 

for service. It is pay, compensation, or retribution 

and punishment. (Honor is the reward of 

virtue). 

aware. See conscious. 

awful; dreadful. Until recently these words both 

meant inspiring respectful fear and both are 

now used to mean very disagreeable, as in 

that dreadful cat, that awful child. Some 

people object to the second use of these words 

but it is thoroughly established in American 

speech today. 

Technically, awful and dreadful are adjectives 

and qualify nouns. But they are also used 

as simple intensives before another adjective, 

as in it came awful close and dreadful sorry, 

Clementine. This use of dreadful is not standard 

now, although dreadfully sorry is acceptable. 

But some educated people still use awful 

rather than awfully before an adjective. They 

feel that this is the popular idiom and that, 

since the purists will not forgive them for 

using the word as an intensive anyway, there 

is nothing to be gained by a compromise such 

as awfully close. See adjectives as adverbs. 

awoke; awaken. See wake. 

axe to grind, to have an. A cliche and therefore 

to be avoided and the more to be avoided 

because, like so many cliches, it doesn’t have 

a clear meaning. 

In so far as it has a meaning, it implies a 

hidden personal interest in a seemingly dis- 

babe; baby. Baby is now the standard word, 

though it is a diminutive of the former standard 

word bnbe (and, behold, the babe wept-Exodus 

2:6) which was itself, probably, a diminutive 

of an earlier baban. When babe was the 

standard word for child, baby, its diminutive, 

often meant a doll. The two words seem continually 

to be interchanging, as in modem slang. 

Babe is still retained to imply innocence, guilelessness, 

and simplicity (I know no more than a 

babe unborn) and baby, as both a noun and a 

verb, to denote an undesirable infantilism (He’s 

a big baby. Don’t baby him). See also infant. 

bacillus. The plural is bacilli. 

B 

interested proposal. But just how it came to 

have even this much meaning is somewhat of 

a mystery. Some (the Oxford English Dictionary 

among them) attribute the origin of 

the phrase to a story by Benjamin Franklin, 

but Franklin’s story, of a man who wanted 

his axe ground until the whole surface was as 

bright as the edge and agreed to turn the 

grindstone while the smith so ground it, carries, 

rather, the moral of “Don’t bite off more 

than you can chew.” More reliably the phrase 

has been traced to Charles Miner’s Who’ll 

Turn the Grindstone? In this anecdote, first 

published in 1810, a boy is flattered into turning 

the grindstone while a stranger sharpens 

his axe. The boy finds the task much harder 

than he thought it would be and is dismissed 

at its conclusion not with thanks but with a 

threat that he’d better not be late to school. 

But here, again, there is no suggestion of a 

hidden private interest in an apparently altruistic 

suggestion. The stranger makes his intention 

plain from the beginning. If the story 

has a moral it is, “Don’t expect gratitude just 

because you work hard.” 

The saying probably lingers on because it 

isn’t understood. It has an earthy, rustic flavor. 

The user appears to be a son of toil and the 

soil and the poor listener daren’t ask “What 

does that mean?” 

ixiom. See commonplace. 

axis. The plural is axes. 

ty; aye or aye; ay. The two adverbs, one meaning 

always, continually, at all times (And aye 

she sighed) and the other yes (Aye, ‘tis true), 

are pronounced differently though each is 

spelled either way. Aye meaning “always” is 

pronounced like the a in race. Aye meaning 

“yes” is pronounced like the i in mice. 

Aye in the sense of “yes” is also a noun (The 

ayes have it). 

back formation is a term used in grammar to describe 

the formation of a word from one that 

looks like its derivative or to describe any word 

so formed. The verb to typewrite was so formed 

from typewriter. Peddler is a classic example. 

Usually in English an agent noun is formed by 

adding the suffix -er (or -or or -ar) to the verb 

stem, as builder from build and singer from sing. 

But in the case of peddler the noun existed first 

and the verb to peddle was formed from the 

noun. Sometimes (as in the singular Chinee) the 

irregularity of the word is felt and it is not used 

seriously, but many others have passed into 

standard usage (as pea from Pease and diagnose

from diagnosis). It is interesting that among 

such formations whose irregularity would, he 

felt, be too obvious for anyone to make serious 

use of them, Fowler lists donate, now a fully 

accepted word. 

back of; in back of. Both of these phrases are 

standard English in the United States. A survey 

of American usage made about twenty-five years 

ago found that back of was thoroughly established 

but that in back of was “disputable.” Since 

then, in back of has been accepted in the finest 

circles. It appears in foreign-language dictionaries 

and vocabulary lists compiled by the most 

reputable institutions, and in publications of the 

United States Office of Education. (No one any 

longer questions the propriety of in front of.) 

backward; backwards. Backward is the only form 

that can be used to qualify a following noun, as 

in u backward glance. Either form may be used 

in any other construction, as in move backwards 

and move backward. In the United States the 

form backward is generally preferred. 

Bacon, the essayist, may be called Francis Bacon, 

Sir Francis Bacon, Baron Verulam of Verulam, 

Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Albans, or Lord 

St. Albans. Few men have had as many legitimate 

names. It is an error, however, to call him 

Lord Bacon. 

bacteria is a plural form and traditionally requires 

a plural verb. 

In general English bacteria is treated as a 

plural when it refers to a collection of individuals, 

as in these bacteria are dead and all bacteria 

are larger than viruses. But when it refers to a 

class or a variety, it may also be treated as a 

singular, as in this particular bacteria is harmless 

and a new bucteria has appeared. In this sense, 

a regular plural in s is sometimes heard, as in 

not enough is known aboat the bacterias. This is 

acceptable. But a double Latin plural, bacteriue, 

is not. 

The Latin singular bacterium is very rare. It 

is not heard in general English and is now too 

vague a term to be used in the laboratory. A 

technician who had isolated one of these organisms 

would call what he had found something 

more specific than a bacterium. The word occurs 

chiefly when this form of life is being discussed 

in connection with a virus. 

bad. The comparative form is worse. The superlative 

form is worst. At one time bad also had the 

forms budder and baddest, but these are no 

longer standard. 

A few generations ago, the word bud was an 

adjective and could only be used to qualify a 

noun; the word badly was an adverb and was 

the form required to qualify any word that was 

not a noun. This means that the form bud was 

required in sentences such as I felt bud, he 

looked bud, and so on, where it refers to, or 

qualifies, the subject of the verb. On the other 

hand, the form badly was required in sentences 

such as it hurt badly, because here the word 

refers to or qualifies the verb, that is, it tells how 

it hurt. 

51 baggage 

But today many people believe that I felt 

badly is a “nicer” expression than I felt bud. 

This technically incorrect form has now become 

acceptable English. We may say Z felt bad or 

Z felt badly. Having established itself after the 

verb feel, badly has begun to appear after other 

linking verbs, such as he looks badly, it smells 

badly, where bud is the traditionally correct 

form. Badly is not yet as well established after 

these other verbs as it is after feel. It sounds 

like a grammatical mistake to many people. But 

it is acceptable to many others and will probably 

be thoroughly established in time. 

As badly took over some of the functions of 

bud, the form bad began to be used in place of 

badly, as in it hnrt bud. This construction, once 

standard English, had been obsolete for several 

centuries when this revival began. Many people 

still object to this use of bad but it has not been 

attacked as energetically as the adjective use of 

badly and will probably be standard English in 

time. 

Worse and less are the only comparative 

forms in English that do not end in r, and less 

now has the duplicate form lesser. The word 

worser, as in the worser sort, my worser self, 

was formerly as acceptable as lesser now is, but 

at present it is out of use and considered unacceptable 

by many people. The words worse and 

worst are both adverbs as well as adjectives. 

Only the form worst can be used before of, 

regardless of how many things are being talked 

about, as in in the collision between the convertible 

and the truck, the convertible got the worst 

of it. Worse of is unidiomatic English, and the 

fact that only two objects are being compared is 

irrelevant. 

The use of worst for most, as in what I need 

worst is money, is objectionable to most people. 

bad blood between tbem. To say of those who 

have long nursed grudges against each other, 

who have an ingrained dislike and resentment 

of each other, that there is bud blood between 

them is to employ an anemic cliche. 

bade. See bid. 

bag and baggage. Baggage has a specialized meaning, 

the impedimenta of an army. With bag and 

baggage-with the property of the army as a 

whole and the properties of the individual soldiers-was 

sometimes one of the terms of an 

honorable retreat. 

The phrase, meaning “with one’s whole belongings, 

completely,” probably remained in 

popular use because of its alliteration. It is now 

a cliche with all of its original meaning lost and 

should be avoided in ordinary speech or writing. 

baggage; luggage. Baggage used to be the American 

word, luggage the English. But in recent 

years luggage has come into currency in America 

too. Airplanes and trains have luggage racks 

and what used to be called the trunk of an automobile 

is now often called the luggage compartment. 

In almost all combinations, however, it remains 

baggage: baggage room, baggage agent,

aggage check, baggage car. He would be a 

bold man who, west of the Hudson, dared refer 

to it as the luggage van. 

bagpipe. In traditional English, one of these instruments 

is called a bagpipe no matter how 

many pipes it may have, as in he played on a 

bagpipe. In Scotland, the plural form bagpipes 

is commonly used in referring to one instrument, 

as in he played on the bagpipes, and the 

plural form may even be treated as a singular, 

as in give the lad a bagpipes instead of a rattle. 

Either form is acceptable in the United States. 

bail; bale. You bail out a boat with a bail (from 

Old French baille “bucket”). You bale hay into 

a bale (from Old High German ball4 “ball”). 

baker’s dozen. There are several explanations of 

why thirteen should be called a baker’s dozen. 

Bakers are said to have been notoriously dishonest 

(there are a number of proverbs that 

connect the baker with the pillory) and the extra 

loaf added to every dozen (called the vantage 

loaf or inbread) insured full weight. Or the 

added loaf in twelve is said to have been the 

legal profit allowed those who bought at wholesale 

from the bakery and sold at retail. 

Whatever the derivation, the phrase is now a 

clich6 and is generally to be avoided. 

balance. When this word refers to a weighing instrument 

it means the entire instrument and the 

plural balances means more than one of these. 

At one time this word was confused with the 

word scales. The instrument itself was thought 

of as a plural, as in thou art weighed in the 

balances, and the singular balance was used to 

mean one of the pans, as in a pair of balances 

in his hand. This usage is based on a misunderstanding 

of the word balance. It can still be 

heard today, but is no longer acceptable English. 

balance; remainder; rest; residue. Though described 

bv the Oxford English Dictionary as 

%.ommerEial slang” and conhemned by Fowler 

as “a slipshod extension,” balance is used so 

widely in America for remainder that it must 

be accepted as standard (Lee, with the balance 

of the army, was to hold off McClellan). 

Those who wish to make fine distinctions 

(though they may not be followed or even 

understood by the balance of their countrymen) 

will use balance only when they have in mind 

the difference between two amounts that have to 

be compared. That is, you may say I’ll pay you 

the balance when I get my pay check because, 

apparently, something has been paid and the 

amount to be received in the pay check will at 

least equal what is yet to be paid. Certainly a 

bank balance, though properly a remainder, is 

now standard. 

Remainder or rest is what is left and either 

is to be preferred to balance in ordinary use. It 

is better to say I had the rest of the time to 

myself than to say I had the balance of the 

time to myself. 

Residue is what remains after some process 

has taken place (The residue was a light gray 

ash). The balance of an army might be that 

proportion whose preponderant weight decided 

52 

an up-to-that-time evenly matched engagement. 

The remainder of an army might be any part 

left after the main sections had been dispersed. 

The residue of an army would be that remaining 

after an engagement or a disastrous retreat. 

baleful and baneful both mean destructive, pernicious. 

Baleful can also mean malignant and 

baneful can also mean poisonous but in these 

two particular meanings the words are not interchangeable. 

Baneful is generally applied to 

things that cause death, baleful to menacing 

influences. 

bambino. The plural is bambinos or bambini. 

ban. The necessity of using short words in headlines 

and the fact that headlines are coming to 

be more and more the sole reading matter of 

millions have made headlines a serious force 

in the shaping of popular speech. Among the 

most popular of words in headlines is ban. In 

standard English it means prohibit or interdict. 

A book is banned if it is prohibited by the 

authorities. It is so used in the headlines but 

it is also used to signify almost any kind of 

disapproval or refusal. 

banal. See commonplace. 

bandit. See thief; robber; burglar. 

banister; baluster. The word banister is simply a 

corruption of baluster. A baluster is the upright 

support, with a curved or molded outline. 

The balusters together form the balustrade 

which supports the railing and it is this that 

children slide down when they slide down the 

banisters. It is hard to conceive of any purist 

so pure, however, that he would say The 

children slid down the railing supported by the 

balustrade, and banisters serves for balusters, 

railing and all, in domestic and colloquial use. 

Of course anyone writing about architecture or 

ordering specific parts for a staircase would do 

well to use the terms exactly. 

bank on (to rely on) derives not from putting 

money in a bank and so having it to rely on, but 

from making bank at a gaming table. You can 

bunk on that means “You can be so sure of 

that that you can wager any sum on it against 

all comers.” 

banns. This word, meaning a notice of an intended 

marriage, is used only in the plural form, as 

in the banns were published yesterday. In order 

to speak of more than one such notice it is 

necessary to say the banns of several couples. 

banquet. See repast. 

baptismal name. See first name. 

barbarian; barbaric; barbarous; barbarism; barbarity. 

A barbarian was originally simply a non- 

Greek. The Greeks couldn’t understand the 

language of the northern nations and didn’t 

think it much worth while to try. To them it 

sounded as if they were simply saying bar-bar 

over and over again and they called them 

barbarians. 

A number of nouns and adjectives stem 

from this root, each embodying some aspect or 

quality, or supposed aspect or quality, of uncivilized 

and unlettered people with rough 

manners.

Barbarian when used as an adjective simply 

means of or pertaining to barbarians, without 

any emotional coloring. A barbarian custom is 

a custom of barbarians. 

Barbaric has a favorable connotation and is 

used of those things among barbarians that 

civilized men find admirable or at least not 

repulsive. It alludes to the nai’vet6 of barbarians, 

their rude vigor, their childlike love of 

splendor, etc. (The barbaric dissonances of 

Tchaikowsky’s Marche Slave). 

Barbarous alludes to the cruel and unpleasant 

things associated with barbarians (The 

slaughter of the prisoners was a barbarous act). 

It is a word inclined to be overworked since its 

use is self-laudatory in that it implies that the 

speaker or writer definitely regards himself as 

civilized in comparison to those of whom he is 

speaking. 

Barbarism means an uncivilized condition 

(They lived in a state of barbarism) and, by 

extension from this, uncultivated taste, and a 

special meaning, an illiterate expression (“They 

was” is a barbarism). 

Barbarity means some brutal or inhuman 

conduct (The barbarities practiced upon the 

wounded are too dreadful to describe). This 

word, too, is used, by figurative extension, to 

describe faults in taste or solecisms in grarnmar, 

but its violence is likely to engender resentment 

and the implied cultural superiority 

of its user is likely to engender scorn. 

bard was one of an ancient Celtic order of poets. 

When Tom Moore in The Minstrel Boy referred 

to the boy as the warrior bard he was 

using the word correctly, but opportunities to so 

use it are rare and hard to contrive. To use it 

facetiously as a term for any poet is to indulge 

in a low grade of frigid jocularity. To call Shakespeare 

the Bard of Avon is to come feebly into 

the rear of an outworn fashion with a lamentable 

piece of stilted nonsense. 

bare. See mere. 

barely. See hardly. 

barker to denote someone who stands before a 

store or theater urging passers-by to enter (A 

good barker is indispensable to a sideshow) is 

so universal that its use would be fully understood 

anywhere in the United States. 

barn means different things in England and 

America. The English restrict it to its original 

meaning of a storage place for grain. In America 

it also includes shelters or stalls for animals, 

especially for cows. We speak of locking the 

barn door after the horse has been stolen, 

whereas in England the proverb is always the 

stable door. Barn in American usage has a 

specialized meaning of a storage place for streetcars 

(car barn) and a generalized meaning of 

a large, bleak room or building (The house was 

a perfect barn of a place). 

barracks. At one time a singular form barrack 

was used in speaking of one building, as in he 

lived in a barrack, and the plural barracks meant 

a collection of such buildings. In the United 

States today one building is usually called a 

53 Basic 

barracks. The word may be followed by a plural 

verb, as in the barracks are crowded, or by a 

singular verb, as in the barracks is crowded. The 

singular form barrack is still preferred as the 

first element in a compound, as in barrack room 

and barrack yard. 

barracuda. The plural is barracudas or barracuda, 

not barracudae. 

barrage is properly a curtain of shelling, the shells 

so laid down as to make a given line impassable. 

Military procedures and the terms that 

describe them are not always clear to the civilian, 

however, and the word has come in 

standard usage to mean an overwhelming quantity 

(The speaker was greeted with a barrage of 

questions). 

bar sinister. The use of the term bar sinister 

(chiefly by romantic novelists-including Sir 

Walter Scott) to denote illegitimate birth is not 

only hackneyed and pretentious but erroneuus. 

The persistence of the error may be due to 

the connotations of bar and sinister. They carry, 

between them, a vague suggestion that illegitimate 

sons are barred from inheriting and have 

something evil and sneaking about them. The 

latter idea is very strong: bastard is still the 

commonest term, in the vernacular, for anyone 

who has been cruel or underhanded. 

The proper term-if any novelist wishes to 

mend his ways-is bend. A bar, in the jargon 

of heraldry, is “an honorable ordinary, formed 

(like the fess) by two parallel lines drawn horizontally 

across the shield, and including not 

more than its fifth part.” A bend is “an ordinary 

formed by two parallel lines drawn from the 

dexter chief to the sinister base of the shield.” 

It, too, includes no more than a fifth part of the 

shield, though (if the novelist really wants to 

be recondite) it may contain the third part of 

the shield “if charged.” 

It’s much simpler to say, “He was a bastard.” 

bartender. The American bartender (colloquially 

barkeeper or barkeep) is in England a barman. 

For the English barmaid there is no American 

equivalent, in name or person. American mores 

have never permitted ladies to dispense alcoholic 

beverages to the public and American courtesy, 

prudery, democracy, or just plain love of highfalutin 

language, has given us a vocabulary deficient 

in standard terms for female human 

beings who are not ladies. 

basal and basic mean fundamental. Their use 

should be restricted to specialized meanings, and 

fundamental, or even the good, solid bottom, 

used at other times. Basal, in common usage, is 

almost a nonce word, being confined to the 

physiological basal metabolism. Basic, however, 

is increasingly common (basic facts, basic ingredients, 

basic principles) and will probably 

oust the older words if, indeed, it has not already 

done so. 

bashful. See modest. 

Basic English is a scientific selection of English 

words chosen for maximum efficiency of expression 

and for ease of learning. Conceived by 

C. K. Ogden of Cambridge, it was worked out

asis 

by Ogden and his colleague, I. A. Richards, 

while thev were writing The Meaning of Meaning 

(192j). Ogden has continued to promote it 

in England at the Orthological Institute, while 

Richards since the late 1930’s has been its 

sponsor at the Language Research Institute at 

Harvard. 

It is called Basic not only because it operates 

with the most essential words but also because 

Ogden conceives of it as an auxi1iary international 

language which can easily be learned 

by anyone anywhere. Although the name was 

probably not coined as an acronym, the fly-leaf 

opposite the title-page is set up thus: 

B-British 

A-American 

S-Scientific 

I-International 

C-Commercial 

It is English because, according to Ogden, 

English is of all existing languages the most SUSceptible 

of simplification and because English is 

becoming, more and more, a world-wide second 

language. 

Of the 850 words in Basic over 600 are 

regularly used by a child of six and the other 

250 are common. There are 600 nouns and 

150 adjectives. Verbs are minimized and called 

“operations,” of which there are 16. Prepositions 

(20) are called “directives”; they are essential 

auxiliaries to the operations. The remaining 

words also assist to put the nouns and adjectives 

into operation. With the restriction of the verbs, 

grammar is greatly simplified. 

In addition to the basic 850 there are 100 

more general science words, which may be augmented 

by 50 more in any particular field of 

science. There are also 250 “word groups” 

(actually idioms), which must be learned as 

such. 

Basic English is primarily utilitarian. Some 

translations into Basic (such as “Blood, facewater 

and eye-water” for “Blood, sweat and 

tears”) seem ludicrous, but any translation can 

be made to seem ludicrous. The vocabulary is 

limited and Basic English is, therefore, lacking 

in nuance. A more serious difficulty, in the light 

of its avowed purposes, is that for all its simplification 

there are still a lot of very difficult 

combinations to master. 

Here is an example from Ogden’s book of 

what happens on translating into Basic. The 

selection is from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech 

on the bank closings, on March 12, 1933. The 

greater length and stylistic awkwardness of the 

Basic translation is typical. 

ORIGINAL 

I recognize that the many proclamations from 

State Capitols and from Washington, the legislation, 

the Treasury regulations, etc., couched 

for the most part in banking and legal terms, 

ought to be explained for the benefit of the 

average citizen. I owe this in particular because 

of the fortitude and the good temper with which 

54 

everybody has accepted the inconvenience and 

the hardships of the banking holiday. 

Public orders have been given out in great 

numbers from State Capitols and from Washington; 

there have been new laws, Treasury decisions 

and so on. Most of them have been in the 

language of banking or of the law, and it is right 

for their purpose to be made clear in the interests 

of the common man. There is a special need 

for me to do this, because of the high hope and 

good feeling with which everyone has taken the 

loss of comfort and the troubles caused by the 

fact that banking business has been stopped for 

a time. 

These limitations are but trifles, however, 

compared to the immense benefits that would 

accrue from the adoption of some working basic 

international language, as a second language, 

that was simple enough to be easily mastered. 

basis. The plural is bases. A new singular base 

has developed out of the plural bases. The two 

words base and basis mean exactly the same 

thing. In most contexts base is the preferred 

form, but basis is still favored in speaking about 

the grounds for an opinion or judgment. 

bastinado. The plural is bastinadoes. 

bathos; pathos. Bathos means a sudden and ludicrous 

descent from the sublime to the commonplace, 

from the terrible to the flat, from any 

intense emotion to vapidity. A classic example 

is a quatrain from Congressman H. C. Canfield’s 

Elegy on the Loss of V. S. Submarine S4: 

Entrapt inside a submarine, 

With death approaching on the scene, 

The crew composed their minds to dice, 

More for the pleasure than the vice. 

Or a couplet from Grainger’s The Sugar Cane: 

Some of the skilful teach, and some deny, 

That yams improve the soil. 

Bathos is sometimes used as a synonym for 

anticlimax (q.v.) but there is this difference, that 

anticlimax is often intentional, whereas bathos 

is always inadvertent. 

Pathos is the quality or power in speech or 

music of evoking a feeling of tender pity and 

sympathetic sadness. Its adjective, pathetic, is 

much used-too much, indeed. Bathos and its 

adjective bathetic are rarely used except by 

literary critics. 

battle royal, a general engagement, a fight in 

which several combatants engage, each against 

all, is a term from cockfighting. It has become a 

clichC and should be avoided. 

bawling out. A bawling out is not merely a scolding, 

but one delivered in a loud voice and a 

bullying manner (She bawled him out in public 

for forgetting her cigarettes). It is not used in 

formal speech or writing. 

bay window; bow window. A bay window makes 

a bay out from the room. It may be a bay of any 

kind-rectangular, polygonal, or curved. A bow

window is curved. Thus buy is the generic, bow 

the specific term. 

be. The verb to be is the only really irregular verb 

in English. It is made up of remnants of three 

separate verbs which meant, primarily, to occupy 

space. Today, the present tense of this verb is 

am when the subject is Z; is when the subject is 

singular but not I or you: and are when the 

subject is you or plural. The past tense is was for 

a singular subject (except the word you) and 

otherwise were. The past participle is been, and 

the -ing form is being. The infinitive, imperative, 

and present subjunctive is be. In the past subjunctive 

were may be used as a singular or as a 

plural, or the singular may be expressed by was. 

See subjunctive mode and was; were. 

Thomas Jefferson and his contemporaries 

used the form yolc was in speaking to a single 

person and you were in speaking to more than 

one, but you was is no longer standard. (See 

you; ye.) Formerly ain’t used in place of am not 

was more acceptable than it is today. It is not 

generally considered standard in the United 

States, although a contraction of some sort is 

badly needed here, especially in questions. (See 

ain’t.) 

The word do may be used with be to form an 

imperative, as in do be quiet. But do, does, and 

did cannot be used with be to make present or 

past tense forms, as they can with other verbs. 

In standard English we cannot say they do be 

rich or they did be angry. The perfect tenses of 

to be, formed with the auxiliary words have, has, 

or had, may be used with the preposition to, as 

in he has been to school, he will have been to 

school. But the simple tenses cannot be used with 

to in its literal, physical sense. In standard 

English these require the preposition at. We 

must say he is at school, he was at school, and 

not he was to school. 

To be is frequently used as an auxiliary verb. 

It is used to form the progressive tenses. For this 

we use the appropriate form of the verb to be 

followed by the -ing form of the meaningful 

verb, as in he was talking, he will have been 

talking, to be talking. (For special uses of the 

progressive forms, see past tense and present 

tense.) It is also used to form the passive voice. 

For this we use the appropriate form of the 

verb to be followed by the past participle of the 

meaningful verb, as in it was broken, it will have 

been broken, to be broken. (See passive voice.) 

At one time to be was used to form the perfect 

tenses of intransitive verbs, as in the king was 

gone to Camelot, but these forms are now 

archaic. (See perfect tenses.) 

When a form of to be is used as a full verb 

and not as an auxiliary for some other verb it 

merely links its subject and its complement. The 

complement may be a noun or noun equivalent, 

as in he is a philosopher, or it may be an adjective, 

as in he is wise. See linking verbs and 

subject of a verb. 

If one is writing English according to the rules 

of Latin grammar, a personal pronoun following 

a form of the verb io be has the form that it 

55 bear 

would have if it were standing on the other side 

of the verb. That is, it has the form that it would 

have if it were in the subject position instead of 

the position of complement. This means that the 

subjective pronoun would be required after a 

true verb form, such as it is I. The problem is 

more complicated with to be and being. 

A word that is the subject of an infinitive is 

usually also the object of some other verb or of 

a preposition, such as him in I asked him to 

come and there is no reason for him to come. 

When the subject of to be is the object of a verb 

or preposition, a personal pronoun following 

to be must have an objective form, as in Z took 

it to be him. Sometimes the subject of an infinitive 

is also the subject of a passive verb, as in 

he was asked to come. When the subject of to be 

is also the subject of a verb, a personal pronoun 

following lo be would have a subjective form 

according to these rules, as in it was thought to 

be he. 

The rules for the word being are the same. If 

being is attached to a word that is the object of 

a verb or preposition a following pronoun must 

have the objective form, as in Z can’t imagine it 

being him and I like to think of it being him. 

Otherwise, the Latin rules require a subjective 

form. A genitive or possessive form before being 

is interpreted as a subject and would therefore 

be followed by a subjective form, as in Z can’t 

imagine its being he. 

The rules just given represent correct Latin. 

They do not represent good English. In the best 

English, written as well as spoken, the subjective 

form of a pronoun is used immediately before 

a verb and the objective form in any other position. 

See objective pronouns, subjective pronouns, 

-ing, and participles. 

bear. The past tense is bore. The participle is 

borne or born. 

Bare is an old literary past tense that is now 

obsolete. Had bore, which was once a literary 

form, is still heard but is no longer standard. 

This verb may mean to bring forth. The participle 

born (without an e) is used only in this 

sense, only of mammals, only of the offspring, 

and only in the passive, as in the child was born 

on January 12th. When speaking of the mother, 

the participle used is always home (with the e), 

as in she had borne n child. This distinction between 

born and borne dates from the latter part 

of the eighteenth century, and is thoroughly artificial. 

But it is also thoroughly established and 

therefore has to be observed. At one time there 

was an attempt to limit born to the human young 

and a meticulous person would write the calf 

was borne in the morning. But this refinement 

has been abandoned. 

The participle born may be followed by an 

adjective describing the creature, as in born wise, 

or by an adverb describing the process, as in 

born easily. 

When the verb has any other meaning than 

bring forth, only the participle borne can be 

used, as in air-borne diseases. 

Beor may be followed by an infinitive, as in

ear 56 

can you bear to hear about it again? or by the 

-ing form of a verb, as in can you bear hearing 

about it again? The -ing form may also be used 

with a passive meaning, as in it will bear repeating. 

Bear may be followed by a clause, as in I 

cannot bear you should suffer, but this is now 

felt to be stiff and an infinitive construction, such 

as I cannot bear to have you suffer, is preferred. 

An infinitive with for, as in I cannot bear for 

you to suffer, is heard frequently in educated 

speech but is considered “incorrect” by some 

people. 

bear a charmed life. All conception of a charm 

as a verse or formula with magic powers has 

faded from the popular vocabulary and this once 

powerful and even dreadful-the terrible incantation 

of the witches in Macbeth is called a 

charm-word is now reduced to mean a sort 

of placid attractiveness in women. To bear a 

charmed life was, once, to be protected against 

harm by the force of secret and sometimes sinister 

incantations. But this meaning has been lost 

and the phrase lingers on as a clich6. 

beard the lion in his den has come to be pretty 

well restricted to boldly facing some feared 

person in his home or office. Some authorities 

trace the saying to the youthful David’s exploit 

of taking a lion by the beard and slaying it 

(I Samuel 17:35). Others think it is the remnant 

of an old proverb (to which Shakespeare 

alludes in King John) that says the timid hare 

will boldly pluck a dead lion by the beard; but 

if this is its origin, all feeling of satire has been 

lost in the modern use. 

beastly. See brutal. 

beat. The past tense is beat. The participle is beat 

or beaten. 

beat; beat up. See thrash. 

beat about the bush, in its figurative sense of 

hemming and hawing and approaching what 

one wants to say in timid circumlocution is now 

hackneyed and should be avoided in ordinary 

speech or writing. 

beaten. See beat. 

beaten track. The beaten track has been trod by 

unimaginative writers for more than three centuries 

now and is, in consequence, pretty flat. 

It survives today chiefly in off the beaten track 

but even so it should be avoided. 

beau has the plural beaus or beaux. But beauxarts, 

meaning fine arts, is French, not English, 

and must keep the French plural in x. 

beau ideal. In the French id&al is the adjective, 

not the noun, and the phrase means ideal beauty, 

not a beautiful ideal. The English word ideal 

means exactly what the French benu ide’al means 

and nothing is gained from using the French 

phrase instead of the English word. 

Despite original meanings, however, the 

phrase has come to mean “a model of excellence” 

as well as “a conception of perfect 

beauty” and may legitimately be used in this 

sense. Just because it may be done, however, is 

no reason why it should be done. 

because. The phrase because of functions as a 

preposition and is followed by a simple object, 

as in because of him. But the word because 

standing alone is a conjunction and introduces 

a full clause. In most cases the clause qualifies 

a verb, as in he left because it was late, and 

because is said to be an adverbial conjunction. 

Some grammarians claim that because cannot 

be used in any other way, that is, that it cannot 

introduce a clause that is functioning as a noun, 

as it does in because you think so doesn’t make 

it true. Here the clause introduced by because 

is the subject of the verb make and is therefore 

a noun clause. 

Because may certainly introduce a noun 

clause that is joined to it, this, or that by some 

form of the verb to be, as in if you are hungry 

it is because you didn’t eat. This has been 

standard English for centuries and the very 

grammarians who condemn the use of because 

in a noun clause do not hesitate to write this is 

because. 

As a rule, the example given of the misuse of 

because is a sentence containing the reason or 

the reason why, as in rhe reason why he failed 

was because he tried to do loo much. It is 

claimed that only the word that can be used 

here. If the claim is based on theory, there is no 

reason why because should not refer back to a 

noun, such as reason, as well as to a pronoun, 

such as if, this, that. And if it can refer to a 

noun, there is no reason why the clause cannot 

functiqn as a noun. If the claim is based on 

practice, the facts are that this construction is 

relatively new, that it offends some people, but 

is used freely by the best modern writers. 

Because could once be followed by that, as in 

I abhor death because thaf thou must die. This 

construction is now obsolete. 

because, since, as, inasmuch as, all imply a 

reason for something’s happening, having 

happened, or going to happen. Because, simply 

a slurred pronunciation of the earlier form by 

cause, introduces a direct reason (I’m sorry that Z 

spelled the word,/ Because-because I love you! 

He put on his mittens because it was cold). As 

and since are more casual. They suggest that the 

circumstances to which they relate are merely 

attendant upon the main statement (As-or 

since-it was cold, he put on his mittens). Inasmuch 

as implies a concession. The main statement 

is true or reasonable or justified in view of 

the circumstances introduced by this phrase (Znasmuch 

as it was cold, he thought it best to put 

on his mittens, even though he disliked wearing 

them). Znasmuch as is an awkward way of saying 

since and can usually be replaced to advantage 

by one of the other words. 

For the difference between because and for, 

see for. 

become. The past tense is became. The participle 

is become. 

Become may be followed by an adjective describing 

the subject of the verb, as in the milk 

became sour. It may also be qualified by an 

adverb describing the becoming, as quickly, in 

the milk quickly became sour. 

According to the rules of Latin grammar 

become, when used in its ordinary sense, may be 

followed by a subjective pronoun, as in Mr.

Hyde became I, but not by an objective pronoun 

such as me. This is so contrary to the spirit 

of English that the construction must be avoided. 

One must either accept the facts of English usage 

and say Mr. Hyde became me or find a substitute 

expression, such as Mr. Hyde turned into 

me. (See linking verbs.) Become is sometimes 

used in the sense of “be becoming to” and in 

this sense is followed by an objective pronoun, 

as in nothing in his life became him like the 

leaving it. 

Become followed by a past participle, as in it 

became known, it became torn, is equivalent in 

meaning to a passive verb. But grammatically 

became is still a linking verb and the participle 

a simple adjective describing the subject. 

bed of Procrustes, as a term of disapproval for 

some forced uniformity, is an esoteric cliche. 

Procrustes (the name means “The Stretcher”) 

was a legendary robber of Attica who made his 

guests sleep on an iron bed. If they were longer 

than the bed, he cut off their feet. If they were 

shorter than the bed, he stretched them till they 

fitted it. To those who know the legend, the 

metaphor is hackneyed. To those who don’tthe 

majority of mankind-it is meaningless. One 

sometimes suspects that this and similar recondite 

figures of speech are used only that they 

may be explained later as a means of calling 

attention to the author’s erudition. 

bed of roses. We are never assured that anything 

is a bed of roses but that it is not. As a fact, it 

is inconceivable. As a figure, it is far fetched and 

artificial. As an expression, it is worn and flat. 

bee io his bonnet. To describe a crank with a 

fixed idea as someone with a bee in his bonnet 

was once clever. Not only is there the persistent, 

angry buzzing of the idea, excluding all other 

considerations, but there is the excited, energetic, 

erratic behavior of such people, with the possibility 

that, at any moment, they may be stung 

and rush wildly or dangerously about. 

But the phrase has been in use a long time. 

Quotations show that it was not a Scotch phrase 

originally and, except in Scotland, bonnet has 

not been the name for men’s headgear for more 

than two hundred years. And in two or three 

hundred years of constant use the cleverness 

wears off a phrase. This one deserves an honorable 

retirement. 

beef. When this word refers to cattle the plural is 

usually beeves, though beefs is also acceptable. 

When the word refers to complaints, the only 

plural is beefs. In the latter sense, whether as a 

noun or as a verb, beef is slang. 

been. See be. 

beet. The plural in America is beets. In England 

this has been superseded by beetroot. 

beeves. See beef. 

befall. The past tense is befell. The participle is 

befallen. 

Though befall once meant simply to happen 

(in the Towneley Mysteries a crown byfals a 

man, and Thackeray says that Ethel Newcome’s 

birthday befell in the Spring), in modem usage 

it refers almost exclusively to unfavorable 

happenings ( Whate’er befall, the disaster which 

then befell the human race, and it befell that 

they quarreled). 

before may be used as a simple adverb, as in I had 

been there before: or as a preposition with an 

object, as in I left before him; or as a conjunction 

introducing a full clause, as in I left before 

he arrived. In a clause introduced by before, a 

past tense form of the verb may be used instead 

of a past perfect (completed action) tense, as in 

I left before he came and I left before he had 

come. In such a clause a present tense verb form 

must be used instead of a future perfect form. 

That is, we say I will leave before he comes 

rather than I will leave before he will have 

come. 

beg may 

begged 

be followed by an infinitive, as in Z 

him to leave. It may also be followed bv 

a that clause, but the clause verb must be a sudjunctive 

or a subjunctive equivalent, as in I 

begged that he leave. The infmitive construction 

is generally preferred. Beg for followed by an infinitive, 

as in I begged for him to leave, is heard 

frequently but is condemned by some people. 

When not followed by a verb, beg and beg for 

are both standard, as in beg money and beg for 

money. Beg for is generally preferred in this 

construction. 

beg the question does not mean, as it is often 

assumed to mean, to evade giving a direct 

answer. It means to assume without proof, to 

take for granted the very conclusion in dispute. 

Thus he who challenges the doctrine of organic 

evolution and begins by assuming Special Creation 

has begged the question. 

beg-o. See begin. 

beget. The past tense is begot. The participle is 

begotten or begot. 

A past tense of this verb, begat, is used in the 

King James Bible but is now obsolete. 

In the United States, both forms of the participle 

may be used, as in he has begotten and 

he has begot. The form has begot is rare and 

begotten is generally preferred. In Great Britain 

the form has begot is unknown and begotten is 

the only form of the participle used. This is the 

reverse of British practice in the case of the verb 

get, where got is the preferred form and gotten 

is considered archaic. 

begin. The past tense is begun. The participle is 

begun. 

A past tense begun, as in he begun to make 

excuses, was once literary English but is no 

longer standard. 

Begin may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

he began to pace the room, or by the -ing form 

of a verb, as in he begun pacing the room. The 

two constructions are equally acceptable. 

begin; commence; start. Begin is the everyday 

working word for entering upon an action, taking 

the first step, arising, coming into existence 

(He began to eat his breakfast. If YOU bepin at 

this end, it will be easier. That’s when the trouble 

begun). Like most very simple words, it is capable 

of great dignity (In the beginning God 

created the heaven and the earth. Begin, then, 

Sisters of the Sacred Well). 

Commence is a more formal word, suggesting

eginner 58 

usually a more elaborate entry into some action. 

One commences an action at law or commences 

a long course of study. Commence should not be 

applied to trivial things (Commence to eat your 

breakfast). When there is any doubt, it is safer 

to use begin. 

Start has the sense of a sudden beginning, the 

actual making of a move and setting the process 

into motion. One starts a watch after it has 

stopped and, in a like manner, there is a suggestion 

of immediate action from a state of rest in 

the word. One who started to eat his breakfast 

would be conceived of as going about it with 

more briskness than one who merely began to 

eat his breakfast. 

beginner. See neophyte. 

beginning of the end. There is not enough cleverness 

in the paradox to justify any reprieve for 

this clichC. 

begot; begotten. See beget. 

begrudge; grudge. Grudge as a verb is now almost 

a rarity. Begrudge is stronger-he begrudged 

him even the little that he had seems more 

forceful than he grudged him the little that he 

had-and since the concept grudging doesn’t 

want a weaker word the simpler form has been 

crowded almost out of use. 

beguiling. See insidious. 

begun. See begin. 

behold. The past tense is beheld. The participle is 

also beheld. 

An old participle beholden (curiously enough, 

the same word) survives today, but only as an 

adjective meaning under obligation, as in 2 was 

beholden to him. 

behoove; behove. Behoove, to be needful or proper 

for or incumbent on (chiefly in impersonal 

use), is the American form. Behove is widely 

used in England, and is usually given the preference 

in British dictionaries. 

belated. See late. 

believe. This word may be followed b; a clause, 

as in I believe they are ripe, or by ;I; infinitive, 

as in I believe them to be ripe. The clause construction 

is preferred when the verb believe is 

active, as in the examples just given. When 

believe is passive, only the infinitive construction 

can be used, as in they are believed to be ripe. 

believe it or not. As an introductory formula this 

expression is intended to warrant credence even 

though that which is about to be related will 

seem incredible. It is, really, not a fair offer. 

Anyone who said, Well, since you say I may 

believe it or not, I think I will not, would probably 

incur the enmity of the speaker. Meanwhile 

he, by simply using the phrase, has aroused the 

annoyance of all discriminating listeners. 

believe (or can’t believe) one’s own eyes. Those 

who protest that they can’t believe their own 

eyes are likely at another time to affirm that 

seeing is believing. Both expressions are clichts 

and those who use either are not those whose 

powers of questioning would justify much respect 

anyway. 

belittle; disparage. Belittle is a milder word than 

disparage. Belittle simply means to make something 

seem less (He belittles everything I do). It 

is generally used figuratively. Disparage has the 

added suggestion of bringing reproach upon the 

person whose accomplishments or possessions 

are belittled, or lowering his reputation or dignity 

(These disparaging remarks have made 

him much despised). 

Belittle appears to have originated in the 

United States, thereby incurring Fowler’s disapproval. 

He proposes a number of words which 

he thinks better, among them minimize and 

poohpooh, but few lexicographers would be inclined 

to agree with him on this. 

bellicose; belligerent; pugnacious; quarrelsome. 

Bellicose means inclined to war, warlike, and 

should, therefore, properly be restricted to a 

description of nations or peoples. It has been 

applied in humorous exaggeration to individuals 

so often, however, that it is often used seriously 

as a synonym for pugnacious which is the proper 

adjective for an individual who wants to start a 

fight. The difference between quarrelsome and 

pugnacious is that a quarrelsome person confines 

his aggression to words-unless, of course, 

he happens to start a quarrel with a pugnacious 

person! 

Belligerent strictly means engaged in warfare 

(The belligerent nations refused the offer of 

arbitration). Since war, like jealousy, grows by 

what it feeds on, people at war are usually warlike 

or bellicose, so that it is not astonishing that 

belligerent has come to have the meaning of 

bellicose. There may also be an ellipsis in the 

use (Nis attitude was [that of a] belligerent). 

bellows. When this word means an instrument for 

blowing air it is usually followed by a plural 

verb, as in the bellows are ready. But it may also 

be used with a singular verb, as in the bellows is 

ready, and as a true plural, as in sixty bellows 

are ready. These forms are acceptable. But in 

literary English a pair of bellows is ready and 

sixty pairs of bellows are ready would generally 

be preferred. The double plural bellowses is 

not standard. 

belly; abdomen; stomach; tummy; guts. Belly is a 

good, sensible, established, time-honored word 

for that part of the human body which extends 

from the breastbone to the pelvis and contains 

the abdominal viscera. Its dignity could not be 

better illustrated than in Sir Winston Churchill’s 

proposal that the Allies invade Europe through 

the Balkans, striking the Nazis in their soft 

underbelly. 

Many feel the word to be improper or coarse. 

This feeling is stronger in England than in America 

where, in the vernacular and in slang, the 

word is a part of many effective phrases (bellyache 

for “complain,” bellylaugh, belly dancer, 

to do a belly smacker in diving, and so on). 

Abdomen is the medical term. Its use in anything 

but clinical conversations or reports is 

pompous and mealy-mouthed. 

Stomach describes a particular organ, a saclike 

enlargement of the alimentary canal. It is 

sometimes used of a larger area (as in stomach 

ache) and has figurative applications (I cannot 

stomach his insulting behavior), but the word 

is not applicable to the entire belly and every

eader or hearer knows it. That defeats the purpose 

of using it, because when a euphemism is 

obvious then the unpleasantness that it seeks to 

hide is emphasized rather than minimized. 

Tummy is simply disgusting when used by 

anyone over the age of four. It was hatched in 

English nurseries and the sole purpose that it 

serves is to illustrate the futility of attempting 

through euphemisms to avoid the facts of life. 

For tummy is a euphemism for stomach which 

(in the sense in which tummy is used; for even 

the most delicate never refer to a tummy pump 

or a tummy ulcer) is already a euphemism. If 

anything could make the word worse than it 

already is, it is its coy use in advertisements of 

ladies’ underwear. 

Guts, when used literally, describes the entrails. 

By inescapable association it is a coarse 

and unpleasant word, but where a coarse and 

unpleasant word is wanted it is the word to use. 

For its figurative uses, see guts. Its singular form 

is less offensive than the plural. 

belong. In English usage when belong is followed 

by a preposition, it is followed by to. American 

usage, retaining the basic idea of “having a 

rightful place,” permits any preposition that indicates 

place (The book belongs in the library. 

The cups belong on the shelf. The pan belongs 

under the sink). 

bend. The past tense is bent. The participle is also 

bent. 

An old participle bended survives today but 

is used only as an adjective, as in on bended 

knee. Even as an adjective, bent is used more 

often than bended, as in a bent wire. 

Bent, meaning “determined,” may be followed 

by an infinitive, as in he was wholly bent to 

make his kingdom and his people happy. But 

the -ing form of a verb with the preposition on, 

as in he was bent on making them happy, is 


bends. As a name for caisson disease, the bends 

is limited to the United States. 

beneath contempt. Since contempt is generally 

lofty and haughty, the phrase would not seem 

very effective. Its meaning is probably elliptical: 

the act or whatever is being spoken of is so bass 

that it is beneath consideration, even of contempt. 

The phrase is usually spoken in a manner 

that suggests strong contempt and conveys the 

embarrassing implication that the speaker is 

actually far more deeply offended than he likes 

to admit. It is just as well not to use it at all. 

benedick; benedict. The bachelor who in Shakespeare’s 

Much Ado About Nothing gloried in 

his unwedded freedom-until he fell in love with 

Beatrice-was called Benedick, and the writer 

who wishes to show that he is aware of the 

origin of the term will so spell it. And, of 

course, any direct reference to the character 

must be so spelled, and with a capital B. But 

-ict and -ick are only variant spellings and anyone 

who in cheerful ignorance or disregard of 

the etymology chooses to write of a benedict 

has committed no grievous error, 

beneficent; benign: benevolent; munificent. A beneficent 

person is one who does good for others. 

59 beside 

A benevolent person is one of good will who 

wishes others well (There are far more of the 

benevolent than the beneficent in the world). 

A benign person is one who is kind and gracious, 

of an even and pleasant disposition. 

Munificence is sometimes the consequence of 

benevolence, but it need not be. It simply means 

extreme liberality in giving and that is sometimes 

prompted by vanity. When in Browning’s 

“MY Last Duchess” the duke. sueakina to the 

,- I 

envoy, refers icily to the Count your master’s 

known munificence no one assumes that benevolence 

is involved. Munificent is sometimes used 

as if it meant magnificent or splendid, and, of 

course, munificence can make splendor and 

magnificence if it chooses, but this use is an 

error. 

The antonyms to beneficent, benign, and benevolent 

are maleficent, malign, and malevolent. 

benefit of the doubt. To regard a man as innocent 

because, despite strong evidence against 

him, he has not yet been proved guilty is often 

-all too often-referred to as giving him the 

benefit of the doubt. The phrase is now a cliche 

and should be avoided in ordinary speech or 

writing. 

bent. See bend. 

bereave. The past tense is bereaved or bereft. The 

participle is also bereaved or bereft. 

Bereaved is used more often than bereft in 

speaking of the loss of a person and bereft is 

more usual in other contexts, as in the bereaved 

family, bereft of joy. This distinction is not 

rigidly observed and the two forms may be used 

interchangeably. 

bereavementi loss. Reuve means to tear away 

forcibly. A man bereft of reason is one whose 

rationality has been rudely taken from him by 

some violent excess of grief, passion, or misfortune. 

For the past three centuries it has been 

used of the loss of immaterial possessions. 

Compared to this, loss, the mere deprivation 

of something one once had, seems a mild word, 

yet in its simplicity there is sometimes a force 

exceeding that of the emotionally charged bereavement. 

Bereavement is used, particularly, 

of the loss sustained by the death of someone 

loved. It seems more stately, more fitted to 

funereal solemnities. Yet this fact is a little evident 

and the word is slightly tainted with artificiality: 

My loss is greater than I can bear is 

moving; My bereavement is greater than I cun 

bear would make the discerning listener slightly 

uncomfortable. 

beseech. The past tense is besought or beseeched. 

The participle is also besought or beseeched. 

Besought is generally preferred for both the 

past tense and the participle. Beseeched is an 

old form no longer used in Great Britain but 

still heard in respectable American speech. 

Beseech may be followed by an infinitive, as 

in I besought him to tell me the truth. It could 

once be followed by a that clause, as in beseeching 

God that he would give them the victory, 

but this construction is now archaic. 

beside; besides. At one time these words had the 

same meaning and could be used interchange-

esought 60 

ably, but today they mean different things. 

Beside now means “next to” and always has an 

object, as in standing beside me. In some situations, 

of course, “next to” is not near enough, 

as in beside the mark and beside himself. The 

form besides now means “in addition to” and 

may or may not be followed by an object, as in 

three people were there, besides me and she is 

stunid. and ualv besides. When besides is followed’by 

an object, it is called a preposition; 

when it is not, it is called an adverb. 

Besides may be followed by the -ing form of 

a verb, as in what has he done, besides reading 

the paper? The simple form of a verb may also 

be used after the verb do, and is generally preferred 

in this construction, as in what has he 

done besides read the paper? 

besought. See beseech. 

bespeak. The past tense is bespoke. The participle 

is bespoken. 

best. See good. 

bestial. See brutal. 

bestir is always used reflexively (Zf he would bestir 

himself he would soon finish the fob). Kent’s 

sneer at Oswald, in King Lear (You have so 

bestirr’d your valor), would not be used today. 

best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men. Usually distorted 

to the best laid plans of mice and men, 

Burn’s poignant line is usually given with a 

jocular lilt when some trifle has gone awry. The 

damage is done and even as a quotation it 

should now be let alone. 

bestride. The past tense is bestrode or bestrid. 

The participle is bestridden or bestrid. 

Bestrode is the preferred form for the past 

tense. Bestridden is preferred for the participle, 

but bestrid is also standard in both cases. The 

participle had bestrode is also used in Great 

Britain. 

bet. The past tense is bet or betted. The participle 

is also bet or betted. 

In the United States bet is preferred for both 

the past tense and the participle, but betted is 

also heard and is acceptable. Both forms are 

also heard in Great Britain. It is said that bet is 

used when speaking of a specific event, as in 

I bet $500, and betted when speaking in a more 

general manner, as in they betted a great deal 

in those days. 

bBte noire. If you must describe some particular 

bugbear, some object of extreme aversion, in 

French, the term is b2te noire, not be^te noir or 

bete noir. 

betimeq before it is too late, soon, early in the 

morning, and so on (Up betimes, and after a 

little at my viol, to my ofice-Pepys; Unless he 

net betimes, all will be lost), while standard 

usage, now smacks of the consciously literary 

and would be regarded as an affectation. 

better. See good. 

between indicates a relation involving two things, 

and only two. But it does not follow that we 

cannot use the word whenever more than two 

things are mentioned. We say the difference between 

the three men when we are thinking of 

each man compared with each of the others, 

separately and individually. But we would say 

the three men quarreled among themselves because 

we are then thinking of them as a group 

of three, and not as a series of pairs. For further 

discussion of the difference between between 

and among, see among. 

Between cannot be followed by a subjective 

pronoun. Logically, it cannot be followed by a 

word or group of words that is singular. But it 

may be followed by each or every with a singular 

noun, as in between each house, between 

every pause, where the meaning is “between 

each one and the adjoining.” Some grammarians 

object to this, but the construction is used by 

many great writers, including Shakespeare, 

Pope, Fielding, Goldsmith, Scott, Eliot, Dickens, 

and is acceptable to most educated people 

today. 

When the two items are mentioned after 

between, they must be joined by and, and not 

to. We say between the ages of five and twelve, 

and not between the ages five to twelve. 

between the devil and the deep sea (sometimes 

the deep blue sea and sometimes [formerly] 

the dend sea) as a term for being between two 

difficulties equally dangerous is a proverb of 

great age and much use. Like many sayings, it 

may owe its vitality to its alliteration. It is now 

spoken humorously and deserves to be retired. 

between you and I is not standard English, but 

this particular expression has such a long and 

honorable history and has been used by so many 

great writers that it cannot be classed as a 

mistaken attempt to speak “elegant” English. 

betwixt and between. English is rich in pairs of 

rhythmical, often alliterative, synonyms, joined 

by and: kith and kin, safe and sound, might and 

main. Often, as in bag and baggage (q.v.), there 

is, or once was, a difference in the meaning of 

the two words. But one suspects that scholarship 

has sometimes been overzealous-and oversuccessful-in 

discovering these differences. They 

probably got fixed in our speech more because 

of their rhythm and alliteration than because of 

any combination of fine shades of meaning. 

Some of them, especially those from the English 

translations of the Bible, may have been the 

fruit of the translators’ uncertainty in the face 

of their desire to be exact. Where they were not 

sure of the meaning of a word, they often used 

synonymous pairs to be sure of getting the full 

meaning somewhere between the two meanings 

(defender and keeper, meek and lowly, gladden 

and delight). Similarly in legal phraseology 

there are many synonymous repetitions (metes 

and bounds, ways and means, will and testament) 

which were no doubt intended to make 

the meaning absolutely clear and-also no doubt 

-in many instances led to endless quibbling and 

controversy. 

Betwixt and between is such a phrase. It is 

now a cliche and says nothing that is not said 

in between. It would be wrong, however, to call 

it an error. In informal speech its rhythm might 

be just what was needed, or its additional syllables 

might afford the speaker just the pause or

vantage that he wanted. In a formal speech, 

though, it would seem pompous or wordy, as it 

would also in formal writing. 

bevy. The old names for companies of men or 

animals were strange and wonderful. As a company 

of sheep are known as a flock and a company 

of cattle as a herd, a company of geese 

were known as a gaggle and a company of 

pheasants as an eye. Companies of roes, quails, 

larks, maidens and ladies were known as a bevy. 

The term lingers on chiefly in the cliches a bevy 

of belles and a bevy of beauties. Since these 

now have a mincing affectation about them and 

since the word cannot seriously be applied to 

any other sort of collection or company, it seems 

certain to become obsolete. 

beware. In present-day English this verb has only 

an imperative and an infinitive form. 

beyond the pale. Pale, the dismal region to which 

we assign those whom we regard as beyond 

the bounds of moral or social decency-is the 

word which we know best in its collective 

paling, a fence of stakes or pickets. Pale, originally 

that which was enclosed with pales (the 

cathedral pale), came to mean any territory 

within a certain limit that was under the protection 

of the Church or of some kingdom and 

that enjoyed certain privileges. The pale or 

the English pale was the cotmtry immediately 

around Dublin within which the English held 

sway before Cromwell subdued the entire island. 

When first used as a metaphor, it was a brilliant 

extension, but it is now overused and its 

literal meaning is almost completely lost. 

biannual; biennial. Biannual seems to have been 

a late nineteenth century coinage. It means halfyearly 

and is unfortunately and often confused 

with biennially which means every two years. 

It is said that the words were confused in a 

revision of the constitution of the state of New 

Jersey with the result that the legislators, who 

had adopted the revision, found themselves 

bound to meet every six months instead of every 

twenty-four, as they had intended. 

It is simply better to say “every six months” 

or “every two years.” The words, even when 

properly used, are cumbrous and have a flavor 

of documents and fine print. 

Biblical English. By Biblical English is usually 

meant English as used in the so-called Authorized 

Version of the Bible, published in 1611 by 

special command of King James I of England. 

It is this version of the Bible which has given to 

English speech and writing so many memorable 

phrases and distinctive rhythms. While later versions 

or translations often render the Hebrew or 

Greek originals more accurately, they rarely 

have a superior power or literary grace. 

Compare, for instance, several versions of 

Matthew 5:6- 

King James (16 11) : Blessed are they which 

do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for 

they shall be filled. 

Smith and Goodspeed (193 1) : Blessed are 

those who are hungry and thirsty for uprightness, 

for they will be satisfied! 

61 

Biblical 

James Moffatt (1935) : Blessed are those who 

hunger and thirst for goodness: they will be 

satisfied. 

American Revised Standard Version ( 195 1) : 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for 

righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 

It is difficult for the common reader to see in 

what way these-and countless other-rewordings 

in the various versions are an improvement. 

Uprightness is far less modern than righteousness, 

and goodness has connotations that make 

it a weak synonym for righteousness. The common, 

simple, everyday word for having eaten 

enough is to be full. Satisfied suggests a desire 

to add a touch of gentility. Revising is a difficult 

task and requires many things of the reviser. 

Some of the most important are enumerated in 

Psalms 24 :4. 

The language of the King James Version is 

archaic. It was archaic even when it first appeared, 

for its wording is sometimes that of the 

Wycliffite versions of the late fourteenth century 

and often that of the various versions 

published during the middle fifty years of the 

sixteenth century-Tyndale’s version, Coverdale’s 

version, and the versions known as the 

Geneva Bible and the Bishops’ Bible. The indebtedness 

to Tyndale’s version (15251535) is 

so great that all Protestant versions of the books 

on which Tyndale worked are more revisions of 

his version than independent translations. Thus 

Z Corinthians 13: 1 reads in Tyndale: Though Z 

speake with the tonges of men and angels and 

yet had no love I were even as soundynge brasse: 

and a tynklynge Cymball. In the King James 

Version it reads: Though Z speak with the 

tongues of men and of angels, and have not 

charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a 

tinkling cymbal. The King James Version is the 

more felicitous, but it is still only a happy revision. 

In the Revised Standard Version (which 

states in its preface that one of its aims is “to 

put the message of the Bible in simple, enduring 

words”) this passage reads: Zf 2 speak in the 

tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, 

Z am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 

Although the literary quality of the Bible is 

uneven, certain characteristics of its style may 

be noted. 

Throughout, there is an elevation of language. 

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning 

and the ending,” saith the Lord, which 

is, and which was, and which is to come, the 

Almighty. 

The use of the word and at the beginning of 

sentences gives a sense of continuity to narratives, 

but it also conveys a feeling of the 

endlessness of existence, the rise and fall of 

life. Of the twenty-five verses of the second 

chapter of Second Kings, only two do not 

begin with and. 

. _. 

3. Repetition of word or meaning is used to 

heighten effect: Turn in, my lord, turn in to 

me. Bless me, even me also, 0 my father. 

Thou dost but hate me and lovest me not.

id 62 

4. Doublets and triplets contribute to the 

rhythms and enhance the poetry: And gladness 

is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful 

field; and in the vineyards there shall be 

no singing, neither shall there be shouting. 

Let darkness and the shadow of death claim 

it for their own; let a cloud dwell upon it; 

let all that maketh black the day terrify it. 

5. The constant use of the question emphasizes 

the seeking quality in the Bible, the searching 

for the ways of God and answers to the mystery 

of life. It also often suggests sadness and 

plaintiveness: What is man, that thou art 

mindful of him? and the son of man, that 

thou visitest him? Or it may heighten anger 

or denunciation: Wilt thou hunt prey for the 

lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, 

When they couch in their dens, and abide in 

the covert to lie in wait? 

The imagery of the Bible draws on objects of 

daily use. Death is the pitcher broken at the 

fountain, the wheel broken at the cistern. Amos 

says that the sins of the people of Israel press 

upon him as a cart is pressed that is full of 

sheaves. Man is born unto trouble as the sparks 

fly upwards and his days are swifter than a 

weaver’s shuttle. 

The majority, accepted view is that the King 

James Version has offered a powerful and desirable 

stimulus to English prose style. And certainly 

it would be hard to find any English writer 

of stature whose style is wholly free from the 

influence of the Bible. Professor John Livingston 

Lowes, in an essay entitled “The Noblest Monument 

of English Prose,” has spoken brilliantly 

in support of the majority view. A minority 

opinion is offered by Somerset Maugham in 

The Summing Up (1938): “To my mind King 

James’s Bible has been a very harm51 influence 

on English prose. I am not so stupid as to deny 

its great beauty. It is majestical. But the Bible 

is an oriental book. Its alien imagery has nothing 

to do with us. Those hyperboles, those luscious 

metaphors, are foreign to our genius. I cannot 

but think that not the least of the misfortunes 

that the Secession from Rome brought upon the 

spiritual life of our country is that this work for 

so long a period became the daily, and with 

many, the only, reading of our people. Those 

rhythms, that powerful vocabulary, that grandiloquence, 

became part and parcel of the 

national sensibility. The plain, honest English 

speech was overwhelmed with ornament. Blunt 

Englishmen twisted their tongues to speak like 

Hebrew prophets . . . Ever since, English prose 

has had to struggle against the tendency to 

luxuriance.” Maugham goes on to say that English 

writers have much to learn from Americans, 

since American writing has escaped the tyranny 

of the King James Bible and has formed its style 

on living speech. 

bid. The past tense is bade or bid. The participle 

is bidden or bid or bade. 

In American usage bid, as a noun, means not 

only the offer of the sum that one-especially 

at an auction-is willing to pay (His bid was 

the highest and the vase became his) but also 

what in England is called a tender, the statement 

of the price at which one is willing to 

do a piece of work or supply specified goods 

(Army Regulations state that when sealed bids 

are required, the time of opening them shall be 

specified). 

By an extension of the first of these meanings 

bid has come in America to mean an attempt to 

gain some office or power or to fulfill some 

purpose (His bid for the Senate was unsuccessful). 

In colloquial use it means an invitation 

(She hoped for a bid to the Beta formal). 

In the sense of a command or greeting or 

saying farewell, the preferred form for the past 

tense of bid is bade (pronounced bad) or bad 

(He bade him heed hii words. We bade them a 

tearful farewell), although bid may also be used. 

The preferred form for the past participle is 

bidden but bid and bade are also used (He had 

already bidden the executioner to do his worst 

when the reprieve arrived. Do as you are bid). 

In the sense of command, the active voice is 

followed by the infinitive without to (I bid him 

speak), the passive with to (He was bidden to 

speak). 

In the sense of offering a sum of money or 

making any other sort of a tender, bid is the 

past and the past participle (He bid more than 

anyone else. I have bid all I can afford). 

biennium. The plural is bienniums or biennia. 

big; great; large. Great has come to mean size 

connected with some emotion about the size. 

Big and large refer more directly to mere size 

and quantity. A great wave would suggest, for 

example, something more than just a big wave 

or a large wave. It would suggest the writer’s 

or speaker’s awe at the size of the wave. 

Great means “a high degree of” when applied 

to abstract things that vary in degree (It was 

great ignorance, Gloucester’s eyes being out,/ 

To let him live). Large was formerly used with 

such abstractions as charity, tolerance, satisfaction, 

and so on, but it has now been almost 

entirely replaced by great. Big is sometimes used 

here, but usually with an intent to be humorous 

and in a slangy way. Great satisfaction would 

be vulgarized into big kick. 

Where one of a class is singled out for emphasis, 

as being possessed of the attributes of 

that class to an unusually high degree, great is 

most likely to be used, though big, in American 

usage, is coming more into popularity. Where 

the English would be inclined to say a great fool, 

Americans would say a big fool. A great friend 

(He’s a great friend of mine, i.e., an especial 

friend) would never be replaced by a big friend. 

A great talker would mean not only one who 

talks a lot but one who talks well; whereas a 

big talker (not likely to be heard at all) would 

have the pejorative suggestion of one whose 

words were greater than his deeds. 

Big is used almost entirely in America now 

to signify one of importance (He’s a big man in 

Hadleyburg) or of high-souled generosity (A

ealty big man overlooks these little annoyantes) 

. 

Large is limited to physical size and to great 

scope or range (a large order, a man of large 

scope and vision). 

big as life. Sometimes the wit who has described 

something or someone as as big as life will cap 

his jocularity by adding and twice as natural. 

But he has not really relieved the tedium; the 

simile is a clicht in either form. 

bill, used in America in the sense of a piece of 

paper, is in England a note. We say a five-dollar 

bill. The English say a five-pound note. The slip 

received from the waiter or waitress in a restaurant, 

stating the amount owed, is becoming increasingly, 

in America, the check. For some 

reason it is felt to be more genteel. 

billet-doux. The plural is billets-doux. In the singular, 

the final x is silent. In the plural the added 

s in billets is silent and the final x in doux is 

pronounced with a z sound. As a result, so far 

as speech goes this word has a regular plural in 

s. The irregularity is entirely a matter of spelling. 

billiards, although plural in form, always takes a 

singular verb, as in billiards is great fun. The 

singular form, billiard, is used as the first element 

in a compound, as in elliptical billiard 

balls. 

biliingsgate. There seems to be-or to have been 

-something about dealing in fish that coarsened 

the vocabulary. One cannot scold more abusively, 

according to the proverb, than a fishwife. 

Billings Gate was a famous fishmarket in London, 

famous for its fish and famous also for its 

colorfully abusive language. Pepys and Boswell 

have both left accounts of it so startling that 

but for their testimony it would scarce be 

credited. 

As a term for abusive language, billingsgate 

would seem literary and a little affected to 

Americans. We lack traditions in these matters. 

See blasphemy; profanity; cursing; swearing; 

etc. 

billion, in American usage, is a thousand millions. 

In English usage it is a million millions. The 

American meaning (which is also that of France 

and Germany) is made clear in a quotation 

from the Congressional Record: Mr. Speaker, 

I should like to strike the word “billion” out of 

the English language. . . . I prefer the actual 

statement of a thousand millions. The British 

word for a thousand millions is milliard. 

Fifty years ago the difference of meaning 

attached to the word by the two countries was 

purely a theoretical matter, but today, when a 

billion seems to be the basic unit of government 

expenditure, it must cause considerable misunderstanding 

and our appropriations must seem 

even more startling to the ordinary Englishman 

than they do to us. 

The word billion is used in the same way that 

million is. The singular form is treated as an 

adjective and used without of, as in three billion 

yearA, except when it refers to part of a specified 

whole, as in two billion of these years. Expres- 

i3 bison 

sions involving billion usually reter to money 

and are usually treated as singulars, as in three 

billion dollars was set aside. But they may also 

be treated as plurals, as in three billion dollars 

were set aside. 

The plural form billions cannot be qualified 

by a numeral. It is a noun and requires of when 

followed by the name of anything countable, as 

in billions of dollars; the of is omitted only 

before a degree word such as more, less, too 

many, as in billions more dollars. 

Few usually takes the adjective construction, 

as in a few billion dollars; many usually takes 

the noun construction, as in many billions of 

dollars. But either form may be used with either 

word. 

bimonthly; semimonthly. Bimonthly means every 

two months. It also means twice a month. Ambiguity 

in a term that measures time is preposterous. 

The imagination staggers at the thought 

of the committees that have met in vain, the 

reports that have not been ready or, being ready, 

have contained only one-fourth of the expected 

information-all because of the use of this word. 

In the interests of punctuality and sanity, it 

should be abandoned. 

Some have tried to solve the problem by using 

semimonthly for “twice a month” and bimonthly 

for “every two months.” Aside from the awkwardness 

of semimonthly, this does no good so 

long as others continue to use the ambiguous 

bimonthly. It’s a pity that we have never accepted 

fortnightly (an abbreviation of fourteennightly, 

every two weeks) into general use. It is 

sensible, clear, and established. To Americans, 

however, it has a “literary” taint. 

bind. The past tense is bound. The participle is 

also bound. 

And old participle bounden survives, as in 

our bounden duty, but it is heard only in ecclesiastical 

English. 

Bind may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

I bind myself to keep the peace. It is not 

followed by the -ing form of a verb. A construction 

such as I bind myself to keeping the peace 

is not standard English. 

birds of a feather. Three hundred years before 

the beginning of the Christian era, Aristotle listed 

in his Rhetoric, as an instance of an established 

proverb, Birds of a feather flock together. 

The proverb, for those who need the support of 

the ages to state the obvious, remains in full 

vigor. Its initial phrase, however, birds of a 

feather, is now a clicht and should be avoided, 

though its use is a very mild crime. 

biscuit. What the English call a biscuit, the Americans 

call a cracker (though one of the largest 

and best known of the American companies that 

manufacture crackers calls itself The National 

Biscuit Company). The American biscuit, a kind 

of bread in small, soft cakes, raised with baking 

powder or soda, or sometimes yeast, is more like 

the English scone, but it is lighter, never sweet, 

and almost always served hot. 

bishopric. See see. 

bison. The only plural is bison.

ite 64 

bite. The past tense is bit. The participle is bitten 

or bit. 

The participles bitten and bit are equally acceptable 

in the United States. In Great Britain 

had bitten is preferred and had bit is considered 

unacceptable by many people. 

bite off more than one can chew. The warning 

not to bite off more than you can chew is one 

of those homely bits of superficial wisdom that 

continue to be repeated out of sheer inertia. 

This one seems to have originated in America 

in the late nineteenth century and from the frequent 

use of thaw in the earlier versions probably 

originated in the custom of letting another 

man bite off a free thaw from a plug of tobacco. 

It was considered amusing for the biter to take 

the biggest bite he possibly could (Mark Twain 

says the invariable counter to the jest was for the 

donor to look ruefully at what was left of the 

plug and say sarcastically, “Here, gimme the 

thaw, and you take the plug”), and the saying 

was probably part of the ritual. 

It has long ago worn out what little humorous 

and philosophical value it had and should be 

abandoned. 

bitter end. Scholars have found the origin of this 

phrase in the bitter or turn of the cable or ship’s 

ropes about the bitts and explain it to mean 

being at the end of one’s rope. It may be, but 

since bitter is an established word, in the sense 

of having a harsh or disagreeable taste, and since 

the termination of some series of calamities or 

a disastrous course is particularly bitter in the 

thought that it is now irremediable, and since 

the phrase is at least as old as the Book of 

Proverbs (Her end is bitter as wormwood), the 

scholars seem all at sea. 

Whatever its origin, however, the phrase is 

now a cliche and generally should be avoided. 

black; blacken; denigrate. Black is used as a verb 

in the literal sense of making black (He blacked 

his face for the minstrel show. He blacked the 

blackguard’s eye). All other senses are expressed 

by blacken (The bones had blackened with age. 

He never misses an opportunity to blacken his 

uncle’s reputation. The sky was blackening omi- 

Iwusly ) . 

Denigrate is a ponderous synonym for 

blacken in the sole sense of defaming. 

Blackfoot. The plural of the Blackfoot is Blackfoot 

or Blackfeet. 

Originally Blackfoor was the name of a tribe 

and was used with a plural verb, as in the Bluckfoot 

are there. By extension it was also used as 

a singular and as a true plural, to mean one or 

more members of the tribe, as in a Blackfoot is 

here or many Blackfoot are there. Today many 

people say Blackfoot when speaking of one 

member of the tribe and Blackfeet when speaking 

of more than one. Since even one person has 

two feet, the distinction has nothing to do with 

physical facts but grows out of a grammatical 

problem. Apparently people find it difficult to 

use a plural verb after the word foot, or a singular 

verb after the word feet. At present either 

form for the plural is acceptable. 

blame. At one time people who devoted themselves 

to making English grammar “logical” objected 

to the expression Z am to blame on the 

grounds that what was meant was “I am to be 

blamed.” But Z am to blame, meaning “I am at 

fault,” is standard English and has been standard 

for at least five hundred years. It is so well established 

that the unfamiliar form, I am to be 

blamed, can only be understood as referring to 

a future event. Logic is not as popular as it once 

was and this issue seems to have died. But the 

word blume is not to be allowed to rest. Today 

some people claim that he blamed it on me is 

not good English and that one should always say 

he blamed me for it. He blamed it on me is 

standard English; that is, it is used by well educated 

people. It is at least a hundred years old. 

And it is a very convenient expression. It says 

simply that he claimed I was responsible for it, 

and does not imply that he blamed me in the 

least. He may even have approved of whatever 

it was. The statement, therefore, is not equivalent 

to he blamed me for it. It would be a pity 

to lose such a useful expression merely because 

someone, for no obvious reason, had decided 

that it was not the standard idiom. 

blank; form. Blank in the sense of a printed form 

with spaces to be filled in is one of those words 

that keeps its older meaning in America while 

it has been replaced in England by the word 

form. Shakespeare uses it in the American sense 

-and in an extraordinarily modern context-in 

Richard II: And daily new exactions are devis’d,/ 

As blanks, benevolences, and I wot not 

wet. But the last recorded instance of this use 

in England was in 1780. 

Form is also used in this sense in America 

and is gaining on blank, but blank is still universally 

used and understood in the United 

States. 

blasphemy; profanity; cursing; swearing; indecency; 

obscenity; vulgarity. Coarse and violent 

talk rarely confines itself to one category and 

the fact that several words are usually applicable 

to any such outburst may have helped to create 

a vagueness in the popular conception as to the 

exact meaning of many of the words used to 

describe it. 

Such talk is often genteelly called vulgar. But 

vulgar originally meant simply characteristic of 

the common people. The vulgar tongues were 

the common languages as distinguished from 

Latin and there was even a vulgar Latin, the 

language spoken by the people as opposed to 

the literary language written by the cultivated. 

The Vulgate simply means the popular edition 

of the Bible, published, that is, for the populace. 

With the growth of democracy vulgar in the 

sense of marked by ignorance and want of good 

breeding is not used as much as it formerly was. 

A fane is a temple and an act or word is 

profane when it uses sacred things that belong 

in the temple irreverently. Profane also has the 

innocuous meaning of “secular” (Professor of 

Sacred and Profane History). It is profanity to 

take the name of God “in vain.” Blasphemy is

profanity, an impious utterance or action concerning 

God or sacred things. It was blasphemous 

in the eyes of many Jews to pronounce one 

of the four-letter symbols for God rather than 

using one of the substitute words, to call Him 

jaweh or jehovah, that is, instead of adonai or 

lord. This is interesting because it shows that 

one sect’s reverence may be another sect’s blasphemy. 

Cursing and swearing are frequently used together, 

as if they meant the same thing. But they 

are quite different. A curse is the expression of 

a wish that evil befall another, To swear is to 

make a solemn declaration with an appeal to 

God or some other supernatural being or object 

to confirm the declaration, often binding the 

appeal with an oath. An oath is a formally 

affirmed statement which also invokes supernatural 

sanction and often invites penalties in 

the event of non-fulfillment or prevarication. 

Neither is improper unless profanely uttered. 

Indecency is simply impropriety, an offense 

against recognized standards of good taste. And 

since the standards of good taste proscribe profane 

cursing and swearing, blasphemy, profanity, 

coarse vulgarity, and obscenity, indecency 

may be properly used to cover them all. 

Obscene is a strong word for an impropriety. 

It refers to those things-particularly those connected 

with excretion and reproduction-which 

are highly offensive and disgusting. Obscenity is 

the language relating to these things. Pornography 

is obscene literature or art. 

blatant; flagrant. Blaturn means loud-mouthed, 

offensive, noisy and, by a natural extension, 

obtrusive (A vuzss of humrrn beings whose want, 

misery, and filth are patent to the eye and 

blatant to the ear). The word was coined by 

Edmund Spenser to describe, in The Faerie 

Queene, the beast upon which Envy and Detraction 

rode. 

Flugrunt means glaring, notorious, scandalous. 

The root word has to do with burning and 

the word means flaming in the sense that flames 

are widely visible. Flagrante delict0 means, literally, 

“while the crime is blazing.” Blatancy in 

one inclined to crime makes flagrancy highly 

probable. 

blaze a trail. A blaze was originally a white spot 

on the forehead of a horse. It was transferred in 

America to the white mark made on trees, to indicate 

a path, by chipping off a slice of bark. 

To blaze a trail by chipping off pieces of bark 

from the trees alongside the trail is a perfectly 

good phrase when used in its literal sense. In 

figurative uses, however, it is badly worn. 

bleed. The past tense is bled. The participle is also 

bled. 

blend. The past tense is blended or blent. The participle 

is also blended or blent. 

Blended is the preferred form for both the 

past tense and the participle. Blent is acceptable 

but is slightly archaic, or poetic. 

bless. The past tense is blessed or blest. The participle 

is also blessed or blest. 

Blessed and blest are equally acceptable in 

65 bloody 

verb forms. One is not preferred above the 

other. But blessed is the only form used before 

a noun, as in this blessed day. A verb form 

followed by an adjective form is seen in then 

God be blest, it is the blessed sun. When used 

alone as if it were a noun, blest is preferred to 

blessed, as in the islands of the blest, and the 

blest in Christ shall gather/ over on the other 

shore. 

blessing in disguise, as a term for some seeming 

evil that turned out to be good, is a cliche and 

should be avoided. 

blew. See blow. 

bliss. See happiness. 

bloc; block; square. In European usage a political 

bloc is a coalition of factions or parties to 

achieve some particular measure or purpose. In 

American politics a bloc is a group of legislators, 

usually of both parties, who vote together 

for some particular interest (the farm bloc, the 

oil bloc). 

Block in English usage, as applied to buildings, 

consists of a large building divided into 

separate houses, shops, etc., and this usa8e is 

also found in small American towns where a 

large building whose tenancy is divided among 

several shops and apartments will be known as 

so-and-so’s block (He rented a store in the Conover 

block). The commonest American use of 

the word, of course, is to describe a portion of 

a city or town enclosed by four neighboring 

streets that intersect at right angles. Formerly 

it was often called a square, though this is now 

largely reserved for an open space in a city. In 

Philadelphia, however, the older usage persists. 

Block is also used to describe the length of one 

side of a city block. 

blond; blonde. Blond is the adjective for lightcolored 

hair and skin and the noun for a person 

having light-colored hair and skin. It may be 

used of either sex. Blonde is used less frequently 

than it was. When it is used, it can be applied 

only to women with light hair and skin. 

blood-curdling yell. In the old Wild West thrillers, 

where much had to be made of the war whoop 

of the Indians, the blood-curdling yell was indispensable. 

By the turn of the century the violence 

of its exaggeration (and the extermination 

of the Indians) made it a humorous phrase. But 

now it is utterly worn out, devoid of thrill or 

humor, and deserves to be unheard. 

bloody but unbowed. “Invictus” (Latin for unconquered), 

a poem written in a tuberculosis 

hospital by W. E. Henley and published in 1888, 

was immensely popular. The second quatrain 

reads: 

In the fell clutch of circumstance 

I have not winced nor cried aloud. 

Under the bludgeonings of chance 

My head is bloody, but unbowed. 

The last three words of the last line became 

a catchphrase which was so overworked by 

millions who had suffered no particular 

bludgeoning that it became jocular. A serious 

use of the phrase is now barred by its jocuhu

loom 66 

use and its jocular use has long since lost its 

jocularity. It had better be abandoned except in 

quotations of the full poem-or at least of the 

quatrain. 

bloom; blossom; flower. Flower is the good, 

everyday word (Full many a flower is born to 

blush unseen/ And waste its sweetness on the 

desert air) and, though somewhat overworked 

in inspirational and memorial addresses, is the 

most dignified of the figurative extensions (The 

flower of our youth). 

Bloom, whether it be of an actual flowering 

plant or, figuratively, of youth, or hope, is the 

flower or the act of flowering, the coming into 

full beauty or achievement (Burst to bloom, you 

proud, white flower, as an unusually poetic poet 

apostrophized Chicago). It has, usually, some 

connotation, too, of the flower’s fragility and 

impermanence. 

There is another, specialized, botanical meaning 

of bloom: a whitish powdery deposit or 

coating on the surface of certain fruits and 

leaves. This is best known in the bloom on a 

peach and may affect the hackneyed reference 

to the bloom of youth when it is specifically 

located on the cheeks. 

Blossom refers, specifically, to the flower of a 

fruit-bearing tree. As a verb (she blossomed out 

overnight) it is usually used figuratively to 

describe a sudden flowering, overpowering in 

its efflorescence and often carrying a suggestion 

of the promise of fruit to come. 

bloomers. The plural form refers to one garment 

but is always treated as a plural, as in these 

bloomers are small. In order to use the word 

with a singular verb or to speak of more than 

one of these garments, it is necessary to say this 

pair of bloomers is small or several pairs of 

bloomers. A singular form bloomer is used as 

the first element in a compound, as in bloomer 

elastic. 

blow. The past tense is blew. The participle is 

blown. 

A regular past tense and participle, blowed, is 

heard, as in the wind she blowed a hurricane, 

but is generally condemned. It is also heard in 

the exclamation 1’11 be blowed! Here it would 

be fatal to try to correct this and say I’ll be 

blown! 

blow off steam. With the supplanting of steam 

engines by diesels, the once familiar spectacle of 

an engine blowing off excess steam has become 

almost unknown and the figurative use of the 

phrase to blow off steam is rapidly losing the 

basis of literal meaning which any metaphor 

must have if it is to stay alive. 

blue, as an adjective meaning depressed in spirits, 

dismal, downhearted, has passed from slang into 

standard usage (All alone and feeling blue). 

Blue in the sense of indecent, however, remains 

slang, though it is interesting to see so 

staid a work as The (London) Times Literary 

Supplement (Nov. 28, 1952, p. 779) take cognizance 

of its existence: Voltaire in his later 

years retained a repertoire of “blue” stories that 

he loved to retail. 

The word blue occurs in an extraordinary 

number of slang and colloquial phrases. Eric 

Partridge, in his Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional 

English, lists over a hundred. 

blueprint can be used as a trope for plan (The 

Mayor’s blueprint for the future of the city 

drew a tremendous ovation from the audience), 

but it is well to remember that a blueprint is the 

final stage in design and should, therefore, be 

used to designate only a finished and detailed 

scheme or proposal. 

board. There are a number of differences between 

American and English use of the word board. In 

both countries, for example, it can mean to provide 

or receive food and lodging but in America 

this has been extended to include a similar provision 

for horses and dogs. One sees boarding 

stables and boarding kennels widely advertised 

-the latter of which in particular might strike 

a visiting Englishman as the announcement of 

an unusually frank low-grade rooming house. 

F.O.B. (Freight On Board or Free On Board) 

means in England that at the stipulated price the 

goods will be loaded on an ocean-going vessel. 

In America it means that they will be loaded in 

or on a railroad car. This has at times led to a 

serious misunderstanding. 

The Board of Trade is a department of 

the English government corresponding to the 

American Department of Commerce. In America 

a board of trade is an unofficial association 

of business men. 

Boardwalk is an American invention, both 

the thing and the word for it. Ludwig Lewisohn’s 

statement that The Anglo-American mind hides 

the edges of the sea of life with a boardwalk of 

ethical c0ncept.r would be completely incomprehensible 

to an Englishman. 

boat. See ship. 

boat, be in the same. The use of we’re all in 

the same boat to acknowledge a complicity or 

common danger is a cliche and usually should 

be avoided. 

bode. See bide. 

bodily. See corporal. 

body. See corps. 

bogey; bogie; bogy. All three spellings are used 

interchangeably, though bogy (plural bogies) 

is preferred for something that frightens, a 

specter, and bogey for par at golf or for one 

stroke above par on a hole. 

bogus is an Americanism for counterfeit, sham. 

Mark Twain speaks of one who had appeared 

at a masquerade in red cambric and bogus 

ermine, as some kind of a king. It is not used 

in England but has become standard in the 


Bogus is frequently replaced by the slang 

word phony, also an American coinage. Whether 

our richness in such words indicates an unusual 

amount of fraud and sham among us or an unusually 

high sense of rectitude that makes us 

aware of it is a problem more for the social 

philosopher than for the lexicographer. 

bohemian as an adjective, referring to one with 

artistic tendencies who acts with a disregard for

conventional standards of behavior (from the 

erroneous assumption that gypsies came from 

Bohemia), has a distinctly literary flavor. As a 

synonym for wicked or promiscuous (her bohemian 

way of life), it is dated, suggesting the 

stern, mustached father of the eighteen-nineties. 

bolt. In American political terminology bolt has 

a special meaning of breaking away from or 

refusing to support one’s party (Senator Wayne 

Morse bolted the Republican party). To say that 

so-and-so bolted his ticket would convey to an 

American the idea that So-and-so, identified with 

a definite political party, suddenly refused to 

permit his name to appear on the list of candidates 

for election put forward by that party and 

either went over to the other party or ran for 

office as an independent. To an Englishman, as 

Horwill remarks, it would convey the idea that 

so-and-so had “gulped down a bit of pasteboard 

without chewing it.” 

bolt from the blue, as a figurative expression for 

an unannounced and unexpected blow, has become 

hackneyed and should be avoided. 

B. F. J. Schonland, in his The Flight of 

Thunderbolts, Oxford, 1950, believes that under 

certain weather conditions people in a deep 

valley might see lightning and hear thunder from 

a distant cloud, and the lightning might even 

strike in the valley, although the sky immediately 

above was blue. 

bona fide, originally adverbial and still so used 

(Was the contract made bona fide?), is usually 

used adjectivally (Was it a bona-fide contract?). 

bone. The American slang term bone up, for 

studying hard and fast is, in English slang, to 

SWOI or to swot up. An American bonehead is in 

England, and in America too, a blockhead. The 

American boner, slang for a foolish blunder, is 

in England a howler. 

bone of contention, as a figure for a cause of discord, 

is obviously drawn from the dogs and, by 

overuse, has gone back to them. 

book. See volume. 

bookish is today uncomplimentary. It implies that 

a man knows books but not life. If the term is 

applied to his style, it means that it is stilted and 

pedantic. All of this holds equally for booklearned. 

To us there is something inexpressibly 

pathetic in the great Negro leader’s choosing the 

name Booker for himself because of his humble 

respect for books. 

boon companions is restricted now to the forcedly 

jocular and the studiedly literary, and any 

term so restricted were well abandoned. 

boot; shoe. A boot in America is a covering, 

usually of leather, for the foot and leg, reaching 

at least to the middle of the calf and often 

to the knee or higher. Almost all other forms of 

covering for the feet have come to be called 

shoes in the United States-sometimes high 

shoes, or low shoes, or specifically, sneakers 

(rubber and canvas shoes), moccasins, oxfords, 

and so on, but generically, aside from boots, 

shoes. 

In England the word boot means what in 

America is designated a shoe, or more widely, 

67 boss 

a high shoe, that is a shoe that comes just 

above the ankle. In both countries shoe is the 

term for the foot covering usually worn nowadays, 

ending at or below the ankle. 

The term bootblack, while still understood in 

America, has been almost universally replaced 

by shoe-shine boy or shoe-shine man. 

bore. See bear. 

bored to death; thrilled. To be bored to death or 

to tears or to extinction is to be boring, for the 

term is now a cliche, as dreary as anything it 

seeks to designate. 

It is an interesting reflection on the ways of 

language that to thrill originally meant what to 

bore originally meant: to pierce. And even yet 

the two words, in their figurative senses, are 

often applied to the same thing; what one person 

finds thrilling another finds boring. And thrilled 

to death, like bored to death. has become a 

clich6. 

born; borne. See bear. 

bosom, as an anatomical term, was a nineteenth 

century elegancy, and while still used, is restricted, 

with a sort of prurient modesty, to the 

breasts of a female. In the sense of “intimate” 

it is still standard in the phrase a bosom friend 

but otherwise would not be understood (as in 

Regan’s statement to Oswald, in King Lear, 

concerning Goneril: I know you are of her 

bosom). The old religious phrase in A bruham’s 

bosom lingers on in hymns, sermons, and literature, 

but few that hear or use it know that it 

means “in Abraham’s embrace.” 

Shirt bosom was once the regular commercial 

term (Shirts made to order, with beautifully 

embroidered bosoms-ad in the New York 

Times, 1872) but it has been replaced by shirt 

front. The fronts of dress shirts were called 

bosoms long after the term had been discontinued 

in relation to everyday shirts, but even 

that has now been abandoned. 

boss; master. Boss is an English spelling of the 

Dutch word baas, master (formerly uncle; the 

Dutch, apparently, having as strong a dislike as 

we of acknowledging mastership). It is used 

colloquially throughout America. The word 

master, in this sense, is never heard, possibly 

because it was used by the slaves. We will speak 

of mastering a subject or of a master mechanic 

and, facetiously, of masterminds, but no American 

would apply the word master to anyone for 

whom he worked. An American worker in a 

shop has no feeling whatever about the Dutch 

word. You’ll have to see the boss about that 

comes out without a qualm. But he would die a 

thousand deaths before he would say, You’ll 

have to see the muster about that. It is inconceivable 

that an American maid, answering the 

door, would say that the master was not at 

home. 

Save at a few Eastern preparatory schools, 

where there is often a conscious effort to use 

English terms, Americans do not refer to 

teachers as masters. The word is occasionally 

used in addressing a letter to a boy, but this 

is now done far less than it used to be.

Boston 68 

In U. S. political usage, the term boss for one 

who controls the party organization is standard. 

Boston accent. Our grandfathers, particularly 

those living in and around Boston, were of the 

opinion that the English spoken in Boston was 

the “purest” in the who!e country. Aside from 

civic pride and Yankee self-assurance, this may 

have been based on the distinguished literary 

figures that flourished there, the proximity of 

Harvard College, or the assumption that the 

Cabots, in speaking to God, would naturally 

employ an impeccable diction. 

The idea is not wholly extinct. Miss Theresa 

A. Dacey, Director of speech improvement for 

the Boston School Department, was quoted in 

the Boston Herald for March 10, 1948 as saying 

that “Bostonians speak the purest cultural 

English of any section of the country” and that 

their so doing made them objects of undisguised 

admiration throughout the land. She herself, she 

recollected, had been “loudly applauded” by a 

group of New York high-school students for the 

purity of her diction. She attributed her own 

and her fellow townsmen’s superiority of speech 

to their “geographic location near the ocean.” 

“The salt in the air,” she said, “makes our speech 

more forceful, gives it more strength.” 

Waiving such facts as that Bostonians are not 

alone in living near the ocean, that the effect of 

salt on the vocal cords is conjectural, that there 

are several Boston accents and that certain surly 

folk might be found who refuse to be enraptured 

by any of them, there still remains room for 

doubt. 

Philologists-at least those who do not live so 

near Scollay Square as to be prejudiced-maintain 

that in pronunciation, as in spelling and 

meaning, usage is the last court of appeal. There 

is no “correct” or “perfect” pronunciation of 

any language, in the absolute sense. A language 

is as it is spoken, and by a happy dispensation 

most groups are inclined to regard their own 

twang or drawl or slur as divinely ordained and 

all deviations from it as deserving of contempt 

and even death. Were not forty and two thousand 

Ephraimites slain at the passages of the 

Jordan because they mispronounced the first 

syllable of Shibboleth? Did not Jack Straw and 

his following, roaming London during the 

Peasants’ Rebellion, kill any man who pronounced 

bread and cheese otherwise than they 

did? And did not thousands of Americans vote 

for Hoover because AI Smith said raddio? 

Yet a very slight acquaintance with literature 

suffices to show us that some dreadful mispronunciations 

(by Boston’s standards) have had 

their day. Shakespeare rhymed halter with 

daughter and Pope rhymed tea with obey and 

ioin with line. Even in Boston ti in such words 

as attention and pronunciation is pronounced 

“sh,” though it was not always so pronounced. 

The inhabitants of Baltimore refer to their beloved 

city as Bol’m’r and who shall say that 

they are wrong? We are amused at Cockney 

“dropping” of h’s and putting them in where 

they don’t “belong”; but only an illiterate would 

pronounce the h in heir; and not aspirating the 

h in humble, hotel and historical is with some 

the very touchstone of refinement. 

The question of man’s “natural” and “proper” 

speech has long been agitated. It is said that 

James I of Scotland (author of The Kingis 

Quair) sought to settle the matter by having 

two children reared on an island in the care 

of a deaf mute-and was vastly pleased when 

his emissaries reported that the children were 

speaking Hebrew. He was happy because he 

was of the opinion that God spoke Hebrew 

and the children’s reported performance showed 

that Hebrew was our “natural” language. 

A similar story is told of various other rulers, 

among them Psammetichus of Egypt who by the 

same experiment in the fifth century B.C. (so 

Herodotus tells us) found the original language 

to have been Phrygian. 

In modern times the problem has not been 

taken so seriously but there have been several 

minor conjectures. De Lawd in Marc Connelly’s 

The Green Pastures spoke with a Negro accent, 

with the intent of suggesting that the colored 

folk conceived of God as one of themselves. 

But this, though dramatically sound, is psychologically 

questionable. It is more likely that God 

is always conceived of as belonging to the dominant 

group. If He no longer speaks in Hebrew 

or Latin, He at least has a Boston accent. 

both may be used as an adjective, as in both 

houses are old, or as a pronoun, as in both have 

been remodeled. When used in these ways, both 

means two and only two. But it can also be used 

as a conjunction, as in both Mary and Don. In 

this construction both may refer to more than 

two, as in he prayeth well who loveth well, both 

man and bird and beast. 

In current English, both follows any isolated 

(that is, any single) pronoun that it qualifies, 

except a possessive pronoun, as in we both went 

and we saw them both. Formerly, it often preceded 

the pronoun, as in both they went. This 

construction is now obsolete except in the case 

of both which, which is seldom heard any more 

but is still acceptable English. 

As a rule, both precedes a single noun that it 

qualifies, as in both children laughed. However, 

if the noun is also qualified by a definitive adjective, 

such as the, these, those, a possessive 

pronoun, or another noun in the genitive, both 

may either stand before the definitive adjective 

or immediately after the noun itself, as in both 

the children laughed or the children both 

laughed. To place both between a definitive 

word and its noun, as in the both children, his 

both hands, is not standard today. When it is 

placed after the noun, both is made emphatic. 

When both qua.lifies two words joined by and, 

it ordinarily stands before the first word, even 

when this is a pronoun, as in both he and I saw 

it. However, when two words joined by and 

are the subject of the same verb, both may stand 

immediately after the second word, as in men

and women both enjoy dancing and he and I 

both enjoy it. In this position, too, both is emphatic. 

When both follows two words joined by 

and that are not the subject of the same verb, as 

in it is good for him and me both and he can 

sing and dunce both, it is considered ungrammatical 

by many people. 

Both may always follow a linking verb, as in 

the men were both rich; or an auxiliary verb, 

as in the men had both made money. 

Both may be used in a genitive form, as in 

both’s witnesses. This construction is archaic in 

Great Britain but is still in use, and acceptable, 

in the United States. Both may also be used with 

a possessive pronoun. Formerly, it might follow 

the pronoun, as in to their both dishonor. This 

word order is now obsolete. It might also precede 

the pronoun, as in a plague on both your 

houses and were you both our mothers. The last 

example means the mother of both of us, and 

for this reason the noun should, technically, be 

the singular morher. A faulty plural here is condemned 

by most modern grammarians, but the 

quotation is from Shakespeare. When used with 

due regard for number, as in it is both our 

fault, this construction is still considered literary 

English. When used in speech it almost invariably 

has a plural noun, as in it is both our faults. 

But the construction is avoided, at least in the 

United States, and a prepositional phrase, such 

as the fault of both of us, is generally preferred. 

Both followed by a possessive pronoun is still 

used before the -ing form of a verb, as in both 

their leaving. But even here a prepositional 

phrase, such as both of them leaving, seems 

more natural to most people. 

Both of can be used before pronouns, as in 

both of them, both of us, and has been so used 

since Elizabethan times. Some grammarians 

trouble themselves about this because both here 

means “all” and the of implies “part of.” But 

whether logical or not, this is a standard English 

idiom. Both of before nouns, as in both of the 

children, is still condemned by many grammarians. 

But it is accepted usage in the United 

States. 

bottleneck. As a word for a place where that 

which should be flowing freely is choked and 

its flow retarded, bottleneck is a good figure of 

speech (The shortage of steel is the real bottleneck 

that is holding up the promised stream of 

new curs). World War II. with its manv critical 

shortages, made the term popular and it became 

a vogue word and in its overuse the original, 

literal meaning was often lost sight of, with 

some ludicrous results. A metaphor does not 

have to express its original meaning at all times, 

but if it expresses something incompatible with 

the original meaning it may reduce a whole 

passage to absurdity. Lord Conesford, writing 

to the London Times, listed an extraordinary 

number of such absurdities in the use of this 

figure. In his collection were the biggest bottleneck 

(which meant the smallest bottleneck), 

bottlenecks must be ironed out, the most drastic 

. 

bottleneck, a vicious circle of interdependent 

bottlenecks and a worldwide bottleneck. 

bottom dollar was a common nineteenth century 

phrase in America for last dollar (Z’m down to 

my bottom dollar). It has carried over into the 

twentieth century, probably because of the preservative 

power of alliteration, only in the cliche 

1’11 bet my bottom dollar or you can bet your 

bottom dollar and should be abandoned. 

bought; boughten. See buy. 

boulevard was, originally, a ring of ramparts 

around a city. These, planted with trees, became 

a favorite promenade and the name was, by a 

natural extension, applied to any broad, main 

street planted with trees. Professor A. B. Hart, 

writing in 1903, refers to the growth of systems 

of boulevards, broad, winding, and well 

surfaced, reaching from park to park and often 

from city to city. But M. McKernan, in Life in 

the V. S., misuses the word when he refers to 

the monotony of the Kansas-Colorado boulevard. 

bound; bounden. See bind. 

bourgeois; bourgeoise; bourgeoisie. Bourgeois 

and bourgeoisie, two of the milder communist 

terms of abuse, simply mean “a member of the 

middle class” and “the middle class.” resuectively; 

but Since there is no longer an’upper class, 

they also mean a member of the dominant class 

in a capitalist society and that class as a whole. 

The words have been used with such persistent 

malignance that it is astonishing that they are 

not more tainted than they are, but even so a 

member of the middle class would not describe 

himself, except in defiance, as a bourgeois or a 

member of the bourgeoisie. As a matter of fact, 

so few Americans think of society in terms of 

classes that bourgeois and bourgeoisie are unknown 

to the masses and sound doctrinaire of 

pedantic even to the educated. 

Bourgeoise is the feminine form of bourgeois, 

though bourgeois may be used of either sex. 

bourn; boume. A bourn or bourne was a boundary. 

Froissart speaks of the bounds and bournes 

fixed by the treaty of Calais. Cleopatra, in 

Antony and Cleopatra, says, 1’11 set a bourn how 

far to be beloved. And it was in this sense that 

Shakespeare used it in Hamlet’s famous solilo 

auv: 

But that the dread of something after death- 

The undiscover’d country, from whose bourn 

No traveller returns. . . . 

The use of the word, however, in this context 

gave it (when it next appeared, for it was not 

seen again in English print for two hundred 

years), in figurative and poetic writing-which 

is all it is used in-the meaning of the limit of 

a journey, a destination, a goal. And this meaning 

must now be accepted as standard. That’s 

what poets do to a language! 

There’s another word bourn, meaning stream 

(Scotch burn) or river (Come o’er the bourn, 

Bessie, to me). The two words are etymologitally 

unrelated.

owels 

bowels of the earth. Only in the cliche the 

bowels of the earfh does modem delicacy permit 

any extra-clinical use of the once dignified and 

passionate word bowels (the bowels of pity, in 

the bowels of Christ, child of my bowels). 

However, the phrase is worn out. It has been 

in constant service since 1593 and should be 

retired. 

bowing and scraping as a contemptuous designation 

for being excessively courteous, too ceremonious 

and eager in a demonstration of politeness, 

is now a cliche and should be avoided. 

Probably not one user of the phrase out of a 

hundred knows what the word scraping means 

in this context. It alludes to a particularly elaborate 

bow (used especially in the conga’, or leave 

taking) in which not only was the head inclined 

but one knee slightly bent and the foot of the 

other leg drawn back with a scrape along the 

ground. It was sometimes called making a leg 

and offered all sorts of opportunities for writhing 

self-abasement. 

bowl; basin. Except in certain technical applications 

in geology and physical geography (a 

river basin), basin in American usage is generally 

confined to a container used for washing the 

hands. There is some of the feeling that a basin 

is shallower than a bowl and bowl, despite its 

particular use in the phrase toilet bowl, is the 

more dignified of the two words. A special 

American use of bowl is to describe the great 

amphitheaters or stadiums in which the champion 

football teams of various sections of the 

country play each other. 

bowls. When referring to the game, the plural 

word bowls takes a singular verb, as in bowls is 

good exercise. When used with a plural verb, 

bowls means the balls, as in bowls are not 

always spherical. 

At one time the singular form bowl was used 

as the first element in a compound, as in the 

following sentence written in 1628: A Bowl 

Alley is the place where there are three things 

thrown away beside Bowls, to wit, time, money, 

and curses. This is now archaic and the form 

bowling is preferred, as in a bowling alley. 

boyish. See infantile. 

brace. When this word means a pair, or a couple, 

it has the same form in the singular and the 

plural, as in a brace of greyhounds, four or five 

brace of greyhounds. Bruce cannot stand immediately 

before a following noun, as a numeral 

does, but must be joined to it by of. 

braces. When used to mean an article of clothing, 

braces is the British equivalent of the American 

suspenders. The singular brace means one strap 

and the plural braces, more than one strap. For 

this reason two braces means only one pair and 

it is necessary to say two pairs of braces if that 

is what is meant. See also suspenders. 

brackets are seldom used except as editorial 

marks. Their main uses are: 

1. To indicate a comment or explanation 

added by a writer to material he is quoting, as in 

“These are the times [the 1770’s] that try men’s 

souls:’ 

2. To indicate action accompanying speech 

or dialogue, as in Churchill is half American and 

all English. [Laughter] 

3. To indicate editorial corrections, omissions 

or additions, as in He was born February 2 

[actually on the morning of February 31; You 

will be pleased [to] hear that we have finished; 

The President [Lincoln] did not appear concerned. 

4. In mathematical work and formulas, to 

enclose numbers and symbols which should be 

treated as a unit, that is, as parentheses around 

material that already contains parentheses, as 

in a[a+b( b-c)]. 

5. As parentheses within parentheses-rarely 

used, but found in legal documents and reference 

works, as in (See Wafter Wilson, Bugs is 

Bugs [New York, 19.521, p. 35.) 

6. In documents, whole portions to be omitted 

are enclosed in brackets. When more than 

one paragraph is to be bracketed, each paragraph 

should start with a bracket, but only the 

last paragraph should end with a bracket. 

brag may be followed by a that clause, as in he 

brags that he has robbed a bank. If the -ing 

form of a verb is used it must be introduced by 

the preposition of or about, as in he brags of 

having robbed a bank. The constmction with of 

is generally preferred. 

brain and brains. Both forms of this word may 

be used to mean either the physical organ inside 

the skull or a man’s intellectual capacity. It is 

often impossible to say which is intended. In 

many cases the speaker may not feel that there 

is any difference between the organ and the 

capacity. The physical organ is obviously what 

is meant in a large brain and he blew out his 

brains. Something more abstract is probably intended 

in rack your brain or rack your brains. 

In both senses, the singular form, brain, seems 

to have a more scientific tone and the plural, 

brains, to be more popular and vivid. 

When speaking of more than one individual, 

brains is a true plural and can be used with a 

numeral, as in two brains are better than one. 

When speaking of one individual, the plural 

form brains is a mass noun and not a true plural. 

It is followed by a plural verb but cannot be 

qualified by a numeral or a word implying 

number. When not the subject of a verb, it may 

have singular qualifiers, as in he hasn’t much 

brains or he has very little brains. Plural constructions, 

such as he hasn’t many brains, are 

intended to be witty. 

When the contents of an animal’s skull are 

thought of as food, only the plural form brains 

is used. This too is a mass noun and cannot be 

used with a numeral. We cook brains, not a 

brain or two or three brains. 

Only the singular form brain is used as the 

first element in a compound, as in bruin size, 

brain work, brain trust. 

brainy, for clever, is an Americanism (No profession 

is so singled out by ambitious, brainy 

young men, as that of the law) and is dismissed 

by Fowler with disdain. But it is hard to see why

it is any more improper a coinage than handy, 

in analogy with which it was probably made. 

And, anyway, the argument is academic; the 

American populace has long ago accepted the 

word into standard usage. 

In America it is spoken in admiration, an 

adjective of untainted praise, differing from 

clever, which has a light suggestion of shiftiness 

and unscrupulousness about it, or intellectual 

which has a connotation of self-esteem. 

Perhaps the British dislike of brainy is, at 

bottom, a dislike of brains (If you were a patriot 

you read Blackwood’s Magazine and thanked 

God you were “not brainy”-George Onvell, 

Such, Such were the Joys, 1953). 

brake; break. Brake meaning a place overgrown 

with bushes or cane (Down in the canebrake, 

the other side of the mill) is still used in Southeastern 

United States, though not too well 

known elsewhere. A similar application in England, 

which seems to have died out in the late 

nineteenth century, seems to have been limited 

to a growth of bracken, or heavy ferns, of which, 

indeed, the word in this sense is an abbreviation. 

A car much like an American station wagon 

is in England sometimes called a shooting brake. 

The uses of break, both as a verb and as a 

noun, are much the same in England and America 

except for the American colloquial use of 

break to mean opportunity or lucky chance 

(Hard work isn’t everything: you’ve got to have 

the breaks too) and, sometimes, something very 

close to forgiveness (Sometimes a cop will give 

you a break and tear up the ticket). 

brand. America is a commercial nation, cheerful 

and unashamed, and our unblushing use of commercial 

terms in all departments of life has often 

caused the English acute discomfort. Thus our 

use of reckon, figure, and calculate, as synonyms 

for think (as though all thought worthy of the 

name was confined to casting up an account) 

and It doesn’t pay to signify our strongest moral 

disapproval seem to many Englishmen to betray 

too engrossing an attention to getting and spending. 

Among these words is brand when used figuratively 

as a trademark or brand of goods distinguished 

by a trademark. They do not mind 

theliteral usk (The ale was of a superior brand. 

I think vou’ll like this brand of cheese) but feel 

that our metaphorical uses, particularly, often, 

our humorous uses (They don’t like our brand 

of humor), are improper. Thus Partridge feels 

that Samuel Putnam’s statement that Margaret 

of Navarre had her own brand of services in 

her own private chapel is “highly inappropriate.” 

An American might feel it a little breezy; it 

would depend on what he happened to think of 

Margaret of Navarre and her metaphysics. 

bran-new; brand-new. Bran-new is standard and 

acceptable, not just a slovenly pronunciation; 

but brand-new is the preferred form. 

bravado; bravery. Bravado is a boastful, often 

threatening, display of false courage, an expression 

of strutting vanity intended to defy and 

intimidate. Bravery is true courage, admirable 

71 break 

and praiseworthy (The man of true bravery is 

not frightened by a display of bravado). 

breach and breech, though pronounced exactly 

alike, are in no sense synonymous. Breuch is 

the act or result of breaking, a rupture, the 

violation of a law, trust, faith, or promise, and 

the like. Breech is the lower part of the trunk of 

the body behind or, in ordnance, the mass of 

metal behind the bore of a cannon or the small 

arm back of the barrel of a gun or rifle. 

breadth; broadness; width; wideness; latitude. The 

mathematical sense of breadth is its basic meaning: 

the measure of the second principal diameter 

of a surface or solid, the first being length, 

and the third (in the case of a solid) thickness. 

In the sense of freedom from restraint or narrowness 

(breadth of mind) width, which is 

synonymous in the basic meaning, is never used. 

Breadth implies a freedom from restraint of 

which the speaker or writer approves; broadness, 

when used at all, may imply coarseness, or a 

freedom from restraint which is not approved. 

Width and wideness are both restricted now to 

definite measurements and used rarely in a 

figurative sense, though wideness used to be 

(There’s a wideness in God’s mercy/Like the 

wideness of the sea) and with great dignity. 

Latitude when used as a synonym for breadth, 

in the sense of freedom from restriction or liberality, 

is now confined more to thought than 

action and expresses something more tolerated 

than approved (He has interpreted the rules 

with considerable latitude). 

break. The past tense is broke. The participle is 

broken. 

A past tense brake is often used in nineteenth 

century poetry but it has not been standard 

spoken English for more than three hundred 

years. In the seventeenth and eighteenth century 

broke was often used for the participle, as in 

he had broke the box. This is archaic today, 

except in the passive where it now means “without 

money,” as in he is, was, and always will 

be broke. For a break, see brake. 

breakdown in the sense of “analysis” is a technical 

term taken over from chemistry, It is a vogue 

word at the moment, much used in place of 

classification (The breakdown of the votes by 

counties revealed that the victor’s margin was 

much slimmer than it appeared from the total). 

As Sir Ernest Gowers points out, the word can 

be inept and ludicrous when used of things that 

can actually and physically be broken down. 

Thus if one were to speak of the breakdown of 

trucks in the government service one would 

hardly get a serious hearing for whatever classification 

one wanted to make. Sir Ernest gives, as 

one example: Statistics have been issued of the 

population of the United States, broken down 

by age and sex. 

break the ice, as a figure of speech, is still sometimes 

used in its older sense of making a beginning 

in an enterprise, though, for the most part, 

it is fixed in its nineteenth century special application 

to breaking through the reserve of some 

cold person (And your cold people are beyond

ed 72 

all price,/ When once yozz’ve broken their confounded 

ice). In all of its figurative meanings. 

however, the term is now a cliche and to be us&l 

with care. 

bred. See breed. 

breeches. The plural form refers to one garment 


breeches are torn. In order to use the word with 

a singular verb or to speak of more than one of 

these garments, it is necessary to say rhis pair of 

breeches is torn or several pairs of breeches. 

The form breeches is also used as the first element 

in a compound, as in his breeches pocket. 

The singular breech is now used only for the 

rear end of a gun. 

breed. The past tense is bred. The participle is also 

bred. 

breezy; fresh; lively. Breezy, when applied figuratively 

to persons, means airy, flippant, and gay. 

Lively is more complimentary. A lively mind is 

one of quick apprehensions, full of vivid and 

rapidly changing images, rapid in its comprehension 

(Mercutio had a breezy way, but Hotspur’s 

mind was lively). Fresh in American 

usage, when used of a person, means forward or 

presumptuous, impertinent, often with a hint of 

sexual aggressiveness. 

brethren. See brothers. 

bridesmaid. Traditionally, the form bride was 

used in this compound, as it still is in the re- 

Iated word bridegroom. But the irregular form 

bridesmaid has been standard English since the 

latter part of the nineteenth century. 

brief; short. Brief applies to time only and sometimes 

implies a condensation. We had only rime 

for a brief talk implies not only that the talk 

was of short duration but that it was intense 

and concentrated. A short talk would have 

lacked this latter implication. Short refers to 

either time or space, but when it refers to the 

former it suggests a curtailment, often rude or 

painful (He cut him off short). It sometimes 

extends this meaning so far as to mean “lacking” 

(as in short rations, he was short in his accounts). 

In its legal sense, there is a difference between 

the American and Enrtlish usage of brief. In 

England a brief is soleli a summary of the facts 

of the case prepared by a solicitor for the counsel 

who is conducting the case. It is a private 

document. In America it can be this (He briefed 

him in his arguments). This is also the brief of 

briefcase. But it is more often a summary of 

arguments filed by counsel in an appellate court, 

minted. nublic, and often voluminous (I had 

ihe hono; to be one of the attorneys in the case, 

and filed a brief against the bonds). See also 

outline. 

bright and early is a cliche and to people of normal 

habits of rising, an irritating one. Even its 

factual accuracy may be challenged. The airlines 

report more delays because of fog in their 

early morning flights than at any other time of 

the day. 

bring. The past tense is brought. The participle is 

also brought. 

Brung is heard for the past tense and for the 

participle, as in he had brung it, bur this is not 

standard English. 

Bring may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

you will never bring me to admit it, or by the 

-ing form of a verb with the preposition IO, as 

in you will never bring me to admitting it. The 

infinitive construction is preferred. 

bring; take; fetch. To brizzg is to cause to come 

with oneself. To take is to get into one’s hands 

and to convey away. To fetch is to go and bring 

something to the speaker (Take that box and 

bring it with you, or if it’s too heavy for you 

I’ll send Joe to fetch it). 

Fetch has a special meaning of to allure 

(What a fetching bonnet!). When the rascally 

duke, in Huckleberry Finn, added the line 

“Ladies and Children not Admitted” to his advertisement 

of The Royal Nonesuch, he paused 

to admire his handiwork: There, says he, if that 

line don’t fetch them, I don’t know Arkansaw! 

Here fetch means to allure and to bring in. This 

meaning is now a little old-fashioned and rustic, 

but still current. 

Briton; Britisher. A Briton can be either one of 

the ancient Celtic inhabitants of England or a 

modern inhabitant. Britisher was an American 

term that had a currency in the United States in 

the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries but 

is practically never heard today. The ordinary 

American would never use the term Briton. He 

accords the Irish separate recognition, but all 

other male inhabitants of the British Isles are 

Englishmen to him. If a Scoi insisted on being 

identified as a member of a special nation, his 

insistence would be humored, but most Americans 

wouldn’t make the distinction if someone 

else did not make it first. An English woman 

would be used to designate a single English 

female, and English women would be its plural. 

But an Englishwoman, as the female of Englishman, 

would not be much used, though it would 

be understood. The collective plural the English 

is used most commonly when generalizing, and 

Americans love to generalize about the English 

almost as much as the English love to generalize 

about Americans. 

brittle. See fragile. 

broad; wide. Everyone is aware that broad and 

wide are synonymous, but a moment’s reflection 

calls to mind what seems a bewildering confusion 

in their idiomatic uses. We speak of 

broad shoulders, but of a wide mouth. One 

who has traveled far and wide will probably 

have a broad outlook. We give a man a broad 

hint and a wide berth. The Pilgrims crossed the 

broad Atlantic and their descendants the wide 

Missouri. 

Fowler, in a brilliant analysis of the usage of 

these two words, concludes that “wide refers to 

the distance that separates the limits, and broad 

to the amplitude of what connects them.” 

Some things seem to have had broad, as a 

description of their amplitude, affixed to them 

arbitrarily (broad daylight) ; others have a secondary 

suggestion of generosity or disregard of 

the trivial (a broad outline, a Broad Churchman) 

or of unrestraint (a broad fake).

Sometimes the words are interchangeable. 

There is little or no difference between a broad 

grin and a wide grin. A wide discussion, however, 

is one that covers many topics; a broad 

discussion, one that does not confine itself 

within severe limits of propriety or orthodoxy. 

When in doubt, consider wide the more literal, 

broad the more figurative use. 

broadcast. The past tense is broadcast or broadcasted. 

The participle is also broadcast or broadcasted. 

Broadcast is the traditional form for the past 

tense and the participle. But the broadcasters 

have now made broadcasted standard. In substituting 

a regular verb for an irregular one they 

have done a service to the language. 

broadcloth, In American usage broadcloth means 

a cotton shirting or dress material, usually mercerized. 

It is what the English call poplin. Broadcloth 

to an Englishman means a napped and 

calendered woolen cloth, usually black, from 

which men’s coats are made. 

broadness. See breadth. 

broke, broken. See break. 

bronchia. This word is plural and should not be 

given an additional plural ending, as in bronchiae. 

brothers; brethren. Brothers is the standard term 

for sons of the same mother. The singular is 

used a great deal in America as a semi-facetious 

form of address (You said it, brother!), as an 

introduction to an informal supplication (Brother, 

can you spare a dime?) and, often, just as an 

exclamation (Brother! You should have seen 

that guy!). All of these uses are slang. 

Brethren, the archaic plural, is rarely used 

except for members of religious bodies. President 

Eisenhower, addressing the World Council 

of Churches Assembly, in Evanston, Illinois, 

August 19, 1954, besought the delegates to aid 

the cause of peace together with your brethren 

of other faiths. It was not a term he would have 

used had he been addressing, say, the Brotherhood 

of Locomotive Engineers. 

The use of the term among lodge members 

and in rhetorical sermons has caused it to be a 

humorous word among the irreverent. 

brought. See bring. 

brown as a berry. No one knows a brown berry. 

Some have suggested that a coffee berry is 

meant, but Chaucer used the phrase (His palfrey 

was as broun as is a berye) more than two hundred 

years before coffee had been heard of in 

England. Anyway, this pointless comparison has 

been repeated ceaselessly for more than five 

hundred years and is entitled to at least that 

long a rest. 

brown study. The brown in the clichC a brown 

study has an obsolete meaning of gloomy; the 

study has an obsolete meaning of reverie. The 

whole phrase, brown study, however, has now 

lost even the meaning of a gloomy reverie. It is 

usually employed to designate an idle or purposeless 

reverie, a fit of abstraction. The phrase 


brunch. See lunch, 

brung. See bring. 

brush. Certain uses of brush, as a verb and a 

noun, may be regarded as Americanisms, though 

some of them were formerly standard in England: 

a brief, hostile encounter (He had a brush 

with the customs men); lopped or broken 

branches (He brought in an armload of brush); 

a forceful dash (There were a good many nags 

about that could beat him on a brush, but for 

long drives he had few equals). 

To brush up or to brush up on, in the figurative 

sense of to refresh your knowledge of 

(He said he had to brush up on his history 

before the examination. The President said that 

the House ought to brush up its economics) 

must be accepted as standard. 

brutal; brutish; brute; beastly; bestial. Brute, most 

commonly used as an adjective in the clichd 

brute force, means having the quality of some 

nonhuman animal. Brutish means gross, carnal, 

like an animal, lacking in civilized refinement 

(When thou didst not, savage,/Know thine own 

meaning, but wouldst gabble/Like a thing most 

brutish). It refers most often, in modern usage, 

to character. 

Brutal, the most commonly used of all these 

words, means cruel, inhuman, coarse. It is never 

used without an implication of moral condemnation; 

whereas brute, and sometimes brutish, 

are free from this. Brute is usually applied to 

strength, brutal to actions, brutish to thoughts 

or manners. 

Bestial, like brutal, implies moral condemnation, 

but it is applied more to lust, uninhibited 

sexuality, than to ferocity (The bestial appetites 

of the brutal invaders). Beastly in standard 

American usage is a synonym for bestial. The 

English colloquial usage of it to mean nasty or 

disagreeable (Let us not be beastly to the Hun) 

is not known in America except as a humorous 

mimicking of English speech. 

buck. See hart. 

bug; bugbear; bugaboo; buggy. Bug in American 

everyday usage means almost any kind of insect 

(lightning bug). In English usage, in this sense, 

it is restricted to what in America is called a 

bedbug and, for reasons not clear to Americans, 

is an indecent word. No one in America boasts 

of having bedbugs, but the bitten traveler would 

not hesitate to use the word in airing his grievance. 

But in England, it is not so; it is almost 

an unmentionable word, possibly because of a 

klang association (q.v.) with bugger (q.v.). 

In America bug has come to mean defect or 

difficulty (They haven’t worked all the bugs out 

of the new model yet), an enthusiasm which 

amounts to a disease (He’s got the tennis bug 

and is on the courts all day), and a pyromaniac 

(a firebug). None of these is standard. 

Bug in the sense of defect and the -bug in 

firebug are probably forms of bugaboo, a bogy, 

some imaginary (or real) thing that causes fear 

or worry. Americans retain the old form bugaboo, 

while English usage has changed to bugbear. 

Bug is an old form of bugaboo. The fifth 

verse of the ninety-first Psalm in the King James 

version reads: Thou shalt not be afraid for the 

terror by night. In the Coverdale version (1535)

ugger 74 

it read: Thou shalt not need to be afraid for 

any bugs by night. An interesting illustration of 

misunderstandings that lie in wait for the uninstructed 

reader is found in King Edward’s 

remark. in Shakespeare’s Third Part of Kinn 

Henry iI, that W&wick was a bug tha; fear’> 

us all. To the common reader in America today 

that line would convey the idea that Warwick 

was an insect, a crawling creature, who was 

afraid of everybody. Whereas it means that Warwick 

was a terror that frightened them all. 

Buggy, in horse and buggy, may be related to 

bug in its meaning of “bogy.” It is not absolutely 

certain, but it is believed that when these light 

vehicles were first made they were humorously 

called bogies because they went so fast they were 

a terror. 

bugger in British usage means a sodomite, being 

the linguistic residue of a piece of medieval 

religious propaganda to the effect that the Bulgarians, 

who were heretics, were also sodomites. 

In England the aord is indecent, both as a noun 

and a verb, though it is used, as many scurrilous 

terms are, by the lower classes as a term of 

endearment for children. 

In American usage it is a much milder word. 

Only the educated know of its darker meanings. 

As a slang term for a fellow, person, or mischievous 

child it is now falling into disuse. As a 

verb it is still used widely, in slang, to mean to 

frustrate or to reduce the confusion (He came 

in with his bright ideas again and buggered the 

works). 

build. The past tense is built. The participle is 

also built. 

A regular form builded was once literary 

English for both the past tense and the participle, 

but it is now confined largely to poetry. 

building. In American usage building, as a term 

for a block of business offices, always pretixed 

with the (the Empire State Building, the Chrysler 

Building), is used where in England house is 

preferred (South Africa House, Imperial Chemicals 

House). In America, particularly in former 

days, house would mean hotel (The Palmer 

House, The Parker House). 

built. See build. 

bulk, properly magnitude in three dimensions (A 

building of great bulk loomed before us), has, 

despite the protests of many grammarians, come 

in standard usage to mean the greater part, the 

main mass or body (The bulk of the lumber 

was stored in an abandoned shed. The bulk of 

the army was held in reserve). It still has enough 

of the sense of three-dimensional mass about it, 

however, to seem inappropriate if applied to 

trifling things. The bulk of the page was devoted 

to a re-statement of the facts would seem absurd. 

And a discriminating speaker or writer would 

avoid using it as a synonym for majority. The 

bulk of the army suggests a mass. The bulk of 

those present voted against the proposal would 

not be as good as the majority of those present. 

bull. The word bull, especially when used in combinations, 

has a number of peculiarly American 

meanings. As a slang term for boasting, bluffing, 

and talking pretentious nonsense it is almost universal 

in the United States. In college slang bull 

session is a half-contemptuous term for a sophomoric 

discussion of sex, religion, philosophy, 

and the mysteries of life in general. 

Bulldoze is slang for intimidate. A bulldozer 

used to be one who bulldozed. Now it refers, 

almost exclusively, to a powerful caterpillar 

tractor having a vertical blade at the front end 

for moving earth, stumps, rocks, and so on, or 

to the operator of such a tractor. Indeed, the 

verb to bulldoze would now mean, to more 

Americans than not, the use of such a tractor 

(The man said he’d be here tomorrow to bulldoze 

that black dirt around the new house). The 

noun is generally listed in the dictionaries as 

slang and the verb, in this sense, is not listed at 

all. But in the vast building boom following 

World War II both words achieved a currency 

which if continued will compel their acceptance 

as standard usage. 

bull in a china shop. As a simile for destructive 

blundering, like a bull in a china shop must have 

been amusing when it was first thought of, but 

it is now wearisome and should be avoided. 

It is not even necessarily apt. In 1939 Mr. 

Fred Waring, in payment of a wager to Mr. Paul 

Douglas, led a bull into Plummer’s China Shop 

on Fifth Avenue, in New York, after posting 

bond to cover any damage that might be done. 

Ttie bull was led up and down the aisles and led 

out without having done any damage. Mr. Waring 

himself unfortunately knocked over a small 

table of china. 

bum. In American speech a bum is a shiftless or 

dissolute person, an habitual loafer and tramp. 

To bum is to get for nothing, to borrow with 

no expectation of returning. To go on the bum 

is to become a tramp and live an idle and dissolute 

life. As an adjective, bum means poor or 

wretched. The word is never employed formally 

but it is known and used universally in informal 

speech. Its American meanings seem to have 

been influenced by the German Bumm and 

bummeln. 

In English usage bum is an impolite word for 

the buttocks (A sorrel gelding with some white 

hairs on his bum. Many a tatter’d rag hanging 

over my bum). 

bumblebee is the sole American form. In England 

it is sometimes called a humblebee, not from 

any humility but because of the humming sound 

that it makes. The bum- of bumblebee is from 

the booming sound that it makes, and since the 

scientific name of the family is Bombidae, bumblebee 

would seem the preference of lay and 

learned alike. 

bumper; fender. A bumper in its commonest use 

in America now signifies a horizontal bar affixed 

to the front or rear of an automobile to give 

protection in collisions. In England this is called 

a fender; whereas what the Americans call a 

fender is called a wing. Americans and English 

alike call a piece of timber or a bundle of rope 

or the like, hung over the side of a vessel to 

lessen shock or prevent chafing, a fender.

The shock absorbers at the end of the line in 

railroad stations and between railroad cars are 

called bumpers in America, buffers in England. 

bunch is a connected group or cluster (A bunch of 

grapes hung from rhe vine). By a natural extension 

it came to mean a group of similar things 

(a bunch of keys). Its application to human 

beings (A bunch of people gathered at the scene 

of the accident) is still considered questionable, 

however; and the use of the word as a synonym 

for lot (That’s a bunch of baloney) is definitely 

wrong. 

bundle of nerves. The idea that one is nothing 

but a bundle of nerves tied together with ligaments 

was, at its conception, an amusing and 

effective piece of humorous exaggeration. It has 

long since worn out its humor. 

burden of proof is the taking over into everyday 

life of a special legal term onus probandi 

which means the obligation to offer evidence in 

support of a contention which will convince a 

judge or jury, with the understanding that if the 

evidence offered fails to convince, the party will 

lose the case. In common use it simply means 

the obligation, in an argument, to make out a 

case in the affirmative. It is a clicht and should 

be used carefully. 

bureau. The plural is bureaus or (less often) 

bureaux. 

As a name for a piece of household furniture, 

a bureau in America means a chest of drawers 

for holding clothing. There is often a mirror 

attached. In England a bureau is a desk or 

writing table with drawers for papers, an escritoire. 

-burger. The last two syllables of hamburger, 

ground steak, or a roll or a bun containing 

ground steak, usually with relish or mustard 

(and named, presumably, after the city of Hamburg 

as frankfurters are named after Frankfurt 

and wieners after Vienna or Wien), have become 

detached. Almost anything edible that can 

be ground up and put between the halves of a 

roll may now be designated a -burger: cheeseburgers, 

nutburgers, pizzaburgers, oliveburgers 

and turtleburgers are all offered to the passing 

public. How many of these coinages will remain 

in the language no one knows. Cheeseburger, 

cheese grilled on top of a meat pattie, is the best 

established so far. 

burglar. See thief; robber; etc. And see steal; purloin; 

pilfer; etc. 

burglarize seems a clumsy substitute for the ancient 

and honorable term to rob. It is journalistic 

and, happily, doesn’t seem to be making much 

headway towards standard usage. 

burlesque; caricature; parody; travesty; lampoon. 

A burlesque is an artistic composition, especially 

literary or dramatic, which, for the sake 

of laughter, vulgarizes lofty material or treats 

ordinary material with mock dignity (And the 

sad truth which hovers o’er my desk/Turns whut 

was once romantic to burlesque.-Byron). 

In America burlesque has a special meaning, 

one probably much better known to the masses 

than its older meaning: a theatrical entertain- 

75 

ment featuring coarse comedy and dancing. Of 

late years strip tease, an exhibition in which a 

woman walking to and fro in what is at least 

intended to be a voluptuous rhythm, slowly 

divests herself of her clothes, down to a g-string, 

a small triangle of cloth covering the mans 

Veneris, has become so indispensable a part of 

all burlesque shows that strip tease and burlesque 

are now almost synonymous. 

A caricature is a picture, or a description, 

ludicrously exaggerating the peculiarities or defects 

of a person or a thing (The caricatures of 

Mussolini, whatever their intent, flattered him; 

for they made him seem more knave than fool). 

A parody is a humorous imitation of a serious 

piece of literature (Lewis Carroll’s “I Met an 

Aged, Aged Man” is a brilliant parody of 

Wordsworth’s “Resolution and Independence”). 

The word is also applied to burlesque imitations 

of musical compositions. 

Travesty is closely synonymous to parody. It 

is a more serious word, however, implying a 

deliberate debasing, often intentional, of which 

the speaker disapproves (The Russiun account 

of the incident was a travesty). An unfair or 

strongly biased court decision is often referred 

to as a travesty of justice. 

A lampoon is a malicious or virulent satire 

upon a person. Parodies, burlesques, and even 

caricatures can be good natured, but a lampoon 

never is. 

bum. The past tense is burned or burnt. The participle 

is also burned or burnt. 

In the United States burned is the preferred 

form for the past tense and the participle but 

burnt is also heard, especially when the word 

is used before a noun, as in a burnt match. In 

Great Britain burnt is the preferred form in all 

uses and burned is considered “slightly archaic 

and somewhat formal.” 

Burn may be followed by an adjective describing 

the fire, as in the fire burned red, or 

it burned bright. It may also be followed by an 

adverb describing the process, as in it burned 

quickly. 

burn; bum down; bum up. The down and up of 

burn down and burn up are intensives. Either, 

if applied to a house, would mean total combustion: 

the house was reduced to the level of 

the ground, or it went up into the air in the 

smoke and gases of combustion. Burn down is 

limited to structures and candles; burn up, however, 

can be used of anything when one wishes 

to convey the idea that the destruction was 

complete. It is not used of trivial things, though; 

one burns rubbish and burns up papers of importance. 

burn the candle at both ends. At first a saying concerned 

with material wastefulness, burning the 

candle at both ends is, today, applied to the 

wasting of one’s physical strength by twocourses 

of action, such as hard work by day and dissipation 

by night, either one of which would be 

sufficient to consume the energies of a normal 

person. It is not always a phrase of condemnation 

of the person, since it is often used of one

um 76 

who is destroying himself by excessive work or 

overdevotion to some good cause or high ideal. 

Perhaps this hackneyed phrase should be used 

only by the wicked. Certainly, it should be used 

only after careful consideration. 

burn the midnight oil as a term for studying late 

at night is a cliche and should be avoided. 

burning issue has long ago cooled and should be 

used sparingly. 

burnish. See polish. 

burnt. See burn. 

burst. The past tense is burst. The participle is 

also burst. 

Bursred was once literary English but is no 

longer considered standard. 

Bust, meaning “burst,” is a deliberate playing 

with the language. It is therefore slang rather 

than uneducated English. 

Bust is used in the army to mean reduce in 

rank. In this sense it is not even slang. It is the 

normal word for that event and is used by all 

but the most pompous. 

bury the hatchet. Frontiersmen and scouts who 

had lived so intimately among the Indians that 

they had adopted-or affected to have adopted 

-the speech and imagery of the noble savages 

no doubt caused many a gape of astonishment 

when they first used bury the hatchet as 

a term for making peace. But generations ago 

the gape became a yawn as the phrase became 

a clicht. It should be quietly buried in forgetfulness. 

bus was printed as ‘bus in America as late as 

1923, but all thought of its being a shortening 

of omnibus has vanished as completely as all 

thought of omnibus as a Latin dative plural, 

meaning “for all,” has vanished. Omnibus, for 

a public vehicle, would be understood by anyone 

in America, but it would be used only by the 

most old-fashioned. 

A peculiarly American use of bus is in the 

phrase bus boy. To an Englishman this might 

suggest a youngster employed in some capacity 

or other on or around buses. To an American 

it means a waiter’s helper in a restaurant, one 

who carries out the dirty dishes and does other 

menial tasks. It, too, derives from omnibus and 

a bus boy was once known as an omnibus. 

Omnibus has come back into general use in 

America as a designation for a volume of reprinted 

works by a single author or a volume of 

works related in interest or nature or simply a 

miscellany (i.e., something “for all”) and, most 

recently, as the title of a television show which 

presents a wide range of entertainment. 

business; employment; occupation. An occupation 

is anything which occupies the time. One may 

speak of an idle occupation or the occuparion of 

an idle hour. It need not be gainful or even 

useful. It is used, however, of useful and gainful 

employment since that also occupies time. Employment 

was used formerly more than now as 

a synonym for occupation but it has come to 

be restricted to gainful occupation and, in popular 

usage, to the labor of skilled and unskilled 

artisans. An educated person would understand 

the statement that the employment of a doctor’s 

profession took all his time. But we would not 

think of a doctor or other professional man 

seeking employment. Idle employment would 

today seem a paradox. 

Business, though originally that which kept a 

man busy, is now restricted to gainful employment, 

usually to do with manufacture or the 

management of buying and selling. See also 

avocation, calling, job, profession. 

business; busyness. Since business has come to be 

fixed in a number of specialized meaningsone’s 

occupation or trade, the purchase and 

sale of goods, volume of trade, one’s place of 

work, movements or gestures by actors on the 

stage, and so on-a need has been felt for a 

word to express its original meaning, the state 

of being busy, and for this the word busyness 

has come into standard use. 

business vocabulary. The stilted and stereotyped 

usages of business English have long been notorious, 

but happily a new trend has been making 

itself felt. Many large companies are hiring 

correspondence experts to give training in business 

writing. Some have appointed permanent 

supervisors to oversee communications. Concise, 

direct language is being recognized as valuable 

not only for its effectiveness but also for the 

savings it brings. 

The worst type of business vocabulary, obsequious 

on the one hand (beg to remain, your 

esteemed fuvor to hand) and pompous on the 

other (We will ascertain the facts and advise 

you accordingly) is probably a reflection of 

insecurity in status, left over from the early days 

of business communications. Until a century 

ago, it was expected of the tradesman that he 

would assume a proper humility in his dealings 

with his customers, and as long as business 

sought to cater chiefly to the carriage trade there 

was a social distinction, recognized by both sides, 

between the shopman and his patrons. An eighteenth-century 

manual for the ambitious young 

businessman states that he must be “master of 

a handsome bow and cringe” in order to ingratiate 

himself with his customers. The tradesman 

complied but resented the necessity of doing so 

and sought to bolster his pride by being lofty 

and inflated in his dealings with his equals and 

inferiors. Even today an American is startled 

and amused at the tone and wording of a communication 

from an English tailor, “At once 

crawling on his knees and shaking his fist,” 

Max Beerbohm described it. 

A survey conducted by Fortune (“The Language 

of Business,” November, 1950) revealed 

a startling uniformity in the use of words and 

phrases by business people. Many a meaningless 

stereotyped phrase has been perpetuated in the 

symbols of shorthand and carried into the 

stream of correspondence by products of business 

schools. Secretaries, as a group, have 

smaller vocabularies than business men and in 

the process of dictation the larger vocabulary 

is confined within the limits of the smaller. It 

is easier to use words you know the stenographer 

understands than to interrupt dictation to explain 

your meaning. And it’s safer; strange

words increase the chance of dangerous and 

expensive errors and misunderstandings. 

Some of the stereotyped phrases of business 

correspondence seem to serve as a jumping-off 

point for an insecure writer, giving him something 

to brace himself against before he plunges 

into the unfamiliar specific material of the 

letter. Others, like take under consideration, in 

the process of, company policy and at this time, 

function as protection from commitment. They 

are deliberate evasions of coming to the point. 

This type of phrasing is also characteristic of 

joint reports and statements of policy and procedure. 

Business vocabulary has also absorbed words 

from a number of related fields, particularly 

the gobbledegook of government: expedite, implement, 

activnte, effectuate. The advertising 

and sales departments have gone completely 

overboard at the siren song of the social sciences: 

projective techniques, social dynamics, 

depth interviewing and, above all, in all a’f its 

wonderful combinations, the mighty and magic 

psychology. 

The spoken language of business, in contrast 

to the written, while just as stereotyped, is direct 

and vigorous, often so terse as to seem to be in 

code. It is characteristically down-to-earth and 

is designed to give the impression of enormous 

executive ability, of a capacity to act. The 

speaker usually emphasizes his forthrightness; 

he is not going to pussyfoot, beat around the 

bush, pull any punches, or use any two-dollar 

words. None the less if what he has to say deals 

with policy and he has not yet been informed 

what policy his superiors have adopted, he will 

attempt to protect himself by an assurance, usually 

couched in disarmingly humorous terms, 

that he is not so presumptuous as to advance an 

opinion. He is merely throwing it up for grubs, 

kicking it around, thinking 08 the top of his 

head, sharing his thinking, etc., etc. 

Speeches, as distinguished from conversation, 

rely heavily on analogy and metaphor. The 

favorite figures for comparison with the stat.e of 

business are a highway, a river, a boat, a bridge, 

a train, an airplane and-far and away the most 

popular-a football team. The last is so established 

as to be more commonly spoken of as 

“the team” and there are few banquets at which 

the quarterback, the line, the signals, and goals 

are not referred to. Curiously and conspicuously 

lacking from these metaphors, however, is any 

mention of a referee. 

bust. See burst. 

busy. The American get busy is the equivalent of 

the English stir yourself, look alive. The American 

telephone expression the line is busy is the 

equivalent of the English the number is engaged. 

bnt. This word sometimes makes a statement negative 

and sometimes does not. It is sometimes 

used as a conjunction introducing a clause and 

sometimes as a preposition with a simple object. 

NEGATIVES 

One of the principal uses of but is to indicate 

an exception to what is being said, and in this 

Sense it may be part of an aflirmative or part of 

77 but 

a negative statement, as in everybody thinks so 

but you and nobody thinks so but you. But is 

used in exactly this way in sentences such as 

I haven’t but a minute to spare and I won’t be 

but 4 minute. These are not double negatives. 

What has happened here is that some words, such 

as “any time,” have been dropped from between 

the verb and but. The construction is always 

understood and is used freely by well educated 

people. So there is no reason in logic or in practice 

for objecting to it. 

But may also be used to mean “only.” At one 

time the English negative was a simple ne or n’ 

standing before the verb. One might then say he 

n’is but 4 child, where but means “except.” When 

this lightly pronounced n disappeared such statements 

were still understood and he is but a child 

meant the same thing. Here but is carrying the 

negative idea that was once attached to the verb. 

This construction is still in use and makes it 

possible for us to say I have but a minute. 

Undoubtedly, the fact that both constructions 

are in existence is what leads some people to 

think that the one using not must be a double 

negative. Actually it is the simpler of the two 

constructions, closer to the usual meaning of 

but, and the better established. Today, but used 

to mean “only,” as in Z have but, is likely to 

sound archaic or affected. 

But may be used to introduce a parallel and 

contrasting statement, as in he went but he did 

not stay and he did not go but he telephoned. 

Here but is a coordinating conjunction. It means 

no more than “on the other hand” and can be 

used in either negative or affirmative statements. 

But is often used to introduce a clause that is 

dependent on a negative statement. In (there 

wns) not a man but felt the terror in his hair, 

the word but still means “except” and the sentence 

can be analyzed as no man existed except 

those who felt and so on. Ordinarily it is said 

that in this construction but represents that . . . 

not. This is a neater way of saying the same 

thing but may be confusing to people who have 

difficulty combining negatives. In the sentence 

just given there is no double negative. But there 

are too many negatives, and they cancel each 

other, in it is not impossible but such u day may 

come. Logically, this sentence says that nothing 

is impossible except that such a day should 

come. Actually, it is a tortured and twisted 

statement that fails to make a strong impression. 

When we are dealing with verbs that are affirmative 

in form but negative in meaning, such 

as deny, doubt, question, we have a different 

situation. Here sentences that, logically speaking, 

contain too many negatives, such as 1 don’t 

doubt but that you are surprised, are literary 

English. They are good English because they 

are found in good literature and when they are 

heard they recall good literature. Why good 

writers like this extra negative is more difficult 

to explain. Apparently they feel that making the 

affumative form of a verb of this kind negative 

is not enough to make its negative meaning 

affirmative, and that the additional negative in 

but is needed to accomplish this. If these dip-

utcher 78 

tinctions seem too subtle to be true, one should 

notice that it is not unlikely does not mean it is 

likely. (For cannot help but, see hell,. For Z 

don’t know but what, see what.) 

SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE PRONOUNS 

When but is followed by a simple object, such 

as a noun or pronoun, it may be considered a 

preposition. In that case, if the object is a personal 

pronoun it will have the objective form, as 

me in no one saw it but me. On the other hand, 

but may be considered a conjunction. In that 

case, the object is interpreted as part of a condensed 

clause, and if it is a persona1 Ipronoun 

it is given the form it would have if the whole 

clause had been expressed, as in no one saw it 

but Z (saw it). In current American English but 

is interpreted as a preposition whenever possible, 

and an objective form of the pronoun is always 

used unless the word is the subject of a verb 

that is actually expressed. 

Thirty or forty years ago it was customary to 

say that but should always be interpreted as a 

conjunction. This meant that such unnatural 

sentences as they were all there but Z were being 

recommended. A grammarian writing at that 

time, after bravely laying down rules and giving 

examples that must certainly have offended his 

ear, concludes by advising us not to use the 

unpleasant word and points out that it can “be 

replaced by except or save, thus avoiding any 

suspicion of impropriety.” Unfortunately, the 

arguments against using but as a preposition 

have also been brought against except and save. 

And faced with giving up but or the grammar 

books, most people would give up the grammar 

books. See also except. 

butcher, a shortening of butcher boy, has a special 

meaning in the United States of a person who 

sells candy and magazines on trains (As he rode 

toward the Great City he smoked a Baby Mine 

cigar, purchased of the Butcher-George Ade). 

The term is often shortened to hutch which, possibly 

because of this association, has become a 

slang name for any boy whose real name is 

unknown. 

Butcher or hutch in the sense of a vendor is 

now old-fashioned and seems to be passing out 

of use. 

butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. She looks as 

if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, that is, 

she seems so demure (cold) that even butter 

wouldn’t melt in her mouth; but actually (by 

inference) she is far from being as demure, cold, 

or good as she seems. 

Heywood listed this as a proverb in 1546 and 

Swift (by including it in his Polite Conversations) 

classed it as a cliche in 1738. It is still in 

general use, though most of those who use it 

would be unable to give a very clear statement 

of its meaning. It is better avoided. 

buxom, when spoken of a woman, means full-bosomed, 

plump and attractive, radiant in health. 

The common use of the word as a mere synonym 

for fat fails to exploit its full resources. 

buy. The past tense is bought. The participlie is also 

bought. 

The participle boughten is not literary English, 

but was widely used in the United States a 

few generations ago to mean “not homemade,” 

as in a boughten dress, and still has a certain 

frontier charm. See purchase. 

buy a pig in a poke. A poke is a bag less in size 

than a sack. (A pocket is a small poke.) A pig 

is, properly, a very young swine. The expression, 

for buying something unseen or committing 

oneself to an agreement without making sure of 

what one is to receive in return, is very old. 

The pig in the poke is the English version of 

it. All the rest of the European languages have 

it a cat. 

The proverb today has a suggestion of that 

deliberate rusticity which is frequently affected 

as a mark of distinction from the city dweller. 

And since no man affects a distinction without 

implying superiority, such phrases are annoying. 

This one is still useful, but should be used only 

after careful consideration. 

buy; buyer. Buy as a noun, meaning a purchase, 

especially a bargain (I got a buy in eggs today. 

It’s not a good buy at that price), is not standard. 

Buyer keeps its standard sense of one who 

buys from a store or other retail outlet (Let the 

buyer beware. This is not a buyer’s market), but 

a secondary sense of one who buys for a store, 

especially one who buys at wholesale the things 

that the store sells at retail, is gaining in popularity, 

so much so that one has to be careful in 

its use if one is to make one’s meaning clear. 

Certainly in department stores and the retail 

clothing business, especially in women’s wear, 

this is now the primary meaning of buyer. One 

who buys materials and supplies for a manufacturing 

concern may be known informally as the 

buyer, but in his forma1 title he would probably 

be the purchasing agent. In a department store, 

however, he would be the buyer. 

Buyer is always the word when, as in discussions 

of economics, one wants the opposite of 

seller. And it is retained in popular usage, in 

preference to customer and even purchaser, 

when a single transaction, especially one of 

some size or importance, is in mind (He’s been 

trying to find a buyer for that place for twenty 

years). See also patron; customer. 

by may be used as a preposition, that is, with an 

object, as in stand by the gate, or it may be used 

as an adverb, without an object, as in stand by. 

The basic meaning of by is “near.” It is used 

in this sense in the road passes by our house. 

When it is applied to time, it always means “not 

later than,” as in Z will finish by five o’clock. 

By is also used to show the means or agent of 

an action, as in we went by plane and it was 

made by a carpenter. 

Out of these basic meanings have come several 

others. By may show the circumstances surrounding 

an event, as in by lamplight, by day. It 

may mean “conforming to,” as in by law. And it 

is used in expressing measures, as by the day, by 

the pound. 

By may also be used to contrast “near” with 

“actually there.” In this sense it has a negative

force and may combine with verbs of motion to 

mean “avoid” or “ignore,” as in dear/r had passed 

me by. Sometimes one cannot tell whether by is 

being used in a direct sense or with this negative 

force, as in go by Pittsburgh. 

by and large. In the sense of “generally speaking, 

in every aspect,” by and large (By and large the 

worries of summer residents concerning snakes 

are far out of proportion to the dangers that 

exist) is standard in American usage, though not 

caboose. In America a caboose is the last car on 

a freight train (or, as the English would say, the 

brake-van on a goods train), the car, usually 

painted red, with a little square lookout on top, 

whose passing brings a sigh of relief from a line 

of exasperated automobile drivers queued up at 

a grade crossing. In England a caboose is a 

galley, a kitchen on the deck of a ship. 

cacao; coca; cocoa; coca. Cucao is a small evergreen 

tree, native to tropical America, cultivated 

for its seeds, from which, roasted, husked, and 

ground, is made cocoa. Coca is applied to two 

species of shrubs, native in the Andes and cultivated 

in Java, from the dried leaves of which 

(chewed by millions of people for their stimulant 

properties) is made cocaine. Coca is a tall, 

slender tropical palm which produces the coconut. 

cache; hide; stash. A cache is, in its strictest sense, 

a secret place of deposit used by explorers. It is a 

French word and came to us from the French- 

Canadian woodsmen and explorers. The verb 

fo cache means to place in a cache (We decided 

to cache our packs and begin our return to the 

cabin). 

Purists have objected to the use of the word 

as a synonym for hide, but it is a natural extension, 

especially since hiding is associated with 

children, misers, and the furtive, and has passed 

into standard use. 

The slang stash may be a telescoped form of 

to st(ick in a c)ache, with an echo of cash lin it. 

cactus. The plural is cactuses or cacti. 

cad; cadet; caddie; caddy. Under the harsh custom 

of primogeniture the lot of the younger son 

(French cadet) was not a happy one. He cc&d 

get a low rank in the army and be a cadet. He 

could run errands and carry packages, such as 

a golf bag, and be a caddie. But he got no thanks 

for his labors. His elder brother, lolling genteelly 

at the ‘varsity, suspected him (with full iustification, 

probably) of being resentful, mean, 

underhand, mendacious, aggressive, and unscrupulous, 

and despised him as a cad. 

The English tea caddy has no connection .with 

this grim story. It is a variant of catty, a trans- 

79 calculus 

very often used in England. Apparently it is becoming 

more common there, for Sir Ernest 

Gowers states that this “current usage . . . exasperates 

the sailor” who knows the true meaning 

of the phrase-“alternately close to the wind 

and with the wind abeam or aft.” 

An even stronger reason for avoiding the 

phrase than the fear of exasperating sailors is 

that it is often meaningless, used simply as conversational 

filler. 

literation of Malayan knti, a weight equal to a 

little over a pound. 

cake (you can’t have your cake and eat it too). 

There would seem to be no better way to have 

one’s cake than to eat it, but have in the proverb 

plainly means to keep. The French version, You 

can’t have the cloth and the money, is better. The 

English version used to be you can’t eat your 

cake and have it. That is better but even so Swift 

listed it as a cliche in 1738. The expression has 

just the right modicum of obvious wisdom and 

homely simplicity to appeal to those who find 

cliches irresistible. 

calculate; think. Our fathers were fond of using 

terms from mathematics as synonyms for think. 

Not that they were especially mathematical. It 

is probable that they innocently assumed the 

jargon of the counting house to be the ultimate 

expression of ratiocination. Mark Twain, in 

several places, has Huckleberry Finn use cipher 

for think. 

Of course there is a legitimate use of calculate 

in connection with the expression of an opinion. 

If a ship’s officer says that he calculates the shin 

is at such and such a position, it is assumed that 

his statement is the result of calculation. So a 

man might say that, given this and that circumstance, 

he calculates to make such and such a 

profit. But to say I calculate Aunt Mary won’t 

stay more than two days is to misuse the word. 

Concern, however, is not justified, for this sense 

of the word is passing out of use. 

calculus. The plural is calculi or calculuses. In 

medicine calculus means a small stone. In this 

sense it usually has the plural form calculi. Calculus 

may also mean some system of calculating 

or reasoning, and in this sense it is likely to have 

the plural calculuses. 

When calculus means a particular branch of 

mathematics developed by Leibnitz and Newton, 

it is a mass word and does not have a plural. It 

is often qualified by the, as in a history of the 

calculus. This use of the article the is obsolete 

for other branches of mathematics and for the 

sciences generally. It may have been retained in 

speaking of the caiculus in order to stress the

calendar 80 

fact that there is only one-no matter what 

words, such as “differential,” “integral,” “infinitesimal,” 

may be used to describe it. 

calendar; calender; colander. A calendar is a 

tabular arrangement of the days of each month 

and week in a year. A calender is a machine in 

which cloth, paper, or the like, is smoothed, 

glazed, etc., by pressing between revolving cylinders. 

It is also one who does such pressing. 

John Gilpin’s good friend the calender was not, 

as a modern reader might assume, an astrologer 

but one who operated such a machine or did the 

sort of work such a machine did. A colander is 

a form of sieve used for draining OK liquids, 

especially in cookery (The calender marked on 

his calendar the day when the tinker would 

return his colander). 

calf. The plural is calves. The expression calves 

foot jelly contains an old form of the genitive 

and is equivalent to calf’s foot jelly. This is not 

an instance of a plural noun used as the first element 

in a compound. 

caliber is the diameter of something of circular 

section, as a bullet, or especially that of the inside 

of a tube, as the bore of a gun. In ordnance 

it is the diameter of the bore of a gun taken as 

a unit in stating its length, as a fifty caliber 14 

inch gun. 

Purists have been unhappy over the figurative 

extension of the word to mean degree of capacity 

or ability, personal character, or merit or 

importance (A man of his caliber is an asset to 

the community). But it is now standard and 

must be accepted. 

calico in the United States means a printed cotton 

cloth, superior to percale. In Britain it means a 

white cotton cloth. What is called calico in 

England is called muslin in America. 

calix. The plural is calices. 

call a halt to something, like to put a stop to it, 

implies that the speaker possesses dictatorial 

powers in the particular situation and has exercised 

them or is prepared to exercise the:m vigorously. 

However, it is worn and hackneyed and 


call a spade a spade. There have been a number 

of objects whose simple designation has been 

proverbial, among different nations, for plain 

speaking. The Greeks said to call a fig a fig and 

a boat a boat and regarded such direct talk as 

characteristic of the uncultivated Maceedonians. 

In English, for centuries, it has been ;a spade. 

Why, no one knows. 

Amusingly, the phrase is itself a contradiction 

of what it advocates. No one objects to calling 

a spade a spade; it is coarser and less inoffensive 

things that are usually glossed over with euphemisms. 

However derived or justified, the phrase is 

now, except in jest, to be avoided. 

calling; vocation. A calling was originally a summons 

from God to enter His service or the inward 

conviction of such a summons. The child 

Samuel had a true calling. The word still retains 

this sense in relation to the ministry where such 

a summons is felt to be requisite. From this 

association the word has derived a feeling of dignity, 

a devotion to some great duty that transcends 

one’s personal material interests (The 

conscious warrant of a high calling sustained 

him through these dreadful years). It has come 

to be used, however, more and more (apart from 

its special use in relation to the ministry) in the 

mere sense of occupation (He prostituted himself 

to the base callinn of a hired scribbler). but 

it has a slightly archaic and pompous kavor 

here. 

Vocation, which is simply the Latin for calling, 

and would, one assumes, therefore be even 

more formal, is less formal. The religious connotation 

does not cling to it and, at least in the 

United States, it is standard for a man’s occupation, 

business, or profession. It has (except 

when used as an adjective in such special, almost 

technical, contexts as vocational guidance) a 

tinge of pomposity. See also avocation, business, 

job. 

callipers. The singular form calliper may be used 

in speaking of one of these instruments, as in 

this calliper is mine, and the plural form cailipers 

in speaking of several instruments, as in we 

have three callipers. The plural form may also 

be used in speaking of one instrument, as in 

these callipers are the ones, and three instruments 

may be called three pairs of callipers. 

Both constructions are standard English today. 

Only the singular form calliper is used as the 

first element in a compound, as in a callipersquare. 

callus; callous. Callus is a noun and means a hard 

piece of flesh, as in he has three calluses on his 

hand. The only ulural is calluses. Callous is an 

adjective and means callus-like or hard, as in his 

callous hands, his callous attitude. The verb, 

meaning to harden, is formed from the adjective, 

as in his hands were calloused by toil. A verb 

may also be formed from the noun but this 

means only to turn into a callus, as in the spot 

callused. 

calm before the storm. People speak of the calm 

before the storm as though it were an invariable 

phenomenon. However, it is not. In its figurative 

uses, the phrase is a cliche and to be avoided. 

calumny. See libel. 

calves. See calf. 

calyx. The plural is calyxes or calyces. 

came. See come. 

campus English. There are, of course, a few 

hardy campus perennials which are readily comprehensible 

to the general public, such as dot, 

prof, dorm, frat, quad. But whether there is anything 

else that may definitely be classified as 

college slang is open to doubt. It is true that 

there are feature stories in a number of magazines 

every year on the current campus expressions, 

but one suspects that these are whipped up 

seasonally, by their authors, at the editors’ demands, 

like the stories on Groundhog Day. If 

the students have the linguistic originality and 

playfulness attributed to them in these articles, 

they skilfully conceal it in most of their compositions.

However, like the veiled woman in black who 

finally appeared in reality to lay a flower on 

Valentine’s grave after the papers had invented 

her, some collegians seem to feel that a measure 

of inventiveness is required of them and various 

colleges claim that certain words have at least 

a temporary currency among their students. 

Some idea of the variations in campus talk 

may be given by recording some words claimed 

to have been in use at Princeton in 1941, !some 

North Texas Agricultural College terms in 11948, 

and some Northwestern University and Wayne 

University terms in 1955. 

To the Princetonian-so the Princelon Alumni 

Weekly of February, 1942, said-a spook was 

a young lady, a mingle a game, red hots were 

stags, hooching was having a drink, to flour’ one 

was to cash a check and to soft-sole WSLS to 

dance. The Texas terms were less elegant. A 

beast was an unattractive female and a sod suck 

one whose amatory ardors left something to be 

desired. Date bait was an attractive girl, dream 

bait a handsome person of either sex. Leather 

express meant walking. Ofice was the term for 

a favorite hideout, rape fluid for perfume. Upstream, 

used as a verb, designated the unethical 

practice of thumbing a ride ahead of an alreadywaiting 

group of hitchhikers. 

At Wayne University, in 1955, beating the 

bushes was looking for a date, a body snatcher 

was one who stole another’s date, a campus roar 

was an egotistical professor, one who took all 

easy (pipe) courses was a plumbing major, and 

a wow was a worn-out wolf. At Northwestern 

University, in the same year, a Mickey Mouse 

was a notoriously easy course, a four-wheel 

friend was one devoted to your car, a clo,otch 

a girl and a brain a serious-minded and, possibly, 

intelligent student. 

can. This is the present tense. The past teme is 

could. 

He can does not have the s ending that we 

ordinarily expect in the present tense. This is 

because can is an ancient past tense form. But it 

had come to be felt as a present tense before 

English became a written language. Could is a 

new past tense form that was created for it. 

Today, could is sometimes used as the past tense 

of can, as in he could read before he wus four 

years old; but it has also acquired a present tense 

meaning, as in could you help me now?. 

This verb has no imperative, no infinitive, no 

past participle, and no -ing form. Because the 

words can and could are grammatically past 

tense forms, just as the word went is, they cannot 

follow (that is, they cannot be dependent on) 

another verb. We can no more say will can, may 

can, used to could, than we can say will went, 

may went, used to went. Since we cannot use 

auxiliaries, such as do, be, have, we form negative 

statement-s and ask questions in the old 

direct way that is now obsolete for most verbs, 

as in he could not and why can’t he?. 

Can and could themselves are always used as 

auxiliaries and require another verb to complete 

their meaning. This may be the simple form of 

81 can 

the verb, as in he can leave, or have and the 

past participle, as in he can have left. In the first 

case, the statement refers to a present situation. 

In the second case, it refers to a past event. The 

complementary verb must be actually stated or 

easily supplied from the context, as in can you 

take this apart? and I could yesterday. 

When could is used in speaking of the past it 

means “was able to,” as in I could yesterday, and 

is the past indicative form of can. When it is 

used in speaking of the present or the future, as 

in could you help me tomorrow, it is a past subjunctive. 

In a direct statement could have is a 

past indicative when it means “was able to at 

that time,” and a past subjunctive when it means 

“it is now possible that at that time. . . .” It may 

have either meaning in he could have told her 

yesterday. The subjunctive could can be used in 

a conditional clause without the word if. In that 

case, it must stand before the subject, as in co& 

I find the paper, I would . . . and could I have 

found the paper, I would have. . . . (See subjunctive 

mode.) 

The auxiliary verb can has grown out of a 

verb meaning to know, and is related to such 

words as canny and cunning. It has no relation 

at all to the verb meaning to put up in cans, 

which is perfectly regular and has the past tense 

and participle canned. Having one simple sound 

for two such different ideas makes it possible 

for the farmer’s wife to say: We eat what we can 

and what we can’t we can. 

can; may. Both of these verbs may be used to 

express possibility, as in he can come (or he 

could come) and he may come (or he might 

come). But here can or could means “it is physically 

possible that” and may or might means 

“there is a chance that.” Can and may are never 

used interchangeably in speaking about a possibility. 

But may is also used to ask for or grant permission, 

as in may I come in? Some grammarians 

claim that can should never be used in a 

sentence of this kind, since can asks about what 

is physically possible and not about what is permissible. 

Actually, this question takes us out 

of the realm of language and into the intricacies 

of politeness. Can is often used in place of may 

to suggest that the decision is not merely a 

personal whim but something based on objective 

facts. 

In refusing permission, you may not is felt to 

be disagreeably personal and dictatorial and 

you cannot is almost universally preferred. In 

discussing a decision, or in arguing about it, can 

is required. We never say why mayn’t I? or 

mayn’t I? but always why can’t I? or can’t I?, 

since we are assuming that something more than 

a whim is involved, In granting permission may 

is still used occasionally, as in you may keep it 

till Friday. But most people now feel that it is 

more courteous, less autocratic, to say you can 

keep it till Friday. In asking permission, may is 

generally felt to be more polite than can, as in 

may I look at it? but can is also used here, as in 

can Z look at it? Since the speaker knows very

candelabrum 82 

well that he is able to look at it, this use of can 

is simply carrying politeness one step further by 

refusing to question the other person’s good 

will. In time, this too may be accepted1 as the 

more polite form, but that is not yet the case. 

candelabrum. The plural is candelubrums or cnndelabra. 

Candelabra is also used as a singular 

with a regular plural candelabras. Thesle forms 

are equally acceptable. 

candid. See frank. 

candidacy; candidature. Americans refer to the 

state or term of being a candidate as candidacy 

(During his candidacy he had the support of the 

labor unions). The English use candida,ture. 

candy; sweets; dessert. In America candy is the 

word for any of a variety of confections made 

with sugar, syrup, and so on, combined with 

other ingredients, and for a single piece of such 

a confection. The plural, candies, refers ‘to more 

than one variety (Mixed candies) rather than to 

more than one piece. When one wishes to speak 

of more than one piece of candy it has to be expressed 

as so many pieces of candy. 

In England candy is what used to be called 

sugar candy, crystallized sugar, boiled and 

evaporated. In America this is often called rock 

candy. There is no plural to the English candy. 

The English term for candy in general is 

sweets. But the sweet is their word for what 

Americans call dessert. Sometimes it is called 

Ihe sweet course and the various puddings, ices, 

and so on, then served would, collectively, be 

called sweets. The English reserve the word 

dessert for fruit (fresh or candied), nuts, and 

raisins, served as a last course after the sweet. 

canine. Except in its special zoological meaning 

of any member of the C&due (dogs, wolves, 

jackals, hyenas, coyotes, foxes), or as a $;hortening 

of canine tooth, canine ought to be used with 

care. It is acceptable as a term for a dog, but if 

used seriously it is pompous and if used humorously 

(in mockery of the pompous use) it is 

threadbare. 

cannon. The plural is cannons or cannon. That is, 

one may say only three cannons were left or 

only three cannon were left. 

canon; cafion; canyon; cannon. Canon refers to 

ecclesiastical law, to the sacred books of the 

Bible, or other sacred books (canon law; the 

Euistle to the Hebrews is not a work of St. Paul, 

b;t it is prefminently worthy of its honored 

place in the Canon), or (chiefly British) is the 

name of any one of a body of dignitaries or prebendaries 

attached to a cathedral or a collegiate 

church (Sir, it is a grent thing to dine with the 

Canons of Christ-Church). 

C&on is the Spanish spelling of canyon, a 

deep valley with steep sides, often with a. stream 

flowing through it (The Grund Canyon of the 

Colorado is in Arizona). 

A cannon is a mounted gun for firing heavy 

projectiles and other uses extended from this. 

More and more it is being replaced in usage by 

gun. 

The English have a special use of cannon as 

a verb: to make a carom in billiards. 

cant derives, ultimately, from canture, to sing. It 

originally meant the whining, singsong speech 

of beggars and then the special language or 

jargon spoken by thieves or gypsies. Linguists 

use the word in this sense today. 

A more popular meaning, however, is an 

affected or insincere use of religious or pietistic 

phraseology. It may have been helped to this 

meaning by the Reverend Andrew Cant (d. 

1663), a Presbyterian minister whose sermons 

were so larded with the jargon of his sect at that 

time that they were incomprehensible to most 

men and were delivered in a whining singsong 

which was then esteemed by many as the height 

of pulpit eloquence. 

From this use it has come to its most common 

meaning: stock phrases full of pretentious highmindedness 

or pseudo-profundity, repeated me 

chanically because they are fashionable, without 

being genuine expressions of sentiment. Highly 

successful books are often no more than tissues 

of cant, but there is nothing that the good writer 

abhors more. Johnson’s admonition to Boswell, 

Clear your mind of cant, is the beginning of 

honesty as it is of wisdom. 

canvas; canvass. The cloth is cunvus. The close 

inspection, scrutiny, soliciting of votes or of 

orders, is canvass. 

capacity. See ability. 

capitalization. Capitals are used for two purposes 

in writing. The first is to indicate the beginning 

of a statement. The second is to indicate a particular 

person, place, or thing as distinct from 

a general class. Within the first use, the conventions 

are few and the rules can mostly be predicted 

by reason. Within the second use, however, 

the conventions are numerous. 

Each publisher has his own rules of capitalization 

from which he deviates only with reluctance. 

Each writer will find that his own 

capitalization habits change with the kind of 

material he is handling and the audience for 

whom he is writing-devotion to simplicity and 

the lower case will have a hard struggle when 

PTA minutes are to be kept or government 

letters written. Creative writing can be almost 

without capitals if the author chooses, though 

the conventional capital for the first word of 

the sentence will be appreciated by most readers. 

Descriptive writing on government, political 

and religious matters, especially organizational 

matters, will invariably require a good many 

capitals. This is partly because a capital has become 

a mark of respect, and partly because it is 

needed to prevent the name of a particular thing 

from being understood as a common noun. 

Organized bodies often have names which, if 

not capitalized to show their special meaning, 

will gi;e a completely different impression-for 

instance. Odd Fellow and odd fellow. In general. 

fewer capitals make for easierieading; however; 

any time the reader could be confused by its 

omission, a capital should be used. 

CAPITALS USED TO INDICATE A BEGINNING: 

1. At the beginning of any sentence. 

2. After a colon, but only if a complete

formal statement follows or if a partial statement 

is to be emphasized, as in The result was 

4s expected: Two reckless drivers and one 

dangerous curve could only result in an accident. 

and Verdict: Not guilty. 

3. At the beginning of a complete sentence in 

parentheses within another sentence, if the 

writer desires to emphasize the parenthetical 

matter, as in There are two possible ways of 

filing application for fellowships (See our letter 

of January I, 1956) : First, . . . Generally, however, 

a sentence of this kind begins with a lowercase 

letter. (The sentence enclosed does not have 

a final period.) 

4. At the beginning of a direct quotation (and 

within the quotation, any capitals used in the 

source quoted), as in It is in the third act 

that Portia says “The quality of mercy is not 

strain’d.” A fragmentary quotation, however, 

is written with a lower-case letter, as in He said 

he “could not support such an action.” 

5. At the beginning of every line of poetry 

(unless the original has used lower-case there). 

When quoting poetry, capitalize and punctuate 

exactly as the poet has done. 

6. Following a clause introducing an enactment 

or resolution, as in Resolved, That. . . and 

Be it enacted, That. . . . 

CAPITALS USED TO INDICATE AN INDIVIDUAL 

PERSON OR THING: 

1. Names and Titles of Persons. A person’s 

name is always capitalized and so is any title 

preceding his name, as in John Doe, Mr. John 

Doe, Admiral John Doe. However, titles following 

the name or titles standing alone are not 

capitalized unless the person referred to will be 

unmistakably recognized by the title, or the 

writer wishes to show great respect, as in the 

King and the President (of the United States), 

but the president of the Krackly Krunch Korporation. 

Hereditary titles are always capitalized, and 

so are the titles of all heads of nations and tbeir 

deputies, regardless of whether the title is standing 

before or after a name or alone, as in 

Edward, Prince of Wales and he was at that time 

Prime Minister. 

Governmental, military, judicial, and ecclesiastical 

titles referring to one specific person may 

be capitalized. But most publishers capitalize 

titles of subordinate officials only when the title 

precedes the name, as in Judge John Doe, John 

Doe, fudge and Doe had then been a judge for 

ten years. 

Titles of respect, such as Your Honor, Mr. 

Chairman, are always capitalized. 

Academic degrees, professorial titles, fellowship 

titles, and the like, and also their abbreviations, 

are always capitalized, as in John Doe, 

Doctor of Philosophy and John Doe, Ph.D. 

A term that is merely descriptive of a poshion 

and not an official title should not be capitalized. 

We would write John Doe, Professor of Ancient 

Languages but John Doe, Greek professor. 

2. Names of the Deity. Names representing 

the Deity are always capitalized. This is some- 

83 capitabatiofi 

times extended to the personal pronouns he, 

him, his, and, less often, to the relatives who, 

whom, whose. Opinion is divided as to whether 

the devil should be honored by a capital letter, 

and some people would therefore write neither 

God nor the devil. However, a personal name, 

such as Satan or Lucifer, requires a capital. 

Gods in which one does not believe are referred 

to as gods and not as Gods. Their individual 

names, however, are capitalized by people interested 

enough to have made their acquaintance. 

3. Names and Titles of Groups and Group 

Members. All names of nations and nationalities 

are capitalized, whether used as adjectives or as 

nouns, as in the Chinese people and he is a 

Chinese. Governmental bodies and their boards, 

commissions or committees are capitalized when 

referred to individually, as in House of Representatives, 

United Nations, Ways and Means 

Committee, Supreme Court. Words of this kind 

are not capitalized when used in a general sense. 

We would write a Representative should be a 

representative of his people, 4 Senate committee, 

a district court. Descriptive terms for 

special types of government organization, such 

as empire, monarchy, republic, are not capitalized. 

Names of societies and organizations are 

capitalized, even when used to identify an individual 

member. This is often necessarv in 

order to distinguish these names from the same 

words used in their ordinary sense, as in the 

Democratic Party and a Democrat (who may 

or may not be a democrat); the Lions Club and 

a Lion (who may be a social lion, but not a 

feline one). Full titles of religious denominations 

and organized bodies are capitalized, such 

as the Methodist Conference. But we would 

write the Methodists will hold a conference. 

Names of unions are capitalized, but not the 

word union when it is merely descriptive and 

not part of the true title, as in United Steelworkers 

of America union, the A.F. of L. union. 

Names of business firms, manufacturers, and 

the like are always capitalized, as are copyright 

and trademark names. 

4. Names of Places. The words north, south, 

east, and west, and their compounds, are not 

capitalized except when they are part of a recognized 

name for a particular area, such as the 

Deep South, the Middle West. the Far West. 

Similarly, words for natural divisions of land 

and water are not capitalized except when they 

are part of a recognized title, such as the Atlantic 

Ocean, Great Salt Lake, Treasure Island. 

Names of streets, avenues, and the like, are also 

capitalized only when part of a proper name, as 

in 3236 Prospect Street, I9483 Hartwell Avenue, 

MacArthur Boulevard. Whenever a common 

noun forms part of a proper name it should be 

capitalized, but not otherwise. 

5. Names of Other Physical or Conceptual 

Things. Names of famous buildings and of particular 

rooms in them are capitalized, such as 

the White House, the Blue Room, Old Vie, 

the Washington Cathedral. The names of the

capitalize 84 

planets are capitalized, but the words sun. 

moon, and enrth are written without capitals 

except when listed with the planets. 

Names of the months and of the days of the 

week are capitalized, but not the names of the 

seasons. Names of holidays and of religiously 

significant dates, such as Labor Day and St. 

Agnes’ Eve, are capitalized, but not other identifying 

names such as election day. 

Names of historical significance, such as 

Magna Cartn, the Dark Ages, Code Napoleon, 

are capitalized, as are outstanding sport events, 

such as the Kentucky Derby, Sadie Hawkins 

Day. 

6. Substitute Names and Personifications. In 

general, any words that are used to individualize 

are given a capital letter. Nicknames, such as 

Billy the Kid, Old Hickory, and popular names 

of organizations, such as the GOP, the Quakers, 

are always capitalized. A common noun used as 

a substitute for a proper noun is capitalized, 

as the Administration. the Cape (Caue Cod), 

Father. This applies to the words the Co&; 

when used to mean the judge of the court, as 

in The Court denied the appeal. 

When inanimate objects, geographical divisions, 

and aspects of nature are spoken of as if 

they were persons, or are given fanciful titles, 

the names are capitalized, as in Old Faithful, 

Mother Nature, the Bluegrass, the Badlands, 

the Skull and Crossbones, the Red, Whmite, and 

Blue. In this sense the names of the seasons are 

sometimes capitalized, although they are ordinarily 

written without a capital. 

SPECIAL PROBLEMS 

1. Titles of books, songs, lectures, movies, 

pictures, plays, newspapers, and of sections or 

subdivisions of written material are capitalized. 

In these titles the first word and all nouns, pronouns, 

verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and interjections 

are given an initial capital. Prepositions 

and conjunctions are capitalized: (1) when they 

contain four or more letters, (2) when Ithey are 

of equal importance with another word in the 

title which is capitalized, or (3) wh’en they 

would otherwise be the only lower-care word 

in the title. Foreign-language titles should be 

capitalized according to the practice in that 

language. 

2. When a proper noun has lost its original 

meaning and become a common noun, it should 

be written without a capital, as in sandwich, 

kelly green, bourbon whiskey, madras cloth. 

Similarly, adjectives derived from proper nouns 

are capitalized as long as they retain their original 

meanings, as in Elizabethan, Freudian, but 

are written without a capital when the original 

meaning is no longer significant, as in caesarean. 

In scientific classifications, a species derived 

from the name of the classifier is always put in 

lower case, as in Magnolia watsoni. 

3. Single letters used as syllables are: always 

capitalized, as in X-ray, vitamin B, the pronoun 

I and the exclamation 0. 

4. When two names or titles have a common 

element they may be written together as a plural 

title, as in First and Elm Streets, Presidents 

Roosevelt and Truman. 

5. The word the may be capitalized in order 

to adhere to an authorized form, as in The 

Hague, or in order to confer greater honor, as 

in The King. This is unusual, however, and is 

found only in very formal writing. 

6. In expressions of time, it was once customary 

to capitalize the letters A.M. and P.M. 

Today, the lower-case forms a.m. and p.m. are 

preferred. 

7. A common noun used with a date, number, 

or letter, as a reference may be capitalized or 

not according to taste, as in Article V or article 

V, Chapter 3 or chapter 3. 

8. Hyphenated words are capitalized as they 

would be if they were written without a hyphen. 

9. When documentary accuracy is required, 

the capitalization in the original text should be 

retained. 

capitalize. In the literal sense one can capitalize, 

convert into capital, only something that already 

belongs to him. If one has shares he can capitalize 

on them by giving them as collateral for 

a loan or by selling them. If he has a factory he 

can capitalize a corporation by selling stock. 

Something of this idea carries over into the 

metaphorical uses of the word, though it is not 

always borne in mind. A man may capitalize on 

his misfortunes, for example, by narrating them 

over the radio or exhibiting himself on a television 

show. But the producer and announcer of 

the show do not capitalize on the misfortunes 

of others; they exploit them. 

caption has given some purists a conniption. In the 

sense of a heading or title and, even more, the 

legend under a picture, it is an Americanism. 

“Rare in British use,” grumps Fowler, “& might 

well be rarer.” Partridge thinks it is all right to 

use it for words above a picture (“as it should 

be”) but feels it is “misused” to mean a legend 

underneath. But why? It doesn’t come from the 

Latin cap&, head, anyway; but from capere, to 

take. Americans spend a lot of time looking at 

pictures and they have to have a convenient 

term for the bit of printing that sometimes goes 

along with them. Caption is now standard usage. 

captor; capturer. Capturer sounds a little awkward, 

but it is as correct as captor if anyone 

wants to use it. 

carcass. See corps. 

carcinoma. The plural is carcinomas or carcinomata, 

not carcinomae. 

care. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in I do not care to go. If the -ing form of a 

verb is used it must be introduced by the preposition 

about, as in I do not care about going. 

care a rap, not to. A rap was a counterfeit farthing. 

A farthing is worth about half a cent. It 

seems incredible that anyone would go to the 

trouble of counterfeiting a coin of so little value 

-especially when the penalty was death-but 

it is a measure of the poverty and desperation 

of the Irish that in the eighteenth century they 

did. Copper halfpence or farthings . . . have 

been for some time very scarce, Swift wrote in

The Drapier Letters (1724), and many counterfeits 

passed about under the name of raps. 

So the phrase once had meaning; if you were 

not concerned even so much as a rap(‘s worth), 

you had little concern indeed. But who knows 

the meaning now? Or cares a rap for it? It is a 

clichC, and should be used with care. 

carefree; careless. To be carefree is to be free of 

care in an admirable, or at least an enviable, way 

(For a carefree vacation, come lo Camp Zdlewild). 

To be careless is to be lacking in adequate 

care, heedless, negligent, unconcerned about 

things which merit concern (Careless people 

are exasperating companions). The careless are 

rarely carefree, because their carelessness makes 

so much trouble for them. 

cargo; shipment. Weseen’s joke, that goods sent 

by ship are called a cargo and goods sent by car 

are called a shipment, will at least serve to taunt 

the purists. Shipment has the added suggestion 

of goods that are definitely consigned to someone 

(Your shipment has definitely been sent off 

today. II forms part of the cargo of the steamship 

Santa Maria). See also freight. 

caricature. See burlesque. 

caries. This is a singular noun, equivalent to decay, 

and not a plural equivalent to cavities. We 

say caries is preventable, not are preventable. 

carom, a term from billiards, a shot in which the 

ball struck with the cue is made to hit two balls 

in succession, is in use in America but is no 

longer used in England where it has been replaced 

by cannon. 

carousal; carousel; carrousel. A carousal, a noisy 

or drunken feast, derives from the German 

phrase Car aus!, “completely out,” a command, 

equivalent to “Bottoms up!” to drinkers to 

empty their cups completely in one mighty swill. 

A carrousel, in America a merry-go-round, 

in most of Europe a tournament, derives from 

an Italian word garosella, a tournament, diminutive 

of garoso, quarrelsome. 

The two words are easily confused because 

a carousal could easily include a ride in a 

carrousel and both make noise which those involved 

regard as music. Then carrousel is often 

and legitimately spelled carousel and carou.sal. 

In pronunciation, the word for revelry has the 

accent on the second syllable, the merry-goround 

word on the last. 

carry. The use of carry to mean keep in stock 

(The new store will carry a full line of merchandise), 

to print or to present (The newspapers all 

carried the story on the front page), and to sustain 

or to bear a leading part in singing (He 

curried the melody) is peculiarly American. All 

of these uses are standard. 

The American mail carrier is the English 

postman. A carrier in England is one who conveys 

parcels, with us the expressman, though in 

legal and business phraseology we use the term 

common carrier. 

cart before the horse. Anyone who spoke of 

some reversal of the usual order of doing thinp;s 

8s putting the cart before the horse would, iE It 

were the first time the phrase had ever bxn 

85 

heard, earn for himself the reputation of a.n 

earthy fellow, with a gift for homely metaphor. 

But since Cicero used the phrase (already a 

proverb) in 61 B.C., and since horses and carts 

now play very little part in most Americans’ 

lives, the man who uses the phrase today runs 

the risk of seeming unoriginal, repetitious, and 

tedious. 

carte blanche (literally a white or blank sheet of 

paper) is a signed paper left blank for the 

person to whom it is given to fill in his own 

conditions. By extension, it means unconditional 

authority, full power. It is a clichi and, like all 

foreign phrases introduced unnecessarily into 

English speech, pretentious. 

The plural, if anyone is conceivably interested, 

is cartes blanches, though the man who 

would use that phrase in English speech has 

carried affectation almost to splendor. 

caryopsis. The plural is caryopsises or caryopsides, 

not caryopses. 

case has so many uses that it is not surprising that 

it also has abuses. 

Etymologically, there are two words. There 

is the word for a receptacle, from a Norman 

French word, ultimately from the Latin word 

capl’re, to take hold. From this case are derived 

casement, case knife, a tray of wood or metal 

for holding types for the use of the compositor, 

the contents of a case (I’d like a case of soap 

flakes), and a hundred extensions and applications 

of the idea of the container. There is very 

little confusion in the use of words of this kind. 

Then there is the other case, meaning originally 

that which befalls, from the French cas and 

ultimately the Latin casualis. And this is the 

word that has everyone confused, from stenographers 

to lexicographers. It means an instance 

of the occurrence of something (Zt was a 

plain case of premeditated murder), the actual 

state of things (That is not the case, and you 

know it!), a question or problem of moral conduct 

(a case of conscience), a situation, condition, 

or plight (His hat was in a sorry case when he 

picked it up), a state of things requiring consideration 

or decision (This is u case for the 

dean), a statement of facts or reasons (He made 

a strong case for his side), an instance of disease 

requiring medical attention (Zt was apparent the 

child had a bad case of measles), and by a 

natural extension from this, a patient (The 

doctor saw his bed cases in the morning). In law 

a case is a suit or action at law (The attorney 

said he would take the case), or the facts supporting 

a claim or supporting a defense against 

a claim (He had a strong case and the attorney 

had litrle concern about the decision). In grammar 

case denotes a category in the inflection of 

nouns, pronouns, and adjectives, establishing the 

relation of these words to other words in the 

sentence. It also denotes a set of such categories, 

or the meaning of, or typical of, such a category, 

or such categories or their meaning collectively. 

See case in grammar. 

Then there are idiomatic phrases containing 

case. In any case means under any circum-

CaSe 86 

stances, anyhow. In case means if. In case of 

means in the event of. 

And as if all this weren’t enough, there are 

slang uses, such as He’s a case, he is! or They 

sent Joe up to case the joint first. 

Now where one sound represents twso words 

and each word has a score of meanings and the 

meanings of one of the words concern ca.tegories 

and abstractions, there is, plainly, danger of confusion. 

And in this case the danger is heightened 

by the widespread temptation to make the 

second of the two cases a catchall. Despite its 

score of legitimate uses, case is continually being 

used when it has practically no meaning at all, 

when the sentence would be just as effective if 

it were omitted entirely. In such a sentence as 

This sort of pacifism has been presented before, 

in the case of All Quiet on the Western Front, 

“the case of” could be omitted. It adds nothing 

and says nothing. In such a sentence a,s In the 

case of retail selling, there must, of course, be 

a different sort of advertising, “the case of” 

could, and should, be omitted. 

Case is not to be avoided, but it is to be used 

only when needed and when the user is sure that 

no other word will express his meaning so 

exactly. 

case in grammar. In an inflected language, such 

as Latin or Old English, nouns, pronouns, and 

adjectives have special endings, or special forms, 

which show how these words are related to other 

words in a sentence. One ending will show that 

a word is the subject of a verb, another t.hat it is 

an object, and so on. Latin had six classifications 

of this kind. In modern English, the relation that 

one word has to the others is shown chiefly by 

its position in the sentence. If a child should say, 

Him hit she, we would understand that him had 

done the hitting because that word stands in the 

proper place for the doer, or agent. But if we 

depended on case rather than position, wse would 

think that she had done the hitting, because that 

word is in the case used to show the agent. 

Old English had almost as many case forms 

as Latin, but few are left in present-day English. 

All nouns, and some pronouns, have a 

genitive case formed with a final s, as in the 

horse’s mouth and anybody’s guess. Wlhen not 

in the genitive, such words are said to be in the 

common case. Except for the genitive, all that 

has survived from the old case system is six 

pairs of pronouns, the subjective I, we, .he, she, 

they, who and their objective counterparts, me, 

us, him, her, them, whom. These words still 

follow the old rules to some extent, and there 

are places where one form must be used and the 

other must not. The rules are complex and the 

question of when to use the subjective form and 

when to use the objective is one of the most 

difficult problems in English. 

Many grammarians use the term case IO mean 

the function that a word has in the sentence, or 

the case that it would have in a completely inflected 

language. This is useful in studying the 

history of English and its relation to the other 

Indo-European languages. But it involves concepts 

and distinctions that have no meaning for 

the person who speaks only English. It makes 

the study of English grammar extremely difficult 

and takes up time which should be put on the 

important questions of position and the use of 

prepositions. 

In this book the term case is used in the strict 

sense to mean a special word form, either the 

genitive or one of the twelve paired pronouns. 

Other words are considered to have no case, or 

not to show case. 

case; instance; example; illustration. Case is a 

genera1 word, meaning a fact or occurrence or 

situation that is typical of a class (His reply 

was a case of sheer insolence). An instance 

is a concrete factual case which is adduced to 

explain a general idea (General Kutuzov’s 

answer furnished an excellent instance of what 

I mean by “military intelligence”). An example 

is one typical case, taken from many similar 

ones and used to make some principle clear 

(The Louisiana Purchase is an example of 

peaceful acquisition of territory). An illustration 

(in this sense) is also an example, used to 

make some principle clear, but it differs from 

an example in that it may be hypothetical 

(Squatters’ rights would be an illustration of a 

legal right based on bad faith). 

casket, originally a small, often ornamented, chest 

or box used for storing jewels or other precious 

things, has come in America to mean, primarily, 

a coffin (The casket, enveloped in the Confederate 

flag, was placed in the center of the room). 

But it will not work. Death, the one great fact 

of life that cannot be vulgarized, glossed over, 

or concealed in words, will not-so long as men 

love life-be denied its grimness. Those who 

bury the dead, whether they disguise themselves 

in vagueness as undertakers or exalt themselves 

in technical efficiency as morticians, are still 

those who bury the dead. Cemetery means sleeping 

place, but no one is comforted thereby. The 

bruised heart was never yet “pierced through 

the ear.” Casket must have seemed a brilliant 

euphemism to the man who first conceived it, 

but the solemnity and horror of death has settled 

on it and tainted it. When American high-school 

students now come to the casket scene in The 

Merchant of Venice they think of coffins (especially 

since the golden casket contains “a 

carrion Death”) and either attach an unintended 

gruesomeness to the scene or giggle, as their 

natures move them. 

cast. The past tense is cast. The participle is also 

cast. See throw. 

east the first stone. In lohn 8:7, where the challenge 

He that is without sin among you, let him 

first cast a stone at her first appeared, it had 

great power. It was then literal. The woman had 

been taken in adultery and, as the scribes and 

Pharisees pointed out, the Mosaic law commanded 

that she should be stoned. But the sin 

which she had committed was a common one 

and her indignant accusers, at Christ’s statement,

slunk away. Outside of this famous passage, 

however, the phrase has become worn and hackneyed 

and should be used sparingly. 

cast; caste. Casfe now designates a rigid system 

of social distinctions. (He was (1 high-caste 

Hindu; the upper caste). In all other uses the 

word, as a verb or a noun, is spelled cast. 

caster; castor. He who or that which casts should 

be a caster (He was an excellent caster w,ith a 

fly rod. The sculptor who would cast in bronze 

must have a good caster). The small wheel on 

a swivel, set under a piece of furniture, to facilitate 

moving it, a bottle or cruet for holding a 

condiment, and a stand containing a set of such 

bottles are also casters, though the swivel, the 

cruet, and the holder are also called castors. 

Castor is the name of the beaver, of the secretion 

of the beaver used in medicine and perfumery, 

and is the popular name of the oil ased 

as a cathartic and lubricant. 

castles in Spain; castles in the air. It is not known 

why the edifices of fancy should be built in 

Spain, but they have been for at least seven 

hundred years. But whether in Spain or merely 

in the air, the phrase is a clichC, the worse that 

it affects usually to be a sprightly sally. 

Of course even the most worn phrase can be 

put to original use. When James Boswell said 

that other people built castles in the air but that 

he was the first man that ever tried to live in 

them, the remark was a penetrating piece of selfanalysis, 

wryly humorous and quaintly cha.rming. 

Bulwer-Lytton’s observation that castles in 

the air are cheap to build but expensive to keep 

up is profound. 

casualty is properly something which happened 

casually, by chance or accident. It has come to 

mean something unpleasant, particularly a bodily 

injury or death. Purists have objected to its 

transfer from the event to the person suffering 

the event, but military usage has become standard, 

and soldiers killed, wounded, or captured 

as a result of enemy action are now correctly 

spoken of as casualties and by extension the 

term includes civilians injured in some disaster 

(The tornado took a fearful toll of casualties). 

It is not used of one or two persons injured in, 

say, an automobile accident, though if it were 

a bus-train collision and the number were great, 

it might be used. 

catachresis is the employment of a word under a 

false form through misapprehension in regard to 

its origin. Of course if the false form continues 

long enough in use among enough people, it will 

become proper. Thus causeway is a corruption 

of the word causey which was the English form 

of the Norman French caucie, a paved road. 

Since it was a roadway, the last syllable was 

altered to way. Similarly the old French crevice 

became crayfish (since it lived in water) and, 

further, crawfish (since it crawled). See also 

folk etymology. 

catalysis. The plural is catalyses. 

catch. The past tense is caught. The participle is 

also caught. 

87 caucus 

Catched is an old form of the verb, used by 

George Washington and other eighteenth century 

gentlemen. It is no longer standard. 

catch (a disease). See contract. 

catchup; ketchup; catsup. Any one of the three 

forms may be used to designate the spiced 

tomato sauce. The most common now, in general 

use, is ketchup. 

catchword. See slogan. 

category; class. A class is a number of persons or 

things regarded as forming a group through the 

possession of similar qualities, any division of 

persons or things according to rank or grade 

(Boys of his class usually attend a private preparatory 

school). A category is a class or 

division in any general scheme of classification, 

sometimes scientific but most often philosophical. 

Though its use as a synonym for class is 

now standard in the United States, the discriminating 

will always be aware of the difference 

and reserve category for its more particular 

meaning. 

catholic; Roman Catholic. When spelled with a 

small c, the adjective catholic means universal 

in extent, having sympathy with all (The ntom 

bomb is of catholic concern. She is one of 

catholic tastes). When spelled with a capital C 

it is a noun that means one thing to Roman 

Catholics and another thing to other churches 

such as the Old Catholics or the Anglo-Catholics. 

In common American usage, however, 

regardless of the theological or historical or 

etymological arguments to the contrary, it refers 

to Roman Catholics as opposed to Protestants 

and the adjective with a capital C means of or 

pertaining to Roman Catholics or the Roman 

Catholic Church. 

cattle. In the United States today this word is a 

true plural, although it has no singular form. 

We may say these cattle are thirsty or he has ten 

thousand cattle. 

The word has been used in this way for many 

centuries but until recently these constructions 

were considered ungrammatical. In literary English 

cattle was a mass word like sugar or water. 

It was possible to speak of much cattle but not 

of many cattle. In order to have a singular or a 

true plural it was necessary to say one head of 

cattle or three head of cattle. Today the usual 

singular is one animal. 

Caucasian. The use of the word Caucasian as a 

euphemism for white, in its racial sense (Members 

of the Caucasian race only served here), 

is vulgar, offensive to humanity, language, and 

ethnology. 

caucus. The American word cuucus has been taken 

over by the English but, perhaps because of a 

misunderstanding of the way American political 

parties work, has been changed in the transfer. 

In the United States a caucus is a meeting of 

the local members of a political party to nominate 

candidates, elect delegates to a convention, 

etc., or of the members of a legislative body 

who belong to the same party to determine upon 

action in that body. In England it is a local com-

caught 88 

mittee of a political party exercising a certain 

control over its affairs or actions. 

caught. See catch. 

causative verbs. Many English verbs that name a 

particular action, such as he walked and he 

swam across the river, can also be used to mean 

“cause something to perform that action,” as in 

he walked the dog, he swam his horse across the 

river. Sometimes we use cause, make, or have to 

express this idea, as in I had him swim across 

the river. Sometimes we use the syllable en to 

form verbs meaning “cause to be,” as in blacken 

and enfeeble. Verbs of this kind are called 

causatives. 

At one time English had a great many pairs 

of verbs, each having a different form, one of 

which was a causative and one of which was 

not. Today we are more likely to use one verb 

in both senses, as is the case with walk and 

swim. Some of the old pairs are now felt to be 

completely unrelated verbs, for examplle drench 

which was the causative of drink, and fell, the 

causative of fall, as in he felled the tree. Others 

have survived into the modern period as pairs. 

Three of these, lay and lie, set and sit, raise and 

rise, are confusing to many people. As a matter 

of fact, they are no longer the simple pairs they 

once were. For a discussion of when one of these 

forms is to be used and when the other, see the 

causatives lay, set, raise. In addition, some irregular 

verbs, such as shine, shone, have parallel 

regular forms, such as shine, shined, that are 

causatives, as the light shone on the water and 

he shined the light on the water. All such verbs 

are listed in this dictionary. As a rule the usual 

form of the verb, in this case shone, may also be 

used as a causative, as in he shone the light on 

the water. Some grammarians object to this 

practice, but it is acceptable to most people. 

cause. When used as a verb, this word may be followed 

by an infinitive, as in it caused me to go. 

It may also be followed by the -ing form of a 

verb, as in it caused my going, but the infinitive 

construction is preferred. Formerly cause might 

be followed by the simple form of a verb, as in 

I have caused him kill a virtuous queen. This 

is no longer natural Engiish, and a to- infinitive 

is now required here. 

cause. See source. 

cavalry; Calvary. It would seem ludicrous to point 

out that these words have different meanings, 

were it not that they are frequently confused 

(In New York City there is exactly one good 

cop. . . . He’s in Cavalry Cemetery-facetiously 

quoted in The World, The Flesh, and H. Allen 

Smith, 1954). Cavalry is mounted soldiers collectively. 

Calvary is the place where Jesus Christ 

was crucified, though the name is sometimes 

applied to an open-air representation of the 

Crucifixion. 

caviar to the general. Hamlet, speaking to the 

players at Elsinore, recollects a play that was 

never acted or, if acted, only once, for the play 

. . . pleas’d not the million, ‘twas caviar to the 

general. That is, it was like caviar (a strange 

delicacy for which a taste must be acquired), 

esteemed by epicures but repugnant to the generality, 

to what is now called “the masses.” 

This is a cliche of the literary. It is intended, 

presumably, to show that they lcnow Hamlet, 

that they know the true meaning of a passage 

which the uneducated would misunderstand, and 

it implies that they, too, are members of a discriminating 

minority. Actually, its use marks 

them as unoriginal and pretentious. 

Incidentally, such fragments as we have of the 

play that Prince Hamlet so esteemed are incredibly 

bad. 

cay. See quay. 

cease. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he ceased to go there, or by the -ing form 

of a verb, as in he ceased going there. The -ing 

construction is heard more often than the infinitive. 

See end and stop. 

cedilla. See diacritical mark. 

ceiling is an overhead interior lining of a room 

(The chandelier was suspended from the ceiling). 

The word has recently been used metaphorically 

(perhaps through its aeronautical 

application where the ceiling is the distance 

between the earth and the base of the lowest 

cloud bank, or, sometimes, the maximum height 

to which a specific aircraft can rise) to mean 

the top limit (A new ceiling has been fixed on 

rents). 

In America this metaphorical usage has become 

so common that it must be accepted as 

standard. But like all vogue words it is being 

overworked and like all metaphors is liable to 

ludicrous application and misuse. Sir Ernest 

Cowers quotes an official document in which it 

is said that under certain circumstances a fixed 

ceiling will be “waived.” But you can’t waive a 

ceiling and the term is too near to its literal 

sense to be so completely detached from it. He 

quotes another document in which a ceiling on 

floor space is established in a certain construction 

project. Limit would certainly have been a 

happier word. 

celebrant; celebrator. To celebrate is to make 

known, to glorify, honor, praise (For the grave 

cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee). 

A celebrated beauty is one whose beauty has 

gained wide renown. Among the ways of glorifying 

is to commemorate, with demonstrations 

of joy or sorrow or respect. Thus we celebrate 

birthdays, wedding anniversaries, the Sabbath, 

and so on. Among the most solemn of glorifications 

is the performance of religious rites and 

ceremonies. The Mass is celebrated. Marriages 

and funerals are celebrated. 

Because of the gaiety attendant upon most 

minor commemorations, celebrate has come, in 

its most common contemporary sense, to mean 

to be gay and lively and boisterous, often to 

drink and to revel. One who is so enjoying himself 

is a celebrator or a celebrater. Celebrant is 

usually reserved for an officiating priest in the 

celebration of the Eucharist or a participant in 

some public religious rite. Such statements as

Thousands of New Year’s Eve Celebrant,s See 

Wild Drama of Gunfire or Chief Police Inspector 

Stephen P. Kennedy put the number of 

celebrants at 500,000 are at the best ambiguous. 

celebrity; celebrated; fame; notoriety; renown. 

Celebrity is the state of being publicly kn,own. 

It is a noisier, more ephemeral state than fame 

which is an enduring renown, a favorable estimation 

that is widespread and lasting (Mauhew 

Arnold said that Spinoza’s successors had celebrity, 

Spinoza has fame). The use of celebrity to 

describe a well-known person is standard but 

greatly overworked. Since celebrity is today a 

marketable commodity, there is a whole industry 

devoted to manufacturing celebrities and the 

public, though it always pays the passing tribute 

of a gawk and a gasp, is dimly aware that many 

of its celebrities are synthetic, and so the word 

has suffered. 

Celebrated, on the other hand, though it has 

two meanings, “much talked about” (Lake 

Michigan is celebrated for its whitefish) and 

“famous. in a limited wav” I The celebrated Mrs. 

Huggins; whose preserves are known throughout 

the state), has not suffered the deterioration of 

celebrity. 

Renown is close to fame (The inheritors of 

unfulfilled renown, Shelley called those men of 

genius who died before their greatness could be 

shown), but there is in it a suggestion of more 

of the present glory than of the lasting esteem. 

Renown is often applied to great military leaders. 

The Bible speaks of mighty men which in 

old time were men of renown. 

Notoriety means the state of being well 

known. A notorious fact means one that is obvious, 

publicly known, one of which an ordinary 

man could not convincingly claim to be ignorant. 

When applied to persons, notorious is 

always condemnatory. It means that the person 

is well known for some bad trait or deed (Mrs. 

Rudd, the notorious murderess, escaped hanging 

at Tyburn. To low minds notoriety is as good 

as glory). 

cement; concrete. Cement is often used as a synonym 

for concrete and, when used as it usually 

is in reference to sidewalks or foundations, this 

use must be granted at least a colloquial standing. 

But actually cement (usually made by hurning 

a mixture of clay and limestone) is only the 

binding element in concrete which is a mixture 

of cement, sand, gravel, and crushed rock. (The 

road deteriorated rapidly because the contractor 

had not put enough cement in his concrete mixture.) 

In contemporary American usage cement, by 

a natural extension, has come to mean almost 

any binding substance which is liquid or .semiliquid 

when applied and hardens to a rocklike 

consistency. 

censor; censure; tenser; censorial; censorious. To 

censor is to act as a censor, an official who 

examines books, plays, news reports, motion 

pictures, radio programs and in wartime even 

letters for the purpose of suppressing whatever 

89 cereal 

seems objectionable for moral, political, or military 

reasons (It is always the simplest cablegrams 

that the hardened censor suspects most). 

To censure is to express disapproval, to 

blame, to criticize adversely or hostilely (Lincoln’s 

lenience and humanity were severely censured 

by many at the time). 

Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a ten. 

sor, is censorial. To be addicted to censure, to 

be severely critical or fault-finding, is to be 

censorious. 

A tenser is a container in which incense is 

burned. The verb is cerise. 

census. The regular plural is censuses. The learned 

plural is census, not censi. 

centenary and centennial are both adjectives and 

nouns meaning a hundredth anniversary or pertaining 

to a period of a hundred years or recurring 

once in every hundred years. English usage 

prefers centenary (The centenary of Darwin’s 

birth was celebrated in 1909), American usage 

prefers centennial (Northwestern University celebrated 

its centennial in 1951). 

center; middle; midst. Middle is the everyday 

working word, to be preferred to center except 

where center is specifically the word wanted. 

Middle indicates a point or part equidistant from 

or intermediate between extremes or limits in 

space or time (Keep to the middle of the road. 

Upon the middle of the night,/Waking she heard 

the night-fowl crow). Center, a more precise 

word, is proper in mathematical and metaphorical 

uses. It is the exact middle. The middle of 

a room is a vague area equidistant from the 

walls; the center of a room is an exact point. 

Middle applies only to linear extension-even 

when linear extension is being used metaphorically 

(He’s always been a middle-of-the-roader). 

Center is ordinarily a point within circular, 

globular, or regular bodies (The center of the 

earth). Even metaphorically, -t suggests the core 

of a sphere. When we say that a man was the 

center of attraction, we imply that others clustered 

about him. Center as a political term, however, 

is the same as middle. When we say that 

someone is left of center we have a linear, not a 

solid, body in mind. 

Midst suggests that a person or thing is closely 

surrounded or encompassed on all sides, usually 

by something dense (In the midst of the storm), 

a fact demonstrated by the frequent substitution 

of thick (He was always in the thick of 

things) for midst. 

cereal is, properly, any gramineous piant yielding 

an edible farinaceous grain. In English usage 

the word is confined to technical writings in 

which various agricultural products are classified. 

In American usage, however, the word has 

acquired an additional L,eaning: a breakfast 

food made from some cereal. Eat your cereal, 

child would be spoken to a child dawdling over 

corn flakes but not to one dawdling over stewed 

corn. A famous brand of rice has on its package, 

under the heading of Suggested Uses, As a 

cereal and, further down, As a vegetable. This

ceremonial 90 

really means, “For breakfast, sweetened” and 

“For lunch or dinner, unsweetened.” The problem 

of rice pudding is met by In desserts. 

ceremonial; ceremonious. Ceremonial means pertaining 

to, marked by, or of the nature of ceremony 

(The centennial was a ceremoniSQl occasion). 

It applies only to things. Ceremonious 

can be applied to persons or things. When applied 

to persons it means overly polite, making 

too much ceremony for the occasion, punctilious 

(I find his ceremoniousness tiring). 

certain. When this word is followed by of and the 

-ing form of a verb, it means that the person 

spoken about has no doubts, as in he is certain 

of returning. When it is followed by an infinitive, 

it means that there is no doubt about the 

fact itself, as in he is certain to return. 

cession; cessation; session. Cession is the act of 

ceding, of yielding. Cessution is the act of ceasing. 

Session is the act of sitting together of a 

body for the transaction of business (The cession 

of territories cume to a cessation at

char& thnt a person did this or that (It wus 

charged that he aided und abetted the enemy). 

The former construction is sometimes used in 

America, but the latter is rarely used in England. 

charge; accuse. To charge is to make a formal 

accusation. It is often used of an accusation 

brought at law (Charge an honest woman with 

picking thy pocket?) or one delivered with the 

solemnity of an indictment. An accusation can 

be formal, but it can also be informal and even 

mild (The younger children accztsed John of 

eating more than his share. Here charged him 

with eating more than his share would be ponderous). 

In an impersonal construction only charge 

can be used (It has been charged that Richard’s 

early associates corrupted his morals). 

chart. See map. 

charter. See hire. 

chartered; charted. One sometimes hears or even 

reads of unchartered seas. A chart is a map. A 

charter is a document that grants certain rights 

and privileges. 

chateau. The plural is chateaus or chateaux. 

cheap; inexpensive. Cheap was originally the process 

of buying and selling. (From this came 

Cheapside, a part of London in which the shops 

were congregated, what we would call a shopping 

center.) As late as 1727, Swift, in his “A 

Description of a City Shower,” wrote: To shops 

in crowds the daggled females fly/Pretend to 

cheapen goods, but nothing buy. It is only recently 

and in a very small part of the world that 

prices have been fixed. Formerly it was assumed 

that the purchaser would offer less than what 

was asked and that the seller would, in time, 

accept less. Thus cheapen, from the buyer’s 

point of view, came to mean to lower the price 

and from this came all of our favorable meanings 

of cheap (Eggs are wonderfully cheap r~ow. 

If you want a cheap vacation, travel on an 

ocean freighter). From the seller’s point of view, 

however, it was necessary to lower the quality 

in order to gain by the transaction even if the 

price were lowered, and from this come our 

unfavorable meanings of cheap: shoddy, shabby, 

mean (Zt just looks sleazy and cheap. That 

was a cheap trick to play on a friend). Some 

purists have deplored this second use of the 

word, but surely it is as inherent in its development 

as the first. 

Cheap suggests a low cost. One could say 

that a diamond necklace was cheap at a hundred 

thousand dollars. But the word would certainly 

not be used in its modern sense if one said that 

it was a cheap necklace. Inexpensive is now the 

commoner word to emphasize lowness of price 

and suggest that the value is fully equal toI the 

cost. 

Cheap has been used as an adverb as long as 

it has been used as an adjective. Cheaply can be 

used only as an adverb. But he sold it cheap is 

just as good English as he sold it cheaply. 

check. In the sense of a written order directing a 

bank to pay money, the English spell the word 

cheque, Americans spell it check. 

91 cheerful 

Check, as a verb and a noun, has some uses 

in America that it does not have in England. 

A piece of luggage is checked in America when 

it is sent to a destination under the privilege of 

a passenger ticket. To check up or check up on 

is to make an inquiry or investigation for verification. 

To check out is to leave and pay for one’s 

quarters at a hotel (“I will have to check up on 

this check before you can check out,” said the 

desk clerk). 

check; curb; repress; restrain. Check implies the 

sudden arrest of a forward motion (He checked 

his horse sharply. The reform movement received 

a check when the council approved Alderman 

Smith’s resolzttion). Curb implies the 

use of a means such as a chain or strap,-a frame, 

or a wall, to guide or control or to force to 

stay within limits. Repress formerly meant only 

suppress, but now it also implies the prevention 

of an action or development which might 

naturally be expected (A child should not be 

repressed when he wants to express himself). 

Restrain implies the use of force to put someone 

or something under control, and chiefly to 

hold back (In his paroxysms two attendants 

could scarcely restrain him from doing himself 

harm). 

In New York City curb as a verb has acquired 

-through a combination of a city ordinance, 

euphemism, and a pun-a special meaning. 

Curb your dog, which is enjoined upon the citizens 

at almost every lamppost, means not only 

that the dog must be kept curbed by a leash but 

that it must be led to the curb (the edge of the 

sidewalk) to defecate into the gutter. The injunction 

hidden under the double meaning would 

not be understood in England where in this 

meaning the word is spelled kerb. 

checkers. The game which is America is called 

checkers is in England called draughts, where 

checker, spelled chequer, is an obsolete name 

for chess. 

When used as the name of a game, checkers 

takes a singular verb, as in checkers is played by 

two persons. A single piece is called a man and 

not a checker. But the singular form checker is 

preferred as the first element in a compound, 

as in checkerboard. 

cheek by jowl. Since the commonest meaning of 

jowl is now a fold of flesh hanging from the 

jaw, especially of the aged corpulent and the 

shrunken fat, cheek by jowl no longer conveys 

the sense of jolly intimacy that it did when jowl 

meant cheek. It is not only a clich6 but a misleading 

one and should be avoided. 

cheeky. See impertinent. 

cheerful; cheery. The cheerful man feels full of 

cheer. The cheery man acts as if he did and 

attempts to promote cheer among others. Cheerfulness 

is internal and may not show. Cheeriness 

is external and, sometimes, may show what is 

not felt. Cheeriness of manner has become such 

an adjunct of salesmanship that the public has 

become wary of it and the word has acquired a 

tinge of disrepute (He was a cheery bird, enough 

to make the most cheerful man downhearted).

cherished 92 

cherished belief(s). That which we cnerish we 

hold or treat as dear, care for it tenderly, nurture 

it, and cling fondly to it. This is the manner 

in which we treat many of our deepest convictions, 

not accepting or rejecting them dispassionately 

on the basis of the evidence for or against 

them. Whoever, then, in the late nineteenth century, 

thought of this phrase had a vivid conception, 

and whoever immediately repeated it 

gained a reputation for such a conception from 

those who had never heard it before. But now 

everyone knows it, the original force has worn 

away with excessive use. 

cherub. The plural is cherubs or cherubim or 

cherubims. Cherubim is the Hebrew plural of 

cherub and, according to some grammarians, 

the only acceptable plural. In the King lames 

Bible, however, the plural of cherub is always 

cherubims. This form is well established in literature, 

as well as in hymns, and so cannot be 

called incorrect. The singular form cherub inevitably 

produced an English plural cheru,bs, and 

this too is standard today. The plural form 

cherubims also produced an English singular, 

a cherubim. This form was in respecta‘ble use 

as late as Dickens but is not considered standard 

now. 

The word cherub has almost as many meanings 

as it has forms. The cherub? of the Old 

Testament are terrifying symbols of power, 

more like the winged bulls of Assyria than anything 

else we know. They are very large and it 

is said that the Lord God rode upon a cherub. 

Later cherubs were identified as angels of the 

second rank, excelling in wisdom, whlich of 

course is a kind of power. In Paradise Lost the 

word is used with its ancient dignity; for example, 

Satan, who belonged to the highest rank 

of angels, disguises himself as a stripling cherub. 

During the Renaissance, cherubs were represented 

in art as rosy babies. This may have been 

anti-intellectualism on the part of the artists. 

They may have refused to believe that heavenly 

spirits had anything in common with a doctor 

of philosophy. That the little creatures symbolize 

wisdom of some kind is shown by the fact 

that they often have only a head. But as a result 

of these pictures, many people today feel that 

a cherub is a baby angel, or perhaps an iangelic 

baby. 

When a word has so many apparently different 

meanings and so many forms, one is tempted 

to tidy it up by pinning certain meanings to 

certain forms. Some grammarians have claimed 

that cherubim and cherubims are the correct 

words to use in speaking of the heavenly spirits, 

and that cherub and cherubs should be used 

when speaking figuratively of earthly creatures. 

Since the singular cherubim is no longer in use, 

this distinction could now be made only in the 

plural. But the distinction is entirely theoretical. 

In actual practice the three forms are used interchangeably. 

All that can be said is that cherubim, 

being a foreign plural, is not used as often 

in natural speech as cherubs, and is therefore 

pretty much confined to literary English,, 

Other grammarians feel that cherubim should 

be used as a collective, in speaking of all of them 

as a whole, and that cherubs should be used for 

the true plural, meaning more than one individual. 

But this distinction has not been established 

either, probably because the most familiar use 

of the word cherubim is in the Old Testament 

descriptions of the Ark of the Covenant, where 

there are quite clearly two of them and no 

more. 

Cheshire cat, grin like a. Lewis Carroll did not 

invent the Cheshire cat. When Alice encountered 

the creature in the Duchess’s kitchen its 

smile was already as mooted an enigma as the 

Mona Lisa’s. One of the sanest conjectures was 

that some painter of inn signs in Cheshire had 

depicted his lions rampant with snarls so amiable 

that they had been taken for smiles. However 

gay the phrase’s origin, its end is dismal. 

With all humor, absurdity, whimsy, and mystery 

worn out by repetition, the phrase is entitled, 

after long service in the cause of the gaiety of 

nations, to an honorable retirement. 

chickenpox. This word is a plural form; the singular 

would be pock. But it is regularly treated as 

a singular. We say it is contagious, not they are 

contagious. The use of the article, as in the 

chickenpox, is old-fashioned or countrified. 

The form chickenpox is used as the first element 

in a compound, as in a chickenpox rash. 

chicory. Horwill points out a pitfall against which 

the dictionaries offer no definitive protection: 

what in America is called chicory is in England 

called endive, and what in America is called 

endive is in England called chicory. 

chide. The past tense is chided or chid. The participle 

is chided or chid or chidden. In the 

United States, chided is the preferred form for 

the past tense and the participle. In Great 

Britain, chid is preferred for the nast tense and 

chid or chidden-for the participle. 

chief. See primary; prime; premier, etc. 

chiefly. See largely. 

child. The plural is children. Traditionally, only 

the singular child can be used as the first element 

in a compound, as in child prodigies and child 

laborers. But the plural children is being heard 

more and more in such compounds, as in children 

refugees and children berry-pickers. This 

is technically incorrect, but it is following the 

established pattern for man and woman and is 

acceptable in many places. 

Children is a double formation in which a 

plural ending en has been added to an old plural 

form childer. At one time children must have 

sounded as odd to some people as mites would 

sound today. See infant. 

childish; childlike. See infantile. 

chilled to the marrow. There is nothing in which 

the wits strive more for mastery than in describing 

their woes. And he who most has suffered, 

as Matthew Arnold observed, “takes dejectedly 

his seat upon the intellectual throne.” Sometime 

in the nineteenth century a cold but unoriginal 

wretch must have remarked that he was chilled 

to the bone. Whereupon a wit stole what little

admiration the hackneyed metaphor sought to 

invoke by declaring that he was chilled to the 

marrow. Deeper into the body a chill cannot go. 

The glory of the ultimate assertion was his and 

it is to be hoped that he had an appreciative 

audience to do him honor. But the splendor has 

long since faded and repetition has blunted rapture. 

The phrase is now retirable. 

Chinese. The singular and the plural are both 

Chinese. At one time this word had a distinct 

plural, as seen in Milton’s lines: where Ch,ineses 

drive with sails and wind. In time this dropped 

out of the language and the remaining form 

Chinese was used for both singular and plural. 

Later, this was felt to be a simple plural and 

attempts were made to form a new singular, 

such as a Chinee and a Chinaman. A Chinee 

was never standard English, but a Chinantan is 

accepted in Great Britain today. In the United 

States the preferred form is Chinese, as in one 

Chinese and two Chinese. 

chip of the old block. How well dost thou appear 

to be a chip of the old block? wrote John 

Milton in 1642, accepting the English version 

of the saying. Theocritus (270 B.C.) had it a 

chip of the old flint, but then he was nearer to 

the Old Stone Age, where the figure no doubt 

originated. The saying, calling attention to a 

likeness between son (occasionally a daughter) 

and father, usually in a favorable way and jocularly, 

is a cliche and is to be avoided. 

choice. See nice; see option. 

choose. The past tense is chose. The participle is 

chosen. The form choosed is sometimes heard 

but is not standard. 

Choose may be followed by an infinitive, as 

in I do not choose to run, or by the -ing form of 

a verb, as in I do not choose running. The infinitive 

construction is preferred. Choose may also 

be followed by a that clause but the clause verb 

must be a subjunctive or a subjunctive eq,uivalent, 

as in Z do not choose that he run. An infinitive 

construction, such as Z do not choose to 

have him run, is generally preferred. 

chord; cord. A combination of three or more 

tones in harmonic relation is spelled chord. So 

of course is any figurative extension of the: idea 

(His proposal struck a responsive chord) ,, The 

string of a musical instrument and the geometric 

term for that part of a straight line between two 

of its intersections with a curve are also spelled 

chord. 

A string or small rope composed of several 

strands twisted or woven together is spelled 

cord, as is any extension of the idea (an electric 

cord, a cord cloth). One hundred and twentyeight 

cubic feet of firewood is also spelled cord. 

In America the spinal cord and the vocal 

cords are now so spelled almost always. In England 

they are sometimes spelled chord and 

chords. 

chose, chosen. See choose. 

Christian name. See first name. 

chronic means habitual, inveterate, constant, having 

continued a long time (Being a chronic 

smoker, he had a chronic cough. Mrs. Jone,s was 

city 

a chronic invalid and the house was filled with 

her chronic complaining). Chronic should not 

be used as a mere intensive or a synonym for 

severe. It is the exact opposite of acute. 

chrysalis. The plural is chrysalises or chrysalides, 

not chrysales. A new singular chrysalid, with a 

regular plural chrysahds, is also in use. It is not 

as well established as the similar formation 

orchid, but it is thoroughly acceptable. 

cinema. See motion pictures. 

circle (“social group”). See clique. 

circumlocution. See locution. 

circumstances, under the. It is sometimes objected 

that since circumstances are those things or 

conditions that lie around us, we cannot be 

under them. But that is silly. Things can be conceived 

as ensphering us as well as surrounding 

us on a plane. The weather, as Fowler points 

out, is certainly a circumstance and we are 

certainly under it when it is inclement. Many 

people, especially in England, prefer to say in 

the circumstances and the phrase is correct. But 

so is under the circumstances. 

cirrus. The plural is cirri. 

cite and quote are synonymous in one meaning: 

to repeat a passage from a book or a speech by 

way of authority. Quoting, strictly, means repeating 

the actual words and citing means mentioning 

them, referring to them, or bringing 

them forward as proof or confirmation. But 

since the processes are inextricable, usage does 

not, and cannot, draw a fixed distinction between 

the two words in this sense. 

Each word has other meanings, however, in 

which they are not synonymous. To cite has an 

old meaning of to rouse to action (cited to the 

field of battle) and a special military meaning 

of to mention in orders, as for gallantry (He 

n’as cited for bravery under tire). To quote 

means to enclose words within quotation marks 

(He quoted the general directly in his report)here 

cited would be incorrect-and to state a 

price or to state the current price of (He quoted 

him ten cents a pound). 

city; town. To say that a town is a collection of 

inhabited houses and that a city is a large or 

important town isn’t of much help to someone 

who is in doubt which to call a specific place. 

Size is relative and importance is often subjective. 

In the United States a city is an incorporated 

municipality, usually governed by a 

mayor and board of aldermen or councilmen. 

In Canada it is a municipality of high rank and 

the distinction between it and a town is usually 

based on population. In England a city is a 

borough, usually the seat of a bishop, upon 

which the dignity of the title of city has been 

conferred by the Crown. 

The City in England is that part of London 

in which the commercial and financial interests 

are chiefly centered. It corresponds to New 

York’s Wall Street district. 

Idiomatically, city takes the definite article, 

town does not. We go to town, but to the city. 

We live in town, but in the city. We get out of 

town, but out of the city, and so on.

city 94 

city fathers. To refer to members of the ‘Municipal 

Council or the Board of Aldermen as the 

city fathers is to strive a little too hard to be 

elegant. No such filial relation is now f’elt, if it 

ever was. 

civil. See polite. 

clad. See clothe. 

claque. See clique. 

clarinet is the preferred spelling, though c!urionet 

is also correct. 

class as a designation of students in a school or 

college ranked together or graduating the same 

year (The Class of 1899) is standard in American 

usage but not used in England. 

Class meaning excellence or merit (That girl’s 

got class!) is slang. See also category. 

classic and classical are synonymous, but use has 

accustomed us to one rather than the other in 

certain contexts. In medicine, for example, it is 

always classic (a clussic cuse of typhoid, one 

which conforms in every way to the standard) 

when referring to a disease. Certain great works 

are classics in their field, but if their authors 

were ancient Greeks or Romans, they are 

classicul authors. Sports writers label any game 

between two schools or teams that have played 

before a classic and in this sense the word is 

sadly overworked. 

In general, classical refers to Greek and Latin 

writers and to the art and culture of ancient 

Greece and Rome. Classic means of the first or 

highest class or rank, adhering to established 

standards. 

clauses. Any group of words that contains a true 

verb and its subject (or an imperative) is called 

a clause, such as I came in tell them I came. 

If a clause is part of a larger sentence, its 

relation to the rest of the sentence may be shown 

in a number of ways. It may be shown by position, 

as in the example just given where Z came 

is standing in the position of the object of the 

verb tell. Or it may be shown by a conjunction. 

A coordinating conjunction, such as and or but, 

shows that the two clauses which it joins have 

the same function in the sentence, as in tell them 

I came and no one answered. A clause used 

independently, that is, not as the subject or object 

of another verb or as a qualifier, is called a 

principal clause. Such a clause may be joined by 

a coordinating conjunction, or by mere position 

in a series, with other independent clauses, as in 

I came, I saw, I conquered. One can then say 

that the sentence has more than one principal 

clause. Any other complete statement inside a 

sentence is a subordinate clause. A subordinating 

conjunction shows that the clause which it introduces 

is functioning as a subordinate element in 

another statement. The subordinate clause may 

have the function of an adjective, an adverb, or 

a noun. Subordinate clauses may also show their 

function by position, or may be introduced by 

a relative pronoun, an adverb, a participle, or 

a noun with the force of an adverb. See conjunctions. 

ADJECTIVE AND ADVERB CLAUSES 

An adjective clause normally follows the word 

it qualifies. When placed before the word it has 

a slightly humorous effect and must be hyphenated 

in order to be understood, as in with an Idon’t-expect-to-be-believed 

look. As a rule, an 

adjective clause is introduced by a relative pronoun 

and qualifies the antecedent of the pronoun. 

When the relative pronoun is the subject 

of the clause verb it must be expressed, as who 

in the little man who wasn’t there; when it is the 

object of the clause verb or of a preposition it 

can usually be omitted, as in the mun Z love. 

That is, in a qualifying clause the object of the 

verb or of a preposition does not always have 

to be expressed. The object usually cannot be 

omitted when the clause qualifies a proper noun 

or a common noun that identifies a single individual, 

as in my father, whom you met here yesterday, 

is coming again tomorrow. 

An adjective clause that is essential to the 

meaning of the word it qualifies is said to be 

“defining” or “restrictive,” such as who was here 

yesterday in the man who wus here yesterday is 

coming again tomorrow. A clause of this kind 

must not be separated from the word it qualifies 

by a comma or any other punctuation. An adjective 

clause that is not defining is said to be 

“descriptive,” such as the clause in my fnther, 

who was here yesterday, is coming again tomorrow. 

A descriptive clause gives some additional 

information that is not essential to the 

sense of what is being said. It is usually set off 

by commas. See also that; which. 

Any adverbial idea, such as time, place, 

manner, degree, may be expressed by a clause 

and the clause may stand in any position appropriate 

for an adverb. Adverbial clauses may also 

show the cause, purpose, or result of the action 

of the principal clause. These are introduced by 

conjunctions such as because, since, so. (See the 

individual conjunctions.) There are also adverbial 

clauses of “condition,” “concession,” and 

“supposition,” which are introduced by such 

words as if, unless, although. In clauses of this 

kind the verb may have a subjunctive form. See 

subjunctive mode. 

An adjective or an adverbial clause will 

always qualify the nearest preceding word or 

group of words that the sense allows. In they 

think the men are angry because they are 

frightened, the because clause is attached to the 

men are angry, regardless of what was intended. 

If the clause is meant to apply to they think, this 

can be made clear by a comma between angry 

and because, which warns the reader that these 

two words are to be kept apart. Or the clause 

may be placed first in the sentence. In speech 

these things are taken care of by pitch and stress. 

But a writer must examine his sentences carefully 

to make sure that his clauses qualify the 

words he intended them to. 

NOUN CLAUSES 

A clause may also function as a noun. It may 

be the subject of a verb, as in who made it is a 

mystery; or it may be the complement of a verb, 

as in I would like to know who made it. When 

the noun clause is an indirect question it may 

be introduced by an interrogative pronoun or 

adverb, or by the conjunction whether, as in I

wonder ,r.hether he will understand me. In a 

clause of this kind the subiect stands before the 

verb as it would in a declarative sentence, and 

not after the verb as it would in a direct question 

such as will he understand me? This construction 

is standard, literary English. But sentences 

such as I wonder will he understand me are also 

heard. Here the interrogative word has been 

omitted and the clause itself has the word order 

of a question. This construction is condemned 

by many grammarians, but it has been widely 

used since the middle of the nineteenth century 

and is acceptable to most people today. In the 

older construction I wonder whether he will 

understand me, the clause should not be separated 

from the principal verb by a comma and 

should not be followed by a question mark. In 

the newer construction the comma and question 

mark are sometimes used but they are more 

often omitted, especially in a long or involved 

sentence such as if you are asking me will 11 help 

you, the answer is no. 

A clause may also be the object of a preposition, 

as in his interest in who was coming, she 

said nothing about when she would return, he 

brooded over whether he should give up Amoking 

or not. This construction was almost unknown 

before the nineteenth century. But it is 

thoroughly acceptable today, provided the 

clause begins with how or one of the wh- words, 

such as who, when, whether. The construction 

is also heard with the word if, as in what about 

if I get married, but this is not at present 


For the case of the pronoun in a subordinate 

clause, see who; whom. For the person, number, 

and tense of the verb, see agreement: verbs and 

tense shifts. 

clean bill of health. A bill of health is a c~ertificate 

as to the health of a ship’s company at the 

time of her clearing of any port. A clean bill 

of health is an official assurance that no member 

of the crew is afflicted with any one of certain 

diseases that would result in the ship’s being detained 

in quarantine in another port. As a way 

of saying that someone has been proved guiltless 

of certain charges or is free from the taint of 

certain imputations, giving him a clean bill of 

health is a clich& 

clean; cleanly; cleanse. As an adjective, clean 

means free from dirt. Cleanly. if anulied to 

things, means habitually clean iit wasa cleanly 

house would mean that it was a house that was 

clean all the time). If applied to persons it 

means always attempting to be and to remain 

clean (He was narurully a cleanly man and the 

dirt of his new surroundings depressed him). A 

boy can be clean, at least for a few seconds, 

without being in any way cleanly. Someone else 

may have got him clean, but he has no objection 

to becoming dirty again immediately. 

As verbs, clean and cleanse both mean to 

make clean. Cleanse is used for moral, spiritual, 

or ceremonial cleaning (Cleansed of guilt by 

contrition and atonement, he felt light of heart 

again). It may be this connotation of higher 

things that has led certain manufacturers to 

prefer cleanse to clean or cleanser (kitchen 

cleanser) to cleaner. Dry cleaners who charge 

a great deal for their work sometimes attempt 

to justify the added cost by describing themselves 

as cleansers and their work as cleansing, 

suggesting a delicacy and thoroughness approaching 

the spiritual. Cleansing tissues, for 

removing cosmetics, have made the word SO 

common that in that context the word seems 

common and natural and is standard usage. 

When clean means “entirely,” it can be used 

as an adverb, as in to make a real portrait of 

Deity is clean impossible and I had clean forgotten. 

This use of clean is now old-fashioned. 

The form cleanly can also be used as an adverb. 

It ordinarily means “entirely” or “precisely,” as 

in cleanly cut. It may also mean “without dirt,” 

as in she works cleanly, but this is rare. 

clear; clearly. In current English, clear qualifies a 

noun and clearly qualifies a word that is not a 

noun. In you make the point clear, the word 

clear describes the point. In you make the point 

clearly, the word clearly describes the making. 

There is a difference of meaning, or emphasis, 

here and one should choose the form that says 

what is intended. Sometimes there is no difference, 

as in the moon shone clear or clearly, and 

then either form can be used. 

Clear once meant “entirely,” and in this 

sense could be used to qualify any word that 

was not a noun, as in I had clear forgotten and 

that is clear another story. This use is now 

considered archaic or uneducated, except before 

prepositions or adverbs, such as away, ofj, out, 

through, over, and so on. We must now say I 

clearly understood and I heard clearly, But we 

may say 1 read clear through the book, the tide 

goes clear out, he got clear away. 

cleave. The past tense is cleft or clove or cleaved. 

The participle is cleft or cloven or cleaved. 

When this word means to adhere to, it is a 

regular verb and only the form cleaved is used 

for the past tense or the participle. There was 

once a past tense clave used in this sense, but 

this is now obsolete. Occasionally a nineteenth 

century poet uses clove for clave but this has to 

be classed as a mistake. 

When the word means to split, any of the 

forms given above may be used. In the United 

States, cleft is preferred for the past tense and 

the participle. In Great Britain, the older forms 

clove and cloven are preferred. There is a tendency 

not to use cleaved in this sense, but this is 

not strictly observed. 

Two verbs are mixed here. They were once 

distinct but have come to be alike through 

changes in pronunciation. The similarity does 

not cause confusion because the words are used 

very little. When they are used it is almost 

always in a set phrase, each of which is a law to 

itself. For example, we always say a cloven hoof 

but a cleft palate. 

clench and clinch are simply variant pronunciations 

of the same word. Both mean to grasp, 

secure, or hold firmly. Yet each word has come 

to have certain fixed applications in which the 

other would be inappropriate. Thus we clench

our fist, a nail, our jaws, a rope, or anything 

held. But boxers c/inch when they grasp each 

other tightly and sailors clinch when they fasten 

by a clinch. We clinch an argument or a bargain 

and a statement that ties up an argumentative 

opponent is a clincher. 

While, as has been said, we clench a nail, the 

nail is clinched, especially if it is secured by 

having the point beaten down. 

clergy. Originally this word was a group name. It 

could be used with a singular or a plura.1 verb, 

as in the clergy was represented or the clergy 

were represented. But it meant the class as a 

whole and could not be treated as a true plural, 

as in twenty clergy were present. This; is no 

longer the case. The plural construction, twenty 

clergy, is standard English today and has been 

accepted by some grammarians who refuse to 

accept the similar construction twenty people. 

This new plural, clergy, does not have a singular. 

In speaking of just one member of the clergy we 

must still use clergyman. See also parson; 

preacher. 

clever. See brainy. 

clicbC is a French word meaning a stereotype 

block and is used in English to describe those 

phrases (there are thousands of them), originally 

idioms, metaphors, proverbs, or brief quotations, 

which overuse and, sometimes, changing 

circumstances have rendered meaningless.. Many 

of them just fill out the vacancies of thought 

and speech. A man goes to say far and he says 

fur and wide. Speech is a difficult thing. We 

spend more time learning to talk than anything 

else we do. It is an effort, an unceasing effort. 

There is strong resistance in us to it and the 

inertia which this resistance sets up is prlobably 

the chief cause of our use of cliches. 

Many cliches are alliterative, that is, their 

words begin with the same sound. We do not 

say we are cool, but cool as a cucumber. Unless 

one is slow and sure, things go to rack and ruin 

and he may be thrown out bag and baggage. 

Historical changes have made many cliches 

utterly meaningless. What does fell mean in one 

fell swoop? Or halcyon in halcyon days? Or 

moot in moot point? Yet these and hundreds of 

other phrases, totally devoid of meaning to 

those who speak them, are heard every day. 

Many cliches were once original and clever, 

but repetition by millions, possibly billions, of 

people for hundreds and even thousands of years 

in some instances, has worn all originality and 

cleverness away. They were fresh-minted once, 

but are now battered beyond acceptability. And 

their use is doubly bad because it characterizes 

the user as one who thinks he is witty, or would 

like to be thought witty, and yet is a mere parroter 

of musty echoes of long-dead wit. His very 

attempt to sound clever shows him to be dull. 

Our speech is probably more crammed with 

cliches today than ever before. The torrent of 

printed and recorded matter that is dumped on 

us every day in newspapers and from radio and 

television is bound to be repetitious and stereotyped. 

The brightest day in the world’s history 

never produced one-millionth, in fresh, original, 

and honest expression, of the bulk of what cascades 

over us every day. All this stuff is prepared 

in furious haste. There is neither time nor energy 

for care or thought and the inevitable result is 

a fabric woven of stereotyped phrases. Ninety 

per cent of what the public reads and hears is 

expressed in these fossilized fragments and, 

naturally, ninety per cent of its own expression, 

apart from the necessities of life, is also expressed 

in them. 

This makes the task of the man who wants to 

speak and write clearly and honestly a difficult 

one. He must be on his guard all the time, especially 

against anything that seems particularly 

apt. That doesn’t mean that he is never to use a 

current phrase or even a hackneyed one. It may 

be, for example, that after consideration he 

really does want to say that the pen is mightier 

than the sword. And if he does, he’d better say 

it in the cliche form than in some labored circumlocution. 

But he mustn’t expect to be 

thought clever for saying it. And, of course, he 

may deliberately choose to speak in cliches in 

order that his speech may be common and 

familiar. 

Wits often use cliches as the basis of their wit, 

relying on the seeming familiarity of the phrase 

and the expectation of its inevitable conclusion 

to set the trap for the innocent reader-such as 

Oscar Wilde’s “Punctuality is the thief of time” 

or Samuel Butler’s “It’s better to have loved and 

lost than never to have lost at all”-but that is 

a wholly different thing. 

client; customer. Though, despite the protests of 

the purists, a client and customer are listed as 

synonymous in most dictionaries, the distinction 

between one who purchases goods from another 

(customer) and one who applies to a lawyer for 

advice (client) is maintained in American usage. 

The term client has spread to those who seek 

other professional services. Thus advertising 

agencies have (or hope to have) their clients as 

do many other advisory and consultative enterprises. 

No doubt in choosing this term they 

hoped to invest themselves with some of the awe 

that surrounds the lawyer. Physicians still keep 

their patients (derived from a Latin word meaning 

one who is suffering). 

That client and cusromer are not completely 

synonymous can be shown by the fact that client 

could not be substituted for customer in the advertising 

slogan The customer is always right. 

The advertising agencies would probably be willing 

to say so, but the lawyers would not. 

climate; clime; weather. Clime is poetic for a 

tract or region of the earth (Now in Injiu’s sunny 

clime,/ Where I used to spend my time) or for 

climate (This moist and foggy clime). Climate 

is the composite or generalization of the weather 

conditions of a region, as temperature, pressure, 

humidity, precipitation, sunshine, cloudiness, 

and winds, throughout the year, averaged over 

a series of years. It has been figuratively extended, 

in intellectual circles, of recent years to 

describe the general intellectual atmosphere of

a period, and we have such phrases as the 

climate of opinion. 

Weather is the state of the atmosphere with 

respect to wind, temperature, cloudiness, moisture, 

pressure, etc. Keep one’s weather eye open, 

as a term for being on one’s guard, is a clich6. 

It was not Mark Twain but Charles Dudley 

Warner who first said Everybody talks about the 

weather, but nobody does anything about it. Mr. 

Warner was witty. Those who repeat his saying 

are not. 

climatic; climactic; climacteric(a1). Climatic relates 

to climate (The climatic changes affected 

the vegetation). Climactic relates toclimax (The 

climactic scene had a tremendous impact on the 

audience). Climacteric (also climacterical) pertains 

to critical periods. There was formerly a 

theory that there were certain years in which important 

changes in health and fortune occurred. 

Of these the sixty-third year was the culmination 

(nine times seven) and it was called the 

grand climacteric. The word is also used very 

frequently to describe a period of decre:ase of 

reproductive activity in men and women, culminating, 

in women, in the menopause. 

climax in popular usage is the culmination, the 

highest point (He was then at the climax of his 

fortunes). In rhetoric the word designates a 

series of related ideas so arranged that each one 

surpasses the preceding in force or intensity, or 

(more popularly) the last term or member of 

such a figure. 

Originally a rhetorical climax required that 

the last important word of one clause be repeated 

as the first important word in the next (accumulated 

epanastrophe) but now all -that is 

required is that the intensity of expression or importance 

of meaning increase with each succeeding 

member term. Indeed, where there is a series 

of comments or evaluations it is commonly assumed 

that they are in a climactic order, so that 

the order in which they are placed is an indication 

of the values of the speaker or writer. Thus 

if it is said of a young lady that she is “young, 

rich, pretty, and intelligent,” it is assumed that 

the speaker has a different set of values from another 

who would describe her as “intelligent, 

pretty, young, and rich.” 

A fine example of climax, in the older as well 

as the modern form, is furnished by the third 

and fourth verses of the fifth chapter of Romans: 

“We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation 

worketh patience; and patience, experience; 

and experience, hope; and hope maketh 

not ashamed.” See also anticlimax. 

climb up; climb down. Since all definitions of 

climb involve the idea of ascent, there are those 

who insist that climb up is redundant and climb 

down a contradiction. But dictionaries follow 

language; they do not control it. In the word 

climb there is implicit an effort, a strenuous 

exertion which when exceptionally arduous is 

expressed in the related word clamber. In using 

climb up and climb down the common speaker 

is indicating in which direction this effort is 

being or is to be applied. So climb down o,f your 

97 clique 

high horse is more expressive than conze down 

ofi your high horse in that it recognizes that such 

a descent may be difficult and undignified. 

The common speaker has the age-old support 

of writers. Thus in Cursor Mundi (1300 A.D.) 

we are told that we freli may climb up and dun. 

cling. The past tense is clung. The participle is 

also clung. 

clip means more than to cut; it means to cut off or 

to cut out, as with shears. We clip something out 

of the paper if we want to save it. The American 

clipping bureau is the English press-cutting 

agency. Hair is cut if it is long, clipped if it is 

short. A hedge is invariably clipped. 

In informal speech clip means a rapid pace 

(He was coming down the road at a good fast 

clip when he saw the truck). This is largely an 

American use, though it is used in some English 

dialects. Clip in the sense of a sharp blow (He 

fetched him a clip on the ear) is slang. 

clipped words. See abbreviations. 

clippers. An instrument for clipping may be called 

a clipper and three of them may be called three 

clippers. But one instrument may be treated as 

a plural, as in are these clippers the ones?, or 

referred to as a pair of clippers. This is acceptable 

but not necessary. The singular form 

clipper is preferred as the first element in a 

compound, as in a clipper sharpener. 

clique; coterie; claque; set; circle. A clique is a 

small and exclusive group of people, usually of 

some intellectual pretensions. It is a term of reproach 

or contempt (the word is simply the 

French for click and alludes derisively to the 

clicking and clucking sounds of mutual and selfapproval 

made by the members) for those who 

take unto themselves supreme authority in social 

or intellectual or artistic matters or who are 

thought to associate for selfish ends under the 

guise of some high aspirations or ideals (Addison 

had his clique at Button’s tavern). 

Coterie also describes an exclusive group, but 

it is more likely to be in society than in the arts 

and the term, while often contemptuous, is not 

always so and is less so than clique (The book 

was written for an exclusive coterie. He belonged 

to the most brilliant coteries of the day). 

A claque is a set of hired applauders at a 

theater, or any group of persons ready to applaud 

for interested motives. It is easily confused 

with clique because the members of a clique SO 

often form a claque to applaud each other. That 

is one of the chief things that earns them the 

detestation of outsiders (The author’s friends 

formed a claque on the opening night to ensure 

the play’s success). 

Set refers to a number of persons of similar 

background, upbringing, interests, and so on. It 

often implies wealth or interest in social activities 

(the country club set, the Junior League 

set) but does not have the derogatory connotations 

of clique. It is a word that has been much 

expanded by newspapers and is enjoying apartly 

humorous-vogue (the teen-age set, the 

kindergarten set, the marshmallow set). 

A circle is usually thought of as a pleasant

little group meeting chiefly for conversation 

(the sewing circle). It has a small-townish air 

about it now but nothing derogatory. In the 

plural it suggests a whole section of society interested 

in one mode of life, or one occupation 

(He moved in the best circles, In jazz circles he 

is considered a “square”). 

elomb is an old literary form of climbed, as in fill 

clomb above the eastern bar, the ho&d moon 

and the sun clomb Heaven’s eastern steep. It is 

now rarely seen except in poetry. 

Until recently it was heard in many rural 

areas-in the United States. It may have been 

retained as a sort of opposite to plumb, ,which 

meant “straight down,” (from a plumb line) 

and by extension “completely” as in plumb tuckered 

out. 

close; closely. Only the form close can be used to 

express “where,” as in stand close, he followed 

close behind. The use of closely in this way is 

ungrammatical. Close is also the only form that 

can be used to qualify a noun, as in a close 

shave. 

The form closely is used to qualify a true verb 

form, when what is meant is “how,” as in guard 

it closelv and tallow directions closely. Either 

form, ciose or closely, can be used in ihe sense 

of “how” to qualify a participle, as in close 

shaven, close shut. 

close; shut. To close is to block an opening (The 

peasants soon closed the breach in the a’yke). 

To shut is to close in such a way that nothing can 

thereafter get in or out (She shut the door and 

drew the bolt firmly). Close, which often has a 

connotation of the use of force (The mayor 

pledged himself to close all speakeasies) is the 

more general word: an account is closed, an incident, 

a store, etc. Shut is the more homely, 

more direct, and sometimes the more fo.rceful 

word. See also shut. 

close proximity. Since proximity means nearness 

-in place, time, or relation-close proximity is 

redundant. They lived in close proximity would 

be better expressed as either They lived close to 

one another or They lived in proximity to one 

another. 

close up and close down as emphatic expressions 

for closing mean much the same, but with nuances 

of difference. Where that which is closed 

down is something undesirable, such as gambling 

establishments, the term has a harshness 

about it and a suggestion of a use of force (The 

sheriff’s men closed down Steve’s Place last 

night) that is not as marked in a simple ,close. 

Shut down and close down both refer to the 

stoppage of production in a manufacturing plant 

but-possibly because of the suggestion of the 

use of force in close down-you shut down your 

own plant, others close it down. 

clothe. The past tense is clothed or clad. The participle 

is also clothed or clad. 

Clad is archaic and, like all archaic words, to 

be used with circumspection. If a man is clothed, 

we know that he has his clothing on. If he is 

clad, we want to know with what, so that 

one who is clad is always clad in somethingrighteousness, 

shining armor, the blue or the 

gray. Clad (perhaps because of the sound association 

with glad) always suggests noble, gay, 

or lofty things (with verdure clad). A day would 

be clothed in mist, clad in sunshine. However, 

both forms are rather bookish. 

clothes is a mass noun with a plural form. It is 

always used with a plural verb, as in these 

clothes are new. But it is not a true plural. It 

has no singular form and cannot be used with 

a numeral. That is, we cannot speak of a clothe 

or of six clothes. Most words of this kind cannot 

be qualified by many but may be qualified by 

much under some circumstances. Clothes is an 

exception to this rule. We may speak of many 

clothes. We may also speak of much clothes or 

a good deal of clothes. Both forms are acceptable. 

Much clothes is the usual construction for 

words which cannot be used with a numeral, but 

many clothes is heard more often. See mass 

nouns. 

clove, cloven. See cleave. 

clue and clew are simply variant spellings of a 

word that originally meant a ball or skein of 

thread. Theseus found his way out of the labyrinth 

after slaying the Minotaur by means of the 

unwound clew that Ariadne had given him. 

From this and similar legends it came to mean 

anything that serves to guide or direct in the 

solution of a problem, but in this meaning it is 

now almost always spelled clue, though clew is 

also correct. Clew is the preferred spelling for 

the nautical sense of the lower corner of a 

square sail or the after lower corner of a foreand-aft 

sail or for the verb meaning to haul the 

lower corners of a sail up fo the yard. The verb 

is followed by up (We had hardly time to haul 

down and clew up, says Richard Dana, describing 

the sudden onset of a gale, before it was 

upon us.) 

clung. See cling. 

coal oil. See kerosene. 

the coast is clear to indicate that the way is now 

open for some sortie or event is a clichC, to be 

used with care. 

coca. See cacao. 

coccyx. The plural is coccyxes or coccyges, not 

coccyces. 

cock. See rooster. 

cock of the walk. What is now called a chicken 

rLm was formerly called a walk. Life wasn’t so 

hurried in those days. And it is of this walk that 

the cock in the clichC is master. Few people who 

use the term could explain it. 

cocoa, car3. See cacao. 

codex. The plural is codexes or codices. 

coeval. See contemporary. 

cognomen, in its strictest sense, is the third name, 

the family name or surname of a Roman citizen. 

Thus Cicero was the cognomen of Marcus 

Tullius Cicero. The term was sometimes applied 

to an additional name or epithet, as Africanus 

was bestowed on Scipio. 

Cognomen is used today to mean either the 

surname (The name of Alexander . . . coupled 

with the gentle cognomen of Partridge) or the 

first name (Priscilla . . . this quaint and prim 

cognomen) or a nickname (Mr. Hunt, better

known by the cognomen of Golf-bag Sam). It 

is hard to see, however, what advantages it 

offers over nume. If used seriously, it seems 

stilted. If used humorously, it seems ponde:rous. 

cognoscenti. The use of cognoscenti for “the 

knowing ones” shows that the user regards 

himself as among them, for hardly anyone else 

could be expected to know the term. It is limited 

in application to connoisseurs of artistic matters. 

(The cognoscenti had hailed his genius 

long before the masses knew his name). The 

singular-though the tribe seems to exist entirely 

in the plural-is cognoscente. 

coherence is natural or logical connection, consistency, 

particularly as applied to thouglht or 

language. The word is a figurative extension of 

cohesion, which means a sticking together in a 

physical sense. It is the quality which gives 

speech or writing its order and logic. Ideas are 

presented coherently if they are in an order 

which makes sense. 

Coherence is achieved by the arrangement of 

words in a sentence, sentences in a paragraph, 

and paragraphs in a composition so as to bring 

out properly the relationship of ideas. The 

essential elements of coherent construction 

are correct connective words and transitional 

phrases, precise reference of pronouns, and clear 

word order. 

There must be subjects and predicates in sentences 

and they should agree in number. Sentences 

and paragraphs are presented in coherent 

relationships by means of reference words (the 

former, the latter, the last-named), of reperition 

of ideas in either the same or different words, of 

conjunctions (and, but), of conjunctive adverbs 

(also, however, indeed, as a matter of fact), and 

of pronouns. 

It is possible to write coherent sentences and 

coherent paragraphs without achieving a coherent 

whole. Where such a situation exists, however, 

it is likely that the speaker is confused in 

thought or has not been able to come to a definite 

conclusion in his thought. 

cohort was one of the ten divisions in an ancient 

Roman legion, numbering from 300 to 600 men. 

In historical writing it still means that. In 

general use it means any group of warriors or 

just any group or company. 

It is occasionally misapplied to single persons, 

especially an accomplice or an assistant (Banting 

[was] assisted by his young cohort, Dr. 

Charles H. Best. The culprit and his three 

cohorts quickly confessed). Perhaps this error 

is based on a false analogy to co-worker. 

coign of vantage is a projecting corner on a castle 

or fortification which would make an advantageous 

observation point. The phrase comes :from 

a minor scene in Macbeth. As King Duncan and 

his party are entering the fatal castle they remark 

on the pleasantness of its location and the 

softness of the air. Banquo notes that a great 

many martlets have made their nests on the 

castle walls: No futty, frieze,/ Buttress, nor 

coign of vantage,/ but is covered with them. 

Sir Walter Scott picked up the phrase (with 

acknowledgement) two hundred years later in 

99 collective 

The Heart of Midlothian and, for some reason, 

it caught on and became a popular phrase and 

remains an overpopular one, although vantage 

is obsolete and coign unknown. 

coincident. See synchronous. 

coiner. See counterfeiter. 

cold blood. The association of heat with passion 

is very old and has left its impress on many 

phrases (hot-tempered) as has, also, the belief 

that the blood is in some way the seat of emotions. 

In this day of clinical thermometers, 

plasma, and psychoanalysis most of the old 

phrases seem ludicrous and have fallen into 

disuse. Hot-blooded (Why, the hot-blooded 

France, that dowerless took/ Our youngest 

born.. .) is not much heard any more, but coldblooded, 

describing the deliberate and cruel 

performance of some unpleasant act, is still 

common. To act in cold blood is tedious through 

repetition and meaningless to most who use it. 

cold light of reason (a little chillier than the pale 

cast of thought) is often the dawn of the morning 

after for those who have looked on the wine 

when it was red or loved not wisely but too well. 

One cliche merely follows another. 

cold shoulder. As a term for letting someone know 

that he is not wanted, give the cold shoulder has 

been so restricted by usage in recent years to the 

discouragement of amatory advances that the 

phrase is assumed to describe a female shoulder 

coldly or disdainfully shrugged or drawn away 

in distaste. It derives, however, from the custom 

of offering honored guests hot meat and serving 

those who had outstayed their welcome with a 

cold shoulder of mutton. This became proverbial 

and overuse has made it a cliche. It should be 

used with care. 

collaborate together. Since collaborate means to 

work, one with another, collaborate together is 

redundant. 

collation. See repast. 

collective nouns. Strictly speaking, a collective is 

a singular noun with a plural meaning, But the 

term is used loosely by many grammarians and 

may be applied to almost any noun that is not 

clearly singular or clearly plural. 

There are three ways in which a noun may be 

singular in one respect and plural in another. 

These are discussed in this dictionary under the 

following heads. 

1. GROUP NAMES. Some nouns, such as jury, 

family, herd, name a group of separate individuals. 

When such a group is thought of as a unit, 

the group name is followed by a singular verb, 

as in my family is a large one. When the group 

is thought of as a number of individuals, a 

plural verb is used, as in my family are early 

risers. Words of this kind are sometimes called 

nouns of multitude. See group names. 

2. GENERIC NOUNS. A singular noun may be 

used in speaking of all the individuals of a 

certain kind, as in the whale is a mammal and 

man is mortal. See generic nouns. 

3. MASS NOUNS. Some nouns, such as butter, 

milk, clothes, munitions, riches, are neither 

singular nor plural in meaning but name an un-

differentiated whole. Words of this kind that 

have a singular form are usually followed by a 

singular verb. Words of this kind that have a 

plural form are usually followed by a plural 

verb but are treated in other respects as singulars. 

See mass nouns. 

The difference between these three classes of 

words is not always clear. Mass nouns are used 

generically more often than not and some generic 

singulars are indistinguishable from group 

names. For this reason, many grammarians use 

the term collective noun to mean all. three 

classes. Many others limit the term to what is 

called in this dictionary group names. 

Some grammarians include as collectives the 

name of any whole made up of similar parts, 

such as chain, library, forest. This is a philosophical 

distinction, not a grammatical one. 

Words of this kind have no grammatical peculiarities 

and nothing is gained by putting them in 

a special class. Some grammarians also list as 

collectives any noun that has the same form in 

the singular and the plural, such as deer and 

grouse. But words of this kind are true singulars 

and true plurals. They have no peculiarities beyond 

the fact that the plural is formed irregularly. 

In this book a word like deer is considered 

as two forms, one singular and one plural,, which 

happen to be alike. 

college. See university. 

colloquialisms. Colloquial English does not mean 

English that is not standard. It means the iaccepted 

spoken idiom, in contrast to a formal, literary 

idiom. A grammar published in 1930 lists do 

you have swordfish? as a colloquial construction; 

the literary form is given as have you swordfish? 

Many of the best contemporary writers and 

public speakers use colloquial English by preference. 

They avoid literary forms that could not 

be used in conversation. 

It used to be said that colloquial English was 

like a good business suit and literary English 

like formal dress. The analogy still holds. But 

one should remember that times have changed, 

that a good business suit is seldom out of place, 

and that formal dress, where it is not requiredat 

a picnic, for example-may be ridiculous. 

collusion; connivance. Collusion is secret agreement 

for fraudulent purpose. It is sometimes 

confused with collaboration but men act in collaboration 

for good ends, in collusion for bad 

(The fudge said that the witnesses were in collusion 

and dismissed the case). 

Connivance implies winking at wrongdoing, 

assenting to it guiltily, although without taking 

any active part in it. The word derives from a 

Latin word meaning to shut the eyes. M:en are 

in collusion. They connive at it. 

colon. The colon is used almost exclusively for 

formal writing. Its main function is to call attention 

to what follows. It is used: 

1. To introduce ideas in a series after an introductory 

phrase, as in these are the main exports: 

metals, primarily iron, copper and tin; 

grains, primarily wheat; and cotton. 

2. To introduce formally any subject, as in 

Mr. Brown moved that the following question 

be referred to the Committee: What are the 

effects of zoning laws on downtown building 

activity? 

3. To introduce a quotation of a full sentence 

or more, as in in his previous book the author 

stated: (Quotation follows). 

4. Between clauses when the second summarizes 

or restates the first, as in in spite of the 

politicians, it is the people who will finally decide 

the issue: they have always been the deciding 

factor ultimately. 

5. After the salutation in a formal letter, as 

in Dear Sir: (In some European countries an 

exclamation point is used after the salutation in 

a formal letter, and a c0mm.a in informal 

letters.) 

6. In formal bibliographies, between author 

and title, between place of publication and publisher, 

and between volume and page, as in 

Keynes, John Maynard: A Treatise on Probability. 

London: Macmillan and Co., 1921 and 

Foreign Affairs 32:353. 

7. To show clock time, as in 4:30 p.m. 

8. To show proportions, as in The paint 

should be mixed 1:4. 

Either a capital letter or a lower-case letter 

may be used after a colon. If a full sentence follows 

the colon, it generally starts with a capital, 

as in The following result was reported: Unanimous 

agreement was reached by the Council 

after a very short discussion period. But we 

write the result: unanimous agreement. 

When a colon follows an abbreviation there 

is no period before the colon, as in he took the 

following courses while studying for his M.A: 

history, psychology, anthropology. . . . 

A dash should not be used after a colon. In 

informal writing the dash can often take the 

place of the colon, but the two are no longer 

used together. 

colored. As a euphemism for Negro, colored sometimes 

has an element of condescension. It is not 

usually intended to be an offensive word, for it 

carries a plain intention of politeness. 

In the Union of South Africa colored is the 

official description of the man with mixed blood. 

No Bantu is there ever called colored; no man 

with a dark skin, not a full-blooded Negro, is 

there ever called a Negro-as he would be in 

the United States. The white South Africans 

often use colored as a noun, referring to a Colored. 

This is resented by the educated among 

those so referred to, though they do not feel so 

strongly when the word is used as an adjective. 

See African, Creole, mulatto, Negro. 

colossal. That is properly colossal which is like a 

colossus-of vast size, gigantic, huge, enormous 

(He was a man of colossal stature. Wagner’s 

colossal dramas). 

As a mere intensive, however, (a colossal 

liar) with a suggestion of the amusing or absurd 

(He was a colossal idiot) the word is not standard, 

being a catchword picked up from the 

Germans among whom, in the nineteen twenties 

and thirties, kolossal superseded almost every 

other adjective of admiration and wonder. 

colossns. The plural is colossuses or colossi.

combat; contest. A contest is a struggle for victory, 

a competition. It can be amicable and 

between friends. A combat is a fight. It is 

never amicable. When a sports writer refsers to 

a football game as a combat he is, of course, 

choosing that word to imply that the game 

will be played with such determination to win 

on each side that it will have some of the 

qualities of a combat. But he should call it a 

contest. If it is a combat, it should n’ot be 

allowed. 

come. The past tense is came. The participle is 

come. 

Come used as a past tense, as in he come 

home last night, may be heard today but it 

has been considered uneducated usage for 

more than four hundred years. 

Come is often followed by a second verb 

which tells the purpose of the coming. This 

second verb may be an infinitive, as in Z come 

to bury Caesar, not to praise him, or it may 

be part of a clause, as in Z am come that they 

might have life. The form with the clause is 

now archaic and the infinitive construction is 

preferred. 

Come may be joined to a following verb 

with and, as in they came and had supper with 

us and they always come and see us when they 

are in town. Here the second verb may or may 

not show the purpose of the coming. 

Formerly, come might be followed by the 

simple form of a verb without to or and, as in 

come live with me and be my love. This construction 

is still standard in the United States 

under certain circumstances. It may be used 

when come itself is an imperative, as in come 

have supper with us, or when come is dependent 

on some verb other than be or have. For 

example, come is dependent on will in wir’l you 

come have supper, and on want in Z want you 

to come have supper. This construction cannot 

be used when come is a simple present tense, 

as in Z come bury Caesar, or is compounded 

with be or have, as in he has come bury 

Caesar. (To say it technically, the simple form 

of the verb can be used only when come itself 

is an imperative or an infinitive.) The old 

forms without to, which are acceptable in the 

United States, are not considered standard now 

in Great Britain where an and is required to 

weaken the idea of purpose, as in come and 

have szcpper. 

Come may be followed by an adjective. 

This is especially true when come is used as 

the equivalent of the verb to be, as in it comes 

natural to me, or the verb become, as in it 

came undone. But it is also true when come 

is used with its regular meaning, as in come 

down heavy on tlze cast iron drill. 

How come is a survival from an older literary 

form. At one time, the normal way to form 

a question was to place the verb before its 

subject, as in what went ye out into the wilderness 

to see? Today we use the verb do for this 

purpose, as in what did you go to see. But the 

old question form may still be used with how 

come. When come has a personal subject, the 

expression is followed by an infinitive, as in 

how came you to be there. When used in the 

present tense without a subject, the construction 

is impersonal, meaning how comes it, and 

is followed by a clause, as in how comes you 

were there. Both constructions are standard in 

the United States today. An impersonal construction 

without s, as in how come you were 

there, does not have the same standing. It is 

used in speech but not in writing. 

come to grief. Grief, which is now restricted to 

meaning mental suffering or distress over aflliction 

or loss, was formerly a much broader term, 

including physical pain (in his famous catechism 

on honor Falstaff asks if honor can take away 

the grief of a wound). And it is this, now forgotten, 

meaning of grief that is in the cliche 

to come fo grief, to come to disaster-as in 

only his glasses come to grief; he revives! what 

relief! 

come to the end of one’s rope (or tether). Whether 

this figure for having exhausted one’s resources 

comes, as some aver, from a grazing horse or, 

as others say, from the hangman’s rope, to come 

to the end of one’s rope (or tether) is a clichC 


comforter. Men seek comfort in different ways. 

A comforter in England is a woolen scarf for 

wrapping around the neck in cold weather. In 

America a comforter is a quilted bedcover (She 

pulled buck the comforter and smoothed the 

blankets). 

comic and comical are almost, but not quite, synonymous. 

Both mean provoking laughter, amusing, 

funny (though even here comical has a 

slightly different application sometimes, meaning 

quaint, in a tender way: sztch a comical little 

face). But comic alone, now, means of or pertaining 

to the nature of comedy; comical in that 

sense is now obsolete. See also funny. 

comic strips. In an article entitled “Why lOO,- 

000,000 Americans Read Comics,” published in 

1943 in The American Scholnr, William Moulton 

Marston stated that in the “comics” or 

adventure strip American literature has reached 

a zenith of popularity never before achieved by 

any form of reading matter. Eighteen million 

comic magazines are sold on the newsstands 

every month and devoured, it is estimated, by 

70,000,OOO or more readers, at least half of 

whom are adults. In addition, Moulton goes on 

to say, approximately one and one-half billion 

copies of four- or five-panel comic strips are circulated 

every week in the daily newspapers. Of 

the nation’s sizable dailies only two, the New 

York Times and the Christian Science Monitor, 

are without comics. Life believes that comic 

strips comprise “the most significant body of 

literature in America today,” since they are read 

diligently by over 50% of the nation’s adults and 

perhaps 90% of the children who can read. 

The astonishing thing, however, is that despite 

this enormous number of readers, the comic 

strips have had very little noticeable effect on 

our speech and practically none on our writing. 

H. L. Mencken, with his customary zeal to support 

what he regarded as the unconventional,

declared in his First Supplement to the .4merican 

Language, that the comic-strip artist “had 

been a very diligent maker of terse and dramatic 

words.” But of the illustrations that he quotes 

(zowie, barn, socko, ytrrp, plop, wow, warn, 

glug, oaf, u/k, whap, bing, flooie and grr) less 

than half were originated in the comic strips and 

of those that were originated there, few if any 

have passed into the language as words. Never 

has so much balderdash been written so repeatedly 

for so many with so little lasting effect. 

Since comic strips are in the dramatic mode 

(consisting of speech, actions, and stage directions 

and noises), there are inevitably a large 

number of exclamations. For the most part, 

though, despite the location of an increasing 

amount of their action in the future, amid interstellar 

dangers and villains, these exclamations 

tend to be a little old-fashioned-such as man!, 

golly, gosh, oh boy, whee, yipe, Jumpin’ Jupiter 

and dagnabit. One feels that their creators have 

kept not only the spirit but the dull lexicon of 

youth. 

From all of this some two or three strips must 

be sharply excepted. The language of Li’l Abner, 

for instance, is a satire on the speech that sentimentality 

assigns to Southern rustics and the 

wonderful jargon of Pogo reflects not only an 

acute ear and a whimsical mind but an extraordinarily 

sensitive awareness of the shaping 

forces in our speech. And no criticism of the 

language of the comics can be made more trenchant 

than that which fills each issue of Mud 

Comics. 

comity means courtesy. The Comity of Nations is 

that courtesy by which nations recognize and 

give effect within their own territories to the institutions 

and laws of other nations, or, by extension, 

the friendly code whereby nations get 

on together. One sometimes finds the word used 

as if it meant the French comite, party, or even 

committee. 

command. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in I command you to start at once. It 

may also be followed by a clause but the clause 

verb must be a subjunctive or a subjunctive 

equivalent, as in I command he go at once. 

commands. See imperative mode and future tense. 

commas, together with colons and semicolons, 

were once used to show the grammatical relationship 

between different parts of a sentence. 

This is no longer true. In the United States 

today we use a comma to reflect a speech device, 

which sometimes shows gra,mmatical relationship 

but sometimes does not. Anyone who learns 

to hear a comma can use it correctly ever after. 

The comma break can be identified by comparing 

the sentence God rest you, merry gentlemen 

with its old form God rest you merry, gentlemen. 

(Here rest means keep or cause to remain.) 

The comma is not a pause, but an abrupt 

change in pitch. 

The most important fact about a comma is 

that there are places where it must not be used. 

That is, there are places where a comma *alters 

the meaning of a statement. Max Beerbohm was 

being witty when he used a comma in writing 

about Frank Harris, and many good writers. 

There are also a few places where a comma must 

be used in order to protect the meaning. These 

significant uses of the comma are discussed below. 

In addition, there are a good many places 

where one can use a comma or not as one 

pleases. The tendency today is to cut these to a 

minimum. The best overall piece of advice on 

the use of commas is given by H. W. Fowler: 

“Any one who finds himself putting down several 

commas close to one another should reflect 

that he is making himself disagreeable, and 

question his conscience, as severely as we ought 

to do about disagreeable conduct in real life, 

whether it is necessary.” 

DOUBLE COMMAS 

A pair of commas has very much the function 

of a parenthesis. Any parenthetical word, 

phrase, or clause, that is not actually part of the 

sentence, but more or less of an aside, should be 

set off by a pair of commas. This includes interrupting 

words, such as he said, exclamations, 

and the name of a person spoken to. When a 

parenthetical thought of this kind stands at the 

beginning or the end of a sentence, the first or 

the last comma is omitted, as in She said, “It’s 

late.” and Are you coming, Dorothy? Here only 

one comma appears, but it is functioning as one 

of a pair. 

A word or group of words that repeats the 

meaning of a preceding word or word group is 

called an appositive, such as America in ihis 

land of ours, America. Appositives are usually 

set off by a pair of commas. Sometimes the relation 

between an appositive and the preceding 

noun is so close that the two form a unified 

idea, such as the river Tiber and my brother 

Dick. In this case commas are not needed and 

if they are used have the effect of making the 

appositive word seem like an explanation or an 

aside. 

An antithetical or contrasting phrase that is 

not introduced by a conjunction is always enclosed 

in a pair of commas, as in it was Stanley, 

Rot Jackie, who told me. 

A defining phrase or clause that is essential 

to the meaning of a preceding word, such as the 

last three words in this is the house that Jack 

built, must not be set off from the rest of the 

sentence by a pair of commas. Commas here 

signify that the words standing between them 

are not essential. A purely descriptive clause, 

that is, a clause that is not essential to the meaning, 

can always be placed between commas. 

When there is any danger that a descriptive 

clause will be understood as defining, the commas 

should be used. But otherwise they do not 

have to be. A writer who wants to tie the 

description tightly to the subject may omit the 

commas, as in her hair that lay along her buck 

was yellow like ripe corn. 

SINGLE COMMAS 

A pair of commas mark an intrusion into a 

sentence and can occur at any point. The sentence 

itself stands as if the enclosed words did 

not exist. But a single comma affects the sentence 

itself. It is always a signal that the words

it stands between are independent of each 

other. 

1. A single comma is often required to prevent 

misreading. For example, a comma is required 

in not long after, he was ?akcn sick 

although none is needed in a week later he was 

taken sick. Words such as only and rather which 

sometimes qualify a preceding word may need 

a comma to keep them from qualifying a following 

word instead, as in men only, were invited. 

A comma may also be needed to keep a qualifying 

clause from becoming attached to the nearest 

available word. See clauses. 

2. A comma should not come between a verb 

and its object, as it does in Job cursed, the day 

that he was born. See object of a verb. 

3. A single comma that stands between a verb 

and its subject is generally considered poor punctuation. 

But sometimes this cannot be avoided. 

It cannot be avoided when words such as only 

follow and qualify the subject. And no one 

should feel that he must place a word of this 

kind before the subject merely to avoid a punctuation 

problem. A comma may be required 

when the subject is a full clause, as in whatever 

is, is right. Very often a single comma separating 

a subject and a verb can be interpreted as the 

second in a pair of commas, of which the first 

has been omitted, as in the moonlight sparkling 

on the frosty window, reminded him of the wide 

fields. This is considered faulty punctuation, to 

be corrected by adding a comma after moonlight 

or by removing the comma after window. 

But it is an extremely common error. Most 

people who write punctuate in just this way and 

the first comma is added later by an editor or a 

typist. 

4. Commas are used in a series. That is, they 

are used to set off words or groups of words 

that have the same function, as in Mr. Close, 

_-~ , 

Mr. Black. and Mr. Jeter, were there. The first 

comma in this series is required but the comma 

before and and the comma that closes the series 

are optional. People who are interested in punctuation 

are likely to have very strong feelings 

about the comma before and in a series. But 

they are evenly divided for and against it. A 

sensible person will use this comma or not as he 

pleases, and will refuse to argue the point with 

anybody. 

When more than one adjective qualifies a 

noun in exactly the same way, they are -treated 

as a series and separated by commas, as in 

cheerful, friendly, clever Mildred. Here the final 

element in the series is never followed by a 

comma. See position of adjectives. 

5. It used to be said that two clauses joined 

by and, or, nor, but, or for, required a comma 

before the conjunction. If the conjunction was 

not actually used but only “understood,” the 

comma was considered insufficient and a semicolon 

was required. Today we frequently omit 

the comma before these conjunctions, and we 

use a comma rather than a semicolon when 

there is no conjunction expressed, as in beautiful 

is the mother, beautiful is her son. 

6. Any words which come before the :subject 

103 comment 

of a verb may be set off by a comma. If the 

phrase is short, the comma may be used or omitted. 

But when a great many words precede the 

subject, they should be followed by a comma in 

order to make the subject of the verb stand out 

clearly. When a clause is actually the complement 

of some form of the verb to be, it too may 

be preceded by a comma, as in the truth is, he 

is lazy. Technically, this comma separates a verb 

and its complement. But it is necessary here to 

separate he from the preceding verb so that it is 

free to unite with the verb that follows. 

7. A comma may be used to show that certain 

words have been omitted, usually words that 

have already been used earlier in the sentence, 

as in one paid for the dinner and the other, for 

the entertainment. See ellipsis. 

TYPOGRAPHICAL USE8 

The comma has certain uses that have nothing 

to do with sentence structure. 

1. The comma is used to divide large numbers 

into groups of three figures each, as in 

4,910,355. It is not used in a number which 

represents a particular year, such as 1956. Some 

publishers do not use a comma in any number 

that has less than five figures and would write 

4910. In some European countries a period is 

used instead of a comma to group the figures, 

and a comma is used to represent the decimal 

point, as in 49.103,58. 

2. A comma is used in dates to separate the 

day of the month from the year, as in October 

29, 1929. If a date is incorporated in a sentence, 

the number of the year is enclosed in a pair of 

commas, as in October 29, 1929, was a busy day, 

If the number of the year follows immediately 

after the name of the month, no punctuation is 

required, as in October 1929 marked the end of 

an epoch. 

3. The comma is used to set off parts of an 

address when these are used in a sentence, as in 

Tom is living in Franklin, Warren Co., Ohio, at 

present. 

4. It is used in bibliographies, indexes, and 

wherever words or phrases are listed in an inverted 

order, as in Butler, Samuel and Way of 

All Flesh, The. 

5. It is used to set off the salutation in an informal 

letter, as in Dear Blanche, and to set off 

the complimentary close in any letter, whether 

informal or formal, as in Your friend, and Sincerely 

yours, 

6. A comma is not used in combination with 

a dash. 

7. If the word immediately before a parenthesis 

needs to be separated from the rest of the 

sentence by a comma, the comma is placed after 

the parenthesis, as in if Joe is right (and he 

usually is), we can’t finish the work today. 

commence may be followed by the -ing form of a 

verb, as in he commenced studying law, or by 

an infinitive, as in he commenced to study law. 

The -ing construction is preferred by some people 

who feel that begin should be used if an 

infinitive is to follow, as in he begun to study 

law. See begin. 

comment (noun). See remark.

commentator 104 

commentator. It was probably inevitable that the 

people who make critical or explanatory remarks 

about news events over the radio should 

have chosen to be called commentntors rather 

than comm~nters. It is more grandi!oquent. A 

conzmenter (no such word exists in standard 

usage) would have been one who made comments. 

A commentator is one who makes commentaries 

and a commentary is an expository 

treatise consisting of a systematic series of 

comments. It’s a pity the news commentators 

burdened themselves with such delusions of 

grandeur, especially since ninety percent of 

them only read the news anyway. You can hear 

them stumbling over the hard words. 

commit may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

I have committed myself to go, or by the -ing 

form of a verb introduced by the preposition to, 

as in I have committed myself to going. Some 

grammarians object to the use of an infinitive 

here and claim that only the -ing form is acceptable. 

But both constructions are standard in the 


common. See average; frequent; mutual. 

common; ordinary; vulgar. Common means possessed 

or shared by all alike (Venus, says Robert 

Burton, was as common as a barber’s chair). 

When applied to persons it usually has a derogatory 

connotation of cheapness or inferiority. 

Vulgar means belonging to the people and the 

meaning attached to it depends on how you view 

belonging to the common people. The common 

people themselves (though they probably do 

not view themselves as such) obviously don’t 

think much of it, since to them vulgar means 

coarse, indecent (His talk was just vulgar. I was 

ashamed to be with him). To a few uncommon 

intellectuals (who are, no doubt, tired of intellectuals) 

vulgar often means strong in a coarse 

way (He had a vulgar virility that offset his 

coarse greed). Ordinary means what is to be expected 

in the usual order of things. It is slightly 

derogatory, but not much; just a tired admission 

from the sad wisdom of experience that the 

usual order of things, so far as human beings go, 

isn’t much. 

common noun. Any noun that is not a proper 

noun (that is, any noun that is not the name of 

a particular person or thing) is a common noun. 

common or garden variety. Whoever first took 

this phrase from a seed catalog (it happened 

about 1895) and applied it figuratively deserved, 

and it is to be hoped obtained, applause for a 

sprightly wit. But it is now a common, or garden, 

variety of clich6, the bloom withered, the root 

broken and the stem pawed to a limp shred. 

commonplace; banal; hackneyed; stereotyped; trite. 

Commonplace means ordinary and, hence, dull 

and uninteresting. Before the romantic admiration 

of the unordinary, commonplace was often 

used to signify something that was particularly 

interesting because it had a general or common 

application. Thus gentlemen of leisure kept 

Commonplace Books in which they copied 

passages of unusual interest and philosophic 

breadth that they came across in their reading. 

Banal was a French word meaning common- 

place. It had originally been a feudal term meaning 

communal. It was borrowed in the nineteenth 

century by English literary critics (who, 

as Fowler growls, had a dozen good words at 

home to choose from) and carries not only the 

meaning of commonplace but also the contempt 

for the commonplace felt by such superior people 

as those who borrowed it. It means inane, 

insipid, and hollowly pretentious. 

A hackney was originally “an ambling horse, 

for ladies to ride on,” then a horse for hire, then 

a horse used in coaches that were for hire 

(whence our hack). These horses were worn out 

and jaded and by a natural figurative extension 

the word was used to describe phrases that were 

worn out and jaded by overuse. 

Stereotyped emphasizes the fact that that 

phrase or idea is the exact response that a certain 

situation evokes. It is an automatic response, 

totally devoid of any originality. 

Trite derives from a Latin word meaning to 

rub. But in its current use it is not only something 

that has been rubbed smooth by use but 

something which, though originally profound 

or apt, has lost all freshness through repetition 

(He was full of trite sayings). 

commonplace; platitude; triviality; truism; axiom. 

A commonplace is something regularly said on 

certain occasions (All men must die). It may 

be true or it may be false. It may be useful and 

sensible. The utterer of a commonplace does not 

seek the applause that is given to originality but 

the warmth that comes from the recognition of 

a common humanity and common experience. 

A platitude is a dull, trite remark uttered as 

if it were original and important. The utterer of 

platitudes expects the admiration accorded to 

wisdom and gets the contempt reserved for pompous 

folly. 

A trivialify is some trifling or insignificant 

remark uttered as if it were just suited to the 

occasion. It gains the utterer the reputation of 

being silly. 

A truism is a self-evident or obvious truth, 

something which is incontrovertible in itself 

(Thus We all ought to do our duty is a truism 

because our duty is that which we ought to do). 

It is something which is indisputably true, needs 

no proof, and can’t be contradicted, yet which 

is often uttered in a positive, almost aggressive 

manner, as if the speaker regarded it as a daring 

proposition and was prepared to defend it 

against all attack. Such a statement is often 

followed by a brief silence, not, as the speaker 

seems to think, of awe at its profundity, but of 

bewilderment at its being spoken at all. 

An axiom is an established and universally 

accepted rule or principle. It is stated, with the 

full understanding that everyone assents to it, 

as the beginning of a chain of reasoning. 

compact (agreement). See pact. 

companionable; companionate. Companionable 

means sociable, fitted to be a companion (He 

was a companionable fellow, ideal to have along 

on a camping trip). Companionate, recognized 

in British dictionaries only as an obsolete word 

meaning companioned or accompanied, is used

in America to mean of, by or like companions, 

especially in the phrase companionate marriage, 

a form of trial marriage advocated, particularly 

in the late nineteen-twenties, by certain social 

reformers (Since a companionate marriage is 

to be a childless marriage, it may be questioned 

how far it will give true marriage a fair trial). 

company. Though company as a term for a guest 

or guests is often classified as questionable by 

purists, it has been standard English for many 

centuries (Jeremy Taylor, 1649: They had more 

company than wine. Samuel Johnson, 1775: 

Hector had company in his house). It is standard 

in current American usage (We had company 

and I couldn’t get away) and has been extended 

in many adjectival uses, such as company manners 

(meaning the more formal deportment 

appropriate when one has guests). 

comparative degree. See comparison of adjectives 

and adverbs. 

comparatively; relatively. Since comparatively definitely 

implies a comparison, a careful speaker 

or writer does not employ it except when he has 

a fairly definite comparison in mind. That is, he 

would not say the weather was comparatively 

mild if he only meant that it was fairly mild, 

though he might say that after the unseasonable 

cold of last September, October was comparatively 

mild, 

Relatively, similarly, has to mean standing in 

relation to something. This something does not 

always have to be explicitly stated; it may be 

implied or generally understood. But it should 

be there. Relatively should not be used as a. mild 

intensive. 

compare; contrast. To compare things is to bring 

them together in order to note points of likeness 

or of difference. In this sense it is followed 

by with. He compared Washington with Paris 

would mean that he considered various aspects 

of both cities with a view to pointing out wherein 

they differed and wherein they were alike. To 

compare also means to represent as similar 

(Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?); and 

in this sense it is followed by to. He compared 

Washington to Paris would mean that he found 

many things in Washington which, when taken 

together, made him feel that the city of Washington 

was much like the city of Paris. Zncomparable 

has this meaning of compare; it does 

not mean that nothing can be compared with 

the person or object, but that nothing can be 

compared to them. Incomparable almost always 

has a favorable connotation; the comparison 

cannot be made because the thing alluded to is 

unique and superior. 

To contrast is to examine with an eye to differences, 

or to place things together in such a 

way that their differences are obvious (He contrasted 

the luxury of the aristocrat with the 

penury of the peasant). 

comparison of adjectives and adverbs. In making 

a comparison we may say that the things compared 

are equal in some respect or we may say 

that they are unequal. In a comparison of 

equality we use as and the simple form of an 

adjective or adverb. The simple form of an 

105 comparison 

adjective or adverb is called the positive form. 

In a comparison of inequality we use a modified 

form of the word. There are two such forms. 

One is called the comparative and the other, the 

superlative. 

FORMATION 

We make the comparative form of an adjective 

or adverb by adding the syllable -er to the 

positive, and the superlative form by adding the 

syllable -est, as in green, greener, greenest. A 

few words are compared irregularly, such as 

good, better, best, and bad, worse, worst. All 

these have been listed in this dictionary under 

the positive form. 

We may qualify the positive form by more or 

less and make what is equivalent to a comparative, 

or by most or least and make what is equivalent 

to a superlative. In order to say that one 

thing is inferior to others in some respect, we 

must use the qualified form with less or least. 

In saying that something is superior to others we 

sometimes use the qualified form with more or 

most and sometimes the regular inflected form 

ending in -er or -est. The inflected form is native 

English. It is still considered the more natural 

and more vigorous of the two and is always used 

in vivid or excited speech. The form with more 

or most is due chiefly to French influence and 

did not come into general use until about four 

hundred years ago. 

The qualified form, with more and most, is 

required with (1) adverbs ending in -1~; (2) any 

word that can only be used predicatively, such 

as afraid, aware, content: (3) the word eager; 

(4) words that have an unusual or foreign form, 

such as antique, burlesque, bizarre. Otherwise, 

either form may be used, as in louder still and 

still more loud and among all forlornest things, 

the most forlorn. 

As a rule, the inflected form is preferred for 

short words, especially those ending in -d, -t, -r, 

or -y, such as loud, soff, clear, happy. The form 

using more or most is preferred for longer 

words, especially those ending in (1) more than 

one unstressed syllable, such as tyrannical; (2) 

-ive or -ile, such as active and hostile; (3) -s, 

-ish, or -est, such as curious, foolish, honest; or 

(4) -ed or -ing, such as crooked and cunning. 

It is also preferred for words that are not often 

used in comparisons, such as real, right, just. 

But this is a description of what usually happens, 

not of what must happen. Mark Twain 

wrote: the confoundedest, brazenest, ingeniousest 

piece uf fraud. And words such as wonderfulest, 

honestest, crookedest, lovingest, rightest, 

are also used occasionally in solemn prose. 

When the more and most forms were less well 

established than they are now, they were often 

used with the older inflected forms, as in the 

most unkindest cut of all. This obvious double 

comparative, or double superlative, is not considered 

standard now. 

MEANING 

The comparative and superlative are forms 

used in comparing individuals in respect to a 

certain quality. The superlative form does not 

indicate a higher degree of the quality than the

comparison 106 

comparative, and neither indicates more than 

is expressed by the positive form. The oldest 

child in the family may be very young. And we 

speak of older men and dresses for larger women 

in order to avoid the really strong words old 

men and large women. 

Any quality in respect to which individuals 

can be compared may logically have a comparative 

and a superlative form. But it is sometimes 

claimed that certain adjectives should :not be 

used in making a comparison. A protest of this 

kind may be based on either of two very different 

lines of reasoning. 

There are certain words in English, such as 

perfect, extreme, excellent, which imply “‘in the 

highest degree.” These words are somletimes 

qualified by more or most, as in a more ,oerfect 

example, the most extreme point of view. Theoretically, 

such expressions are comparable to 

more best, most worst. But only theoretically. 

In practice words of this kind, which lhave a 

superlative meaning but not an obvious superlative 

form, have always been used in this way 

and the construction is standard literary E.nglish. 

Those who object to it do so because they feel 

that to use more or mosf with such words is to 

debase their meaning. 

There are other words, sometimes called absolutes, 

which have no such superlative meaning 

but which, on the contrary, name characteristics 

that do not exist in degrees, such as unique, 

complete, equal. It is argued that words of this 

kind cannot be used in a comparison because, 

for a thing to possess the quality at all it must 

possess it completely, and therefore all things 

that possess the quality possess it equally. This 

argument disregards the facts of life. ln this 

world we constantly do, and must, compare 

things in respect to qualities which, as seen from 

Olympus, they do not possess. We can and do 

say this is squarer than that, make them more 

equal, this is more accurate, this is most singular. 

Unique and complete are not in a class by 

themselves, and lists which begin with1 these 

words grow rapidly. One grammarian has noticed 

that chaste must be included. But there is 

no reason to stop ihere. True, false, i’ogical, 

emntv. should also be included. In fact this 

theory, if it was applied consistently, would 

make it impossible for us to think about anything 

but the most obvious facts. 

Sometimes the argument against more unique 

or more complete is misunderstood and put on 

the grounds that we cannot have “more” of 

either of these characteristics than is expressed 

by the positive form of the word. It is said that 

less unique is permissible, but not more unique. 

This is not true. Less implies degrees as much as 

more does. And we can never have “more” of a 

quality than is expressed by the positive form 

of the word. Nothing can be smaller than small, 

older than old, or whiter than white. (We express 

something approaching this with more 

than, as in you are more than kind and my dear 

friend, my more than brother. But here the 

more than is obviously something other than 

kind or brother, and the expression means 

“words fail me.” Certainly no comparison is 

being made.) 

Attacks on grammatical constructions made 

in the name of logic are usually bad logic. And 

they are always bad linguistics. The only question 

that has any bearing on the propriety of a 

form of speech is: Is it in reputable use? And 

the answer here is that educated people do say 

more unique and more complete. If they didn’t, 

these expressions would not be under attack so 

often. We do not at present say more previous, 

and so it does not occur to anyone to list these 

words among the things that we ought to avoid. 

USES 

In Latin the comparative form is used in a 

comparison involving two things and the superlative 

in a comparison involving more than two. 

Some grammarians claim that this ought to be 

the rule in English too, but the practice of our 

best writers does not bear them out. Lamb wrote: 

of two disputants, the warmest is generally in 

the wrong. We all say put your best foot forward 

and if you tangle withhim you’ll get the worst of 

it. Shakesueare. Addison. Johnson. Goldsmith, 

Chesterfield, R&kin, Emerson, Hawthorne, Irving, 

Scott, Thackeray, all used the superlative 

in speaking of two only, as do many contemporary 

writers. In contemporary American English, 

only the comparative form can be used 

with than, regardless of how many things are 

being spoken about; and in any other construction, 

again regardless of the number involved, 

the superlative is generally preferred. 

A comparison made with the comparative 

form and than is said to be self-exclusive. That 

is, the thing compared is put in contrast to the 

thing or things it is compared with, as in he is 

taller than the others. A comparison made with 

the superlative, on the other hand, is usually 

self-inclusive. That is, the of has almost the 

force of among and the thing compared is seen 

as part of the group spoken about, as in he is the 

r&lest of the lot. This was not always true. 

Formerly the superlative with of could also be 

used in a contrast, as in this trade is held the 

most honorable of all others. Today we would 

be more likely to say more honorable than all 

others or most honorable of all. But the old 

construction is still heard occasionally, as in it 

was the richest of any university in America. 

The superlative may be used as a pure intensive, 

with no comparison intended, as in the 

rudest remark, a most beautiful woman. But we 

more often use a colorful adverb and the positive 

form of the adjective for this purpose, as in 

an extremely rude remark, an astonishingly 

beautiful woman. To indicate a moderate degree 

of some quality we always use the positive form 

and a belittling qualifier, such as fairly, rather, 

somewhat, tolerably. 

The word the is sometimes used with a comparative 

form. If two individuals are being compared, 

this the is a simple adjective, -as in 

Shellev’s intellect was far the keener. What is 

meant here is the keener intellect. But the is 

often used with a comparative form where this 

is not the case, as in he will feel the better for it.

Here the is an adverb of degree and means “that 

much.” In literary English this adverbial the is 

not used unless something else is said somewhere 

in the context that has a bearing on “that 

much.” For this reason, adverbial the is sometimes 

called a conjunction. The “something else” 

may refer to the cause of the increase, as for if 

in the example given; or it may refer to the 

amount. The amount is frequently “none” or 

“all,” as in none the worse and all the .better. 

Sometimes a double adverbial the is used to 

show that two increases are equal, as .in the 

more the merrier, the more he gets the more he 

wants. A comparative form should not be used 

with both the and than. The adjective t.he requires 

or implies of, as in the keener of the two, 

the keener man. Adverbial the merely indicates 

that additional information is available, and is 

never used in making a comparison. A the which 

serves neither function should not be used, as it 

is in if you are not the politer I will slap you. 

Sometimes a comparison of equality, requiring 

as . . . as, and a comparison of inequality, requiring 

than, are combined in the same statement, 

as in he had as much or more troubl(e than 

I did and he had more or at least as much 

trouble as I did. In both cases the comparisons 

have been telescoped. In the first sentence a 

second as, needed for a comparison of equality, 

has been lost. In the second sentence a than, 

needed for the inequality, is lost. Some grammarians 

object to telescoped constructions of 

this kind, but they are acceptable, and customary, 

English. If one wants to please the igrammarians 

he can avoid the problem by writing, 

for example, he had as much trouble as I a’id, or 

more. 

There are a number of words in English ending 

in -ior, such as superior, inferior, posterior, 

interior, senior, which are Latin comparatives. 

In English they are not felt as comparatives and 

may be qualified by more or less. But they may 

also be used alone in making comparisons. 

When they are, they require the preposition ro 

and not the conjunction than. 

A few words, such as former, latter, #elder, 

inner, upper, are English comparative forms that 

are no longer used in making comparisons. They 

are now felt as simple adjectives which name a 

relationship and describe or identify individuals. 

We may say the latter period, the elder man, 

but we cannot say this period is latter than, this 

man is elder than. 

comparisons are odious is a proverb, and no wise 

man would agree to exclude proverbs from his 

speech or writing. But he will take care to use 

them sparingly and only when the occasion calls 

without doubt for their use. This one is hackneyed-though 

of course its wisdom is prof’ound 

and useful. That comparisons are odorous is 

from Much Ado About Nothing and no wise 

man will attempt to cheat Shakespeare of whatever 

honor there is in its wit. 

compasses. In referring to an instrument for drawing 

circles, the singular form compass may be 

used, as in fix one foot of the compass here, and 

the plural compasses in speaking of several such 

107 competent 

instruments, as in we have three compasses, But 

the plural form is also used in speaking of one 

instrument, as in fix one foot of the compasses 

here, and three instruments are called three pairs 

of compnsses. Both constructions are standard 

English today. Only the singular form compass 

is used as the first element in a compound, as in 

a compass leg. 

cumpel; impel. Compel and impel both mean the 

application of a force, physical or otherwise, to 

cause something to be done. Compel has now 

more the sense of coercion, of constraining someone 

to do something which he does not want to 

do (The failure of the bank compelled them to 

retrench severely and to adopt a wholly different 

way of living). To impel is to urge forward 

(The wave behind impelled the wave before) 

and in all figurative uses it has the sense of 

constraining or inciting towards a goal (A sense 

of duty impels me to speak in favor of the 

measure). Both words may be followed by an 

infinitive, as in he compelled her to lead a dreary 

life, but not by the -ing form of a verb. We 

cannot say he compelled her to leading a dreary 

life. 

compendious means concise, or containing the 

substance of a subject in brief form (A dictionary 

is u compendious work). It is sometimes 

misused, perhaps because of the similarity of its 

sound to stupendous and tremendous, to mean 

a large book or treatise. A compendious work 

may be large or small, but its compendiousness 

has nothing to do with its size. 

compendium. The plural is compendiums or compendia. 

compensate; compensation. To compensate is to 

counterbalance, to offset, to make up for. The 

application of the term to payment for services 

rendered was originally a stilted piece of elaborate 

politeness, a way of saying “Of course we 

wouldn’t do anything so vulgar as to pay you; 

we offer this sum merely to offset the loss of 

your time.” It is like calling a fee an honorarium, 

by which it is implied that the one offering 

the sum could not hope to pay what the speaker’s 

time and wisdom are really worth and is making 

merely a token payment. In America the term 

compensation has been used so much for wages 

or salary that il is now standard in that sense, 

with none of the connotation of making amends 

for loss or damage (The salaries of American 

judges are rather low in comparison with the 

compensation offered to judicial officers in 

Europe) that it would have in English usage. 

competent; competence. To be competent is to be 

properly qualified, to be adequate, to have abilities 

sufficient to the purpose. In regard to any 

great or difficult undertaking, it is plainly high 

praise to be competent; but in critical reviews, 

particularly of dramatic and musical performances, 

where superlatives are the rule, the word 

is almost condemnatory, meaning that the performer 

had abilities sufficient for the purpose 

but nothing more (Smith’s performance was 

competent but the applause of the evening was 

reserved for Jones). 

Competent may be followed by an infinitive,

compilation 108 

as in he is competent to judge, or by in or at and 

the -ing form of a verb, as in he is compeient in 

judging. In the first construction com,oetent 

means “qualified.” In the second, it means that 

he does it well. 

Competence means adequacy, the quality of 

being competent. It has come also to have the 

special meaning of an income sufficient to furnish 

the necessities of life, without great luxury 

(His competence as an artist was not enough to 

enable him to earn a living but, fortunately for 

him, he had inherited a competence and so had 

no great concern about money). 

compilation is a book made up of materials taken 

from a number of other books. In its central syllable 

the word is related to pillage, though it has 

been influenced by pile (to pile up). It is often 

misused to mean a symposium or a collection. 

complacence; complaisance. To be complacent is 

to be pleased, especially with one’s self. To be 

complaisant is to be affable, disposed to please 

others, obliging. The complacent are not always 

complaisant. 

complected was once used to mean complexioned, 

as in dark-complected Nancy Hanks. The form 

is not standard. 

complementary. See supplementary. 

complement; compliment. A complement iis that 

which completes or makes entire (Travel is 

the complement of schooling). In military and 

naval terminology it is the number of men required 

to fill out a company or man a conveyance 

(The addition of the recruits brought the 

regiment up to its full complement). It also 

means either of two parts or things needed to 

complete each other (The physical and the 

spiritual are complements of the complete character) 

. See also supp!ement. 

A compliment is an expression of praise (She 

paid you a very high compliment) or a formal 

act or expression of civility or courtesy (He 

sends you his compliments and hopes that you 

will wait upon him this afternoon). Except in 

the phrase compliments of the season, this use 

is now slightly archaic in America. 

complement in grammar. The term is used by 

grammarians to mean any word or group of 

words that is needed to complete the meaning 

of a verb. This includes the direct object of a 

transitive verb. The complement of a linking 

verb is sometimes called a subjective complement. 

A noun or pronoun used as the complement 

of a linking verb, such as rascal in he is a 

rascal, may also be called a predicate nominative. 

Some verb ideas are not complete without a 

word which stands after the direct object, such 

as ladies in they consider themselves ladies and 

trustworthy in we found him trustworthy. 

Words of this kind are sometimes called an objective 

complement and sometimes a predicate 

objective. 

complete (verb). See end. 

complete; entire; whole; total. That is complete 

which has all its parts, is fully developed or perfected. 

The word is applied to a process or pur- 

pose that has been carried to fulfillment. When 

Hamlet’s father’s ghost appeared in complete 

steel, it was fully clad in armor, to the last warlike 

detail. 

Entire means whole, with the additional connotation 

of unbroken unity, of one piece, undivided 

and continuous (He read the entire book 

at one sitting). 

Whole comprises the full quantity, extent, 

amount, or number, containing all the elements 

properly belonging, relating to a thing in its entirety 

(He told us the whole procedure). 

Total means whole, but it conveys the idea of 

things added together to make up the whole 

(The total of his indebtedness, even after all 

assets were considered, was immense). See also 

perfect. 

complete verbs. See intransitive verbs. 

completed action tenses. See perfect tenses. 

complex. The use of complex to mean a fixed idea 

or obsession (He’s got a perfect complex on the 

subject!) is based on a misunderstanding of a 

technical term. In psychology the word means a 

group of related ideas, feelings, memories, and 

impulses which operate together and may be 

repressed or inhibited together. These groups of 

thoughts and feelings are not necessarily morbid 

or abnormal. 

complex sentence. A sentence that contains a subordinate 

clause, such as she’ll be driving six 

white horses when she comes, is called a complex 

sentence. See sentences. 

compositor. See typesetter. 

compound sentence. A sentence consisting of two 

or more simple sentences (The night is dark 

and I am far from home) is called a compound 

sentence. A sentence made up of two or more 

independent statements one or more of which 

is complex is called a compound-complex sentence. 

The independent elements in a compound 

sentence must be separated by a coordinating 

conjunction, a comma, or a semicolon. See 

sentences. 

compound words. When two nouns stand together, 

the first may have exactly the force of 

an adjective and qualify the meaning of the 

second. This is the case, for example, in a family 

aflair. Here family is felt as an adjective very 

much like private. That we feel the word in this 

way is shown by the fact that we can use an 

adverb before it, just as if it were an adjective, 

as in a strictly family affair. In the case of sea 

horse this is not true. Here the two nouns are 

felt as a single compound noun representing a 

single idea. As a rule, when two words are felt 

as one they are pronounced as one. In a brown 

horse, the word horse has its own accent or emphasis. 

Rut in a sea horse it loses some of this 

emphasis and is pronounced like the second syllable 

in a two-syllable word. Similarly, man has 

the emphasis belonging to an independent word 

in an English man but loses it entirely in an 

Englishman. It should also be noticed that an 

Englishman is a certain kind of man, but a sea 

horse is not a certain kind of horse. 

Each of these factors may be considered in

deciding whether or not two nouns standing together 

are actually one word. If the compound 

can be qualified by an adverb, most grammarians 

would say that the first element is an adjective. 

If the compound has one major accent, 

they would say that it is being treated as a single 

word. If the compound has a meaning different 

from the meaning of the two words taken separately, 

they would say that it is a single wlord. 

Nouns are the principal but not the only parts 

of speech that form compounds. Adjectives may 

merge with nouns to form nouns. Here, if the 

two words actually merge the first element 

ceases to be felt as an adjective and cannot be 

qualified by an adverb. We may say a perfectly 

black bird but not a perfectly blackbird. On this 

principle old age is as much a single word as 

blackbird. We may say an extremely ol,d man 

but we do not say in extremely old age. Similarly, 

different parts of speech may be merged to 

form adjectives or to form verbs. In each case, 

the same tests can be applied: how is the compound 

treated grammatically? how is it pronounced? 

and what does it mean? 

The same principles are considered in deciding 

whether a compound should be written as 

one word or as two. But here the problem is 

additionally complicated by tradition or custom. 

Sea horse and old age, for example, should be 

written as two words simply because they always 

are written in this way. In general, pronunciation, 

or the accent that is given to a compound, 

is considered the most important factor 

in deciding how a word should be printed. How 

it is handled grammatically is considered the 

least important. 

SOLID COMPOUNDS 

1. A goldfish is not made of gold. A ladybird 

is not a bird. A butterfly is not made of butter 

and is not a fly. Words of this kind, that do not 

mean what the two parts considered separately 

would mean, are usually printed as solid compounds. 

2. Words that have such a strong acce:nt on 

the first element that the second element tends 

to disappear are always written as solid compounds, 

regardless of the meaning of the word. 

This principle is responsible for considerable 

confusion and variation in printing styles. ESverybody 

pronounces postman as one word and egg 

man as two, and this is reflected in all dimctionaries. 

But whether the man who delivers the milk 

is a milkman or a milk man depends on who is 

speaking. Everybody says bookkeeper and book 

review, but bookcase and book end vary. A 

writer should not consult a dictionary on questions 

of this kind but should listen carefully to 

his own speech. When in doubt, he should separate 

the words. In this way, at worst he will seem 

old-fashioned. But if he joins words that other 

people do not join, he may be unintelligible. 

Style books sometimes give a great lmany 

rules for compounding, such as the number of 

syllables in the first word, or the grammatical 

relation between the words. It may be pointed 

Out that calfskin is one word and alligator skin 

109 compound 

two, or that brick house is two words and brickwork 

one. These rules frequently have as many 

exceptions as examples, and it will be found that 

in almost every case accent is the determining 

factor. Where it is not, there is no agreement 

between one style book and another and it would 

be better to leave the words separated. 

The practice of combining all word pairs that 

have a single major accent sometimes makes for 

difficult reading. Counterattraction and counterespionage 

undoubtedly have a forward accent, 

but they are unwieldy words. And the accent in 

this case is intended to emphasize counter, not to 

submerge it. Both the meaning and the emphasis 

would be reflected better in counter attraction. 

However, in present practice these and similar 

combinations are written as one word. 

3. Sometimes words that have neither a 

special meaning nor a one-word accent are 

joined simply because they are like some other 

combination that is joined. For example, cow 

hand may be written as one word because cowboy 

is. If this occurs often enough in print the 

compound will find its way into dictionaries. But 

if this practice should become the rule it would 

cover almost all the normal combinations in 

English, and for this reason particular instances 

of it should be considered mistakes, no matter 

where they are found. See also prefixes and 

suffixes. 

HYPHENATED COMPOUNDS 

1. The hyphen is used when two normally 

distinct functions are united in one person or 

thing, as in secretary-treasurer, fighter-bomber, 

manic-depressive. Double terms that represent 

a single office, such as major general, are not hyphenated. 

Compound color terms are sometimes 

hyphenated and sometimes not. We may write 

blue-black or blue black. When nationality 

names are combined the first word is often 

modified, as in Anglo-American, Franco- 

German. But the simple forms, English-American, 

French-German, and so forth, are also used 

today. 

2. English has a great many verbs that carry 

a preposition or adverb with them, such as flare 

up, take ofi, set to. (See adverbs.) These are 

separate words, but when nouns or adjectives 

are made from them they are always hyphenated, 

as in a flare-up, a lean-to, a go-between, 

broken-down cars, built-up shoes. Similar nouns 

and adjectives are sometimes made from a verb 

and its object, as in know-all, do-nothing. 

Words of this kind have the specialized meaning 

that would justify writing them as one word, 

but the second element does not lose its individual 

accent. They are therefore hyphenated. If 

the second element does lose its accent, the word 

is written as a solid compound, as in a setup. 

Accordingly makeup would be one word, and is 

so written by some publishers, but others make 

an exception and keep the hyphen after a 

silent e. 

3. A noun with a qualifying word, such as 

kind heart, horn rim, may be made into an adjective 

by adding -ed to the noun, as in kind.

comprehend 110 

hearted, horn-rimmed, saber-toothed. Compounds 

of this kind are usually hyphenated, on 

the grounds that they are here being treated as 

a single word. But if the first element is the comparative 

or superlative form of an adjective, this 

interpretation will not hold and the hyphen must 

be omitted, as in kinder hearted, kindest hearted. 

See adjectives as adverbs. 

When the past participle of a verb is qualified 

by a noun or by an adjective-like word, it too is 

usually hyphenated, as in air-borne, new-born, 

perhaps because these words are so much like 

the ones just discussed. The adverb well is, often 

treated as if it were an adjective and joined 

to a past participle with a hyphen, as in well- 

keot. well-guarded. The hyphens in these con- 

.I - 

structions serve no purposes but it is customary 

to use them here. Adverbs ending in -/y are 

not treated in this way. They are usually written 

without the hyphen, as in newly born, nicely 

kept. 

4. Fractions and compound numerals such as 

two-thirds and twenty-three are usually hyphenated. 

There is no need for this hyphen either, 

but it is customary to use one. When one of the 

terms of a fraction is a compound number, the 

hyphen which indicates a fraction is dropped, 

as in two twenty-thirds, twenty-three thirtieths. 

5. Compounds beginning with serf are often 

hyphenated, as in self-control, self-service, selfsupport. 

Some publishers, however, print these 

as two words, as in self support. 

6. When a suffix or prefix is added to an idea 

that is expressed in two or more words, the 

whole expression is joined by hyphens. The 

result is awkward looking, but the expressions 

themselves are awkward. Example: Christmastree-like, 

an ex-college-professor. 

7. A hyphen is also used whenever it is needed 

to prevent ambiguity. This is an important 

rule. But its application depends on what we 

consider ambiguous. 

Style books often list walking stick or dining 

room as a type of word that requires a hyphen. 

The -ing form of a verb may be a noun or it 

may be an adjective. (See -ing.) We have a great 

many compounds in English in which the first 

element is an -ing noun, such as sleeping car, 

drinking glass, landing field, fainting fits, the 

boiling point. What is meant in compounds of 

this sort is a stick for walking, a room for dining, 

the point of boiling, and so on-as practically 

everybody knows. But it is theoretically possible 

to read these words as adjectives. Some editors 

believe that a hyphen should be used here to 

show that the first element is the noun and not 

the adjective. That is, the hyphen warns the 

reader not to suppose that the stick is walking or 

the room eating dinner. Those with more confidence 

in the reading public are likely to see no 

need for this, and may even consider it an 

affront. 

It is hard to find examples of word combinations 

that are really ambiguous, independent of 

their position in a sentence. (For this, see temporary 

compounds.) But since a silver box some- 

times means a box made of silver, the wooden 

box that holds the table silver should be called 

a silver-box, in any context that is open to both 

interpretations. 

8. The preceding seven rules cover all the 

“living” uses of the hyphen in America today. 

But there are some words that have hyphens 

merely because they always have had them. A 

writer should be familiar with these, and should 

write them with their hyphens, but they should 

not be used as patterns for new expressions. 

a. A few technical terms, that are properly 

one word by special meaning and accent but are 

not familiar to the general public, are written 

with a hyphen for easier reading, such as lightyear, 

east-southeast, and other complex points 

of the compass. 

b. Certain compounds that involve an apostrophe 

are hyphenated when used in a figurative 

sense, such as bird’s-eye, bull’s-eye, crow’s-feet, 

mare’s-nest. Because of their special meaning 

and their accent on the first element, these compounds 

might be treated as single words, and 

sometimes are, as in birdseye, crowsfeet. 

c. There are a number of three-word phrases 

that are always written with hyphens. These include 

four-in-hand, man-of-war, coat-of-arms, 

forget-me-not and the names of other flowers, 

and the in-law relationships. Mother-in-law does 

not need hyphens any more than delegate at 

large, which does not have them, but it is always 

written in this way because it always has 

been. 

d. The word great, too, is always hyphenated 

in family relationships because it always has 

been. But we now have two forms, great-aunt 

and grandaunt, both of which mean exactly the 

same thing. 

e. Words built on a letter of the alphabet, 

such as X-ray, and U-boat, are often hyphenated. 

But there is no need for the hyphen here 

and it is often omitted in scientific writing, as in 

a Y incision and the B vitamin. 

f. Some hyphens are simply mistakes. These 

will appear in the best edited material, but usually 

they are not copied and die off. Sometimes, 

however, a mistake is copied so often that it becomes 

the established practice, as has happened 

in the case of court-martial and post-mortem. 

On theoretical grounds, neither of these words 

should have a hyphen. But both of them do now 

have the hyphen. 

comprehend. See apprehend; know. 

comprehensible; comprehensive. Comprehensible 

means capable of being understood (His books 

are not comprehensible). Comprehensive means 

inclusive, of a large scope or mental grasp (Zt 

was a comprehensive scheme and included all 

points of view). 

A thing is comprehensible (or understandable) 

by one’s self. It is made comprehensible 

to others. 

comprise; constitute; include. To comprise is to 

include, contain, be composed of (The program 

comprised twelve events). To constitute is to 

compose or to form (Twelve events constitate

the program). A body comprises those things of 

which it is constituted. Comprise and constitute 

should not be confused. 

It is better to use comprise when all of the 

constituent parts are enumerated or referred to 

and to use include when only some of them are. 

conceal. See hide. 

concealment. See secretion. 

concede. The use of concede in the common 

phrase concede the election, meaning to admit 

or recognize that the opposing candidate has 

won, is now standard in American usage. We 

use concede often where the English prefer 

admit or recognize. 

conceit. See pride. 

concensus. See consensus. 

concept; conception. See idea. 

concern. The phrase as concerns is impersonal and 

means as it concerns. The verb is therefore 

always in the singular. That is, we say us concerns 

these men and not as concern these

conductive 112 

conductive; conducive. Conductive, which used to 

be synonymous with conducive, has now become 

limited to the meaning it has in physicshaving 

the property of conducting or pertaining 

to the conduction of some form of energy, such 

as heat or electricity (Copper and silver are 

highly conductive metals). 

Conducive (followed by to, not by of) means 

contributive or helpful (Sound sleep is conducive 

to health. Such remarks are not conducive 

to good will). 

conductor. In America the official in charge of a 

railroad train or streetcar is called a conductor. 

When there were two men on the buses, %he one 

who collected the fares was also called a conductor, 

but now that he has been abolished the 

one remaining man is called the drive,r, even 

though he has taken over the duties of the conductor. 

In England there are bus conductors and 

tram conductors but not railway conductors. 

The American conductor’s duties in England are 

divided between the gunrd and the ,stutionmuster; 

his dignity is assumed only by the 

stationmaster. 

On a freight train (in England a goods train) 

the American brakeman is in England a guard. 

A guard in America is a crossing watchman or 

a gateman. 

confess may be followed by a clause, as in I confess 

I have heard about it, or by the -irrg form 

of a verb with the preposition to, as in Z confess 

to having heard about it. It is also frequently 

used with an infinitive, as in I confess to have 

heard about it, but this is not standard usage. 

confess; admit; acknowledge. To confess is not 

only to concede that a fact is true but also to 

accept, to some extent, a measure of responsibility 

for its being true. When a man says I confess 

I haven’t spoken to him, he acknowledges 

a certain guilt for not having spoken. To admit 

is to concede, usually under pressure, but, unless 

a statement of guilt is specifically made, an admission 

does not necessarily constitute a confession 

(He admitted that the charge had been 

made. He admitted that he was guilty). In law a 

confession is always an acknowledgement of 

guilt. 

To acknowledge is to recognize or grant the 

existence of something, but there is in it a suggestion 

of reluctance. To acknowledge a greeting 

is to receive it coolly and return it with brief 

formality. To acknowledge guilt is to admit it 

under pressure, usually after a previous denial 

of it. 

confidant; confident. A confidant is one to whom 

secrets are confided. The feminine is confidante, 

though it is acceptable to use confidant for either 

a man or a woman. Confident means having a 

strong belief or full assurance (He was confident 

that his confidant would keep his secret). 

confound is, basically, a very strong word. It 

means to confuse the very elements of,, to pour 

the basic constituents together into a formless 

mess. When Milton spoke of the fallen Angels 

as rolling in the fiery gulf/ Confounded, though 

immortal, he wished to convey an idea of complete 

defeat, of utter destruction this side of an- 

nihilation. So that at one time Confound you 

was a stronger imprecation than Damn you, 

though it is now felt to be milder. In the second 

verse of the British national anthem (God Save 

the King) God is besought to prostrate the 

knavish tricks and to confound the politics of 

Britain’s enemies. The latter phrase, in this context, 

means to reduce to impotent confusion 

whatever nefarious schemes the enemies may be 

plotting. 

confusion worse confounded is a quotation from 

the second book of Paradise Lost (ruin upon 

ruin, rout on rout,/ Confusion worse confounded-a 

description of the defeated Angels hurtling 

downward through Chaos) and meant 

originally confusion made worse by the commingling 

of the very elements amid uproar and 

tumult. As a modern term for utter confusion 

it has become hackneyed. 

confute. See refute. 

congenial; genial. Genial means sympathetic, 

cheerful, cordial (His genial disposition made 

him many friends). Congenial means suited or 

adapted in spirit, feeling, temper, etc. (They 

were congenial and enjoyed each other’s company). 

Of course genial people are more likely 

to find congeniality than the sad or surly, for 

the majority of mankind, however unjustified, 

is moderately cheerful most of the time. But 

misery loves company too, and the despondent 

and resentful and others dominated by unpleasant 

moods find congeniality in their like. 

conjecture. See guess. 

conjugal. See matrimonial. 

conjunctions are words that show a grammatical 

relation between other words or groups of 

words. This, in turn, may reflect a logical or 

conceptual relation, but not a physical one. For 

example, in Jack and Jill went up the hill, the 

conjunction and shows that the words Jack and 

Jill are together the subject of the verb went. If 

we want to say something about the people 

rather than about the words we must use a 

preposition or an adverb, as in Jack went with 

Jill or Jack and Jill went together. 

The relation between groups of words is 

sometimes made clear without using a true conjunction. 

Formerly, the mere fact that a relation 

existed was shown by juxtaposition, as in out of 

sight out of mind and stuff a cold starve a fever. 

Today we want to be told more about the relation. 

We may show what the relation is by position, 

if a clause is standing where only the object 

of the verb can stand or where only a phrase 

qualifying a noun can stand. Otherwise, we show 

the type of relation by the first word in the 

clause. This may be one of the relative pronouns, 

who, which, what, that, or as, or an adverb, 

such as when, where, how. Clauses may 

also be introduced by participles, such as supposing, 

provided, grunted. Sometimes they 

follow immediately after a noun that is being 

used as an adverb, such as minute in I remembered 

the minute I saw him; or that is part of an 

adverbial phrase, such as fear in they drove fast 

for fear they should be late. 

Grammarians make a distinction betweef~

elative pronouns and true conjunctions. In fhe 

man that sells balloons has left, the first word 

in the clause, that, is the subject of the verb 

sells and represents or means “the man.” It is 

therefore a relative pronoun. But in Z believe 

that he has left, the that has neither of these 

functions and merely introduces the clause. In 

this construction, it is a true conjunction. 

An adverb that introduces a clause is classed 

as a conjunction, although it does not lose any 

of its adverbial functions. An isolated adverb, 

such as before in it has happened before, is a 

true adverb. If an adverb brings a full clause 

with it, it has ceased to be an adverb and become 

a conjunction, as in it happened before Z 

arrived. If it forms a phrase with a noun or noun 

equivalent, it has ceased to be an adverb and 

become a preposition, as in it happened before 

dinner. See adverbs. 

The difference between a preposition and a 

conjunction is sometimes important. A subjective 

pronoun cannot be used as an object 

following a preposition. We say he did it for me 

and not he did it f,or I. But a pronoun following 

a conjunction may be subjective or objective depending 

upon its function in the sentence. If it is 

functioning as the subject of a following verb, 

an objective form cannot be used. For example, 

the subjective form Z is required in he works 

faster than Z do. When no verb actually follows, 

there is a difference of opinion as to which form 

of the pronoun is required. Some grammarians 

claim that certain words, such as than, are 

always conjunctions and imply a relation to the 

verb, and that an objective pronoun should not 

be used where the word is functioning as the 

subject of a verb. According to these grammarians 

we are required to say he works faster *than 

I, whether the verb follows or not. In practice, 

we often do say he works faster than me. ‘This 

means that we are treating the word than :3s if 

it were a preposition rather than a conjunction. 

The construction is more acceptable for some 

words than it is for others. (See the individual 

prepositions or conjunctions.) When a following 

pronoun is functioning as the object of a verb, 

a subjective form cannot be used. We say Z know 

her better than (I do) him. In a case like this 

there is no need to say whether than is being 

used as a preposition or as a conjunction since 

we have the same result with either interpretation. 

Pronouns, adverbs, and nouns used adverbially 

may serve as conjunctions. In addition, 

there are certain words that are used merel:y as 

connectives. These pure conjunctions are: and, 

or, nor, bat, for, than, as, because, if, Jest, 

the@ or although, unless, whether, while, and 

that. 

COORDINATING AND SUBORDINATING 

CONJUNCTIONS 

Conjunctions are classified as coordinating 

or subordinating. A coordinating conjunction 

stands between two elements and indicates that 

they are grammatically equivalent. The elements 

may be words, phrases, or clauses. In he arrived 

and Z left, the coordinating conjunction ,and 

113 conjunctions 

stands between two complete and independent 

statements, called principal clauses. In Jack or 

Jill, the coordinating conjunction or stands between 

two nouns. A subordinating conjunction 

always joins two clauses and shows that the one 

which immediately follows the conjunction is 

functioning as an element in the other. In he 

arrived as Z left, there is only one independent 

statement, he arrived. The subordinating conjunction 

as shows that Z left is functioning as an 

adverb of time in the other clause. 

The words and, or, and nor, are always coordinating 

conjunctions and always stand between 

similar elements. Nothing as clear cut as this can 

be said about any of the other conjunctions. 

Bzct is sometimes coordinating and sometimes 

subordinating. There is a difference of opinion 

as to whether it may also be used as a preposition. 

The word for is ordinarily a preposition 

but it is sometimes used as a conjunction. When 

it is there is a difference of opinion as to whether 

it is coordinating or subordinating. The words 

than and as are usually subordinating but are 

considered coordinating in certain constructions 

by some grammarians. (For a further discussion 

of these problems, see the individual words.) 

At one time it was customary to use a comma 

between clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction, 

but this is no longer required. 

The remaining conjunctions are subordinating. 

Coordination is a much simpler relationship 

than subordination and the subordinating conjunctions 

have a variety of functions. (For this, 

see the individual words.) A subordinating conjunction 

is always the first word in the subordinate 

clause but the position of the clause itself 

in the sentence depends upon its function. (See 

clauses.) As a rule, a clause that is the subject 

or the object of a verb is not set off from the 

rest of the sentence by a comma. Adjective and 

adverb clauses sometimes are and sometimes are 

not, In general, a clause has the same punctuation 

that a single word with the same function 

would have. 

Conjunctions are sometimes paired with another 

word, such as not only . . . but, either . . . 

or, if . . . then. These are called correlative conjunctions. 

They may be coordinating or subordinating, 

depending upon the conjunction itself. 

For a discussion of the word order in clauses of 

this kind, see parallel constructions. 

SENTENCE CONJUNCTIONS 

Words which indicate that an inference or 

conclusion is to follow, such as therefore, consequently, 

accordingly, then, are called “conjunctive 

adverbs” or “illative conjunctions.” 

They are conjunctions in the sense that they 

show a relation between sentences. But grammatically, 

they are treated as adverbs. That is, 

these words do not have a fixed position in relation 

to the statement they introduce. The clause 

in which they appear is not, as a rule, joined to 

another, but is separated by a period or a semicolon. 

See sentence adverbs. 

Coordinating conjunctions, such as and, or. 

but, may also be used to show a relation between 

independent sentences. Actually, this is only a

connected 114 

question of punctuation, of where we put a 

period and a capital letter. A sentence which 

begins with a coordinating conjunction could 

have been printed as a continuation of the preceding 

sentence. In current English we like short 

sentences, and a long sentence is sometimes 

easier to read if it is printed as two independent 

sentences. 

connected. See identified. 

connection. The spelling connection, deplored in 

British style manuals, is standard in America. 

Connexion is now so rare in the United States 

that it would be regarded as a ludicrous misspelling. 

connotation; denotation. To denote is to mark, 

indicate, designate (The silver bars denoted their 

wearer to be a captain). To connote is to signify 

in addition to the primary meaning, to :involve 

as a condition of accompaniment. A word den&es 

the indispensable minimum of definition. 

A word connotes all of the attributes which are 

not denoted but which are associated with it. 

Thus the word pig denotes a young swine of 

either sex. It connotes filth and gluttony and 

high-pitched squealing, the little pig that ‘went to 

market, the one that built his house of bricks, 

various characters in literature that have gone 

by that nickname, and whatever else, in addition 

to its basic denotation, the word may conjure up 

in the mind of one who hears or reads it. 

connubial. See matrimonial. 

conscious; aware. To be conscious of something 

is to have an inner realization of it. We are conscious 

of guilt or innocence, of exhaustion (He 

was hardly conscious of his own motives. He 

was conscious of blushing), and so on. We are 

aware through our sense perceptions which lead 

to consciousness (Half awake, he was aware of 

a hammering at the door and conscious of a 

rapidly rising panic fear). 

An act, the motives of which are conscious, is 

likely to be deliberate or purposive. We are not 

likely, that is, to blunder into it. But conscious 

should not be used loosely as a synonym for 

deliberate. 

consecutive; successive. Both consecutive and successive 

apply to things which follow one upon 

the other. But successive refers merely to the 

position of one thing in relation to another 

(Successive disasters reduced him to poverty); 

whereas consecutive denotes a close and uninterrupted 

sequence, sometimes with the implication 

of an established order. Three successive 

days would be any three days in which the last 

two followed the first and the last followed the 

second. Three consecutive days would ‘be three 

days in a row, such as January the lirst, second, 

and third, or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. 

consensus. The term for general agreement or 

concord is consensus, not concensus, as it is 

often erroneously spelled, possibly because of 

some confused notion that there has been a 

census of ideas and this is its final tabulation. 

Consensus of opinion is, strictly, a redundancy, 

since consensus means agreement of 

opinion, but it is used so often that it must be 

accepted. 

consent (noun). See permission. 

consent. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in I wilZ not consent to go, or by the -ing 

form of a verb with the preposition to, as in 

Z will not consent to going. Both forms are standard. 

See also allow. 

consequent; consequential. As adjectives consequent 

and consequential both mean following 

as an effect or result or as a logical conclusion 

(The rapid increase of trade and the consequent 

influx of wealth. These privileges will draw consequential 

dificulties in their train). Both words 

formerly also meant, of persons, important or 

self-important, those, that is, whose acts or 

wishes of necessity have consequences. But 

this meaning is now confined to consequential 

(Goldsmith was sometimes content to be treated 

with an easy familiarity, but upon occasions 

would be consequential and important. He is a 

consequential man and must be treated with 

respect). Indeed, this is now becoming the primary 

meaning of consequential and we encounter 

it in its other, basic meaning less and less 

frequently. 

conservative. Fowler inveighs against the use of 

conservative as an adjective to mean moderate 

when qualifying a noun such as figure or estimate 

as “perhaps the most ridiculous of slipshod 

extensions.” But the processes of language are 

indifferent to ridicule and have extended meanings 

in ways far more slipshod than this (as, for 

instance, in slipshod extension). When conservative 

(in its strict meaning of disposed to preserve 

existing conditions) became opposed in politics 

to liberal, it is not surprising to find it being used 

as an antonym in other senses. Certainly in 

American usage conservative is now standard 

in the meaning of moderate. 

consider is to contemplate, meditate, reflect upon. 

A considered opinion is one that has been 

weighed and mulled over. That consider should 

have become, even in standard use, a synonym 

for think is not astonishing, for vanity leads us 

to regard our most irrational impulses as pondered 

thoughts and courtesy leads us to at least 

imply as much for the figmentitious fancies of 

our friends. But the careful speaker or writer 

will bear the distinction in mind and not write 

such sentences as He considered him an enemy, 

fhough he had no grounds for thinking so. 

Consider may be followed by an infinitive, 

especially a perfect infinitive with have, as in 

I consider him to have acted disgracefully, but 

a that clause is generally preferred, as in I consider 

that he has acted disgracefully. 

considerable. Traditionally, this word is used only 

in speaking of immaterial things, such as considerable 

trouble, considerable influence. Its use 

with material things, as in considerable money 

is not known outside the United States and is 

questionable here. 

In older American speech, though now almost 

never heard, the adjective considerable was used 

for the adverb considerably (He was considerable 

tired before he was through). This usage, 

from the contexts in which it appears, was 

plainly regarded as rustic. It was not an Amer-

icanism, however, but a survival in America of 

an older English usage. 

consign to oblivion as a term for putting something 

out of one’s mind is a cliche, the worse for 

being used solely by the affected educated. 

consistence and consistency are interchangeable 

in most uses, though consistency is always used 

when “being consistent” (constantly adhering to 

the same principles) is meant (A foolish consistency 

is the hobgoblin of little minds). Consistence 

usually refers to the state, the degree of 

density or viscosity (The mud had the cotzsisfence 

of pitch), and consistency to the quality of 

uniformity. 

consistently; constantly. Consistently is sometimes 

misused for constazztly. One who constantl,y discusses 

a certain subject is one who talks about it 

incessantly, unremittingly, perpetually. One who 

consistently discusses a certain subject is one 

who at all times in his discussion of it maintains 

the same attitude towards it. 

consistently; persistently. To act consistently is to 

adhere constantly to the same principles, to hold 

the same course, not to contradict oneself (He 

was consistently disagreeable). To act persistently 

is to be pertinacious, to keep up an unremitting 

pressure, to endure in the face of 

opposition (Desdemona persistently demanded 

Cassio’s reinstatement and thereby worked her 

ruin ) . 

consist of; consist in. Consist of applies to the 

component parts of a whole (A university consists 

of teachers, administrators, and students). 

Consist in auulies to inherent aualities (The libera1 

value of the scientific discipline consists in 

its fostering of the questioning spirit). 

conspicuous by his absence. When Tacitus in his 

Annals (115 A.D.) remarked that the images of 

Brutus and Cassius were the more radiant at 

Junia’s funeral because they were not seen at all 

(magis praefulgebant qrcod non videbantur), he 

no doubt felt a glow of satisfaction at the brilliance 

of the oxymoron and inclined his head, 

one assumes, in acknowledgement of the murmurous 

plaudits of his admiring friends. It was 

a good thing, well said, and even Lord John 

Russell, seventeen hundred years later, deserved 

applause when, in addressing the Electors of the 

City of London (April 6, 1859), he observed 

that a certain provision in Lord Derby’s Reform 

Bill was conspicuous by its absence. 

But the thing is now a cliche. Its only justification 

is the surprise of its seeming contradiction 

and the possibility of surprise has long ago bmeen 

dissipated by repetition. It remains a cumbrous 

jocularity, a brazen piece of verbose dullness. 

constantly; continually; continuously; perpetually; 

incessantly. To do something constantly is to do 

it often (ffe is constantly tearing up what he has 

already written and beginning over again). To 

do something continually is to do it at short intervals 

(He is continually reminding nze of what 

I owe him). Continuously means uninterruptedly 

(The witzd blew continuously for three days). 

Perpetually properly means continuing or enduring 

for ever (The perpetual light of the stars. 

Graves for a fee will receive perpetual care), 

115 consul 

but it is also, in the exaggeration with which 

irritation relieves itself, used for continually, 

especially in expression of minor annoyance 

(The children are perpetually demanding to go 

to the zoo again. I have had no leisure; the 

phone has been ringing perpetually since you 

left). Incessantly means without ceasing and 

therefore in its strictest sense is a synonym of 

continuously (an incessant noise) but it is used 

so much for continually as well that this meaning 

must be accepted now as standard. 

Of these words, continuous and continuously 

also apply to space (The property hne was continuous 

with the fence). See consistently. 

constitute. See comprise. 

constrain; restrain. To constrain a man is to compel 

him to do something. He may be constrained 

to appear in court or to make good on some 

contractual obligation. To restrain him is to hold 

him back from an action, to keep him in check, 

even by imprisonment. 

Constrain may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he constrained them to tell the truth and 

I am constrained to believe him, but not by the 

-ing form of a verb. We do not say I am constrained 

to believing him. Restrain may be followed 

by from and the -ing form of a verb, but 

not by an infinitive. 

constructive; implicit; virtual. One of the meanings 

of constructive is inferential, so construed, 

deduced by construction. There is a constructive 

permission to use a private road, for example, 

if it is not marked as private and is left open. 

Constructive treason is an act that may be construed 

as treasonable. 

Anything is implicit which is implied without 

being stated. It describes a less formal deduction 

than that suggested by constructive. There is 

often an implicit consent in the lack of an express 

denial. 

That is virtual which is such in power, force, 

or effect, though not actually or expressly such. 

Thus dictators are the virtual rulers of their 

countries, though many of them ostensibly hold 

secondary positions. 

constructive criticism. The demand for constructive 

rather than destructive criticism (usually 

with an exaggerated emphasis on the first syllable 

of each adjective) has become one of the 

cant phrases of the day. It is true that under the 

guise of criticism mockery and hatred often vent 

their spite, and what professes to be a fair and 

even helpful analysis of a situation or policy is 

sometimes a malignant attack. But the proper 

answer to that is to expose the malignance and 

so point out that it is not criticism at all. 

Most whining for constructive rather than destructive 

criticism is a demand for unqualified 

praise, an insistence that no opinion is to be 

expressed or course proposed other than the one 

supported by the speaker. It is a dreary phrase, 

avoided by fair-minded men. 

consul; counsel; council. The government agent 

who resides in a foreign state and discharges 

certain administrative duties is a consul. To call 

him a counsel or council is a mark of sheer 

ignorance.

consume 116 

A consul was at one time either of the two 

chief magistrates of the ancient Roman republic. 

The emperors did not abolish the (consulships, 

but placed themselves in power over the 

consuls and from that moment the dignity and 

greatness of the name began to decline until 

now it stands for merely a minor commercial 

agent. Almost all titles depreciate in v,alue in 

time. A prince was once the principal man, a 

duke was the leader, a count ruled a county, a 

marquis guarded the marches, or borders. The 

American custom of bestowing many alf these 

titles (especially Earl and Duke) as first names 

will no doubt greatly speed the process of devaluation. 

consume is to use up, to destroy (The fire consumed 

the house), to eat or drink up (He consumed 

n large menl), to spend money or time 

wastefully, or to absorb or engross (Football 

consumed his energy. The book consumed his 

time). The economists have made it a synonym 

for use and in their world it probably must be 

so accepted as standard, but in ordinary use the 

careful speaker or writer will reserve it. for its 

special meaning. 

contact. In the sense of to get in touch with a 

person (I’ll contact Jones and get his reaction) 

contact was once a fighting word. The purists, 

particularly English purists, made an issue of it. 

Here was an abomination, an Americanism 

hideously repugnant. But it was a useful figure 

(after all, get in touch with is also a metaphor 

and several times as long) and very few business 

men even knew that the purists existed. Its fault 

was not so much its impropriety as that it was 

for a while grossly overworked. It is certainly 

accepted in spoken English today and will probably 

become the usual term in written English 

as well. 

The noun contact, in the sense of one with 

whom one is in touch (The F.B.I. has its contacts 

in the Communist Party) is now on the 

threshold of becoming standard. 

contagious; infectious. In medical usage, an infectious 

disease is one communicable by infection, 

a contagious disease one that is spread by 

physical contact. In popular usage the words are 

interchangeable, in their metaphorical uses, 

though contagious has come to have a slight 

connotation of rapidity in spreading (The luughter 

was contagious. Mistrust is infectious and 

once started may weaken an entire nation). 

contain; include. To contain is to have within itself. 

To include is to contain as a part or member, 

or among the parts and members, of a 

whole. A whole contains its parts and includes 

any or all of its parts. Thus one might say of a 

certain package that it contained six reams of 

paper and that among these six reams were included 

two of blue paper and one of yellow. 

contemplate; meditate; premeditate. In the sense 

of considering in the mind as something to be 

done, contemplate, meditate, and premeditate 

imply different degrees of intention. One contemplates 

many things that one has no serious 

purpose of doing, but they still have to be more 

likely to happen than those things which we 

merely imagine. One meditates more seriously. 

The word suggests deeper absorption in the possibility, 

a more searching examination of ways 

and means (meditating revenge, under brows of 

dauntless courage). Both contemplate and meditate 

apply to stages of consideration in which a 

decision to act or not to act is possible, but 

premeditate is used now exclusively to refer to 

cogitations preceding something that actually 

did happen (His crime was premeditated: he 

cannot pretend that it was done on thoughtless 

impulse). In the law premeditation implies sufficient 

forethought to impute deliberation and 

intent to commit the act. 

contemporary; contemporaneous; coeval. Contemporary 

and contemporaneous both refer to 

things that exist or occur at the same time, but 

contemporary is applied more to people and 

contemporaneous to objects (Keats was a contemporary 

of Shelley’s. The first volume of 

Gibbon’s Decline and Fall and the first volume 

of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations were contemporaneorts). 

Where contemporary is used 

without any comparison being made, it refers 

to the present time (Contemporary styles in 

women’s clothing permit great freedom of movement) 

. 

Coeval also means existing at the same time, 

but it implies that the contemporaneousness has 

gone on for a long time or existed in times of 

the remote past (Tyranny is coeval with servility. 

Rome and Greece were coeval). Where 

coeval is used of a person, it is usually humorous, 

implying a contemporaneousness of such 

duration that it must be measured in terms of 

history or geology. Lamb says of a superannuated 

man: He is forlorn among his coevals; his 

funiors cannot be his friends. 

Cotemporary and cotemporaneous, by the 

way, are permissible variants, not misspellings. 

See also synchronous. 

contemptible; contemptuous. When Pedro, in Much 

Ado About Nothing, says of Benedick that the 

man hath a contemptible spirit, it is apparent 

from the context that he does not mean that 

Benedick had a spirit deserving of contempt but 

one manifesting contempt, a haughty and disdainful 

spirit. But contemptible is no longer 

synonymous with contemptuous. It now means 

deserving of contempt and contemptuous means 

bestowing of contempt (It is true that his attitude 

towards the project is contemptuous, but 

it must be granted that many of those engaged 

in it are contemptible). 

content; contented. These adjectives can both follow 

a linking verb, as in the man was content 

and the man was contented. But only the form 

contented can stand before the noun it qualifies. 

We can say the contented man but not the content 

man. 

It may be hair-splitting, but in common use 

content suggests more of the meaning of satisfied 

and contented more of pleased in sntisfaction. 

content; contents. In current English, the singular 

word content is used in speaking of the significant 

material contained in a piece of work, and

one may say it has no content. The plural word 

contents means the topics treated, or more often 

a list of these topics. When it means a list, it is 

treated as a singular, as in is there a contents? 

In speaking of a physical container, the plural 

form contents means what is contained in it, and 

the singular content means its capacity. The 

singular may also be used to mean amount as 

in the ulcoholic content. When used with a 

physical meaning, the plural contents requires 

a plural verb, as in the contents were surprising, 

but it is not a true plural and cannot be used 

with a numeral. 

contentious. See controversial. 

contest. In England a contested election is one in 

which there is more than one candidate. In 

America it is that (It was a hotly contested election) 

but it is also an election in which the 

validity of the returns is challenged (Contested 

elections are determined by Congress). 

In sports, the American contestant is the 

English competitor, though the American usage 

(which is standard in England but simpby not 

employed very much) is coming into use in 

England more and more. 

context means that part of a discourse or writing 

which precedes and follows a given passage or 

word, which gives the passage or word its exact 

meaning. Where a word has many meaningsand 

some words in English have twenty or thirty 

meanings and thousands have two or more meanings-it 

is often only the context that can tell us 

just which meaning is to be understood. 

Out of context, whole passages can be misunderstood. 

Thus Iago’s great speech in Othello, 

beginning 

Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, 

Is the immediate jewel of their souls 

is taught to millions of children as a noble and 

high-minded utterance. And so, taken by itself, 

it is. But in the context of the play it is profoundly 

cynical. 

To quote out of context with the deliberate 

intention of misleading is a moral, not a grammatical, 

fault. But it is very common, especially 

in the advertising of books and theatrical performances. 

Thus a notice before a theater may 

inform the public, on the authority of a distinguished 

critic, that this is “Miss W’s most 

brilliant performance.” Whereas the critic had 

written “Miss W’s most brilliant performance 

falls short of most other actresses’ mumbling in 

their sleep.” 

contiguous. See adjacent. 

continually; continuously. See constantly. 

continuance; continuation. Though continuance 

and continuation are synonymous in meaning 

the act or fact of continuing, continuance means 

duration or time of continuing (His continuance 

in ofice was made endurable only by the devotion 

of his friends). Continuation means prolongation, 

either of time or space. Thus the continuance 

of a house would refer to the time of its 

continual standing. The continuation of a house 

could refer to an extension, such as a wing, or 

to the future time in which it would be permitted 

117 contrive 

to remain standing (The continuation of its 

occupancy of this site was debatable). 

Continuance has a special legal meaning in 

American usage: the adjournment of a step in 

a proceeding to a future day (At the attorney’s 

request a continuance was granted). 

continue may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

continue to talk, or by the -ing form of a verb, as 

in continue talking. Both forms are acceptable. 

Continue may be followed by an adjective 

describing what continues, as in he continued 

silent. It may also be followed by an adverb 

describing the continuing, as in he continued 

silently. See also resume. 

continuing action tenses. See progressive tenses. 

contract; catch; get. One of the many meanings 

of contract is to acquire, as by habit or contagion 

(He contracted the habit of smoking. 

He contracted enormous debts). In reference to 

the acquirement of a disease, it is a little stilted, 

though widely used. To catch or to get a cold is 

better than to contract one, though the rarer 

diseases or the more common diseases under 

their rarer names are more fittingly contracted. 

One contracts tuberculosis, one gets a sty or a 

boil. A child will probably get a light case of 

measles, but contract a severe one. 

contradictory; contradictious. Ideas, statements, 

and terms that are opposed, admitting no middle 

ground, and mutually exclusive, are contradictory. 

Persons who delight in having ideas 

and making statements that are contradictory to 

those expressed by their associates are contradictious. 

They are not, however, often so called. 

Quarrelsome, captious, perverse, argumentative, 

cantankerous are terms more generally employed 

to describe such people. Contrary is used 

a great deal colloquially. 

contrary; opposite; adverse; reverse. Opposite 

means symmetrical antithesis in position, action 

or character. It and contrary, adverse, and reverse 

refer to two things that differ from each 

other in such a way as to suggest a relationship. 

Contrary, except when specifically applied to 

persons, describes something impersonal whose 

opposition happens to be unfavorable (a contrary 

opinion, contrary winds). Reverse describes 

that which faces or moves in the opposite 

direction (a reverse judgment, the reverse of a 

page). Adverse suggests something hostile in its 

opposition, being not merely opposite but opposing. 

Adverse fortune is worse than ill fortune 

in that it implies an active malignance in the 

bad luck. 

contrary-to-fact statements. See subjunctive mode 

and infinitives. 

contrast. See compare. 

contribute may sometimes be followed by an infinitive, 

as in it contributed to save our lives. 

The construction is found in older literature but 

is rare today. The -ing form of a verb with the 

preposition to, as in it contributed to saving our 

lives, is generally preferred. 

contrive may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

I contrived to meet him. It may also be followed 

by a that clause. But in this case, the clause verb 

must be a subjunctive or a subjunctive equiva-

controversial 118 

lent, as in I contrived that 1 should meet him. 

The infinitive construction is generally preferred. 

Contrive is not followed by the -ing form of a 

verb. We do not say I contrived meeting him. 

controversial; contentious. That which is :subject 

to controversy is controversial, He who is given 

to controversy is contentious (A contentious 

man will find every issue controversial). 

conversation. See dialogue. 

convict. The verb convict is sometimes usedmore 

often in speech than in writing-for convince 

(No use talking, you can’t convict me). 

To convict is to prove guilty of an offense, especially 

after a legal trial. To convince is to persuade 

by argument. 

convinced. See satisfied. 

cookbook. The American cookbook is in Elngland 

a cookery book. 

cool as a cucumber. Cucumbers are cool. Scientists 

with thermometers have finally confirmed 

what has been known for thousands of years. 

But they have come too late to save thle hackneyed 

metaphor as cool as a cucumber meaning 

self-possessed, unemotional, collected. It is a 

cliche and should be used sparingly. 

cooperate together. Since cooperate means ‘to work 

together, cooperate together is a tautology. 

copula means “connective.” Some grammarians 

mean by “the copula” only the verb be. Others 

use the term for any verb that merely links a 

subject and a complement, such as become, 

seem, appear. See linking verbs. 

copy (noun). See replica. 

copy (verb). See recopy. 

copyright; copyrighted. In America a book is copyright, 

in England it is copyrighted. 

corn means whatever cereal is the chief crop in 

the country. In America corn means maize, in 

England wheat, in Scotland oats. The compounds 

and derivatives of corn in America are 

many (cornfield, corn pone, corn cob, corn 

syrup, etc.). Corn is used alone as an abbreviation 

of corn whisky and as a slang term for trite 

sentimentality and forced, obvious humor. This 

last usage seems to derive from cornfed which 

a generation ago was a slang term for bucolic 

or rustic. 

comerways; comerwise. Both forms are acceptable. 

cornucopia. The plural is cornucopias, not cornucopiae. 

The form cornucopiae is an old-fashioned 

English singular, made from a Latin 

genitive meaning “horn of plenty.” It had a regular 

English plural cornucopiaes. The form 

cornucopia is preferred today. 

corpora. See corpus. 

corporal; corporeal; physical; bodily. Corporal, 

bodily, is now confined almost exclusively in 

ordinary speech and writing to the phrase corporal 

punishment. This is sometimes called 

corporeal punishment, but that is an error today. 

Corporeal and corporal used to be synonymous, 

but corporeal has now become a philosophic 

and theological word meaning of the nature of 

matter. Theologians speak of fhe Corporeal 

presence of Christ in the Eucharist. 

Physical indicates the animal or human body 

as a material organism (The physical strength 

of men in delirium is not as great as folklore 

often represents if). Bodily, which has now replaced 

corporal in all but the one phrase, means 

belonging to, or concerned with, the human 

body, as distinct from mind or spirit (Bodily 

pain is often overlooked in times of mental 

suffering). 

corps. The singular form corps means an organized 

military body (The Medical Corps, The 

Marine Corps). The plural form, meaning more 

than one such body, is also written corps. 

In the United States a singular verb is ordinarily 

used in speaking of just one corps, as in 

the cadet corps is orz its way. But since this 

represents a body of men, a plural verb may also 

be used in speaking of a single corps, as in the 

cadet corps are on their way. 

corpse; body; carcass; carrion. Corpse is a dead 

body, usually of a human being. The dead body 

of an animal is called a carcass. Carrion describes 

a putrefying carcass. Body refers to the 

material organism of an individual man or animal, 

living or dead (A glow of health suffused 

his magnificent body. The body lay where it had 

fallen, inert and lifeless). 

corpulent. See fat. 

corpus. The plural is corpora, not corpi. 

corrective of; corrective for. Though corrective 

of is preferable (Greed is not necessarily a corrective 

of sloth), corrective for is standard in 

American usage (His biting irony was a good 

corrective for the lush and sentimental rhetoric 

they were addicted to). The construction is unavoidable 

as corrective comes to be used more 

and more as a synonym for remedy. 

correlative conjunctions. See parallel constmctions. 

correspondence; correspondents. Correspondence 

is communication by exchange of letters. Corresponderzts 

are those who exchange correspondence. 

correspondent; corespondent. A correspondent is 

one who communicates by ‘letters. A corespondent 

is a joint defendant, especially in a divorce 

proceeding, where one charged with adultery is 

made a joint defendant. Many an indiscreet correspondent 

has found himself a corespondent. 

corrugated; coruscated. That is corrugated which 

is drawn or bent into folds or alternate furrows 

and ridges. A plowed field is corrugated. Sheets 

of iron used for facing buildings or for making 

drain pipes and culverts are often corrugated. 

To coruscate is to emit vivid flashes of light, 

to sparkIe or to gleam (The coruscations of the 

tiara were brilliant. His wit fairly coruscated). 

cost. The past tense is cost. The participle is also 

cost. 

cost a pretty penny. To say of something expensive 

that it cost a pretty penny is to be allured 

by alliteration into a cliche. It is an affected. 

mincing phrase. 

costive; costly. Mathews quotes several instances 

of the use of costive for costly (A scarcity of 

ice has been a great hardship heretofore, and to 

ship it from Denison made it very costive). But 

since costive means constipated and costly means

expensive, the confusion could be the result of 

either ignorance or sly facetiousness (as in another 

of Mathews’ quotations wherein a lady’s 

poodle is referred to as pretty but costive). 

There is a gag in Hollywood of a famoua producer 

who when told that a certain successful 

novel would never do for a movie because it was 

“too caustic” said “Never mind the cost! If it’s 

good, we’ll buy it.” 

costly; dear: expensive. Expensive implies a price 

beyond what a thing is worth and beyond what 

the purchaser can afford to pay (Since it got 

him fired, it turned out to be an expensive indulgence). 

Costly implies that much was paid 

or must be paid because of the high value of the 

object ((I costly jewel), but it, too, is used, like 

expensive, to imply that too much was paid 

(That was a costly joke). Dear in America, in 

this sense, means high-priced (It would have 

been dear at half the price). 

coterie. See clique. 

couched. The use of couched for expressed (The 

offer was couched in the most Pattering terms), 

while not an affectation, is too much a literary 

word for everyday use. 

could. See can. 

council; counsel. A council is a deliberative: assembly 

of persons (His election to the council 

assured the citizens of better government). 

Counsel is advice, opinion (When we need your 

counsel, we shall send for you). The two w(ords 

are pronounced alike, but it is an illiterate error 

to confuse them. 

The advocate engaged in the direction of a 

cause in court, or any legal adviser, is counsel. 

When used as such the plural form is counsel, 

as in the counsel were able to agree. When the 

word means advice or opinion, it has the regular 

plural counsels, as in more moderate counsels 

prevailed. 

councilor; counselor. A councilor is a member of 

a council. A counselor is one who gives counsel 

or advice. Of course a councilor could also be a 

counselor. 

Counselor has the special meaning, in America, 

of one in a position of minor authority at a 

summer camp for boys or girls. 

counsel. See council. 

countenance. See face. 

counterfeiter; coiner. Counterfeiter is the general 

term in America for one who makes base or 

imitation coins or paper money. The British 

term is coiner (My father was I know not where/ 

When I was stamp’d; some coiner with his 

tools/ Made me u counterfeit), though the false 

coin or bill itself is called a counterfeit. The 

word coiner is kept in American usage, at least 

by those in the government services that deal 

with counterfeiting, for one who makes coumerfeit 

coins, in distinction to one who makes 

counterfeit bills, who is a counterfeiter (“Coiners 

aren’t a menace, but they sure are a nuisance,” 

Secret Service chief U. E. Baughman summed 

it up). 

In England and America coiner can also mean 

a minter or stamper of money or one who coins, 

as of words or phrases (Hardy wus an inveterute 

119 covet 

coiner of words; he felt that he had a right to 

make up any word that expressed his meaning). 

counterpart is sometimes used as if it meant opposite; 

whereas it means duplicate, almost the 

opposite of opposite. Originally a counterpart 

was the opposite part of an indenture and from 

this has come not only its contemporary meaning 

of duplicate but its equally valid, though less 

commonly used, meaning of one of two parts 

which fit each other or one of two things which 

are complementary (The unexpected visitor was 

the exact counterpart of the photograph he had 

been shown the night before. Deep-sea valleys 

. . . are the counterparts of the mountain 

chains). 

countless, if it is to mean anything, must mean 

numbers so great that they are incapable of 

being counted. To use it, then, as a mere synonym 

for many is to defeat emphasis by exaggeration. 

Thus one often encounters the phrase 

countless generations, but, allowing thirty years 

to a generation, all the generations within the 

time of recorded history could be counted in two 

or three minutes. 

coup; coup& A coup is an unexpected and successful 

stroke, usually a political maneuver or a 

seizure of political power by a military group. 

A coupe’ (more often now a coupe) is a closed 

automobile with a body somewhat shorter than 

that of a sedan of the same line. The coop of 

hencoop, whence also the slang word for jail, is 

an entirely different word, being related to cup. 

couple. In the United States couple is often placed 

immediately before a noun, as in a couple 

dollars, u couplz months. This is following the 

pattern of dozen and may be established in time, 

but it is not yet standard English. In standard 

English couple must be joined to a following 

noun by of, as in a couple of chairs. This of is 

omitted only before degree words such as more, 

less, too many, as in bring a couple more chairs. 

Couple may be used with either a singular or 

a plural verb. The plural construction is heard 

more often than the singular. This is especially 

true when the word refers to human beings, a5 

in the couple were dancing. 

Court of St. James (St. James’s). From 1697 to 

1809 St. James’s Palace in London was the royal 

residence. The palace was so named because its 

site was once occupied by St. James’s hospital 

for leprous women. The court, to which our ambassadors 

are still accredited, is, strictly, the 

Court of St. James’s, and this spelling may be 

insisted on by those who want to be letter 

perfect and historically accurate. The Court of 

St. James is, however, not only a recognized and 

accepted variant but is preferred by those who 

feel that the extra ‘s serves no purpose except to 

display the erudition of those who employ it. 

The palace, by the way, is always St. James’s 

Palace. 

courteous. See polite. 

courtesy. See curtesy. 

covet means to desire, but to desire excessively or 

wrongfully. This may be due to its use in the 

tenth commandment. There are also connotations 

of envy and secrecy in the word. Illicit de-

cowardly 

sires would naturally be kept secret, but this 

meaning may be strengthened by its similarity 

in sound to covert. But simple desire it is not. 

We would not think of using it today as it is used 

in a quotation, dated 1634, in the Oxford English 

Dictionary: Boys go up and down with flugons 

of wine, and fill to fhose that covet it. See also 

envy. 

cowardly; timid. An act is cowardly when it is 

lacking in normal courage and basely timid (It 

was a cowardly thing to leave his post just becauSe 

he smelled smoke). An act is timid when 

it shows a lack of boldness or self-confidence. 

The timid are frightened when there is no real 

danger (The child was too timid to ask anyone 

which bus she should take). Because men who 

are cowards when they are in danger are often 

bullies when they feel secure, and because much 

has been made of this in popular psychology, 

many acts are described as cowardly which 

should be described as arrogant, over’bearing, 

insolent, brutal, tyrannical, or the like. Thus to 

say It was a cowardly thing for that big man to 

hit that defenseless boy may show a knowledge 

of the human heart but it shows an ignorance of 

the English language. 

coy. See modest. 

cracker. See biscuit. 

craft. When this word means a boat, the standard 

plural is craft, but a regular plural (crafts is 

sometimes heard in this sense. 

When the word means a skill or trade, the 

plural is always crtrfts. In this sense, both craft 

and crafts are used as the first element in a compound, 

as in craftroom and craftsroom. Only 

the form with s is used in craftsman. 

crave. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in Z crave to hear his voice. It may also be 

followed by a clause with the clause verb a subjunctive 

or a subjunctive equivalent, as in Z cruve 

that he come. The infinitive construction is 

preferred. 

crawfish: crayfish. Any of numerous fresh-water 

decapod crustaceans of the suborder Mncruca 

are called crayfish by zoologists and the British, 

but in common American usage they are called 

cruwfish. Both, by the way, are folk-etymological 

corruptions of the old French crevice. The crawmay 

have been affected by crawl. 

The verb to crawfish, to crawl or back out of 

an undertaking, is slang, not standard. 

crawl. See creep. 

credence; credit. Credence means belief. To give 

credence is to believe. (I could not place much 

credence in his narrative). Credit also means 

believe (I could not credit his narrative). The 

credit which one has at a store is the amount 

which the store believes one will pay. But from 

both of these meanings credit branches off into 

other meanings. Credit means financial status, 

the amount of money at one’s disposal in the 

bank, acknowledgement of merit (Much credit 

accrued to him because of his speech before the 

joint session), and source of honor (Dr. Bunche 

is a credit not only to the Negro race but to the 

human race). Thus in the meaning of belief 

credence has the advantage (because it means 

only one thing) of being free from any possible 

ambiguity. 

credible; creditable; credulous. Credible means 

believable, worthv of belief or confidence (His 

story was credible. Z have it on the authority of 

a credible witness). Creditable means bringing 

of honor or esteem (Nis refusal to accept the 

bribe was a creditable action). 

The negative of credible is incredible. The 

negative of creditable is discreditable. 

Credulous once meant merely inclined to believe. 

Bishop Hall said (1605) that a credulous 

and plain heart is more acceptable to God than 

a curious [i.e., inquiring] head. But in general 

usage today credulous means over-inclined to 

believe, gullible. Buckle refers to an ignorant 

and therefore a credulous age. 

credit; accredit. To credit is to believe (I credit 

your *story implicitly). To accredit is to invest 

with authority (He was accredited ambassador 

to Italy) or to certify as meeting certain official 

requirements (The board failed to accredit Podunk 

Normal College). Accredit also means to 

ascribe or attribute (The invention of the submarine 

was accredited to Fulton. He was accredited 

with the witticism, whether he actually said 

it or not). 

Of course where something creditable is ascribed 

or attributed to someone, where, that is, 

it may be thought of as being put to the person’s 

credit (The invention of the submarine is credited 

to Fulton) credit may be used for accredit. 

But accredit may be used for the ascription or 

attribution of discreditable things; whereas 

credit may not. 

creek. In the United States (as also in Canada and 

Australia) a creek is a small stream, as a branch 

of a river. In English usage it is a narrow recess 

in the shore of the sea, an inlet or bay. This is 

the meaning that Chaucer had in mind when he 

said that his Shipman knew every cryke in 

Britaigne and in Spayne. 

Although it would be understood if encountered 

in reading and although it is incorporated 

into thousands of place names (meant in the 

more recent ones to lend an upper-class or 

romantic air), brook is very rarely used in 

America in ordinary speech. 

creep. The past tense is crept. The participle is also 

crept. A form creeped is heard but is not 

standard. 

creep and crawl, as terms for moving along the 

ground, are frequently interchangeable, but 

crawl suggests a more prostrate motion and it 

aIone has the suggestion of abasement (He’ll 

come crawling to ask my forgiveness). Creep 

often has a sinister connotation (At night when 

you’re asleep/ Into your tent 1’11 creep. Day by 

day the Indian tiger/ Louder yelled and nearer 

crept), while crawl suggests the movement of 

loathsome rather than of dangerous things (Yea, 

slimy things did crawl with legs/ Upon a slimy 

sea). 

crematorium. The plural is crematoriums or crematoria. 

creole means various things in various places and 

various punctuations. In the West Indies and

Spanish America it means one born in the region 

but of European, usually Spanish, ancestry. In 

Louisiana and elsewhere, when spelled with a 

capital C, it means a person born in the region 

but of French ancestry. It also means the F:rench 

language of Louisiana, especially that spoken, 

or formerly spoken, by white persons in New 

Orleans. When the initial C is not capitalized, it 

means a person of mixed Creole and Negro ancestry 

speaking a form of French or Spanish, or 

a native-born Negro as distinguished from a 

Negro brought from Africa. 

crept. See creep. 

crevice; crevasse. A crevice is a crack form.ing an 

opening, a rift, a fissure. A crevasse is also a 

fissure, but a special kind. It is a deep cleft in 

the ice of a glacier and, in the United States, a 

breach in an embankment or levee. 

crew. See crow. 

cricket. Only Americans seeking to ape or to ridicule 

the English ever say it’s not cricket and they 

are likely to be bores. We have clichts enough 

of our own without importing them. 

The phrase originated in the fact that cricket, 

largely an upper-class game, a “gentleman’s” 

game, “is a game full of forlorn hopes and 

sudden dramatic changes of fortune, and its 

rules are so ill-defined that their interpretation 

is partly an ethical business” (George Orwell). 

Then it values form or style more highly than 

success. Thus to say that something is not cricket 

doesn’t mean that it is dishonest or criminal, but 

that it simply doesn’t measure up to the highest 

ethical standards. 

crime; sin. A crime is an act committed or a duty 

omitted whose commission or omission is injurious 

to the public welfare and for the commission 

or omission of which punishment is prescribed 

by law and imposed in a judicial proceeding. 

Sin is the serious breaking of a moral or 

divine law. Thus it is a crime, but not a sin, to 

drive through a red light. It is a sin, but not a 

crime, to hate your neighbor or to covet his wife. 

It is a sin to tell a lie, but it is a crime only if 

you are under oath. Of course many things, such 

as murder and theft, are both sins and crimes. 

The words are used interchangeably, lightly and 

loosely, for emphasis or humor (It’s a crime, 

the way he makes her work after hourx. It’s 

sinful to work on a day like this; we ought to be 

outdoors). 

crisis. The plural is crises or crisises. 

criterion. The plural is criterions or criteria. 

critical has two meanings. One, inclined to find 

fault, to judge with severity, involving skilful 

judgment (The critical opinions of the play were 

unanimously favorable. Don’t be so critical; you 

have to make allowances for a beginner. His 

critical analysis was helDfuZ) . . derives from critics 

and their criticisms. Two, of decisive importance 

in respect to the outcome, crucial, involving 

risk, suspense, or peril (He was taken to the 

hospital in a critical condition. It was a critical 

decision in his life) derives from crisis. Since a 

crisis is often a time or condition of danger, 

critical in this sense means dangerous, but critical 

is, of course, not a synonym for dangerous, 

121 cross 

and the careful speaker and writer will use it to 

mean dangerous only when the danger is one 

latent in a crisis. 

criticism; critique. As a term for a critical examination 

or review, especially of a literary or 

artistic work, critique is a pretty highfalutin 

word. Fowler’s hope, a generation ago, that the 

word was dying out, has not been realized. It has 

a justification in the fact that criticism is ambiguous: 

it may mean a discrimination or discussion 

of merit, character or quality, or the exercise or 

application of critical judgment, but it may a!so 

mean faultfinding. Among ordinary people, in 

their ordinary use of the word, that is what it 

does mean (Z’m doing the best I can and I resent 

his criticism). But ordinary people don’t know 

the word critique at all. Those who use it, use it 

almost entirely in works that will be read by 

those who presumably understand the proper 

meaning of criticism. Review is a good word for 

a short examination and study for a longer one. 

In referring to the standard or rules of critical 

judgment, as in Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, 

the word has a more established validity. 

crochet and crotchet were once the same word, 

but their pronunciations are different and one 

has become specialized and the other has extended 

its meaning into senses not shared by the 

first. Crochet now refers to a special kind of 

needlework done with a needle which has a 

small hook at one end which serves to draw the 

thread or yarn into intertwined loops. A crotchet 

is a small hook or any one of various devices 

and instruments with a small hook at one end. In 

its most commonly used sense it means an odd 

fancy or whimsical notion-something, that is, 

that has hooked on to the mind like a burr (Mr. 

Dick’s crotchet about King Charles’s head was 

one of Dickens’s better fancies). Since people 

with crotchets are often difficult to deal with, 

crotchety is frequently a synonym for cantunkerous. 

crocodile tears. It was anciently believed, or at 

least asserted, that the crocodile wept and made 

mournful noises to attract passers-by that he 

might devour those whom pity brought within 

his reach. Moreover, he shed tears as he devoured 

them. No wonder that these tears became 

a trope for hypocritical expressions of 

sympathy and regret. But we no longer believe 

the fable, and sophistication has long ago exhausted 

even the quaintness of it. It is now a 

pure clichC, an allegory best left on the banks 

of the Nile where Pliny’s fancy found it. 

cross as a bear. Despite cuddly Christmas presents 

for children, animated cartoons, and scores of 

juvenile picture books, a bear, as our ancestors 

well knew, is not an amiable creature. Directors 

of zoos regard their bears as more dangerous 

than the big cats. None the less, the simile, 

though justified, is hackneyed and should be 

avoided as a clicht. 

cross the Rubicon. The Rubicon was a small 

stream which in ancient Italy formed the boundary 

between Italy and the province of Cisalpine 

Gaul. When, in 49 B.C., Julius Caesar, who had 

been placed in command of the Gallic legions

crossways 122 

but had no military authority in Italy itself, 

crossed this stream at the head of his troops he 

knew that by so doing he had declared war 

against Pompey and the Senate. Plutarch tells 

us that when Caesar came to the river “hle communed 

with himself for a long time in silence. 

. . . But finally, with a sort of passion, . . . uttering 

the phrase with which men usually prelude 

their plunge into desperate and daring fortunes, 

‘Let the die be cast,’ he hastened to cross the 

river.” 

To use crossing the Rubicon, then, as a term 

for taking a step which definitely commits one 

to an irreversible course of action, is to show 

oneself acquainted with Plutarch and with the 

minutiae of Roman history. But after two thousand 

years and many millions of repetitions, 

allusions cease to elicit the awestruck or appreciative 

responses they once brought out. This 

one is now stale, flat, and unprofitable and 


crossways and crosswise. Both forms are acceptable. 

Crossword-puzzle English. Though the fever of 

crossword puzzles has abated, the malady lingers 

on. At the time of the full frenzy there was much 

discussion of their educational value. Mr. Arthur 

Maurice, former editor of Bookmun, claimed 

that forty dormant words had been edging their 

way back into controversial currency because 

of their frequent appearance in crossword 

puzzles. Among the forty were mar, cite, abet, 

sate, ire, goad, emit, leer, aver, foment, eke, pry, 

efan, carp (verb), inert and apt. Certa.inly all 

addicts have learned that em and en are printers’ 

measures, that a period of time may be an age, 

an eon or an era, and that among real and 

imaginary animals there are or have been the 

emu, the ai, the gnu, the yak, the boa, the rot 

and the asp. But the chief advantage of learning 

crossword-puzzle words is that it enables one 

who has learned them to solve other crossword 

puzzles. There are few other places in the world, 

for instance, where it is of any value to know 

that an Anglo-Saxon serf was sometimes called 

an esne. 

Mr. Maurice appended to his essay defending 

crossword puzzles an imaginary conversation to 

show how the new words acquired might be 

used in everyday speech. A short sample will 

suffice : 

Mrs. B.: Are you making that ebon garment 

for yourself ? 

Mrs. A.: Yea. Just a black dress for every day. 

Henry says I look rather naif in black. 

Mrs. B.: Well, perhaps, but it’s a bit too anile 

for me. Give me something in indigo, 

say, or ecru. 

Mrs. A.: Quite right. There is really no neb in 

such solemn vestments. 

Mrs. B.: Stet. 

crow. The American phrase for being compelled 

to make a humiliating retraction or confession 

of error, to eat crow, is expressed in England by 

the phrase to eat humble pie. Both are con- 

sidered nauseating dishes, for the humble of the 

English phrase is the umbles or unsavory inwards 

of the deer. See humble pie. 

A crow to pick (the English use the phrase 

which the Americans use too, a bone to pick) 

means to have an unpleasant matter to discuss 

with someone. 

crow. The past tense is crowed or crew. The participle 

is crowed. 

In the United States crowed is the only form 

commonly used for the past tense but crew is 

still heard in Great Britain. An old participle 

crown is heard in this country, as in when the 

cock had crown, but this is now archaic or countrified. 

An interesting illustration of the manner in 

which usage can become fixed is supplied by 

crowed and crew. The educated man would say 

that a child crowed with delight and that so-andso 

crowed over his enemies in triumph, but he 

might say that a cock crew. If asked to explain 

his retention of an archaic preterit in this particular 

application of the verb, he would probably 

be unable to do so. Yet the usage, in relation 

to cocks, was established by the fact that 

in all four of the Gospels, immediately upon 

Peter’s denial of Christ, the cock crew. 

crowd isa large number of persons gathered closely 

together. Like throng, but unlike multitude, it 

suggests an uncomfortable jostling (The heat 

and pressure of the crowd was frightening). To 

speak of a group of friends as a crowd (The old 

crowd was there; we had a wonderful time) is 

acceptable spoken English and quite sensible 

when it is meant to suggest a crowding together. 

But as a term for a clique (They’re a rotten 

crowd-Scott Fitzgerald) it is not standard. 

As a verb, crowd means to push or press 

against physically (They were crowded to the 

wall and in grave danger) ; but there is no reason 

why, like hundreds of other such verbs, it should 

not be extended metaphorically (The new executives 

soon crowded him out of the company) so 

long as the pushing together of a group is meant 

to be conveyed. To say that one is crowded for 

time is to carry the metaphor to its permissible 

limits, and to use crowd merely as a synonym 

for pushing (He was always crowding in where 

he wasn’t wanted) is wrong. 

truces. See crux. 

crumble; crumple; rumple. To crumble is to break 

into small fragments or crumbs (The rock 

crumbled under his hands and he fell from the 

clifl). To crumple is to draw or press into irregular 

folds, or to wrinkle heavily (Angrily he 

crumpled the letter and threw it into the wastebasket). 

To rumple is to crumple, but lightly and, 

usually, playfully (He affectionately rumpled 

the child’s hair. The coverlets were all rumpled 

with the horseplay). 

Crumb, the basis of crumble, was originally 

the soft inner part of the loaf, as distinguished 

from the crust (He that keeps nor crust nor 

crumb/ Weary of all, shall want some). 

crumby; crummy. Crumby, full of crumbs, of 

the nature of crumbs, friable (though this is

usually expressed by cnlmbly), was formerly 

also spelled crummy. The slang crummy, mean, 

shabby (What a crummy joint!) seems to stem 

from an earlier slang meaning lousy which, in 

turn, may have derived from the idea t.hat a 

louse looked like a crumb. 

crux is a cross. The term came to be applied figuratively 

to anything that torments by its puzzling 

nature, particularly philosophical and textual 

difficulties (The unity of opposites was the crzzx 

of ancient thinkers. The consideration of a 

textual crux sharpens the wits). In modern usage 

it has come to be applied almost solely to a 

vital, basic, or decisive point, especially in the 

rather tired phrase the crux of the matter. It is 

a word that has been confined, heretofore, to 

literary problems so that it has distinctly an 

academic flavor and should be avoided by all 

who wish to avoid the imputation of peda.ntry. 

(The plural is crrdxes or truces.) 

cry; weep. Cry is the everyday word. It has in it 

the suggestion of a passionate, inarticulate but 

loud lament, an open expression of sorrow. In 

all meanings of cry there is an implication of 

great noise. Weep is a more poetic word (Weep 

no more, my lady). It suggests a quieter expression 

of grief, though the grief may be as 

deep (When the poor have cried, Caesar hath 

wept). Sobbing is weeping or crying with a convulsive 

catching of the breath. A wail is a prolonged 

inarticulate, mournful cry, usually highpitched 

(Then from the jail/ Came the wail/ 

Of a downhearted frail). A low-pitched wail 

would be a moan. 

cry over spilt milk, no use to. There’s no use 

telling those who think this a fresh and original 

way of expressing the folly of vain regret that 

it has been a cliche for a century and a proverb 

for two centuries before that. But it has. 

cry wolf. To say of someone who raises needless 

alarms that he is crying wolf is to employ a 

cliche. The phrase is a hackneyed reference to 

Aesop’s fable of the shepherd boy who shouted 

“Wolf! Wolf!” as a joke or just to get attention 

and then failed to get help when the wolf really 

came because his cry for help was no longer 

taken seriously. 

cryptic is a mysterious word for mysterious, 

hidden, secret, occult, and unless one wishes to 

risk the contempt and resentment which, as well 

admiration, is sometimes bestowed on those who 

use strange words, he would do well to use one 

of the commoner synonyms. 

cue; queue. There used to be distinctions between 

these words. The actor’s indication and the rod 

used in pool and billiards were invariably cue. 

The pigtail and people waiting in line were 

queue, and this spelling still holds for these 

uses in England. But in America. although it 

is known that the law-abiding Engiish queue up 

in queues, cue is the accepted spelling for all 

senses, except that queue is sometimes used for 

the pigtail. 

cumulus. The plural is cumuli. 

cups that cheer. Those who refer to alcoholic 

beverages as the cups that cheer are guilty of a 

123 curtesy 

number of errors. In the first place, the full 

phrase, taken from Cowper’s The Tusk (1783), 

is the cups that cheer but not inebriate, and it 

refers to tea. And if, as seems likely, Cowper 

was echoing a passage from Bishop Berkeley, it 

referred originally to tar water. Just how an 

infusion of tar in water cheered him or anyone 

else, the Bishop did not say; it was probably part 

of the mystery of his philosophy, Subjective 

Idealism. The phrase is a clich6, worn out and 

misunderstood and should be avoided. 

curate. See rector. 

curb; kerb. For the protective margin of the sidewalk, 

the American spelling is curb, the English 

kerb. For curb in the sense of restrain, see check. 

curious; inquisitive. Curious can mean desirous 

of knowing or that which makes us desirous of 

knowing (Children are very curious, eager to 

find out anything that they think is being concealed 

from them by their parents. His behavior 

seemed curious and occasioned a great deal of 

speculation in the village). 

In popular usage curious in the first of these 

senses has come to mean almost entirely an 

eagerness to know something that is not properly 

one’s concern. Like inquisitive, with which it 

is largely synonymous, it implies a prying into 

other people’s affairs. Of the two words, inquisitive 

suggests more action, in the form of 

asking impertinent questions or investigating in 

some way. One can be curiozrs without doing 

anything more than wondering (She was curious 

about what was going on in her neighbor’s 

house and soon became inquisitive among the 

children). 

currently. See presently. 

curriculum. The plural is curriculums or curricula. 

curry favor. To curry favor, as an expression for 

ingratiating oneself with another by flattery or 

complaisance, is a standard expression not used 

enough to be condemned as a clich6. But, 

although its general meaning is plain, it may be 

doubted if one out of ten thousand who use it 

have any idea of its spedific meaning, and it 

stands as a striking illustration of the ways of 

language and the fact that usage can in time 

make any blunder acceptable. 

To curry is to groom, as with a currycomb. 

Favor is a corruption of favel (until the sixteenth 

century the saying was to curry favel), which is 

the English form of the Old French fauvel, 

fallow-golored. Fauvel, a fallow horse, was the 

rascally hero of a romance, the Roman de 

Fuuvel (1310). Whether a fallow horse was a 

symbol of dishonesty before the romance or 

whether the idea came from the story is not 

clear, but the thought of currying this cunning 

rogue as a means of gaining his favor became 

proverbial, though the rascality of the one 

curried is not in the modern usage. 

curse. The past tense is cursed or curst. The paticiple 

is cursed. Cuss and cussed are often used 

by educated people as a softened form of curse. 

cursing. See blasphemy. 

curtesy; curtsey; curtsy; courtesy. Curtesy is a 

legal term meaning the life tenure formerly en-

cuspidor 124 

joyed by a husband in his wife’s land inheritance 

after her death, provided they had issue able to 

inherit. It is plainly a word that only the historian 

of land tenure would have much use for 

today. 

Clcrtsey and curfsy are variant spellings of 

each other and of courtesy, which may be used 

for them. They, however, are fixed in their 

meaning of one particular act of courtesy, a 

bow by women in recognition or respec:t, consisting 

of bending the knees and lowering the 

body (The pretty little Miss dropp’d me a 

curtsy). 

Courtesy means politeness, excellence of 

manners (He was a model of courtesy). It also 

means a courteous act or expression or :3 favor 

graciously conferred (He did me a c’ourtesy 

once and I don’t like to be rude to him). And 

it can mean consent or indulgence (By courtesy 

of the mnnagement). 

cuspidor. The substitution of the Portuguese cuspidor 

for the already fairly ornate American 

spittoon must mark a height of vulgar elegance 

exceeded only by the derivative cuspidorian bestowed 

upon its caretaker. 

cuss. See curse. 

custom; habit; practice. Custom, habit, and practice 

all mean an established way of doing things. 

Custom, when applied to a community or to an 

individual, means a more or less permanent 

continuance of a social usage (It is the custom 

to dye eggs at Easter. Such is the custom of 

Branksorne Half). Habif applies more to the individual 

and implies that the same action has 

been repeated so often that there is a tendency 

to perform it spontaneously. There can be good 

habits as well as bad habits, but the word carries 

a suggestion of the undesirable that is lacking in 

custom (He has a habit of twitching his left eye, 

but it is customary among well-bred people not 

to seem to notice such things). Practice applies 

to a set of fixed habits or an ordered procedure 

in conducting activities (It was his practice to 

open all of his mail before he read any of it). 

customary. See usual. 

customer. See buy; buyer and patron. 

customs. When this word means a toll or duty 

paid on imports, it is now always used in the 

plural with a plural verb, as in the customs were 

paid. But the word is not a true plural and 

cannot be used with a numeral. One does not 

pay two customs, although one may pay the 

customs more than once. Formerly the word 

was often used in the singular form, with a 

singular verb, as in the custom was paid. This is 

now obsolete. 

The old singular is seen in custom house, 

which is still the literary name for such a building. 

But we always say customs oficer and 

customs duty, and the new form customs house 

appears too often to be called anything but 

standard. 

cut. The past tense is cut. The participle is also 

cut. 

cut a long story short. The phrase to cut a long 

story short has raised false hopes amlong the 

victims of the verbose too often to have any 

validity any more. It is an empty, mocking 

phrase. The laconic do not need it and the talkative 

do not mean it. It is a knife turned in the 

wound of boredom, a warning of continuance 

when the soul of the listener is crying out for 

release. If the dictates of humanity do not suffice 

to suppress it, those of style should. 

cut 0.8 one’s nose to spite one’s face. Almost all 

lang.%ages have a proverb or saying about those 

who do themselves an injury in order to be 

revenged on an enemy, such as burning their 

house down to set his on fire; and most of them 

touch with grim humor on the fact that in the 

passion of hatred a man will do himself a great 

damage to do his enemy a small one. But of 

them all, the English version-cutting off one’s 

nose to spite one’s face-is the best, the homeliest, 

the most humorous, and stresses most 

grimly the immense disproportion between the 

self-inflicted injury and its reward. Unfortunately, 

however, the pungent old saying has been 

weakened by overuse. It has been applied to 

every trifling inconvenience until hundreds of 

millions of repetitions, without real appositeness, 

have robbed it of its force and made it a clichC. 

It is too good to be abandoned, but it should 

be allowed to rest. 

cute. Acute means sharp (an acute angle). It was 

a natural extension to apply it to mental sharpness 

(That was an acute observation). Mental 

sharpness, even if it were just a bit on the shady 

side, was much admired by our ancestors and 

cute, meaning shrewd, cunning, crafty was a 

common word in America a century ago (Zeke 

was too cute for them city fellers). In this sense, 

however, it is now obsolete, being replaced, to 

a considerable extent, in slang, by sharp. 

It is far from obsolete, though, in the sense 

of pleasing (a cute kid; a cute hut; a cute idea; 

gee, honey, you’re cute, and so on to acute 

nausea) in a pretty, dainty, or droll way. It is 

interesting that a word meaning crafty, shrewd, 

penetrating, words that indicate the seeking of 

one’s own interests, should have come to mean 

attractive or charming, for usually those to 

whom the earlier meanings apply are unattractive 

and repellent. Yet the same thing has 

happened in England with the word cunning 

which is now used almost, though not quite, as 

much as we use cute (a cunning nipper). The 

bridge for the shift of meaning was probably 

children, in whose attractiveness there is often 

an element of shrewdness and whose penetrating 

observations are amusing. 

But cute as a general term of approval is overworked 

now to the point of being an abomination. 

cyclone; tornado; typhoon; hurricane. A cyclone 

is an atmospheric pressure system characterized 

by relatively low pressure at its center, and by 

counterclockwise wind motion in the northern 

hemisphere and clockwise in the southern. The 

name is also applied to tropical hurricanes, especially 

in the Indian Ocean. A hurricane is a 

violent tropical cyclonic storm. It is called a 

typhoon in the western Pacific area, in the China 

seas, and in India, The term tornado is applied

to destructive rotary storms in the middle 1Jnited 

States, storms which usually appear as a whirling, 

advancing funnel hanging from a mass of 

black cloud. It is also applied to violent squalls 

or whirlwinds of small extent which appear in 

summer along the west coast of Africa. 

dabble in the occult. To dabble meant, originally, 

to wet by splashing, to play about in shallow 

water or mud; hence figuratively, and contemptuously, 

to be busied, intermittently and in a 

dilettante way, in some business or pursuit. 

What makes to dabble in the occult a clichf. 

is the inevitability of the combination. Those 

who use it would never think of saying to trifle 

with the occult or to employ oneself intermittently 

with the occult. They do not even dabble 

in the dictionary; invariably and wearyinglly, the 

two words are combined. 

daemon; demon. A daemon is a subordinate deity 

in Greek mythology, an intermediary between 

gods and men. It is often thus distinguished in 

spelling from demon, which is an unclean, evil 

spirit, a devil. 

daily; diurnal. Though daily and diurnal both 

mean of or belonging to each day, diurnal, referring 

to the motion of the heavenly bodies and 

having special applications in botany and the 

church service, is too heavy a word to be used 

in complete synonymity with daily. Thfe sun 

makes its diurnal round, but the milkman and 

the paper boy make their daily round. 

dainty. See nice. 

dam; damn; damned; damnably. A dam may be 

a barrier to obstruct the flow of water, or a body 

of water obstructed by such a barrier, or a 

female animal parent (now confined largely to 

quadrupeds; if applied to a human being done 

so with derogatory intent), It was formerly the 

name of a single one of the pieces used in the 

game of checkers. 

Damn, the curse, is pronounced exactly like 

dam and used to be spelled that way. MlDdern 

writers, wishing to be toughly realistic and at 

the same time gently safe, often spell God *damn 

as goddam. In defense they would probably allege 

that “That’s the way it’s pronounced.” But 

damn has always been pronounced dam. People 

who say It’s damn cold or I’m damn well tired 

of it al!, distress not only moralists but 1ing;uists; 

for they should say damned or damnably, according 

as they wish to suggest that the cold 

or the general situation has been condemned or 

is worthy to be condemned. Such people, however, 

can hardly be held to the niceties of 

grammar. The purists must get what comfort 

they can from the thought that at least they no 

longer use damnafion as an adverb, as millions 

125 dare 

D 

cyclops. The plural is cyclopses or Cyclopes. A 

singular cyclop, with a regular plural cyclops, 

has also been in use for several centuries. It is 

not heard as often as the singular cyclops, plural 

cyclopses, but it is thoroughly acceptable. 

cynosure. See nexus. 

of grammatically and morally unprincipled 

wretches did in the nineteenth century. 

damn with faint praise. When Alexander Pope 

said of “Atticus” (probably Addison) that he 

would Damn with faint praise, assent with civil 

leer,/And, without sneering, teach the rest to 

sneer he exposed felicitously the workings of 

the timid malice that so often underlies a cold 

virtue. But the felicity of his phrase has been 

its ruin. A paradox, however brilliant, can astonish 

us but once and after the billionth repetition 

there is no more delighted amazement, only 

weariness. 

dandy, in the sense of something fine or first-rate, 

was formerly a much-overworked word in colloquial 

American usage. Horwill quotes a man 

as saying that he had just given his mother-inlaw 

a dandy funeral. Its serious use has declined 

but there has been an ironical revival that has 

brought it back into general use among the 

smarter young set. But irony is even more perishable 

than innocent enthusiasm. 

dangling participles. See participles. 

dare. The past tense is dured or durst. The participle 

is dared. 

This verb was once in a class with ca~z and 

may and may still be used just as these verbs 

are. The word dare was an ancient past tense 

form, meaning “have courage,” which had come 

to be felt as a present tense by the time English 

became a written language. Durst was a new 

past tense form that had been created for it, 

which had also come to be felt as a present 

tense. As a result, neither word had the characteristic 

s ending in the third person singular. 

Both were followed by the simple form of a 

verb and not by a to-infinitive. One might say 

he dare go or he durst go. The verb had no imperative, 

no infinitive, no past participle, no -ing 

form, and could not follow, or be dependent on, 

another verb. One could not say will dare, did 

dare, or used to dare. 

During the last five or six hundred years, the 

verb has gradually moved out of this class. It 

has developed full, regular forms with a past 

tense and participle dared and an -ing form. It is 

now possible to say will dare, did dart, used to 

dare. The new verb dare has an s in the third 

person singular and is followed by a to-infinitive. 

as in he dares to go. 

In present day English durst is archaic. But

dash 126 

dare may be used with or without an 3: in the 

third person singular and may be followed by 

the simple form of a verb or by a to-infinitive. 

It may enter into compounds like any other 

regular verb or it may be treated as if this was 

impossible. We may say I do not dare and do 

you dare?, or we may use the older forms and 

say I dare not and dare you? Some gramrnarians 

feel that this is license enough and object when 

the new forms are used in the old construction, 

that is, without the to of the infinitive, as in he 

dares go, he dured go, I don’t dare go. Sotne also 

insist that the old forms cannot be used when 

the word has its relatively new meaning of 

“challenge,” as in I dare you jump. But the best 

writers and speakers have not agreed with them. 

Combinations of the old and the new forms are 

used by outstanding writers today, as in do I 

dare disturb the universe? (where the purist requires 

dare I disturb or do I dare to disturb). 

Now that the verb dare has moved out of the 

class of can and may, acquiring an s in the third 

nerson singular and a to-infinitive following it, 

ihe regula; verb need seems to be moving in. 

Need often drops its s and its to, as in r’ze need 

not answer. See need. 

dash. The dash marks a sharp break in the sentence, 

an introduction of some surprise element. 

It is a comfortable punctuation mark since even 

the most rigorous critic can seldom claim that 

any particular example of it is a misuse. Its 

overuse is its greatest danger, and the writer 

who can’t resist dashes may be suspected of uncoordinated 

thinking. 

The primary uses of the dash are: 

1. To indicate a sharp break in the sentence, 

as in Then he-would you believe it?--ran to 

the corner grocery. 

2. To show interruption of a sentence or 

word, especially in dialogue, as in “But you 

must have th--” and “Well, the only reason 

I-“. 

3. 

Iv in 

As a replacement for parentheses, especiaiinformal 

writing. In this case the dashes 

are, of course, used >n pairs, as in AI1 those 

things-the sound of the apples sputtering, the 

smell of the cinnamon, the glow of the firesuddenly 

made him decide to stay. 

4. To summarize, emphasize, or contrast with 

what has been said earlier in the sentence, as in 

A good five-cent cigar-this is what the country 

needs and wants and He could always find a job 

when he wanted to-he just never wanted to. 

5. After a word or phrase, when followed by 

several phrases set in separate lines that require 

this word or phrase to complete their meaning, 

as in: 

I wish they would- 

See him nominated. 

Get him elected. 

Support his policy. 

6. To suggest profanity without offending 

anyone’s sensibilities, as in Why, you-!, You 

S-! It is considered old-fashioned to combine a 

dash with a comma, a colon, or a semicolon, as 

in Dear Sir:- 

dastardly means cowardly, meanly base, and 

should not be applied to acts, however vicious, 

in which there is not at least an element of 

cowardice. Thus the act of the Puerto Rican 

terrorists who, in November 1950, attempted to 

assassinate President Truman, though it was 

shocking, desperate, ferocious, mad, misguided, 

and murderous, was not, as many papers called 

it, “dastardly.” Whatever else the assassins were, 

they were not cowards: the attack was made 

openly in full daylight; they attacked the armed 

guards directly, with the almost inevitable certainty 

of being killed themselves. 

data. This word is commonly used to mean the information 

at hand-verbal or statistical reports 

or laboratory observations. In this sense data 

may be treated as a singular or a plural. 

In the social sciences data is usually treated as 

a singular. Specialists in these fields characteristically 

refer to their data as it and talk about 

much data and very little data. These are singular 

constructions. They are perfectly acceptable, 

provided they are not followed by a plural 

verb. In the physical sciences data is more often 

treated as a plural. This too is acceptable, provided 

it is done consistently. But it is not enough 

to use a plural verb. If data is a plural it should 

be referred to as they and not as it and should 

have plural qualifiers such as these, many, few, 

and not singulars such as this, much, little. 

A singular construction such as the data is 

now in, but we have not examined much of it is 

perfectly good English. A plural construction 

such as the dutu are now in, but we have not 

examined many of them is also acceptable. But 

mixed forms such as much of the data are new 

and little data are available are simply wrong. 

No one should think that he must treat data as 

a plural merely because Julius Caesar may have 

done so. Many English singulars have foreign 

plural forms, such as stamina. There are even 

words with English plural forms, such as news 

and the United States, that are nevertheless 

treated as singulars. 

The form data may be used as the first element 

in a compound, as in data sheets. 

dative case. The dative is a Latin case. It is thought 

to have originally carried the meaning of “to” 

or “toward” and was used broadly in classical 

Latin to show that a noun or pronoun had some 

intrinsic relation to the verb other than that of 

nominative or accusative. Most often this was 

the relation of indirect object. Modern English 

shows the dative relationships by position or by 

means of prepositions. See indirect object and 

objective pronouns. 

davenport. An American who announced casually 

that he was just going to lie down on the davenport 

would fill an English visitor with consternation 

or at least curiosity, for davenport, which 

in the United States means a large sofa, often 

one that can be converted into a bed, means in 

England a small writing table. 

dawn on. To say that something dawned on a 

person, meaning that he began to perceive the 

import of a remark or an event, is a phrase to 

be used sparingly.

day before; day after. The omission of the definite 

article before day before or day nfter (Day 

after tomorrow is their anniversary) is accepted 

usage. 

dead as a doornail seems to have been established 

as a proverbial expression by the time 

(13.50) it first appeared in writing, yet no one 

knows why a doornail should be deader than 

any other inanimate thing. It has been conjectured 

that the particular nail referred to was the 

one upon which the knocker fell and that its 

deadness may have been a whimsical assumption 

from the pounding it received. It has also been 

conjectured that its deadness may have been 

suggested by the silence with which such pounding 

was often received; for until the policed and 

electrically lighted security of modern times people 

did not open their doors, especially after 

dark, merely because someone knocked. This 

latter guess is supported by the fact that it was 

sometimes as dumb as a doornail or as deaf as 

a doornail or (IS dour as a doornail. But at the 

best these are only theories. No one has ever 

found a context that throws any light on the 

problem. No one really knows what the simile 

means, and a figure of speech that has been used 

daily for six hundred years without anyone’s 

knowing what it means must surely be granted 

to be a clich6. 

dead; deadly. Deadly means death-dealing, as in 

a deadly weapon. It is an adjective and is used 

to qualify a noun. Dead also qualifies a noun 

when it is used in its literal sense, as in a dead 

horse. But it may mean deathlike or deathly, 

and in this sense is used to qualify adjectives, as 

in dead white. We therefore say I was dead tired 

and the conversation was deadly. 

The adjective dead may be used as if it were 

a noun meaning all people who have died, as the 

second dead in and dead the dead will stay. Unlike 

most adjectives, dead may also be used in 

speaking about a particular group of people, as 

in from these honored dead we take increased 

devotion. It may also be used with a numeral, 

as in there were twenty dead. At one time the 

dead could be used in speaking of a single individual, 

as in blessed is the dead that the rain 

rains on and the dead raising himself the third 

and last time. This use of the dead as a singular 

is still heard in some parts of the United States, 

but it is now rare in literary English. 

deadly in the sense of awful or terrible or excessive 

was once a fairly common colloquialism. Pepys 

quaintly says that he was compelled on one 

occasion to sign a deadly number of pardons 

and one of the characters in She Stoops to Conquer 

tells another that he is a deadly deal wrong. 

deal. The past tense of the verb is dealt. The participle 

is alsodealt. The noun deal means amount 

and could once be used in just the way we now 

use lot, as in they talked a deal of nonsense and 

it wns a deal of trouble. It replaced the word 

heap, which had once been used in this way, and 

is now itself being replaced by lot. 

In current English deal is used in the sense of 

lot only in the expressions a good deal and a 

great deal, These phrases require of immediately 

127 deceit 

before a noun, as in a great deal of money. But 

they may be used without of before degree words 

such as more, less, too much, too many, as in 

a great deal more money. They may also be used 

to qualify adjectives or adverbs in the comparative, 

as in a good den1 cheaper, a great deal 

faster. 

At one time these phrases could be used before 

plural nouns, as in a great deal of pieces of 

timber. Today, they are only used before mass 

words. We say a great deal of china but a great 

many plates. 

dear; dearly. Dear is both an adjective and an 

adverb. It has been used as an adverb from the 

earliest times, both in the sense of at a high 

price, as in By God, he said, that bought me 

dear, and in the sense of with deep affection, as 

in Rosaline that thou didst love so dear. The 

form dearly is never used to qualify a noun. 

See also costly. 

dear; my dear. Prefixing my to the usual dear in 

the salutation of a letter intensifies either the 

formality or the informality. My dear son is 

more informal than Dear Son, but (in American 

usage, not in English) My dear Mr. Smith is 

more formal than Dear Mr. Smith. 

dearth (scarcity, lack) is in most vocabularies restricted 

entirely to the phrase a dearth of information. 

It is hardly a clichC, since its meaning 

is clear to all who use it and it doesn’t roll effortlessly 

off every tongue, but it is worn and should 

be watched. 

deathless. See undying. 

debar; disbar. To debar is to exclude, either literally 

or figuratively (He was debarred from the 

factory grounds. His lameness debarred him 

from taking part in athletics). To disbar is a 

technical legal term meaning to expel from the 

legal profession or from the bar of a particular 

court (Disbarment proceedings were instigated 

at once against the attorneys who had offered 

the bribe). 

debenture. In England debenture is often used for 

what in the United States is commonly called a 

bond. In America a debenture or debenture 

bond is merely a certificate of indebtedness. 

decant; descant. To decant is to pour off gently, 

without disturbing the sediment. Wines are decanted 

from the bottle into a decanter (Attend 

him daily as their chief/ Decant his wine and 

carve his beef). 

A descant is a melody or counterpoint accompanying 

a simple musical theme and usually 

written above it (You are too flat,/ And mar the 

concord, with too harsh a descant). In part singing 

it is the soprano (Children neigh forth the 

descant. Composed for three voices--descant, 

tenor, and buss). It also means to make comments 

on, to discourse at length and with variety 

(To see my shadow in the sun,/ And descant on 

mine own deformity. Johnson never accustomed 

himself to descant on the ingratitude of mankind). 

decease. See die. 

deceit; deception. Deceit is the quality of being 

false (Deceit lay deep in his nature, hidden 

under a semblance of hearty frankness), the act

decide 128 

or practice of deceiving or of concealing or perverting 

the truth with intention to mislead 

(Pope’s love of deceit seemed to grow with the 

passing years; he hid himself in ever more subtle 

mazes of guile), or that which deceives, a lie, 

an artifice, or cunning trick (My lips shall not 

speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit). 

Deception is properly the act, and not the 

quality, of deceiving (This deception shall cost 

him dear). It can mean the state of being deceived 

(The extent of their deception is fantastic; 

they are besotted with the charlatan). 

decide may be followed by an infinitive, as in he 

decided to go, or by a clause, as in he decided 

he would go. It may also be followed by the -ing 

form of a verb with the preposition on, as in 

he decided on going. 

decided; decisive. Decided means unquestionable, 

free from ambiguity (He showed decide(d signs 

of dementia praecox. Anton’s weight gave him 

a decided advantage in the ring over his slighter 

opponent. He was n decided man: everything 

was black and white to him; he recognized no 

doubts or shades of gray). 

Decisive means having the power or quality 

of determining, putting an end to controversy 

by swaying the balance definitely and finally in 

one direction. Decided signs of dementia praecox 

would be definite, unmistakable signs. Decisive 

signs would be signs that made it plain 

that a case about which there had been uncertainty 

was beyond doubt one of dementia praecox. 

Decisive applies ordinarily to things, events, 

or decrees. A decided victory would be one in 

which one side triumphed so completely that 

there could be no question in anyone’s mind as 

to which was the winner. A decisive victory 

would be one that settled a conflict. 

Decisive is not usually applied to persons but 

it may be. When it is, it has the same meaning 

as decided: characterized by, or displaying, decision 

(He had a decisive character). Decided, 

however, cannot be used for decisive. 

decide; decree; determine; resolve. To decide is 

to make up one’s mind, promptly and firmly. 

To determine is to make up one’s mind and 

then doggedly-sometimes obstinately-to stick 

to the settled purpose. To resolve is to settle a 

disputed or uncertain matter by deliberate choice 

and will; there is in the word an implication of 

the expenditure of considerable time and 1 hought 

in the process of reaching the conclusion. A matter 

may be decided almost instantaneously but 

it can be resolved only after cogitation. To 

decree is to ordain or promulgate an edict. A 

decree can be issued only by someone in authority 

(The President was determined to end 

the confusing situation. After talking it over 

with his advisers he resolved to act. He

(To decry the previous age is an established 

procedure in liberal criticism). 

To descry is to discover by observation, to 

make out by looking (The boy on the mast 

descried land lying about three leagues off the 

port bow). 

decumbent. See recumbent. 

dedicate. A dedication was a setting apart and consecrating 

to a deity. In England the word (except 

in the sense of ascribing or addressing a 

book to someone) is never used except when 

there has been a religious ceremony. But in 

America the word now often has merely the 

meaning of open. When we are told that a new 

Stock Exchange Building or a new sausage factory 

has been dedicated, with the mayor officiating 

and a party for the employees following 

the dedication, we are not meant to suppose that 

thereafter the structure is to be regarded as 

dedicated. 

deduce; infer. Deduce and infer both mean to 

come to a conclusion after a process of reasoning 

from premises or evidence. Deduce is the 

more serious of the two words. An inference is 

something lighter, often arrived at with less sense 

of responsibility, than a deduction. One hears of 

rash, foolish, false, unjustified, or shallow inferences 

more often than one hears of deductions 

of these sorts. Deduce is used more than infer 

in scientific and philosophic matters. 

deduction. See induction. 

deem. See think. 

deer. The plural is usually deer, but the regular 

form deers is also heard and is acceptable. Compounds 

ending in deer follow the same pattern, 

with the exception of reindeer which has the 

regular plural reindeers more often than not. 

See also elk. 

defamation. See libel. 

defective; deficient. That is defective which has a 

defect. That is deficient which has a deficit. Food 

would be defective if it were spoiled. It ,would 

be deficient if there were not enough of it. It 

might, of course, be both; and its defectiveness 

might be the cause of its deficiency. In some 

things quantity and quality are indistinguishable; 

a lack of humor, for example, m.ay be 

either a defect or a deficiency in a man’s character. 

In dealing with the handicapped, particularly 

children, the two words have become idiomatically 

or technically fixed in certain meanings. We 

speak of the physically defective and the mentally 

deficient. Even where an arm or a leg was 

missing, it would be spoken of as a defect not 

as a deficiency. See also anomalous. 

defer may be followed by the -ing form of a verb, 

as in he deferred going, but not by an infinitive. 

He deferred to go is not standard English. 

definite article. See the. 

definite; definitive. Definite means clearly defined 

or determined, precise, clear in its meaning, 

exact (A definite answer must be returned by 

noon or it will be assumed that he does not wish 

to negotiate). Definitive means conclusive, having 

the function of deciding or settling a matter, 

the fixed and final form. A definite statement is 

129 de gustibus 

one which is clear. A definitive statement is one 

from which there can be no appeal. A definite 

edition is one particular edition. A definitive 

edition is one that leaves nothing more in the 

way of editing to be done. 

Definite and definitely are greatly overworked 

today and in many instances are nothing more 

than intensives. In such a sentence as There wus 

definitely a vague premonition of trouble in the 

air, definitely cannot have its proper meaning. 

And when someone answers, Yes, definitely, 

when asked if he intends to do something, he 

can only mean certainly or assuredly or indeed, 

and these are not standard meanings of defynitely. 

Whereas were someone to answer Yes, 

definitely when asked if he had marked a road 

map for another’s guidance, and meant thereby 

that he had marked the map in such a way that 

the route would be clear, he would have used 

the word correctly. 

definitive adjectives. Certain adjectives ordinarily 

stand first in a series of adjectives qualifying the 

same noun. These are called definitives because 

they make the noun idea as definite or specific 

as the facts allow. 

The definitives include: the articles a, an, the; 

the possessives, such as my, his, whose, and any 

noun in the genitive case, such as father’s; the 

demonstratives this, that, these, those; the relatives 

and interrogatives what and which; the 

indefinites any, each, every, either, neirher, no 

or none, some; and the words such and enough. 

Two kinds of adjectives may sometimes precede 

a definitive. (1) The names of some fractions 

and the words all and both, which might 

be treated as nouns and joined to the following 

words by of as in half of the chocolate cake and 

all of my large books, may also be used without 

the of as adjectives standing before a definitive, 

as in half the chocolate cake, all my large books. 

The words all and both, but not the fractions, 

may also function as definitives themselves, as 

in all men, both men. (2) An adverb cannot 

qualify a noun, but it can qualify a definitive 

which is an adjective, and in this way have the 

effect of qualifying the noun. Words used to 

mean “in a high degree” are being used as adverbs 

and may therefore stand before a definitive, 

as in such a sad story and what a terrible 

thing. When a degree word applies to one adjective 

in a series, it may bring that word forward 

with it, as in so great a man, how sad c tale. 

With these two exceptions, the definitives precede 

all other kinds of adjectives. 

defy. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in I defy you to tell me, but not by the -ing 

form of a verb or by a clause. 

degenerate. See deteriorate. 

de gustibus non est disputandum (taste should not 

be discussed). Modern American taste definitely 

prefers that we express ourselves in English. 

When every educated person studied a little 

Latin, an occasional Latin phrase in one’s speech 

or writing served to mark one as above the herd 

that knew, at best, only the three R’s. But tOdaY 

it serves only to mark one as either a hopeless 

pedant or an affected ass.

deism; theism. Deism is the belief in the existence 

of a God on the evidence of reason and nature 

only. It rejects supernatural revelation. Theism 

is the belief in one God as the creator and ruler 

of the universe, but it does not reject supernatural 

revelation. 

delay. This word may be used with the -ing form 

of a verb, as in he delayed starting. It is sometimes 

used with an infinitive, as in he delayed to 

start, but this is not standard practice. 

delectable. See delightful. 

deliberate falsehood. To refer to some untrue 

statement as a deliberate falsehood is to be at 

once trite and redundant. The phrase is hackneyed 

and since a falsehood must be deliberate 

in the sense of intentional, otherwise it would 

be simply a mistake, it is redundant. 

delicacy; dainty. See tidbit. 

delightful; delicious; delectable. That is G!elightful 

which affords delight. That is delicious which 

pleases the senses of taste or smell-though 

these, especially the sense of taste, are extended 

figuratively. A delightful meal would be one at 

which there was pleasant company, in pleasant 

surroundings and at which, presumably, the food 

would be delicious. But it is conceivable that 

delicious food could be served at a meal which 

was not delightful if the company was unpleasant 

or the surroundings disagreeable. 

Delectable is a poetic form of delightful. Bunyan 

referred to the Delectable Mountains in 

what is perhaps the most famous use of the 

word. Fowler says that it is now used in &gland 

only in an ironical sense but in America, where 

it is a club-woman gush word, it is used largely 

as a synonym for delicious. 

delimit. See limit. 

delirium. The plural is deliriums or deliria. 

deliver. When this word is used in connection with 

childbirth, it means “to set free” and lnot “to 

hand over.” Although it would seem that birth 

sets the baby free even more than it d’oes the 

mother, this hasn’t been the opinion of people 

old enough to talk about the matter. In literary 

English, therefore, it is the mother, and not the 

child, who is delivered. In the United States one 

often hears of babies being delivered. This is 

probably a survival from the stork period when 

delivered had to be understood as handed over. 

deliverance; delivery. Delivery refers to transfer 

or conveyance, the utterance of speech, or the 

act of giving birth (Its delivery was rapid. His 

delivery was sonorous and clear. The delivery 

was normal at term). Deliverance was once 

synonymous in these meanings, but it ia, now a 

legal and ecclesiastical term and means :primarily 

a rescue or release from some undesirable 

state (Prayer brings deliverunce from g,uilt). 

delusion. See allusion. 

delve, in the literal sense of digging with a spade, 

is known today chiefly in John Ball’s fierce 

rhyme : 

When Adam dolve and Eve span, 

Who was then the gentleman? 

-usually misspoken, for clarity, as “When 

Adam delved.” In the figurative sense of intel- 

lectual digging (Not in the cells where frigid 

learning delves/ In Aldine folios mouldering on 

their shelves) it is slightly pedantic and affected. 

demand; claim; require. TO demand is to ask in 

a bold, authoritative way (He demanded immediate 

admission). To claim is to assert a right to 

something (He claimed the respect due his rank 

and would accept no less). To reqztire is to ask 

for something as being necessary (The army 

requires obedience; it could not function without 

it) or to compel (His lordship required them 

to be up before daylight and on before him). 

See also inquire. 

demean. There is a verb demean which means to 

conduct or behave oneself (No man who engaged 

in the rebellion demeaned himself throughout 

its course so honorably and so humanely). 

There is also, despite the protests of the purists, 

another verb demean which means to lower 

in dignity or standing, to debase (Zt was, of 

course, Mrs. Sedley’s opinion that her son would 

demean himself by a marriage with an artist’s 

daughter). This may have originated in a misconception 

of the other verb demean in certain 

contexts. It may be modeled from the adjective 

mean as an analogy to debase, but the fact 

remains that it is here. It has been used by some 

of the best writers and is used by the common 

speaker far more often than the other verb. 

Indeed, the common speaker is often astonished 

to learn (from the purist) that there is another 

verb. It is now standard usage. 

demise is a word of highly special meanings which, 

in grandiloquence or as a euphemism, is sometimes 

put to improper uses. Originally it was a 

law term, signifying the conveyance or transfer 

of an estate by will or lease. Then it came to 

refer to the transference of sovereignty on the 

death or deposition of a sovereign, and here we 

have such phrases as death or demise and the 

demise of the crown. When Edward the Fourth 

was driven from his throne for a few months 

this period was called his demise. In most cases, 

however, the sovereignty has been demised by 

the death of the sovereign, and so it is a natural 

extension of the word to speak of a ruler’s death 

as his demise. To speak of an ordinary man’s 

death as his demise, however, is probably erroneous, 

since no sovereignty is transferred by the 

act. And it is certainly grandiloquent. One might 

as well speak of his accession to a job or his 

abdication on being tied. 

demolish. See destroy. 

demonstrative pronouns and adjectives. Most 

grammarians mean by demonstrative pronouns 

simply the words this, that, these, and those. 

Some grammarians feel that any pronoun which 

“points out” may be called a demonstrative, 

such as the former, the latter, the first, the one, 

the other, the same. In either case, these same 

words can also be used to qualify nouns. When 

they are, they are called demonstrative adjectives. 

See this; that. 

demur. See object. 

den (a room in a house). See sanctum. 

denigrate. See black. 

denominate. See name.

denotation. See connotation. 

denote. To denote is to be a mark or sign, of, to 

represent by a symbol or to stand as a symbol 

for. A rapid pulse often denotes a fever. A clinical 

thermometer shows it. An expensive car 

may denote its owner to be a man of wealth. His 

bank account shows it. 

dent and dint were originally simply variant spellings 

of the same word, meaning a stroke or blow 

with a sharp instrument. Dint keeps this meaning 

in figurative uses (By dint of argument) but 

in literal uses both words now mean whotlly the 

consequences of such a stroke or blow. Dent is 

confined exclusively to a literal sense, but dint 

may be used either literally or figuratively. A 

fender may have a dent or a dint, but a reputation 

or one’s self-esteem can only have a dint. 

deny; repudiate. In the sense of declaring to be 

false, repudiate is a stronger word than deny, 

which often has an adverb to give it emphasis. 

Repudiate, of course, has other meanings that 

deny is not synonymous for, such as to cast off 

or disown (He repudiated his son) or to refuse 

to pay debts because they are disowned (He 

repudiated his wife’s debts). See also refute. 

Deo volente; D.V.; God willing. Though the truly 

pious are fully aware of the uncertainty of all 

human plans, they are not as frequently lmoved 

as the pharisaical and the superstitious to call 

public attention to their awareness. The use of 

the phrase “D.V.,” the initials of Deo volenfe, 

or the English form God willing, as an interjection 

after an expressed intention is a verbal 

counterpart of knocking on wood and has about 

the same value. As a clichC, it should certainly 

not be used at all. As a serious expression, one 

hardly need say, it should be confined to serious 

occasions. Used, as it is, to suggest that ar commercial 

radio program continues from day to 

day solely by Divine permission, it fails to convey 

quite the pious humility that it so ostentatiously 

intends. 

dependant; dependent. Though dependent is now 

standard for all uses, dependant for the noun is 

acceptable. 

depleted, reduced. Though one meaning of deplete 

is to reduce the fulness of, deple8!ed in 

common usage means emptied or exhausted, not 

merely “reduced.” Depletion almost always suggests 

an injurious reduction. A garrison, for 

example, may be depleted by sickness; whereas 

it may be reduced by order and for its own 

advantage. 

deplore means to weep for, to bewail, to ,grieve 

over, to regret deeply. Yet in the past two or 

three generations it has been used so much in 

more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger reproaches that 

we are a little startled when we come across it 

in its simple sense. When we read Tennyson in 

his Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington 

asking Where shall we lay the man whom we 

deplore? we are taken aback. One does not, 

today, allude to deplorable things in a eulogy. 

Whether the word will purge off this new iaccretion 

of meaning or whether high-minded. condescension 

has done its deplorable work re:mains 

to be seen. See also regret. 

131 derring 

depot; station. Those who insist that a distinction 

must be made between depot and station may 

know their etymology but they don’t know their 

railroads. It is true that a depot is properly a 

place of deposit for freight and a sfation the 

place where a train stops to pick up and deposit 

passengers. But in all except a very few large 

cities the depot and the station were the same 

building and since freight is a far more important 

part of the business of most railroads than 

passengers, the term for the freight warehouse 

was naturally applied to the whole. 

There’s more to it than that, though, and a 

linguistic lesson to boot. Depot is, to be sure, a 

rather highfalutin name, but in the early days 

railroads were highfalutin things and deserved 

the best. But depots, once rather grand, became 

shabby, dingy places, gritty, with potbellied 

stoves, hard benches, fetid air, and long, long, 

dreary hours of waiting. The glory and elegance 

went out of the word and it, too, became dingy 

(All those loafers alwuys hanging around the 

depot) and finally, as often happens to words 

of unusual elegance, became, as it now is, rustic 

and provincial. Soon it will become quaint and 

then charming. 

depravation; depravity. Depravation is the act of 

corrupting, depravity the state of being corrupted. 

Depravity, of course, encourages deppravuiion 

and depruvution produces depravity. 

depraved. See abandoned. 

deprecate; depreciate. Deprecute means to express 

earnest disapproval of, usually regretfully (He 

deprecated the tendency of younger scholars to 

publish in haste). To depreciate is to belittle, to 

lessen the value of, to present as of little value 

(the depreciation of currency. Goldsmith had 

an unhappy tendency to depreciate the writings 

of all orher authors of his day). 

derby in America is a stiff felt hat with a rounded 

crown and a narrow brim, worn chiefly by men. 

In England it is called a bowler. There is a race 

called the Derby in both countries. In England 

it is run annually at Epsom Downs, near London. 

In America it is run annually at Churchill 

Downs, Kentucky. 

derelict properly means left or abandoned by the 

owner. Its use in America to mean delinquent 

or remiss in the performance of a duty (The 

commitlee has been derelict in its duty-Mark 

Twain) is a peculiar linguistic phenomenon. It 

may have originated in sheer ignorance, have 

been a blunder for dereliction. But whatever its 

origin, it has been in use in the United States 

for almost a century among the best writers and 

speakers and is definitely standard. See flotsam. 

derring do, as a term for heroic deeds and daring, 

is pseudo-archaic and is usually used in a mildly 

satiric way. 

The history of derring do, traced by the Oxford 

English Dictionary, serves to demonstrate, 

once again, that usage makes anything standard. 

It all began with Chaucer who said (in 1374) 

that the knight Troylus was in no degre secounde,/ 

In dorrying don that longeth to a 

knyghi, that is that he was second to no one in 

“daring to do” whatever it belonged to a knight

descant 132 

to do. Fifty-six years later John Lydgate, a 

minor poet who imitated Chaucer, said that 

Troylus was a second Hector in manhood, deed, 

and dorrying do. Whether he was just careless 

and left the final “n” off and didn’t bother with 

an object to the verb, or whether he thought 

dorrying don was some quality of mauliness 

that Zongefh lo a knyght will never be known. 

And things were made worse by the fact that 

when his book was printed (in 1513 and 1555) 

“dorrying do” was misprinted as “derrynge do.” 

In this form it was picked up, in 1579, by Edmund 

Spenser, a great poet and a great pedant, 

who was looking for archaic words to ,give a 

rustic flavor to his poem The Shepherd’s Calendar. 

Spenser, in the manner later employed 

by T. S. Eliot, went out of his way to be o’bscure 

and then went further out of his way to add a 

glossary in the footnotes to enlighten the reader 

he had bewildered in the text. And in this glossary 

he defined derring doe (whose spelling he 

had “modernized”) as “manhood and chevalrie.” 

He was, apparently, enchanted with the allliteration 

and incomprehensibility of the term because 

he used it four other times (once even 

referring to “Dreadful derring dooers”) in his 

poems. 

Sir Walter Scott, a great purveyor of Wardour 

Street English, found the phrase in Spenser and 

transferred it to Ivanhoe, though he still felt it 

necessary to gloss it in a note as “des;perate 

courage.” From Scott, whose popularity alone 

was enough to give it currency, it passed to the 

dime novels, the westerns, and the literary critics. 

descant. See decant. 

describe; narrate. To describe is to convey an impression 

or image in words. A description seeks 

particularly to reveal the appearance and the 

nature of things that exist in space (He described 

the strange old hotel at which he and his sister 

hnd spent their vacation). To narrate is to recount 

an occurrence, usually by giving the 

details of an event in the order in which they 

happened in time (He narrated the adventures 

which had befallen them on their vacxtion). 

The two words are easily confused because they 

refer to processes which are usually mixed. A 

narrative is more meaningful if the scene in 

which it took place has been described. 

descry; discern; notice; perceive. To descry is to 

catch sight of, especially from a distancl: (Tlte 

English sentinels do keep good watch; if they 

descry us all our labor’s lost) or to discover 

from observation (Milton speaks of Galileo 

looking at the moon through his telescope To 

descry new Lands, Rivers or Mountains in her 

spotty Globe). It is a literary word today and 

would seem a little strange or affected in ordinary 

speech or writing. See also decry. 

To discern is to perceive by the sight or some 

other sense or by the intellect, to apprehend 

clearly, or to distinguish differences. Discern 

sueeests -- distinauishing - (sometimes with diffi- 

culty) a thing for what it really is under confusing 

or misleading appearances (But wait, I 

discern a fault in your argument). 

To notice is to become aware of something 

which has caught one’s attention (Suddenly I 

noticed that the man was moving). 

To perceive, which is often used as a formal 

substitute for “see” and “notice,” also has the 

idea of understanding meanings and implications 

(After a short while, however, he perceived 

what they were really up to). 

deserve. The -ing form of a verb following deserve 

usually has a passive meaning, as in he deserves 

waiting on, he deserves helping. An infinitive 

after deserve usually has an active meaning, as 

in he deserves to wait on us, he deserves to help. 

Deserve may also be followed by a clause, as in 

he deserves that we should help him, but this 

construction is felt to be stiff and an infinitive, 

such as he deserves to have us help him, is generally 

preferred. 

desideratum. The plural is desiderutums or desiderata. 

designate is not properly a complete synonym for 

describe. To designate is to indicate or show. 

An officer’s insignia designates his rank. To say 

I would designate such a remark as pure insolence 

is not as correct as to say Z would describe 

such a remark as pure insolence or Z would call 

such a remark, etc. 

desirable; desirous. Desirable means worthy to be 

desired (a very desirable site for a house). 

Desirous means having desire, longing, wishful 

(We never find ourselves so desirous to finish, as 

in the latter part of our work). 

desire. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he desired to tell them, but not by the -ing 

form of a verb. We do not say he desired telling 

them. The noun desire may be followed by an 

infinitive, as in the desire to read, or by the -ing 

form of a verb introduced by for, as in the desire 

for reading. The preposition of following desire 

shows a genitive, or possessive, relation, as in 

the desire of the moth for the star. Either the 

verb or the noun may be followed by a clause 

but the clause verb must be a subjunctive or a 

subjunctive equivalent, as in he desired Z should 

tell you and the desire that Z should tell you. 

See want. 

desperate. See hopeless. 

dessert. See candy. 

destroy; demolish; raze. To destroy something is 

to scatter it into useless pieces, to take away its 

powers and functions so completely that it cannot 

be restored. It can refer to tangibles or intangibles. 

It can be sudden and violent or slow 

and unperceived (The hurricane destroyed the 

entire village. In time drink destroyed his will 

and malnutrition undermined his strength). Demolish 

applies to organized bodies or structures 

and implies destruction by the complete sep 

aration of parts. A machine is demolished, a 

formal structure of logic is demolished, a building 

is demolished. To raze is to level down to 

the ground. It is related to razor and means, 

basically, to scrape. It is applied almost entirely 

to buildings, though there are some figurative 

extensions. 

deteriorate; degenerate. Both words mean to make 

or become worse. There is a perfectly good English 

verb worsen, but it might sound strange to

most ears now. Deteriorate is usually applied to 

changes for the worse in abstractions (conditions 

are always deteriorating and so are relations) 

or in things in whose worsening there is 

no sense of moral condemnation. The weather 

deteriorates. So do houses and health. Degenerate 

usually carries a sense of moral condemnation 

(Degenerate bastard, 1’11 not trouble 

thee) or implies that in the worsening there has 

been the loss of some virtuous quality once 

essential to the person or thing spoken of. Benedict 

Arnold degenerated from a brave soldier 

to a buccaneer. Arguments frequently degenerate 

into squabbles. 

determine. See decide. 

detest. See hate. 

detract; distract. Both detract and distract mean 

to draw away from. But detract has come to 

mean, in most common uses, the taking away 

from a good reputation, depreciation (Claudius’s 

drunkenness detracted greatly from his kingly 

dignity. To listen to detraction is as much an 

act of detraction as to speak it). Distract has 

come to mean the drawing of things away from 

the mind, especially the drawing of attention or 

fixed purpose away from its aim (These diversions 

distract us from our graver purposes). 

Distraction and distracted can mean that the 

mind has been so far drawn from any settled 

purpose, or so confused by various drawings 

away, that it can no longer function in an orderly 

manner (The minds of men were too distracted 

for so deliberate a plan. He ran about 

like one distracted). 

detritus. The plural is detrituses or detritus, not 

detriti. 

develop. To develop (sometimes develope) is to 

unfold, to bring out, to progress from a simple 

to a more complex form, to advance from a 

latent to an active stage. That is, in all its meanings 

there is the implication that there was something 

there in the first place which has come 

gradually into existence or operation. Hence to 

use develop as a synonym for originate (Many 

things wholly new have developed in the past 

generation. New states that developed after the 

war) is to misuse it. A man catches a cold if 

he has been totally free from one. He develops 

a cold if he allows a slight one to become 

severe. 

The use of develop to mean to bring to light, 

or to come to light, to transpire (A new feature 

of the shooting developed today, when it was 

discovered that. . . . It develops now that he 

never intended to join us), now obsolete in England, 

is standard usage in the United States. 

deviate; digress; divagate; diverge; swerve. To deviate 

is to turn aside from the set path in a 

wandering and often purposeless way (The resf 

to some faint meaning make pretence,/ But 

Shadwell never deviates into sense). To digress 

is to wander from the main topic, in speech or 

writing, usually for the purpose of explaining or 

illustrating (I have too long digressed, and 

therefore shall return to my subject). Divagate 

is a synonym for both deviate and digress, . more. 

inclining to the former, but is so unusual and 

133 deviser 

literary a word that it could be used only before 

a select audience if one were to avoid the charge 

of affectation. Things diverge which proceed 

from a common point in such directions that 

the distance between them increases (Two roads 

diverged in a wood, and I--/ I took the one less 

traveled by). It is the opposite of converge. To 

swerve is to make a sudden or sharp turn from 

a line or course (The cur, traveling at great 

speed, swerved from the road and plunged over 

the embankment), though it also often has the 

meaning of returning to the course as well (The 

car swerved around the heavy truck and continued 

at breakneck speed). 

These meanings all carry over into figurative 

uses. Thus one who deviated from the path of 

rectitude would be one who wandered from it. 

One who diverged would be one who left it and 

got farther from it as he continued. One who 

swerved from it would be one who left it with 

suddenness, under some stress or necessity, and 

it might mean one who so left it but almost immediately 

returned to it. 

device; devise. Device is always a noun. It means 

an invention or contrivance, a plan, a crafty 

scheme, or a trick (What is needed is a device 

for turning off the alarm before it rings. That’s 

a cunning device, but it won’t save him now). In 

the plural, device has a special meaning of desire 

or inclination, in the hackneyed phrase “left to 

his own devices.” Presumably the idea arose 

from the tricks or contrivances which desire 

would invent. 

Devise is used as a noun only in the special 

legal meanings of a will that disposes of real 

property, the act of so disposing, or the property 

so disposed of. As a verb devise means to invent 

or contrive (He devised a machine that would 

use the same water over and over. He devised 

a way of getting out of paying his debts without 

at the same time losing face in the community). 

devilry; deviltry. Deviltry is a variant of devilry, 

the extraneous t having been inserted, presumably, 

to match it with gallantry, peasantry, and 

the like. Though both words can mean extreme 

wickedness or cruelty and both can mean hilarity 

or daring-the impish side of devilish 

doings--deviliry is now used almost exclusively 

to mean mischievous high spiritedness (What 

deviltry are you fellows up to there with those 

masks and that bucket of paint?). 

devil’s advocate. In the Roman Catholic Church, 

where the term had its origin, the devil’s advocare 

is one appointed to present the arguments 

against a proposed canonization as a saint. He 

is, indeed, therefore, as Fowler insists, “the 

blackener of the good” rather than “the whitewasher 

of the wicked.” None the less the general 

uublic. lamentably ignorant of holiness in all 

its ways and forms, uses the phrase to mean the 

advocate of a bad cause or one who injures a 

cause by his advocacy of it, and has so used it 

so long that these meanings must be accepted 

as standard. 

deviser; devisor; divisor. He who devises something, 

in the sense of inventing it, is its deviser. 

He who devises property to a devisee is a de-

devote 134 

visor. That number by which the divid.end is 

divided is the divisor. 

devote may be followed by the -ing form of a verb 

with the preposition to, as in he devoted himself 

to earning a living, but not by an in:6nitive 

or a clause. 

devoted. See addicted. 

dexterous; dextrous. Both forms, meaning adroit, 

are correct. Dexterous has the advantage of 

being more clearly related to dexterity. Dextrous 

has the advantage of being shorter. 

diabolical rage differs, apparently, from ordinary 

rage in the malevolence of its fury and the 

menace of its hostility. The Devil was thought 

to be given to special tantrums at the thought 

of lost bliss and the sight of man’s inrmcence 

and expectations of felicity to come. But people 

-at least not many of those who employ fivesyllable 

words-no longer believe in a literal 

devil who gnashes actual teeth and stamps and 

screams in ill temper. The term has become a 

cliche and is generally to be avoided. (So also 

with diabolical skill and diabolical cunnhg.) 

diacritical mark is a mark, point, or sign added 

or attached to a letter or character to distinguish 

it from another of similar form, to give it a 

particular phonetic value, to indicate stress, etc. 

The chief diacritical marks are the dieresis 

(or diaeresis) in English (the sign * * placed over 

the second of two adjacent vowels to indicate 

separate pronunciation, as in cooperate), the 

tilde in Spanish [see tilde], the cedilla in French 

and Portuguese (a mark placed under c before 

a, o, or I(, as in facade, to show it has the sound 

of s), the umlaut in German [see umlaut] and 

various accent marks (‘, ‘, h, “, etc.) used to 

indicate pronunciation and stress. 

diagnosis. The plural is diagnosises or diagnoses. 

dialect. See vernacular. 

dialectal; dialectical. Dialectal means of a dialect 

or characteristic of a dialect (A dialectal peculiarity 

of Scotch is the pronunciation as 0% of the 

sound that appears in English as ou, in house or 

mouse). 

Dialectical or dialectic means of or per’taining 

to the nature of logical argumentation (Pure 

reason is always dialectical. His subtle intellect 

concerned itself more and more excl(usively 

with the dialectical splitting of dogmatical 

hairs). Dialectical is often used for dialectal, so 

often that this use is now standard. But dialectal 

cannot be used for dialectical. 

dialogue; duologue; monologue; soliloquy; conversation; 

talk. A dialogue is a conversation between 

two or more persons, especially in a play 

or a novel (The action was good but the dialogue 

was forced). Duologue is a conversation 

between two persons only. The only use it has, 

and that is rare, is as a special name for a dramatic 

piece in the form of a dialogue limlited to 

two speakers. A monologue is a prolonged talk 

or discourse by a single speaker, a composition 

in which a person speaks alone, or a form of 

dramatic entertainment by a single speaker 

(Browning was a master of the dramatic monologue. 

Bea Lillie’s monologues are incompar- 

able). Some insist that a monologue cannot be 

a soliloquy (that is, talking when alone), that it 

may consist of one person speaking but someone 

else must be present, as in Browning’s famous 

dramatic monologues. But in America today, it 

is used a great deal of one person speaking alone, 

used more that way, indeed, than in its earlier 

sense, in standard speech and writing. Conversation 

is an exchange of thoughts in spoken 

words. If more than two persons take part, it 

may be called a colloquy and if it is extraordinarily 

stuffy and pompous it may be called a 

colloquium. A conversation is informal but not 

quite so familiar as talk. When Samuel Johnson, 

one of the greatest of conversationalists, said 

Yes, sir, we had good talk, he meant that the 

conversation had been particularly easy and 

relaxed, lively, interesting, rapid and gay. The 

spellings dialog, duolog, and monolog are acceptable. 

dialysis. The plural is dialyses. 

diamond in the rough. To say of someone of 

sterling worth but uncouth manners or exterior 

that he is a diamond in the rough or a rough 

diamond is to employ a cliche. Do so if you wish, 

but know that you are doing so. 

dice. The singular and the plural are both dice. 

Originally dice was the plural of die, which 

meant one of the cubes used in games of chance. 

In this sense one has very little occasion to use 

the word in the singular. But when the occasion 

does arise the form dice is now used in place of 

the old singular die, as in he did not touch Q 

dice. Dice is also the form used as the first element 

in a compound, as in dice playing and 

dice box. The plural dices has been in existence 

for several centuries but has never become 

standard. 

Today the old singular die is used only in the 

derived sense of a stamp or mold, and in this 

sense it has a regular plural dies. The expression 

the die is cast originally meant the dice have 

been thrown. Most Americans today hear this 

in the new sense of die, as if it meant the mold 

has been formed. Either metaphor accounts for 

the sense of the expression, which is that it is 

now too late to change one’s mind. As a way of 

saying that a decision has been irrevocably 

made, the die is cast is a cliche. 

dickens is employed in many contexts for devil 

(What the dickens do you mean? Who the 

dickens is that? I’ll give him the very dickens 

when Z see him). It is now often thought to be 

a euphemistic substitution of the last name of 

the author, Charles Dickens, employed simply 

for alliteration. This is not so, however. The 

word was so employed centuries before Charles 

Dickens was born (I cannot tell what the dickens 

his name is-Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of 

Windsor). It has been suggested that it is a form 

of devilkin, or little devil, but there is no proof. 

diction is the element of style which depends on 

choice of words, as distinguished from sentence 

structure or arrangement of material. Good 

diction conveys ideas with clarity and precision 

of effect, whatever the style may be.

Certain words are associated with particular 

kinds of diction. O’er and yestereve, for instance, 

are poetic terms. Whereas, aforementioned, 

party of the first part and hereinafter are legal. 

The world of sport has its own special vocabulary. 

But diction cannot always be classified as 

to type. It is good or bad to the degree that it is 

appropriate or inappropriate to the subject. 

Much of the aesthetic quality of style inheres 

in the diction. 

dictum. The plural is dictums or dicta. 

did. See do. 

die. This verb may be followed by an adjective describing 

the one who dies, as in he died happy. 

It may also be followed by an adverb describing 

the dying, as in he died quickly. 

die a natural death. Our concept of what is natural 

and what is unnatural has undergone great 

changes in the past fifty years or so. The phrase 

is redundant and hackneyed and with the development 

of new weapons may even become 

outmoded. In a sense, all deaths are natural or 

we wouldn’t die them. 

die; decease; pass away (or on); perish. Die is the 

grim, everyday word (Ay, but to die, and go we 

know not where:/ To lie in cold obstruction and 

to rot). It is used of all living things and used 

figuratively of anything that has displayed an 

activity that may be likened to life (When a 

lovely flame dies. . . . Music, when soft voices 

die, lingers in the memory). 

Decease is a legal term. It refers only to 

human beings. Sometimes an individual who is 

dead will be referred to euphemistically as the 

deceused in a eulogy or a news story, but it is 

an awkward and not very successful attempt to 

avoid an unpleasant reality. Those who have 

died are usually referred to in the plural as the 

dead. Nothing has been able to lessen the dignity 

and solemnity of the term. To speak of pnssing 

away or passing on, with its implication of a 

continuation of life elsewhere, is a vulgarity. 

True faith has never blinked the reality of death. 

To perish is to become utterly extinct (shall 

not perish from the earth). It is a literary term. 

When applied to human beings it implies a cruel 

or unusual death, as by hunger, cold, or neglect 

(He perished on the scaffold. Thirfy thousand 

people perished in the Lisbon earthquake). 

Perish the thought (i.e., don’t even think about 

it any more, let the very thought become extinct) 

is a clicht. 

dieresis. The plural is diereses. See diacritical mark. 

dies. See dice. 

difference; differentiation. The difference between 

two things is the quality or extent or degree to 

which they are not the same (The difference in 

weight between the two packages was only half 

an ounce. There is a great difference between 

dying in hot blood like Romeo and going off 

like a frog in a frost). Differentiation is the 

action of distinguishing between two things, the 

distinguishing of their difference and sometimes 

the making of differences (A careful diflerentiution 

of their claims showed Anstley’s to be 

the better founded. Long continued isolation 

135 different 

would often lead to the differentiation of 

species). 

difference; discrepancy; disparity. Difference refers 

to a complete or partial lack of identity (Though 

they were brothers, the difference between them 

was as great as could be. The difference between 

the two estimates was less than a dollar). Discrepancy 

usually refers to a difference or inconsistency 

between things that should agree 

(There wns always a discrepancy between what 

he promised and what he did. The discrepancy 

in his accounts was serious). Disparity implies 

inequality (There was a disparity in their 

height), often where a greater approximation 

to equality might reasonably be expected (The 

disparity in their accomplishments was puzzling 

when one reflected that they had the same advantages 

and opportunities). 

difference and distinction may be used interchangeably 

when they both refer to perceivable 

dissimilarities (There is a distinction between a 

compound and a double fracture or There is a 

difference between a compound and a double 

fracture). Distinction, however, usually suggests 

that the perception of the dissimilarity has been 

the result of analysis and discrimination (That 

is a fine distinction to make). Difference refers 

only to the condition of being dissimilar (There 

is a difference there that is surely obvious to all 

but the wilfully blind). 

When used with the preposition of as a term 

of praise (a book of distinction), distinction is 

vague and uncertain. It means rather distinguished 

than distinct and implies a certain merit 

of perception in those applying the term. The 

“Man of Distinction” of the advertisements was 

meant, apparently, to be both distinguished and 

discriminating. 

different; diverse; various; distinct. Various 

stresses a similarity underlying superficial differences 

in several kinds of the same general thing. 

To say that various accounts of the incident were 

reported means that the accounts agreed, at 

least to the point that it was recognizable that 

they alluded to the same incident, but differed, 

or varied, in particulars. The word different is 

applied to either a single thing differing in 

identity or character from another, or to two or 

more things differing thus from one another. 

To say that diflerent accounts of the incident 

were reported would be to imply that the 

accounts were more divergent than the various 

accounts. They might even disagree in fundamental 

facts. Diverse implies a sharper contrast 

than different. Distinct implies a lack of connection 

between things which, however, may 

possibly be alike or similar. Two distinct 

accounts of the incident might agree or disagree 

in their relation of what had happened, but they 

would be wholly separate observations. 

different from; different than. Walter Page, who 

was undoubtedly one of the most conservative 

writers of English in the twentieth century, 

wrote to his son: see that you use no word in a 

different sense than it was used in a hundred 

years ago. The great purist did not make a

differentiate 136 

mistake. As he knew very well, diqerenr than 

can be found in the writings of Addison, Steele, 

Defoe, Richardson, Goldsmith, Coleridge, De 

Quincey, Carlyle, Thackeray, and a great many 

others. Cardinal Newman wrote: it bar: possessed 

me in a different way than ever before. 

John Maynard Keynes, another master of clear 

and beautiful prose, wrote: how different things 

appear in Washington than in London. 

In the examples just given than introduces a 

condensed clause. It could not be replaced by 

the single word from but would require from 

that which or even more words. There is no 

doubt that the best writers and speakers generally 

prefer than to an elaborate construction such 

as from that which. When what follow,s is a 

simple noun or pronoun and not a clause, as in 

different from mine, different than mine, most 

people prefer from, but than is also acceptable. 

In Great Britain the word to is often used here, 

as in diflerent to mine. This is comparable to 

the use of to with Latin comparative forms, such 

as inferior, anterior, senior, and is accepta.ble in 

Great Britain. 

The notion that from was the correct word to 

use after different, and that than and to were 

incorrect, dates from the eighteenth century. The 

idea may have been based on nothing mor’e than 

the fact that the Latin word differre means sepurate. 

In English than is the normal word to use 

in comparing things that are dissimilar. It is true 

that than can only be used with the comparative 

form of an adjective. It cannot be used with a 

positive form. We may say greener than but not 

Preen than. And the word different looks like a 

positive form. But the posit&e form of an adjective 

cannot be qualified by degree words, such 

as much, fur, a great deul, and the word di#erent 

can. We may say much different and fur different, 

just as we say much greener and fur greener. 

Different therefore has the standing of a comparative 

adjective, independently of its use with 

than, and far different from may be as disturbing 

to the speech instinct as far greener from. 

Different from is established in current 

English and anyone who likes these words may 

use them in any construction. But no one has 

any grounds for condemning others who would 

rather say diferent than, since this construction 

is used by some of the most sensitive writers of 

English and is in keeping with the fundamental 

structure of the language. 

differentiate. See distinguish. 

ditlident. See modest. 

dig. The past tense is dug or digged. The participle 

is also dug or digged. 

Though digged is still acceptable as the past 

tense and participle of dig (The man in the parable 

who had received but one talent went and 

digged in the earth, und hid his lord’s money), 

dug has become so much more common that 

digged would seem to many Americans a 

childish error. 

digress. See deviate. 

dilemma. See predicament. 

dilettante. The plural is dilettantes or dilettanti. 

diminish; minimize. To diminish is to make less; 

to minimize is to make least or reduce to the 

smallest possible amount or degree. Minimize 

is used, however, to mean belittle (She always 

said “Have you a minute to rinse out a few 

things?” to minimize the effort of doing the 

laundry); whereas diminish is rarely, if ever, so 

used. Diminish is more likely to be applied to 

material things (The puck was diminished by 

the amount of two pairs of shoes and a tarpaulin). 

Minimize is more likely to be applied 

to qualities and abstractions (It is unwise to 

minimize the danger; it is great and must be 

faced). 

dint. See dent. 

diocese. See see. 

dip. The past tense is dipped or dipt. The participle 

is also dipped or dipt. Dipped is generally 

preferred to dipt. 

diploma. The plural is diplomas or diplomata, not 

diplomue. 

dipper. Though dipper as a term for a longhandled 

ladle or drinking cup had a brief career 

in England (Mason in his Supplement to Johnson’s 

Dictionary, 1801, mentions it as “a modern 

invention”), it is now almost exclusively an 

American word in this sense. It is also used in 

America, and in America only, as a name for 

the configuration of stars in Ursa Major called 

in England “the Plough” or “Charles’s Wain” 

and for a similar configuration in Ursa Minor. 

These are popularly called the Big Dipper and 

the Little Dipper respectively in the United 

States. 

dipt. See dip. 

direct; directly. Direct may be used as an adjective 

(He favors the direct approach) or an 

adverb (He ~‘20~ direct to New York). Where 

the meaning is in a direct line of authority or 

responsibility, directly must be used (He was 

directly invqlvrd). So also with exactly, absolutely, 

and precisely (The farmhouse was directly 

in the line of Sherman’s fire). 

In the sense of without delay, immediately 

(I’ll be there directly), directly is an Enalish 

isage rather than an-American: It was so ised 

formerly more in America than it is now, but 

even then there was the difference that in 

America it signified “soon” rather than “at 

once” (When you say you will do a thing 

“directly” you mean “immediately”; in the 

American language-generally speaking-the 

word signifies “after a little”-Mark Twain). As 

a conjunction meaning “as soon as” (Directly on 

arriving, he issued orders for the man’s arrest), 

directly is, again, largely an English usage. 

For the last hundred years the word directly 

has also been used as a conjunction, that is, to 

introduce a clause, as in directly he arrived, I 

left. Here the word means “as soon as.” The only 

possible objection to this construction is that it 

is relatively new. Most conjunctions have developed 

from adverbs in just this way, and this 

particular one has been established in English 

literature by Dickens, Thackeray, and Matthew 

Arnold.

When direct is used as a verb and means 

order, it may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

we directed him to return. When it means aim 

at it may be followed by the -ing form of a verb 

with the preposition to or at, as in he directed 

his energies to improving conditions. 

disassemble; dissemble. To disassemble is to take 

apart (The mechanic disassembled the motor). 

To dissemble is to give a false semblance to, 

to conceal the real nature of something (usually 

one’s emotions or motives) under a semblance 

of something else (She dissembled her annoyance 

under a smiling face). 

disaster. See holocaust; tragedy. 

disbar. See debar. 

disbeliever. See agnostic; skeptic. 

discern. See descry. 

disciples; apostles. A disciple is one who is taught. 

An apostle is one who is sent forth to teach 

others. Since Christ’s disciples were also, with 

one exception, the first apostles of Christianity, 

there is some natural confusion in the use of 

the terms. The twelve disciples are: SS. Peter 

(also called Simon), Andrew, James (the 

Greater), John, Thomas (also called Didymus), 

James (the Less), Jude (also called Judas, 

Thaddeus, and Lebaeus), Philip, Bartholomew 

(identified with Nathanael), Matthew (also 

called Levi), Simon (called Zelotes), and Judas 

Iscariot. The twelve apostles are the same except 

that Matthias replaces Judas Iscariot. St. Paul 

is always called an apostle and so are a few 

others, such as St. Barnabas. The chief missionary 

to a country is sometimes called its apostle. 

Thus St. Patrick is often called the apostle of 

Ireland. 

In the Mormon Church an apostle is one of 

the council of twelve officials presiding over the 

Church and administering its ordinances. Disciples 

of Christ, sometimes called Campbellites, 

is a Protestant religious body founded in the 

United States in the nineteenth century. 

disclose; expose; reveal; divulge. To disclose is 

to allow to be seen, to make known, to lay open 

and thereby to invite inspection of, something 

which had been concealed (He smiled, and 

opening out his milk-white palm,/ Disclosed a 

fruit of pure Hesperian gold. The Gunpowder 

Plot was disclosed by a letter from one of the 

conspirators to a friend urging him not to 

attend Parliament on the fatal day). See also 

discover. 

To expose is to exhibit openly, to display to 

public gaze (The wind had ripped away the clapboards 

and exposed the studding), to so display 

with a view to unmasking or holding up to ridicule 

or reproof (He saw the deception and 

exposed it). To reveal is to uncover as if by 

drawing away (For a moment the mask of 

benevolence fell and the real man was revealed. 

Daylight will reveal the disposition of their 

troops). To divulge is to communicate what was 

intended to be confidential, secret (Those apprehended 

hastened to save themselves by divulging 

all they knew 

_. 

of 

.._ 

Torrio’s plans). It is a word 

that would probably sound a little affected to 

137 discreet 

the common ear; telling would seem more natural 

than divulging. 

disclosure. See revelation. 

discomfit; discomfort. To discomfit is to defeat, 

to rout utterly (Thrice hath this Hotspur, 

Mars in swathing clothes,/ Discomfited great 

Douglas), or to throw into confusion or utter 

dejection, to disconcert (Dombey was quite discomfited 

by the question). To discomfort means 

to disturb the comfort or happiness of, to make 

uneasy. One might be discomforted by tight 

shoes or a hard bench or a mosquito in the bedroom, 

but the word, which is rarely used in its 

proper sense, is frequently misused for discomfit 

(as in The Turks, discomforted with the invincible 

courage of these old soldiers, betook themselves 

to flight). Since, of course, he who is discomfited 

is often discomforted in the process, 

there are many instances in which one cannot 

be certain that the wrong word has been used. 

Thus when Stephen Spender writes, When Z 

asked myself these questions, Z had to admit 

that what Z really wanted was that others should 

live as Z did, not that Z should “join the 

workers”: a prospect which discomfited me, we 

have no way of knowing whether the prospect 

utterly routed him or merely made him uneasy. 

The latter seems more likely and, if so, discomforted 

should have been used. 

discover; disclose. In the sense of removing a 

covering (Zf the house be discovered by tempest, 

the tenant must in convenient time repair it), 

discover is now obsolete, having been replaced 

by uncover. In the sense of exposing to view, 

revealing, or showing what was up to that time 

kept secret (ZZis refusal to sit at the same table 

with Carver discovered an unexpected narrowness) 

it is rare, having been replaced by disclose, 

reveal, or expose. In Elizabethan England to 

have discovered a plot would have been to have 

revealed its existence. In modern English it 

would be to find it out, probably by accident. 

discover; invent. Discover is used chiefly now to 

suggest the bringing to light of something which 

had previously been in existence but had hitherto 

been unknown (The discovery of gold in the 

Klondike. . . . Columbus’s discovery was at 

first misunderstood). To invent is to make or 

create something new, especially, in modern 

usage, something ingeniously devised to perform 

mechanical operations (The invention of calculating 

machines has extended the whole field 

of conjecture). Where that which.is created is 

an idea or a system of thought or an abstraction, 

such as a new way of doing something, it is said 

to have been originated. Idiomatically, however, 

a lie is always invented-perhaps in recognition 

of the mechanical nature of most prevarications. 

discreet; discrete. Discreet means wise or judicious 

in avoiding mistakes, prudent, circumspect, 

cautious, not rash (His wife being very 

reserv’d and discreet in her husband’s presence, 

but in his absence more free and jolly . . .). 

Discrete means separate, detached from others, 

distinct by itself (The grains of sand were clean 

and discrete, not stuck together in wetness).

discrepancy 138 

Discrete is pretty much a literary and philosophical 

word, unknown to the common speaker 

and writer, and stands as a temptation to the 

learned to use it that they may explain it is not 

discreet. This is a temptation, needless ‘to say, 

to be resisted. The negatives of both words are 

formed by prefixing in-. 

discrepancy. See difference. 

discriminate. See distinguish. 

disease. See sickness. 

disenfranchise. Though disenfranchise is a legitimate 

word, disfrancllise is to be preferred. Since, 

however, the franchise and its recision are 

matters dear to politicians, to whom also are 

dear extra syllables and orotund phrases, disenfranchise 

is gaining in favor over its simpler 

synonym. 

disgruntled. See unsatisfied. 

disinterested; uninterested. Though disinterested 

was formerly a synonym for unintereste#d, it is 

not now so used. To be uninterested in somlething 

is to be unconcerned about it, indifferent, showing 

no feeling of interest (I told him (of our 

plans, but he seemed uninterested). Disinterested 

suggests impartiality, freedom from any selfinterest 

or the seeking of personal advantage 

(His disinterested kindness to us in our days of 

misfortune can never be forgotten). 

dislike. This word may be followed by the -ing 

form of a verb, as in he dislikes working. It may 

also be followed by an infinitive, as in jlle dislikes 

ro work, but the -ing construction is generally 

preferred. (See also hate.) 

disorganized. See unorganized. 

disparity. See difference. 

dispatch. See forward. 

disperse; disburse. To disperse is to scatter abroad. 

To disburse is to pay out money (The young 

man soon dispersed what his father hod so painfully 

acquired and so grudgingly disbursed). 

displace; misplace. To displace is to put out of 

the usual or proper place. It is confined now, 

chiefly, to the idea of moving from its proper 

place something solid and comparatively immovable 

and moving it in such a way that its 

displacement is likely to be permanent (The 

impact displaced the foundations of the house). 

It is also used to mean to take the place of, to 

replace (Juliet soon displaced Rosaline in 

Romeo’s affections). 

To misplace is to put some object, usually a 

portable one, in a wrong place so that it is difficult 

to find (He has misplaced his glasses and is 

in a tizzy). 

disnosal: disaosition. Though disDosa1 and disposit& 

a;e sometimes used interchangeably in 

the sense of arrangement, American usage tends 

to use disposal more for getting rid of, as by gift, 

sale, or throwing away (The disposal #of the 

things not sold at the bazaar presented the ladies 

with quite a problem). Disposition has more to 

do with arranging and ordering, especially in 

conformity with a preconceived plan. We speak 

of the disposition of troops in the field, the disposition 

of houses and shops in a model city. 

In general, disposition is related to dispose, disposal 

to dispose of. 

dispose. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in this disposed him to take oflense, but 

not by the -ing form of a verb. We do not say 

this disposed him to taking offense. 

One disposes of something when he deals with 

it definitely, gets rid of it. One may dispose of 

an unwanted coat, for example, by burning it, 

giving it away, or selling it. But dispose of is not 

a synonym for sell and to use it as such (as in 

Have you disposed of all your bread today, or 

have you any loaves left? when asked in a 

bakery) is an attempt to be genteel, to avoid 

commercial language as something low and unfitted 

to the transaction. So when someone says, 

Z will dispose of it for a trifle, he wishes to imply 

that the exchange he is suggesting is of such 

advantage to the other party that it cannot 

possibly be considered an ordinary commercial 

transaction. Sometimes, of course, this may be 

the proper wording; the transaction may be far 

from an ordinary commercial one. But when it 

is an ordinary commercial transaction ordinary 

commercial language is more fitting and sell 

is the better word. Then dispose of, having 

many possible meanings, is more likely to be 

ambiguous. 

disqualified. See unqualified. 

disquisition. See inquisition. 

dissatisfied. See unsatisfied. 

dissemble and dissimulate, to disguise or conceal 

under a false appearance, are synonymous and 

any insistence that there is a distinction between 

them is unwarranted. 

dissenter; dissentient. Dissenter is the common 

and dissentient the uncommon word in America 

for one who dissents (Don’t mind his not agreeing; 

he likes to be a dissenter). In English usage 

dissenter, sometimes capitalized, has the special 

meaning of one who dissents from the service 

and worship of the Church of England (Dr. 

Arnold drew up a disquieting scheme for allowing 

Dissenters into the Church, though it is true 

that he did not go quite so far as to contemplate 

the admission of Unitarians). Dissenters in 

England are now thought of entirely as Protestants, 

though formerly the term included Roman 

Catholics. 

dissimulate; simulate. One dissimulates to conceal 

under a feigned semblance something that 

one has or is. One simulates that which one is 

not or has not, pretending to be or to have it. 

See also dissemble. 

dissociate; disassociate. Dissociate is the preferred 

form, though disassociate is not incorrect (Such 

things are done only by men dissociated from 

the interests of party), 

distinct; distinctive. That is distinct which is clear 

in its identity, unmistakably itself, plain, definite, 

easily perceived. If a man has a distinct 

utterance, he speaks clearly and with precision. 

Distinctive means that which distinguishes something 

from other things of the same general 

kind, that highly characteristic of the speaker. 

It is conceivable that a man’s way of speaking 

might be distinctive because it was not distinct. 

See also different. 

distinction. See difference.

distinctive; distinguished. Distinctive means characteristic, 

peculiar, idiosyncratic. Distinguished, 

though it can be used and occasionally is used 

to mean conspicuous or marked, usually means 

noted, eminent, famous, having an air of distinction. 

The two words are not to be confused. 

Many are distinctive but few are distinguished. 

distinguish; discriminate; differentiate. To distinguish 

is to recognize those features of a thing 

that establish its separate identity (Zl is not hard 

to distinguish a hawk from a crow). To discriminate 

is to perceive fine distinctions between 

things, to determine wherein these differences 

consist and to estimate their significance (A tea 

taster can discriminate as many as twenty brands 

of tea, each from the other). The commonest 

use of the word today is in reference to making 

adverse distinction with regard to certain people 

and, especially, to unfair treatment on the sole 

basis of such distinctions (There shall be no 

discrimination because of race, creed, color, or 

country of origin). Although discrimination 

could be in someone’s favor, it is almost always 

conceived of as in someone’s disfavor; and 

although special treatment on the basis of 

certain distinctions might be justified, the word 

now refers almost entirely to some special treatment 

that is unjustified. 

To differentiate is to point out exactly and 

in detail the differences between two things (Zt 

is not always easy to differentiate between shyness 

and rudeness). 

distract. See detract. 

ditch (verb). In England to ditch means to make 

ditches or to provide with a ditch (Her yard was 

ditched all about with a dry ditch). This meaning 

is known in America but not much used. 

The commoner meaning is “to throw in a ditch” 

(The train left the rails and was ditched six 

miles west of Clinton) and the commonest of 

all is the slang use “to get rid of” (After the 

holdup the thieves ditched the car in an alley. 

He ditched her in Albuquerque and went on 

alone). 

diurnal. See daily. 

divagate. See deviate. 

dive. The past tense is dived or dove. The participle 

is also dived or dove. Dove is no longer 

heard in Great Britain but it is still acceptable 

in the United States, where dived strikes many 

people’s ears as “something from the Bible.” 

diverge. See deviate. 

divers and diverse, though originally the same 

word, have now, in different spellings, become 

fixed in different meanings. Divers means various, 

several, sundry (There are directions to be 

given to divers workmen before I start). Diverse 

means unlike, of a different kind or form or 

character, or of various kinds or forms, multiform 

(With habits so diverse, we may well expect 

corresponding diversity in their forms. The 

diverse and multiform nature of pleasure . . .). 

Divers is a literary word, with a suggestion 

of straining to be elegant in its use. Anyone 

today who would seriously say, with Captain 

Cook, fish of divers sorts would lay himself open 

to some pleasantries. 

139 division 

diverse. See different. 

divide. In the United States, Canada, South Africa, 

and Australia, divide as a noun has the special 

meaning of mountains or high land forming a 

watershed (I got a home in Wyomin’/ Far 

across the Greaf Divide). In England as a verb 

divide has the special meaning of voting by 

separating into two groups (Mr. B. expressed 

his intention of dividing the House on the 

motion). See also separate. 

dividend. The extension of dividend, the financial 

return upon an investment in stocks, to figurative 

uses (Kindness pays dividends) probably 

began as an attempt to seem practical and 

worldly in dealing with matters that are often 

thought to be impractical and unworldly. It is 

much overworked but use has not made it easy; 

it always sounds a little forced. It’s not very 

appropriate, either: five percent is a pretty good 

dividend and if that’s a good return for a virtuous 

act one had better either invest one’s energies 

in something more profitable or abandon 

the hope of profit and allow virtue to be its own 

reward. 

dividers. The measuring or drawing instrument 

may be called a divider, and more than one of 

them may be called several dividers. But one 

instrument may also be treated as a plural, as in 

these dividers are the ones, or referred to as a 

pair of dividers. This is acceptable but not necessary. 

The singular form divider is preferred as 

the first element in a compound. _ as in a divider 

point. 

division of words. When it is necessary to break 

a word at the end of a line, the break should be 

made between syllables and should be marked 

by a hyphen, which is attached to the first fragment 

of the word. Syllables are the sound units 

that make up a word. If you cannot hear where 

one syllable ends and another begins, you can 

look it up in a dictionary. But the rules given 

below cover most of the problems you will meet. 

First, some do&s: 

1. Do not divide a proper name. 

2. Do not divide abbreviations or letter 

words, such as A.B., SOS. 

3. Do not divide figures, such as 1,386,422. 

4. Do not divide a hyphenated word except 

at the hyphen. 

5. Except in printing, a certain amount of 

unevenness in the right hand margin is preferable 

to broken words. Therefore, never separate 

one or two letters from the rest of the word. 

6. Each part of the broken word must be 

pronounceable. Therefore never break off letters 

that do not include a sounded vowel, such as 

spl- or -ble. 

7. Do not break words that have only one 

real vowel sound in them, such as people, 

watched. 

8. Never separate two consonants or two 

vowels that represent only one sound, such as 

th, ch, wh, oi, au. 

If these don’ts are observed, the remaining 

rules for dividing words are not as difficult as 

they look: 

1. Regardless of how a word is pronounced,

divorc6 140 

-ing, -ish, -ed, -er, -est. are usually treated as 

independent syllables and do not unite with a 

preceding consonant, as in tell-ing, tall-ish, 

great-est. There are two exceptions. (1.) If a 

consonant has been doubled before -ing, -er, 

etc., divide between the double letters, as in 

run-ning, tip-per. (But do not divide in this way 

when the word naturally ends with a double 

letter, as in the examples above, tell-ing and 

tall-ish.) (2.) When -ing, -er, or any of these 

syllables follows two consonant sounds, the 

second of which is 1, divide according to sound, 

as in gig-gling, tin-gling, tick-led. 

2. When two true vowel sounds come together, 

divide between the vowels, as in mediate. 

But do not divide such words as appe-ase, 

where the ea represents one sound. 

3. When a single consonant sound stands between 

two vowels, the consonant remains with 

the preceding vowel if that is short and has a 

stress, as in rdp-idly, product, crit-icai!. (The 

vowel is long in pro-gram, pecli-liar, pro&-dure, 

and it is unstressed in sepa-rate, dmi-nous, 

m&ha-nism.) If you cannot decide how this 

rule applies in a particular case, and you do not 

have a dictionary, keep the consonant with the 

vowel that follows. 

4. Except in the three cases discussed above, 

a syllable always begins with a consonant. 

Several points follow from this. (1.) The syllables 

which have an sh sound, such as -cial, 

-tion, -ture, are never broken. Write: com-mercial, 

at-ten-tion, ad-venture. (2.) Wh’en two 

separate consonant sounds come together, divide 

between them, as in for-get. (But do not divide 

bet-ween, because tw is one sound.) (3.) You 

can always divide between double letters, as in 

hol-low, except in the special case of -ing, -ish, 

-er, -est, -ed, discussed in rule 1. 

divorc6; divorcke; divorcee. A divorce’ is a divorced 

man. A divorcee is a divorced woman. 

A divorcee is a divorced person of either sex. 

Divorce has become so common that no one 

thinks of it any more as something French or 

feels any need to cloak the mention of it or of 

the persons affected by it under a foreign term. 

In common American usage divorcee for either 

a divorced man or a divorced woman is now 

almost universal. 

divulge. See disclose. 

do. The past tense is did. The participle is done. 

During the nineteenth century it was acceptable 

English to use the form don’t in place of 

doesn’t, as in he don’t care a straw. This is no 

longer considered standard. 

Do is a basic verb, meaning to act or to 

accomplish something. It is the natural verb to 

use in speaking of an action that has noI name, 

as in he did a good deed and he has done a lot 

for me. It is also used as a substitute for a verb 

that has just been mentioned, as in 1 must interrupt 

you, as you did me. Today it is often used 

inside various trade groups in place of a more 

specific verb which has not been mentioned. For 

example, doctors speak of doing an ex.amination, 

musicians of doing a concert, and writers 

of doing a book. These expressions are natural 

English inside the particular group but they are 

usually objected to by outsiders. The writer who 

is doing an article on medicine may wince 

when the doctor speaks about doing a physical 

examination. 

The words do, does, and did, are also used 

as auxiliary verbs. English verbs are usually 

phrases made up of several elements. The only 

exceptions to this are the simple present tense, 

such as he walks, and the simple past, such as 

he walked. In present-day English there are 

certain constructions in which the verb must 

have at least two elements. In order to express 

the simple present or the simple past in these 

constructions we use do or does for the present 

tense and did for the past, followed by the 

simple form of the meaningful verb, as in he 

does walk, he did walk. It is necessary to have 

at least two elements to the verb in a question, 

such as where did he walk? and in a negative 

statement, such as he did not walk. We must 

also have two elements in the verb when a 

sentence begins with a negative or restrictive 

adverb, as in little did he think. At one time it 

was possible to say walked he?, he walked not, 

and little thought he, but these constructions are 

now archaic and good contemporary English 

requires a verbal phrase. 

In the United States the only exception to 

the above rule is to be. This verb is never used 

with the auxiliary do except in an imperative. 

Do must be used in a negative imperative, as in 

don’t be silly, and may be used in an affirmative, 

as in do be quiet. Otherwise we say where was 

he?, he was not here, and neither were you. The 

verb to have is sometimes treated like to be, as 

in have you a pencil?, but in the United States 

it is more likelv to be used with the auxiliarv. as 

in do you have a pencil?. In Great Britain the 

auxiliary do is not used with to be or to have 

(except in an imperative) nor with used to. 

See used to. 

The same combinations of the verb to do and 

the simple form of the meaningful verb are used 

to make a simple present or simple past tense 

statement emphatic, as in of course Z do believe 

you and if Z did cry, it would not be from grief. 

The word do is also used to make an imperative 

emphatic, as in do come. Do can be used in this 

way even when the imperative itself is the verb 

do, as in do do something about it. 

dock. In its strictest sense a dock is the space or 

waterway between two piers or wharves (Beyond 

thnt lay a wharf and the thick muddy 

water of a dock). Only with this sense in mind 

would drydock have any meaning. None the less, 

by a quite natural extension, the word dock has 

been applied to the pier or wharf (Jordan . . . 

had drifted away from the dock when the explosion 

occurred) so often that its synonymity for 

them is accepted as standard in American usage. 

docker. See longshoreman. 

docket. In England docket signifies an official 

memorandum or entry of proceedings in a legal 

cause, or a register of such entries. In the United

States it signifies a list of causes in court for 

trial, or the names of the parties who have 

causes pending (Court dockets are crowded). 

Sports writers, seeking indefatigably to lend an 

air of freshness to their otherwise monotonous 

subject, have taken over the word as a term for 

a list of impending athletic contests (Three 

games are on the docket for the Minute Men 

and Coach Erle Witty’s boys). 

doctor. The use of unwarranted titles of respect 

has long been an element of American humor 

and even politeness, and Doe and Professor and 

Judge and Colonel are prodigally bestowed 

amongst us. But doctor, in its fulness, is reserved 

for those who are presumed to have had a doctorate 

conferred upon them by some institution 

of higher learning. It may be an obscure and 

shadowy institution and it may have been conferred 

for proficiency in some field such as Baby 

Sitting or the Care of Bunions, which is not 

admitted to the curriculum of such conservative 

places as Oxford and Cambridge. But a degree 

is supposed to have been conferred. 

American and English usage of the word 

differ. The members of the American Medical 

Association might have to apply sedatives to 

themselves after reading in a recent authoritative 

English work that “any member of the medical 

profession . . . whether he holds the degree of 

Doctor of Medicine or not” should be “addressed 

as doctor.” And an American surgeon would 

be doubly offended to read in the same work 

that a surgeon “whether holding a doctor’s degree 

or not, should be addressed as Mr. or Mrs. 

or Miss.” With us no one can be a licensed practitioner 

unless he holds a doctorate and all surgeons 

are doctors and, along with other members 

of their profession, are so addressed. 

Dr. is the abbreviation for doctor. It may be 

used before a full name or before a surname 

only, as in Dr. Samuel Johnson and Dr. Johnson. 

In speaking of two men known as Dr. Johnson 

we may say the Dr. Johnsons. But if we distinguish 

two doctors in any way we must make the 

title plural, as in Drs. Samuel and William Johnson 

and Drs. Fulton and Price. 

The form Dr. should not be used before a 

name that is followed by letters representing an 

academic degree, such as Ph.D. or M.D. The 

word doctor may be used without a proper 

name as a form of address, as in do you agree 

with me, doctor?. It may also be used in speaking 

about anyone who has this title, as in the 

doctor will see you in a few minutes. 

doe. See hart. 

does. See do. 

doff and don (coalesced forms of do off and do 

on) for “take ofI”’ and “put on” have not been in 

general use for three hundred years. They are 

now literary and affected. 

dogma. The plural is dogmas or dogmata, not 

dogmae. 

dog’s life, lead a. Dogs fare ill in proverbs. They 

are greedy, fierce, filthy, and servile. They defile 

cisterns, return to their vomit, drive the patient 

ox from the manger, bark at their own fleas, 

141 domestic 

eat each other, bay the moon, suffer under a bad 

name, get themselves hanged and beaten, and 

whine, snarl, cringe, fawn, and slaver in a 

myriad dangerous and disgusting ways. Dogs are 

mentioned many times in the Bible, but only 

with abhorrence. That they licked Lazarus’ sores 

was intended not as an indication of their pity 

but of his degradation. They fare even worse in 

Shakespeare than in the Scriptures; their combined 

servility, ferocity, and filthiness seems to 

have fascinated the poet with revulsion. 

Until fairly recently the dog was a scavenger. 

His food consisted exclusively of garbage and 

his residence was the kennel or channel, the 

loathsome trickle down the center of the street 

into which refuse was thrown. Great houses, 

having much garbage, had many dogs, and there 

was a regular functionary, the dog whipper, to 

keep them in subjection. Blows and kicks were 

the rule and for the slightest offense dogs were 

hanged. Sometimes just for the fun of it. 

In such an atmosphere and under such a 

regime a dog’s life was, no doubt, a wretched 

one to lead. To go to the dogs was to descend 

low indeed, and to die like a dog to make a miserable 

end. The sayings might be trite, even 

then, but at least they had meaning. 

But all has changed. No exact date can be set 

for the metamorphosis of the blatant beast into 

the lovable pet, but the assertion, in an address 

to a jury, by Senator George C. Vest, at Warrensburg, 

Missouri, in 1876, that “a man’s best 

friend’s his dog,” may definitely be regarded as 

a milestone on the way. Certainly today, with 

the veterinarian’s bill often exceeding the pediatrician’s, 

with canine psychiatrists, with dog sitters, 

with vitamin-enriched canned dog food, 

with quilted coats and fur-lined booties, with 

rubberfoam mattresses, boarding houses, schools 

of etiquette and even orphanages, a dog’s life 

can no longer serve as the trope of wretchedness 

and all phrases that so imply must be discarded 

as clichCs. This does not mean, however, that the 

dog need be driven utterly from folk sayings. 

There is a hackneyed term about living the life 

of Reilly. No one knows just who Reilly was or 

why his existence was thought to be enviable and 

the phrase has become idle and empty. Let 

Fido be substituted for Reilly and it will again 

be filled with meaning. 

doldrums may mean a state of depression, or the 

dumps; the similar state that a ship is in when 

she can make no headway; or the part of the 

earth where ships most often got into this condition. 

Originally, the word meant the nervous 

state. Later it was applied, either in humor or 

through misunderstanding, to the areas near the 

equator. A singular, doldrum, is sometimes used, 

in both senses, but it is very rare. 

domestic. Those English visitors who are amused 

at the American use of domestic to mean of or 

pertaining to our own country, internal, not 

foreign (domestic postage, domestic affairs) 

have forgotten their own literature. Macbeth 

lists malice domestic, foreign levy among the ills 

that can no longer touch the dead Duncan, and

domicile 142 

Macaulay. in 1849, referred to The whlole domestic 

and foreign policy of the English government. 

domicile. Though domicile does mean home, it is 

better left to the lawyers and the social scientists 

and, in some special uses, to the zoologists. In 

everyday use it is pompous if serious, tedious if 

jocular. See house; home. 

dominate; domineer. To dominate is to rule over, 

govern, control (His stepmother dominated 

him), or to tower above and so to give {control 

of (The Rock of Gibraltar dominates the 

straits). To domineer is to rule despotic,ally, to 

tyrannize over, to bully (Oligarchies, wherein a 

few rich men domineer). Domineer is also used 

in the sense of commanding by towering above 

(The grim castle on its naked rock domineered 

the town). Whether to use dominate or domineer 

in this sense is dependent upon the degree to 

which one wishes to stress unfavorable feelings 

towards the dominance. Of course no one likes 

to be dominated and dominate, sometimes, has 

unpleasant connotations. Domineer always has. 

dominoes. When referring to the game, the plural 

word dominoes takes a singular verb, as in 

dominoes is fun. A single piece is a domino and 

dominoes used with a plural verb means more 

than one of these, as in dominoes are usually 

black and white. 

Domino may also mean a kind of garment, 

especially one worn in a masquerade, as in she 

wore a pink domino. This word may have the 

plural dominos or dominoes. It is thought that 

the pieces in the game were called dominoes 

because the backs looked like people in dlomino 

cloaks. 

donate; give. To donate is to make a gift. It is a 

back formation from donation and has long 

been an object of scorn and ridicule as “a pretentious 

and magniloquent vulgarism” among 

English purists. Sir Alan Herbert, who insists 

that it is merely a snob word, that the rich donate 

and the poor give, has a great deal of fun 

translating various well-known passages to include 

donate: Donate us this day our daily 

bread. ‘Tis more blessed to donate than to receive. 

‘Twas all he donated, ‘twas all he had to 

donate. And certainly it is better to use give 

wherever one can. It is not only simpler:; it has 

more dignity. None the less donate is now standard 

in the United States where even professors 

of grammar hungrily hope that someone will 

donate the funds to support a chair in their specialty. 

done. See do. 

do or die. Men have done entirely too much dying 

in the past generation to be lulled by alliteration 

into feeling any thrill at the clicht do or die. 

The phrase, chiefly expressed by poets and 

princes, neither of whom as a class were much 

given to either doing or dying in the attempt, is 

now confined almost entirely to ironic uses. 

When or where the odds against dying were 

large, it is conceivable that men might have 

been moved by exhortation and rhetoric to take 

the chance of dying; where or when the odds in 

favor of dying are high, the adjuration is likely 

to prove an incentive to not do. 

double entendre. There is no use pointing out that 

double entendre does not exist in French or 

existed only a long time ago and that the proper 

phrase for a double meaning, one of them 

usually indelicate, is double entente. The proper 

phrase in English from at least Dryden’s time, 

however erroneous its basis, has been double 

entendre and three hundred years of use will 

usually make an error standard. 

Double meaning is a better phrase, anyway. 

There is no point nor honesty in pretending that 

indelicate matters ought to be spoken of in 

French. In indecency we can hold our own with 

any nation. 

double geuitives. 

POSSESSIVES 

As a rule, a noun in the genitive case or a 

possessive pronoun can be replaced by an of 

phrase in which of is followed by the common 

form of the noun or the objective form of the 

pronoun, as in the sun’s heat, the heat of the 

sun; his picture, a picture of him. But when the 

genitive or possessive represents ownership, as in 

a child’s toy, a dog’s bone, it keeps its form even 

when it follows the preposition of, as in a toy of 

the child’s, a bone of the dog’s. 

This is a curious and interesting construction. 

It is never misused and no one needs to understand 

it in order to use it properly. That is fortunate, 

because it is almost impossible to understand. 

Some grammarians say that it is a partitive, 

that it always implies that there is more of the 

same, and that in an expression such as that 

mother of his it is derogatory for that reason. 

But actually this double genitive does not carry 

a partitive meaning, even where that would be 

applicable. When we say he left the party with 

some of his friends, we do have a partitive and 

an implication that there may have been others 

who did not leave with him. When we say he 

left with some friends of his, the statement 

merely describes or classifies the people he left 

with. 

This double genitive is essentially a defining 

or classifying expression. It is used with words 

such as a, some, any, and numerals, which indicate 

that the following noun is not completely 

specified. And it is used with one kind of the 

and not with the other. The word the usually 

means “that which is already defined.” We are 

using this the in: There was once a king in Thule, 

and when the king was old . . . . But there is 

another the which is simply the sign that a clause 

is to follow, and which means “more information 

is coming.” We have this the in the man 

who came to dinner. The second the may be 

used with the double genitive, as in the friend 

of yours who is going abroad told me . . . . But 

the first the, which says that what follows is 

already defined, cannot be used in this construction. 

We cannot say the friend of yours told 

me . . . . 

The double genitive is required whenever a

word indicating ownership is placed after of. For 

example, he found u bone of the dog’s and he 

found D bone of the dog mean different things; 

and he found a toy of the child is meaningless. 

In fact, a genitive form or a possessive pronoun 

that does not keep its form after of does not 

represent ownership. 

At this point it would seem reasonable to say 

that the double genitive defines a particular 

thing by saying to whom it belongs. That is, the 

genitive relation of ownership is used again in 

the primary genitive function of a classifying 

word. (See genitive case.) This would be a satisfactory 

explanation if the double genitive always 

implied ownership. There is no doubt that ownership 

after of has to be expressed in this way, 

but it does not follow that everything that is 

expressed in this way is ownership. 

If we assert that the double genitive always 

implies ownership, some curious things follow. 

Since we say a bone of the dog when we mean 

a bone from its own body, it would follow that 

we think the dog is his body and not the owner 

of it. A human being, on the other hand, must 

always be spoken of as the owner and not as the 

body itself, as in that Zeg of John’s is hurting him 

again. But man does not seem to own his appearance, 

or likeness, since we say a picture of him. 

The expression this life of mine would seem to 

imply that we own our lives; for the life of me 

would not. 

There is no doubt that the construction can 

be used for personal relationships, and without 

any derogatory implication, as in a son of his. 

What makes that mother of his an expression of 

contempt is the word that and not any implications 

of the partitive genitive. The form is 

equally contemptuous in situations where the 

idea of “one of many” is not insulting, as in that 

son of yours. This is so universally true that in 

suburban English a pleasant word is usually 

added to counteract the ill effect of that, as in 

that dear child of yours has ruined my Iawn. 

PARTITIVES 

The partitive relation is represented in Latin 

by a genitive. In English it is always represented 

by a prepositional phrase, which, like other prepositional 

phrases, can be followed by a genitive 

‘s, as in which of you gentlemen’s name is Snodgrass?. 

No difficulties arise until the word following 

of is an objective pronoun, as in one of 

them, one of US, one of you. If we followed the 

pattern of other prepositional phrases we would 

say one of them’s mother, one of us’s mother, 

one of you’s mother. This is unacceptable with 

us and you. The construction is heard with them 

but is condemned by most grammarians. On 

the other hand, a possessive pronoun is not used 

here. We do not say one of their mother or even 

one of their mothers. Partitive phrases involving 

a personal pronoun are the only type of expression 

we have that cannot be handled simply in 

the genitive, and for this reason people often 

stumble over them. At present there is nothing 

to do but recast the sentence and use a second 

of phrase, as in the mother of one of them. 

143 double 

double negatives. In English, two negatives in the 

same sentence generally reinforce one another. 

Z didn’t say nothing is an emphatic denial and 

no one who speaks English can misunderstand 

it. This is the normal way of strengthening a 

negative in all Teutonic languages, of which 

ours is one. In the past, double, triple, quadruple 

negatives were quite acceptable; Sir Launcelot 

was speaking the purest English when he said, 

I never treacherously slew no man. 

Today, this repeated negative is considered a 

shocking vulgarism. Negative pronouns (such 

as no one and nothing), negative adverbs (such 

as hardly and scarcely), and negative conjunctions 

(such as neither and nor), when used with 

a negative verb put a man beyond the pale, provided 

the sentence is short enough. No one who 

values public opinion can afford to say Z didn’t 

hardly hear you or you didn’t hear me, neither. 

If the sentence is longer, a supplementary 

negative added as an afterthought is not felt to 

be a serious offense. He couldn’t sleep, not even 

with a sedative contains a redundant not, since 

what is meant is he couldn’t sleep even with a 

sedative. Sentences of this kind are contrary to 

the theoretical rules of grammar and are avoided 

by some writers and editors. But they are not the 

sort of sentence children are drilled in and they 

are not contrary to the spirit of English. As a 

result, very few people are offended by them. On 

the other hand, the sentence no one thought so, 

even you is wrong. Here the phrase after the 

comma requires a negative and should be not 

even you. (The difference between the two sentences 

is easier felt than described. In the first, 

even with a sedative is an adverbial phrase; it 

tells in what way the man could not sleep. In 

the second, not even you is an elaboration of no 

one and becomes the subject of thought so. Even 

you thought so is not what was meant.) The 

writer who used even when he meant not even 

undoubtedly dropped the not because he thought 

it was a double negative. In attempting to show 

that his English is “purer” than it really is, he 

has succeeded in showing how worried he is 

about it. Mistakes of this kind are inevitable 

when one tries to apply a rule that runs counter 

to one’s speech habits. It is much safer to trust 

one’s ear, and to be satisfied to speak and write 

the language used by the great majority of educated 

people. 

The person who says I shouldn’t be surprised 

if it didn’t rain may mean Z expect it to rain. 

Here we have a negative in a main clause repeated 

in a subordinate construction. This type 

of repetition is required in many languages, and 

so cannot be called unreasonable. Although it 

is condemned by some English grammarians, it 

is used by many of the best writers of English. 

Jane Austen, for example, writes: there was 

none too poor or too remote not to feel an interest; 

and Charles Darwin: it never occurred 

to me to doubt that your work would not advance 

our common object. See also but. 

Whenever two negatives make an affirmative 

the double negative is a thoroughly respectable

doubletalk 144 

construction, chiefly because it was a standard 

Latin construction. In Latin, two negatives in 

the same sentence always amounted to an affirmation 

and nobody does not believe was an 

emphatic and elegant way of saying everybody 

believes. In English, two negatives make an affirmative 

when one directly qualifies the other, 

as in I urn not unhappy. Even here the words do 

not completely cancel each other. This double 

negative expresses rather, the weakest possible 

positive attitude. 

doubletalk. See persiflage. 

doubtless. See undoubtedly. 

dove. See dive. 

dove. See pigeon. 

dower; dowry. Dower is a legal term for the portion 

of a deceased husband’s real property 

allowed to his widow for her life. A dowry is the 

money, goods, or estate which a woman brings 

to her husband at marriage. In former tiimes the 

two words were often used interchangeably but 

today they are kept to their separate meanings. 

down is primarily an adverb meaning toward a 

lower position, as in look down; but it may also 

be used as an adjective to qualify a noun, as in 

a down stroke. The adjective has a superlative 

form downmost but no comparative. Down is 

sometimes used as a preposition, as in down the 

hill, and sometimes as a verb, as in he downed 

them all. 

Down has the same range of meanings that 

lower has. It may mean physically lower, as in 

step down, or it may mean lower in some other 

sense, as in mark down the price, run down one’s 

friends, call down the hired help. It is also used 

as the opposite of up, to mean passing from 

greater to less energy or from a stronger to a 

weaker state, as in quiet down, tone down, soften 

down. For differences between up and down, 

see up. 

Down is also used in speaking of geographical 

directions. In Great Britain it may mean toward 

the coast, as in I must down to the seas again; or 

it may mean toward a place of less importance. 

That is, one goes down from London or down 

from any city to the country. In the United 

States the first meaning survives in down East, 

meaning the Maine coast, but otherwise is lost. 

In general, down is used in this country to mean 

“south,” or toward the bottom of an ordinary 

map. People living in Kingston go “down” to 

New York City. 

down at the heel(s), like out at the elbow, as a 

term for being destitute, is no longer descriptive. 

downward; downwards. Downward is the only 

form that can be used to qualify a following 

noun, as in a downward glance. Either form may 

be used in any other construction, as in he 

glanced downwards and he glanced downwurd. 

In the United States the form downward is generally 

preferred. 

dozen. Originally the word dozen was always joined 

to a following noun by of, as in a dozen of eggs. 

This construction is not considered standard 

now except where it has been preserved as an 

elegance, as in P dozen of sherry. In current 

English, dozen is treated as if it were a numeral. 

It stands immediately before a following noun, 

as in a dozen eggs, except when it refers to a 

part of some specified group, as in a dozen of 

these eggs, in which case the of must be used. 

Only the singular form dozen can be used after 

a numeral. We say get three dozen and not get 

three dozens. 

The plural form dozens cannot be used after a 

numeral and cannot be treated as if it were a 

numeral. It must always be joined to a following 

noun by of, as in dozens of eggs. The of is not 

used before degree words, such as more, less, 

too many, and we may speak of dozens more. 

But we do not like to complete this expression 

by adding another noun. We avoid saying dozens 

more eggs. 

Dr. See doctor. 

draft; draught. Though draft and draught are 

merely variant spellings, common usage has 

fixed them to separate meanings. Draft is used 

for a drawing or design, for the preliminary 

form of a piece of writing, the act of drawing or 

pulling or that which is drawn or pulled, the 

taking of supplies, forces, or money from a given 

source, the selection of persons for military 

service, a written order drawing on another person 

‘or a bank for money, a drain or demand 

made on anything. Draft and draught are used 

for a current of air. Draught is used for a device 

for regulating the flow of air or gas, the drawing 

of a liquid from its receptacle (as Beer on 

draldght-though in American usage draft is 

rapidly gaining in this sense), drinking, or a 

drink or potion, a take of fish, the dnpth a vessel 

sinks in water, and (in the plural construed as 

singular) the game of checkers. When used as 

another name for checkers, however, the word 

takes a singular verb, as in draughts is played by 

two persons. The preferred name for this game 

in the United States is checkers. 

drank. See drink. 

draw. The past tense is drew. The participle is 

drawn. 

draw; drag; haul. To draw is to move something 

by a force in the direction from which the force 

is exerted (the draw of a magnet; chariots drawn 

by horses. Drawing her father aside for a moment, 

she begged him to leave). To drug is to 

draw with great force some object over a surface 

upon which it rests, the movement being hindered 

bv friction (The bodv had olainlv been 

drugged-across the‘yurd to ;he ditdh). To haul 

is to transport a heavy object slowly with sustained 

effort. Boats are hauled across land. 

Heavy freight is hauled. The slang use of haul 

as a noun (a rich haul) implies a heavy take, so 

heavy that it would be difficult to move. 

draw in one’s horns. To say of someone who at 

a threat suddenly abates his truculence that he 

has drawn in his horns is to employ a venerable 

but not very sound metaphor, since the figure is 

based on the sudden shrinking into its shell of 

an alarmed snail, one of the least truculent of 

creatures and one whose “horns,” the delicate 

antennae or tentacles which bear its eyes, have

no menace. The phrase is now a clichi and 

should be used sparingly. 

drawers. When this word means an article of 

clothing, the plural form refers to one garment 


drawers are warm. In order to use the word with 

a singular verb or to speak of more than one 

such garment, it is necessary to say this pair of 

drawers is warm or several pairs of drawers. 

The form drawers is used as the first element in 

a compound, as in drawers material. 

drawing pin. See thumbtack. 

drawn. See draw. 

draw the line at something, marking it as a limit 

beyond which one is prepared to fight or to take 

or accept other drastic action, is a clicht. It 

seems to be based on the habit of pugnacious 

frontiersmen, now relegated to boys, of drawing 

a line in the dirt and defying one’s opponent to 

step across it. 

draw the long bow. The long bow, as every boy 

who has read his Robin Hood stories knows, 

was a mighty weapon employed in mighty feats 

by mighty men before villainous saltpeter was 

digged out of the bowels of the harmless earth 

to destroy many a good tall fellow so cowardly. 

Apparently the boasts of old bowmen exceeded 

credence and their narratives became a term for 

large exaggeration, a euphemism for boastful 

lying. But the term is now a clich6. It has been 

many a century since anyone has been annoyed 

by the boasting of a longbowman and there is 

such a richness of contemporary boasting to 

choose a new figure from that continued use of 

the old one amounts to neglect of our national 

resources. 

dread may be followed by an infinitive, as in he 

dreads to go, or by the -ing form of a verb, as 

in he dreads going. It may also be followed by 

a clause. Formerly, this was introduced by Zest 

and the clause verb was a subjunctive, as in 

I dread lest he go. This is now extremely bookish. 

A that clause with the verb in the indicative, 

as in Z dread that he will go, is sometimes heard 

but an infinitive construction, such as I dread to 

see him go or I dread to have him go, is generally 

preferred. 

dreadful. See awful; horrible. 

dream. The past tense is dreamed or dreamt. The 

participle is also dreamed or dreamt. In the 

United States dreamed is preferred for the past 

tense and the participle. Dreamt is preferred in 

Great Britain. Dream may be followed by a 

clause, as in he dreams he is there. If the -ing 

form of a verb follows dream it must be introduced 

by the preposition of, as in he dreams of 

being there. 

dregs is a mass word with a plural form. It is regularly 

used with a plural verb, as in the dregs 

are bitter. But it is not a true plural and we 

cannot speak of three or four dregs. However, 

a singular form dreg exists and may be used to 

make the absence of dregs, or the smallness, 

emphatic, as in leave no dreg and if any dreg 

remain. We may speak of many dregs or of 

much dregs. 

145 drought 

dress. The past tense is dressed or drest. The participle 

is also dressed or drest. Dressed is the 

preferred form for the past tense and the participle. 

dressed up to the nines. No one is quite sure 

what the “nines” in dressed up to the nines 

means. It has been suggested that nine being a 

mystical number it means dressed up to perfection, 

but that fails to account for the plural, if 

the word is the plural of the number nine. The 

phrase sometimes appears as to the nine. Burns 

wrote that a certain action would please him 

to the nine and Charles Reade refers to men or 

women being clad in snowy cotton and japanned 

to the nine. It has been conjectured that the 

phrase may derive from to then eyne, i.e., to the 

eyes, and this would make sense in the common 

phrase but it would not account for the final s 

there and elsewhere. No context has been found 

that makes any meaning absolutely clear, and 

plenty have been found that make any explanation 

yet advanced untenable. It is one of those 

phrases to which no specific meaning can be 

attached, a clichC, to be avoided. Dressed fit to 

kill has a more obvious meaning, -. but it, , too. Iis 

hackneyed. 

dresser. Though the word dresser used to mean in 

America what it still means in England. a sideboard 

or set of shelves for dishes-and cooking 

utensils (The bland illumination filled the entire 

apartment.. . making the scoured milk pans and 

the white crockery on the large “dresser”shine- 

1848. With a nice dinner ready cooked for ‘em, 

and set out in the dresser-l 875)) it now means 

solely a dressing table or bureau (In this crib 

there’s just n few pieces of furniture which consist 

of a bed, washstand . . . a dresser and maybe 

two chairs-1947). 

drest. See dress. 

drew. See draw. 

drink. The past tense is drunk. The participle is 

drunk or drank. Drunk is the usual participle 

today, but drank, as in he had drank deep, is 

still acceptable in many parts of the United 

States. This construction was popular with nineteenth 

century writers, perhaps because drank 

does not suggest too much alcohol as much as 

drunk does. An older participle drunken is still 

in use as an adjective, as in a drunken sailor, but 

we also say a drunk sailor. 

drive. The past tense is drove. The participle is 

driven. Drive may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he drove her to admit it, or by the -ing 


he drove her to admitting it. The -ing construction 

is generally preferred. Forty years ago many 

people felt that drive could not be used in speaking 

of an automobile, but this attempt to preserve 

“pure” English has now been abandoned. 

droll. See funny. 

drop. The past tense is dropped or dropt. The par-, 

ticiple is also dropped or dropt. Dropped is the 

preferred form for the past tense and the participle. 

drought and drouth, pronounced as spelled, are 

simply variants. Drouth is now dialectal in Eng-

drove 146 

land but is standard in the United States where 

it is used interchangeably with drought. 

drove. See drive. 

drown is a regular verb and the past tense :and the 

participle are drowned. In the United States an 

extra d is often heard in this word, as in he will 

drownd and he was drownded last night. These 

were once literary forms but are now considered 

as uneducated usage, at least when they appear 

in print. 

drug. See drag. 

drug on the market. What drug? And in what 

pharmacopoeia to be found? Or is it a drug at 

all? Is it, perhaps, dreg, which is pronounced 

drug in some dialects? Or a drugget? Or some 

confusion of drag or drogue? 

Nobody knows. All the dictionaries can say 

is what the phrase makes evident: something 

which is no longer in demand, something unsaleable. 

Dryden said that virtue shall a drug 

become. In a way, it is; and a drag. Sir William 

Temple said, in 1763, that horses in Ireland are 

a drug. Robinson Crusoe laughed at the coins 

he found in the wreck: 0 Drug! said I aloud, 

what art thou good for? The term may have 

originated in some now-forgotten pun, but however 

it originated it is now a clich6, an expression 

that we repeat without knowing exactly 

what it means. Indeed, it is, perhaps, supreme in 

its kind, for there is no evidence, from the 

moment of its first appearance in 166 1, that anyone 

has ever known exactly what it means. 

drug store. The nearest thing to a drug store that 

an American will find in England is a chemist’s 

shop. They both fill prescriptions and sell medicines, 

cosmetics, and sick-room supplies; but the 

soda fountains, lunch counters, magazine racks, 

and toy and novelty departments that grace and 

clutter the drug store are unknown in the: chemist’s 

shops. 

drunk. See drink. 

drunkard; alcoholic; sot. Drunkard is the everyday 

word, strongly tinged with the disgust, contempt, 

and amusement that drunkenness inspires 

in those that have to deal with it (A Man that 

is now and then guilty of Intemperance is not 

to be called a Drunkard-Steele). Sot, originally 

a fool or an idiot, is an angry word for an 

habitual drunkard (bursten-bellied sots . . . this 

horrid sot . . . who cannot sleep at ni,ght till 

dosed with drink). Alcoholic is the newest and 

politest term of all, carrying a nobly understanding 

connotation of psychological and physiological 

illness. It has replaced dipsomaniac, 

which used to be the understanding word but 

fell short of perfection because of undignified 

suggestions in -maniac. 

There are so many slang terms for drinking, 

drunkenness, and drunkards that almost any 

term to be found in a dictionary is comparatively 

dignified. 

drunk; drunken; inebriated; intoxicated. When applied 

to persons, drunk is now the commonest 

form in America, both predicate and attributive 

(After one more drink he was distinctly drunk. 

The drunk soldier was plainly looking for a 

quarrel). As applied to persons, drunken now 

seems a little archaic and poetic (What shall we 

do with a drunken sailor? A drunken man seems 

to bear a charmed life), though it is still used to 

describe states and actions that pertain to, proceed 

from, or are marked by, intoxication (This 

drunken babbling amused some but disgusted 

most. Weaving through trafic in drunken disregard 

of all regulations . . .). (See also drink.) 

Inebriated is simply a highfalutin word for 

drunk. It is used as a pompous circumlocution 

or humorously (as in Disraeli’s famous reference 

to Gladstone as a sophistical rhetorician, 

inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity). 

Intoxicated means poisoned. It was possible 

formerly to speak of intoxicated weapons or of 

serpents that intoxicated by their bite: and the 

word toxic, poisonous, is in everyday use. But 

intoxicated, when used literally, now means to 

be poisoned by drinking an excess of ethyl 

alcohol. Used finurativelv (intoxicated with success, 

intoxicatedwith happiness), it means drunk 

but carries less censure than the coarser, downright 

word. To be drunk with success suggests 

just a shade greater likelihood of doing something 

offensive or dangerous in one’s elation 

than if one were intoxicated with success. 

dry goods, textile fabrics and related articles of 

trade, in distinction from groceries, hardware, 

and so on, is now an old-fashioned word in 

America, though still current and standard. 

There is no equivalent in England. The word 

embraces what is there called drapery, mercery, 

and haberdashery. 

dry out. An American, soaked in a downpour, 

wants to dry out his clothes. An Englishman 

wants to dry off his. Perhaps the English climate 

has made him resign himself to a surface dryness 

only. 

d.t.‘s must now be accepted, at least in informal 

speech and writing, as a standard abbreviation 

of delirium tremens. 

dual words. Modern English has only two forms 

to indicate whether a word is being used in 

reference to one thing or to more than one: 

the singular, showing one, and the plural, showing 

more than one. Some primitive languages 

have grammatical forms for one, two, three, and 

more than three things. Old English, like Greek, 

had forms to indicate one, two, and more than 

two. There still are in modern English a few 

words, such as neither, alternative, both, the 

latter, that carry a dual meaning to some extent, 

that is, that seem to refer to two rather than to 

more than one. 

The tendency in modern English is to free 

these words from the specific reference to two. 

Neither, for example, was used broadly as early 

as the seventeenth century, as seen in neither 

death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, 

nor powers, nor things present, nor things to 

come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other 

creature. In the nineteenth century, Gladstone 

felt at liberty to say: my decided preference is 

for the fourth and last of these alternatives. Not

all dual words have been used so freely in such 

high places as neither and alternative, and anyone 

writing today is obliged to follow the accepted 

usage of today. For example, one cannot 

say both were there and be understood to mean 

all three were there. But the distinction between 

two and more than two is logically out of place 

in the twentieth century. It belongs to a simpler 

culture than ours. And no one should try to 

preserve it, or reinstate it, where custom is allowing 

it to disappear. For more detailed information, 

see the individual dual words. 

ductus. The plural is ductuses or ductus, not ducti. 

dues. The American dues, the amount payable to 

a club to maintain membership, is in England 

subscription. 

due to may be used to qualify a noun, as in a 

mistake due to carelessness. This use of due to 

was listed by Dr. Johnson as “proper, but not 

usual.” Since then it has become a familiar form 

of speech and no one thinks of objecting to it. 

But the words are also used today to qualify a 

verb, as in he failed, due to carelessness. This 

construction is relatively new and is condemned 

by some grammarians. 

In both cases the words due to are being used 

as owing to might be used. It is claimed that 

due to is acceptable in the first case but not in 

the second, and that only the form owing to may 

be used with a verb. This distinction cannot be 

defended on theoretical grounds, since due to 

and owing lo are grammatically alike. The 

critics usually content themselves with saying 

that “due to cannot be used to qualify a verb.” 

But it is used to qualify a verb, millions of times 

every day. And it is used in this way in very 

respectable places. A tablet in front of the Old 

State House in Philadelphia reads: Here the 

Continental Congress sat from the date it convened, 

May 10, 177.5, until the close of the 

Revolution, except when, in 1776-77, it sat in 

Baltimore, and in 1777-78, in Lancaster and 

York, due to the temporary occupation of Philadelphia 

by the British army. (See also owe.) 

dug. See dig. 

dull as ditch water. Ditch water today would be 

unsavory but nothing like the foul mess it was 

before there was any public sanitation. It seems 

to have impressed itself, quite understandably, 

on the senses and vocabularies of our forebears 

who made it the basis of three unpleasant similes: 

as proud [digne] as ditchwater, as light as 

ditchwater, and as dull as ditchwater. The first 

two were presumably ironic, though their exact 

significance is now puzzling. Perhaps as proud 

as ditchwater may have meant “stinking proud,” 

except for stinking’s being a general term of 

abuse that doesn’t make much sense. 

The dullness of ditchwater. in the simile that 

has survived, may have referred to its opacity or 

its lack of good taste. The latter would apply to 

uncontaminated standing water. Our ancestors 

attached considerable importance to the taste of 

various waters. There is a fine apostrophe in 

MarkTwain’s Tom Sawyer Abroad to Mississippi 

River water as the best of all drinking waters, 

147 Dutch 

being far superior, by virtue of its silt, to the 

water of the Ohio or the Missouri. But dull as 

ditch water (or its often-heard variant, dull as 

dishwater) is now a sodden simile, pretty much 

devoid of meaning. 

dumb. The American use of dumb for stupid (I 

can’t teach my dog tricks; he’s too dumb to 

learn) is probably the German dumm, rather 

than a corruption of the old word for speechless, 

which is retained in standard American usage. 

Dumbbell, a stupid person, is slang. 

dumbfound. See amaze. 

dumbwaiter. In the United States a dumbwaiter 

is a conveyor of framework with shelves drawn 

up and down in a shaft. It was used more in 

former days, especially in town houses where 

the dining room was on the floor above the 

kitchen. In England a dumbwaiter is a small 

stand, often with revolving shelves, placed near 

a dining table. 

Were servants garrulous, especially while waiting 

on the table, that so much is made of the 

silence of things meant to replace them? Cf. 

silent butler. 

duologue. See dialogue. 

durance vile. Durance is now archaic for endurance 

or duration. It survives only in the forcedly 

jocular cliche in durance vile, meaning in forced 

constraint or prison. Shakespeare, by putting the 

phrase into Pistol’s mouth,implied, as early as 

1597, that it was a cliche. bombastic and ludicrous. 

After almost four hundred years of 

further use even the humor has worn out. 

durst. See dare. 

Dutch; Dutchman. A Dutchman may mean a man 

from Holland, but in the United States it often 

means a German, or a German-speaking American. 

For this reason, Hollander is the preferred 

term in this country for a native of Holland. 

In England, since about 1600, the word Dutch 

has been applied only to the language or the 

people of Holland. But the Dutch word duitsch 

and the German word deutsch both mean German, 

and not Hollandish. In many parts of the 

United States the English word Dutch has kept 

this meaning, especially in areas settled by Germans 

or Hollanders. The expression Pennsylvania 

Dutch is an example of this American 

usage. 

Many dictionaries label this use of Dutch and 

Dutchman as “careless” or incorrect, which it is 

by British standards. But being correct is small 

consolation for being misunderstood and the 

“careful” speaker will bear in mind what his 

words are likely to mean to his hearers. 

The Dutch means the entire people. It is 

always followed by a plural verb, but it cannot 

be used with a numeral. We do not speak of 

three Dutch, but of three Dutchmen. 

Rivalry in trade and jealousy and fear in naval 

matters bred a resentment of the Dutch in England 

in the seventeenth century which soon 

disappeared when England’s supremacy was 

established but which lingers on in the language 

in a number of phrases such as Dutch courage 

(the courage lent by drunkenness), Dutch con-

duty 

solution (the assurance that things might have 

been worse), Dutch bargain (not likely to be 

kept), and other derisive and opprobrious terms. 

Many of these have been retained in American 

speech and a number of new ones, mostly 

humorous and lightly contemptuous, added. 

Among them are It beats the Dutch, Well, I’m 

a Dutchman, and Dutch treat or going Dutch. 

The common term to talk like a Dutch Uncle, 

meaning to talk sternly and to lay down the 

law, to scold, warn, reprimand, may have hidden 

in it the fact that the word boss is the Dutch 

baas which originally meant uncle. So also with 

to cry uncle, i.e., to admit defeat, to concede 

that the other man is baas or boss. 

duty. See service. 

“D . V . ” See Deo volente . 

each. At one time each and every were two forms 

of the same word and could be used interchangeably 

to refer to the individual members of a 

group. Today every is used when the members 

are thought of as a group or whole, and each 

when they are thought of individually. The rule 

is that “every totalizes, and each individualizes.” 

Every cannot be used in speaking of a group of 

less than three. Each may be used in speaking 

of only two, but it may also be used in speaking 

of any larger number. 

Each may be used as an adjective, as in each 

man. It may also be used as a pronoun and in 

this construction may be followed by of, as in 

each of them. When used as an adjective, each 

may stand before a singular noun or after a 

plural noun or pronoun, as in each nran, the 

men each, they each. When qualifying a plural 

noun or pronoun it may also stand after a linking 

verb or an auxiliary verb, as in they tzre ench 

right, they have each decided. 

When each is used as an adjective and qualifies 

a singular noun the combination is always 

singular, as in each man carries his ow’n pack. 

When each qualifies, or refers to, a plural noun 

or pronoun and precedes the meaningful element 

in the verb, the combination is plural and 

is used with a plural verb and plural pronoun, 

as in we each have our own opinion and they 

have each done their duty. The use of a singular 

pronoun, such as his, in a construction of this 

kind is a grammatical mistake. It is the sort of 

mistake that would only be made by a. person 

who was over-anxious about his grammar. When 

each follows the meaningful element of the verb, 

as in they have tried, each in a different way, it 

is independent of the subject, a pronoun and 

not an adjective. 

When functioning as a pronoun, each is usually 

treated as a singular, as in each carried his 

148 

E 

dwarf. The plural is dwarfs, never dwarves. 

dwell. The past tense is dwelt. The participle is 

also dwelt. Dwelled is no longer used in standard 

English, but it was once a literary form, as in 

Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain. See also 

reside. 

dyed in the wool. A woolen fabric is dyed in the 

wool if its color was imparted to it while it was 

yet in the state of unspun wool. Another term 

for it, now obsolete, was dyed in grain, so that 

in the figurative senses engrained and dyed in 

the wool mean the same thing-a conviction or 

characteristic that is ineradicable because it is 

in the very basic stuff of its holder’s being. This 

tired phrase is used far more today in America 

than in England. 

dyes. See dice. 

own pack, and some grammarians claim that it 

must always be treated so. But in literary English 

there are a number of exceptions to this 

rule. When each refers indefinitely to both men 

and women the word their is sometimes used in 

place of his, as in each carried their own puck. 

(See they.) When a plural word stands between 

the pronoun each and its verb, the verb may be 

singular or plural, as in each of them is and 

each of them are; the plural is generally preferred. 

When each refers to more than one 

singular word joined by and, there is more difference 

of opinion about the number of the verb. 

H. W. Fowler says that the hymn lines, soon 

will you and I be lying, each within our narrow 

bed, cannot properly be sung except by married 

couples. But to most people’s taste, calling what 

is yours and mine his is a deeper outrage than 

calling it ours, whether we own it in common or 

not. The adjective each may qualify a singular 

noun in the genitive case, as in each boy’s jacket. 

But it cannot qualify a plural noun in the genitive 

or a singular noun that follows a genitive, 

as in the boys’ each facket. The pronoun each 

itself does not have a genitive form. We cannot 

say each’s. 

In current English the word each is often used 

to mean “each and the next one,” as in between 

each row. Some grammarians object to this new 

meaning, or new use of the word, and say that 

between the rows is required here. But each is 

used in this way by Kipling, Sackville-West, and 

other modern writers. 

Euch cannot be used with a negative verb. We 

may say each failed but we cannot say each did 

not succeed. The negative of each is neither, no 

one or not every one. 

each other; one another. These expressions have 

the same meanings and are used in the same

ways. Either can be used in speaking of only 

two or in speaking of a larger number. We may 

say the two men shook hands with one anofher 

and the people in the room all knew each other. 

The claim that one another should not be used 

in speaking of only two and that each other 

should not be used in speaking of more than 

two is an attempt to improve on the language 

and not a report of how the words are used or 

have been used in the past. 

Both expressions have a genitive form, as 

each other’s, one another’s Both can be used in 

any object position, as they knew one another 

and gave each other presents. But neither expression 

can be used as the subject of a verb. 

We cannot say we know what each other thinks, 

we know how one another is getting along. In 

statements of this kind, the each should be 

attached to the subject word, as in we each know 

what the other thinks and how the other is getting 

along. 

eager. See anxious. 

early; soon. Early was first an adverb but it developed 

adjective uses more than seven hundred 

years ago. It is now used in both ways, as in 

the early bird and start early. 

That is early which comes before the usual 

or appointed time. Soon means within a short 

period after a definite time or event (He arrived 

early and had to waif for the others, but once 

the clock had struck they soon appeared). In 

reference to a future event, early means in the 

near future (An early date has been set for the 

wedding), soon means the same (They will soon 

be married). 

earth; globe; world. Earth is the word of commonest 

use and at the same time, because of its 

literary and especially its Biblical associations, 

the most dignified (The earth is the Lord’s, and 

the fulness thereof. 0 mother Earth! The earth 

abideth for ever). It is used especially in speaking 

of a condition of existence contrasted with 

that in heaven or in hell (While we are yet on 

earth, let us be mindful, etc. This earthly life). 

Globe was used as a synonym when the roundness 

of the earth first began to impress itself 

upon men’s minds (to circumnavigate the globe. 

. . . the great globe itself,/ Yea, all which it inherit, 

shall dissolve). It is coming, however, to 

be used with increasing frequency to refer to the 

inhabitants of the earth and their general activities, 

though world is the commoner of the two 

words in such a meaning (The whole world 

hopes for peace). This world serves, like earth, 

to distinguish the terrestrial state from the celestial 

or infernal (We give too much thought to 

ihe r/zings of this world) and sometimes just 

world carries the same meaning (The world is 

too much with us). 

earthen; earthly; earthy; global; mundane; terrestrial; 

worldly. Earthen means composed of 

earth, made of baked clay (an earthen pitcher). 

Earthly means of this earth as opposed to 

heaven (our earthly existence, the earthly paradise, 

all earthly things above), Earthy means of 

the nature of or characteristic of earth as a 

material substance (The cellar WUJ damp and 

149 eat 

had an earthy smell). I Corinthians 15:47 says 

that The first man is of the earth, earthy and 

the latter part of this famous passage has become 

a cliche meaning, usually, that someone 

is broad in his speech. 

Global, an adjective so much used now as to 

be almost a vogue word, means pertaining to 

the whole earth (Global strategy requires, etc. 

. . . Those who are global minded are aware, 

etc. . . .). 

Terrestrial is the Latin equivalent of earthly. 

It applies to the earth as a planet, to it as a place 

distinct from heaven (which in smooth parlance 

is referred to as celestial when opposed to terrestrial), 

and to the land surface of the earth as 

opposed to the watery surface (The terrestrial 

area of the earth’s surface covers 57,469,928 

square miles). 

Worldly is commonly used in a derogatory 

sense of being concerned with material, earthly 

matters, vanity, social position, and the like, to 

the exclusion of spiritual interests or thoughts of 

the life to come (Our sense of the vanity of 

worldly honors increases as we grow older). 

Mundane is the Latin equivalent of worldly. It 

suggests that which is bound to the earth, not 

exalted, and therefore commonplace (Entangled 

with the birdlime of fleshly passions and mundane 

vanity. It was a mundane affair). 

east. The adjective may be east or eastern. There 

is only one comparative form, more eastern, and 

one superlative form, easfernmost. 

east; orient. In British usage the easf is a common 

term for Asia (Once did She hold the gorgeous 

east in fee); whereas the orient is poetic and 

literary. Americans know and use the east in this 

sense (the mysterious wisdom of the East) and 

are sufficiently aware of it to feel that the west 

(which would, for them, be a more accurate 

term) would be inappropriate. Then to most 

Americans the East means the Atlantic seaboard 

states, especially the northern ones, and the West 

means the states from the Rockies to the Pacific. 

So that in American usage the orient is a practical, 

everyday word for Eastern Asia (He was 

sent as consul to the Orient). 

easy; easily. Easy can always be used to qualify 

a noun, as in a green and easy world. The form 

easily is used only as an adverb and cannot 

qualify a noun. Easy is sometimes used as an 

adverb, as in take it easy. This construction is 

acceptable spoken English, in the United States 

and in Great Britain, but it does not appear in 

formal writing. At one time the comparative and 

superlative forms of easy could also be used as 

adverbs, as in all the easier led away by bad examples, 

and fhe good man can easiest persuade 

himself that God is good. These constructions 

are now condemned in Great Britain. In the 

United States they would merely be considered 

bookish or affected. See also facile. 

eat. The past tense is ate. The participle is eaten. 

In Great Britain the past tense is pronounced 

er. It is usually spelled ate, but the spelling eat is 

also acceptable there. 

Ate used as a participle, as in had ate, was 

once literary English but is no longer considered

eatable 150 

acceptable. Coleridge uses had ear (probably 

pronounced et) in it ate the food it ne’er had 

eat. This too was once good English but is no 

longer used. 

eatable; edible. In the sense of something that 

can be eaten, eatable and its Latin form edible 

are synonymous and both are correct. Usage 

has imposed a faint but unmistakable difference 

upon them, however, in certain contexts or circumstances. 

When we say that something is 

eatable, we usually mean that it is not very 

appetizing but is probably not harmful and can 

be gotten down (Bread mixed with sea water in 

time becomes so bitter as not to be eatable). 

Edible, the more formal word of the two, is 

generally used in reference to substances which 

may be eaten with safety but which may be so 

uncommon or so generally conceived of as one 

of a number of similar things that may not be 

eaten that their edibility has to be stressed 

(edible berries, edible mollusks). The fixing of 

the two words in these meanings (which1 is not 

absolute) is fairly recent. But Southey’s reference 

to the theory of the eatability of cats would 

certainly today be edibility. 

eaten. See eat. 

eat one’s heart out, as a term for silent longing 

or regret, is a cliche. 

eats. Used to mean food, this word is slang. 

eaves. This word was originally a singular, but is 

now treated as a plural, as in the eaves are 

dripping. There is no word an eave and the 

singular form with s is seen in the compound 

eavesdrop-which once meant the ground over 

which the eaves dripped and, later (used as a 

verb) to stand in this space and spy on the 

people in the house. 

echo. The plural is echoes. 

eclectic is sometimes used as if it meant a discriminating 

choosing of the best. But its meaning 

is somewhat broader than that. It means 

selecting from diverse sources, not following 

any definite system. 

economic; economical. The adjective economical 

is used only in the sense of money-saving. The 

adjective economic may mean money-saving or 

it may mean belonging to the science of economics. 

We speak of an economic attache and 

of an economic housewife. 

economical; thrifty; frugal; stingy; miserly. Economical 

implies a prudent planning in the disposition 

of resources so as to avoid unnecessary 

waste and to effect savings (The young housewife 

cannot be too economical if she is to help 

her husband in his career). In almost all uses 

the word has favorable connotations. Thrifty is 

an older, more homely word. It is related to the 

verb to thrive, to grow and flourish, and adds 

to the sense of saving active industry and management 

(Caleb was a thrifty lad and soon was 

independent). Too vigorous a concern with 

one’s own welfare, however, has its moral dangers 

and thrifty, especially in ironical uses (for 

it was for centuries a word extolling one of the 

greatest of virtues), had some unpleasant connotations 

(Disown the debt you cannot pay./ 

You’ll find if far the thriftiest way). Frugal 

means careful or sparing, opposing luxury. It 

definitely connotes austerity and sometimes 

meanness (The uncovered boards with their 

frugal strip of carpet. And then there was a 

corncob that hung upon a string,/ For Father 

was a frugal man, and would not waste a thing). 

With stingy, however, saving passes (at least in 

the estimation of the speaker or writer employing 

the word) from the admirable or necessary 

to the unpleasant. Stinginess is frugality with a 

sting in it. It is penuriousness that hurts, painful 

niggardliness (The stingy wretch denied his own 

children food). Miserly carries stinginess so far 

that the frugal one himself is now miserable. 

Miserly means that one is able to afford things 

which one denies oneself unnecessarily. Frugality 

has become avarice. 

eczema. The plural is eczemas or eczemata, not 

eczemae. 

edgeways; edgewise. These forms are equally acceptable. 

edible. See eatable. 

edifice; building. Unless the reference is to an unusually 

large and imposing structure, edifice is 

a pompous word for building. In the figurative 

sense of an elaborate and imposing political or 

intellectual structure, however, edifice is the 

proper word (The edifice which Napoleon had 

so carefully constructed was, at bottom, largely 

a provision for his relatives). 

edition; impression; printing. An edition is one 

of a number of printings of the same book, 

newspaper, etc., issued at different times and 

differing from another by alterations, additions, 

etc. It is the making of changes that differentiates 

an edition from an impression or printing, 

which is simply one of a number of printings 

made at different times from the same set of 

type without alterations. 

editor. Because the financial district of London is 

called “the City,” the city editor in England 

means what in America is called the financial 

editor. In America the city editor is the man in 

charge of local news. The English prefer leader 

to editorial and leader writer to editorial writer. 

educator (usually “a great educator”) is a pompous 

word. It is interesting to note that it is 

rarely used of teachers but is reserved in joumalistic 

prose almost exclusively for administrators 

(That great educator, Samuel T. Fellenmacher, 

long head of the Boys Industrial Home). 

effect. See affect. 

effective; effectual; efficacious; efficient. The word 

effective means that something has the power 

to produce, or actually does produce, a desired 

effect (Zt was an effective rejoinder and reduced 

his opponent to silence). In American usage 

eflective has the special meaning of actually in 

effect. Thus when it is said that a certain law 

“will become effective” or “became effective” 

at a certain time, it does not mean, as it would 

to an Englishman, that at that time the law 

accomplished its purpose, but only that it will 

become or did become operative at that time. 

Effectual is a word of praise applied to that

which produces the desired effect. An effectual 

measure or remedy is one that does what was 

hoped would be done. A law is effective when 

it is in operation, eflectual if it accomplishes its 

purpose. 

Eficient also means producing the desired 

effect, but it has the added connotation, in 

modern usage, of doing so with a high ratio of 

return for expenditure. It differs from eflectual 

in carrying this suggestion and in the fact that it 

is applied to persons as well as to things (An 

eficient secretary is an eflectual agent for one 

who would make his will effective). 

Eficacious suggests the capability of achieving 

a certain end, a capability often manifested 

only when actually employed (an efficacious 

drug in the cure of these infections). It, too, is 

applied only to things, not to persons. See also 

affect. 

effeminate. See female. 

effete is a literary word for exhausted, worn out, 

applied to something or someone no longer 

creative (an effete generation). Originally it applied 

to animals and meant that they were no 

longer capable of producing young. It is not to 

be confused with effeminate. 

eft. See newt. 

egoism; egotism. Egoism is the name for the philosophical 

belief that self-interest is the true end 

of moral actions. As such, it is opposed to 

altruism. The egoist relates all questions to himself. 

He may believe, that is, that there is no 

proof that anything exists but his own mind, 

that all other people are perhaps figments of his 

imagination (Subjective idealism is basically 

egoism. The mature man, hardened into skeptical 

egoism, knows no monition but thnt of his 

own frigid cautions). 

Egotism, the too frequent use of I in conversation, 

hence boastfulness, too much interest in 

one’s own doings to an exclusion of interest in 

others, self-conceit, selfishness, is the more common 

word (His absorbing egotism was annoying 

to all who had to associate with him). 

Egoism and egotism do not, necessarily, have to 

have anything to do with each other. A selfeffacing 

man may be an egoist. An egotist may 

have no interest in any philosophy whatsoever. 

egregious originally meant out of the common, 

eminent, outstanding, exceptional; but it has 

become entirely pejorative, meaning now distinguished 

for some bad quality, flagrant in the 

extreme (The man is an egregious ass. His 

egregious lies are embarrassing to listen to). 

either may be used as an adjective before a singular 

noun, as in either one, or standing alone as 

a pronoun, as in either will do, or together with 

the word or as a conjunction, as in either Sarah 

or Babs wrote it. 

Either originally meant “each of two” or 

“both,” as in the trees on either side of the river. 

The word is used in this sense in English literature 

from King Alfred down to Tennyson, Rossetti, 

and Stevenson, and including the King 

James Bible. Another meaning of the word, “one 

of two, no matter which,” is about five hundred 

151 eke 

years old. In Great Britain, either in the original 

sense of “both” is now considered archaic or 

Biblical. In the United States it is still natural 

English. Either is used in this country in both 

senses and both are acceptable. 

When either means “both” or “each” it is followed 

by a plural verb, as in either of them are 

enough to drive a man to distraction. Since the 

word is not used in this way in Great Britain, the 

plural verb is characteristically American. When 

what is meant is “only one,” the verb is usually 

singular, as in either of them is good enough. 

But there are exceptions to this. In a negative 

statement either is usually treated as a plural, as 

in I do not think either of them are at home. 

The pronoun you is normally followed by a 

plural verb form, and we usually say if either of 

you are ready. When words of different number 

are contrasted, the verb agrees with the nearest 

word, as in either he or they are to blame. When 

singular pronouns are being contrasted, the strict 

rules of grammar require the form of the verb 

that would be appropriate for the last pronoun 

mentioned, as in either you or I am to blame. 

This is an extremely literary construction. In 

practice, some people would treat the combined 

words as they and say are and some would treat 

them as orie and say is, but most people would 

undoubtedly avoid the problem and say either 

you are to blame or I am. 

Either may be used with any number of words 

in a series, as in either past, present or future. 

It could be argued that in a construction of this 

kind the comma represents the word or. But 

either may also be used simply with the meaning 

of “any one,” as in either of these three. It has 

been used in this way for more than three hundred 

years. The construction is rare, and disapproved 

by some grammarians; but it is found in 

the writings of Poe, Emerson, 0. W. Holmes, 

and is recognized as standard by the Oxford 

English Dictionary. Writers who use it apparently 

feel that any one is too indefinite for their 

purposes. 

Either is followed by the word or, and never 

by the word nor. In current English, the form 

either, and not the form neither, should be used 

after a verb that has already been made negative 

by some other word, as in no one can prevent 

me, either and he never told me either. This was 

not always true. Shakespeare writes no, nor Z 

neither. The old neither can still be heard, but it 

is now considered archaic. 

The pronoun either has a genitive form, as in 

either’s house. The adjective can be used to qualify 

a genitive noun, as in either man’s house, but 

it cannot follow a genitive noun or any other 

definitive, as in the man’s either house. To express 

this idea we must use the pronoun form 

and say either of the man’s houses. See also 

double genitives. 

eke out. Eke is an Old English word, now archaic, 

meaning also (The king himself did eat thereof 

/And eke the court beside). To eke yut is, therefore, 

to add to something in such a way as to 

make it suffice, or at least to make it do better

elapse 152 

or last longer than it would without the addition. 

Thus one may eke out an insufficient income 

by doing extra work, though the phrase 

has the definite meaning that that which is added 

is in itself inferior, inadequate, and hard come 

by. But to say that someone eked out a, miserable 

existence by doing this or that, whl:re it is 

merely meant that he so prolonged a miserable 

existence, is not a correct use of the term. 

elapse; lapse. Elapse is now solely a verb. It means 

to pass or slip away and is applied exclusively 

to time (Six months had elapsed since she made 

her resolution). 

Lapse, used as a noun, means a slip or slight 

error (a lapse of memory), a failure or miscarriage 

through some fault, or slip, or negligence 

(a lapse of justice), a gliding or passing away, 

as of time (The lapse of years had wrought many 

changes). As a verb it means to pass slowly, 

silently, or by degrees (He lapsed into silence. 

For years the buses no longer ran alon;? Alton 

Street and in time the franchise lapsed), to fall 

or sink to a lower grade or condition, to glide, 

especially downward (The sick man lapsed into 

unconsciousness). 

elder; eldest. See old. 

elect, when it means choose, and not specifically 

choose by voting, may be followed by a.n infinitive, 

as in he elected to go himself, or by the 

-ing form of a verb, as in he elected going himself. 

It may also be followed by a clause with 

the clause verb a subjunctive or a subjunctive 

equivalent, as in he elected I should go. The infinitive 

construction is preferred. 

-elect. See suffixes. 

elective. In the terminology of education, Americans 

employ elective where the English use optional. 

electric; electrical. Though electric and electrical 

are synonymous, the former is now by far the 

more common and in all figurative senses (The 

atmosphere of the hall was electric with anticipation) 

must be used. Electrical is confined now 

almost entirely to the sense of “concerned with 

electricity” (Electrical engineers are much in demand) 

; whereas electric can mean derived from, 

produced by, pertaining to, or transmitting electricity, 

or electrifying in the figurative senses of 

thrilling, exciting, or charged. 

electrocute. Fowler’s assurance that this “barbarism” 

jars the nerves of Latinists “much more 

cruelly than the operation denoted jars those of 

its victim” must be accepted as a linguist’s grim 

humor. More humorous, though unintended, is 

his conjecture, in attempting to account for the 

whole “bad business,” that whoever made up the 

word “took -cut- (from quatere) instead of the 

indivisible secut- (from sequi) for the stem of 

execution, and derived it from executere.” The 

American journalist who invented the Iterm, in 

1889, probably never heard of either quatere or 

sequi. The process was new. It was about to be 

applied to one Kemmler, a murderer, and a 

name was,needed for it. Electrocute, a portmanteau 

corn&nation of electricity and execute, was 

imagined and adopted. Electricute was tried a 

few times, but electrocute won out and is now 

standard despite the anguish of Latinists. 

It is interesting to think that electrify, when 

applied to persons, means to make unusually 

alert and lively. 

elegant. That is elegant which is excellently simple, 

tastefully fine, or associated with luxury. To use 

it as a synonym for pleasing is vulgar or tediously 

humorous. Its unsuitableness for such use 

is apparently felt by many of those who so use 

it, for they often try to give it a force which it 

should not have by reinforcing it with “perfectly” 

( We had a perfectly elegant time). However, 

to say that so-and-so has elegant manners 

or that this or that object of art or piece of furniture 

is elegant, rather than merely pleasing, 

fine, or choice, is to make a significant distinction. 

elegy; eulogy. An elegy is a mournful, melancholy, 

or plaintive poem, especially a funeral 

song or lament for the dead. A eulogy is a 

speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, 

especially a set oration in honor of a dead person. 

An elegy often mingles eulogy with its lament 

and a eulogy in verse might be indistinguishable 

from an elegy, but there are many 

contexts in which the two words are not interchangeable. 

See also panegyric. 

elemental; elementary. Though elementnl and elementary 

were once synonymous, they are now 

differentiated in common usage. Elemental is 

now generally restricted to the four elements, or 

to the agencies, forces, or phenomena of nature 

(elemental fire, the elemental grandezrr of the 

sunset, the elemental fury of the storm), or to 

what is primary. Elementary is now generally 

restricted to that which is introductory, or simple 

(the elementary schools. Elementary, my dear 

Watson). 

elevator. Fowler’s classification of elevator as a 

“superfluous word,” his designation of it as “a 

cumbrous and needless Americanism,” and his 

stern suggestion that it be at least restricted to 

“its hardly avoidable commercial sense of grainhoist,” 

fall on modern ears with all the tinkline 

quaintness of a harpsichord. It is now standards 

in American usage, established beyond challenge, 

too common to be cumbrous. Lift, which 

Fowler would have used in its stead, is, of 

course, so used in England, but even to traveled 

Americans it seems comic and to most Americans 

it would simply be incomprehensible. 

elf. The plural is usually elves, though elfs may 

also be used. 

elicit; extract; extort. To elicit information is to 

draw out, without any suggestion of the use of 

force, what was latent or implicit. When information 

is elicited from someone, it is brought 

out indirectly by questioning. It is possible for 

information to be elicited from someone without 

his knowing that he has given it up. To extract 

information is to get it more forcibly and directly, 

by importuning and threatening (Thirddegree 

methods may offend the high-minded,

ut they extract the facts the police want). To 

extort is to get information in much the same 

manner as to extract it, though there is a connotation 

of more violence and ruthlessness. Illegal 

demands, such as ransoms in kidnapping 

cases, are extortions. When information is said 

to have been extorted, there is a suggestion that 

there has been strong resistance to giving it up. 

elicit; illicit. Nothing but sheer ignorance could 

confuse elicit and illicit. Elicit is a verb, meaning 

to draw out (figuratively), to educe, to evoke 

(Clever auestioninp further elicited the fact that 

he had ieen at G&nston several times before 

this “first visit”). Illicit is an adjective meaning 

unlawful (illicit love). 

elk; deer; wapiti; moose. The animal which in the 

United States is called the elk is the wapiti, a 

species of deer (Cervus canadensis) with long, 

slender antlers. Its equivalent in England, 

scarcely distinguishable, is the red deer, the male 

of which is the stag. By the word elk the English 

designate an animal (Alces alces) closely resembling 

what in America is called a moose 

(Alces americanus or the Alaskan variety Alces 

gigas), the male of which has large palmate 

antlers. And if this is not confusing enough, the 

word moose is sometimes used in England to 

designate the European elk (Alces machlis). Ten 

minutes spent in trying to unravel this and half 

a dozen other popular names for birds and 

mammals will show the layman why scientists 

use Latin names for species. 

ell in common English usage is solely a measure 

of distance. This meaning is known in 

America but is now restricted almost entirely 

to the saying Give him an ell and he’ll take a 

mile. An ell in America (or an el) more generally 

means the extension of a building, usually 

at right angles to one end (Grandfather 

built the ell after Aunt Susan got married and 

came to live with him on the furm). Some believe 

that this is derived from the fact that the 

addition and the main building then form a 

letter L, and so it may be, but Old English uses 

of the word in this sense, for it was formerly 

known in England, though it survives only in 

dialects, suggest that it may have derived from 

aisle, which meant wing. 

El is used a great deal in America as an abbreviation 

for elevated railroad. This meaning 

is unknown in England. 

ellipse; ellipsis. An ellipse is a term used in geometry. 

It means a plane curve such that the sums 

of the distances of each point in its periphery 

from two fixed points, the foci, are equal. It is 

a conic section formed by the intersection of a 

right circular cone by a plane which cuts 

obliquely the axis and the opposite sides of the 

cone. 

Ellipsis is a term used in grammar. It means 

the omission from a sentence of a word or words 

that are essential to its grammatical completeness, 

though not necessarily to the completeness 

of its sense. 

Some authorities would have elliptic the ad- 

153 ellipsis 

jective for ellipse and elliptical for ellipsis, but in 

American usage elliptic is simply a rare form of 

elliptical. 

ellipsis. The plural is ellipses. 

This term is used by some grammarians to 

refer to words that do not actually occur in a 

sentence but which they feel are needed in making 

a certain kind of grammatical analysis or to 

explain a grammatical construction. These words 

are sometimes described as “words which the 

hearer easily supplies.” 

There is no doubt that English allows us to 

omit a great many words that we could have 

used without changing the meaning in any way. 

For example, some verb which is known to the 

hearer has obviously been omitted from the end 

of the statement he doesn’t want to. Some grammarians, 

abusing the privilege of putting words 

into another person’s mouth, recognize no limit 

to the number of words which they may read 

into a sentence. It has been claimed that the 

word fire! satisfies a certain definition of a sentence 

because it represents an ellipsis, which may 

be (there is a) fire (here) or (you men) fire 

(your guns). It is sometimes said that a sentence 

such as no one saw it but me is ungrammatical 

and should be no one saw it but I because there 

is an ellipsis of the word sa~v. The answer to 

arguments of this kind is to say: “If I had meant 

saw, I would have said I saw.” No one should 

allow himself to be convicted of bad grammar 

on the basis of words he has not used. 

On the other hand, some grammarians seem 

to think that the composer of a sentence may not 

omit any word which does not appear elsewhere 

in the sentence in the same grammatical form. 

It is claimed that Z was young, they old is ungrammatical 

because the word to be supplied is 

were and not was. All writers and speakers of 

English, including these very grammarians themselves, 

omit words which never will be missed, 

whether they have already been used in the sentence 

or not. This is never objectionable unless 

the sentence becomes misleading, that is, unless 

the omitted words actually are missed. English 

that leaves nothing at all to the imagination becomes 

tiresome, and even insulting. 

Speech is highly elliptical. It would scarcely 

be endurable otherwise. Ellipsis is indispensable 

to the writer or speaker who wants to be brief 

and pithy, but it can easily cause confusion and 

obscurity and must be used with skill. 

ellipsis marks have the following uses: 

To indicate omissions in a quotation, as in 

Give me liberty or . . . death! If in a longer 

quotation the ellipsis includes the end of a sentence, 

the period joins the ellipsis and makes a 

total of four dots. 

To show hesitation or the passage of time in 

dialogue or narrative, as in Please, please . . . 

you mustn’t leave and The time passed very 

slowly. . . and Sarah became sleepier and sleepier. 

Ellipses are now shown by three periods. They 

were once shown by three asterisks, and aster

isks are still used in very formal writing, but 

even here the periods are also acceptable. Some 

newspapers and magazines use three asterisks in 

a separate line to show quotation omissions of a 

paragraph or more in length. 

else’s, is the standard form for the oossessive of a 

pronoun followed by else, as in somebody else’s 

dog. 

The practice of putting the possessive slign after 

else instead of after the pronoun itself is relatively 

new and seems to owe its position in literature 

to Dickens. Other nineteenth century writers, 

such as Thackeray, Mark Twain, Henry 

James, wrote somebody’s else. During the transition 

from this to the modern form a compromise, 

somebody’s else’s, was often used. 

The old form may still be used with n4O when 

there is no following noun, but not otherwise. 

That is, we must now say who else’s signature 

did you get?, but we may also say whose else 

could 1 get? 

elucidate. See explain. 

elude. See escape. 

elusion; elusive. See allusion. 

elves. See elf. 

emanate is to flow from, to proceed from as a 

source or origin. It is used exclusively of nonmaterial 

things. Ideas, plans, hopes, fears, and 

so on, emanate from certain persons or conditions; 

but it would be a mistake to say that a 

river or a street emunated. Since the word means 

to flow as from a source or point of origin, it is 

natural to use it as a synonym for originate, but 

unless the sense of flowing out from the point 

of origination is kept this use is careless and 

should be avoided. An idea or an attitude may 

emanate from someone; it cannot emanate with 

him. 

embargo. The plural is embargoes. 

emend. See amend. 

emerge; issue. To emerge is to rise or come forth, 

as from water or some other liquid, especially to 

come forth into view or notice from concealment. 

Thus when a question or a problem 

emerges in the course of action or discussion, it 

arises, unforeseen, out of the situation (Pe~usrrs 

emerged from the b!ood of Medusu. The periscope 

barely emerged, with a faint feathering of 

the surface, before the gun was brought to bea/ 

upon it. Cromwell, who entered the Cilril War 

as Lieutenant-General of the Horse, emerged uhsolute 

ruler of Englund. On piecing the vurioas 

pieces of evidence together, the facts gradually 

emerged). 

To issue is also to come forth, but it is used 

of a number of persons or a mass of matter, OI 

a volume of smoke, coming through an o:ltlet or 

outlets, and often with the suggestion of a forceful 

or tumultuous coming forth after having 

been shut up or enclosed (The army, breaking 

through the defile, issued out upon the subjacent 

plain. The smoke issued from the chimney in 

rolling clolrds). See also immerge. 

emigrant; immigrant. An emigrant is one who 

leaves one country to settle in another. An immigrant 

is one who comes into a new country to 

settle. Thus a man is an emigrant from the country 

of his birth or previous residence, an immigrant 

as he comes into the new country. 

eminent. To be eminent is to be conspicuous, 

prominent, exalted in station or public estimation. 

But since these things are comparative and 

death is a leveler, no man can be eminent after 

he is dead. He is then either famous or forgotten. 

Of course eminent may be used of a man when 

the reference is to what he was when he was 

alive. Strachey’s Eminent Victorians were eminent 

in the Victorian age. At least one of them 

is now famous. See also fame, immanent. 

emphasis. The plural is emphases. 

emphatic tenses. See do. 

employ is obsolescent for employment in England 

but is still current in the United States in the 

rather stilted phrase being in someone’s employ. 

As a verb employ stresses the service performed, 

whereas hire stresses the wages to be 

paid for the performance of the service (She was 

employed at her needlework. Is not the laborer 

worthy of his hire?), though the words are often 

used interchangeably. 

employee. Anyone who is employed is, in the 

United States, an employee. No orthographical 

distinction is now made between a hired male 

worker and a hired female worker. 

emporium. The plural is emporiums or emporia. 

An emporium is a place, a town or a city, which 

is the principal center of trade for a region (The 

vast regions of the northwest, for which Chicugo 

is the commercial emporium). It is used grandiloquently 

as a term for a large store selling a 

variety of articles (When Z was working in the 

paper-box factory I thought I loved a clerk in 

Kuhn’s Emporium). Since the latter meaning 

has, in common usage, almost entirely replaced 

the former, anyone who insists on using the 

word is confronted with the choice of being 

either grandiloquent or obscure. 

empty; vacant. That which is empty contains nothing. 

It is devoid of its usual or appropriate contents. 

An empty house would be one devoid of 

furniture. Empty hands carry nothing. An empty 

mind is free of thought. Though vucurzt is often 

used interchangeably with empty, it is usually 

applied to that which is temporarily unoccupied. 

A vacant house could be one from which the 

family is temporarily absent, though the furnishings 

remain. A vacant store would be one that 

is empty at the moment but for which a new 

tenant is expected or at least hoped. When a 

position is said to be vacant, it is assumed that 

it will soon be filled. Empty would never be 

used in such a context. A vacant stare is one 

devoid of expression; perhaps there is a kind 

suggestion that the intellectual vacuity back of 

it is only temporary. 

enclose; enclosure. Enclose is now preferred to 

inclose and enclosure to inclosure. 

enclosed herewith; under separate cover. Enclosed 

herewith (or herein) is a redundancy, 

since that which is enclosed must of necessity 

be therewith or therein. The phrase is a piece 

of outmoded commercial jargon which, fortu-

nately, one doesn’t encounter much any more. 

Some object on the same grounds to under separate 

cover, maintaining that if something is 

being sent it obviously is not enclosed and hence 

is being sent separately. But-although the actual 

wording may seem hackneyed-there is 

some justification for such a phrase if the object 

referred to is such that it might conceivably be 

enclosed in the letter. It’s silly to say in a letter, 

I’m sending you a crate of oranges under sepnrute 

cover, but it may be reassuring to say I’m 

sending you the check (or the pamphlet) under 

separate cover; though it might be better simply 

to say separately. 

enclosed please find. Whether find means to come 

upon by chance or to obtain by search, the combination 

of request and command in the common 

phrase enclosed please find has an element 

of absurdity in it. You cannot command anyone 

to do that which can only happen by chance. It 

would be more accurate grammatically (and 

considering the number of things which are said 

to be enclosed in letters but are not, more accurate 

factually) to say enclosed please try to 

find. Best of all is not to use the phrase. The 

proper procedure, now followed more and more, 

is to state in the body of the letter what is to be 

enclosed and to have “enclosure” or “encl.” 

typed at the bottom as a directive to the stenographer 

and an indication to the recipient that the 

enclosure was at least ordered. 

encomium. The plural is encomiums or encomia. 

end may be used as an adjective. When it is, it has 

no comparative form but it has a superlative 

form endmost. 

end; stop; cease; finish; complete; conclude; terminate. 

English is rich in terms for bringing to a 

stop. Many can be used interchangeably, yet 

many are restricted to certain senses, and many 

have special idiomatic meanings. To list them 

all and to trace and differentiate their meanings, 

with illustrations, would take many pages. Only 

a few may be mentioned here and those briefly, 

just enough to show the variety of possibilities. 

A speaker, for example, might end, stop, or 

cease his remarks for a number of reasons. He 

might have said all he had to say or he might 

have been interrupted or silenced. If he finishes, 

completes, or concludes his remarks, however, 

he has not been interrupted, since he has been 

able to put the final touches on his subject, assemble 

all its component parts, or bring it to its 

planned end. To terminate them could be to 

bring them to a planned limit or just to stop 

them (He terminated his remarks with a flourish 

or At the sight of the dead cat coming 

through the air, the Senator terminated his remarks 

abruptly). In the latter use there is often 

a touch of jocularity. 

endeavor; strive; try; attempt. To try is the everyday 

verb. To see the folly of pompousness one 

only has to substitute endeavor, strive, or attempt 

for try in Zf at first you don’t succeed, try, 

try, again. None the less, endeavor has its special 

uses and advantages. To try means many 

things, from straining patience or endurance to 

155 endorse 

rendering the oil out of something; whereas to 

endeavor means only one thing: to make a continuous 

effort in the face of difficulties. Then its 

very ponderousness gives endeavor an onomatopoeic 

advantage in some contexts, for it suggests 

the strenuous trying, the energetic attempting 

that the word connotes (One should know 

God’s word and endeavor to live by it is far 

more effective than and try to live by it or and 

uttempt to live by it). 

To strive is to exert oneself earnestly, with 

strenuous effort, towards the accomplishment of 

something difficult and laborious (When Ajax 

strives some rock’s vast weight to throw). 

To atttempt is more formal than to try and 

implies the expenditure of somewhat more 

effort. 

As a noun, try is used colloquially, and more 

in England than in America (I’ll have a try at 

it). Endeavor and attempt are the everyday 

nouns, with endeavor being the more common, 

especially in more general senses (The endeavor 

was commendable. A man of high endeavor). 

Attempt is more likely to be used of a specific 

try (His attempt to break the record for the 

hundred yard dash was bound to fail under such 

weather conditions). 

ended; ending. That is ended which has come to 

an end at some time in the past (His advances 

ended when he found them repulsed). That is 

ending which is coming to an end or about to 

end (We are ending our engagement at the Garrick 

Theater tomorrow). All this is quite clear, 

and those who wish to be unambiguous or unconfused 

can stick to it. But ending may be used, 

as a historic present, to designate something 

that is now definitely ended but was not ended 

at a time in the past (Zf you will refer to the 

inventory for the year ending March 31, 191.5, 

you will find, etc.). 

endemic. See epidemic. 

endless. See eternal. 

endless; innumerable. Endless mean boundless, 

infinite, interminable, continuous (as in endless 

belt). To use it for innumerable, which means 

too many to count (The dishes were just endless; 

Z never saw so many to wash) is exaggeration. 

Of course exaggeration has its place in 

humorous talk and writing, but this particular 

exaggeration has been made so often that it has 

lost most of its meaning, a fact made evident by 

the stress which is so often laid on the word to 

strengthen it. Then there are instances where the 

use of endless for innumerable is ambiguous. 

When it is said of so-and-so that he told endless 

stories, does it mean that his stories lacked endings, 

were pointless, or that the list of them 

lacked ending, that they were too many to count, 

innumerable? 

endorse; indorse. Endorse, both in the sense of 

writing on the back of, approving, supporting, 

or sustaining is now preferred to indorse, although 

indorse is correct and is used more in 

America than in England. 

Endorse was formerly a purely commercial 

word. Writing in 1883, E. A. Freeman said that

endorse 

thirw-five years before that the application of 

such a commercial word to agreement or disagreement 

on philosophical or theological matters 

would have seemed “irresistibly ludicrous.” 

Now even purists endorse each other’s protests, 

policies, and aspirations without a qualm. 

endorse on the back. Since the second syllable 

of endorse means back (as in the dorm fin of a 

fish), to endorse on the back is a redundancy. 

But since endorse has the common meiming of 

write your name on, only scholars are aware 

that it is a redundancy and the common speaker 

or writer is justified in using it. 

endurance. See patience. 

endure may be followed by an infinitive,, as in Z 

cannot endure to hear about it, or by the -ing 

form of a verb, as in Z cannot endure hearing 

about it. The two forms are equally acceptable. 

Endure may also be followed by a clause but the 

clause verb must be a subjunctive or a Isubjunctive 

equivalent, as in I cannot endure you should 

go. An infinitive construction, such as 1 cannot 

endure to see you go or to have you go, is generally 

preferred. 

endways; endwise. These forms are equally acceptable. 

enema. The plural is enemas or enemata, not 

enemae. 

enemy, when it refers to individuals, is a regular 

English noun with a regular plural in s,

Enough may be followed by an infinitive, as 

in there is enough to go around and there is 

enough for everybody to have some. It cannot 

be followed by a that clause. We should not 

say the fragments are large enough that their 

structure can be determined. This sentence 

should read the fragments are large enough for 

their structure to be determined or the fragments 

are so large that their structure can be determined. 

See also ample. 

enquire; inquire. In American usage inquire has 

almost superseded enquire, though, if we may 

trust Partridge, the situation is reversed in England. 

See inquire. 

enquiry; inquiry. In America inquiry is now the 

almost universal spelling. Enquiry is recognized 

as a variant, but it is rarely used. In England 

however, according to Sir Ernest Cowers, a useful 

distinction is developing between the two 

words: an enquiry is a question, an inquiry is an 

investigation. One may therefore, he says, make 

an enquiry concerning an inquiry. See also 

very. 

enraged; infuriated; incensed. A man is enraged 

when he has been provoked to violent anger 

(Enraged at the deliberate insult, he struck the 

young mun full in the face). When a man is infuriated, 

his anger has been aroused to the point 

of frenzy. His rage borders upon or even passes 

into delirium. Many terms that describe anger 

(as the common mrrd) stress the similarity or relationship 

between vindictive resentment and insanity. 

Infuriated is a somewhat stronger word 

than enraged (Upon receipt of the news he was 

infuriated and fell upon the messenger with 

blows and curses). To be incensed is to be inflamed 

with anger, but the word suggests far 

more dignity and self-control than enrugcd or 

infuriated (Sir John was incensed at the remark 

and could main&n even the appearance of composure 

with the utmost dificulty). There is also 

in incensed, possibly because of its connotation 

of restraint, an implication of great provocation 

and usually of unjust or improper provocation. 

Zncensed is used to describe one who is angry 

when we sympathize with his anger. 

ensure; insure. In the sense to make sure, to secure, 

to make sure or certain to come, ensure 

and insure are interchangeable; in the sense to 

guarantee against risk of loss or harm, insure is 

now the only word and its increasing use in this 

sense is tending to fix it so that its use in other 

senses seems improper. See also assure. 

entail. See involve. 

enter, when used as a stage direction, is an imperative. 

It should not be used in a sentence with 

a singular subject, as in enter John and walks to 

the window. This should read John enters and 

walks to the window. 

enthuse. A back formation from enthusiasm, enthuse, 

meaning to become enthusiastic or to 

move others to enthusiasm (They enthused immediately 

upon this subject-Frank Norris), is 

colloquial speech in the United States. Its fault 

-if it has one-is not in its being a back formation 

but in its being used to mean to get excited 

157 envelop 

rather than to mean-as it should if it really 

means to become enthusiastic or to arouse enthusiasm-to 

get excited because of the absorbing 

possession of the mind by a certain pursuit 

or interest. 

enthusiastic has to mean more than just excited. 

It is the manifestation of a rapturous intensity 

of feeling in favor of a person or a principle, 

proceeding from an overwhelming conviction of 

the importance of the person or principle (The 

enthusiastic eagerness with which he outlined 

his new system of philosophy. The candidate 

was greeted with shrill whistles and stampings 

of feet by his enthusiastic admirers). 

entice. See allure. 

entire. See complete. 

entitle may be followed by an infinitive, as in this 

entitles you to go. It is not followed by the -ing 

form of a verb, as in this entitles you to going. 

entomology; etymology. Entomology is the branch 

of zoology that treats of insects. Etymology is 

the branch of philology that treats of the derivations 

and histories of words. 

entrance and entry both mean the act of entering 

and the place of ingress. Both have special meanings. 

An actor’s appearance upon the stage is an 

entrance. Entrance also means the right of entering 

(as in entrance examinations and He has 

entrance to the best society). Entry has the special 

meaning of something recorded in a book 

or register. In law it means the taking possession 

of lands or tenements or entering or setting foot 

on them (The landlord always retains the right 

of entry under certain conditions). 

Some authorities make fine distinctions between 

the two words in the senses in which they 

are synonymous. They say that where they mean 

a place of ingress, entrance implies only an 

opening, as a gate or doorway; whereas entry 

implies a passageway. This is more observed in 

English than in American usage. Where they 

mean the act of entering, entrance connotes the 

act and entry the result of the act, they say. 

Furthermore, entrance suggests the possibility 

of entering without supervision or permission 

(Entrance is by the main door). These distinctions 

are not rigid, however, and the common 

speaker and writer is probably little aware of 

them. 

entreat may be followed by an infinitive, as in I 

entrent you to tell me. It may also be followed 

by a clause with the clause verb a subjunctive or 

subjunctive equivalent, as in entreat her that she 

ride with me, but this construction is now archaic 

and the infinitive is preferred. 

entrust. For “to invest with a trust or responsibility, 

to commit to someone’s care, to confide,” 

entrust is now preferred to intrust, though intrust 

is acceptable. 

entry and entrant are now used synonymously to 

designate a competitor in a contest, though entrant 

was formerly felt to be the only correct 

term. 

enure. See inure. 

envelop; envelope. As a verb, meaning to wrap UP 

as in a covering, envelop is now the standard

enviable 

form. As a noun, meaning a cover for a letter 

or the like, envelope is the standard form, though 

envelop is not incorrect. 

enviable; envious. That is enviable which excites 

envy or is to be envied (His position, so secure 

and honorable, is an enviable one). He is envious 

who feels envy (Envious of his friends 

success, he cast about for some means to humiliate 

him). Enviable is a much milder word than 

envious. It is often used as a term of praise. But 

envious suggests one in an unpleasant, ugly, and 

even dangerous condition. 

environs no longer has a singular form. The plural 

form is used with a plural verb, as in the environs 

are attractive, but it is not a true plural 

and cannot be used with a word implying number. 

We cannot speak of several environs. 

envisage; envision. To envisage is to confront, to 

look in the face, to face (Let us envisage the 

facts as they are), to contemplate or call up a 

mental picture or image (The Mayor, speaking 

before the Council, envisaged the new sewage 

disposal plant), or to perceive by intuition (Nature, 

to the Buddhist, is envisaged as a nexus of 

laws). 

To envision (of 20th century coinage, by the 

way) is to see as in a vision (His blackest hypochondria 

had never envisioned quite so miserable 

a catastrophe) and is properly confined to 

those ecstatic or alarming foreshadowings that 

visions are made on. When the mayor envisaged 

the sewage disposal plant, it is assumed that he 

saw an actual plant in his mind’s eye and with 

prosaic efficiency communicated to the Council 

some concept of its mechanism, capacity, structure, 

and the like. Had he envisioned it, he would 

have been more poetic, seeing it from afar as a 

glorious fulfillment, some day to be realized, of 

the citizens’ aspirations. 

envy; covet; begrudge. To envy is to feel spite 

and resentment because someone else possesses 

or has achieved something that one wishes he 

had himself (The award has made him envv vou. 

. . 

and he is no longer your friend). The word is 

used, with a milder connotation, indeed as a 

sort of strong compliment, in expressions where 

the context makes it plain that there is no malice 

or resentment (How Z envy you the hours you 

spent in his company!). Used with a negative, it 

often expresses a mild commiseration (I do not 

envy you the responsibilities you have undertaken). 

To covet is to desire jealously to possess what 

belongs to someone else (Thou shalt not covet 

thy neighbor’s house). There is a definite connotation 

of culpability in the desiring it denotes. 

To begrudge is to be unwilling to allow another 

to have the possessions or honors or esteem 

that he is entitled to (He begrudged him 

the least comfort in his misery), or to give, 

when one must give, reluctantly and with grumbling. 

ephemeris. The plural is ephemerises or ephemerides, 

not ephemeres. 

ephemeron. The plural is ephemerons or ephemera. 

Ephemera is also used as a singular and has 

the regular plural ephemeras. Either of these 

forms is acceptable today. But a new learned 

plural ephemerae is not. It is not English, and 

it is not good Latin or Greek. 

epic. As a noun epic means a narrative, usually in 

verse, which celebrates the deeds of heroes of 

history or legend. As an adjective it means 

something suitable for such a narration, or 

something of an imposing and heroic character. 

James Truslow Adams’s The Epic of America 

was not inappropriately named, for the history 

of America is a saga of unparalleled achievement, 

full of wild poetry, true grandeur, great 

heroes and heroic deeds. It has the material for 

twenty epics. But the word is sadly abused in 

journalism, especially by sports writers whose 

eternal striving for intensives leads one to suspect, 

sometimes, that their actual material must 

be dull and uninspiring. Thus when Life (October 

18, 1954), refers to a long putt, successfully 

sunk by Mr. Bobby Jones at Mamaroneck, New 

York, in 1929, as an “epic” putt, the immense 

word is ludicrously ill-supported by the achievement 

to which it is applied. The reader is misled, 

the language is impaired, and Mr. Jones, whose 

putt was really a very good putt, is made to 

seem absurdly pretentious. No one gains. 

epical; epochal. Epical means of the nature of 

epic poetry, something worthy to be told in the 

old epic manner. Epochal means of or pertaining 

to an epoch, a particular period of time 

marked by some distinctive character. When one 

speaks of an event as epochal, it is generally 

meant that the event itself was of such tremendous 

import and so far-reaching in its effects 

that it serves to mark an epoch. 

epicure; epicurean. See hedonist. 

epidemic; endemic; pandemic. A disease is epidemic 

when it affects a large number of persons 

at the same time in a locality in which it is not 

permanently prevalent (The Spanish Znjluenzu 

was epidemic in the United States in 1918). A 

disease is endemic when it is habitually prevalent 

in a certain locality or habitually peculiar to a 

certain people (Sleeping sickness is endemic 

wherever the tsetse fly is unchecked. Snobbery 

is endemic to country clubs). That is pandemic 

which is universal and afflicts all people. (The 

fear o j the hydrogen born b is pandemic). 

episode. See event; happening. 

epistle is a letter, but it is a formal and didactic 

letter, and to use the word as a synonym for 

letter (The unclaimed epistles were pinned on a 

board in the Post Ofice) is pretentious if serious 

and ponderous if intended to be humorous. 

epitaph; epigraph. An epitaph is, one might say, 

a specialized epigraph. An epigraph is an inscription, 

especially on a building, a statue or the like. 

It can be on a tomb. An epitaph is a commemorative 

inscription on a tomb or any brief writing 

resembling such an inscription. 

epithets. An epithet may be a meaningful appellation 

(witch-hunter, egghead) or a descriptive 

term suggesting the quality of a person or thing 

(Richard the lion-hearted, Harry the Horse, 

rock-bound coast).

There has come to be a faintly negative connotation 

to the word epithet. It is more commonly 

associated with unfavorable characterization, 

with profanity and with name-calling 

than with favorable characterization or praise. 

Expressions like dirty dog, damned liar and 

double-crossing crook are more likely to come 

to mind when epithets are mentioned than winedark 

sea or curly-headed baby. 

Epithet is a common weapon in argument, 

especially in political campaigning, for all the 

force of connotation can be brought to bear to 

substitute for or to counteract logic. In fact most 

political labels carry so much emotion that they 

have lost their original meaning and are used as 

opprobrious designations by members of the opposing 

group: communist, fascist, Red, capitalist, 

bourgeois, etc. In the 1956 presidential campaign 

the Republicans, insisting on calling their 

opponents the Democrat Party, to avoid the favorable 

implications of democratic, managed to 

make even democrat seem unpleasant. 

equal is sometimes followed by an infinitive, as in 

he felt equal to meet them, but the -ing form of 

the verb is preferred, as in he felt equal to meeting 

them. 

equally as. Since as implies equation (He is as 

tall as you are), equally as (in such sentences 

as He was equally as astonished as the others) 

is redundant. Fowler sternly calls it “an illiterate 

tautology,” but in the United States it is accepted, 

and used, by people who certainly are 

not illiterate. 

equilibrium. The plural is equilibriums or equilibria. 

equipment. In the jargon of the airlines equipment 

is used, at least in public dealings with passengers, 

as a synonym for airplane (This delay is 

caused by the late arrivul of incoming equipment). 

Whether this is thought to be more elegant 

or whether it corresponds to some classification 

within the business, it is certainly not 

standard, though, of course, if it is continued it 

may become so. 

The adjective mechanical is used by the airlines 

in place of such phrases as mechanical 

failure or mechanical trouble (On f7ight two 

ninety-eight there’s mechanical, but it ought to 

leave before six o’clock). This may be the mere 

adoption of an abbreviated technical expression, 

but one suspects it is at least in part a euphemistic 

desire, in dealing with passengers, to 

avoid anything as disturbing as mechanical failure 

or mechanical trouble. And, indeed, these 

phrases might very well convey a false impression, 

since the passenger would probably transfer 

to them his associations with the automobile 

where mechanical trouble usually means a cessation 

of function or at least a serious impairment 

of it; whereas on a plane it might signify 

only what on a car would be called “a need for 

adjustment” or “regulation.” This use of mechanical 

shows a new industry groping for a new 

word and attempting to divest an old word of 

its connotations. 

equivocal. See ambiguous. 

159 escape 

errant; arrant. Errant means wandering, as a 

knight errant traveling in search of adventure. 

By a natural extension it came also to mean 

deviant from rectitude or propriety (The famous 

beauty and errant lady, the Duchess of Mazarin) 

. 

Arrant was originally a variant spelling of 

errant (and errant is still used for arrant sometimes, 

though never the reverse). It came to be 

applied especially to vagabonds and other wandering 

ruffians of whom former times stood in 

particular fear-arrant rogues, arrant rascals, 

arrant thieves. From this application the word 

came to have the force of an opprobrious intensive. 

That is, the thievery and the roguery and 

the rascality of these wandering ones (many of 

them men made desperate by being driven from 

their farms and villages which were destroyed 

to make room for grazing lands) was transferred 

to the adjective wandering. So that Swift’s 

allegation that Every servant is an arrant thief 

as to victuals and drink has nothing to do with 

the servant’s being or not being a wanderer. 

Then it came to mean thorough and unmitigated, 

and this meaning, with enough of the opprobrious 

retained to prevent its ever being used 

in a favorable sense is its current one (an arrant 

ass, an arrant fool). 

Errant is now archaic and literary. Arrant is 

fixed in a few opprobrious terms, most of which 

are cliches. Both words may well be avoided. 

erratum. Errata, the plural, is also used as a singular 

to mean a list of errors or corrections and 

has a regular plural erratas, meaning more than 

one such list. This is an English word and should 

not be given a Latin plural, as in erratue. 

error. See mistake. 

ersatz. See synthetic. 

eruption; irruption. An eruption is a violent bursting 

out (The eruption of Vesuvius filled the sky 

with smoke and flames). An irruption is a violent 

bursting in (The Goths . . . making irruptions 

into Gaul). 

escape; elude; evade. To escape can mean to get 

free from confinement, to regain liberty (No 

more dramatic escape from a prison camp has 

been recorded). It can also mean to avoid danger, 

pursuit, observation, or the like, even by 

sheer luck. A man may escape danger or observation 

by accident, though there is usually some 

connotation of intention (By taking the back 

way he escaped being seen. He escaped death 

by the mere chance of stopping to lace his shoe). 

To elude is to escape by means of dexterity or 

artifice (He eluded pursuit by a series of amazing 

disguises). When we say that something 

eluded our attention, we imply that we almost 

perceived it, or admit that we should have perceived 

it. There is a suggestion that the thing 

itself, by some pixyish sleight or movement, 

ducked out of sight for a second. There’s an element 

of slyness in it. A fox eludes the hounds. 

To evade is to escape by trickery or cleverness, 

to get around something that intends to 

stop us, to avoid doing something or to avoid 

answering directly. When a man evades a ques-

escape 160 

tion, he does not refuse to answer it. He seems 

to answer it but actually does not, or he manages 

to change the subject or pretends to misunderstand 

the question and gives an irrelevant answer. 

escape; escapade. An escape is an act of escaping 

(The escape was poorly planned and failed) or 

the means of escaping (Our only escape lay directly 

down the face of the cliff). An escapade 

was originally an escape, but it now means a 

reckless prank (Such escapades might have been 

forgiven a boy, but they were inexcusable in a 

man of his age). 

esoteric; exoteric. Esoteric means understood by 

or meant for a select few, hence profound, recondite. 

Exoteric means suitable to be communicated 

to the general public, not pertaining to the 

inner circle, hence popular, simple, or commonplace. 

Exoteric is a fairly rare word and sometimes 

used erroneously for exotic [q.v.]. The 

terms esoteric and exoteric were originally applied 

to groups of disciples of sages of antiquity. 

The esoteric disciples were the small inner group 

to whom the master divulged his deeper meanings. 

The exoteric were the larger group of followers, 

not admitted to intimacy, to whom was 

divulged only so much as they were thought 

capable of understanding. 

especial; especially. See special. 

espousal, either in its primary sense of the plighting 

of a troth, a marriage or an engagement, or 

in its derivative sense of the advocacy of a cause 

or the adoption of someone’s interests or welfare, 

is now bookish or archaic. 

Esquire, abbreviated as Esq., is a title of courtesy 

widelv used in England and Ireland (though its 

use is beginning 70 decline under the feeling 

that the term is snobbish and now devoid of 

meaning) but not elsewhere even among English-speaking 

peoples. Originally it referred to a 

definite social rank and designated one belonging 

to the order of English gentry just below a 

knight, but this significance has been lost and it 

now has the same meaning as Mr. It is used 

solely in written addresses and when so used it 

follows the surname, as 

Richard Roe, Esq., 

Roe Hall 

Roehampton 

When esquire or its abbreviation is used, no 

title should- be prefixed. That is, Mr. Richard 

Roe, Esq. would be incorrect. But titles may be 

suffixed. Richard Roe, Esq., LL.D., or 

Richard Roe, Esq., Professor of Numismatics 

Mary Roe College 

Roehampton 

would be proper. 

essay. See assay. 

essential: inherent: intrinsic. That is essential 

which’is a part of the very being or existence of 

a thing. Hence that which is essential is necessary 

if the thing is to maintain its identity. The 

essential characteristics of a thing are those 

characteristics which mark its identity, its difference 

from other things. In popular usage that 

is essential which is indispensable to the functioning 

of something (Clean spark plugs are 

essential to the proper running of the car). 

That is inherent which is inborn or fixed from 

the beginning as a permanent quality or constituent 

(Separation of church and state is inherent 

in our Constitution. Certain properties 

are inherent in iron). 

Zntrinsic means belonging to a thing by its 

very nature, without regard to external considerations 

or accidentally added properties (There 

is an intrinsic merit in the proposal, despite the 

opposition it is bound to arouse). (For essential 

in the sense of that which cannot be dispensed 

with, see necessary.) 

essentially; substantially. Setting aside the philosophic 

meanings of the words, which rarely concern 

the common man, essentially and substantially 

are in most uses interchangeable. It does 

not matter whether one says that A’s story was 

essentially in agreement with B’s or substantially 

in agreement with it. Yet there are some slight 

differences, most of them based on the common 

association of substance with materiul in its 

sense of solid, tangible, and of-this-world as 

against the ethereal, spiritual, or other-worldly. 

Thus if it were said of someone that although 

he had retired from active participation in the 

management of a business he was still substantially 

the boss, there would be more of a suggestion 

of his ownership of the business and a feeling 

that weighty questions must still be referred 

to him than if it were said that he is still essentially 

the boss. The latter would imply that he 

was still the boss, but would suggest a more 

remote, less forcible or immediate control. 

Essential and substantial, however-such are 

the ways of language-have clearly different 

meanings in popular usage. An essential citizen 

would be one without whom the community 

would not function. A substantial citizen is one 

of solid means, respectable and respected, a 

pillar, but not necessarily an indispensable pillar, 

of the community. 

estimate; estimation. An estimate is an approximate 

judgment or calculation of the value, 

amount, weight, or the like, of something, especially, 

in business usage, of what would be 

charged for certain work to be done (His estimate 

of success must be carefully considered, 

for he is unusuallv well informed in the matter. 

The lowest estimate for the concrete work was 

more than two million). Estimation is, properly, 

the forming of an estimate (My estimation of 

the damages will require some time as its full 

extent cannot be known until the waters have 

receded). Estimate and estimation are used synonymously 

so much that the practice must be 

accepted as standard, but the careful writer will 

bear the distinction in mind. And he will also 

bear in mind that as a mere substitute for opinion 

(as in my estimation) where no estimating, 

or calculation of value or degree, has taken 

place, the word is being debased. Estimation has 

also the meaning of esteem (as to hold one in 

high estimntion), possibly because of the similarity 

of sound.

eternal; everlasting; endless; incessant; perpetual. 

In its religious and other dignified uses, eternal 

means lasting forever, implying not only that 

that which is spoken of will last for ever but has 

lasted from eternity up to the time of speaking 

(The eternal hills that silent wait . . . ). In less 

dignified contexts it means constantly recurring 

to the point of being wearisome (The eternal 

racket those kids make is driving me crazy). 

Endless never stops, but goes on continually 

as if in a circle (My . . . time-bewasted light/ 

Shall be extinct with age, and endless night). 

Indeed, as in an endless belt, the word is applied 

today to a number of devices that move in a 

circle. It, too, is used in the sense of ceaselessly 

recurring (Endless snowstorms prolonged the 

winter into April) and, more often than eternal, 

in a pejorative sense (His endless stories bored 

everyone in the house). 

Except in some religious contexts (from everlasting 

to everlasting), everlasting connotes endurance 

through all future time from this time 

forward. It, too, has the dichotomy of expressing 

awe or rapture in metaphysical contemplations 

and irritation in mundane (That everlasting 

complaining of his!). Apparently a very little 

everlastingness in actual matters is hard to take. 

Incessant means continuing without interruption 

(Incessant application to his studies finally 

brought the longed-for reward), and though it 

can be applied to pleasant things (incessant delights) 

it is so much more frequently applied to 

unpleasant things that it also has, except where 

the context makes it otherwise plain, a suggestion 

of irritation. 

Perpetual implies a continued renewing (The 

graves will receive perpetuul care. The perpetual 

stream of visitors consumed his strength). 

eternal triangle. In the hackneyed phrase the eternal 

triangle, used to describe lovers or married 

couples with an intrusive third party, either man 

or woman, who stirs up jealousy and discontent, 

the word eternal is used in the sense of incessant 

or recurring. The situation is scarcely more unendurable 

than the phrase. 

eternal verities. As a term for the unchanging 

truths that presumably lie at the basis of the 

moral order, the eternal verities is a cliche. 

ethics and the singular form ethic are both used 

in speaking about a theoretical system of morals, 

and in this sense both words take a singular 

verb, as in his ethics is unique. In speaking of 

an actual system of morals that a man lives by, 

only the form ethics is used and only with a 

plural verb, as in his ethics are peculiar. The 

adjective form is always ethical, and not ethic. 

ethics; morals. Ethics and morals were once completely 

synonymous, one being Greek and the 

other Latin, but in common usage they have 

come to have distinctions. Fowler trenchantly 

summarizes the matter by saying that ethics is 

the science of morals, and morals are the practice 

of ethics. He believes that the impression 

that ethics is less definitely connected with religion 

than morals are is “unfounded,” and so it 

may be in philosophy but in the common usage 

of words it is pretty well established. And more 

161 euphemism 

and more, in the United States at least, morals 

have a sexual connotation. Thus if it were said 

of one that he was a man of the highest ethics, 

the implication would be that he was strictly 

honorable in regard to the truth and to financial 

matters; but if it were said that he was a man 

of the highest morals, the implication would be 

that he was not guilty of sexual laxity and would 

not condone it in others. 

et seq. This is an abbreviation of the Latin words 

et sequentes or et sequentia and means and the 

following. 

eulogy. See elegy. 

euphemism means “speaking fair.” It is a term 

to describe the substitution of a mild, indirect, 

or vague expression for a harsh, direct, plain, or 

terrifying one. The use of euphemisms (for the 

term is applied to the words substituted as well 

as to the process of substituting them) is widespread 

in every language and is motivated by 

reverence, kindness, decency, fear, and prudery. 

The excretory and reproductive organs and 

functions of the body are almost always spoken 

of euphemistically in polite society. So is death. 

And so are most incurable bodily and mental 

ills. All of this was once regarded as “genteel” 

or polite, but there has been a tendency in 

the past two or three generations, particularly 

marked among the educated, to speak more 

plainly. The ribald associations of the Anglo- 

Saxon words for urinating, defecating, fornicating, 

and breaking wind will probably prevent 

their becoming acceptable in everyday uses, but 

in many other things related to the body the 

plainness of modern talk would probably be 

shocking to our grandmothers and grandfathers 

(though not to our great-great grandmothers 

and grandfathers; there are cycles and fashions 

in these matters). Thus the word pregnant is 

now acceptable to the politest ears and “in a 

family way” would seem vulgarly genteel and 

“with child” quaint. 

In regard to death, the speech of the educated 

today is more direct than that of the uneducated 

and semi-educated, who still speak of passing on 

for dying, refer invariably to the coffin as the 

casket and the funeral as the service. The educated, 

however, in their turn have fears from 

which they wish to hide in words and have developed, 

especially in relation to sicknesses, 

some new euphemisms. Thus the fashionably 

delicate word for a stroke nowadays is an accident 

and the most elaborate circumlocutions are 

often devised to avoid mentioning the dreaded 

name of cancer. 

The trouble with all euphemisms, of course, 

is that the unpleasant fact is still there, for all 

its pleasant name, and will in time infect the 

euphemism. Thus cemetery, now frequently replaced 

by memorial park, was originally a 

eunhemism (it means “sleeping - . place”) for 

graveyard, but the grinning face showed through. 

So toilet, originally merely a dressing room 

where one made one’s toilet, has become a semiindecent 

word in the United States and bathroom, 

especially when referred to with any urgency, 

is becoming one. In England, by the way,

euphemism 162 

where excretory and bathing facilities are often 

not placed in the same room, an American 

guest’s whispered request, in midday, to be 

shown to the bathroom sometimes elicits astonishment, 

astonishment almost as great as that of 

the guest’s when he is shown to a bathroom. 

The opposite of euphemism is dysphemism. If 

it is plain talk to call a spade a spade and a 

euphemism to call it a delving instrument, it is 

a dysphemism to call it a bloody shovel. 

euphemism; euphuism. Euphemism is the substitution 

of a fair-sounding word for one that is, 

for any reason, objectionable. Euphuism (a very 

rare word which no one but the student of Elizabethan 

literature has any occasion to use) describes 

the style which Cohn Lyly employed in 

Euphues: Or the Anatomy of Wit (1579) and 

E&hues and his England- (l.%‘SO). It was.characterized 

by alliteration, a long series of antitheses, 

and elaborate similes based on fabulous 

natural history. It became a vogue and for a 

decade or so had many imitators. 

euphony is the harmonious arrangement of words, 

with special reference to pleasing sound, rhythm 

and appropriateness of meaning. As the word 

itself implies, it is an aspect of spoken rather 

than of written language, but its appeal to the 

mind’s ear in prose as well as in poetry is an 

important element in style. It is euphony, for 

example, that demands that we say an apple instead 

of the harsh and difficult a apple. 

A euphonious style is to be achieved in part 

by the avoidance of unnecessarily harsh sounds 

(Who prop, thou ask’s& in these bad days, my 

mind?), too many consonants together, combinations 

of easily confused sounds (She sells sea 

shells by the seashore), and words that rime 

where rime is not intended (He was under the 

dominion of his father’s opinion). Even roughness, 

however, if it heightens meaning, may be 

considered euphonious (What recks it them? 

What need they? They are sped;/ And, when 

they list, their lean and flashy songs/ Grate on 

their scrannel pipes of wretched straw. It is the 

place of the howling winds, the hurrying of the 

leaves in old October, the hard clean falling to 

the earth of acorns). 

Eurasian. See mulatto. 

European. In America and England a Europeun 

is a native or an inhabitant of Europe. In the 

Union of South Africa, however, European designates 

one who is white, separating him from 

all the other native non-whites or non-Europeans 

as they are there called. Non-whites from 

other countries are referred to as American 

non-Europeans or Hawaiian non-Europeans or 

whatever they may be. A French Negro would 

be called French non-European and-such are 

the ways of speech-a Negro from some nonspecified 

country of Europe would be a European 

non-European. 

European plan is an American term for that method 

of conducting a hotel according to which 

the fixed charge per day covers only lodging and 

service. It was formerly much more in use than 

now (It was the Alfalfa European Hotel, AZ- 

falfa because the name had a pleasing sound; 

European because no meals were served in the 

house.-Georae Ade. 1899). Hotels used to offer 

their guests either the European Plan or the 

American Plan, the fixed charge in the latter 

covering meals as well as lodging. 

The virtual disappearance of the term has a 

value to the students of language and social history 

because it reminds them that the disappearance 

of a word or term may not mean that the 

thing designated had ceased to exist; it may 

have become so universal that no distinguishing 

name was any longer felt to be necessary. 

evacuate. Purists have been much agitated at the 

evacuation of wounded soldiers and of civilians 

from cities during the past two wars, pointing 

out that the term was properly a medical one, 

meaning a discharge or ejection through the 

excretory passages, especially from the bowe!s. 

But their exasperation was in part unfounded 

and in part (one fears) merely a pretext for displaying 

erudition. The term has been a military 

term for withdrawing from a town or fortress 

for almost two hundred and fifty years (The 

Army.. . would shortly evacuate Savoy--Steele, 

1710) and during the first world war passed into 

current use through its employment in the newspapers. 

Strictly it was the place that was evacuated 

of the troops. But the transference of the 

word to the troops or the civilians themselves (a 

transference that took place in non-military 

uses at least three hundred years ago-almost 

as long as the word has been used in this sense 

in English) did no greater violence to the language 

than had been done before by hundreds 

of idioms [Actually, we do not wipe a spot off 

the floor: we wipe the floor and the spot comes 

off]. In World War II movements of large bodies 

of children and civilians from the cities, of 

troops from untenable positions, and wounded 

from hospitals became common and important 

in the news. A word was needed and evacuate 

lay to hand with established military associations. 

It is now standard in this sense, so much 

so that the man in the street would possibly 

regard the phrase evacuate the bowels as 

studied, or even unpatriotic. Evacuate differs 

from empty in its connotation of some forced 

or general, usually urgent, movement. 

evade may be followed by the -ing form of a verb, 

as in he evaded telling me. It cannot be followed 

by an infinitive, as in he evaded to tell me. (See 

also escape.) 

eve; evening. Although eve may be used as a 

synonym for evening, which means the time 

about sunset (The stag at eve had drunk his 

fill/ But midnight found him drinking still), it 

means properly the preceding evening or even 

entire day. Christmas Eve is December the twenty-fourth; 

whereas Christmas evening would be 

late in the day of December twenty-fifth. And 

the eve of a battle is the period just before, not 

the night following. 

even; evenly. When used as an adjective, even 

means smooth, level, uniform, as in an even 

surface, an even share. When used as an adverb,

to qualify any word that is not a noun, it is a 

peculiar intensive. It says that a particular element 

in a statement is surprising but nevertheless 

true, as in even then and he even laughed. 

At one time even could be used as an adverb in 

all its senses, but today the form evenly is preferred 

when the adjective meanings of the word 

are being used adverbially, as in they shared 

evenly. 

even tenor of one’s way. It was along the cool, 

sequestered vale of life that Thomas Gray’s 

village Hampdens and inglorious Miltons kept 

the noiseless tenor of their way. Transformed 

to even tenor (possibly because a noiseless tenor 

would seem today, when tenor in the sense of 

course or progress is little known, paradoxical, 

even if desirable) the phrase has become a 

cliche and should be avoided. 

event; episode; incident; occurrence. An event is 

anything that happens (The minor events of the 

average day are too slight to deserve notice). 

But most commonly it means an important happening 

(Coming events cast their shadows before), 

especially one that comes out of and is 

connected with previous happenings (Political 

events can affect the prospects of candidates 

with alarming suddenness). It also means the 

outcome or end result of an action (In the event 

of his demise, she will inherit, . . . Whatever 

the event, you may rely on my friendship). 

An episode is one of a progressive series of 

happenings. It is often distinct from the main 

course of events, but it arises naturally from 

them and has an interest and continuity of its 

own. To use it merely as a synonym for event 

is to debase the language. Cobbett’s reference to 

answering a hundred letters a week by way of 

episode to his other labors would seem a little 

strange to moderns, though it is proper. The 

correct use is happily illustrated by Milman’s 

reference to the conquest of Constantinople by 

the Latins as that strange and romantic episode 

in the history of the Crusades. 

An incident is a minor event that takes place 

in connection with a more important event or 

series of events (I remember a curious incident 

that happened during the assault on Guadalcanal). 

An occurrence is something, usually of an 

ordinary nature (daily occurrences), that happens, 

without having any particular connection 

with or having been caused by antecedent circumstances 

(The occurrence of a shower delayed 

his arrival and so frustrated her plans). 

See also happening. 

eventuate seems to be an American coinage. As 

a term for happen or come to pass, it seems 

awkward and ponderous. It is a politician’s word 

and no doubt impresses some of his hearers with 

a sense of his grandeur; but it makes some 

others wonder if he is not just reverberating 

while trying to think of what to say next. 

ever means “at any time.” It must be used instead 

of never in a negative statement such as no one 

ever told me or as an alternative to a negative, 

as in not then or ever. Ever cannot be used as 

163 every 

an alternative to an affirmative idea. We must 

say seldom or never, not seldom or ever. If ever, 

on the other hand, may be used with either an 

affirmative or a negative, as in seldom if ever, 

not often if ever. Ever could once be used with 

or to mean “before,” as in or ever the silver 

cord be loosed, but this construction is now 

archaic. 

The “empty” ever, or the use of ever as an 

intensive, dates from the middle of the nineteenth 

century. This is acceptable as long as the 

word clearly qualifies a verb, as in what ever 

possessed him? and Tristram’s misfortunes begun 

nine months before ever he came into the 

world. 

Ever may be combined with relative pronouns 

to make them indefinite, as in whoever says that 

is a fool and take whichever you like. But it 

should not be combined with an interrogative 

pronoun as a pure intensive, as in whoever can 

it be?, whatever did he want?. This use of the 

word is heard in Great Britain more often than 

in the United States, but it is generally condemned 

in both countries. Some grammarians 

recommend writing these expressions as two 

words, as in who ever can it be?, what ever did 

he want?, but this does not solve the problem, 

since the word remains attached to who or what 

regardless of how it is printed. The isolated 

word ever is of course standard English when 

it can be understood as qualifying a verb, as in 

who ever thought that? 

In the United States ever is used as an intensive 

after a superlative, as in the finest ever. 

This is acceutable Enalish in this countrv but 

in Great Britain is considered an Americanism. 

everlasting. See eternal. 

every means “all, taken separately.” But the word 

all may also be used in this sense, as in all the 

babies weighed less than ten pounds. In modern 

English all is more often used in this distributive 

sense than it is in a collective sense and there is 

frequently no difference between the words all 

and every. It would sometimes be convenient if 

this were not so, but all now has this meaning 

and no one can say that every is the only ac- 

ceptable word in statements of this kind. 

Each also means “all, taken separately.” In 

modern English the principal difference between 

every and each is that every is used when the 

members of a group are thought of as a unit, 

and each when they are thought of individually, 

as in every boy was there and each did his part. 

At one time, each was used in speaking about a 

countable number of individuals and every in 

making a universal statement. This distinction 

survives today to some extent and may explain 

the use of every rather than each in what every 

woman knows, and the first but not the second 

every in every particle of mutter attracts every 

other particle. Both distinctions are subtle and 

neither is strictly observed. Many people who 

use language sensitively shift from one word 

to the other simply for variety. Nothing is ever 

gained by saying each and every. 

Every is used only as an adjective and onIY

everybody 164 

before a singular noun, as in every man. It may 

be used before a genitive, as in every man’s 

opinion, or following a genitive or a possessive 

pronoun, as in Dick’s every thought, his every 

whim. It is unquestionably accepted English to 

use every with the word between, as in between 

every mouthful, although some grammarians 

condemn this. Every may be used with other to 

mean “all others,” as in every other person here 

agrees with me, or it may be used to mean 

“every second one,” as in she only comes every 

other day. See other. 

Every is not equivalent to the adverb ever. 

The phrase ever so often means “frequently.” 

The phrase every so often means “every now 

and then.” Both are standard English when they 

are used to mean what they do mean. 

A noun qualified by every is usually followed 

by a singular verb, as in every man and woman 

is aware. It is also followed by a singular pronoun 

when there is no question whether it is 

males or females that are being talked about, as 

in every soldier carries his own pack and every 

woman does her own cooking. But when the 

reference is to both men and women, or the sex 

is unknown, a plural pronoun is generally preferred, 

as in every member brings their own 

lunch, although some grammarians insist on the 

generic his. The plural pronoun is required in 

speaking of something owned in common, as in 

every English man and woman has good reason 

to be proud of the work done by their forefathers. 

everybody; everyone. These words are usually followed 

by a singular verb but they are usually 

referred to by the plural pronoun they, rather 

than the singular pronoun he. Cardinal Newman 

said that a gentleman strives to make 

everyone at their ease. This has been standard 

English for the word everybody for more than 

four hundred years, and for the word everyone 

for more than two hundred years. A singular 

pronoun cannot be used when it stands in a coordinate 

clause, as he does in Everyone clapped 

and I was glad he did and Everyone came but he 

has gone home. 

every effort is being made. The assurance that 

every effort is being made has become a formula 

to soothe those whose demands for action must 

be listened to but need not, or cannot, be satisfied. 

The fact that it is a cliche, worn smooth by 

glib repetition, adds to the exasperation of the 

importunate and in matters of great seriousness 

-and in any lesser matters the dishonesty of the 

phrase is apparent-only the stupid, the callous, 

or the brutal still employ it. 

Of course, like other cliches, it has a meaning, 

and exceptional circumstances and exceptional 

strength of feeling and depth of sincerity can 

make that meaning ring true. It is conceivable 

that someone, somewhere, sometime, somehow 

could even put conviction back into Early to bed 

and early to rise or Who steals my purse, steals 

trash, but the ordinary man does well to avoid 

such hackneyed phrases, especially in his moments 

of sincere feeling, for they will fail him. 

everyhow is standard English as used by Hawthorne 

in crags, all shattered and tossed about 

everyhow. But it is seldom heard and everyway 


every mother’s son, as a term for every man, 

is a cliche. It has the tinny ring of a pseudoprofundity, 

a false earthiness about it. 

everyone. See everybody. 

everyplace. The use of everyplace as a substitute 

for everywhere, as in I looked everyplace, is 

condemned by many grammarians because the 





English, to be called anything but standard. It 

is acceptable English in this country. 

everyway. Unlike the similar words, anyway and 

noway, everyway does not have the related 

forms everyways and everywise. These words 

simply don’t appear. Every which way is an 

Americanism and is considered unacceptable in 

Great Britain. It is no longer current English in 

this country. But when it is heard it is considered 

old-fashioned rather than unacceptable 

and has a certain rustic charm. 

everywhere; everywheres. Everywhere is the only 

acceptable form in written English. In the 

United States everywheres is often heard in the 

speech of well educated people, but it does not 

appear in print. Everywhere is often used with 

an unnecessary that, as in everywhere that he 

has been. This construction has been in use for 

a very short time but it is accepted English in 


evidence; testimony; proof. Evidence is grounds 

for belief, that which makes evident, that which 

tends to prove or disprove something. It may be 

that which someone says, or it may be derived 

from documents or inferred from the nature of 

things (The witness gave his evidence in a 

strong, clear voice. The evidence of the fngerprint 

led the jury to disbelieve his protestation 

of innocence). 

Testimony is the statement of a witness. In 

law, of course, the witness is under oath, but the 

word is used loosely for any declaration relevant 

to a disputed issue (The testimony of the arresting 

officer carried great weight. Zf you accept 

the one child’s testimony, the other must be 

lying). Testimony is often used for evidence, 

sometimes carelessly and sometimes with the 

poetic assumption that “the facts speak for themselves” 

as in the mute testimony of the fossils. 

But, for the most part, it is better to use evidence 

for the immediate grounds for belief and testimony 

for some person’s statement about the 

facts. 

Proof is evidence that is so complete and 

convincing as to put a conclusion beyond reasonable 

doubt (The evidence and the testimony 

constituted overwhelming proof of his guilt). 

evident. See apparent. 

evil. The words worse and worst are said to be 

the comparative and superlative forms of the 

adjective evil. But we are more likely to use

the forms more evil and most evil. The simple 

forms in -er and -est are rare but are also acceptable, 

as in the evilest thoughts of the human 

mind. 

evince; exhibit; manifest. To evince originally 

meant to overcome or subdue (They will keep 

their hold until they be evinced or cast out). 

Its modern meaning of to show (He evinced 

dissatisfaction with your work) is often an unnecessary 

and unsuitable elegancy. It should be 

reserved for such presentations of evidence as 

make a convincing inference (The ruins . . . 

suficiently evince that anciently there were 

great buildings in this place). The word, because 

it is an elegancy, has, in some contexts, 

a slight tinge of mockery and gives the “showing” 

a suggestion of “showing off” (He evinced 

great spirit but little skill). 

To exhibit is to put something in plain view, 

usually in a favorable view for particular observation 

(He exhibited an unexpected graciousness). 

It, too, has the connotation of showing 

Off. 

To mnnifest is to make plain to the eye or 

clear to the understanding. It is a strong word 

and carries the connotation of conviction. That 

which is manifest is shown beyond any reasonable 

doubt (Caught in a manifest lie, he broke 

down and confessed all). 

evolute; evolve. Evolute exists as a noun in geometry 

and an adjective in botany, but as a verb, 

a back formation apparently from evolution, it 

is an ignorant blunder. The verb is evolve. 

example; instance. An example is one of a number 

of things, or a part of something, taken to 

show the character of the whole (No criticism 

can be instructive which is not full of examples). 

It has several other meanings, such as a model 

to be imitated or a punishment so severe as to 

serve as a deterrent to others. 

An instance is an example put forth in proof 

or illustration. The word does not apply to the 

objects or incidents directly but only to them as 

they serve to illustrate some point (A better 

instance of his recklessness it would be hard to 

find). 

The words are fixed in several idiomatic uses. 

For instance and for example are interchangeable, 

but a meritorious person or act serves as 

a good example, not as a good instance and a 

punishment is an example not an instance in so 

far as it is intended to deter others. It could, 

however, be an instance of the judge’s severity. 

In the phrase ancient saws and modern instances, 

the word instances has become fixed in a context 

where we would today use examples, but 

we could not now substitute examples for instances 

in that phrase. See also case; ideal. 

example; sample; specimen. In the sense of an 

individual phenomenon taken as a representative 

of a type, or of a part as representative of 

the whole, example, sample, and specimen are 

synonymous. But there are differences in their 

meanings and, as with many synonyms, the 

recognition of these differences and the employment 

of the proper word to give the exact shade 

165 except 

of meaning intended is one of the chief helps to 

good writing. 

An example is an object, or an activity, or a 

condition, or the like, which is assumed to illustrate 

a certain law or principle or general assertion 

(What better example of their perfidy could 

you want?). A sample (an example is merely 

a sample taken out) usually refers to concrete, 

tangible things, and means a small portion of 

a substance, or a single representative of a group 

or type, which is intended to show what the rest 

of the substance, or the group, is like (The man 

who, having a house to sell, carried about with 

him a brick as a sample . . .). Sample is largely 

restricted now to commercial uses and when it 

is used metaphorically, in place of example, it 

has a suggestion of contempt or mockery (There, 

that’s a sample of his kindness for you!). 

Specimen usually suggests that the sample 

chosen is intended to serve a scientific or technical 

purpose (The doctor will require a blood 

specimen). It, too, when used more generally, 

may have an element of contempt or mockery 

(What a specimen he is! If you want a real 

specimen of ingratitude, here’s one!). 

exasperate. See aggravate. 

exceeding; exceedingly. The use of exceeding for 

exceedingly, when prefixed to adjectives or adverbs, 

formerly quite common (Rejoice and be 

exceeding glad), is now an archaism and a 

stately affectation. 

exceedingly; excessive(ly). Until well into the last 

century exceedingly and excessively were interchangeable, 

but since then there has been a 

differentiation in their meanings. Exceedingly 

now means extremely, very much, to an unusual 

degree (I am exceedingly grateful for the many 

kindnesses you have shown my son); whereas 

excessive now means exceeding the proper limit 

or degree, too much, characterized by excess 

(The bill was excessive. It is excessively hot for 

this time of year). 

excellent. See splendid; superlative. 

excelsior. The solecism in Latin grammar with 

which the young man in Longfellow’s famous 

poem startled the Alpine village has startled 

even more several generations of American 

school-children to whom the word excelsior 

means exclusively soft wood shavings used for 

stuffing dolls or protecting fragile objects in 

shipment. 

except. See accept. 

except. When not used as a verb, except introduces 

a contradiction to something that has just been 

said. It may introduce a full clause beginning 

with that, as in she knew nothing except that he 

was there: a to-infinitive, as in it had no effect 

except to make him angry; or the simple form 

of a verb after some form of do, as in she did 

nothing except weep. Except cannot be qualified 

by not, when used in this way. In order to deny 

an exception, the word excepting must be used, 

as in all were there, not excepting him. 

Formerly, except could be used in the sense 

of “unless,” and could introduce a clause without 

using the word that, as in I will not let thee

go except thou bless me. This construction is 

now archaic or Biblical. 

Often the contrasting word introduced by 

except is a personal pronoun. Some grammarians 

say that, in current English, an objective 

form should always be used here, as me in 

everyone except me ran away. Others say that 

except is in a class with but and that a following 

pronoun which is placed in contrast to the subject 

of a verb should be subjective, as the Z in 

everybody is to meet him except I. In practice, 

most educated people use an objective form of 

the pronoun, as in except me, in all constructions 

and a subjective form, such as except I, 

will usually be considered a mistaken effort to 

be “correct.” 

except; but; save. Except, but, and save all indicate 

something excluded from a general statement. 

Except stresses the excluding (You may 

have any one you choose except this one). But 

simply states the exclusion (AU but one of the 

survivors were in good healfh). Save, in this 

sense, is poetic. (See the individual words.) 

exception proves the rule. With what irritating 

complacency do minor oracles assure us that 

the exception proves the rule-usually as an impudent 

way of reconciling their own contradictions 

and inconsistencies. 

Were not those who so use the expression 

armed with triple brass, they might be abashed 

to know that there are few phrases in the language 

concerning whose exact meaning there is 

so much dispute. But amid all the discussion, 

there is at least this much agreement: it does not 

mean what it is popularly misused to meannamely, 

that the exception supports the rule. 

Various other explanations have been offered, 

of which the most generally accepted is that the 

exception tests the rule. To test is one meaning 

of to prove (Prove all things: hold fast that 

which is good. He saw a gentleman cheapening 

and proving swords) and this meaning is retained 

in a few phrases and names, such as the 

Aberdeen Proving Grounds where new military 

weapons are tested. But, for the most part, to 

prove today means to demonstrate, to evince, to 

establish as true. 

Of course there is one sense in which an exception 

does demonstrate the existence of a rule. 

The very admission that something is exceptional 

implies a rule or norm, and this may be 

taken to show that the exception proves there 

is a rule, but it’s fairly far-fetched. And certainly 

at no time does an exception support, 

strengthen, or demonstrate the actual working 

of a rule. If the exception is valid, it shows that 

the rule cannot be universal and must be accepted 

as an approximation at the best. 

To take exception to something is to make 

an objection, to demur (Professor Angstrom 

took exception to the dean’s assertion that the 

entire faculty desired the proposed change). 

To take exception at is to be offended (Some of 

the more haughty of !he aristocracy did take 

exception at his neglecting to raise his cap to 

them). 

exceptional; exceptionable. That is exceptional 

which is unusual, extraordinary (Zt is an exceptional 

day on which he does not walk five miles. 

The founding fathers were exceptional men). 

That is exceptionable which is objectionable or 

liable to objection (No one could take oflense 

at his remarks; there was nothing exceptionable 

in them. His management of the business has 

been most exceptionable and cannot be further 

tolerated!). See also unique. 

excess. See access. 

exclamation points are used to show strong emotion 

in statements, and to emphasize commands 

and warnings, as in “Oh!” he gasped, “Zt’s magnificent!” 

Look out! Throw me the ball! They 

should be reserved for true exclamations and 

not wasted on sentences where commas would 

serve as well. 

Exclamation points can be used inside or outside 

of quotation marks, depending upon the 

meaning of the sentence, as in He shouted “AU 

aboard!” and Fancy him shouting “All aboard”! 

If a question ends with an exclamation, the 

question mark can be omitted following the exclamation 

point, as in Who yelled “Fire!“. 

exclamations. An exclamation is presumably a 

spontaneous expression of strong emotion. In 

speech, the fact that a statement is an exclamation 

is shown by pitch. In writing this is indicated 

by an exclamation point at the end of the 

sentence. 

A sentence that begins with how, what, or 

why, and that has the subject before the verb 

is an exclamation, as in how far that little candle 

throws his beams!, what a surprise this is!, why, 

you really got here! But an exclamation may 

have the form of a declarative sentence, as in 

he is here!, or it may have the form of a question, 

as in are you here! Surprise and questioning 

are closely related and a true exclamation is 

likely to take the question form. The pitch 

leaves no doubt as to what is intended. But some 

people will always pretend that an exclamation 

of this kind is a question and then point out that 

it is a stupid question. This is a harmless way of 

being unpleasant and should be ignored if possible. 

Exclamations are frequently incomplete expressions, 

such as if only Z had come sooner! 

and that he should be such a fool! The clause 

that is needed to complete the thought may 

remain unexpressed because it is self-evident or 

because it is too difficult to express and words 

fail the speaker. When an exclamation contains 

a verb and no subject, as in bless his heart.’ and 

strike me pink!, it is usually because the subject 

God has been suppressed, either by the speaker 

or by those who taught him that form of speech. 

Whether to use a subjective or an objective 

pronoun in fragmentary exclamation is a matter 

of taste. The objective is more usual, but the 

subjective is also heard, as in me too!, lucky 

them!, Z dance!, me marry!, not he!, not him!, 

dear me!. Some grammarians claim that the pronoun 

should have the form that it would have 

if the exclamation was turned into a full dc-

ciarative sentence. But this is not borne out in 

speech. The practice of using either form of the 

pronoun, with a preference for the objective, is 

very old in English. It is also characteristic of 

good Latin. 

exclusive; select. It is certainly a reflection upon 

our professions of democracy that the word 

exclusive, in its commonest popular sense, in 

the United States today means fashionable, highclass, 

desirable (She belonged to the most exclusive 

clubs. BUY a lot in exclusive Mudflnt 

Heights, no down payment!). It is said that 

some of the most exclusive New York clubs 

maintain their right to the adjective by arbitrarily 

excluding from time to time some of 

those who are seeking admission, often-just 

to be democratic-on an eeny-meeny-miny-mo 

basis. 

The word that implies superiority because of 

the virtues of those included rather than the 

misfortune of those excluded is select. It sometimes 

requires a little courage to use this word 

in a democracy, however. 

excursus. The plural is excursuses or excldrsus, not 

excursi. 

excuse. See apology. 

excuse me; pardon me. Excuse me is the proper 

term by which to ask someone to overlook a 

minor fault, to allow someone to pass, and so 

on. Pardon me is a stronger term, implying a 

greater sense of guilt and a desire for forgiveness. 

Its substitution for excuse me is a mark of 

vulgar gentility. 

execrable; inexecrable. Execrable means deserving 

to be execrated, detestable, damnable, abominable 

(The treatment of enlisted men on the 

base was execrable). Inexecrable is an obsolete 

form which, according to the Oxford English 

Dictionary, is either an intensive for execrable 

(that is, very execrable) or a misprint for inexorable, 

unyielding, not to be moved by prayers 

or entreaty (In The Merchant of Venice we 

read: 0 be thou damn’d, inexecrable dogge). 

Since the word is now obsolete, it doesn’t much 

matter which. 

executive. In England executive as a noun is used 

solely (or was until recently; the American 

usage is appearing there) to designate that 

branch of the government which carries out the 

laws. In America it means this, but it is also 

applied to an officer of a business organization, 

especially to a high officer who has important 

duties. Already, however, it is being debased 

or broadened to include many who but two 

generations ago would have ignominiously been 

dubbed clerks. 

An interesting special development of the 

adjective executive in the United States to mean 

private, in the term executive session, is traced 

by Horwill. When the United States Senate proceeds 

to deal with executive, as apart from 

legislative, business-when it considers, that is, 

nominations for office, the conclusion of treaties, 

or other executive matters-it goes into executive 

session, and from such sessions the public 

and the press are excluded. From this fact the 

167 exhibit 

term came to be applied to all private sessions 

and the original meaning, in this context, seems 

to have been lost. Horwill quotes a passage from 

the Intimate Papers of Colonel House in which 

Colonel House refers to a private conversation 

he had with Woodrow Wilson, when Wilson had 

“closed his study door so as not to be interrupted,” 

as an executive session. 

executor has now almost entirely replaced executer 

and executioner as the term for one who executes 

or carries out or accomplishes. Executioner 

has been relegated to its special meaning 

of one who inflicts capital punishment in pursuance 

of a legal warrant. Executor is thought 

of chiefly in its legal sense of one named by a 

decedent il his will to carry out the provisions 

of the will, but it is also now the term for a 

general executing agent, executer being rarely 

seen or heard any more. 

exegesis. The plural is exegeses. 

exemplar; exemplary. As a term for a model, or 

a pattern to be copied, or an example or typical 

instance, exemplar has been replaced almost 

entirely in popular use by example. The word 

would be understood, but it would be felt to be 

affectedly literary. 

Exemplary, which means worthy of imitation, 

or serving for a model or pattern or a warning 

(His courage made him an exemplary soldier. 

The penalty was severe but exemplary) is sometimes 

used as if it meant excellent. It may mean 

that, of course, but unless the element of establishing 

a pattern, a model, or a warning is in 

the meaning, it should not be employed. 

exercise; exorcise. Exercise is the use, practice, or 

performance of something (The exercise of a 

virtue strengthens it), especially of the body 

(Daily exercise is recommended as healthful by 

almost all physicians). Exorcise, a much rarer 

word, is the expulsion of an evil spirit by adjuration 

and religious ceremonies. 

exercises. The term exercises is applied in the 

United States to numerous formal ceremonies 

(The prrlduation exercises will be in the Hiah 

khoor auditorium and will begin promptly bt 

eight) but in England the term is limited to 

religious exercises. 

exert; exercise. Though exert and exercise are 

interchangeable in some contexts, exert has 

come to mean the putting forth of more energy 

in a particular activity as against the idea of a 

constant and repeated activity in exercise (Zf 

you would only exert yourself, you could do it 

easily. What good is a virtue unexercised?). 

exhausted. See tired. 

exhausting; exhaustive. Exhausting means using 

up completely, especially the using up of physical 

energy to the point of fatigue (Zt was an 

exhausting day). Exhaustive means thorough, 

testing all possibilities (He mode an exhaustive 

srtr,‘ey. His study of verb endings was exhaustive 

and exhausting; the subject was thoroughly 

canvassed and he and everybody who had to 

listen to him were thoroughly worn out by the 

time it was done). 

exhibit. See evince.

exhilarate 168 

exhilarate. See accelerate. 

exist; subsist. To exist is to be, to have life or 

animation, to continue to live (Life could not 

exist without the sun. The idea that a heretic 

might have any civil rights simply did not exist). 

To subsist connotes to exist dependently. One 

could not say The idea that a heretic might have 

any civil rights simply did not subsist, but one 

could say Superstition subsists upon ignorance, 

meaning that it maintains or supports itself by 

this means (Some animals subsist upon vegetables. 

From that time on he subsisted on his 

writings). 

exit is the third person singular present of the 

Latin verb exire, to go out. Its use in stage directions 

has led to its being employed as a noun 

meaning a going out or a place of going out. 

It is sometimes used with ponderous facetiousness 

as a verb (Exit Joe Doakes), even as a 

plural (There was a moment’s silence, then exit 

Sam and Edna). If one must speak Latin, it 

should be exeunt in the plural. Best, except as 

a stage direction, is not to use it at all. 

exoteric. See esoteric. 

exotic; outlandish; uncouth. Exotic means of foreign 

origin, not native, introduced from abroad 

but not-yet acclimatized. When Murphy in his 

translation of Tacitus ( 1793) said that a certain 

people invited an exotic king’to reign over them, 

he simply meant a king from another country. 

A clear instance of this, the primary meaning 

of the word, is given in an article in The Nutional 

Geographic Magazine (August 1954). 

The author had been discussing the sudden appearance 

of the cattle egret in places where it 

had not been seen before. After experiences 

with such introduced species as the house sparrow 

and starling, he says, we naturally view 

exotic birds with a jaundiced eye. 

Certainly the sparrow is not generally thought 

of as an exotic bird, for the word in its common 

use does not mean “introduced from abroad” 

but suggests the glamorous (see glamor) and 

romantic (see romantic) things which the naive 

associate with “imported.” The strange is colorful, 

rich, attractive, rare and wonderful. It 

is usually expensive and (perhaps therefore) 

slightly wicked. And all of these meanings, mingled 

in varying degrees, are in exotic in its popular 

uses. The dictionaries still give “of foreign 

origin” the primacy in definition but-at least 

for American usage-they are behind the times. 

The word is rarely heard now in that sense. The 

sentence quoted above from The National Geographic 

Magazine would probably be a little 

puzzling to the common reader. An American 

tailor who assured a customer that he had some 

fine, new, exotic flannels and worsteds would, 

if the customer were a man, probably lose a sale. 

That which comes from a foreign land is also, 

often, repellent in its strangeness, absurd and 

ridiculous. And these meanings, which were 

once in exotic (entering the city in that exotick 

and barbarous garb) have now been transferred 

to its homely Anglo-Saxon equivalent, outlandish. 

Uncouth originally meant unknown. The old 

proverb Uncouth unltissed, which might now 

serve as an advertisement for a book of etiquette, 

simply meant that those who were not 

known would go unwooed. It was an earlier way 

of saying that full many a flower is born to 

blush unseen and waste its sweetness on the 

desert air. But all idea of the unknown has now 

faded from uncouth and only the ideas of 

strange, rough, and alien remain. 

expect may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

England expects every man to do his duty, or by 

a clause, as in I expect he will come. Expect is 

sometimes used in speaking of a present or past 

event, as in I expect you’re hungry and I expect 

he was there. This was once literary English and 

the word is still used in this way by educated 

people in the United States. In Great Britain 

this use is condemned as an Americanism. 

expectorate; spit. The practice of euphemism can 

be dangerous for the unwary and the uninformed. 

Sometimes in seeking to be refined 

and elegant they choose a worse word than the 

one they seek to avoid. Spit, for example, is a 

perfectly good word to describe a natural and 

often necessary act; whereas expectorate, which 

is sometimes preferred to it by those who think 

they are being more delicate, is not only ponderous 

but more unpleasant. For to spit is, properly, 

to eject saliva from the mouth, but to 

expectorate is to bring up and expel phlegm 

from the lungs by coughing, hawking, or spitting. 

Thus a directive of the Breen office, which is 

concerned with Hollywood’s manners as well as 

its morals but not, apparently, with its sense of 

style, suggested that directors Eliminate, wherever 

it occurs, the action of actually expectorating 

Spit (Time, Oct. 25, 1954). Eliminate 

spitting would probably have been more accurate 

and certainly would have been more direct. 

Anyone actually expectorating Spit would be 

choking and strangling. Time, which has its own 

standards of style, refers to the directive as 

blunt. 

expedient. See politic. 

expensive. See costly. 

experiment (noun). See trial. 

expire; terminate. As a transitive verb expire 

means to breathe out (He expired his last 

breath just at the turning of the tide). As an 

intransitive verb it means to come to an end 

(The lease expired in lanuary) . For a transitive 

verb meaning to bring to an end, terminate 

serves for many of the uses of expire (The 

landlord says that he will terminate the lease in 

January). 

explain; elucidate; expound; interpret. To explain 

is used sometimes as if it meant merely to 

show. It means to make clear or intelligible 

(Explaining metaphysics to the nation./ I wish 

he would explain his explanation-Byron on 

Coleridge). 

To elucidate is to throw light on, usually by 

illustration or commentary, sometimes by elaborate 

explanation (His notes elucidate the text.

These actions elucidate his policy far better than 

words). The word is now used in a figurative 

sense only. 

To expound is to give a methodical, scholarly 

explanation. It is used now almost entirely in 

reference to the Scriptures, to doctrines, to philosophy. 

It is a grave and ponderous word and 

therefore lends itself to humor (For four hours 

he expounded the text, under thirty-six separate 

and edifying headings. She . . . quaintly could 

expound/ The Chicken-feeding power of every 

crumb she found). 

To interpret is to give the meaning of something 

by paraphrase, translation, or explanation. 

It is often of a systematic nature and often includes 

the interpreter’s own opinions (This interpretation 

of the poem caused considerable 

consternation among the older professors who 

had always believed it to be a mere description 

of a summer’s day). 

explicit; express. Explicit means that nothing is 

implied, that everything meant is expressed 

clearly and unequivocally (It was explicitly 

stated that you were in no way obligated to 

him). Express also means clearly stated rather 

than implied (There was an express stipulation 

to that effect). But, as Fowler points out, with 

his incomparable clarity and subtlety, there is a 

useful distinction between the words: explicit 

means that something has been expressed clearly 

and in detail, with nothing left to implication; 

express means that and in addition means that 

it is worded with intention. That which is promised 

explicitly is unmistakable in its meaning; 

that which is promised expressly binds the maker 

of the promise inescapably. 

exploit. See use. 

explore every avenue. See avenue. 

expose. See disclose. 

expos6; exposure. The French noun expose’ means 

an exposure of something discreditable. The 

English exposure can mean the revealing or 

uncovering of anything, good or bad (The exposure 

of the bone showed the depth of the 

wound), that has hitherto been covered or concealed 

from sight. Since virtues are rarely concealed 

and vices and crimes almost always are, 

usage has weighted the word, in its application 

to human motives and actions, towards the discreditable. 

It is hard to conceive of any context 

in which the French form would be essential 

and it is a safe rule not to use foreign words 

where they do not serve a purpose that cannot 

be served by an English word. 

expound. See explain. 

express. See explicit. 

express (an opinion). See voice. 

extemporaneous; impromptu; improvised. Extemporaneous 

and extemporary are adjectives, extempore 

an adjective and an adverb, meaning 

on the spur of the moment, offhand, without 

premeditation or preparation. They are applied 

especially to speeches given from an outline or 

notes. Impromptu applies to a speech or an 

artistic performance of some kind which one is 

called upon to give at the moment, without 

169 exterior 

warning (For an impromptu effort, it was brilliant). 

Improvised is applied to something composed, 

or recited, sung, or acted, on a particular 

occasion and which is, at least in part, made up 

as the speaker or performer goes along (The 

improvised variations on the theme were much 

admired). See also impromptu; temporize. 

extemporize. See temporize. 

extend. To extend is to stretch or draw out and its 

use is proper any place that this meaning is 

intended or implied or latent in a metaphor. 

To extend a hand in welcome has a literal meaning 

which is latent in extending a welcome. But 

what is meant in the common usage of extending 

sympathy? One can conceive, of course, of 

sympathy being extended to include those often 

excluded from it, as a philosopher or a sentimentalist 

might extend his sympathy from the victim 

to the murderer himself, but in ordinary usage 

extend here means nothing more than ogler or 

send. This is particularly an American fault: we 

extend thanks, when we only give them, and 

extend calls (to fill pulpits) when we only make 

them. Back of many of these uses may be a 

faint and blurred idea of extending the hand in 

fellowship or beckoning, but the word is so 

useful in its proper meaning (The congregation, 

on further thought, extended the call to include 

Dr. Thompson, Dr. Albert’s assistant) that it is 

too bad to debase it. 

extended; extensive. That is extended which is 

stretched out, continued or prolonged, spread 

out (Thus Satan . . ./ Prone on the flood, extended 

long and large,/ Lay floating many a 

rood). Extensive, when applied to spatial dimensions, 

means of great extent, wide, broad (Lord 

Byron’s extensive domains . . .). When applied 

to remarks or conversation or discussions, however, 

extended means prolonged and extensive 

means far-reaching, comprehensive, thorough 

(His extended remarks grew very tedious. His 

extensive knowledge makes him a delightful 

conversationalist). 

extent; extant. Extent is a noun meaning the space 

or degree to which a thing extends. Extant is an 

adjective meaning that something is in existence, 

not lost or destroyed (The extent to which 

Shakespeare’s manuscripts were extant at the 

time of the compiling of the First Folio is a 

matter of dispute). 

extenuate. To extenuate is, properly, to make 

thin, or to reduce the consistency or density of. 

It has come to be applied figuratively to faults, 

in the sense of representing them in as favorable 

a light as possible by finding excuses for them 

(Such cruelty cannot be extenuated by claiming 

that it was only thoughtlessness. Extenuating 

circumstances. Speak of me as I am; nothing 

extenuate,/ Nor set down aught in malice). 

One cannot extenuate behavior or conduct; it 

has to be bad behavior and bad conduct. And 

one cannot use extenunte merely to mean making 

excuses for. 

exterior; external. The exterior is the outer surface, 

and exterior, as an adjective, refers to that 

which is outside or on the outside (The exterior

extort 170 

surface of the pumpkin is smooth and hard. 

The exterior decorations of the building were 

not in keeping with its dignity). External is the 

opposite of internal. It is the outer part of something, 

as contrasted with its inner part, not 

merely the outer surface, and it is that which 

is apart from something else by being outside of 

it (The external structure of the building did 

not prepare one for the inner arrangement of its 

space. External influences affect the child far 

less the first three years of its life than, of 

course, they will later). 

extort. See elicit. 

extract. See elicit. 

extraneons; extrinsic. That is extraneous which 

does not belong to a thing but has been introduced 

or has come in from the outside. Fossils 

were once called extraneous shells because it 

was felt that they could not naturally belong 

in the rocks in which they were found but must 

have been introduced in some mysterious manner. 

An extraneous consideration is a thought 

brought into a discussion that has no real place 

in it, that did not arise in the course of the 

discussion. 

Extrinsic exists now wholly as an antithesis to 

intrinsic. It means something operating or coming 

from the outside. Intrinsic merit is inherent 

virtue; extrinsic merit would be some virtue or 

fabrication. See fiction. 

fabulous, which originally meant told about in 

fables (the fabulous voyage of Ulysses) and 

known only through myths and legends (the 

fabulous Golden Age in Greece), has come to 

mean, chiefly, almost incredible (My dear, she 

paid a simply fabulous price for it). As such it 

it a vogue word, overworked and weakened 

from overwork, and should be allowed to rest. 

face; countenance; physiognomy. The face is the 

front part of the head, from the forehead to 

the chin, with special reference to its composite 

features (But Lancelot mused a little 

space./ He said, “She hath a lovely face”). The 

countenance is the face with special reference 

to its expression (God made your features, but 

you made your countenance. His countenance 

fell at the news). The verb to countenance, 

meaning to support, to regard with favor (I beseech 

you sir,/ To countenance William Visor 

of Wonscott, against Clement Perkes of the 

hill) is derived from turning a favorable countenance 

upon. 

Physiognomy, when used seriously, refers to 

the face as an index of character (His physiognomy 

reflected great benevolence). However, 

since many believe that “there is no art to find 

F 

evaluation imposed from without, unrelated to 

an inner merit. The intrinsic value of a certain 

cancelled stamp might be inestimably small, 

whatever so little a piece of old paper was worth; 

but its extrinsic value, if it were a rare item, 

might be enormous. 

eyeglasses. Until recently, the word eyeglasses 

meant spectacles that did not have side pieces 

going over the ears. In the United States today 

these things are called eyeglasses so long as the 

frames have a modern design, ear pieces or no 

ear pieces. The word spectacles suggests the very 

old. The singular eyeglass means one lens and is 

used in this way when speaking of a scientific 

instrument, such as a telescope. The pair of 

lenses ordinarily worn for reading is treated as 

a plural, as in these eyeglasses are too strong. 

In order to treat this object as a singular or to 

speak of more than one of them, it is necessary 

to say this pair of eyeglasses is too strong or 

three pairs of eyeglasses. 

Theoretically, the singular form eyeglass 

should be used as the first element in a compound, 

even when referring to reading glasses, 

as in an eyeglass case. But in actual practice, 

the word is always shortened to glasses and this 

form is used in compounds, as in my glasses 

case. 

the mind’s construction in the face,” it should 

be used seriously with caution. Facetiously used, 

it is ponderous and tedious. 

face the music, as a term for standing up to 

trouble, accepting punishment, is a cliche, and, 

as in many cliches, the figure is not certain. 

Some think it refers to a singer’s facing the 

orchestra as he or she faces the audience. But 

this is not entirely satisfactory, since very few 

performers regard facing the music in this way 

as trouble or punishment. Some think it has to 

do with being drummed out of a regiment in 

disgrace. 

facies has the same form in the singular as in the 

plural and may be used with either a singular 

or a plural verb. 

facile; easy. As a synonym for easy, facile has a 

disparaging sense (With no facile labor did I 

gather these materials). There is a feeling that 

since “nothing great is lightly won,” that which 

is done facilely is not much worth the doing. A 

facile pen is the counterpart of a glib tongue. 

facility; faculty. A facility is something which 

makes possible the easier performance of an 

action, freedom from difficulty, ease, opportunities 

or conditions which make an easier performance 

possible (Every facility was placed at

his disposal. The transportation facilities of the 

metropolitan area make suburban living pleasant 

and convenient here). 

A faculty (in the sense in which the word 

is often confused with facility) is an ability, 

natural or acquired, for a particular kind of 

action (Boswell’s astonishing faculty for making 

friends). It also designates one of the mental 

powers, as memory, reason, and so on (AIthough 

now in his ninety-third year, he had 

full possession of all his faculties). 

fact. The phrase the fact that may be used to 

introduce a noun clause, especially after a preposition 

or a verb that cannot take a clause as 

object, as in I am impressed by the fact that you 

were there and I don’t like the fact that you 

were there. This construction is natural enough 

so long as we are talking about a real event in 

the past or present. The word it performs this 

same function after many prepositions and a 

few verbs and is preferred in literary English 

for statements about a future or imaginary 

event, as in Z don’t like it that you are going 

away and see to it that you are on time. 

The fact that is a favorite expression in scientific 

writing and is greatly overworked. It is 

preferred to the literary it and is often inserted 

where that is all that is required, as in he demonstrated 

the fact that fwo and two make four 

and he remembered the fact that supper would 

be late. Sentences of this kind show that the 

writer has a scientific respect for facts, even 

though he cannot identify one. 

factious; factitious; fictitious. One is factious who 

is motivated solely by party spirit. He is a member 

of a faction (a small group within a larger 

group) and creates faction (party strife or intrigue). 

So that which is factious is caused by 

party spirit or strife (These factious quarrels 

have almost destroyed the party. The factious 

dread prosperity, for they live on discontent). 

That is factitious which is artificial. It used 

to have a literal meaning (Boyle spoke of Beer, 

Ale, or other factitious drinks) but it is now restricted 

to immaterial things (Luxury creutes 

factitious wants) and is applied to things that 

may have their origin in custom or habit but 

are not natural. It has the meaning also of conventional 

and it means something not spontaneous, 

something got up for a particular 

occasion (The use of gold and silver is in a great 

measure factitious. That the applause which 

greeted the candidate was wholly factitious was 

shown by the suddenness with which it stopped 

when the chairman motioned for silence). 

That is fictitious which is based on fiction, 

which is represented as real but is actually imaginary. 

Thus a factious claim would be one 

advanced solely in the interest of party or one 

designed to arouse party strife. A factitious 

claim is one that would not have been made but 

has been created and pushed forward to suit 

some private end. A fictitious claim is either 

one that has never actually been made or one 

that has an entirely imaginary basis. 

factitive adjectives. See position of adjectives. 

171 fairly 

factor is one of the elements that contribute to 

bring about a given result (Certainly his drinking 

was a factor in his ruin). Hence to speak of 

a contributing factor is to be redundant. To use 

factor as if it meant simply an occurrence or an 

event (as in One of the most pleasant factors of 

our trip was a visit to the Mammoth Cave) is 

incorrect. 

faculty. In England the word faculty, in its educational 

sense, retains the old meaning of one 

of the departments of teaching in a universitythe 

faculty of Medicine, of Law, of Theology, 

of Arts. In the United States it designates the 

entire teaching staff of a university and sometimes 

the administrative staff as well. When used 

in this sense, the word means the entire group 

and not an individual member of the group. 

The ulural form faculties would imulv more 

than one school. The singular word maybe used 

with a plural verb, as in the faculty are meeting 

this afternoon. But it should not be used with 

the article a or with a numeral as it is in three 

faculty were present. See also facility. 

faery; fairy. Fairies are supernatural beings, generally 

thought of as diminutive humans, having 

magical powers which they exercise capriciously 

(The fairy footings on the grass). Their land is 

fairyland. Faerie was originally simply a variant 

spelling of fairy, but Spenser, in his The Faerie 

Queene, impressed on it a meaning of a dim, 

mysterious, romantic, imaginative land, beautiful 

but with shades of terror and despair, 

wholly purged of the undignified gamboling and 

hopping about of the fairies (None that breatheth 

living aire does know/ Where is that happy 

land of Fuery). Keats set the final seal of differentiation 

on the word in his reference to 

magic casements, opening on the foam,/ Of 

perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn. 

The use of fairy as a slang term for a male 

homosexual is so widespread in America that 

it is almost impossible to use the word in public 

with any other meaning. 

fail may be followed by an infinitive, as in he 

failed fo notice it. It could once be followed by 

the -ing form of a verb, as in he failed noticing 

it, but this construction is now obsolete. 

failing. See fault. 

fair and square is a hearty banality that has stuck 

like a bur in popular speech because it rimes. 

It is quite meaningless. 

fair; fairly. Fair has been an adverb as long as it 

has been an adjective and can be used to qualify 

a verb, as in play fair. Like many other adverbs, 

such as slow and hard, it cannot be used before 

the verb form. And it cannot be used, as fairly 

can, to mean “almost,” as in he fair jumped. 

Fairly is always an adverb and is not used to 

qualify a noun. 

fairly means justly, impartially, clearly, distinctly, 

handsomely (He will judge fairly between you. 

A fairly woven garment). It also means completely, 

positively, actually (His hobby has fairly 

run away with him). This use is often employed 

in exaggeration where the particular emphasis 

makes it plain that it means “almost as if”

faithfully 172 

rather than actually (The laughter fairly rocked 

the building). At the same time, it can mean 

moderately, passably, tolerably (Things are going 

fairly well with me now. You’re fairly safe, 

if you watch what you’re doing) and there are 

many written contexts in which one cannot be 

sure which of the two meanings i’s intended. 

There is never any doubt in speaking since the 

intonation of the voice will always make the 

meaning clear. 

faithfully. See sincerely. 

faker; fakir. A faker is one who fakes, a petty 

swindler (Both ladies then came to the conclusion 

that the fortune teller was a faker). A fakir 

is a Mohammedan or Hindu religious ascetic or 

mendicant monk. The two words are often confused, 

more out of ignorance presumably than 

skepticism. 

fall. The past tense is fell. The participle is fallen. 

Fall may be followed by the -ing form of a verb 

with the preposition to, as in I fell to eating. 

It could once be used in this sense with an infinitive, 

as in I fell to eat, but this construction 

is now obsolete. 

Full may be followed by an adjective describing 

what falls, as in smiling, the boy fell dead. 


the fall, as in it fell silently. 

fallacy. See mistake. 

fall between two stools. To say of someone who 

has failed because he was unable to choose 

between alternatives that he has fallen between 

two stools is to employ a cliche. The proverb 

once had considerable force and more robust 

expression (Between two stools the ars goeth to 

the ground) but it has been exhausted by overuse. 

fallen. See fall. 

fall to with a will, as a term for starting in to 

eat heartily, is trite. 

falsehood. See lie. 

falseness; falsity. Both falseness and falsity define 

a quality of nonconformance with the truth. But 

they cannot always be used interchangeably. 

Falseness applies to persons and implies an intentional 

departure from truth or loyalty (The 

falseness of the declaration was embarrassingly 

obvious. The guilt of falseness in their hearts). 

Falsity is usually applied to reports and documents, 

doctrines and opinions (Such reports 

bear their falsity upon their faces. This doctrine, 

whose falsity has been a dozen times exposed 

. . .). Falseness suggests more intentional 

untruthfulness than does falsity. 

fame. See celebrity. 

family is a group name and may be used with a 

singular verb, as in the family that has just 

moved in. But usually the speaker has in mind 

the individual members of a family, and in that 

case a plural verb is required. My family is all 

sick is not standard English because the all 

proves that the speaker is thinking of the individual 

members, and this in turn requires a 

plural verb. 

famous. See notable. 

fancy; fantasy; phantasy; imagination. Fancy is 

now confined to light and often playful imaginings 

(In the spring a young man’s fancy/ Lightly 

turns to thoughts of love). A fancy waistcoat 

would be one designed to please a fanciful taste. 

It would be a little out of the ordinary, but not 

much. 

Though Fowler and Partridge make a distinction 

between fantasy and phantasy, assigning to 

the former the sense of caprice and to the latter 

the sense of a visionary notion, no such differentiation 

is maintained by American dictionaries. 

The two words are regarded as variants, with 

the preference being given to fantasy which is 

given the meaning of unrestrained or extravagant 

fancy bordering, sometimes, upon insanity 

(These fantasies are often dangerous). A fantastic 

waistcoat would be one so extravagant in 

design or material or both as to be ludicrous. 

Few words in our language have had their 

meanings so thoroughly discussed as imagination. 

Generations of Ph.D. candidates have 

sucked a thin aliment from the problem. And 

the best one can make of all the discussion is 

that imagination, as applied to artistic creation, 

means the blending of memories and experiences 

in the mind of the artist in such a way as 

to produce something that has never existed before, 

yet something that may have in it a vision 

or interpretation of reality hitherto unperceived 

(The lunatic, the lover, and the poet, [and, one 

might add, the literary critic when on this subject] 

/ Are of imagination all compact). 

far. The comparative form is further or further. 

The superlative form is furthest or farthest. The 

forms farther and furthest can only be used in 

speaking of distance. The forms further and 

furthest can be used in this sense and also in the 

sense of additional, as in further details and 

further delay. Some grammarians would like to 

restrict further and furthest to figurative senses 

but this is a hope and not a description of current 

usage. It seems more likely that farther and 

farthest will be dropped from the language and 

further and furthest become the only acceptable 

forms. That has not yet happened, however. 

And to pronounce the positive form fur as if it 

were spelled fur is not standard at present. 

In Great Britain the word far is no longer 

used to qualify a noun, except in set phrases 

such as the fur north, a far cry. This is not true 

in the United States where fur is still used as an 

adjective in natural speech, as in put it in the 

far corner and open the far window. For all 

the further, see all. 

far be it from me, as a rhetorical disclaimer, is 

not only a cliche but, often, a piece of humbug. 

It is interesting that Joseph’s protestation of innocence 

in the business of the cup in his brother’s 

sack (Genesis, 44:17) which was prefaced in 

Wycliffe’s edition with Fer be it fro me that Z 

thus do, was changed in the Ring James version 

to read God forbid that Z should do so and then 

changed back in the Revised Standard Version 

to Far be it from me that I should do so. Appar-

ently the latest translators felt a little uneasy at 

letting Joseph invoke God to support him in a 

deception, however well intentioned. 

far from the madding crowd. One reason that 

the crowd is madding is that its members are 

addicted to clichCs, of which this (often misquoted 

as maddening) is one. 

fascination. To fascinate is to hold by enchantment 

(The fascination of her charms held him 

a happy slave). As a term of exaggerated compliment 

it is applied to pleasant things and often 

has no more meaning than attractive (My dear, 

what a perfectly fascinating bracelet!). As SO 

often when exaggeration has defeated itself, a 

last desperate attempt to give the term meaning 

is made by accenting the word shrilly. When the 

word is used seriously and literally, it more 

often applies to unpleasant things, to extreme 

terror (Helpless with fear, the rabbit stared, 

fascinated, at the approuching stoat). 

Something has a fascination for one. One is 

fascinated by a person and with an inanimate 

object. Fascination of by itself is ambiguous. If 

one speaks of the fascination of X by Y, the 

meaning is plain, but if one speaks merely of 

the fascination of X it is not always clear whether 

it means that X was fascinated or fascinating. 

fashion; manner. Fashion is prevailing custom or 

style, conventional usage or conformity to it. It 

was also used formerly to mean manner and 

method (He huth importun’d me with love,/ In 

honourable fashion) but this use is now obsolescent 

or out of fashion. Manner is now used 

in reference to individuals and fashion reserved 

for the custom prevailing among people in general 

(He had a strange manner of speaking. It 

was the fashion to prolong the vowels and swullow 

the consonants). 

fast is as truly an adverb as it is an adjective. The 

specifically adverbial form fustly is now obsolete. 

fastidious; finical; squeamish. Fastidious means 

hard to please, excessively critical, over-nice 

(The lute nineteenth century was in many ways 

a fastidious age, full of false refinement. I must 

say he’s not at all fastidious about what he piles 

on his plate). Though its proper sense is pejorative, 

it is a point-of-view word; what seems excessively 

critical to one man may seem justly 

appraising to another. So that we sometimes 

find it used in an approving way (She’s very 

dainty and fastidious). 

Finical or more commonly finicky is never 

used praisingly. There is a connotation of contempt 

in it. The one who uses the word feels 

that there is no justification for the finicky one’s 

distaste (Yet after all that finicky revising there 

isn’t a well-written sentence in the book!). 

Squeamish is the strongest word of the three, 

for it means one whose repugnance to the improper 

or the distasteful is great enough to 

induce nausea. It is still used in its original 

sense (The very sight of a safety belt makes me 

squeamish) but chiefly employed figuratively 

(trijZes magnified into importance by a squeam- 

173 

ish conscience. I’ll warrant it’s some squeamish 

minx as my wife, that’s grown so dainty of lute, 

she finds fault even with a dirty shirt). See also 

nice. 

fat; corpulent; stout; plump. Fat is the informal, 

everyday word. It formerly connoted a good 

deal of jolliness, and still does to some extent, 

but increasingly it is coming to have unpleasant 

implications (Nobody loves a fat man. She’s too 

fat, she’s too jut, she’s too fat for me). Corpulent 

suggests fleshly bulk. It’s rather a stilted 

word. Falstaff calls himself a good portly man i’ 

faith, and a corpulent, but he is burlesquing the 

sonorous dignity of Henry IV’s speech at the 

time. Stout, now a euphemism for fat, especially 

in reference to ladies and in the garment industry, 

suggests a heavily built but usually strong 

and healthy body. It was used much formerly 

to mean vigorous, brave, undismayed, of great 

staying power. Keats’s tribute to stout Cortes 

would be ludicrous if the modern meaning were 

read into it. Plump, also a euphemism for jut, 

connotes a pleasing roundness, an attractive 

fulness of flesh. 

fatal; fateful. The primary meaning of fateful is 

“involving momentous consequences.” The day 

on which a man began something of great import 

to him, whether of good or ill, would be a 

fateful day for him. That is fatal which causes 

or initiates death or ruin. A fatal day could only 

be one on which some disaster occurred or had 

its inception. Fateful may mean fatal; fatal 

cannot always be used for fateful. 

Father Time with his beard. bald head. scvthe I 

and hourglass, has been around a long time. He 

was apparently a venerable personification as 

long ago as 1594 when Sheakespeare alluded to 

him in The Comedy of Errors. The cartoonists 

cannot let him go, because at the end of every 

Old and the beginning of every New Year, he 

is their means of livelihood. But in writing and 

speaking, where he is a tired cliche, he may be 

allowed to settle in threadbare dustiness into the 

oblivion he has so long typified. 

fathom. Only the singular form fathom can be 

used as part of a compound adjective qualifying 

a following noun, as in a ten fathom cable. 

A ten fathoms cable is not standard English. 

Except in this construction, the plural form 

fathoms is preferred in this country when speaking 

of more than one. 

In English literature the singular form fathom 

is used whenever the word occurs with a numeral, 

whether it qualifies a following noun or not, 

as in full fathom jive thy father lies and under 

the keel nine fathom deep. This is still the usual 

practice in Great Britain, but not in the United 

States. 

fatigued. See tired. 

faucet; tap. The American faucet is the British 

tap. 

fault; failing; foible; weakness; vice. Fault is the 

common, everyday word for a moral shortcoming 

or imperfection. When applied to animals 

and inanimate things there is, of course, no

fauna 174 

implication of moral condemnation; it is there 

simply an imperfection. But in all applications 

to human beings (especially in the negative ZZ’S 

not my fault) there is an element, weak or 

strong, of condemnation. When the young man 

in Erewhon who has been condemned to death 

for having tuberculosis protests that it is not 

his fault, the judge answers sternly, Though it 

is not your fault, yet it is a fault in you. 

Failing, foible, and weakness all seek to extenuate 

or excuse the imperfection alluded to. 

Failing can describe a fairly serious fault (Drink 

is his failing. He just can? tell the truth; it’s his 

failing). Weakness suggests a giving way to an 

improper impulse, self-indulgence; yet it cannot 

be applied to major faults. A man may be said 

to have a weakness for liquor or pretty girls, 

but it would be inappropriate or facetious to 

refer to a weakness for taking other people’s 

property. Foible (which is an obsolete French 

word for weakness) is the mildest in its implied 

reproof of all the& terms. It suggests that the 

weakness is light and amusing, crotchety, more 

an eccentricity than a fault (He loves to talk 

about the Civil War; it’s his foible). 

Vice is a strong word. It may include sin and 

may describe a sin apart from him who has 

committed it (the vice of swearing). It is severely 

condemnatory. 

fauna is a singular group name, meaning all the 

animals of a certain place or time. It is usually 

followed by a singular verb, but a plural verb 

is also permissible. The plural, faunas or faunae, 

means more than one such group. 

favor; prefer. Weseen and Partridge insist that 

favor must not be used as a synonym for prefer. 

But since they grant that favor can mean to 

have a preference for, the distinction is too 

subtle to concern the common speaker or writer. 

If it is said that so-and-so favors something, 

it is not unreasonable to wonder in preference 

to what and not ungrammatical to satisfy the 

wonder in a comparison. 

faze. See phase. 

fear may be followed by an infinitive, as in they 

fear to go, or by the -ing form of a verb, as in 

they fear going, or by a clause, as in they fear 

they will go. The three forms are equally acceptable. 

The noun fear may be followed by 

a clause, as in rhe fear fhat they will go, or by 

the -ing form of a verb introduced by of. as in 

the fear of going. The -ing form is generally 

preferred. 

fearful; fearsome. Fearful and fearsome are synonyms, 

meaning causing fear, but fearsome is 

now slightly archaic and literary. See also 

horrible. 

feasible. That is feasible which is capable of being 

done (His plan is feasible, and I see no reason 

why ii should not be put into operation immediarely). 

And since whatever is doable is possible, 

feasible can mean possible in one of possible’s 

meanings. But many things are possible which 

are not doable. It is possible, for example, but 

not feasible that it will rain tomorrow. And the 

true function of feasible (says Fowler) is to pre- 

vent ambiguity among the uses of possible, by 

making it clear, where the context may not do 

so, whether something is doable or just likely to 

happen. Certainly the use of feasible as a mere 

synonym for possible serves no good purpose. 

To say, He thought it quite feasible ihat at some 

future date we might send rockets to the moon 

is pompous or straining too hard to find an unusual 

word for a usual one. Of course He 

thought the sending of a rocker to the moon 

quite feasible is a different thing. 

feather in one’s cap. As a metaphor for a signal 

accomplishment, something to be proud of, a 

feather in one’s cap is now bedraggled and 

droopy and no feather in anyone’s stylistic 

cap. 

feather one’s nest. As a term for taking care of 

one’s self, slyly laying by for the future, lo 

feather one’s nest is strictly for the birds. 

feature. The use of feature as a verb, meaning to 

give prominence to or to be prominent in (The 

case was featured on every front page. Chaplin 

featured in “The Gold Rush”) and as an attributive 

noun (He writes feature articles for the 

Sun-Times) or just an ordinary noun (When 

does the feature go on, please?), though viewed 

with alarm by the watchdogs of the language 

for thirty years has advanced steadily and is 

now solidly established in American usage. The 

movies had need for such a word and as they 

came to play such a large part in our civilization 

the word, quite naturally, proliferated. 

fed. See feed. 

fee. See honorarium. 

feed. The past tense is fed. The participle is also 

fed. 

feel. The past tense is felt. The participle is also 

felt. When feel means know by touching it may 

be followed by an object and the simple form of 

a verb, as in I felt ii break, or by an object and 

the -ing form of a verb, as in I felt it breaking. 

When used in this sense the word cannot be 

followed by a to-infinitive. When feel is followed 

by a clause, as in 1 felt it was broken, it will be 

understood to mean believe or have the impression. 

In this sense feel may be followed by a 

to-infinitive, especially in a passive construction, 

as in it was felt to be wrong. 

Feel may be followed by an adjective describing 

the subject of the verb, as in I felt strong 

and Z felt different. It may also be followed by 

an adverb describing the action itself, as in 2 

felt strongly and Z felt differently. Sometimes 

the two forms mean different things and sometimes 

they do not. According to the traditional 

rules of grammar, 2 felt bad is the correct form 

for what people mean when they say I felt badly. 

But I felt badly is now also standard English in 

just this sense. This construction may have originated 

in the mistaken notion that a verb could 

not be followed by an adjective. But it has 

certainly been reinforced by the fact that to 

many people bad means wicked. In order to say 

that they are miserable without saying that they 

are guilty, they are compelled to use badly. 

There is no doubt that both forms, feel bad and

feel badly, are standard today. To condemn 

badly in the name of grammar is to misunderstand 

the nature of grammar. Grammatical 

rules are not something that has been revealed 

to us, but simply generalizations about the way 

people use words. 

Feel is often used as a synonym for think (I 

feel YOU should do it this way). Much thinking, 

of course, is inseparable from feeling, in the 

sense of experiencing emotion, but the word 

should not be used in this way unless it is intended 

to convey the idea of strong emotion in 

the thought or a groping (as one feels one’s way 

along in the dark) towards a settled conviction 

(I feel that he’s wrong, but I would find it hard 

to give specific reasons for thinking so). See 

also sense. 

feel in one’s bones. As a metaphor for prelmonition, 

to feel something in one’s bones is hackneyed, 

Its origins are uncertain. Perhaps it is 

connected with the ability which many rheumatics 

profess to have of being able to tell from 

twinges in their afflicted joints when there will 

be a change in the weather. 

feet of clay. Nebuchadnezzar dreamt that he saw 

a great image of which the head was of goled, the 

breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of 

brass, the legs of iron, and the feet part of iron 

and part of clay. Feet of clay is a referen.ce to 

this and has become a figure for the weak, 

human, and unadmirable qualities of some great 

and admired person. With the decline of knowledge 

of the Bible among the masses of the 

people, the figure has little meaning any more. 

felk&. See happiness. 

fell mav be the past tense of the verb fall. It may 

also be the present tense of the verb meaning 

cause to fall, which has the regular past tense 

and participle felled. See fall. 

felo-de-se. As a synonym for one who commits 

suicide, felo-de-se carries the suggestion of its 

literal meaning, one who commits a felony in 

respect to himself. The proper plural, just in 

case anyone is remotely interested, is felonesde-se, 

though felos-de-se is admitted. 

felt. See feel. 

female; feminine; effeminate; womanly. Female 

is the opposite of male (The female of the 

species is more deadly than the male). It i,s the 

scientific word and the everyday word for a nonmate 

animal, including a human being, and for 

things pertaining to such an animal (the female 

figure, the female organs). 

Feminine means pertaining to a woman. It is 

the opposite of masculine and is rarely used 

(except in such extensions as feminine gender in 

grammar and feminine rimes) to refer to the 

qualities or adjuncts of any female except the 

human. It suggests the softer and more delicate 

qualities of women (There was something 

almost feminine in the tender deference with 

which he appeared to listen). 

Effeminate is a term of contempt, applied to 

actions or qualities in a man which would be 

fitting in a woman (His effeminate giggle infuriated 

the other men in the bar). The word 

175 festal 

feminine used to be used in this sense but is not 

often so used now. 

Womanly suggests the stronger qualities of a 

woman. It is more homely than feminine and 

has more dignity (Womanly sobs were heard, 

and manly cheeks/ Were wet with silent tears). 

It also means having the characteristics of a 

woman as contrasted with those of a girl (The 

girl begins to be womanly). See also woman. 

fence (on the). To say of someone who is undecided 

or, more often, is refusing to commit 

himself to one side or another of a dispute, that 

he is on the fence is to employ a phrase worn 

out by overuse. 

fender. The American automobile fender is the 

British wing. The British fender is the American 

bumper. 

feral. As a word for wild (The dovecote pigeon . . . 

has become feral in several places-Darwin), 

feral is now solely a literary word. In its literal 

sense of “animal” it has been applied by some 

anthropologists to those children who are alleged 

to have been reared by wolves, bears, 

baboons, and the like, and if the supply of 

children or credulity holds out it may become 

established as a technical term. 

ferment; foment. To ferment is literally to cause 

to undergo fermentation and since the process 

of fermentation gives off gases that cause bubbling 

and the raising and swelling of such substances 

as dough and generally indicates intense 

internal action, to ferment is figuratively to 

seethe with excitement or to cause others to 

seethe with excitement (His mind was doubtless 

fermenting with projects; the Christianity which 

fermented Europe). 

To foment is literally to apply medicated 

lotions, usually warm (The leg may be conveniently 

fomented by putting it in a deep 

bucket of warm waler). Figuratively to foment 

is to foster, encourage, stimulate, instigate, especially 

in a bad sense (The rumor was fomented 

by those who hoped to profit from the resulting 

panic. These civil commotions were constantly 

fomented by the monarchs of Blefuscu). 

But since it is often a matter of opinion as to 

how an agitation was instigated, whether by the 

introduction of an inner ferment or the application 

of an outward foment, the two words, in the 

sense of causing trouble, are synonymous (He 

fermented the passions of the vicious or He fomented 

the passions of the vicious). But neither 

may be used for the other in its literal sense and 

even in the figurative uses there are occasions 

when the careful writer will prefer one to the 

other. 

ferrule; ferule. The metal ring or cap which is 

put around the end of a post or cane for strength 

or protection is spelled either ferrule or ferule. 

The rod or cane or flat piece of wood formerly 

used for punishing children by striking them on 

the hand is spelled ferule. 

festal; festive. Both festal and festive refer to a 

feast or a festival, but festal is usually confined 

to an actual feast or festival. When De Quincey 

says that the ball-room wore a festal air we

fetch 176 

assume that it was decorated for a feast or festival, 

but festive, although it can refer directly to 

a feast, can also refer to a general joyousness, a 

holiday spirit without any particular holiday 

(He wus in a festive mood). 

fetch. See bring. 

fever; temperature. The use of temperature for 

fever to describe a body temperature above the 

normal of 98.6” F. (He has had a temperature 

for nearly a week) probably began as a euphemism 

to avoid the once-frightening fever, but 

it is unfortunate because it adds nothing to 

make up for its extra syllables and it blurs the 

proper meaning of temperature. It is ironic that 

temperature originally meant to be in temper, 

to be free from the distemper that a fever 

indicates. 

few may be used to qualify a plural noun, as in 

few men believe, or alone as if it were a noun, 

as in few believe. When few is not qualified by 

a definitive adjective, such as a, the, this, it has 

the force of a negative statement and means 

not many. When qualified it has the force of 

an affirmative statement and means a small 

number, as in a few men believe and a few 

believe. In all constructions it is plural and 

requires a plural verb. When used as a noun, 

few may be qualified by an adjective, as in an 

honest few. At one time the word good was used 

in this way, as in a good few. This can still be 

heard but is now considered old fashioned. Very 

is generally preferred, as in a very few. When 

used in a series of adjectives, few is treated as 

a numeral and placed before descriptive adjectives, 

as in a few honest men. 

few and far between. There was a proverb that 

the visits of angels were short and far between. 

Thomas Campbell in The Pleasures of Hope, 

seduced by alliteration, asked What though my 

winged hours of bliss have been/ Like angel 

visits, few and. far between? Hazlitt in his 

Lectures on the English Poets pointed out (to 

Campbell’s intense irritation) that in altering 

the expression Campbell had spoiled it, since 

few and far between are, in relation to visits, 

the same thing. None the less, the corrupted 

“improvement” has taken hold and the sensible 

original been forgotten. 

few; some; several; sundry. Some means unspecified 

but considerable in number, amount, or 

degree (They visited us for some weeks. She 

has some fever. There’s some left, enough for u 

meal). Few means not many (Few there are who 

can now remember that day) but a few means 

more than none (A few survived to tell the 

fale). And, just to confuse matters further, quite 

a few (which ought to mean emphatically only 

a few) means a fairly large number. 

Several means more than two or three but not 

many (There are several gentlemen waiting to 

see you), but it also means single or particular 

(I have called you on three several occasions but 

never received an answer) and various (There 

are several ways of doing it). 

Sundry is an archaic synonym for several 

(These benches formed the favorite resting place 

of sundry old men). It continues in general use 

in the phrase all and sundry (everyone collectively 

and individually) and the word sundries, 

miscellaneous items. 

fib. See lie. 

fiction; fabrication; figment. Fiction is something 

wholly invented, to deceive or to entertain (He 

has been playing off a fiction on me. Dramatic 

fiction copies real life). A fabrication is a statement 

or series of statements, intended to deceive, 

in which, to carry more conviction, an element 

of truth is often interwoven (What is said to 

have happened might have been invented, and 

the occasion and motives for the fabrication 

may be conceived). A figment is a pure product 

of the imagination, something, usually, made 

up to explain, justify, or glorify oneself (All 

those noble relatives are figments of his imagination. 

Whence came this Whiffle and Whimzv 

within the circumference of thy Figmentitious 

Fancy?). 

fictional; fictitious; fictive. Fictitious now has the 

meaning, in common use, of counterfeit or fafse 

(That’s a fictitious name; you can tell by the 

sound of it), though it is still used and understood 

in the older sense of consisting of fiction, 

imaginatively produced (Those fictitious stories 

that so enchant the mind). So strongly has the 

idea of falseness colored the word, however, 

that many prefer to use fictional or fictive when 

referring to fiction (Is it a fictional book, sir, or 

a history? What was there in such fictive woes/ 

To thrill a whole theater?). thou& historicallv 

fictive has had much m&e of-the sense df 

“untrue” than “of the nature of imaginary narration.” 

See also factions. 

fiddle; violin. Fiddles are still heard in the mountains 

and at country dances but only violins and 

viols at concerts and in orchestras. A fiddler is 

a merry andrew, to be paid with drinks and 

patronizing; a violinist is a musician, admired 

and often richly rewarded. Puritan scorn has 

enriched the language (though impoverished 

our stock of harmless gaiety) with many opprobrious 

terms drawn from playing the fiddlefiddling 

around, to fiddle (playing aimlessly with 

the fingers), fiddlesticks, fiddle-faddle. Fowler 

incites us to rebel in the old word’s defense. If 

fiddle is now only in familiar or contemptuous 

use, as the Oxford English Dictionary states, he 

says, it is a matter for regret, and those who 

defy this canon deserve well of the language. 

Musicians among themselves refer to their violins 

as fiddles. But it is a lost cause and only in 

another land shall we hear again the fiddles 

tuned to solemn mirth. 

fiddle while Rome burns. As a term for being 

occupied with trifles in the face of a crisis to 

fiddle while Rome burns is one of the most venerable 

and deeply intrenched of clich6s. That it 

is at variance with the known facts is, of course, 

irrelevant but it is not uninteresting. The incident 

upon which the clichC is founded is related 

by Suetonius who flourished more than fifty 

years after the event. He says that Nero set fire 

to the city of Rome to see what Troy looked

like when it was in flames and accompanied the 

conflagration by singing his own cdmposition 

The Suck of Ilium and plaving on the lvre. 

Tacitus whd was living -at -the time of -the 

fire, who knew Nero and who is a far more 

reliable authority than Suetonius, says that Nero 

was at his villa at Antium, fifty miles from 

Rome, when the fire broke out, that he hurried 

back, took every measure possible to check and 

control the fire, established shelters and relief 

measures for the victims, and rebuilt the city 

after the fire in an intelligent and mulch improved 

way. 

fiend. The fiend is Satan (because the fiend, our 

adversary, found him in such thoughts). L4 fiend 

is any evil spirit and, by extension, a diabolically 

cruel or wicked person (A frightful fiend/ Doth 

close behind him tread. The man is a perfect 

fiend). Colloquially, the term is used in jocular 

exaggeration of those who cause annoyance or 

do mischief (nutogmph fiends, fresh-air jiends) 

and applied to one hopelessly addicted to narcotics-(a 

dope fiend). 

fieht. The uast tense is fouzht. The Darticiule is 

-also fought. Fight on& hid a past tense ,it and 

a participle fitten but these have not been 

standard for a long time. A grammar published 

in 1765 lists them as “very familiar, or rather 

low.” See altercation. 

fight tooth and nail. As a term for going at something 

with ferocious vigor tooth and nail has 

been proverbial for four hundred years and a 

cliche for about one hundred. It needs a rest. 

figment. See fiction. 

figure (verb). The use of figure as a verb to denote 

computing or expressing in figures or adorning 

with figures or projecting into figures of speech, 

and the like, is standard. But to use it to mean 

to conclude or to judge (Well, I figured they 

didn’t want me around any more, so I just lit 

out for home) or to solve or understand (He’ll 

soon figure out what they meant) or to rely on 

(You can figure on Bill every time) is questionable. 

figure; number. A number is a word or symbol, 

or a combination of words or symbols, used in 

counting or to denote a total. A figure (in the 

sense in which it is often confused with a 

number) is a numerical symbol. A number may 

be expressed in figures, and an amount or value 

expressed in numbers may be called a figure 

(What’s a good round figure us an estimate?). 

See numerals. 

figure of speech. A figure of speech or a trope is 

a mode of expression in which words are used 

out of their literal sense, or out of ordinary locutions, 

to suggest a picture or an image or to 

secure some other special effect. Too deliberate 

and conscious a use of them is now felt to be 

overly literary. The chief figures of speech (each 

of which is discussed in a separate entry in its 

alphabetical order) are: allegory, anticlimax, 

antithesis, cliche’, climax, euphemism, hyperbole, 

irony, litotes, meiosis, metaphor, onomatopoeia, 

oxymoron, personification, synecdoche, 

syllepsis, zeugma. 

find 

filch. See steal. 

file; file away. In the sense of arranging papers 

methodically for preservation and convenient 

reference, Weseen protests against using file 

away, insisting that it is redundant and that file 

says the same thing. But in popular usage there 

is a slight difference. File alone usuallv means 

to arrange methodically for reference-and file 

away has more of the meaning of preserving for 

future reference (Please file this under the letter 

N. They don’t read these things; they just file 

them away. You can be sure that remark is 

filed away in his memory). 

filibuster. In Eneland filibusterimz is confined to its 

original meaning of buccaneering. In America 

it is used primarily of one who impedes legislation 

by irregular or obstructive taciics, usually 

by making long speeches (You’re filibustering 

against the wrong bill, Senator). 

filthy lucre. The filthy llrcre of the Bible is best 

paraphrased as dishonorable gain. The use of 

the term to designate money, now chiefly used 

jocularly, is a clich6. 

final completion. Since completion means “the 

state of being completed, conclusion, fulfillment,” 

the phrase final completion (He brought 

his book to a final completion this summer) is 

redundant. It is conceivable, of course, that a 

man may have announced the completion of 

something half a dozen times and at last completed 

it, or circumstances may have compelled 

him to make new completions, so that a last, 

irrevocable, unchangeable completion might be 

called the final completion, or the term might be 

applied ironically. But even under such circumstances 

it would probably be better to say that 

he finally completed the work. 

final; finale. Final is chiefly an adjective, meaning 

the last in place, order, or time (The chief has 

the final say. This is your final chance). As a 

noun, usually in the plural, it is used in relation 

to athletic events and college examinations to 

mean the final event or test (He failed his finals. 

Smith was entered in the finals). 

Finale is a noun. It means the conclusion, 

especially of a musical composition or any performance 

or course of proceedings (though in 

reference to the last it is usually used humorously, 

suggesting that the business has been 

something in the nature of a stage performance). 

finally and ultimately are interchangeable in many 

contexts but not in all. In concluding a speech 

or a sermon, if one wishes to give his hearers 

hope, the word is finally (And, finally, my 

friends, I come to consider, etc., etc., etc., etc.). 

In referring to someone else’s speech, finally 

could refer to the order (The defense attorney 

finally said that . . . ); whereas ultimately could 

only mean after a long time. In philosophy, 

ultimate, through devious turnings of its meaning 

of “beyond which it is impossible to proceed” 

can mean original, primary, first (ultimate 

causes). 

find, The past tense is found. The participle is also 

found. Find may be followed by an object and 

the -ing form of a verb, as in I found my atten-

fine 178 

tion wundering, or by a clause, as in I found my 

attention wandered. When used in an active 

form, find may be followed by an object and the 

simple form of a verb, as in Z found my attention 

wander; when find has a passive form, a 

to-infinitive must be used in place of the simple 

form of the verb, as in his attention was found 

to wander, 

fine. The use of fine to mean well, as in he is doing 

fine and it worked fine, was frowned upon a 

generation ago. Its status has improved since 

then but it is not yet literary English. See nice. 

finesse; fineness. Fineness is the quality or state of 

being fine (He has a fineness of perception that 

makes him particularly well qualified to judge 

such tenuous distinctions). The use of fine to 

mean excellent or admirable has given fineness, 

in its most common popular use, the meaning 

of moral superiority (There is a fineness about 

him that makes it impossible for him to do anything 

petty or mean). 

Finesse once meant fineness in various of its 

senses, but is now restricted, in popular usage at 

least, to delicacy of execution or discrimination 

(The finesse of the French language is a source 

of never-failing delight) with, in many contexts 

(in consequence, apparently, of our mistrust of 

the delicatelv skillful) a connotation of artifice 

or cunning -(She was not experienced in the 

finesse of love. Full of their Finesses, Serve 

their own Turns in others Businesses). Finesse 

has a special meaning in card games. 

finical; finicky; finicking; fin&in. Of the various 

terms for overfastidiousness-finical, finicky, 

finickina, and finikin-bnical is the earliest. Finicky 

is The commonest American form (Don’t 

be so finicky. Quit picking at your food. There’s 

nothing wrong with it!). Finicking and fintkin 

are used in England but rarely seen or heard in 

America. Fowler felt that finicking (because of 

a similarity in sound to niggling and fiddling) 

best expressed “a hearty British contempt” for 

fussiness. 

The word, whatever form is preferred, seems 

to have derived from the adiective fine which. 

in turn, is a back formation from the verb finire, 

to finish. See also fastidious. 

finish may be followed by the -ing form of a verb, 

as in he finished speaking, but not by an infinitive 

or a clause. See also end. 

finite verbs. Any verb form that is “limited” in 

the sense that it has a specific tense, person, 

number, mode, and so on, is called a finite verb. 

In this dictionary a finite verb is called a true 

verb. All verb forms are finite except the infinitive, 

and the -ing form and past participIe when 

these are used alone as nouns or adjectives. 

fire. The American slang term for peremptory dismissal, 

to fire (possibly originally a pun on discharge) 

is in England to sack, or to get the sack. 

Reworks. The singular form, a firework, exists 

but is seldom heard in the United States. In 

speaking of just one we are likely to use a more 

specific name, such as a roman candle, a pinwheel, 

a shooting cracker. But fireworks is a 

true plural. It is always followed by a plural 

verb, as in the fireworks were beautiful, and we 

may speak of many fireworks or several hundred 

fireworks. The form fireworks is used as the 

first element in a compound, as in a fireworks 

display. 

first originally meant foremost or earliest, and 

only later became the ordinal number for one, 

meaning the element that begins a series. The 

older senses are still in use, especially in the 

United States where we speak of the first lady 

of the land, the first families of Virginia, the 

first years of life. When they were first married 

refers to the early years of their marriage and 

does not suggest that they were married a 

number of times. 

Whenever first stands in the primary position 

for an adverb, that is, next to or inside the verb 

form, it has the old meaning of the early period, 

as in when you first cafne in. When first means 

the beginning of a series, it always stands in a 

position that is also open to adjectives, as in 

when you came in first. Here it can be argued 

whether first is more closely attached to came 

or to you. 

When first is combined with a cardinal 

number, it may stand in the position appropriate 

for foremost or earliest, as in the two first years; 

or it may stand in the position appropriate for 

the other ordinals, such as second and third, as 

in the first fwo years. Some grammarians claim 

that the order in the fwo first years is “illogical.” 

That would be hard to prove, since this is the 

order followed in French (les deux premiers) 

and in German (die zwei ersten), and the order 

seen in the first two years did not appear in 

English until the sixteenth century. 

Today, numbers greater than four usually 

follow first, as in the first hundred years. But the 

smaller numbers are frequently placed before 

first when the objects they refer to are thought 

of individually, as in the two first chapters were 

interesting. Many writers place the cardinal 

number after first only when one group is being 

compared with another, as in the first two 

chapters were more interesting than the second 

two. 

When the first thing is used as an adverb 

meaning simply first, the article the may be 

omitted, as in do it first thing in the morning. 

first and foremost has everything: it is alliterative, 

redundant, trite, and it usually doesn’t 

mean much of anything. It’s just a way of clearing 

the throat before you start to talk. 

first fine careless rapture. Though the wise thrush 

may, by singing each song twice over, convince 

us that he can recapture the first fine careless 

rupture, those who repeat Browning’s phrase fail 

to do so. Our most poetic phrase for glorious 

originality has become hackneyed, a demonstration 

of the very lack of that which it celebrates. 

firstly has been in the language at least since 1532. 

Today it is not used as often as the related words 

secondly, thirdly, and so on. Many speakers 

begin with first and then go on with secondly, 

thirdly. But firstly is respectable English. 

During the nineteenth century firstly was condemned 

as an innovation, although it had been 

in use for four hundred years. De Quincey

wrote: I de:est your ridiculous and most pedantic 

neologism of firstly. But many of the best 

writers of the period, Scott, Gladstone, Byron, 

Dickens, Thackeray, Kingsley, Carlyle, continued 

to use it and have handed it down to us 

as an established element in the language. 

first name; baptismal name; Christian name. With 

an increasing number of non-Christians in the 

population, baptismal name and Christia.rl name 

as a term for one’s personal name is being replaced 

by first name. To ask what is your Christian 

name? would seem a little strange now to 

many Americans. 

first saw the light of day. To refer to the place 

where one was born as the spot where one 

first saw the light of day is to employ an unusually 

moldy clichC. Those addicted to it should 

be compelled every birthday to read aloud the 

third chapter of lob. 

fish. The plural is fishes or fish. Until recently the 

word fish was used only as a singular. In the 

King James Bible, for example, the true plural 

is always fishes, as in five barley loaves and two 

small fishes. But the singular form fish was often 

used to mean all fish, or all of a certain lot, as 

in let them have dominion over the fish of the 

sea and the fish that is in the river shall die. 

This is a singular noun used generically, or collectively, 

and not a true plural. In addition, the 

singular form fish may be used as a mass noun 

when the creatures are thought of as food, as in 

bout loads of fish and nets full of fish. 

These two uses of the singular undoubtedly 

gave rise to the feeling that fish was a plural 

form. This has become standard and the form 

fish may now be used as a true plural. That is, 

we may now say twenty fishes or twenty fish. 

This applies equally to compounds such as three 

goldfishes or three goldfish. But the movement 

toward regular plurals is very strong in modern 

English and the life expectancy of a new irregular 

plural, such as fish, is not very goodl. 

fish to frv. It was Motteux who rendered Rabelais’s 

Nous aurons bien ici autre chose d faire 

as We have other fi.sh to fry. The French say 

have other dops to whio. The frying of fi.sh as a 

term for having something better todo was definitely 

established as a proverb in English in the 

seventeenth century. It is now a clicht. 

fissionable, meaning capable of undergoing nuclear 

fission, has been accepted in America, in the 

phrase fissionable material without any great 

concern or even awareness that it raised linguistic 

problems. But the English, if we may 

judge from letters to the London Times, have 

been much agitated about it. Some feel that 

while fissionable is fashionable only fissible is 

admissible. Others feel that “in the terminology 

of fissility or fissileness” only fissive is admissive. 

Still others (See Time, January 4, 1954) would 

have it fissile. (The chief advantage is that the 

critical amount is very much smaller for coal 

than for any fissile material-Professor 0. R. 

Frisch, of Cambridge, England). 

listula. The plural is fistulas or fistulae. 

lit. The past tense is fit or fitted. The participle is 

also fit or fitted. In the United States fit .is used 

179 

more often than fitted for the past tense, as in 

if fit lust year. Fit is not heard as often for the 

participle, as in it had fit the year before, but is 

acceptable here. Neither of these constructions 

is recognized in Great Britain, where fitted is 

always used. Fitted is preferred in the United 

States, for the past tense and for the participle, 

when the verb means make to fit, as in his 

studies had fitted him for the work, and is required 

when speaking of clothes, as in the tailor 

fitted the coat. In speaking of clothes fitted is 

also used in the sense of measured, as in he was 

fitted for a suit. Fit is also an adjective and 

when used in this way may be followed by an 

infinitive, as in he is fit to work. 

fit as a fiddle. A fiddle has been a symbol of fitness 

for more than three hundred years, but no 

one knows why. Perhaps just the gaiety and 

exuberance connected with its music. The term 

is now a clichC, retained from deserved oblivion 

only by inertia and alliteration. 

fit for a king. We know what was fit for a king. 

Kings wore ermine and jewelled crowns. They 

sat in their counting houses counting out their 

money. They had pipes and bowls and fiddlers 

three. For lunch they had blackbirds baked in a 

pie. Their horses and their men (though, of 

course, they couldn’t do everything) marched 

up the hill and marched down again. But the 

glory of kings has departed. Except for three or 

four housebroken survivors, a monarch’s life 

today is not a happy one. What is now fit for a 

king? Shabby rooms in a hotel on the Riviera, 

overdue bills, the hissing conspirator, the yawning 

waiter, the sneering reporter, the gossip 

columnist, and in the shadow the assassin. Fit 

for a king is now a ghoul’s clicht. Let it be 

mercifully abandoned. 

6x. In American usage fix is a slatternly verb of 

all work. It can mean repair, get ready, arrange 

matters with, cook, comb, concoct (Fix a tire. 

Fix yourself up. He’s fixed it with the cop. 

She’s fixing supper right now. Wait till I fix my 

hair. He’s really fixing a scheme this time.)indeed, 

almost any action, apparently, that is 

expected to terminate to the speaker’s or listener’s 

pleasure or advantage. We’ve been using 

the word this way for a long time; Captain 

Marryat noticed it as a feature of the American 

vocabulary when he visited the United States in 

1837. So used, it is a sloven’s word, avoiding 

even the faintest exertion towards precision of 

meaning; but it carries the sloven’s rewards of 

confusion of meaning and eternal exasperation 

at not being understood. 

As a noun the word is used colloquially to 

mean an unpleasant predicament, some situation 

from which it is difficult to escape (I’m in 

a fix. Jim; you’ve got to help me out). 

tlag (verb). See wane. 

flagrant. See blatant. 

flagrante delicto. See blatant. 

flair was originally a sense of smell, hence a 

capacity for getting on the trail of something, 

like a hunting dog (He has a flair for news 

He’s one of the best reporters alive). It is now 

generally used to mean talent, aptitude, a keen

flambeau 

perception (She has a flair for making costume 

jewelry) and even a fondness, though in this 

last sense, if the word is to mean anything, it 

ought to convey something more than a mere 

liking. To say that a woman has a flair for fine 

clothes suggests that she wears them unusually 

well, has an instinctive discernment of what 

sets her off to the best advantage and with 

unerring taste selects from a mass of things the 

exact thing for her. The word is a vogue word 

now, much overused, and sometimes, apparently, 

confused with flare, a sudden burst of 

flame. 

Rambeau. The plural is flambeaus or @ambeaux. 

flamboyant originally referred to the shape of 

flames, the wavy flamelike tracery of the stonework 

in the windows of many Gothic cathedrals 

(Etchingam church, with its curious flamboyant 

window. The flamboyant penmanship admired 

by our ancestors). It has come, however, 

to refer to the color of flames, flaming rather 

than flamelike (the f7amboyant colors of autumn) 

and from this florid or showy. In this last 

sense it is slightly derogatory (The governor’s 

flamboyant rhetoric was often tiresome). 

flammable; inflammable. Some trucks that carry 

combustible materials are marked flammable, 

others inflommabze and the knowing will sometimes 

inform you that the one means combustible 

and the other explosive, that infiammable 

is intended as a stronger warning. But the Petroleum 

Institute issues a special dictionary of the 

terms employed in the industry which says the 

two words are completely synonymous, thereby 

agreeing with all other dictionaries. It’s just a 

matter of lack of space or paint, a desire to use 

bigger letters, a stylistic preference, or a recommendation 

of the underwriters who found 

that many people thought that inflammable 

meant not flammable. 

flash in the pan. The pan was that part of a flintlock 

musket which held the priming, communicating 

with the charge by means of the 

touchhole. The pulling of the trigger struck the 

flint with a steel hammer and produced a spark 

which ignited the powder in the pan which then 

exploded the charge. That is, if all went well. 

But often it didn’t. Sometimes (like a cigaret 

lighter, which works on the same principle) 

there was no spark. And sometimes only the 

priming was ignited: it flared up or flashed in 

the pan, but because the main charge was wet 

or the touchhole stopped up the gun did not go 

off (Like false fire in the pan of an uncharged 

gun, it gives a crack but hurts not. The pistol 

flashed in the pan, and a spark flew into the 

cask). Thus, for our ancestors a flash in the pan 

was a natural figure for an abortive outburst of 

any kind. With us the phrase has come to be 

applied more to some momentary success that 

cannot be repeated, some meteorlike flash of 

brilliance which compels admiration but does 

not inspire confidence. 

But flintlock guns are now confined to museums, 

their working understood only by antiquaries, 

and the famous metaphor, once full of 

fire and meaning, is now quite cold. 

flat; flatly. The form flat may be used as an adjective, 

as in a flat roof, or as an adverb, as in 

she told him flat. The adverbial use of flat is 

standard English and has always been standard. 

Flatly is an adverb only and cannot qualify a 

noun. Like the adverb fZat, it may mean in a 

downright manner, as in she told him flatly that 

she wouldn’t go. Unlike the adverb fiat, it may 

also mean in a dull and spiritless manner, as in 

he repeats flatly what other people have said 

well. 

flat as a pancake is a pretty worn simile for flatness 

though where, as in something that has 

been squashed, there is a softness or puffiness in 

the flatness, it has a suitability. 

flat-footed in the sense of taking or showing an 

uncompromising stand, being firm, explicit (The 

others hemmed and hawed but Andy came out 

flat-footed with it and said he wouldn’t have 

anything to do with the movement) was once 

slang but usage has surely made it standard by 

now. 

flatus. The plural is flatuses or fiatus, not flati. 

flaunt; flout. Flaunt, to parade or display oneself 

conspicuously or boldly (The Miss Lambs might 

now be seen flaunting along the street in French 

bonnets) is often confused with flout, to treat 

with disdain or contempt (Ah, you may flout 

and turn up your faces. From Fife, great King,/’ 

Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky). 

The confusion is not as amazing as some writers 

profess to find it because the two acts are often 

related: one who flaunts unconventionality or 

immorality flouts the conventions or mores of 

the community (Shall she flaunt that brat at the 

baby show and pout every respectable married 

woman in town?). 

flautist; flutist. The “proper” word for one who 

plays a flute is not flautist, as the overknowing 

sometimes insist. Flautist is an acceptable word, 

but it is a fairly recent importation ( 1860). The 

more sensible flutist had been in use for centuries 

before the Italianate variant appeared and 

has remained in use ever since. 

flay. To flay (participle flayed; in older writings 

often spelled flea and Dead) means to strip the 

skin off (With her nails/ She’ll flay thy wolfish 

visage). Animals are flayed for their hides and 

formerly, as a barbarous punishment, men 

were flayed alive. By extension it came to mean 

to strip of money or property. By humorous 

exaggeration it came to mean to criticize or 

reprove with scathing severity (He flayed him 

with scorn, tearing away his pretences of honesty 

and pitilessly exposing him for the corrupt 

and cringing thing that he was). The shortness 

of the word and the extreme violence of its 

meaning have made it a favorite word with 

headline writers whose abuse of it has now devitalized 

it. Attorney flays witness may only 

mean that the witness was censured or that the 

attorney doubted the accuracy of his testimony. 

The word has been so vitiated and overworked 

in this sense that it is to be avoided in all serious 

or effective writing. 

flee. The past tense is fled. The participle is also 

fled. This verb, flee, means to run away or

escape, as in like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing. 

Poe uses fly with this meaning when he says 

ah, let us not linger! ah, fly! let us fly! for we 

must. In the United States fly is no longer used 

to mean flee. But this is still standard practice 

in Great Britain, where flee is felt to be iarchaic 

or bookish. In Great Britain @own, the participle 

of the verb fir, is also frequently used in place 

of fled, as in he found that the prisoner had 

flown. 

flesh and blood. As a term for human nature, 

flesh and blood (Flesh and blood can’t bear it) 

is a cliche. Also as a term for a relative (My 

own flesh and blood, to turn against me this 

way!). 

fleshly; fleshy. Fleshy now means having much 

flesh, plump, fat (There was something repulsive 

in his moist fleshy hands), or consisting of 

or resembling flesh (These plants have thick 

fleshy leaves). Fleshly is now restricted to pertaining 

to the flesh in the sense of the .bodily, 

corporeal, physical as opposed to the spiritual. 

It means carnal, sensual, worldly (Adultery, 

fornication, incest, or any other fleshly incontinency. 

Simplicity and godly sincerity, as opposed 

to fleshly wisdom). 

flew. See fly. 

flight. See trip. 

fling. The past tense is flung. The participle is also 

Pw. 

floor; story. Though floor and story (often spelled 

storey in England) are both used to desig:nate a 

horizontal section of a building, story is commonly 

used in reference to height and floor in 

reference to a particular part of a particular 

building (His o&e is on the lop floor of a 

thirty-szory building and has a wonderful view 

of the harbor). 

floorwalker. The American floorwalker is in England 

a shopwalker. 

flora is a singular group name, meaning all the 

plants of a certain place or time. It is usually 

followed by a singular verb, but a plural verb is 

also permissible. The plural, fioras or ,@orae, 

means more than one such group. 

flotsam and jetsam. As a metaphorical description 

of the remains of human shipwreck (Huddled 

in doorways one sees the flotsam and 

jetsam of humanity), flotsam and jetsam has 

been overworked and is a clichC. 

In law a distinction was formerly made between 

these now inseparable terms. A wreck 

was composed of flotsam, jetsam, lagan, and 

derelict. Flotsam was that part of the wreckage 

of the ship and its cargo floating on the surface 

of the sea. Jetsam was that part which hat1 been 

purposely thrown overboard, jettisoned, either 

to lighten the ship or to prevent its going down 

with the ship. Strictly it would have to have 

been dragged ashore and above the high-water 

line; otherwise it would be flotsam, which was 

whatever was found on the shore between highand 

low-water lines. Lagan was wreckage lying 

on the bottom of the sea, whether or not marked 

with a buoy. Derelict was the abandoned ship. 

The goods wherever found were findals. ‘These 

distinctions which are now only of antiquarian 

181 flurry 

interest were formerly important since they determined 

who got the spoil. Jetsam went to the 

lord of the manor, flotsam to the crown. The 

shipwrecked men were lucky to escape with 

their lives since if they were dead their clothes 

and personal belongings might be claimed as 

either flotsam or jetsam, depending on how far 

they had been able to crawl before they diedor 

were killed. 

flour; meal. Meal is the edible part of any grain 

(now usually excluding wheat) or pulse ground 

to a coarse powder and unbolted. In the United 

States the word particularly designates maize so 

ground, or cornmeal. Flour is bolted meal, meal 

that is from which the husks have been sifted 

out after grinding. It is likely to be more finely 

ground than meal. When used alone the word 

usually refers to wheat flour. Other flours, such 

as buckwheat flour or rye flour, are indicated 

by a qualifying prefix. 

flower. See bloom. 

flown is the participle of the verb fly. meaning to 

move through the air, as in he had flown from 

Chicago. But it is also used in Great Britain as 

the participle of flee, meaning to run away or 

escape, as in he saw that ihe prisoner had flown. 

In the United States, this use of flown is felt to 

be literary or archaic. 

The verb that describes the movement of a 

liquid, flow, is perfectly regular and has the past 

tense and the participle flowed. Today flown is 

never used in place of the participle flowed, 

although this was once acceptable. 

fluctuate; vacillate. Though pucfuate and vacillate 

are in many senses synonymous, they differ in 

that fluctuate, to change continually, to vary 

irregularly, can refer to persons or things (His 

income fluctuated between five and ten thousand 

a year. He was moody, temperamental, puctuating 

between hope and despair) while vacillate, 

to swing unsteadily, is now generally confined 

to persons or to the moods or conduct of persons. 

Furthermore, vacillate is slightly pejorative; 

it almost always suggests that the wavering 

was bad (He could not decide whether lo risk 

his inheritance by investing if in stocks or to 

play safe by putting it into government bonds. 

The fluctuation of the stock marker made him 

vacillate between the two plans). 

flung. See fling. 

flurry; fluster. A flurry is a sudden gust of wind, 

hence a commotion, sudden excitement, nervous 

hurry, and attendant confusion (The sudden 

flurries of snow-birds,/ Like brown leaves whirling 

by, His blunder flurried the other actors and 

put them off their lines). To fluster is to fiurry, 

but there is in it a greater sense of confusion, 

akin to the confusion of too much drink (He 

was flustered by her unexpected appearance in 

the doorway and simply stood there, silly and 

speechless). 

Flustrate is recognized as a verb, but it is hard 

to see what it gains over fluster and it is often 

confused with frustrate, on analogy to which it 

was probably formed. A Austrated person (the 

word is chiefly humorous) is frustrated by his 

confusion, but a frustrated person may be in

fly 

full possession of his faculties, calm, and quite 

clear in his purposes, simply unable to accomplish 

his ends. 

fly. The past tense is flew. The participle is flown. 

In the United States these words are used only 

in speaking of movement through the air, as in 

he flew from Chicago, or of something equally 

rapid, as in time flies. In Great Britain fly and 

flown are also used in the sense of escape or run 

away. (See flee.) In the United States there is a 

regular verb fly, flied, used in baseball (he flirt/ 

into right field). 

fiy off at a tangent, as a term for abruptly leaving 

one thing to pursue another, is a clich6. 

foam; froth. Foam and froth both mean an aggregation 

of bubbles and in many contexts may 

be used interchangeably. A man may foam at 

the mouth or froth at the mouth. But foam is 

usually employed when the connotations are 

pleasant, fro01 when they are unpleasant. Aphrodite 

arose from the foam. A billowing, lacy 

dress would probably be described as foamy. 

Where the lightness was thought ill of, froth 

would be more likely to be used (All that frothy 

talk, what does it mean?). 

fob; foist. A fraudulent imposition is fobbed off 

on the public, or the public is fobbed off with 

such an imposition. But a trick or cheat is foisted 

on the public. The public cannot be foisted 08 

with a trick. 

focus. The plural is focuses or foci. See nexus. 

foible. See fault. 

foist. See fob. 

-foId. See suffixes. 

folio is a sheet of paper folded once to make two 

leaves (four pages) of a book. The term is also 

applied to a volume made up of such sheets. 

Such volumes were likely to be large and in 

common use the word often means any large, 

old, leather-bound book. But this is a loose 

usage. Some quartos (books composed of sheets 

folded twice into four leaves) are larger than 

some folios. The essential distinction is not the 

size but the folding of the sheet. 

folk; folks. These words both mean people and 

both take a plural verb. At one time these words 

were used just as people and peoples were. The 

singular folk meant a nation and the plural folks 

meant several nations. The singular could also 

be used as a group name to mean the masses or 

the laity. These uses are now obsolete except in 

poetry. We may speak about the fairy folk but 

we do not speak about the Zroquois folks. 

In the United States today the singular folk 

is used as the first element in a number of compounds, 

such as folklore and folk dances. The 

plural folks is used affectionately in the young 

folks and the old folks. These uses are standard 

throughout the country. 

The plural form is also heard in my folks, 

poor folks, folks say, and similar expressions. 

These are standard English in some areas, principally 

in the South. In other areas they are acceptable 

but have a slightly old-fashioned or 

countrifled tone and the more usual word is 

people, as in my people, poor people, people 

182 

soy, and so on. The singular form folk when 

used in this sense carries a distinctly bookish 

tone. 

In some areas, principally the North East, 

folks is used in a special sense, meaning our 

kind, as in they are folks; and folksy, which 

once meant friendly, now means unpretentious. 

Folksy is also used derisively by some of the 

educated to mean self-consciously unpretentious. 

These expressions are standard in the areas 

where they are used. 

folk etymology is a term for a change in the form 

or pronunciation of words in order to make 

them similar to more familiar words on the 

basis of a fancied derivation. Thus Welsh rabbit, 

melted cheese on toast, is often called Welsh 

rarebit. The old light, one-horse family carriage 

was called a carryall, a folk etymologizing of 

its French name carriole. The tendency is active 

in all languages and some of our established 

words were so formed. Thus isinglass is a corruption 

of an obsolete Dutch word huysenblas, 

a sturgeon’s bladder. It is particularly noticeable 

in geographic names in regions where the 

original settlers spoke a different language from 

the one spoken by the present inhabitants. Thus 

the Purgafoire, a river in Colorado, has become, 

in local pronunciation, the Picketwire and Harriet 

Martineau records that when she visited 

Illinois in 1834, Joliet had been corrupted to 

Juliet and that nearby was a hamlet called 

Romeo. 

follow. See succeed. 

follow in the footsteps of, as a term for emulation, 

is a worn and wordy clich6. The phrase 

is elaborated inaptly in Longfellow’s 

Lives of great men all remind us 

We can make our lives sublime, 

And, departing, leave behind us, 

Footprints on the sands of time; 

Footprints, that perhaps another, 

Sailing o’er life’s solemn main, 

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, 

Seeing, shall take heart again. 

Aside from the singular impermanence of footprints 

in the sand, the metaphor here calIs to 

mind the most famous of all footprints in sand, 

that of Man Friday in Robinson Crusoe. And 

one remembers that Crusoe did not “take heart” 

at the sight of them but was terrified. 

follows. As follows is an impersonal construction, 

with an understood subject if. The singular form 

follows must always be used. We say they are as 

follows and not they are as follow. 

fool. The use of fool as an adjective (AII boys get 

these fool notions in their heads at one time or 

another), though ignored by some authorities 

and condemned by others, has enough support 

in literature (Ev’n rho’ thrice again/ The red 

fool-fury of the Seine/ Should pile her barricades 

with dead-Tennyson) to be acceptable. 

foolish; fatuous; silly; stupid. All four wordsfoolish; 

fatuous; silly; stupid-mean lacking in 

intelligence and judgment and may be used inter-

changeably in many contexts. But they have 

their distinctions, especially when used to describe 

a person instead of some particular act. 

Foolish implies lack of common sense and, 

sometimes, a genuine mental weakness (Tliat 

was a foolish answer; you must have h,b help 

and it will antagonize him. A mild, foolish man, 

very lovable). Fatuous refers to complacent 

folly, folly which the foolish person mistakes 

for wisdom. It suggests pompous emptiness, 

oracular insipidity (These fatuous commonplaces, 

when one needs specific advice, are infuriating). 

Silly in Anglo-Saxon meant happy, 

and the word still has about it a suggestion of 

that ebullience of gay folly that often marks and 

attends happiness. It also has about it the disapproval 

and annoyance at such conspicuous 

foolishness felt by those who do not share the 

happiness or approve of the folly (We were 

young and very silly. One of the silliest things 

I ever heard of, to act that way in the bi.Fhop’s 

presence0 Stupid implies a natural slowness and 

deficiency of intellect, a benumbed and dazed 

state of mind. It is usually an angry and abusive 

word. It carries with it a suggestion of the brutality 

that so often goes with obtusity (The 

stupid lout just stood there and didn’t offer to 

lift a finger to help. The stupid Huns with their 

Schrecklichkeit). A person may be silly without 

being stupid. 

foot. The plural is feet. (When this word is being 

used in the special sense of foot soldiers, it has 

the unchanged piural foot, as in there were five 

thousand foot.) 

In literary English, only the singular form 

foot can be used to qualify a following noun, 

as in foot warmer, a two-foot ruler, a six-foothigh 

wall. The plural form feet is sometimes 

heard in this position, as in a feet warmer, a 

two-feet ruler. This is heard too often to be 

condemned, but it is not yet literary English and 

the singular foot is preferred. 

Formerly, the singular foot could always be 

used after a numeral, whether it qualified a following 

noun or not, as in he is six foot underground 

and she is five foot two. This old use of 

the singular is still acceptable in the United 

States, but the plural form feet is now preferred 

when the measurement does not precede: the 

noun, as in a wall six feet high. 

Foot is also used as the second element in 

compound adjectives meaning having a certain 

kind of feet, as in barefoot hoy and many a 

lightfoot Zad. The form footed may also be used 

here and is required when what is being shown 

is “how many” feet, as in fourfooted beasts and 

the unfooted sea. 

foot the bill in the sense of “pay the reckoning” 

(Order what you want; he’ll foot the bilr’) is 

slang in American usage. It is used also, metaphorically, 

to mean to suffer the consequences. 

footless. In English usage footless can only mean, 

literally or metaphorically, having no feet, without 

footing or basis (Some footless stockings 

tied up at the ends, dreamful wastes where footless 

fancies dwell). These meanings are recog- 

183 for 

nized in America where it also can mean inapt 

or futile-possibly through confusion with 

bootless (The ordering out of the militia was 

about as footless a procedure as I ever heard 

tell of). 

footplatemen. The English term footplatemen 

(The locomotive union has about 70,000 footplatemen 

and the rival unions about 17,000 

footplatemen) comprises what in America are 

called locomotive engineers and firemen. The 

footplate is the platform on which the engineer 

and firemen of a locomotive engine stand. 

for may be used as a preposition requiring an 

object or as a conjunction introducing a full 

clause. The basic meaning of for is ahead. But 

the word has a great many uses, some of which 

overlap and some of which seem to be completely 

unrelated. 

1. Three of these uses only need to be listed, 

because they are clear cut and present no problems. 

For may be used to show distance, in time 

or in space, as in wait for a year and walk for 

a mile. It may show destination, as in we set out 

for or we left for Chicago. And it may mean 

in favor of, as in we are all for yore and we are 

for truth and justice. 

2. For may be used to show that one thing 

represents, is equivalent to, resembles, or corresponds 

to, another, as in he appeared for me, 

they took me for a fool, they left him for dead, 

and word for word, blow for blow. In these uses 

for sometimes approaches the meaning of as. 

For is used in a related sense to mean adapted 

to or suitable to, as in a genius for getting into 

trouble, an ear for music. In the weather is 

Severe for this time of year and he is still there, 

for all I know, for means in comparison with 

or as far as. These various uses of the word are 

hard to define but they all represent a correspondence 

of one kind or another. They are 

established in idiomatic English and as a rule 

do not give any trouble to a native speaker of 

the language. 

3. For is used with a great many verbs to 

show the object of a feeling or an attitude, as 

in hope for, strive for, yearn for. In verbs of 

forgiving or excusing, what is forgiven is the 

offense, not the person, and this is often introduced 

by for. This might be expressed by a 

clause, as in forgive me that Z am late, but in 

current English we are more likely to say forgive 

me for being late or forgive my being late. 

Similarly, in trust Providence for the rest, the 

meaning is trust for the rest to Providence. In 

sentences of this kind, the person involved is 

treated as an indirect object. See indirect object. 

A noun or adjective that represents a feeling 

may have its object introduced by for. But this 

is also one of the functions of the genitive case 

and the word of is sometimes used with exactly 

the same sense. A great many words, such as 

thirsty, eager, greedy, which could once be followed 

by of, are now always used with for. 

Others, such as love, desire, appreciation, contempt, 

may be used with either of or for, as in 

lo1.e of money, love for money. In the case of a

forbade 

few words, such as afraid and apprehensive, for 

has the special function of showing that the 

feeling is in the interest of a particular person. 

We therefore say I am afraid of fire and I am 

afraid for him. When this function does not 

exist and for and of may be used interchangeably, 

for is generally preferred. 

4. For is used to show the person whose interests 

are affected by a given action, or the 

intended recipient of an action, as in things 

worked out badly for all of ~(s and we set a trap 

for them. In current English there is a strong 

tendency to use for when an action is advantageous, 

and to use on when it is disadvantageous, 

as in he lowered the rent for me and he 

raised the rent on me, he closed the door for me 

and he closed the door on me, This broad use 

of on is not established in literary English but 

it represents a valuable distinction that may become 

standard in time. 

5. For may be used to show purpose, as in 

he has gone to the store for groceries, or cause, 

as in he was notorious for covetousness and for 

parsimony, or reason, as in they shouted for joy 

and he couldn’t see the woods for the trees. It 

may also be used to show a preventive cause 

or a cause that didn’t operate. In this sense it is 

often equivalent to in spite of, as in the owl, for 

all his feathers, was a-cold and he left, for all I 

could do to stop him. 

6. At one time for could be used before an 

infinitive, especially when it emphasized the idc,l 

of purpose, as in what went ye out for to see?. 

It was sometimes used in this position evei~ 

when there was no question of purpose, as in 

he made the seas for to rage and roar. In cnrrent 

English for cannot stand immediately before 

an infinitive, and we use in order or SO a.y 

to stress the idea of purpose. The old construction 

can still be heard, as in Z wish for to see 

him, but it is no longer standard. 

In current English for is used to introduce, or 

to mark, the subject of an infinitive, as in there 

was no need for you to leave and I am glad for 

you to have it. When the infinitive and all the 

words that go with it are attached to a noun or 

an adjective, as they are in these examples, this 

use of for is unquestionably literary English. 

But sometimes they are the object of a verb, as 

in the doctor said for him to take a walk. Twenty 

or thirty years ago sentences of this kind were 

not considered standard and a that-clause, such 

as the doctor said that he should take a walk, 

was the only acceptable construction. But the 

use of the infinitive has increased enormously 

during the last thirty or forty years. It seems 

to be replacing the that-clauses which require a 

subjunctive or subjunctive equivalent verb. In 

the United States for is now standard English 

when it introduces the subject of an infinitive 

that is being used in place of a that-clause. But 

it is not acceptable when the infinitive is not 

being used in this way. For example, we do not 

say Z want that you should come and therefore 

Z want for you to come is also unacceptable. 

7. Besides its many uses as a preposition, for 

may also be used as a conjunction. When used 

as a conjunction it introduces a full clause, as 

in forgive me, for Z am tired. Here for does not 

show the object of the feeling or attitude, as it 

does in forgive me for being tired. The conjunction 

for always shows that a following statement 

is being offered as a reason for something that 

has just been said. This brings the meaning of 

for very close to the meaning of because, and at 

one time the two words could be used interchangeably, 

as in nor for he swelled with ire 

was she afraid. This sentence is no longer standard 

English because it disregards two differences 

which we now make between the words because 

and for. 

In the first place, these words now have 

slightly different meanings. The conjunction for 

introduces a reason, or an explanation for an 

opinion. The reason given may also be a cause, 

or an explanation for a fact, as in it is getting 

dark for it is going to rain. But this is not necessarily 

so. We may also say it is going to rain 

for it is getting dark. Here the for-clause gives 

the reason for the opinion. The word because, 

on the other hand, always introduces a cause. 

Most people would feel that it was ridiculous to 

say it is going to rain because it is getting dark. 

Very often the reason we give for an opinion 

is also intended to be an explanation of the fact, 

and we may then use either for or because. In 

current speech because is preferred to for whenever 

both are permissible, perhaps because we 

feel that facts are more interesting than opinions. 

For whatever reason, for when it is not 

actually required has an artificial or bookish 

tone. 

In the second place, there is a purely formal 

difference in the way these words are used. It is 

sometimes said that for is a coordinating conjunction, 

that is, that it joins two independent 

statements, and that because is a subordinating 

conjunction and always introduces a subordinate 

or qualifying statement. Actually no such distinction 

is felt in current English. There is no 

difference in emphasis between we hurried for 

it was getting dark and we hurried because it 

was getting dark. In both cases, we hurried is 

felt to be the sole principal clause. A clause 

introduced by because, like a clause introduced 

by a subordinating conjunction such as if or 

unless, may stand before or after the principal 

statement. We may say because it was getting 

dark, we hurried. The conjunction for, on the 

other hand, like the coordinating conjunction 

but, must always stand between the clauses that 

it joins. In current English a for-clause never 

precedes the other statement. This limitation 

makes for one of the coordinating conjunctions. 

But only in a technical sense. So far as the 

effect of the word goes, for has as much subordinating 

force as the word because. 

forbade. See forbid. 

forbear. The past tense is forbore. The participle 

is forborne. Forbear may be followed by an

infinitive, as in 1 forbore to mention it. If the 

-ing form of a verb is used it must be introduced 

by from, as in I forbore from mentioning it. 

The infinitive is generally preferred. 

forbear; forebear. The verb meaning to restrain 

from, to hold back, to be patient, is forbear. 

The noun meaning ancestor may be either forebear 

or forbear, though forebear is preferred 

(I can’t forbear from laughing when he gets to 

boasting of his forebears). 

forbid. The past tense is forbade or forbid. The 

participle is forbidden or forbid. The form for. 

bade is always pronounced forbad, and may also 

be spelled that way. Forbid may be followed by 

an infinitive, as in he forbade her to speak, or 

by the -ing form of a verb, as in he forbade her 

speaking. The infinitive is generally preferred. 

forbidden fruit. It would seem natural to connect 

the phrase forbidden fruit with the story of 

Eve’s temptation, and this unquestionably has 

had to do with the phrase’s entrenchment lin the 

language. But the Romans and the Greeks both 

had sayings of much the same kind. This one 

was proverbial in Chaucer’s time and is a cliche 

in ours. 

forbore; forborne. See forbear. 

force. This verb may be followed by an infmitive, 

3s in they forced him to go. If the -ing form of 

a verb is used it must be introduced by the preposition 

into, as in they forced him into going. 

The infinitive construction is preferred. 

forceful; forcible. Forcible means effected by force 

or characterized by the use of force or violence 

(Finding all doors and windows locked, the 

police had no choice but to make a forcible 

entrance). Forceful means full of force. It is 

used chiefly in such phrases as a forceful’ personality 

or a forceful argument. It may be used 

as a synonym for forcible but such use is now 

archaic and literary. 

forceps is frequently treated as a plural in speaking 

of one instrument, as in these forceps are 

clean. Three instruments may be called three 

forceps or three pairs of forceps. These constructions 

are standard English today. But forceps 

is actually a Latin singular and a singular 

construction, such as a forceps or this forceps is 

clean, is acceptable but learned. The word has 

an English plural forcepses and a learned plural 

forcipes, neither of which is in common use 

today. A singular form forcep is sometimes 

heard but is not standard. The form forceps is 

always used as the first element of a compound, 

as in a forceps delivery. 

fore. The comparative form is former. The superlative 

form is foremost or first. The positive 

form fore is not often heard today (except on a 

golf course). The superlative foremost is generally 

used in its place. The comparative former 

has the meaning in some constructions of standing 

before something else, principally when used 

with the latter. But it is now more often usled to 

mean preceding in time. It can no longer be 

used in a comparison with than. We say earlier 

than and not former than. 

18.5 

The word first also retains something of the 

meaning of foremost, but is more often used 

simply as the ordinal form of the cardinal number 

one. See first. 

forecast. The past tense is forecast or forecasted. 

The participle is also forecast or forecasted. 

Forecast is the literary form for the past tense 

and the participle, but forecasted is also acceptable 

in the United States. 

forego; forgo. To forego is to go before, to precede. 

To forgo is to abstain from (I must forgo 

the pleasure of foregoing him into the hall). 

Forgo, to abstain from, may be spelled forego; 

but forego, to precede, may not be spelled forgo. 

foregone conclusion. Iago, inflaming Othello’s 

mind with jealousy, tells him that he had heard 

Cassio talking in his sleep and that he had 

seemed to be making love to Desdemona and 

warning her to be cautious. Othello cries out in 

anguish and Iago hastens to insist “this was but 

his dream.” It may have been only a dream, 

Othello replies, but such a dream denoted a 

foregone conclusion. Scholars have debated the 

exact meaning of the phrase in this its original 

context, but it seems fairly obvious: It may have 

been only a dream, but the very nature of the 

dream makes it plain that the act of love had 

definitely been concluded between them some 

time before. In modern usage the phrase means 

an inevitable conclusion, an opinion or a decision 

formed in advance. It is a cliche. 

foreign. The use of the word foreign to designate 

a corporation chartered by another state but 

doing business in the state concerned is a proper 

legal term and not, as is sometimes assumed, an 

expression of belligerent provincialism. 

foreign plurals. We have in English a great many 

words that have Latin or Greek plural forms. 

In most cases, these words also have a regular 

English plural that has been in existence, side 

by side with the learned form, sometimes for 

centuries. There is nothing about the form of 

these words that makes a classical plural more 

“natural” than an English one. Other words, of 

exactly the same types, are used only with English 

plurals. We can set cameras against formzzlae, 

circzcses against alztmni, mzueums against 

memoranda, complexes against indices, trellises 

against pelves, electrons and paragons against 

phenomena and criteria. 

It would not be worthwhile to list all the 

words of this kind that may be used in scientific 

writing since these include, potentially, more 

words than exist in Greek or Latin. But several 

hundred of the most familiar ones can be found 

in this dictionary. These include all the words 

in general use for which the foreign plural is the 

only acceptable form, such as parentheses. They 

also include the words which are most often 

seen with a wrong plural form. If a learned form 

is used at all, it must be the right one. 

Where two plural forms exist, one should 

choose the form that is most familiar. This 

means that a botanist and a physician might 

make different choices. Faced with choosing

forensic 186 

latexes or latices and fistulas or fistulae, the 

botanist might choose latices and fistulas, and 

the physician, latexes and fistulae. If the two 

plural forms are equally familiar, or equally 

unfamiliar, the English form is safer. 

A classical scholar might, perhaps, find it hard 

to talk about criterions. But the number of 

Americans who know anything about Greek or 

Latin five years after they have left college is 

very small. And anyone who uses unfamiliar 

forms merely because he thinks they add a 

scholarly tone is likely to prove what an ignoramus 

he is. Not all words that end in a have a 

plural in ae, and not all words that end in x 

have a plural in ices. Some words that end in 

us have a plural in i and some have a plural 

in us. And some words are learned jokes that 

have become respectable nouns in English but 

that cannot possibly be given a plural in Latin. 

An English plural is safe. It can always be defended. 

A learned plural is sometimes out of 

place. And if it is a wrong learned plural, it is 

very, very wrong. 

forensic means pertaining to, or connected with, 

or used in, courts of law. Forensic medicine, for 

example, is medicine in its relations to law. It 

also means pertaining to public discussion or 

debate, in such terms as forensic eloquence. But 

this usage is largely restricted to colleges and 

universities and has a touch not only of the 

academic but of the stilted. Sometimes in colleges 

the word is used as a noun for a debate or 

forensic contest. In the last century written 

speeches that could be used in debates were 

called forensics at Harvard. 

forest. See wood. 

foreword; preface: introduction. There was a 

vogue in the nineteenth century for replacing 

words of Latin origin with Saxon equivalents. 

Although preface had been in use for five centuries, 

foreword was coined to take its place and 

enjoyed great popularity among those who affected 

to be unaffected. All sense of its Teutonic 

strength and simplicity has departed and it is 

now simply a synonym for the older word. 

Fowler thought, in 1924, that it was already 

falling into disuse and allowed himself a paragraph 

of exultation. But his triumph was premature. 

The word is still in use, is accepted as 

standard by all dictionaries, and probably will 

stay. An introduction is likely to be more formal 

than a preface or a foreword, or to be more 

closely connected with what follows. 

forget. The past tense is forgot. The participle is 

forgotten or forgot. In the United States, both 

forms of the participle are used, as in 2 have 

forgotten and I have forgot. Forgotten is generally 

preferred. In Great Britain, forgotten is 

the only form of the participle used and forgot 

is considered archaic or poetic. This is the reverse 

of British practice in the case of the verb 

get, where got is the preferred form and gotten 

is considered archaic. 

Forget may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

I forgot to mail the letter. If the -ing form of a 

verb is used it must be introduced by the prep- 

osition about, as in Z forgot about mailing the 

letter. Forget may also be followed by a clause, 

as in I forgot he had mailed it. See also misremember. 

forgetful. See oblivious. 

forgive. The past tense is forgave. The participle 

is forgiven. Forgive may be followed by a thatclause, 

as in forgive me that I didn’t come, or by 

the -ing form of a verb, as in forgive my not 

coming. But a phrase with the preposition for, 

as in forgive me for not coming, is generally 

preferred. 

forgo. See forego. 

forgot; forgotten. See forget. 

forlorn hope. Forlorn when spoken of persons 

means abandoned, forsaken, left all alone, desolate 

(This is the maiden all forlorn/ Who 

milked the cow with the crumpled horn). Hope 

in the phrase a forlorn hope originally meant 

a band of soldiers (The forlorn hope of each 

attack consisted of a sergeant and twelve Europeans-Wellington). 

The whole thing was actually 

merely an English spelling of the Dutch 

verloren hoop, “lost heap” or “lost troop,” a 

term applied to soldiers assigned to extremely 

perilous tasks, meaning, as it were, given up for 

lost because of the very nature of what they had 

to do. The French called them enfants perdus 

arrd the English “forlorn boys.” 

With the emergence of the meaning of desperate 

or desolate for forlorn-the feeling that 

would follow upon being abandoned-the Dutch 

hoop was easily folk-etymologized into the English 

hope and the present meaning of the phrase, 

a vain expectation, an undertaking almost certain 

to fail, was established. As early as 1641 

the phrase was being used in its modern sense, 

though the old meaning persisted alongside of 

the new one for two centuries. It is now a clicht. 

form. See blank. 

former. See fore. 

formula. The plural is formulas or formulae. 

formulate. To formulate is to reduce to or express 

in a formula, and a formula is a set form of 

words used for stating or declaring something 

authoritatively or for indicating procedure to be 

followed. To use formulate for form, therefore 

(to formulate an opinion, to formulate a plan), 

is to misuse it, and even when used correctly, 

except in chemistry or mathematics, it is a fairly 

pompous word. 

fornication is voluntary sexual intercourse on the 

part of an unmarried person, though the term 

is used in the Bible as a synonym for adultery 

and sometimes as a synonym for idolatry. 

forsake. The past tense is forsook. The participle 

is forsaken. 

forsooth once had almost the solemnity of an oath 

(He confirmeth with a double oath, saying forsooth 

and forsooth-1547) but it is now used 

only ironically (And I, forsooth, am to stay 

home and wash the dishes while you go to the 

movies). Even this use, however, is now felt to 

be slightly affected. 

fort; fortress. In the military sense of an armed 

place surrounded by defensive works and occu-

pied by troops, forf and fortress are interchangeable. 

In common usage fortress is applied to 

larger forts or groups of forts or to the more 

heavily armed forts (the great Belgian fortress 

of Eben Emnel). There is an old joke that fortress 

is feminine and hence harder to silence. 

The fortified trading posts of the West were invariably 

called forts and the term survives today 

in many American place names. Of the two 

words only fortress is used metaphorically (A 

mighty fortress is our God). 

fortitude. See patience. 

fortnight, meaning the space of fourteen nights 

and days, is in everyday use in England but is 

archaic in the United States where two weeks is 

used instead (I gef a two weeks’ vacation! early 

in September). Fortnight is known in America, 

at least to the educated, but is rarely used. 

fortuitous. That is fortuitous which is accidental 

or happens by chance (This fortuitous encounter 

was the cause of his death). Some fortuitous 

events may be favorable but the word is not a 

synonym for fortunate and it is a mistake so to 

use it. 

forum. The plural is forums or fora. 

forward; forwards. Forward is the only form that 

can be used to qualify a following noun, :as in a 

forward thrust. It is also the only form used in 

the two expressions look forward and from that 

day forward. It is the preferred form in giving 

a command, as in those behind cried “Forward.“’ 

and those before cried “Back!” Either 

form may be used in’any other construcf.on, as 

in move forwards and move forward. ln the 

United States the form forward is generally preferred. 

forward; dispatch; transmit. The use of forward 

and dispatch as simple synonyms of send has 

little justification, though it is common in commercial 

letters (We regret that a slight debzy will 

be necessary, but assure you that the goods will 

be forwarded as soon as possible. We have received 

your order and will dispatch within the 

week, etc.). A letter or package is certainly forwarded 

when it is sent ahead to an address at 

which the addressee will be and it is forwarded 

when it is sent on after him to another address. 

Transmit for send is labored elegance unless it 

carries the definite idea of passing something 

through or over an intermediary. Jones transmits 

a message or letter from Smith to Robinson. 

Though hasten is now an archaic meaning of 

dispatch, the idea of haste is still in the word and 

it means to send off promptly or quickly, with 

some sense of urgency. 

for your information. If that which follows is 

truly informative, the introductory phrarse for 

your information weakens its effect. If it is not, 

it is simply exasperating. Its use is chiefly ironical. 

It serves as a polite expression of annoyance 

at someone else’s assertiveness. 

In interoffice communication, and Such like, 

it is often used to mean “You don’t have to do 

anything about this; we’re merely informing 

you . . . .” In this use it is an established and 

acceptable formula, often abbreviated to FYI. 

187 fractions 

fought. See fight. 

found. See find. 

fowl. The preferred plural is fowls. The singular 

form fowl is often used generically, or collectively, 

to mean all of them, as in the fowl of the 

air. It may also be used as a mass word meaning 

this kind of food, as in they ate fowl all winter. 

But only hunters use it as a true plural, as in 

several dead fowl. 

fraction. The use of fraction to mean a small piece, 

a remnant (He will recover only a fraction of 

the cost), is over three hundred years old. 

Shakespeare so uses it. Troilus in Troilus and 

Cressida says bitterly of Cressida that The fractions 

of her faith, orts of her love,/ The fragments, 

scraps, the bits, and greasy relics/ Of her 

o’ereaten faith, are given to Diomed. It is true 

that the mathematical senses of one or more 

aliquot parts of a unit, the ratio between any two 

numbers, or a ratio of algebraic quantities analogous 

to the arithmetical vulgar fraction, are 

older by several centuries. But three hundred 

and fifty years of use by the best writers is surely 

enough to establish a usage as standard. None 

the less, with the spread of education the mathematical 

meaning has become the dominant one 

and those who object to using fraction to mean 

a small part (insisting that since 9/lOths is a 

fraction, a fraction need not necessarily be a 

small fragment) have a somewhat better case 

than they had fifty years ago. But still not a 

strong enough one, not yet at least, to insist that 

this common use of the word is an error. Partridge’s 

designation of it as “infelicitous” is about 

as far as anyone can now go. 

fractions. With the exception of half and quarter, 

the second term in a fraction is an ordinal number. 

such as third, fourth, fifth. But the fractions 

are’not ordinals. They represent quantities. Unlike 

the cardinals, they are primarily nouns, but 

today, especially in scientific work, they are taking 

on the adjective uses characteristic of cardinals. 

Because a fraction is a noun and represents a 

part of some whole, it is traditionally joined to 

a following noun by of and a definitive adjective 

(such as a, the, this, my, all), as in one-third of 

the men, three-fifths of a mile. In current English 

this of may be dropped, but not the definitive 

adjective, as in one-third the men. This is 

more likely to occur with simple fractions, such 

as one-third, than with more complicated ones, 

but we also say it has nine-tenths the density of 

water. When a pronoun follows a fraction, as in 

three-fourths of them, the of cannot be dropped. 

A generation ago the expression two miles 

and a quarter was considered finer English than 

two and a quarter miles, hecause in the second 

form the noun quarter is being used as an adjective. 

Today, the second form is generally 

preferred. Both are acceptable. 

One hyphen is used in a fraction, but not two. 

We write one-twentieth but one twenty-fourth. 

When fractions are expressed in figures, of and 

the definitive adjective are dropped and the 

following noun is made plural, as in 94 miles.

fragile 188 

Decimals, which are a class of fractions, are 

aiways expressed in figures, as in 0.58 grams. 

A fraction may be treated as a singular or a 

plural, depending on whether it is thought of 

as a unit or as a certain number of individuals, 

as in three-fourths of the surface of the earth is 

sea and three-fourths of the people are illiterate. 

In speaking of human beings a plural verb is 

generally preferred, and we say one percent are, 

one in ten are. 

Traditionally, a fraction that ends in s, and 

that is being used to indicate a physical distance, 

drops the s when it stands before another noun, 

as in three-eighth inch plate. It retains the s 

when it is used to measure anything except distance, 

as in a two-thirds reduction, a three-fifths 

majority. In the United States today these fractions 

usually retain the s, even in distance 

measurements, and the form without s is seldom 

heard. The word three-quarters is an exception 

to the rule. In literary English and in current 

speech, it may appear with or without the s, as 

in a three-quarter majority, a three-quarters inch 

board. 

Fractions may be used as adverbs of measure, 

as in the day is two-thirds gone, he is half dead. 

With the exception of half, a fraction used in 

this way must begin with a numeral or the word 

a. We may say it is one-quarter gone or a 

quarter gone, but not it is quarter gone. 

fragile: frail: brittle. That which is fragile is easilv 

broken, shattered, or damaged. it must bk 

handled with care to avoid breakage (These 

spun glass fiowers are extremely fragile). Frail 

is simply a variant of fragile and in many contexts 

the two words are interchangeable; whatever 

is fragile is frail. But frail has acquired 

some special meanings of its own; everything 

that is frail is not necessarily fragile. Frail, in 

particular, applies to health and to immaterial 

things (Though still active in his ninetieth year, 

he was very frail. Alas, her vows proved frail). 

Brittle applies to anything that breaks readily 

with a comparatively smooth fracture (Old 

bones arc brittle). It usually implies a hard outside 

finish on delicate material. It has always 

had metaphorical uses (One woful day sweeps 

children, friends and wife/ And all the brittle 

blessings of my life) and at the present is 

almost, in this use, a vogue word (brittle wit, 

bright and brittle conversation). 

fragile; frangible. That is frangible which is capable 

of being broken. The word is usually restricted 

to material objects and literal breakableness. 

That is fragile which is easily broken, 

delicate, brittle, or frail. It might be said that 

human bones are frangible but that the bones 

of the aged are fragile. 

frank, candid and outspoken imply a freedom 

from conventional reticence in speech, a blunt 

boldness, an uninhibited sincerity and plainness 

in speaking the truth. Virtues, surely, yet virtues 

that lend themselves so easily and so often as 

disguises for malice that the world, which doesn’t 

like them very much anyway, reinforces its 

natural distaste with a justified suspicion. Frank 

is the least tainted of the three. A frank and 

open countenance is wholly laudatory. A frank 

statement of the case, however, is plainly 

colored by the speaker’s agreement with the 

statement and a frank criticism may be a euphemism 

for a spiteful calumny. Candid suggests 

fairness, openness of mind, sincerity and truthfulness; 

yet there is often a suggestion of unpleasantness 

about the exercise of these admirable 

qualities. They are outspoken who express 

themselves freely, without reserve or concealment, 

even when it is inappropriate to do so. 

Such men, like Alceste in Moliere’s The 

Misanthrope, displace all mirth and break many 

a good meeting with admir’d disorder, and while 

they are praised by the simple, especially those 

among the simple whose resentments their behavior 

has gratified, they are disliked by the 

more sophisticated. 

Frankenstein. Properly Frankenstein was not the 

monster in Mary Shelley’s book but the creator 

of the monster, a sensitive, high-minded young 

student who accidentally stumbled on “the 

secret of life” and bitterly rued the day he did. 

And even the monster himself, for all his resentful 

homicides, was not intended to be wholly 

repulsive. The novel was written as a Rousseauistic 

treatise on education; the monster was bad 

because he was unloved. None the less the term 

is now established (“almost, but surely not quite, 

sanctioned by custom,” cries Fowler in a plea 

which he must have felt to be futile) as a name 

for any monstrous creation, especially one that 

threatens to destroy its creator (The Republicans 

have created this Frankenstein. They must deal 

with him). In the novel, by the way, the monster 

does not kill Frankenstein. Frankenstein dies 

from exposure while pursuing the fleeing monster 

across the arctic wastes. 

frankly. How our hearts sink at a prefatory 

frankly, for we know some brutality is to follow, 

and a craven brutality, too, that having by this 

preface claimed a simple plainness will feel free 

to recoil in shocked horror, aghast at our brutality 

or pitying our inability to face the truth, 

should we reply in kind. 

frantic; furious; rabid. To be frantic is to be wild 

with excitement, whether it be of passion, delight, 

fear, or pain, to be in a state of frenzy, 

bordering on delirium (As the night passed and 

the child could not be found the woman grew 

frantic and could scarcely be restrained by her 

neighbors from rushing out into the storm). 

Furious suggests great violence, the releasing of 

tremendous (usually malignant) energies (At 

the bursting of the oil storage tank the flames 

surged furiously upwards and engulfed the remainder 

of the building). When applied to 

human beings, it suggests, like frantic, a state of 

violence close to madness, but furious suggests 

a more outward-directed, aggressive violence, 

anger carried to the extreme (On receipt of the 

news he was furious and ordered the hostages 

to be massacred). Rabid means raving mad, 

irrational in the extreme, furious, raving, but 

it is usually applied to the carrying to excess of 

some one concern (The rabid isolationists would 

have had us discontinue even commercial rela-

Cons with all other nations. he was rabid on 

the subject). 

free and easy. As an adjectival phrase meaning 

unconstrained, unaffected, or careless, free and 

easy, even though it may sometimes be used 

effectively, is hackneyed. 

free for nothing and often free, gratis, for nothing 

are once-humorous tautologies that have long 

ago lost their humor and should be avoided. 

free will; freewill. Free will is the term for voluntary 

decision or for the doctrine that the conduct 

of human beings is not utterly determined by 

physical or divine forces (He did it of his own 

free will. Nobody forced him to do it). Freewill 

is the adjective (n freewill ofiering). It 

also applies to the doctrine of freedom of the 

will (The freewill controversy has long been 

agitated). 

freeze. The past tense is froze. The participle is 

frozen. 

freight; cargo; shipment. Freight means the ordinary 

conveyance of goods by common carriers, as 

opposed to express. Or the goods so carried. In 

English usage freight is applied only to goods 

transported by water. But in American usage, 

though this meaning would certainly be understood, 

the term is restricted almost entirely to 

goods carried on land or in the air (The amount 

of freight carried by the railroads and trucks. . . 

Air freight is becoming increasingly popular). 

Cargo is the term for goods carried by ship and 

a shipment is a quantity of goods destined for 

a particular place, no matter how sent (The 

Nancy’s cargo consisted of potatoes and sugar 

beets. We are sending you a shipment by air 

express tomorrow morning). 

frequent; common. Frequent now means occurring 

at short intervals of time (He made frequent 

trips to New York that winter) or of space 

(Burr oaks were frequent in the park). It also 

means constant or regular (William Jennings 

Bryan was a frequent visitor in my grandfather’s 

house). In the sense of common (in such a 

sentence as It is a frequent practice to speak of 

socialism and communism as if they were the 

same thing), however, frequent is now quite 

rare. See also recurring. 

frequently. See often. 

fresh. In the sense of forward, impudent, conceitedly 

intrusive or familiar, fresh is purely 

American slang, probably the German frech 

(impudent, saucy) adapted to English pronunciation. 

At one time it was so common tbat it 

looked as though it were going to become 

standard but it is now a little outdated and 

though universally understood in the United 

States not so often heard. This may have been 

due to the fact that at its height it acquired so 

strong a connotation of unwanted sexual 

advances (Don’t get fresh with me or I’ll slap 

your face) that it became slightly indelicate. 

See also breezy. 

fresh as a daisy is a wilted metaphor. 

fret and fume. Fret is an intensive form of eat 

(cf: German fressen). It means to devour and, 

applied chiefly to the manner in which animals 

eat, came also to mean to gnaw. The thought of 

Freudian 

worry, impatience, and frustration as eating one 

internally is, apparently, a natural thought. We 

have not only such poetic thoughts as “eating 

one’s heart out” but the slang term “What’s 

eating you?” or “What’s eating on you?” In 

addition to the idea of chafing (Falstaff frets like 

gummed velvet), there is in the word fret a 

connotation of querulous complaining. 

To fume is to smoke, and the idea of heat 

also seems to be naturally associated with chafing, 

probably as a metaphorical carryover from 

the physical heat that accompanies physical 

chafing. And here again the idea is expressed in 

slang (Boy, was he burned up when he heard 

what she’d done! A slow burn) as well as in 

standard English, showing that it is still a vital 

idea. 

To fret and fume, to gnaw one’s own inwards 

with such fury that they smoke, was once, therefore, 

a powerful metaphor. But the alliteration 

that probably suggested the phrase in the first 

place has kept it, as alliteration often does, in 

use long after its vigor has been exhausted. 

Freudian. See Rabelaisian. 

Freudian English. The effect of Freud on the 

English language has been profound, farreaching 

and, it would seem, enduring. His 

impact was first felt shortly after World War I 

when the avant-garde began using his special 

nomenclature and such words and terms as id, 

libido, superego, subconscious, Oedipus complex 

and inferiority complex became familiar. As 

time went on and more people acquired a 

knowledge of Freud’s principles and methods, 

words like hallucination, fixation and compulsion, 

which had formerly been confined to rather 

restricted and often technical use, found their 

way into common speech. In a generation there 

has been such a complete acceptance of these 

and other psychiatric terms, especially in relation 

to education, that any suburban PTA meeting 

would sound to our fathers like a psychiatric 

clinic. 

What is more, many words of general meaning 

have become so endowed with psychiatric 

connotations that the newer overtones have supplanted 

the older ones in many professional and 

social circles. In such groups words like anxiety, 

hostility, dependency, aggressive and insecure 

are now more often used for their psychological 

import than for their original meanings. 

Along with use has gone misuse. As the 

terminology seeps down to the less educated, by 

way of Sunday supplements, digested articles, 

slick fiction and TV iokes. there is still some 

I I 

cachet to be derived from the use of psychiatric 

terms. There is always somebody, seemingly, on 

the next level lower down to be impressed. It 

is possibly this that has been responsible for the 

common misuse of phobia for obsession and 

moron for psychopath. In 1951 it was suggested 

at a meeting of the American Psychiatric Association 

that neurosis, psychosis and psychoneurosis 

be dropped as diagnostic terms because 

their original meaning [whatever that may have 

been] had been obscured through excessive and 

careless use.

friable 190 

Many a psychiatric term has becoma small 

change in social conversation: “She can’t decide 

between blue or green for the walls-she’s absolutely 

schizzy about it.” Or “I’m feeling goodthis 

is one of my manic days.” Or “All his hostilities 

come out >n games.” - 

Comedians and cartoonists have found 

psychiatry a fertile field. Mother-fixations, obsessions, 

compulsions and irrational fears have 

taken the place of the once popular but now 

strictly forbidden racial jokes. The psychiatrist 

and his couch are now as solid staples in The 

New Yorker as the bishop and his gaiters 

formerly were in Punch. 

friable means easily crumbled or reduced to 

powder (Sandstone is friable). If one had to 

refer to the suitability of some substance to be 

fried, the word would be fryable, though the 

absence of such a word from the dictionaries 

suggests that there is not much doubt in these 

matters. 

friend. See personal friend. 

friend in need. Although the proverb A friend in 

need is a friend indeed assumed that exact, 

jingling form as late as 1772, the idea-that he 

who befriends us in our hour of need thereby 

shows himself to be a true friend-is very old, 

some version of it existing in almost all languages. 

The saying is slightly ambiguous. To 

the cynical it could mean When a friend is in 

need,-then he makes much of his friendship. But, 

whatever the interpretation, the phrase has been 

thoroughly overworked. 

frighten; alarm; terrify; scare; intimidate. Frighten 

is the everyday working word. It can mean the 

arousing of many degrees and kinds of fear 

(Don’t frighten the children with these silly 

stories. The hydrogen bomb is a frightening 

thing). To alarm is to cause a milder degree of 

fear than to frighten. It is, strictly, merely an 

alerting at the possibility of danger, but except 

in the most hardened veterans even that has 

always its element of fear (I don’t want to alarm 

you, but it seems to me that, etc. . . .). Terrify 

is a strong word. It means to create or communicate 

an intense, overmastering fear (At the 

sight of the onrushing train he became terrified 

and flung himself juriously against the jammed 

door). To scare is to strike with sudden terror. 

It was once a serious and even solemn word 

(Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest 

me through visions) but overuse has 

weakened it and humorous use, especially in 

America (scared out of his wits, more scared 

than hurt, scare the pants off) has removed its 

dignity. To scare up, from frightening game out 

of cover, has become, in American usage, a 

term for discovering or bringing to light, usually 

used humorously (See if you can scare up a 

fourth for bridge. Zf you can scare up some cash 

we’ll join you). To intimidate can mean to 

frighten, but it’s rather formal in that sense; it 

usually means to deter by threats of violence 

(One party is bribed, the other intimidated. The 

parade, at that particular time, looked suspiciously 

like intimidation). 

frightened is used in speaking of a particular event, 

as in he was frightened by a dog. In speaking 

of a chronic condition, we say afraid, as in he is 

afraid of dogs. The combination frightened of 

is not standard English. 

frock (the origin of the word is unknown) was 

for centuries applied to a loose outer garment 

worn by men. Monks wore frocks. Disgraced 

priests were unfrocked. Peasants wore frocks 

and smocks and often both. Matthew Arnold 

refers to the smock-frocked boors. Then the 

term got applied to children’s clothes, coveralls 

of some kind, and finally settled down as a term 

for a little girl’s dress. Or at least one would 

have thought it had settled there but the dressmakers 

suddenly took it up about the turn of 

the century as a chic term, one of those affected 

simplicities cultivated by expensive shops, for 

a woman’s dress, usually an elegant and expensive 

dress. Once that was established, however, 

the term was exploited for the benefit of 

cheaper dresses. Fowler called it “a nurseryism 

of the same kind as nighty & shimmy” but it 

did no good. This sense is now standard and, 

indeed, the first meaning of the word. 

from. The basic meaning of from is moving away. 

It can also be used to show cause or motive, as 

in to crumble jrom its own weight, and suffering 

from senile dementia; the grounds for a judg 

ment, as in it is clear from the language; or the 

distant source of an action, as in abuse from 

such men and dangerous cuts from a sabre. 

From frequently combines with the words 

out, out of, ofl, which have similar meanings. 

These combinations should not be condemned 

as redundant because the words here strengthen 

and supplement each other. From out is used 

by almost all the great writers of English. From 

out of is found in the King James Bible and 

the writings of Bunyan, Thackeray, Wells, 

Galsworthy, James, Quiller-Couch, and others. 

From ofl is also standard English but it is now 

felt to be archaic or poetic. One might say lift 

this weight from off my heart, but under ordinary 

circumstances we would say will you take 

this off my hands. 

Verbs of withholding or hiding are regularly 

used with from, as in don’t conceal it from me. 

Many verbs whose Latin meaning contains 

the idea of from, such as depart, refrain, expel, 

dismiss, are given an additional from in current 

American speech, as in he was expelled from the 

university. When more people read Latin than 

do today, these verbs were often joined directly 

to the object, as in he was expelled the university. 

This is still heard in Great Britain, but 

in the United States it survives only in a few set 

phrases, such as to depart this life. 

from A to Z. As a term for thoroughly, from 

beginning to end, from A to Z has become a 

clich6. The rustic, backwoods form of the phrase, 

from A to izzard, is occasionally heard but it is 

either humorous or affected. Zzzard (or uzzard) 

was an old name for z or zed. Indeed Johnson 

in his dictionary (1755) referred to it as the 

“more common” form. Alpha and Omega, be-

cause of its Biblical origin and the solemnity of 

its use in the Scriptures (Revelation, 1 :8), has 

more dignity, but it is also used too frequently. 

from the cradle to the grave, as a term for all 

of life, has become a clicht. 

from time immemorial. As a term for that which 

has endured from beyond memory or record, 

something of great antiquity, from time immemorial 

is hackneyed. 

front was originally the forehead (The ver)~ head 

and front of my offending. How now, daughter? 

What makes that frontlet on? Methinks you are 

too much o’ late i’ th’ frown). To affront, by the 

way, is to strike on the forehead, to slap the 

face, and effrontery means being devoid of a 

forehead, i.e., having nothing to blush with. 

It was a natural extension for front to come 

to mean the entire face (Front to front bring 

this fiend of Scotland and myself) and then the 

foremost part or surface of anything. It is not 

desirable, however, to use it, as it is often used, 

to mean the beginning. The front of a book, for 

example, is the jacket or cover, not the first 

chapter. 

frontier. In English usage the word frontier means 

only that part of a country which borders on 

another country (We were stopped at the 

frontier and our luggage was searched). This is 

the primary meaning of the word in America, 

but we have another meaning which is almost 

as important, namely that part of a country 

which forms the border of its settled regions, 

outlying settlements (‘Tis wonderful how soon 

a piano gets into a log-hut on the frontier). This 

has been extended to include the incompletely 

developed regions of a field of knowledge 

(New frontiers of the mind. The frontiers of 

physics are now the intellectuals’ great hunting 

grounds). 

froth. See foam. 

froze; frozen. See freeze. 

frugal. See economical. 

frustrate. See flurry. 

frustum. The plural is frustums or frusta. 

frying-pan into the fire, out of the. One of the 

oldest and most widespread of proverbs, based 

on the agonized struggles of a fish being cooked 

alive, out of the frying-pan into the fire has been 

overworked to the point where it must be classed 

as a clicht and the thoughtful writer or speaker, 

when expressing himself formally, will lint1 some 

other way of saying that someone’s efforts to 

get out of a bad situation have only precipitated 

him into a worse one. 

fulcrum. The plural is fulcrums or fulcra. 

full; -ful. Almost any container can be used as a 

measure of quantity, and this measure can be 

expressed in either of two ways. The name of 

the container may be followed by the adjective 

full, as in a teaspoon full of water, or a new 

noun may be formed with the suffix -ful, as in 

a teaspoonful of water. In either case, the plural 

is formed by adding s to the noun, as two teaspoons 

full or two teaspoonfuls. 

There is no logical difference between these 

two forms. One may drink two glasses full of 

191 fungus 

milk without dirtying two glasses, just as one may 

have another cup of coffee without getting a 

second cup. The difference is one of tone or 

style. The newer form, with -ful, is generally 

preferred for familiar measures, such as teaspoonfuls, 

and the older form, with full, for less 

familiar ones, such as bins full. The newer form 

has a businesslike, matter-of-fact tone. But the 

older form is more vivid and it should always 

be used in an exaggeration or a metaphor, as in 

he bus buckets full of money. 

function. To function is to perform a function and 

a function is an act proper to a person, thing, 

or institution. A functionary is an official who 

has a specific duty to perform. When we say 

The honors committee could not function if 

denied access to the registrar’s records, we are 

using the word correctly, because the committee 

could not perform its specific duty without these 

records. It could act without them. It might file 

a protest. It might vote its own dissolution. But 

in neither of these acts would it be functioning 

as the honors committee. Some, to be on the 

safe side, insist the word should be restricted to 

machinery or to “an organ that works like a 

machine” because these things can do only one 

thing and that thing is their function. But this 

is sacrificing expression on the altar of precision 

and grammatical safety and, fortunately, there 

isn’t the faintest hope or fear that the common 

speaker will ever comply. 

When used, as a noun, of a social gathering, 

function refers to some formal meeting or public 

ceremony (The Governor’s ball is the most important 

function of our social season). It is misusing 

the word to apply it to any informal 

gathering. 

funds are pecuniary resources, money on hand 

(His funds were insuficient to meet his creditors’ 

demands). It is pompous to use the word merely 

as a synonym for cash or money. 

funeral; funereal. Funeral was originally an adjective. 

But it has been used as a substantive so 

long that it can now be used as an adjective 

only in the attributive position (funeral home, 

funeral procession). So much of funerals is 

ceremony and business and social that funereal 

has been set aside by usage to designate the 

dismal, melancholy, and mournful aspects of a 

funeral (Though the news was not unexpected, 

the company sank into funereal gloom at its 

announcement). 

If occasion should arise for an adjective 

meaning of or pertaining to a funeral, but not 

pertaining to the melancholy and mournful 

aspects and not to be used attributively, the 

word would be either funebrial (or funebrious) 

or funerary. 

fungous; fungoid; fungal. Fungous means of or 

pertaining to, caused by, or of the nature of or 

resembling a fungus. Fungal is a little-used 

synonym. Fungoid also means resembling, a 

fungus or of the nature of a fungus, but it is 

largely restricted, as a technical term, to botany 

and pathology. 

fungus. The plural is funguses or fungi.

funny 192 

funny; comical; droll; ludicrous; ridiculous; laughable; 

risible. All of these words mean laughterprovoking, 

but they indicate different degrees 

and different kinds of laughter. 

Funny is the commonest word, the most 

general, the most innocent and the mildest (He’s 

a very funny man. It was so funny we laughed 

till we were helpless). In the plural, as a noun, 

funnies, the word is undergoing an interesting 

change in the United States. Applied to the 

comic strips which, originally, were or tried to 

be funny, it got established. But very few comic 

strips now make any pretense of being funny. 

They are simply illustrated serial stories of adventure 

or mishap, many of them gruesome and 

horrible. But the word sticks and that is the way 

language grows (I don’t like Jimmy to read all 

those funnies. They scare the boy to death and 

he has nightmnres). 

Comical keeps a slight suggestion of its derivation 

from comedy in that it is applied almost 

entirely to something seen (He had such a 

comical expression, I had to laugh. He was a 

comical little kid, the way he used to walk 

around with that old hat on). The laughter is 

described as kindly, but it is a little stronger 

word than funny. 

Droll is amusingly queer. It implies something 

odd or unfamiliar .(a droll fellow, a droll idea), 

even slightly absurd, but attractive in its absurdity. 

That is ludicrous which excites sport, is laughable 

for its singularity, or adapted to cause 

sportive laughter or ridicule. It is a stronger 

word than funny or comical but not wholly 

unkind (It was ludicrous of Shelley to assume 

that the Zrish would welcome him as a deliverer). 

It is often applied to people who do absurd 

things with good motives. 

Ridiculous also means exciting to laughter, 

but the laughter excited by ridicule is contemptuous 

and derisive. The word is a diminutive; 

it means “little laughter,” snickering, furtive 

laughter. We may tell ludicrous stories about 

our friends or relatives but ought not, in loyalty, 

to tell stories that make them seem ridiculous. 

Laughable plainly means that which elicits 

laughter and may be applied to any kind of 

laughter. Usage has tinged it slightly with the 

idea of derision. If it were used to mean innocent, 

happy laughter, that fact would have to be 

made clear in the context. 

Risible is a learned word for laughable but 

since the learned are particularly inclined to 

derision, it has a somewhat stronger suggestion 

of contempt, unless the context makes a kindly 

meaning plain (The mutual civilities of authors 

is one of the most risible scenes in the farce of 

life). 

funny; strange. The use of funny for strange or 

odd or peculiar (She was very funny about the 

whole business, seemed to want it done but 

seemed to not want it done at the same time. 

You know, it gave me a funny feeling, like being 

hit in the stomnch) is widespread and not with- 

out a charm in the innocent way in which it 

reveals the simpleton in us that finds the strange 

laughable. 

furious. See frantic. 

further; furthest. See far. 

future tense. In American English we can always 

speak of a future event by using the word will 

followed by the simple form of a verb, as in he 

will speak tomorrow. (In England shall is used 

instead of will in some persons and some types 

of sentences. See shall; will.) This combination 

of verb forms is what we ordinarily mean when 

we speak of “the future tense.” It cannot be 

used with the auxiliary do to make an emphatic 

statement. We cannot say he does will speak. 

But with this one exception, all the variations 

found in the present and the past tenses can also 

be expressed in the future. 

To express action completed in the future we 

use will followed by have and the past participle 

of the verb, as in by then he will have spoken. 

This is called the future perfect tense. Both the 

simple future and the future perfect may be expressed 

as progressive or continuing action, as 

in he will be speaking tomorrow and by then he 

will have been speaking for an hour. And all 

four forms may be expressed in the passive 

voice, as in it will be discussed tomorrow, by 

then it will have been discussed, it will be being 

discussed tomorrow, and by then it will have 

been being discussed for an hour. The last form, 

with five elements in the verbal phrase, is an 

extremely complex construction. It frightens 

some writers, but it is acceptable English and 

is often used in speech without attracting attention. 

See passive voice. 

The word will itself is actually a present tense 

form and has the past tense would. When any’ 

of these future tense phrases have to be shifted 

to a past tense, the will is changed to would, as 

in he promised me he would speak tomorrow 

and I knew that it would be being discussed 

tomorrow. See tense shifts and will; would. 

Speaking historically, English, like the other 

Germanic languages, has only two tense forms, 

a present and a past. We have several ways of 

speaking of a future event but they all express 

the future by means of a present tense verb. 

In Old English a simple present tense was 

often used in speaking of the future. This type 

of sentence is still popular, especially with verbs 

of motion, as in the boat sails next Wednesday, 

the train leaves in an hour, he arrives tomorrow. 

Here the fact that we are speaking about a 

future event is not shown by the verb itself but 

by the time words that are used with it, such as 

next Wednesday and tomorrow. In current 

English the progressive form of the present tense 

is used freely in speaking of the future, with 

verbs of motion or any other kind of verb, as in 

we are seeing them next Wednesday and we are 

eating dinner with my parents tomorrow. Today 

a simple present tense form is required in conditional 

clauses and in temporal clauses that 

actually refer to the future, as in if he comes,

I will tell him and I will see him when he 

comes. 

In Old English the verb will was also used as 

an auxiliary to indicate the future, very much 

as it is in America today. This verb means 

primarily to desire or to be willing, but it loses 

this meaning when it is accepted as a conventional 

sign of the future tense. Later, the verb 

shall, with its past tense should, was used as the 

future auxiliary in literary English. This verb 

means primarily to be obliged or ought, but it 

too lost this meaning when it became a mere 

sign of the future, as in goodness and mercy 

shall follow me all the days of my life. Some of 

these Middle English shall’s and should’s are 

still in use in Great Britain. 

In many languages (including Eskimo’) the 

future tense can be used as a courteous substitute 

for an imperative, as it is in you will report 

to the commanding officer at once. In the King 

James Bible shall is the future auxiliarv and has 

exactly the force of our present-day American 

will. The shall used in the Biblical command,. 

ments had the same tone for the translators of 

the Bible that the will used in military orders 

has for us today. But it is likely that this use of 

shall was confined to literary English and that 

for most people in the seventeenth century will 

was the sign of the future and shall kept its 

primary sense of obligation. For those who read 

very little except the Bible the word became a 

solemn and awful imperative, an imperative 

such as only God could use, in spite of the fact 

gall. In its standard figurztive use gall means bitterness 

of spirit or rancor (Such experiences 

change the milk of human kindness into gall). 

In its slang American use it means impudence 

or effrontery (Imagine him having the gull to 

tell me that he didn’t know anything about it!). 

gallon. The standard gallon in the United States 

is the old Winchester or wine-gallon. It contains 

231 cubic inches. The British Imperial gallon 

contains 27??/4 cubic inches. This is the gallon 

used in Canada. 

gallows. This word is both a singular and a plural. 

We may say there was a gallows and there were 

many gallows. The double plural gallowses is 

not standard. 

galore is a Gaelic word. In America it is standard 

use as a humorous word (Bargains galore!) but 

in Eneland. where the Irish influence is not 

so marked,’ its use is rarer, something of an 

affectation. 

gamble is slightly pejorative. Though the word 

means to play a game for stakes, it has the 

- 

193 gamesmanship 

G 

that the prophets frequently speak of what the 

Lord shall and shall not do. The words shall 

and should have kept a great deal of this meaning 

in American English. See shall; should. 

Forms of the verb to be followed by a foinfinitive, 

as in we are to see them tomorrow, 

have been used to indicate futurity since about 

the year 1200. Forms of to be followed by going 

and a to-infinitive, as in we are going to see 

them tomorrow, first appeared around 1450 

and did not become popular until two hundred 

years later. Today, the older form, without 

going, usually suggests necessity or obligation 

and is similar in meaning to shall. (See also 

have.) The newer form, with going, is equivalent 

to will. These verbal phrases can be used in the 

passive voice, as in the estate is to be divided 

and the estate is going to be divided. They are 

not used in progressive action or completed 

action tenses, although these are theoretically 

possible. They cannot be used with the auxiliary 

verb do. But they can be used to express what 

was future at some time in the past, or futurity 

in the past, as in he was to leave and he was 

going to leave. This is a valuable distinction that 

cannot be expressed with the auxiliaries will or 

shall. He would have left refers to the past, but 

it can only be used in a contrary to fact statement. 

In the United States today, is going to 

with its various forms is used more often than 

will in making a statement about the future. 

And is to with its forms is generally preferred 

t.o shall. 

connotation of playing for high stakes, of taking 

dangerous risks (a notorious gambler. Any man 

who cuts out of line on a hill is gambling with 

his life and the lives of those who are approaching). 

People who play bridge for a cent a point 

or put two dollars on a horse at the racetrack 

would be annoyed to be told that they were 

gambling. The milder term is to play for stakes. 

game. In America all wild animals, including birds 

and fishes, that are hunted or taken for sport or 

profit are called game (The streams and forests 

of the frontier were rich in game). In England 

the term is more restricted, being confined to 

hare, pheasant, partridge, grouse, and moor 

fowl. 

gamesmanship is the art of winning games without 

actually cheating, and is the most comprehensive 

of the skills analyzed by Stephen Potter. 

Its major subsidiaries are lifemanship (an 

adaptation of the principles of gamesmanship 

to the smaller world of life) and one-upmanship, 

the art of being one up on the other fellow by

making him feel that something has gone slightly 

wrong. They all have the same methods in 

common; and although certain physical gambits, 

ploys and accessories may be used, the basic 

strategy is intimidation by conversation. 

Gamesmanship encompasses such specialized 

fields as guestmanship, luncheonship, bridgemanship, 

losemanship, clothesmanship, clubmanship, 

etc. Each of these sub-classes has its 

own peculiar ploys, hampers and blocks, all designed 

to “break the flow” of the opponent’s 

success. 

The use of O.K. words-those currently 

stylish with Highbrowmen-is of the utmost 

importance for one-upness. Mystique and 

classique, for example, were O.K. in 1951. Mr. 

Potter promised a monthly list of O.K. words, 

but this may have been merely a ploy, for no 

list has appeared. The New Criticism should be 

able to provide a host of such terms. 

There are also O.K. names and subjects, especially 

useful in writership, but here too it is 

imperative that they be up-to-date. It is some 

time now since T. S. Eliot had full O.K. status; 

Rilke and Kafka were very O.K. 1945-50, but 

their vogue is fading. But there is always someone 

new that the opponent has not yet had time 

to read. 

Related to writership is Reviewer’s Basic, requiring 

a special vocabulary but one which is 

perfectly clear to the cognoscenti. In accord 

with a fundamental tenet of gamesmanship, 

attacks are always friendly and begin with faint 

uraise. “I’m afraid . . .” is a good start. Certain 

A 

words are especially valuable. Thus catholic 

means too wide in treatment to be anything but 

superficial. Well-produced means badly written. 

Painstaking means dull. Any oblique praise can 

be effective. Chaucer’s description of the monk 

as “A manly man, to been an abbot able” was a 

masterly piece of early gamesmanship, as was 

also his praise of the Prioress’s French. 

Manya reviewer has been able to get one up 

on a famous writer by condemning him for not 

having enough of the quality he is distinguished 

for. Potter gives an example: “The one thing 

that was lacking, of course, from D. H. 

Lawrence’s novels, was the consciousness of 

sexual relationship, the male and female element 

in life.” Such an utterance, made in a firm voice 

and accompanied by a fixed stare. is warranted 

to shake the stoutest conviction. 

Lowbrowmanship is a favorite device of the 

highbrow. If the opponent has boned up on 

Masaccio’s additions to Masolino’s frescoes, 

express a great interest in Li’l Abner. Though it 

would perhaps be well, in passing, to refer to 

Masolino by his real name of Tommaso di 

Cristoforo Fini iust to show that you passed that 

stage long ago. -Sometimes three- or four words 

wili suffice to get you one up. Potter suggests a 

splendid ploy: “What. _ YOU stayed for the 

Debussy?” - 

Well-readship is an area where there can be 

a good deal of cut-and-thrust. The new- 

194 

bookman must be on his toes to counter against 

the gamesman who has snatched a new book 

hot from the presses so that he can discuss it on 

publication day. He has the option of saying 

either “Let me lend you the American (or 

English) edition. It’s beautifully printed and 

hasn’t got that stupid cut on page 163” or “Good 

old Pontefract-still churning them out.” The 

former of the two is the better; it suggests not 

merely that the gamesman has already read 

the book but that he has collated several editions 

and is possessed of some particularly fine bit of 

knowledge that the opponent, in his plodding 

way, missed. 

General conversation offers the gamesman his 

finest opportunities however. There are many 

ploys, but two are worth special mention: 

“languaging up” and “the simple Canterbury 

block.” “Languaging up” consists of confusing, 

irritating or depressing the opponent by the use 

of foreign words, fictitious or genuine. And here, 

again, Chaucer shows the antiquity of the ploy 

and his own understanding of it when he has 

the Pardoner say that in his preaching he always 

brings in a little Latin “to saffron his predication.” 

The Canterbury biock is a device for deflating 

the expert and can best be explained by 

giving two of Potter’s examples. It consists of 

going the expert one better by adding some little 

knowing touch to one of his most learned 

utterances. 

Expert (who has just come back from a fortnight 

in Florence): And I was glad to see 

with my own eyes that this Left-wing 

Catholicism is defirlitely on the increase in 

Tuscany. 

The Canterbury: Yes, but not in the Solrth. 

Expert: f’here can be no relationship based on 

a mutual dependency of neutral markets. 

Otto Hiisch would not have allowed that. 

He was in Vienna at the time . . . 

Lifeman (as if explaining to the rest of the 

audience): It was Hiisch who prevented the 

Archbishop jronz taking ofice in Sofia. 

Time is deft with this ploy. Mentioning, say, 

a George X. Marshall in their text, who has just 

been sentenced for embezzlement or mopery, 

they will direct the reader, by means of an 

asterisk and footnote. not to confuse this individual 

with General George C. Marshall, former 

Secretary of State, or George Q. Marshall who 

operates a laundromat in Xochimilco. 

gamp. See gimp. 

gangster. See thief; robber; burglar. 

gantlet. See gauntlet. 

gap; gape. A gap was originally a breach in a 

wall or hedge. To stop two gapps with one bush 

was once a proverb, akin to to kill two birds 

with one stone. It also meant an opening in a 

range of mountains, a use rare in England but 

common in the United States (The Delaware 

Water Gap, The Cumherland Gap. We reached

the gap, which was like a deep notch cut in the 

mountain-ridge). From all of this it is applied 

to any opening in an otherwise closed row or 

series (There was quite a gap where his tooth 

had been knocked out). The verb to gap, to 

make a gap in or to be subject to gaps, is rare. 

To gape is to open the mouth involuntarily, 

whether from hunger, sleepiness, or absorbed 

attention (The mouths of rhe hungry fledglings 

gaped frantically, ludicrously. He gaped and 

scrutched his head. “Time to turn in,” he said. 

Fickle changelings and poor discontents,/ 

Which gape and rub the elbow at the news/ Of 

hurlyburly innovation). A gape is a breach or 

rent or the act of gaping. The gapes is a disease 

of poultry characterized by gaping. 

garb. The use of garb for clothing or garbed for 

clothed is slightly affected. Those who use it are 

seeking to be elegant or archaic or else, afflicted 

with a terrible fear that they might have to use 

clothing or clothed twice in one sentence or one 

paragraph, are desperate. 

garment for an article of dress is now rhetorical, 

forcedly elegant. It originally meant an overall 

outer vestment of some kind (This city now 

doth, like a garment, wear/ The beauty of the 

morning). Its very elegance and rhetorical 

nature has made it, in the term undergarments, 

a euphemism in the United States for underwear 

or underclothing. Even so, it is a little aflected. 

garnish; garnishee. To garnish is to lit out with 

something which adorns or decorates. Its commonest 

application is to the decoration of a dish 

or platter just before it is set on the table 

(Garnish with parsley and serve). It has a 

number of metaphorical uses (Vice garnishes 

her deeds with many a virtuous seeming). 

To garnishee is to attach money or property, 

usually wages, in claim of some debt. The word 

also applies to the person whose property is so 

attached. Garnish is also used in this sense, but 

rarely. 

garret; attic; loft. A garret was originally a turret 

on top of or projecting from a fortification. 

Picturesque as these protuberances are, they 

were apparently squalidly miserable dwelling 

quarters, for garret, of all the words for the topmost 

story of a house, has a sordid connotation. 

Perhaps poets made too much of their poverty 

and of the fact, at the same time, that they lived 

in garrets. Attic to many people has a romantic, 

nostalgic connotation. They remember the interesting 

objects stored there, the musty smell, 

the joys of clandestine rummaging. A loft is 

usually a space open to the rafters of the roof 

used for storing things, as a hayloft over a barn, 

or a sail loft. 

gas; gasoline. As an abbreviation of gasoline, gas 

is condemned by many authorities. But fifty 

million motorists are cheerfully unaware of this 

and would be completely indifferent if they were 

informed. The purists might as well attempt to 

chain the wind. The English, by the way, with 

their petrol don’t have the problem, though 

sentries on their linguistic ramparts have re- 

gender 

ported uneasily that step on the gas has been 

heard there. Gasolene is an accepted variant 

spelling, but gasoline is preferred. 

gauntlet; gantlet. There are two wholly different 

words spelled gauntlet. One, a diminutive of the 

French gunt, glove, is the medieval knight’s 

mailed glove which he threw down in challenge 

(And casting out, us it were, his gauntlet of 

defionce). The word is also applied now to 

wristlets and to gloves with a cufflike extension 

to cover the wrist. 

The other word gauntlet or guntIet was earlier 

gantlope (so spelled as late as 1836), deriving 

from a Swedish word mtlouu in which put was 

a lane or narrow wa; and- iopp, a run- It described 

a military punishment in which the offender 

had to run between two rows of men who 

struck at him with switches and even weapons 

as he ran-to run the guntlet. 

Though either word may be spelled either 

way, gauntlet is preferred for the glove and 

guntlet for the punishment. 

gave. See give. 

gay Lolhario. Occasionally a minor character in 

literature will become detached from the context 

in which he or she first appeared and attain 

an unexpected immortality by being fixed in the 

language. Yankee Doodle is, in a way, one of 

these. Mrs. Grundy, a strait-laced and censorious 

neighbor of whose opinions farmer Ashfield’s 

wife (in Thomas Morton’s olav Sneed the 

Plough, 1748) stood in great awe, ias’become 

the type of nosy, middle-class respectability. 

Lothario, whose name when coupled with “gay” 

has become a clichC for a light-hearted libertine, 

was a character in Nicholas Rowe’s The Fair 

Penitent (1703). Dame Grundy, by the way, 

does not even appear on the stage. Fame is 

capricious even among shadows. 

gay nineties. The American term for the last decade 

of the nineteenth century is the gay nineties. 

In England it is called the naughty nineties. 

Both phrases are tedious clichCs. 

geese. See goose. 

gender; sex. Gender is a grammatical device, used 

in inflected languages, for associating an adjective 

or a pronoun with the appropriate noun. 

English shows these relationships by the position 

of the words in the sentence. It does not have 

gender, although English grammarians sometimes 

use the term in connection with words 

showing sex distinctions (such as the pronouns 

he, she, etc.). 

Gender may have been based on physical distinctions 

originally, but it is hard to say what 

they were. In some languages round, square, and 

oblong seem to be basic characteristics. Some 

languages have more genders than others. 

French, for example, has two and the Bantu 

languages have twenty. In any case, gender is 

not a grammatical reflection of sex. In Old English, 

which had three genders, wife was neuter, 

woman masculine, moon masculine, and sun 

feminine. 

Sex distinctions, where they exist, are stronger

genera 196 

in English than in languages that have gender. 

In English he and his refer to actual males, she 

and her to actual females, and it and irs to things 

without personality. In languages that have gender, 

the pronouns do not have such a clear reference 

to sex and the masculine form can be 

used in speaking indiscriminately of both males 

and females. According to the theoretical rules 

of grammar, this is also true in English and the 

sentence either the boy or the girl left his book 

is technically correct. But in actual practice this 

construction cannot be used. The pronoun his 

simply will not refer to girl, no matter what the 

rules in the grammar books say. 

According to some textbooks this problem 

can be solved by writing either the boy or the 

girl left his or her book. This is intolerable. In 

spoken English, the usual solution is to use the 

plural pronouns they and their, which do not 

make a sex distinction, and say either the boy 

or the girl left their book. The wrong number 

does not seem to disturb us as much as the 

wrong sex. This solution is unacceptable to 

some grammarians, who insist that a plural pronoun 

must not be used in referring to a singular 

noun. But the construction is now appearing in 

some of our best literature. Hemingway, for 

example, writes why does everybody think they 

can write? 

Sometimes things or ideas are personified and 

referred to as he or she. When this is done, the 

sex frequently corresponds to the Latin gender 

of the word. For example, the moon is made 

feminine and the sun, masculine. This is a purely 

literary device, a sort of metaphor, and not part 

of the grammar of the language. 

A faint trace of true gender, that is, a distinction 

which does not reflect sex or imply 

personification, is sometimes seen in English. In 

this more or less unconscious classification, it 

seems to refer to what does not interest us 

greatly. Things that we are interested in take a 

he or a she. If the things are inanimate they are 

referred to (especially by men) as she, as, in 

speaking of a train, here she comes, or of a car, 

fill her up, or of any machine, isn’t she a beauty. 

When the sex is unknown, interesting animals, 

such as a runaway horse or a bear one has seen, 

are usually referred to as he. This is a recent 

development. In Biblical English she and not he 

is used in this way. And in current English there 

are exceptions, of course. Cats are usually she. 

One grammarian explains this by saying: “In 

speaking of a cat, the use of he would invoke 

a somewhat offensive allusion to sex.” 

Some English nouns refer to one sex and not 

to the other, as do king and queen, boy and girl. 

Some nouns which refer to both sexes can be 

limited to the female only, by means of a suffix, 

as in the case of lion and lioness, aviator and 

aviatrix. At one time these female nouns were 

very popular, and people talked about poetesses 

and doctoresses. Today they are out of fashion. 

In current English the general term is preferred 

to the sex-limited one and women are called 

poets and doctors. Compounds ending in man 

can be applied to women, as in Madame Chairmalt 

and she was a good horseman or a good 

penman. It is even possible to say the boats were 

manned by women. 

genera. See genus. 

generic nouns. ,4ny noun, except possibly a proper 

name, can be used in a generic sense to make a 

statement about a type of thing rather than 

about some individuals of that type, as in the 

leopard shall lie down with the kid. What is true 

of the type is true of all the individuals, and 

this is therefore a statement about all leopards 

and all kids. Man is mortal and men are mortal 

mean the same thing. Both are generic statements 

because both say something about all 

men. (The claim that men perish but man shall 

endure is a play on words, and is probably false. 

The word men is here first used generically to 

mean all men and is then put grammatically in 

contrast to the generic name man. From this we 

are supposed to conclude that the type may be 

different from the individuals. This is one of 

countless dilemmas that grow out of the notion 

that a grammatical distinction is necessarily a 

logical one.) 

Words that are true singulars (not mass 

nouns) require the article the when used generically, 

as in the whale is a mammal. (The 

singular forms man and woman are the only 

exceptions to this.) On the other hand, mass 

nouns and true plurals do not have an article 

when used generically, as in milk is good for you 

and whales are mammals. When words of this 

kind are qualified by the, this, that, or any definitive 

adjective, they mean a particular lot and 

not the type generally, as in the milk is sour and 

the whales sounded. (Plural nouns referring to 

human beings are an exception. The Germans 

and the chemists may mean all of them or some 

of them, depending on the context.) 

The use of a singular noun in speaking about 

a large number of individuals is sometimes confusing. 

For example, the statement in Exodus 

7:18, the fish that is in the river shall die, is 

about all the fishes in the river. But children 

sometimes suppose that there was only one fish 

in the Nile at that time. Adults usually understand 

the plural meaning, but they sometimes 

conclude that the word itself is a plural. This is 

a mistake. Although a singular generic noun 

may refer to a number of individuals, it is a 

singular and is used with a singular verb, except 

in the case of certain animal names. 

In speaking of animals that are hunted for 

profit, the singular name may be used generically 

with a plural verb, as in the bear are 

hibernating and the sea otter have disappeared. 

This does not apply to domestic animals, such 

as cows and dogs, or to animals that are a menace 

and are killed for self-protection, such as 

lions and weasels. For these animals we use a 

singular verb, as in the dog is a friend to man 

and the lion is dangerous. When the generic 

singular is used with a plural verb it is grammatically 

indistinguishable from a group name. 

In fact, the species is here being treated as a

group. The singular word refers to all of a given 

kind, collectively. It is not a plural word and 

cannot be used with a numeral. In standard 

English we do not speak of a few otter or three 

bear. 

Hunters sometimes use these singular nouns 

as if they were plurals. Of course, if enough 

people do this the singular form finally becomes 

an accepted plural, as in the case of fish. Singulars 

of this kind, which have become standard 

plurals, are shown in this book, but no atlempt 

has been made to list all the singulars that may 

be treated as plurals by sportsmen. 

Adjectives can be used with the article the as 

if they were generic nouns when they refer to 

some quality which things possess, as in the 

beautiful is pleasing, the ugly is repellent. What 

is meant here is “all that is beautiful” and “all 

that is ugly.” When an adjective is used to identify 

a class of human beings, it is treated as a 

group name and used with a plural verb, as in 

the English are a notion of shopkeepers. See 


generous to a fault. As a term for excessive generosity, 

liberality carried to such an excess that 

it may be regarded as a weakness, generous to 

a fad is a clichb. Of the phrase some wag has 

said “If it’s our own, we all are.” One of the few 

virtues of clichts is that they are often useful to 

wits. 

genial. See congenial. 

genie. See genius. 

genitive case. The word genitive is related to the 

word genus and the primary function of the 

genitive case is to show that one noun is being 

used to classify another noun. The genitive is 

sometimes called the adjective case. All English 

nouns have a genitive form, such as life’s, peopie’s. 

A few pronouns also have a genitive -form, 

such as nobody’s, the other’s: and so do a few 

adjectives that are being used as nouns, as in 

the accused’s identity. These particular pronouns 

and adjectives are included in everything that is 

said below about genitive nouns. The possessive 

pronouns, such as my, mine, his, hers, are equivrelent 

to the genitive form of nouns, but in this 

dictionary they are treated separately ansd are 

referred to as possessives. See possessive pronouns. 

FORMATION 

1. If a noun does not itself end in an s (or z) 

sound, the genitive is formed by adding ‘s. This 

is true whether the noun is singular or plural, 

as in child’s play and children’s games, 

2. If a plural noun ends in an s (or z) sound, 

the genitive is formed by adding only an apostrophe, 

as in the boys’ dormitory. An additional 

s (or z) sound on a plural noun, as in the boys’s, 


3. There is no such uniformity in the case of 

a singular noun ending in an s (or z) sound. 

One may say Keats’ poems or Keats’s poems. 

In older literary English it was not customary to 

add a genitive s to a word already ending in s. 

But thirty or forty years ago this practice was 

considered archaic for singular nouns and was 

197 genitive 

confined to classical or religious expressions, 

such as Achilles’ heel and St. Agnes’ Eve. For 

everyday matters the ‘s was used, even when it 

brought three s (or z) sounds together, as in 

the hostess’s son and Charles’s senior year. Today 

the extra s is usually omitted after a proper 

name, as in Charles’ senior year, but otherwise 

retained, as in the boss’s secretary. 

4. The word sake is a rule to itself. It may 

have one s sound before it but not two. We may 

say for pity’s sake, for conscience’ sake, but 

not for conscience’s sake. When no genitive s 

is added the apostrophe may be used, as in the 

examples, or it may be omitted, as in for appearance 

sake, for goodness sake. 

SUBSTITUTE FORMS 

A genitive can usually be replaced by a prepositional 

phrase (usually, but not always, with 

the preposition of), and frequently by the simple, 

uninflected form of the noun, as in the 

church roof, the church’s roof, the roof of the 

church. (See nouns as adjectives.) These forms, 

in the order given, make the qualifying word, 

church, increasingly emphatic. The forms are 

also increasingly long. The shortest form available 

is preferred for rapid and concise English; 

a longer form is used for emphasis or solemnity, 

as in the committee report, the committee’s report; 

the man’s grave, the tomb of Cyrus. However, 

our ear will tolerate more of-phrases than 

it will ‘s genitives and this sometimes determines 

the choice. Three genitives become ridiculous in 

the woman’s first husband’s only child’s godfather, 

but six of-phrases almost pass unnoticed 

in the wife of a son of one of the members of 

the board of trustees of the university. Usually 

we mix these forms. 

The genitive always precedes the noun it qualifies 

and, except in two cases which are discussed 

below, it precedes all other words qualifying 

that noun. A prepositional phrase replacing a 

genitive normally follows the noun, and preferably 

without any intervening words. An uninflected 

form must stand immediately before the 

qualified word. The genitive may also be used 

independently, without a following noun, as in 

the things that are Caesar’s and we’re going to 

the doctor’s. In this construction the genitive is 

understood as qualifying a noun that can easily 

be supplied from the context (such as things 

or ofice). This is sometimes called the absolute 

genitive or the genitive used absolutely. 

MEANINGS AND USES 

Textbooks sometimes say that the only living 

function of the genitive is to represent ownership, 

and that when it is used for inanimate 

things (which are normally not owners) a personification 

is implied. But no ownership is intended 

in one’s elders, a man’s murderer, our 

son’s school, and no personification in tomorrow’s 

breakfast, the play’s success, the earth’s 

surface, the sun’s heat, the nation’s economy. 

It is a serious mistake to dismiss the genitive as 

the “possessive” case, because more than half 

the time it represents some other relation. Unless 

these relations are understood a speaker does

genitive 198 

not know when he can substitute a phrase for 

the genitive or the genitive for a phrase and is 

tied to stereotyped forms of expression. Three 

genitive relations are expressed without using a 

genitive form in Sandburg’s description of Chicago: 

Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, 

Stacker of Wheat. 

1. Classifying or descriptive genitive. This is 

the basic genitive function, seen in the room’s 

furnishings, the airplane’s speed, the building’s 

foundations. In a count of the actual genitive 

forms appearing in a newspaper this group 

would not stand highest because it is usually 

possible to substitute the uninflected form of the 

noun for the genitive. When there is no reason 

for emphasizing the descriptive word, the simple 

uninflected form is preferred, and when there is 

reason, the of-phrase does it better. 

Sometimes we have no choice between the 

genitive and the uninflected form. This may be 

simply a matter of custom. For example, we 

may speak of state rights or state’s rights, but 

state’s prison is now old-fashioned and countrified. 

But there are two situations in which the 

genitive is required and the simple form cannot 

be used. If a descriptive word is inserted we 

must use a genitive. We may speak of New York 

streets and Alaska cities, but we must say New 

York’s smaller streets and Alaska’s southern 

cities. And we do not put a word that stands for 

something that has personality in the completely 

subordinate position of a simple qualifier; we 

always give it at least the dignity of a genitive. 

What has personality and what does not depends 

on one’s point of view. We are likely to 

speak of the dog hair on the neighbor’s rug and 

the dog’s hair on our own. When a person becomes 

a public character he apparently loses his 

personality. We say Robinson’s bank acco:rnt 

but the Astor fortune; Mr. Corsen’s hortse but 

the John D. Rockefeller mansion. Even the 

same individual may seem more or less human 

depending on the circumstances. We are likely 

to speak of the doctor’s advice and of the doctor 

bills. 

2. Possessive genitive. This is the genitive that 

indicates ownership. Obviously, it is only applicable 

to human beings, and by extension to 

pets or personified abstractions. Although it 

accounts for less than half of the genitive forms 

appearing in print, it is the largest single class. 

This is because it has no substitute forms. Since 

the idea of personality is always to the front 

when we think of ownership, the uninflected 

form of the word cannot be used here. Nor can 

we substitute an of-phrase. We may use the 

word of, but the genitive keeps its form. That 

is, Irene’s coat becomes a coaf of Irene’s and 

not a coat of Irene. For a further discussion of 

this, see double genitives. 

3. Subjective and objective genitive. Some 

nouns name an action. With a noun of this kind, 

either the subject or the object of the action may 

be expressed as a genitive. For example, the 

creation of Adam may be spoken of as God’s 

creation or man’s creation. Taken out of con- 

text, this genitive is often ambiguous. The oficer’s 

orders may mean what he has been ordered 

to do or what he has ordered someone else to 

do. But in context it is usually cIear which is 

intended. 

Both the subject and the object of the action 

may be named. In that case, since there is only 

one position for the genitive and they cannot 

both occupy it at the same time, one of them 

must be expressed by a prepositional phrase, and 

both may be. For example, we have a subjective 

genitive in mind’s control over matter and an 

objective in matter’s control by mind. Here the 

prepositions over and by make it clear which is 

which. An of-phrase may replace a subjective 

genitive, as in the control of mind over matter, 

and it may replace an objective, as in the control 

of matter by mind. It should not do both in 

the same sentence, as it does in fhe gift of a 

member of a hundred dollars. An of-phrase will 

be assumed to be objective unless there is some 

reason for not taking it in that way. 

Normally, a word representing something inanimate 

will be assumed to be an objective genitive, 

as in the idea’s discovery. A word representing 

a human being will be assumed to be 

subjective, as in the professor’s discovery, except 

when the object of the action is more interesting 

than the agent, and then it will be assumed to be 

objective, as in the doctor’s rescue, the man’s 

trial, the woman’s release. At one time the professor’s 

robbery could be given as an example 

of this. But in the United States today it is a 

question whether the robber or the robbed is 

the more interesting, and this expression would 

now be ambiguous out of context. 

If a subjective or objective genitive does not 

fit the description just given, it will be ambiguous 

and should be replaced by a prepositional 

phrase. This genitive cannot be freely replaced 

by an uninflected form, although the same relations 

are expressed by simple word combinations, 

as the subjective genitive in night fall and 

the objective in rope walker. 

4. Genitive of purpose. This genitive is found 

in Old English and not in Latin. It is unlike the 

other geni?ives in several ways: (1) It cannot 

be replaced by an of-phrase but requires for. 

(2) In the other types of genitive, the genitive 

noun is singular or plural depending upon its 

meaning. We say the child’s teacher or the children’s 

teacher, depending on whether we are 

talking about one child or more than one. In the 

genitive of purpose the genitive is singular or 

plural depending on the form of the noun that 

follows. We say he is writing a child’s book and 

he has written many children’s books. We speak 

of a man’s college and men’s colleges, a woman’s 

clab and women’s clubs. Therefore, if we were 

being meticulous about the apostrophe, we 

would write: he is teaching in a boy’s school 

and he has taught in several boys’ schools. 

(3) This genitive does not stand before the other 

qualifying words. In the example just given several 

stands before the genitive. In the child’s 

book that he is writing, the word the refers to

ook. In the child’s teacher, it refers to child’s. 

(The simple form of the noun cannot be freely 

substituted for this genitive, although the same 

relation exists in many word combination.s, such 

as fire screen.) 

5. Meusures and other adverbial genitives. At 

one time the genitive was used to make adverbs 

from nouns or adjectives. This genitive survives 

today in a few set phrases and expressions of 

measure. See adverbial genitives and meiasures. 

6. Survivals. There are a few gcnitives in 

English that are survivals of an old genitive of 

source, such as hen’s eggs. These are like the 

genitive of purpose in that they are attached to 

the noun and can be preceded by adjectives and 

definitive words such as a, the, this, and other 

genitives, as in my six hen’s eggs. Actually they 

are a kind of compound noun, though th[ey are 

usually written as two words. They do not justify 

setting up another class of genitives because 

this is not a living form. It belongs to a few 

individual words and cannot be transferred to 

other words of almost identical meanin.g. We 

may speak of a dozen hen’s eggs, but we (cannot 

speak of a dozen ostrich’s eggs. 

I. Partitive and appositive genitive. In Latin, 

and in some European languages toda.y, the 

relation of whole to part is shown by a genitive. 

This is called the partitive genitive. It does not 

exist in English, but we express the same relation 

by means of an of-phrase, as in one of us, some 

of it. When two nouns, or phrases, stand together 

and the second merely describes the first, 

as president in the title president, the second is 

called an appositive. In Latin the genitive was 

sometimes used to indicate this relation and was 

then called an appositive genitive. The genitive 

is not used for this purpose in English, Ibut we 

can use an of-phrase to show the same relation, 

as in the title of president, the state of Ohio. 

SPECIAL PROBLEMS 

1. Joint possession. When one thing is owned 

jointly by more than one person, the genitive s 

may be placed after the last name and not after 

the preceding ones, as in Stan, Jeann,e, and 

Ann’s home. But the genitive s may also be 

placed after the preceding names and still indicate 

joint possession, as in Stan’s, Jeanne’s, and 

Ann’s home. When separate ownership is meant, 

the genitive s always follows each name, as in 

Jeanne’s and Ann’s clothes. 

It would be neater if the middle form described 

above did not exist, and some grammarians 

claim that it should not exist, that it is 

wrong to use two genitive forms to indicate 

joint possession. But there is no doubt that this 

form does exist and that it is used by educated 

people. What keeps it alive is the fact that the 

personal pronouns have to be used in this way. 

We cannot say he, she, and Ann’s home but are 

compelled to say his, hers, and Ann’s. And very 

often we have both nouns and pronouns in the 

same statement. 

2. Appositives. When two words or phrases 

stand together and refer to the same person 

there may be a question about where to place 

199 genius 

the genitive s. Formerly it was placed after each 

element, as in his chaplain’s, Mr. Sampson’s, 

careless life. In contemporary English it is 

placed after the element that stands immediately 

before the qualified word and not after the 

others, as in by Mahomet my kinsman’s sepulcher. 

When the genitive is used absolutely and 

the qualified word does not appear, the genitive 

s may be placed after each element, as in would 

you tell us where Gaudy’s the grocer’s is?, or 

only after the final one, as in she may have a 

bed at her cousin the saddler’s. 

3. Phrases and clauses. In English the genitive 

s is not necessarily attached to the noun 

it actually belongs with. It may follow a prepositional 

phrase, as in the king of Spain’s daughter. 

This peculiar use of the s is thoroughly 

understood and phrases of this kind are almost 

never ambiguous. But it is possible to construct 

a sentence in which they are misleading. For 

example, it is quite true that theson of Pharaoh’s 

daughter is the daughter of Pharaoh’s son. See 

also double genitives. 

Traditionally, a descriptive phrase that contains 

no preposition and no verb form might 

stand between a noun and the genitive s, as in 

Peter: the Hermit’s teaching, or it might be 

placed after the completed genitive construction, 

as in it is Othello’s pleasure, our noble and 

valiant general and the words were Cicero’s, the 

most eloquent of men. A full clause qualifying 

a genitive or possessive form is more difficult 

to handle. In literary English it never stands 

before the qualified word but it sometimes follows 

the completed thought, as in his words who 

sent me and it is his who finds it. In longer sentences 

this construction is a dangerous one because 

the clause is likely to attach itself to the 

qualified word rather than to the genitive. Some 

grammarians say that the construction is always 

improper. But it has been used successfully by 

many great writers, including D. G. Rossetti, 

Browning, Holmes, Thackeray, George Eliot. 

In the United States today it is possible in 

speaking to place a full clause between the ‘s 

and the word it actually belongs with. It is possible 

to say the man you said was coming here 

from Chicago’s son jzlst called. Fifty years ago 

this was considered an indecorous way of speaking 

and only young and foolish people used it. 

Today it is heard everywhere. There is no literary 

tradition for it, but there probably will be 

in time. 

genius; talent. A genius in its original meaning 

was an attendant spirit, allotted to every person 

at birth to watch over him and shape his character 

and fortunes. It is in this sense that Macbeth 

uses the word when he says of Banquo 

There is none but he/ Whose being Z do fear; 

and under him/ My genius is rebuk’d, as it is 

said/ Mark Antony’s was by Caesar. Then it 

came to mean a natural endowment or aptitude, 

inclination, the sort of thing with which one’s 

genius would endow one or towards which it 

would guide (Different men have different geniuses. 

The squire, whose active genius was al-

genteel 

ways at some repair or improvement . . .). In 

the eighteenth century, when the word had quite 

a vogue, a man of genius was an ingenious man. 

But with the rise of the Romantic Movement, 

with its exaltation of the abnormal, its fantastic 

hero worship and its cult of the supernatural, 

genius came to be applied to intellectual powers 

which seemed almost to proceed from supernatural 

inspiration or demonic possession and 

which produced its works in a manner not comprehensible 

to the ordinary mind. It was at this 

time that the distinction between talent and 

genius, between a special capacity and an exceptional 

capacity, was drawn with the exaggerated 

emphasis which still colors the meanings of the 

words. De Quincey stated the difference with 

vehement vagueness in a definition that has become 

classical: Talent and genius, he said, are 

not merely different, they are in polar opposition 

to each other. Talent is intellectual power of 

every kind, which acts and manifests itself . . . 

through the will and the active forces. Genius 

. . . is that much rarer species of intellectunl 

power which is derived from the genial nature 

-from the spirit of suffering and enjoyingfrom 

the spirit of pleasure and pain. It is a function 

of the passive nature. From this it was only 

a step to refer to one possessing genius as himself 

a genius, a person set apart from other men 

by a supra-natural gift. 

The word talent, an ancient weight of money, 

attained its present meaning of natural ability 

or mental endowment through its figurative use 

in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25: 

14-30. It is a very useful word to hold in mind 

when discussing the “real” meaning of words 

with purists. Up to and throughout the eighteenth 

century it was closely synonymous with 

genius, even including the idea of something 

divinely entrusted to one. It is interesting that 

Milton, who became one of the supreme exemplars 

of genius to the romantics, referred to his 

own powers (in his sonnet on his blindness beginning 

“When I consider how my light is 

spent”) as talent. But the romantic distinction 

did its work and talent, in the modern conception 

of it, which may be acquired by imitation 

and training, is now definitely thought of as 

something infinitely inferior to genius. It is one 

of the favorite damnings by faint praise in reviews 

of literary, musical, and artistic performances 

to say that they showed talent. 

Genius has two plurals. More than one supranatural 

ability or more than one person possessing 

such abilities are geniuses. Guardian 

spirits, attendant spirits-whether good or bad 

-and more than one jinni or genie, are genii. 

genteel; gentle; Gentile. The Latin word gentilis, 

from which all three of these words derive, 

meant of the same clan or tribe or family in the 

larger sense. Genteel once meant well-bred or 

elegant, showing, that is, the outward signs of 

belonging to one of the better families, suited 

to a gentleman, characteristic of the upper 

classes (A man might be rich without being 

genteel. There was nothing vulgar about her; 

she was genteel and accomplished). But the 

200 

democratic revolution, or perhaps simply the 

behavior of those who prided themselves on 

their gentility, has made the word in current 

usage slightly derogatory, mildly sarcastic (shabby 

gentility), describing rather those who affect 

the ways and manners of the upper classes than 

those who actually have them (So genteel that 

she always called a leg a limb and a shirt a 

garment). 

Though gentle still keeps some of its older 

meaning of characteristic of good birth, wellborn, 

in such terms as gentlemen and gentlefolk, 

the meaning is one more recognized than used. 

It would seem a little affected, archaic, or deliberately 

literary to employ it in conversation or 

writing. In current usage it means mild, kind, 

amiable (His gentle words soothed the angry 

boy. My mother’s gentle touch delighted everyone. 

Such gentle humor can never wound), 

moderate, or easily handled (Boil it over a gentle 

flame. Please chose a gentle horse for me; 

I am not a good rider). 

Gentile today has the primary meaning, derived 

from the Bible, of non-Jewish. In medieval 

Europe it meant heathen. Among the Mormons 

it has the meaning of non-Mormon. But Kipling’s 

use of the word in the famous passage 

in Recessional (Such boastings as the Gentiles 

use,/ Or lesser breeds without the Law) must 

be regarded as anomalous. The solemnity of the 

occasion called in his opinion for Biblical language 

and it was easy in 1897 to conceive of 

the English as God’s chosen people but Gentiles 

in any accepted sense of the word at that time 

would have included the English and the lesser 

breeds. 

gentleman; gent; man. A gentleman was once a 

man of a definite social rank, above a yeoman. 

Shakespeare went to considerable trouble to get 

his father made a gentleman so that he might 

be the son of a gentleman. This meaning is now 

of purely historical interest. In popular usage 

the term means a man of good breeding, education, 

and manners. It can also mean a valet (a 

gentleman’sgentleman). In polite address (Indies 

and gentlemen) it means a man. Overuse has 

vulgarized the word (I’m next in line. I don’t 

believe the gentleman is taking his proper turn) 

and man remains the more dignified word. 

Gent and gents as abbreviations are either 

humorous (Step right up, gents, and say what 

you’ll have) or pathetically vulgar (Tables for 

ladies and gents). 

gentlewoman. See woman. 

gentry. When used seriously, this is a group name 

and may take a singular or a plural verb, as in 

the gentry was represented and the gentry were 

represented. It is not used as a true plural and 

plural constructions such as these gentry are 

ready to leave are meant to be witty or contemptuous. 

The word is seldom used seriously 


genuine. See authentic. 

genus. The plural is genera, and occasionally 

genuses, but never geni. 

gerrymander is often erroneously written jerrymnnder. 

The word derives from Elbridge Gerry,

one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, 

a member of the Continental Congress 

and later of the Congress of the United 

States, twice governor of Massachusetts and, at 

the time of his death, vice-president of the 

United States. Despite this distinguished and 

honorable career, his name is fixed in the language 

through his connivance (in an unsuccessful 

attempt to get himself elected governor of 

Massachusetts for a third term) in a scheme to 

redistribute the electoral districts of the state in 

such a way that the strength of the party opposing 

him was concentrated in a few districts. 

Gilbert Stuart, the painter, seeing a map with 

the new districts marked on it thought it resembled 

the body of an animal, added head, claws, 

and wings and said it would do for a salamander. 

A gentleman present changed it to gerrymander, 

and the word stuck. 

gerunds; gerundives. See -ing. 

gesticulation; gesture. A gesture is a movement 

of the body, head, arms, or face, expressive of 

an idea or emotion (The gesture of impatience, 

though slight, was not lost upon the young man 

who brought his narrative quickly to a close). 

A gesticulation is the making of a gesture, especially 

in an animated or excited manner (Their 

conversation was carried on with great vivacity 

and gesticulation). Gesticulation is the using of 

gestures; a gesture is a single act of gesticulation. 

Gesture has within the past generation acquired 

the special meaning of an act or proceeding 

intended for effect, a demonstration (His 

offering to remove the hedge if it impeded our 

view was a neighborly gesture that left us deeply 

moved). 

get. The past tense is goi. The participle is gotten 

or got. The original meaning of get was “seize” 

or “take hold of.” Today the verb is used in the 

broader sense of “acquire” and may mean acquiring 

actively or passively, literally or figuratively. 

Frequently get is the simplest,

Carlyle, and most of the great nineteenth century 

English authors. But it was strongly condemned 

by nineteenth century grammarians, 

especially American grammarians, and many 

people today condemn it. At present, it is more 

acceutable in Great Britain than it is in the 

United States. A past tense form meaning simply 

“had” as in the boy had got an apple in his 

hand, is heard in Great Britain but is almost 

unknown in this country. 

4. The phrase /:ave goi to or hns gof to is also 

used as a simple present tense equivalent to 

have fo or has to, meaning “must.” This construction 

is not more than a hundred years old 

but it has been used by such public characters 

as Alice in Wonderland and Franklin Delano 

Roosevelt. It is thoroughly acceptable 1~1 the 

United States but not in Great Britain. A past 

tense form, had got to, is heard less often but is 

also acceptable in this country. 

When have got is used with either of these 

last two meanings, the huvc is pronounced very 

lightly and may not be heard. This is acceptable 

spoken English in the United States. But it is 

not acceptable written English. The have or ‘ve 

(or has or ‘s) must always appear when the 

words are written down. That is, we got fime 

and we got io go now may be heard, but they 

should not be seen. 

In Great Britain got is the only form of the 

participle used and the older form gotten is 

considered archaic or Biblical. During the 

nineteenth century some American dictionaries 

claimed that gotten had also passed out of 

standard speech in the United States. This must 

have been based on hope, for it certain!y was 

not based on fact. In the United States gotten 

is still the preferred form of the participle when 

it is used with lluve to express a completed 

action, as in I have just gotten a splinter in my 

hand. But only the form got is used with have as 

a simple present tense describing a condition or 

state, as in I’ve gof an apple in my hand and 

we’ve got to hurry. Englishmen use got in all 

constructions and believe that Americans always 

use gotten. As a result, Americans in British 

novels are likely to say I’ve gotten an apple in 

my hand and we’ve gotten to hurry. Gotten is 

never used in these constructions except in British 

novels. 

get; obtain. Get implies the coming into possession 

in any manner (I got this farm by hard 

work. You’ll gef sick. Come and gef it). Obfain 

suggests the putting forth of eifort to gain 

possession and therefore should not be used, 

although it often is, as a synonym for get. One 

does not obtain the measles; they just come. The 

merciful obtain mercy through the exercise of 

or as a reward for their own mercifulness. The 

unmerciful, if they receive mercy, will simply 

get it, through no effort or merit of their own. 

See also secure. 

get up on the wrong side of the bed. To say of 

someone who is surly and ill-humored in the 

morning that he got up on the wrong side of the 

bed is to employ a worn and meaningless clichC. 

It has been a jocular phrase for more than three 

202 

hundred years now and no one knows which is 

the right side of the bed or why getting up on 

(it wou!d be better if it were from) a particular 

side should be conducive to good or ill humor. 

gild. The past tense is gilded or gilt. The participle 

is aiso gilded or @it. As adjectives, gilt is now 

restricted to the hteral meaning (gilt-edged securities), 

whereas gilded, while it still has the 

literal meaning (the gilded goblet) or the meaning 

of anything so colored as to seem gilded 

(the little Pilded fly). is used finurativelv (Gilded 

i&asters were c&&l splendid-victories) 1 

gild the lily. As a term for applying unnecessary 

embellishment, gilding the lily is a clichC and, 

like so many clichts, not only hackneyed but 

meaningless or confused. Why should a lily be 

gilded? It is not gold-colored in the first place. 

The answer lies in the original passage from 

which the clichB has been drawn. The Earl of 

Salisbury, in the second scene of the fourth act 

of Shakespeare’s King John, is protesting against 

the king’s second coronation: 

. . . to be possess’d with double pomp, 

To guard a title that was rich before, 

To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, 

To fhrow a perfume on the violet, 

To smooth the ice, or add anofher hue 

Unto the rainbow . . . 

Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. 

It is plain that gild jumped over from “refined 

gold” and displaced the more fitting paint from 

in front of “the lily.” 

gimp; yimpe; gamp. A gimp is a flat trimming 

of silk, wool, or other cord, sometimes stiffened 

with wire, for garments, curtains, furniture, etc. 

A guimpe is a kind of chemisette or yoke of lace, 

embroidery, or other material worn with a dress 

cut out at the neck. A gamp (named after Sarah 

Gamp, a talkative, disreputable nurse in Dickens’ 

Martin Chuzzlewit who always carried a 

large cotton umbrella) is an umbrella, especially 

one tied untidily. The term is more used in 

England than in America. 

gipsy. See gypsy. 

giraffe; camel. In South Africa the giruffe is called 

a camel-short for camelopard, its old name. 

gird. The past tense is girded or girf. The participle 

is also girded or girt. 

girlish. See infantile. 

give. The past tense is gave. The participle is given. 

When give has a personal subject it may be followed 

by to believe, as in they gave me fo believe 

they were coming, and by other infinitives, 

such as to understand and to think, so long as 

these mean to believe. But the sentence it gives 

me to think is not English. It is a joke and is 

funny only to high-school students in their first 

year of French. See also donate. 

give a wide berth. As a term for avoiding someone, 

giving him a wide berth, a nautical term, 

is a clichC. It should be used with care. 

give the Devil his due. As a term for granting 

even an enemy his merits, to give the Devil his 

due is a clichC. It was formerly a proverb but 

has been overworked, 

given. See give.

given name. See first mime. 

gladiolus. The plural is gladiolus or gladioli. 

glamour; glamor. Glnmour is preferred to glamor 

as the word for alluring charm, witchery, fascination, 

magic and enchantment (She cast the 

spell of her glamour over the audience at once). 

There is often in the word a sense that the 

charm is illusory (How quickly the glamour of 

the courting days fudes when a young couple 

must live together in a one-room aparlment) 

and, especially in the United States where the 

manufacture of female charm is a major industry, 

often synthetic (They’ll take any tolcrablelooking 

healthy kid and turn her into a g!amour 

girl in a week). As a synonym for beautiful or 

lovely, when applied to women, glamorous (a 

common word in popular songs because it rimes 

with amorous) is a copywriter’s word, forced 

and hollow, worn and dishonest. 

Glamour is a Scotch corruption of grammar, 

brought into common English use by Sir Walter 

Scott. Grammar, than which nothing is less 

glamorous, meaning originally the study of language 

which deals with its inflectional forms, 

became a term for all learning in the day:s when 

the study of grammar formed a large part of 

education. Learning has always been suspect to 

the unlearned, and under the variation of 

gramarye or grammarie grammar became a 

term for occult learning, magic, or necromancers 

( Whate’er he did of gramarye/ was always 

done maliciously). And one of the ways necromancers 

worked was by casting a glamour over 

their victims. Hence our glamour. 

glance; glimpse. A gltrnce is a quick look. A 

glimpse is a momentary sight of. Tha.t is a 

glimpse which one sees in a glance. One has a 

glimpse of and gets a glance at (A glance at his 

face was all that was needed to confirm t.he bad 

news. The glimpse of his face, which was all 

that I could get in so brief a time, confirmed my 

fears). A glimpse suggests an imperfect view 

(I caught a glimpse of the letter as he was folding 

it, but cannot be sure that it was addressed 

to the general). 

glean. To glean does not mean merely to gather. 

It means to gather little bits slowly and laboriously. 

A meaning that has been gleaned, for 

example, has been hard come by, laboriously 

collected from a mass of chaff or rubbish over a 

vast area. The gleaners who come after the 

reapers get only the spilled grain or occasional 

stalks that have escaped the sickle. Thus gleaning 

has also the sense of thorough gathering up 

of that which others have disregarded. Samuel 

Johnson uses the word well in The Vanity of 

Human Wishes where, speaking of the dangers 

attendant upon greatness and the advanta.ges of 

obscurity, he says: 

Let history tell, where rival kings command, 

And dubious title shakes the mudded land, 

When statutes glean the refuse of the sword, 

How much more safe the vassal than the lord. 

glee; mirth; hilarity; merriment. Glee and mirth 

and, to a lesser extent, merriment are all slightly 

archaic and bookish and unless used with great 

203 I30 

care seem forced or affected. Glee suggests a 

spontaneous overflow of high spirits or exultation, 

often expressed in playful or ecstatic gestures. 

It is used so often in the phrase childish 

glee that any more serious use of it (such as 

Wordsworth’s holy glee) would seem inappropriate. 

It has acquired the special meaning of 

demonstration of malicious rejoicing over the 

mishaps of others, especially in the cliche 

fiendish glee. 

Mirth means spontaneous gaiety, but of a 

more decorous nature than that designated by 

glee (There was much mirth at this unexpected 

sally). Merriment denotes fun and a general, 

innocent good time. 

Hilarity implies noisy and boisterous fun, 

often exceeding the limits of decorum (As the 

evening wore on and the glasses were refilled, 

the hilarity increased, until angry knockings on 

the walls reminded us that the neighbors did not 

approve). 

glimpse. See glance. 

global. See earthen. 

globe. See earth. 

gloomy; pessimistic. Gloomy means dark. When 

applied to persons or, rather, to their dispositions, 

for it is no longer applied as it used to be 

to the color of their skins, it means melancholy, 

depressing, sad (The expression of these gloomy 

thoughts soon put an end to what little cheerfulness 

remained). Pessimistic means characterized 

by pessimism, the philosophic belief that 

the world is essentially evil. Since such a belief 

is conducive to gloom, certainly in those who 

don’t share it, it is a natural development for 

pessimistic to mean gloomy. But it is not an 

absolute synonym. It means gloomy in the extreme, 

the gloomiest of all possible views. To 

use it lightly (as in You’re too nessimistic: it 

isn’t going to rain all afternoon)’ weakens the 

word and borders on the pompous. 

glorious. That is glorious which is delightful in 

the extreme, whose pleasure is accompanied by 

exaltation and splendor (Full many a glorious 

morning have I seen/ Flatter the mountain tops 

with sovereign eye). When used merely as a 

synonym for pleasant or delightful it is excessive. 

This excessiveness suggests that it is forced 

and the word, already too much for common 

occasions, is usually buttressed with such ineffectual 

intensives as simply or perfectly and 

the whole phrase uttered with a shrill emphasis 

that reveals its insincerity. 

glottis. The plural is glottises or glottides, not 

glottes. 

glutton. See gourmand. 

go. The past tense is went. The participle is gone. 

The past tense went has been taken over from 

the verb wend, which now has a regular past 

tense and participle wended. One form of the 

old past tense of go survives in the Scottish 

gaed. 

Go is sometimes followed by a second verb 

that tells the purpose of the going. This may be 

the simple form of the verb, as in Z had the 

grace to go hear a sermon and go tell Aunt 

Rhody. This construction is found frequently in

go 

English literature and is standard in the United 

States today. But it is no longer standard in 

Great Britain, where an and is required between 

the two verbs as in go and call the cattle home. 

Neither construction can be used when go is a 

simple present tense or after any form of the 

verb except go. We may say I will go tell her 

but not I go tell her or I went tell her. These 

forms require a to-infinitive to express purpose. 

Went, gone, and the present tense of go, followed 

by and, are used before another verb to 

show indignation or surprise, as in he went and 

told her, he has gone and done it again, now he 

goes and gets married. This construction is very 

expressive, but it is not standard. When sentences 

like this are meant literally (that is, when 

the person actually moved), they are acceptable. 

But many people take care to break the pattern 

in some way, as in he went and he told her and 

he went quickly and told her. 

The word going, combined with some form 

of the verb be, is often used to indicate expectation. 

This is a favorite way of making a statement 

about the future. Used in this sense, going 

is always followed by a to-infinitive, as in Pm 

going to build a castle down in Newport. Here 

go does not carry any meaning of motion. We 

may say Z am going to sit still. When the following 

infinitive is to go it may be omitted, as in 

I’m going back and tell her which means I am 

going to go back and tell her. When going and 

some form of the verb be are used to mean 

motion they are never followed directly by an 

infinitive. We find some way to avoid this pattern, 

as in Pm going now to tell her. 

Go on may mean continue. When it does, it is 

always followed by the -ing form of a verb, as 

in go on talking. 

Go may be followed by an adjective describing 

whatever it is that goes. Sometimes this is 

because go is being used as the equivalent of 

be or become, as in go mad and it went hard 

with him. But it can also happen when go 

actually carries the meaning of movement, as in 

they go around naked. In this sense go may also 

be followed by an adverb describing the going, 

as in they go quietly. 

go in one ear and out the other. The assurance 

that something that has been said has gone in 

one ear and out the other is often spoken contemptuously 

by the person to whom the remark 

was addressed, meaning that he paid no attention 

to it. But it is a dangerous sneer because it 

carries the suggestion that there was nothing 

between the two ears to impede its passage. Even 

without such a consideration, however, the 

phrase should be avoided. 

go the whole hog. Dr. Charles Earle Funk, in 

his A Hog on Ice, believes that to go the whole 

hog, as an expression for stopping at nothing, 

carrying through regardless of cost, making 

every effort, supporting wholeheartedly, may 

derive from a passage in Cowper’s “The Love 

of the World Reproved; or Hypocrisy Detected.” 

It may also derive, he grants, from the fact that 

a ten-cent piece was once called a “hog” so that 

204 

to go the whole hog was an ironical phrase for 

the willingness of the parsimonious to spend 

their money in a cause to which they were 

devoted. Whatever the origin of the phrase, it 

is now overworked and to be avoided. 

gobbledegook was a term coined by the late Representative 

Maury Maverick to describe the 

language, characterized by circumlocution and 

jargon, of government reports, questionnaires, 

pronouncements and the like, and especially of 

inter- and intra-departmental memoranda. He 

had in mind such phrases as “cause an investigation 

to be made with a view to ascertaining” 

for “find out” and “return a considered evaluation” 

for “give me your opinion.” 

This sort of writing, which seems to have 

been begotten upon the legalism of bureaucracy 

by the inflated vagueness of social science, is 

not peculiar to America. Every modern country 

has it and with the increasing part that government 

plays in the daily life of every individual 

it is a serious burden. Sir Ernest Gowers, himself 

a civil servant, speaks in his Plain Words: 

Their A B C of “the sense of despair” produced 

in the public mind by gobbledegook. The citizen 

in dealing with officials feels himself utterly lost 

and helpless in a fog of words. This involved 

and pompous verbosity, Sir Ernest believes, goes 

far to defeat the intention of a great deal of 

social legislation. 

Various names have been suggested. Ivor 

Brown, in England, has offered barnacrrlar and 

jarguntuan and pudder (from the reference in 

King Lear to the gods that keep this dreadful 

pudder o’er our heads), but gobbledegook has 

been accepted in the United States and seems to 

be on its way to acceptance in England and 

other parts of the British Empire. It was a happy 

coinage, combining the self-important, indignant, 

incomprehensible gobbling of a turkeycock 

with the idea of a sticky and loathsome 

muck into which the unhappy listener or reader 

sinks with a bubbling cry. 

George Orwell (“Politics and the English 

Language”) translates a passage from Ecclesiastes 

into gobbledegook: 

I returned and saw under the sun, that the 

race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the 

strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet 

riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor 

to men of skill: but time and chance happeneth 

to them all 

became 

Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena 

compels the conclusion that success 

or failure in competitive activities exhibits no 

tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, 

but that a considerable element of the 

unpredictable must be taken into account. 

But admirable as the parody is, Orwell’s sense 

of style and the necessity of following the meaning 

of the original make it far clearer than most 

gobbledegook. Time (May 7, 1947) quotes, 

from a letter to a veteran who was inquiring

about a pension, a more classic specimen: “The 

non-compensable evaluation heretofore assigned 

to you for your service-connected disability is 

confirmed and continued.” In other wards, he 

didn’t get the pension. 

God willing. See Deo volente. 

golf links; golf course. Links was originally a 

Scottish word for gently undulating sandy 

ground near the seashore and some of the more 

rigid purists insist that a go/f links must be by 

the sea and a golf course inland. But the distinction, 

however much it may mark one who observes 

it as knowing in either golf or grammar, 

is not likely to gain acceptance in America because 

golf links is falling into disuse. It is still 

known and occasionally used, but it is being 

replaced by golf ccmrse, just as the Yicottish 

names for the clubs-mashie, brassie, .niblick, 

and the like-have, with the exception of putter, 

been replaced by numbers (number five iron 

number six iron, and so on). 

Links was originally a plural (The golf links 

lie so near the mill . . .) but it may also be 

construed as singular (The entire links has been 

bought and will be cut up into lots). 

gone. See go. 

good. The comparative form is better. The superlative 

form is best. When good means holy it is 

likely to have the comparative form more good 

and the superlative most good, as in the most 

good, the most charming, the most perfect 

human creature that ever trod the earth. 

The word good is primarily an adjectiive and 

is used to qualify nouns. It may follow a linking 

verb, that is, any verb that is being used to mean 

“be, become, or appear,” as in it sounds good, 

it tastes good, it feels good to be alive, where 

the word good describes the subject of the verb 

and not the action. (See linking verbs.) It cannot 

be used to actually qualify the verb itself, as it 

is in he doesn’t hear good. Sentences of this 

kind, such as he writes good, the engine is hitting 

good, are not standard. In standard English the 

word well is required here. 

Good may be used to qualify another adjective 

that is standing before a noun, as in a 

good long time, a good many men. The word 

very may also be used here and is preferred by 

some people. Very is now generally preferred 

before the word fe+v, as in a very few people. 

Good is still heard before few but this is now 

considered old fashioned. The words good and 

may be used in place of very to qualify an 

adjective or an adjective-like adverb that follows 

a verb, as in I am good and tired, they worked 

good and hard. Some grammarians object to this 

construction but it is accepted spoken English 


Good may also be used as a noun meaning 

“what is good,” as in it is for your good. In he 

will do you good the word good is a noun, provided 

the sentence means “he will do 6or you 

something that is good.” But if it means “he will 

do you in thoroughly,” then good is being used 

to qualify the verb, and this is not standard 

English. When good means “what is good” it 

has only the singular form. But this may be 

followed by a plural verb when it refers to living 

creatures, as in the good are happy. The plural 

form goods may mean “possessions.” When it 

does it is treated as a plural, as in these goods 

are mine. It may also mean “cloth,” and it is 

then treated as a singular, as in this goods is 

mine. In these senses the plural form is used as 

the first element in a compound, as in a dry 

goods store. 

The words better and best are adverbs as well 

as adjectives and can be used in any way that 

the sense allows. 

Had better, or had best, means “would find 

advantageous” and is followed by the simple 

form of a verb, as stop in you had better stop 

that foolishness, and let in you had better let 

sleeping dogs lie. This had may be pronounced 

so lightly that it is not heard, as in we better 

leave, but it must always be shown in written 

English, at least with an apostrophe and d, as 

in we’d better leave. In the nineteenth century 

the form would better was sometimes used in 

place of had better, but it never became popular 

and is now disappearing. Had better is always 

tre, ed as a single idea and should not be broken 

into by another word. We say you had better 

not wait and not you hadn’t better wait. Had 

better can be used in passive constructions, such 

as what had better be done and sleeping dogs 

had better be left alone. Some grammarians 

object to this because it is not in keeping with 

the original use of the words. But it is in keeping 

with modern developments of the passive voice 

and is thoroughly acceptable English today. 

good, bad, and (or or) indifferent. As an allinclusive 

term, that is, good, bad, and indiflerent 

(i.e., neutral) is a clichC. 

goodly. This word means comely, or admirable in 

almost any respect. Today it is always used as 

an adjective qualifying a noun. For a period it 

was also used as an adverb but this is now 

obsolete. 

Good Samaritan. As a term for anyone distinguished 

for his charity, Good Samaritan is 

now a clicht. The Good Samaritan is the accepted 

designation of the “certain Samaritan” 

who in the parable (Luke 10:30-35) succored 

the man who had fallen among thieves, but it is 

interesting that nowhere in the Bible is he called 

the Good Samaritan. 

good will; goodwill. Though the distinction is not 

rigidly observed, good will is usually employed 

to denote a friendly disposition or benevolence 

(He has shown his good will towards me in 

many ways) and goodwill or good-will to denote 

the asset arising from the reputation of a business 

and its relations with its customers apart 

from the value of its stock. 

goody. A shortened form of goodwife, goody was 

formerly applied to an elderly woman of humble 

station (as in Wordsworth’s poem “Goody 

Blake and Harry Gill”). Swinburne’s referenck 

to Jane Welsh Carlvle as Carlvle’s “Goodv” was 

malicious but cleve; since Cariyle made sd much 

of his peasant origin. The word is now archaic

except at Harvard University where it is applied 

to the women who look after the students’ 

rooms. 

goose. The plural is geese. The plural is still geese 

even when the word is qualified in some way, 

as in a flock of wild geese. The singular form 

goose is used as a mass word when speaking of 

these birds as food, as in goose is expensive this 

year. We may also speak of hunting wild goose, 

but this is not a true plural and five wild goose 

is not standard English. A mongoose, of course, 

is not a goose, and this word has a regular plural 

mongooses. The plural of the tailor’s goose and 

of the improper gesture is gooses. 

gopher. In the western United States the word 

gopher designates a number of closely related 

burrowing rodents, constituting the genera 

Geomys, Thomorny.r, and allied genera of the 

family Geomyidae. Some of these same animals 

are also found in southeastern United States, 

east to Georgia. But here they are called salamanders. 

In the prairie regions the word gopher 

is applied to numerous small ground squirrels, 

the spermophiles. Along the Gulf coast a gopher 

is a burrowing land tortoise (Gopheras polypkemus) 

and in the West and Southwest the 

name is also applied to the gopher snake (Drymarckon 

corais couperi). All of these applications 

stem from the French gaufre, meaning 

waffle or honeycomb, because each of the 

creatures honeycombs the ground with its 

burrowings. 

Gordian knot, to cut the. Gordius, king of 

Phrygia, had connected the pole of a chariot 

with the yoke by a thong which was tied in an 

intricate knot. An oracle had declared that whoever 

untied this knot would become ruler of 

all Asia. When Alexander the Great came to 

Gordium and found himself unable to untie the 

knot, he cut it with one blow of his sword. 

Hence to cut the Gordian knot has become a 

term for solving a perplexing difficulty by one 

bold stroke. But the picturesqueness of the 

phrase or, perhaps, its flattering assumption that 

all who proceed rashly are Alexanders, has led 

to its being overworked. 

gorilla. See guerrilla. 

got. See get. 

gotten. See get. 

gourmand; gourmet; glutton. Gorrrmand and 

gourmet are both used to designate one who is 

fond of good eating and prides himself on his 

knowledee of the delicacies of the table. But 

gourmand is more often used in a disparaging 

sense for a glutton. The gourmet is more a connoisseur, 

a theoretician; the gourmand is more 

of a doer, a hearty eater of good things. A 

glutton is one who eats to excess and often with 

little delicacy of choice. 

government agencies, abbreviations of titles of. 

See abbreviations. 

grab bag. As a term for a receptacle from which 

one draws without knowing what he is getting, 

grab bag is an Americanism (There is not a 

line of this treaty hat does not suggest the outworn, 

discredited grab-bug diplomacy that 

caused this war). The English equivalent is 

lucky dip. 

graces. The use of the plural form of this word to 

mean favor, as in in her good graces, is a French 

idiom which has become standard English. At 

one time the singular was used here, as in in 

her good grace, but this construction is now 

obsolete. 

grade has a number of meanings in America that 

are not recognized in England. Thus our grude 

crossing is in England called a level crossing and 

the grade of our streets is there a gradient. Our 

grades, grade schools, grade-school pupils and 

grade-school teachers are unknown in England, 

where the classes below the high-school level 

are known as standards, The English grade eggs 

and other produce but not examination papers 

or people. 

graduate from. He graduated from college is 

better English than he was graduated from college. 

The first is the form used in most colleges 

today and was the only form heard in the 

United States until thirty or forty years ago, as 

in Admiral Peary graduated from Bowdoin in 

1877. It is still the only form heard in Great 

Britain. 

Whoever first thought that this expression 

ought to have a passive form had obviously not 

thought very much about the English language. 

We say the boat npset, the door closed, the hut 

b!ew away, the coat currgkt on a nail. the goods 

sold quickly, and so on indefinitely. In each case 

the verb is understood in a passive sense and we 

could say the boat was upset, the door was 

closed, and so on. The fact is that English has 

two ways of expressing a passive idea. One 

form, tke boat was upset, always suggests an 

agent. The other, the boat upset, is used when 

the fact that there was an agent is uninteresting. 

Most young people, and their families, feel that 

the college authorities can be forgotten in speaking 

about the fact of graduation. 

One may say he graduated in 1956. But if the 

name of the institution, or some substitute word, 

is used we must say from. He graduated college 

is not standard English and is not improved by 

being put in the passive, as in he was graduated 

college. 

grammar is a systematic description of the ways 

in which words are used in a particular language. 

The grammarian groups words that 

behave similarly into classes and then draws up 

rules stating how each class of words behaves. 

What classes are set up and how the rules are 

phrased is a matter of convenience. A grammarian 

is free to classify his material in any 

way that seems reasonable to him. But he is 

never free to say that certain forms of speech 

are unacceptable merely because there is no 

place for them in the system he has designed. 

THE CLASSES 

Most grammarians are interested in a number 

of languages. As a rule they set up classes that 

are useful in handling many languages but that 

may have very little meaning for a particular 

language. For example, the distinction between

the dative him and the accusative him is important 

in the Indo-European languages generally. 

But in a grammar designed solely to 

teach English, this distinction does not have to 

be made. Similarly, there is an etymological or 

historical difference between the Eilglish gerund 

in -ing and the participle in -inp. But it is sometimes 

impossible to say whether a given word 

is a gerund or a participle; for exam,ple, in 

journeys erld in lore~~ meeting. For this reason, 

some grammarians prefer to handle these forms 

together under one name, such as “participle” 

or “-ing.” 

The familiar terms of classical grammar are 

defined in this dictionary for the convenience of 

persons who need to use these concepts. But a 

much simpler classification, based on the 

structure of present-day English, is employed in 

all the discussions of usage. 

THE RULES 

In order to say how words are used, the 

grammarian must examine large quantities of 

spoken and written English. He will find some 

constructions used so consistently that the 

exceptions have to be classed as errors. But he 

will also find competing, and even contradictory, 

constructions, which appear too often to be 

called mistakes. He must then see whether one 

of these expressions is used by one kind of 

person and not by another or in one kind of 

situation and not in another. If he can find no 

difference of this sort he accepts the two constructions 

as interchangeable. In this way he 

assembles a body of information on how English 

words are used that may also show differences, 

such as those between one locality and another, 

or between spoken and written English, or 

between literary and illiterate speech. Studies of 

this kind are called “scientific” or “descriptive” 

grammars. This is a relatively new approach 

to the problems of language and the information 

brought to light in this way is sometimes surprising. 

The first English grammarians, wriiing in the 

seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, did not 

attempt to describe the English of their day. 

On the contrary, they were attempting to 

“improve” English and they demanded Latin 

constructions which were not characteristic of 

English. They objected to the expression I a/n 

mistaken, because if translated into Latin this 

would mean I am misunderstood. They claimed 

that unloose must mean tie, because WI is a 

Latin negative. They objected to the “double 

negative” which was good Old English, and also 

good Greek, but not good Latin. 

These eighteenth century rules of prescriptive 

grammar have been repeated in school books 

for two hundred years. They are the rules for 

a curious, Latinized English that has never been 

spoken and is seldom used in literature, but that 

is now highly respected in some places, principally 

in scientific writing. It should be recognized 

that these rules were not designed to 

“preserve” English, or keep it “pure.” They were 

designed to create a language which would be 

207 grandiloquent 

“better” simply because it was more like Latin. 

Dryden, writing in the seventeenth century, 

said: “I am often put to a stand in considering 

whether what I write be the idiom of the tongue 

or false grammar and nonsense, couched beneath 

that specious name of Anglicism, and 

have no other way to clear my doubts but by 

translating my English into Latin and thereby 

trying what sense the words will bear in a more 

stable language.” One result of this double translation 

was that Dryden went through his earlier 

works and rewrote all the sentences that had 

originally ended in a preposition or adverb. A 

generation later, Swift complained that the 

English of his day “offends against every part 

of grammar.” Certaicly this is blaming the foot 

because it doesn’t fit the shoe! 

Because some people would like to write the 

language of the textbooks, the entries in this 

dictionary not only tell what standing a given 

construction has in current English but also 

explain how the rules of the prescriptive grammarian 

would apply, wherever the rules and 

standard practice differ. But in such cases the 

rules are never simpie, and the person who has 

to use this type of English may feel that it 

would be easier to follow Drvden’s examole and 

write in Latin first. 

THIS BOOK 

The grammar entries in this book are designed 

for persons who speak standard English 

but who may be confused about certain isolated 

points. The entries are arrauged so that the 

answer to a particular problem can be found 

in the least possible time. But anyone who 

wishes to make a systematic study of English 

grammar, using this book, can do so by starting 

with the entry parts of speech and following the 

references to more and more detailed discussions 

of each concept. 

grand with the meaning of first-rate, splendid, or 

very good (as in We had a grand time. The 

n~raeiur wars grclrld 011 the t&e. He’s a grand 

fdlow; I krlo~ vo~‘lE like him) is a muchoverworked 

word. Grnr~? properly means imposing 

in size or appearance, stately, majestic, 

dignified, that which impresses upon the mind 

a sense of grandeur (The view from the north 

rim of the canyon is trblle-inspiring and grand 

beyond imagination. The coronation was a 

grcnd spectacle). The word has been so debased 

by exaggeration and overuse, however, that it 

is often dificult to use it properly. It has become 

tinny. 

grand finale. As a humorous extension into other 

fields, grand finale, drawn from the terminology 

of concerts, is a clicht. 

grandiloquent; magniloquent. To be eloquent is 

to have the power of fluent, forcible and appropriate 

speech (This eloquent little book spoke to 

men’s hcnrts and moved them to contrition. 

Burke paid eloquent tribute to the memory of 

Pitt. Ibis whole attitltde was eloquent of discoz/ragement). 

Grandiloquent and magniloquent 

are both disparaging terms. They suggest pompous 

and bombastic eloquence, unsuitable lofti

grandiose 

ness of utterance (This miserable mudhole 

which he grandiloquently calls “the lake.” It was 

absurd to describe so slight a performance in so 

magniloquent a manner). 

grandiose can be used favorably to designate something 

which produces an effect of grandeur. 

Thus Emerson speaks approvingly of Carlyle’s 

grandiose style. More often, however, it has a 

disparaging sense of affected grandeur, pompousness. 

Augustine Birrell thought Milton our 

grandest author, Gibbon our most grandiose. 

Grandiose is confined almost entirely to matters 

of style. 

grateful; gratified. Grateful is an adjective meaning 

warmly appreciative of kindness or benefits 

(I am grateful for your assistance at a time 

when I know you have so much to do), actuated 

by or betokening gratitude (In a delicate and 

grateful speech he acknowledged his indebtedness 

to his old master) or pleasing to the mind 

and senses (Then in Oblivion’s grateful cup/ 

I drown the galling sneer. The grateful shade 

that cools the laborer’s brow). This last sense is 

restricted to things and is a bookish word. It 

offers a convenient riming antithesis to hateful. 

Gratified is the past tense of the verb to 

gratify, to give pleasure by satisfying desires or 

humoring inclinations (The old man was gratified 

beyond words at this unexpected compliment), 

to satisfy or indulge (He gratified his 

appetite to the full). 

gravamen. See onus. 

grave (verb). The past tense is graved. The participle 

is graven or graved. The participle graven 

is preferred to graved, probably because it is 

familiar to us in graven images. But the verb 

itself is extremely bookish. In everyday English 

we say carve, which is a regular verb with the 

past tense and the participle carved. An old 

form carven was used by nineteenth century 

poets but has not been normal English for four 

hundred years. The verb engrave is regular and 

has the past tense and participle engraved. 

gray; grey. The preferred spelling in America is 

gray, in England grey, though both spellings are 

used in both countries. Some who seek to create 

distinctions have claimed that gray indicates a 

darker shade than grey but their claims have 

remained unsubstantiated. 

Though grayhound is often seen, greyhound 

is definitely to be preferred, since the first syllable 

has no reference to color but is probably 

the Icelandic grey, dog, bitch. 

great. See immense, infinite, large. 

Great Britain; the United Kingdom; England. 

Since 1707 the term Great Britain has applied 

politically to England, Scotland, and Wales. The 

United Kinpdom consists of Great Britain and 

Northern Ireland. Up until 1922 it also included 

Eire. England, properly, includes all of Great 

Britain except Scotland and Wales, but to most 

Americans England means Great Britain. 

greatly. See materially. 

Grecian; Greek. Despite Keats’s “Ode on a 

Grecian Urn” and other poetic uses (And saw 

the merry Grecian coaster come,/ Freighted 

with amber grapes, and Chian wine), Grecian 

is now limited to the architecture of the ancient 

Greeks and to the features conventionalized in 

their statues. All else is now Greek. 

green-eyed monster. As a term for jealousy, the 

green-eyed monster is now a clichk. It is-taken 

from Shakespeare’s Othello, from Iago’s speech 

in the third act beginning: 

0, beware, my lord, of jealousy! 

It is the green-ey’d monster, which doth mock 

The meat it feeds on. 

Scholars have expended much ink and some 

thought on the passage. Some have insisted that 

the monster should have been yellow-ey’d and 

that mock should be make. Others have identified 

the monster, variously, as a crocodile, a 

tiger, a cat, a mouse, and a dragonfly. But when 

the dust of learned controversy has settled, two 

things are plain: although the general meaning 

of the passage is clear, its specific meaning 

remains uncertain; the phrase has been worn 

out by repetition and should be avoided. 

green house: greenhouse. A green house is a house 

that has been painted green or made of green 

materials. A greenhouse is a glasshouse for the 

cultivation or protection of tender plants (Behind 

the green house was a greenhouse). 

grew. See grow. 

grievous error. Grievous meant pressing heavily 

upon (grievous taxes and other burdens). It was 

commonly applied to sins of a grave nature, the 

guilt of which, presumably, pressed heavily 

upon those who had committed them (grievous 

crimes and flagitious facts daily committed). 

Then it came to mean atrocious, flagrant. And 

in this sense transferred to error in the phrase 

grievous error which has now become a clich6. 

grill. The use of grill to mean a severe and persistent 

questioning (Grill him! Beat it out of 

him! Make him tell you where he’s hidden that 

bloodv poker. The police Frilled the suspect for 

twenty-jour hours bit learned nothing),‘a m&aphorical 

extension of grill in its sense of broiling 

on a gridiron, is slang. 

grin and bear it. The saying used to be to grin 

and abide. It was so quoted as a proverb in 

1802. It changed to grin and bear it during the 

nineteenth century and became a cliche towards 

the end of the century. One must bear it, but the 

grin has long since faded. 

grind. The past tense is ground. The participle is 

also ground. 

grisly; grizzly. That is grisly which is horrible to 

behold, gruesome, grim, and ghastly (Look 

down and see a grisly sight;/ A vault where the 

bodies are buried upright!). That is grizzly 

which is gray or grizzled. The term is used especially 

of hair and carries a suggestion of 

roughness as well as grayness (He had a grizzly, 

jagged beard of some three weeks growth). 

Perhaps by the time one’s hair is gray one no 

longer bothers to keep it as sleek as formerly 

or perhaps it has grown stiffer with age. The 

grizzly bear (Ursus horribilis), so called from 

the color of its pelt, probably has a great deal 

to do with the blending of the two words. 

grit (pluck). See sand.

grits; groats. In Great Britain gvirs is considered 

a dialect form of grouts, but in the United States 

grits is the standard form and groats is almost 

unknown. Groats originally meant coarsely 

ground oats but may now be used also of other 

grains. In the United States grits usually means 

coarsely ground corn, or maize, but may also 

be used of other grains. It is a mass word with 

plural form and is always treated as a plural, 

as in these grits ore good and have some of 

them. But it is not a true plural and does not 

have a singular. We cannot speak of many grits 

or of a grit. 

grocery. The use of grocery to designate a grocery 

store was until very recently universal in America. 

It is now being displaced, to a considerable 

extent, by the names of the great chains of 

grocery stores, “the A & P,” “Kroger’s,” 

“National,” and so on. And the use of these 

has led to designating individual, independently 

owned stores by their specific names. Still, 

grocery is widely used. In England the term is 

the grocer’s, the greengrocer’s, or the grocery 

shop. 

groin; groyne. In America groin is the spelling 

for all uses of the word-anatomical, architectural, 

and in civil engineering. Groyn and 

groyne are recognized, but only as rare variants. 

In England groin is the spelling for the anatomical 

and architectural senses, but the breakwater 

is spelled groyne. 

groom. The use of grooln for bridegroom (The 

groom seemed nervous and kept asking the best 

mnn if he was sure that the bride had arrived) 

is standard American usage, though in England 

bridegroom is invariably used. 

As a verb to groom is used in America to 

mean to prepare a man for a position, especially 

a political position (He was being groomed for 

the presidency), probably as an extension of the 

idea of a political contest as a race. 

gross. When this word means 144, it is a noun. It 

cannot stand immediately before another noun, 

as the word dozen can, but must be joined to it 

by of. Gross has the same form in the singular 

and the plural, as in a gross of eggs and many 

gross of red buttons. 

ground. See grind. 

ground; grounds. These words are used in several 

senses, all related to the idea of bottom or 

foundation. The singular form ground is used in 

speaking of the soil or part of the surface of the 

earth. The plural form grounds is used for 

decorative ground around a building. It is considered 

improper, or pretentious, to call farm 

lands grounds. But the plural form may be 

used for areas that have some other purpose, 

such as fishing grounds, burial grounds, picnic 

grounds. 

When the word means sediment, it is usually 

plural, as in coffee grounds. The singular form 

is also used in this sense, as in not a single 

ground, but this is very rare. 

Either the singular or the plural may be used 

in speaking of the basis for an opinion or the 

basis of a science. A man may have good 

ground or good grounds for what he thinks. 

There is no difference in meaning. But only the 

singular ground can be used to mean a position. 

In an argument a man holds his ground, not his 

grounds. 

ground floor, to be let in on. At first thought, 

to be let in on the ground floor is puzzling since, 

except under unusual circumstances, this is the 

only floor one could be let in on. As an expression 

for being granted an interest in some enterprise 

on the same terms as those accorded the 

original investors, or being admitted to some 

enterprise before the general public, it may be, 

as Partridge suggests, a metaphor from being 

given an office on the ground floor of a new 

building. If this is so, it must date back to a 

time before elevators were in use when being on 

the ground floor was a decided advantage. The 

phrase has never been more than a colloquialism 

and is already jaded. 

group names. Some nouns, such as herd, flock, 

crowd, jury, family, nation, are names of groups 

of living things. They have plural forms, such 

as herds, juries, nations, which mean more than 

one such group. There is nothing unusual about 

these plural forms. But words of this kind when 

used in the singular may be followed by either 

a singular or a plural verb. When what is said 

applies to the group as a whole, a singular verb 

is used, as in my family is a large one and the 

jury was out for six hours. When what is being 

said applies to the individual members of the 

group, a plural verb is used, as in my family are 

early risers and the jury were unable to agree. 

In most cases, only the speaker knows which 

form suits his meaning best. 

The singular group name with a plural verb 

is used in England more often than it is in this 

country. Very few Americans would say the 

herd were thirsty. But this is permissible 

grammar for anyone who cares to use it. When 

the group is made up of human beings, the 

plural verb is usually preferred, even in this 

country. That is, it is more courteous to say the 

stuff were willing to work late than to say the 

staff was willing to work late. 

When the name of a group composed of 

human beings is used with a singular verb, it is 

referred to as which; when used with a plural 

verb, it is referred to as who. Plural qualifiers, 

such as these, those, some, many, few, cannot 

be used with singular group names. On the other 

hand, singular qualifiers, such as this, that, one, 

any, each, cannot be used before a plural verb. 

But the group may be referred to as it or they, 

independently of the number of the verb or of 

a qualifying word, as is done in when . . . it 

becomes necessary for one people to dissolve 

the political bands which have connected them 

with another. Here them refers to the grammatically 

singular group one people. 

Many grammarians who allow both the 

singular and the plural construction with singular 

group names warn against using both constructions 

in the same sentence. This is probably 

good advice for a poor writer. But the best 

writers shift their form to fit their meaning. 

This shifting construction is used by most of

grouse 210 

the great writers of English and is found in such 

an impeccable document as the Constitution of 

the United States. Article I, Section 5, of the 

Constitution reads: Each house shall keep a 

fournal of its proceedings, and from time to 

time publish the same, excepting such parts as 

may in their judgment require secrecy. Here 

proceedings, which belongs to the house as a 

unit, has the singular pronoun its, and judgment, 

which belongs only to individual men, has the 

plural their. This is not careless writing. Had 

the sentence been edited to read in its judgment, 

it would not have been as fine prose as it is. 

Although a singular group name may be used 

with a plural verb, it means the entire group 

and not some individuals in the group. It is not 

a plural noun and cannot be used with a 

numeral. That is, we do not say three jury were 

unconvinced. But occasionally a group name is 

used in this way so often that it finally becomes 

an accepted plural. This has happened, for 

example, with people and clergy. During the 

nineteenth century two people and forty clergy 

were considered unacceptable expressions, but 

they are now thoroughly acceptable. Today we 

have a few words, such as staff, which may be 

in transition from group names to plurals. We 

sometimes hear three staff were willing to work 

late. This is not yet standard English and is 

offensive to many people. 

All group names that may be used with a 

numeral are listed in this dictionary as irregular 

plurals. Nouns that are often used in this way, 

in violation of our present standards, are also 

listed. If a group name cannot be found in this 

book, it is perfectly regular, that is, the singular 

form may be used with a plural verb but not 

with a plural qualifier. 

Some words that are not actually group names 

are used in much the same manner. Although 

we might say of non-human things fifty percent 

was destroyed, in speaking of people we would 

say fifty percent were illiterate. Here fifty percent 

is being treated as if it were a group name. 

Adjectives used to indicate a class of human 

beings, and the names of certain animals when 

used to represent the entire class, are also 

treated as group names and followed by a plural 

verb, as in the wise are happy and the sea otter 

have disappeared. See adjectives as nouns and 

generic nouns. 

grouse. The plural is grouse. 

grow. The past tense is grew. The participle is 

grown. A past tense and participle growed is 

heard but is not standard. The arbitrariness of 

what constitutes standard English is seen very 

clearly when one compares this verb with crow. 

There the form crowed is now standard and 

crew, crown are no longer used. 

Grow may be used to mean become. In this 

sense it may be followed by an adjective describing 

the subject of the verb, as in he grew 

bald. We may even say it grew smaller. When 

used in this sense, grow may be followed by an 

infinitive, as in I grew to know them better. It 

is sometimes heard with the -ing form of a verb 

and the preposition to, as in I grew to knowing 

them better, but this is not standard. 

grudge; spite. A grudge is a feeling of sullen resentment 

by one who suffers a real or fancied 

wrong and seeks retribution (He bore a grudge 

against his neighbor for many years because the 

neighbor once blocked his driveway). A grudge 

is usually caused by a trifling wrong. It is not 

so deep seated or permanent an enmity and is 

often assuaged when the offender has been “paid 

back.” Spite is a sharper, more active resentment, 

and is as likely to find satisfaction in 

mortifying the enemy as in injuring him. It can 

range from malice to pique. One who bears a 

grudge is likely to have a specific wrong over 

which he broods; one who harbors spite is 

likely to be more generally hostile. See also 

begrudge; malice. 

Grundy, Mrs. See gay Lothario. 

guarantee; guaranty. Guarantee is correct in all 

uses, as a noun and as a verb. Guaranty may be 

used for a warrant or p!edge or the act of giving 

security or, as a verb, to guarantee. 

From its sense of giving security for the carrying 

out of assurances, guarantee has come to 

mean making certain (The United States guarantees 

the territorial integrity of the Republic of 

Cuba) or merely stating an opinion with conviction 

(I guarantee he’ll agree with us when 

he hears what we now know). See also warrant; 

warranty. 

guard in America has the special meaning of one 

who guards prisoners in a penal institution 

(During Jim Hall’s third term in prison he encountered 

a guard that was almost as great a 

beast as he). In England the term is warder. 

gobernatorial. The Latin gubernare meant to steer 

a ship. Hence references to functions or attributes 

of a governor as gubernatorial belong to 

one of the most ancient, worn, and moldy of 

all metaphors-the ship of state. It is an American 

word and has a rolling resonance dear to 

an older generation of political rhetoricians. It 

is a safe course to avoid it wherever governor’s 

or of the government can be used instead. 

In the days when a father was facetiously 

referred to as “the governor,” gubernatorial was 

sometimes substituted for paternal. 

guerrilla; gorilla. Guerrilla (also guerilla) means 

irregular warfare (He organized u series of 

guerilla raids on and over the border. A sort 

of guerilla warfare went on constantly between 

the farmers and the teamsters. The celebrated 

guerilla leader was, in his way, a gallant man). 

English writers insist that the word can be used 

properly only of the warfare itself and that 

those who take part in it should be called 

guer(r)illeros, but American usage sanctions 

guer(r)illa for both the warfare and those who 

wage it (He put himself at the head of a band 

of guerillas. Villa’s guerrillas did not deserve 

the-name or the treatment of soldiers). 

Whether the slang word for a gangster’s 

slugger is guerrilla or gorilla is uncertain, since 

the two words are so often pronounced alike. 

Some scholars are inclined to think that it is

guerrilla, but this is a little fanciful, and if it 

ever was it has certainly become gorilla, expressing 

not so much the idea of an irregular 

warrior as of a powerful brute. 

guess; conjecture; surmise. To guess is to form a 

notion or imperfect opinion without certain 

knowledge but on the basis of probable indications 

(By the measure of my grief/ I leave thy 

greatness to be guessed). In its particular application 

to the solving of riddles and enigmas, it 

means to conjecture correctly (Can you guess 

exactly what 1 mean?). It is loosely used to 

mean think, suppose, or imagine and this use, 

though absurd when applied to a certainty (as 

in Well, I’m too tired to get uu, so 1 guess 1’11 

just go’ on sitting), is &nctidned by- English 

writers from Chaucer to Wordsworth. Chaucer 

says that he guessed he never heard sweeter 

music than some he alludes to. Shakespeare has 

Lord Talbot, in First Henry Sixth, say that he 

guesses it would be better for several scaling 

parties to assault the walls of Orleans separately. 

Sheridan uses the word this way and so does 

Wordsworth. The point has been labored a little 

because this use is frequently regarded as not 

standard and among English writers unfamiliar 

with their own literature and language condemned 

as an “Americanism.” In the United 

States guess, in this sense, is supposed to prove 

that one comes from north of the Potomac. But 

it is heard in many parts of the country, and is 

standard where it is used. 

To conjecture is to conclude or suppose from 

grounds insufficient to ensure reliability. Conjecture 

is from a Latin word meaning “to throw 

together” and there is in the word still a sense 

of a random throw, an arbitrary choice, guided 

chiefly by chance, of one opinion from many 

possible ones (As long as men have liberty to 

examine and contradict one another, one may 

partly conjecture, by comparing their words, on 

which side the truth is like to lie). 

Surmise is very close in meaning to conjecture, 

but it sometimes carries a connotation of suspicion, 

though not always unfavorable suspicion 

(My surmise, that he was not really an important 

military man, proved correct. The neighbors 

had long surmised that he was much wealthier 

than his shabby appearance and mean way of 

living suggested). 

guide, philosopher, and friend. First applied by 

Alexander Pope to Henry St. John, Viscount 

Bolingbroke, guide, philosopher, and friend has 

now become a pompous cliche if used seriously 

and a feeble jest if used facetiously. 

guimpe. See gimp. 

gun. In English usage and in American traditional 

usage a gun is any portable firearm except a 

pistol or revolver. In current American usage, 

however, a gun is often a pistol or revolver or 

automatic (The bulge in the pocket suggested a 

gun). An interesting illustration of the manner 

in which the meaning of a word lies in its connotations 

is supplied by gunman and rifleman. 

Though a man’s a man and a rifle is a gun, a 

gunman is a sinister character of the underworld 

211 

and a rifleman is a skilled and honorabIe soldier 

or an accomplished sportsman. 

guts; pluck. Guts is now a coarse word, the mildest 

of the four-letter words but outside the 

realm of polite usage. It once had dignity (the 

Oxford English Dictionary quotes from a 14th 

century psalter: Clene hert make in me, God, 

and trewe,/ And right gaste in mi guttes newe) 

but is now, except when used in its literal sense 

of intestines, by fishmongers and hunters, used 

metaphorically for courage and fortitude. Even 

so, it is felt to be a strong or manly or deliberately 

rough word and is avoided by the refined. 

Those who avoid it, however, often use the 

word pluck (more in use among the English 

than in America) without knowing that it is an 

old word for the viscera of an animal. 

In American slang guts means impudence 

more often than courage (He’s got his guts, 

coming in here without knocking), though the 

two qualities are related. Gut, except when used 

anatomically to denote the alimentary canal 

between the pylorus and the anus or, as a verb, 

to remove the intestines, is a slang word, a 

facetious back-formation from guts (as in Z 

thought I’d bust a gut laughing at his antics). 

See also belly; sand. 

guy. Guy Fawkes was the man employed by the 

conspirators in the famous English Gunpowder 

Plot to blow up King James I and all the memhers 

of Parliament on November 5, 1605. The 

plot was discovered and most of those implicated 

were apprehended and executed. Fawkes 

became a symbol of hatred and November the 

fifth is still celebrated in England as Guy 

Fawkes Day. One of the features of this day 

is the burning of an effigy, “the guy,” a 

grotesque figure of old clothes stuffed with straw 

or rags. It is customary for children to drag the 

guy around with them for several days before 

the fifth, singing songs and demanding coppers. 

Hence guy, in England, means anyone SO 

grotesque in appearance that he or she might 

be compared to one of these effigies. 

In American usage the noun guy has no sense 

of disparagement and may derive from a wholly 

different word. It simply means man, fellow, 

chap-indeed any male who may be spoken of 

without especial respect or reverence. In American 

usage a regular guy is a complimentary term, 

implying that the one complimented is one of 

the people, in no way blighted by any innate or 

acquired excellences. In England the phrase 

would mean a veritable freak, an absolute fright, 

a truly grotesque person. 

The verb to guy, however, has the same meaning 

in the United States that it has in Englandto 

make fun of (His fraternity brothers guyed 

him unmercifully about his failure to get a date 

with her). The verb is not used excessively but 

the noun, though (like the verb) not standard, 

must be one of the most frequently used words 

in America. It is a lazy man’s word, reducing all 

adult males to simulacra among whom there 

is no need to make any distinction. Thomas 

Wolfe, who gloried in words more than almost

gymnasium 

any wriier of English since the Elizabethan age, 

uttered a wild cry of anguish, in Of Time and 

the River, at the stupefying use of this “terrible 

gray abortion of a word” which even then 

studded the speech of common men “with the 

numberless monotony of paving brick.” “Without 

it,” he wailed, “they would have been 

completely speechless and would have had to 

communicate by convulsions of their arms and 

hands and painful creakings from their tongueless 

throats--the word fell upon the spirit of the 

i&ener with the gray weariness of a cold inces- 

haberdashery. Among the Canterbury pilgrims 

there was a haberdasher. Just suddenly, like 

Venus from the sea foam, he appeared fully 

formed. But where he came from and whence 

he got his name, no one knows. Chaucer apparently 

assumed that the word was well known 

and does not expatiate upon it. The haberdasher 

tells no tale and does not appear after a mention 

in the Prologue to The Canterbury Tales. Some 

among the learned have connected the word 

with the French avoirdupois. Others have connected 

it with hapertas, a width of cloth. But no 

one knows for sure. Even today there is uncertainty. 

In England a haberdasher sells what in 

the United States would be called notionsthread, 

needles, buttons, ribbons, and tape. In 

America he sells men’s furnishings-shirts, collars, 

ties, hats, gloves, and underwear. Haberdashery 

is what a haberdasher sells and the shop 

in which he sells it. 

habit. See custom. 

habitable; inhabitable. Habitable applies chiefly 

to buildings or living spaces for human beings 

(The house was so overrun with rats as to be no 

longer habitable). Inhabitable refers to areas 

or countries in which men or animals can establish 

settled residence (Crusoe was relieved to 

find that the island was inhabitable. All evidence 

suggests that life as we know it could not inhabit 

any of the planets except our own). 

The older meaning of inhabitable, by the way, 

was uninhabitable (Jove has the Realms of Earth 

in vain / Divided by th’ inhabitable Main. The 

land was inhabitable because of the sterility and 

barrenness thereof). This meaning is now obsolete, 

but it illustrates the pitfalls that await the 

unwary reader. 

habitual. See usual. 

hackneyed. See commonplace. 

had. See have. 

hail; hale. To hail is to call or shout from a distance 

in order to attract attention (I hailed a taxi 

and ordered the driver to take me at once to the 

airport). To hale is to haul, to pull, draw, constrain 

to go along (Witnesses to the accident 

212 

sant drizzle, it flowed across the spirit like a river 

of concrete; hope, joy, the power to feel and 

think were drowned out under the relentless and 

pitiless aridity of its flood.” 

gymnasium. The plural is gymnasiums or gymnasia. 

gypsy; gipsy. The preference in America is for 

gypsy. In England it is for gipsy. The word 

should be capitalized whenever the people or the 

language is &ant (The old Gypsy uttered the 

usual gypsy’s warning). The plural is Gypsies or 

Gipsies. 

hailed a policeman who haled the drunken driver 

into court). 

To hail from, to come from (Our passengers 

hailed from fifteen states), is standard, though 

it now has an old-fashioned and slightly rustic 

flavor. 

hale and hearty. Hale means healthy, vigorous, 

robust. By usage it has come to be attached to 

the old. One never hears a young person, however 

healthy, spoken of as hale. Hale and hearty 

is one of those alliterative reduplications which 

so easily become clichCs and this one has not 

escaped the general fate. Hearty originally meant 

courageous and the phrase may once have signified 

health in mind and body, but all precise 

meaning has long ago been drained out of it by 

repetition. 

half. The plural is usually halves, but halfs is also 

used. Half may be treated as a noun or as an 

adjective or as a compromise between the two. 

It is a noun when it stands alone, as in divide it 

in halves, and when it is followed by of and another 

noun that is qualified by a definitive adjective 

(such as a, the, this, my, some) as in half 

of the world, half of my apple. It is an adjective 

when it stands immediately before another noun, 

as in a half hour, a half apple. When used with 

a pronoun, half must always be treated as a 

noun and followed by of, as in half of us, half of 

if. But when used with a noun, this of may be 

dropped, as in half an apple, half a league onward. 

This is an unusual word order, but the 

construction has been standard English for at 

least a thousand years. As a rule it makes no 

difference where the word half stands. Half a 

league is a half league. 

When used as an adjective, half may qualify 

either a singular or a plural noun. Whether a 

following verb is singular or plural depends upon 

the noun, as in half the apples are bad, half 

the apple is bad. The singular form half standing 

alone may also be followed by a plural verb 

when it refers to a number of countable things, 

as in half are finished. 

Half may be used as an adverb to qualify a

verb or adjective, as in he ha!f finished the work. 

It is used in this way in expressions of time, such 

as at half past five. We may also say one half or 

a half in sentences of this kind, but the qualifying 

word is not necessary and is usually omitted. 

One half may be written with or without a hyphen. 

7wo halves is not a fraction and should 

not bc hyphenated. 

half-breed; half-caste. See mulatto. 

half the battle. Said of something which contributes 

largely to success, it is half the battle is 

already a clichC, even though the earliest occurrence 

of the phrase (Oxford English Dictionary) 

is 1849, in Captain Marryat’s Valerie (Youth 

. . . is more than half the battle). 

hallelujah, “praise ye the Lord,” is the preferred 

spelling. But halleluiah, alleluia, alleluiah, and 

alleluia are also recognized. 

halloo. See hello. 

halves. See half. 

hammer and tongs, to go at something. As a term 

for attacking something, usually a piece of work 

or an argument, with great force and violence 

and an attendant clatter, to go at it hammer and 

tongs is now a clicht. A term from the smithy 

has very little actuality for most English-speaking 

people now and is bound to be hollow as 

well as worn out. 

hamstring. The past tense is hamstringed or hamstrung. 

The participle is also hamstringed or 

hamstrung. Theoretically this verb, which means 

to cut the hamstring, should be formed regularly, 

with the past tense and participle hamstringed. 

But it has been influenced by the verb string and 

the form hamstrung is now generally preferred 

to hamstringed. Both forms are acceptable. 

hand in glove. To say of those in intimate association 

that they are hand in glove is to employ 

a clichC. The older form was hand and glove and 

this makes better sense-i.e., they are as close 

as hand and glove. Hand in glove may have been 

a confusion of hand and glove and hand in hand. 

There is a suggestion in hand in glove that the 

intimacy is slightly nefarious, conspiratorial, up 

to no good. 

handicap; hindrance. Handicap is a shortening of 

hand-in-the-cap, an old game of wagering and 

forfeits in which the contestants put their hands 

in a cap and drew out various amounts of money. 

The game is described unmistakably in Piers 

Plowman (1362-1399) under the name of Newe 

Faire, though the earliest instance of handicap 

(Oxford English Dictionary) is 1653-a salutary 

warning for those who would construct social 

history from linguistics or vice versa. From 

the game it came to mean some extra weight or 

other condition imposed on a superior in an athletic 

event to equalize the chances of an inferior, 

and from that it came to mean any incumbrance 

or disability that makes success more difficult. 

Thus it is common today to refer to lame children 

as handicapped children, though there is no 

suggestion (unless a pathetic flattery was originally 

intended) that they are necessarily superior 

children reduced, by their misfortune, to equality 

with other children. 

A hindrance is that which obstructs or pre- 

213 haply 

vents action, an incumbrance, a check, a restraint. 

Hindered children would be a more 

accurate, if less kind, description of those that 

are lame. To many employments youth, for 

example, is a hindrance; but it is not a handicap. 

handle; manage. To handle is primarily, and 

plainly, to touch or feel with the hands, to 

manipulate (The lieutenant handled the detonator 

gingerly). Some purists have maintained 

that this is the full scope of the word, that it 

should be confined to the act of touching with 

the hands, but language doesn’t accept any such 

confines and handle and manage are used interchangeably 

to mean the control or influence of 

persons, objects, or operations (He can handle 

the most dificult clients or He can manage the 

most di#icult clients). Of course where the 

meaning is that the hands are used (His ability 

to handle the ball soon made him a majorleague 

pitcher), handle is preferable. Manage 

suggests a less purely physical control or direction 

(He manages these afluirs with great 

finesse); and where it means, as it increasingly 

does, the exercise of managerial functions (The 

business is well managed and has shown excellent 

profits), handle will not serve as a synonym. 

handle with kid gloves. As a term for delicate 

treatment or consideration, to handle someone 

with kid gloves is now a clich6. 

hand-me-downs seem originally to have been cheap 

or ready-made garments, something handed 

down off the shelf at request instead of being 

made to measure. The English phrase is reachme-downs. 

Today, however, in America, the 

phrase means second-hand clothing, something 

handed down from the first user. 

handwriting on the wall. As a term for a warning 

of doom, the handwriting on the wall, drawn 

from the apparition at Belshazzar’s impious 

feast, should be used sparingly. 

hang. The past tense is hung or hanged. The participle 

is also hung or hanged. At one time these 

words were used in a slightly different sense. 

One would say we hung the picture but the picture 

hanged on the wall. Today hanged is used 

only to mean killed by hanging. Some grammarians 

believe that the form hanged must always 

be used when this is what is meant. But the 

form hung is being used more and more in this 

sense, as in I have not the least objection in life 

to a rogue being hung, and seems to be driving 

hanged from the language. 

hang on Iike grim death is a clichC. 

hangar; hanger. A hangar is a shed or shelter for 

aircraft. A hanger is that which or one who 

hangs things, as a coathanger, pothanger, or 

paperhanger. It is also the name for a light sabre 

of the 17th and 18th centuries, often worn at 

sea. Gulliver had one. 

haply; happily. Haply, now archaic, means by 

luck, chance, or accident (Haply some hoaryheaded 

swain may say,/ “Oft have we seen 

him . . .I’ ). Happily, once the same word as 

huply, means by good luck, favorable chance, 

or in a pleasurable manner (Happily the bullet 

just missed him, The child sang happily in the 

swing),

happen 214 

happen. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in we happen to like her, or by a clause 

when used impersonally, as in it happens we like 

her. Huppen is sometimes used as the equivalent 

of perhaps, as in htrppen you’ll 1iXe her, but this 

is not standard now. See transpire. 

happening; event; episode; incident; occurrence. 

The use of happening as a verbal noun is unexceptionable 

(Its happening when ii did served 

to establish the man as a prophet). But its use 

as a synonym for event or occurrence (These 

are common happenings) has been strongly condemned. 

Fowler calls it a “journalistic affectation” 

and others have echoed his stricture. But 

it has been so used for four centuries and must 

be accepted as standard, especially for things 

that just happen as against more important occurrences 

which are more likely to be described 

as events. 

Events can be happenings of any kind (All 

the events that make up an invalid’s trivial day) 

but the word usually means an important happening, 

especially one that is connected with and 

comes out of previous happenings (The event 

was eagerly awaited. The publication of a new 

book by Sinclair Lewis was always an event). 

An episode is one of a progressive series of happenings, 

frequently distinct from the main course 

of events and having a continuity and interest 

of its own (Franklin’s visit to France was a 

remarkable episode in a remarkable career). An 

incident is a minor happening in connection with 

an event or series of events of greater importance 

(There was a delightful incident at Mrs. 

Preston’s Christmas party). An occurrence is 

simply something that happens, having no connection 

with or causation by antecedent happenings 

(His being ill at the very time Alexander 

died was an occurrence for which Cesare had 

made no preparation). 

happily. See haply. 

happiness; pleasure; felicity; bliss. Happiness and 

pleasure both describe satisfaction but they differ 

in range and duration. Pleasure describes a 

state or feeling of satisfaction, usually of the 

senses, which is of fairly brief duration (There 

is a pleasure in the pathless woods. A witty answer, 

opportunely given, affords great pleasure). 

Happiness is a more settled state of contentment, 

resulting from the attainment of what one 

considers good. It is a broader term than pleasure 

because it includes not merely satisfaction from 

sensation but also from ideas of well-being and 

good fortune (Life, liberty, and the pursuit of 

happiness). 

Felicity is a formal word for a state of being 

happy in a very high degree, intense joy. When 

the dying Hamlet besought Horatio to go on 

living, saying Absent thee from felicity awhile, 

the use of the word felicity conveyed the Prince’s 

idea of death as an intense pleasure (or, rather, 

by implication, of life as something intensely 

repugnant). The choice of this word might be 

said to be felicitous, which also means a happy 

knack or choice, hitting the bull’s eye with 

more precision than skill alone could ever hope 

for. Bacon said that the painter or musician that 

excelled did so by a kind of felicity and not by 

rule. 

Bliss is perfect joy, supreme felicity. It is 

this that gives Gray’s Where ignorance is bliss, / 

‘Tis folly to be wise such force. And since the 

supremest of all joys, in the Christian conception, 

was the state experienced in heaven, bliss 

was often used to describe the heavenly state of 

being (By the hope Z have of heavenly bliss). 

harangue; tirade. A harangue is a noisy speech, 

vulgar and vehement, addressed to a large audience 

(These ceaseless harangues were resented 

by those in the assembly who desired a more 

temperate and injormed discussion of the real 

issues). A tirade need not be addressed to a 

number of persons; one auditor will suflice, and 

while vulgar and vehement public speeches usually 

are attacks on someone or something, a 

harangue need not be an attack. It could be an 

exhortation. But a tirade is always an outpouring 

of vituperation or censure (Her table talk 

consisted of endless tirades against her husband). 

harass. See tantalize. 

hard and fast line. As an affirmation of a fixed 

intention, an unshakable resolve, to draw a hard 

and fast line is now a clich6. 

hard; hardly. Hard is as truly an adverb as it is an 

adjective. Sometimes the form hardly is used to 

mean difficult, as in his hardly earned reputation. 

This is permissible, but it is not an improvement 

on hurd. In a construction of this kind the 

word hard would be clearer, and more literary. 

Hardly means scarcely and has the force of a 

negative. It should not be used in a negative 

sentence, such as I haven’t hardly any. But many 

people do use it in sentences that aren’t so obviously 

negative, as in they left without hardly a 

word. Technically, this is a double negative and 

should be they left without a word or they left 

with hardly a word. See double negatives. 

Hardly may be followed by when, but not by 

than. One can say he had hardly arrived when 

it began to snow, but not he bud hardly arrived 

than it began to snow. 

hardly, barely, and scarcely all imply that something 

was accomplished, and is being accomplished, 

or will be accomplished by a narrow 

margin. They are sometimes interchangeable, 

but hardly usually serves to mark the difficulty 

of the accomplishment (She could hardly keep 

still until he had finished his sentence. We could 

hardly get out of the house, the snow was so 

deep). Barely serves to mark the narrowness of 

the margin. It says the thing just squeaked by 

(He barely made the train. It was moving when 

he flung himself and his briefcase into the vestibule 

of the last coach). Scarcely implies a 

margin so narrow as to be below satisfactory 

performance (You would scarcely believe what 

nonsense he talks. The child can scarcely read 

a line). 

These words are restrictive in meaning and 

therefore have the force of a negative. When 

used with another negative word they may form 

a double negative.

harmony; melody. Both words refer to musical 

sound, but they differ in that harmony is the 

blending of simultaneous sounds of different 

pitch or quality into chords (“Sweet Adoline” 

is the most famous product of barbershop harmony), 

while melody is the rhythmical combination 

of successive sounds of various pitch, 

making up the tune or air (With one finger he 

picked out the melody on the piano). See also 

melody; tune. 

hart; stag; buck; hind; doe. A hart is a male of 

the deer, commonly the red deer, after its fifth 

year. A stag is an adult male deer. The term is 

also applied to the males of various other animals. 

In colloquial American usage it designates 

a man unaccompanied by a woman at a social 

gathering or a special party for men unaccompanied 

by their wives. It also means a swine 

which has been castrated after the maturation of 

the sex organs. There is no known etymological 

connection between these last meanings. A buck 

is a male of the deer, antelope, rabbit, hare, 

sheep, or goat. It is applied to the males of other 

animals. A hind is the female of the deer, chiefly 

the red deer, especially in and after the third 

year. A doe is the female of the deer, antelope, 

goat, rabbit, and certain other animals. 

Harvard accent is a cliche of resentment that 

mingles malice and ignorance in about equal 

proportions. No college in the country draws its 

students from as widely divergent regions as 

does Harvard and upon none would it be harder 

to fix a peculiarity of speech. When asked to 

demonstrate what they mean, those who employ 

the term usually attempt to imitate upper middle-class 

English speech or the pronunciation of 

the letter “a” common among the Boston Irish, 

a group not marked by any affinity for Harvard. 

See also Boston accent. 

has. See have. 

hate; dislike. Hate suggests intense aversion, abhorrence 

(Gr-r-r-there go, my heart’s abhorrence!/ 

Water your damned flower-pots, do!/ If 

hate killed men, Brother Lawrence,/ God’s 

blood, would not mine kill you!). Dislike indicates 

mild aversion (I dislike having my breakfast 

interrupted in this way). The use of hate 

for every small annoyance is puerile. The consistent 

user should consult either a dictionary or 

a psychiatrist. 

Hate may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

I hate to think about it, or by the -ing form of a 

verb, as in Z hate thinking about it. These forms 

are equally acceptable. With dislike the -ing 

form is preferred. 

hate; abhor; detest; loathe. All of these words 

suggest strong aversion. Hate, the commonest 

of the four, the everyday, working word, suggests 

strong aversion (I hate to see the evening 

sun go down) often coupled with enmity and 

malice (I hate the Moor;/ And it is thought 

abroad that ‘twixt my *sheets/ He has done my 

ofice). Abhor expresses a sense of repugnance 

bordering upon horror (He so abhorred lying 

that he could scarcely be persuaded to remain 

in the same room with anyone whom he sus- 

petted of not telling the truth). Detest expresses 

strong antipathy with a considerable element of 

disdain (The man’s combination of servilitv and 

arrogance, his crawling before hissuperiors and 

bullying of all under him, is detestable). Loathe 

expresses strong dislike and an almost overwhelming 

disgust (The greasy, splotched face, 

the foul breath, the insolent familiarity, with his 

eternal suggestion that we have some guilty 

secret in common-Oh, how I loathe the man!). 

haughtiness. See pride. 

haul. See draw. 

have. The past tense is had. The participle is also 

had. In the present tense the third person singular 

is has. The basic meaning of have is possess. 

Whenever it is followed by a simple object that 

is a noun or pronoun, it has this meaning, as in 

they have a nelv car and he hasn’t much to say. 

In Great Britain the verb do is not ordinarily 

used with have in questions and negative statements 

as it is with other verbs. That is, have you 

is considered better than do you have and I 

haven’t than I don’t have. In the United States 

both forms are used but the one with do is preferred. 

The word had placed before its subject 

indicates a contrary to fact condition, as in had 

I the money, I would. . . . 

There is not much difference between the 

verb have, meaning possess, and the verb get, 

meaning acquire, and the two are often used 

interchangeably or together for emphasis, as in 

I have a cold and I have got a cold. When have 

is used as a full verb the word got may be used 

with it, as in the examples, but cannot be substituted 

for it. See get. 

Forms of the verb have followed by a past 

participle of any verb, as in he has left, they had 

left, make the perfect tenses of the second verb. 

(See perfect tenses.) The past perfect tenses 

made with had can be used to indicate that a 

statement is contrary to fact, as in had he left 

earlier, he would have . . . (See subjunctive 

mode.) The full verb have also has perfect tense 

forms and one can say he has had supper or he 

had had supper. But the second element is always 

the participle had and never the simple 

form have. The form had have is heard frequently 

but there is no possible situation in 

which this is correct English. It is most often 

used where would have or simply had is rcquired. 

(This is discussed more fully under 

subjunctive mode.) The expressions had rather, 

had better, are not the same thing. These are 

literary English. (See rather.) 

Have is also used as a causative auxiliary, that 

is, as an auxiliary verb meaning “cause to.” 

When used in this way in an active construction 

the form of have is followed by an object and 

the simple form of a verb, as in I had him come. 

The second verb may also have an object, as in 

I had him paint the house. Causative have may 

also be followed by a passive construction. 

Here the word be is understood but never used 

and the object is followed immediately by a 

past participle, as in I had the house painted. 

This construction differs from a perfect tense

form, such as I had painted the house, only in 

the position of the object. In the perfect tenses 

the object never stands between the elements of 

the verbal phrase. (Get is also used as a causative. 

In the passive construction it is used just as 

have is, as in I got fhe house painted. In the 

active construction it requires a to-infinitive, as 

in I got him to paint the house.) 

What looks like an infinitive form of this causative 

have is often used without any implication 

of compulsion on the part of the speaker but 

almost in the sense of “possess,” as in he would 

like to have you come and it is heaven upon 

earth fo have a man’s mind move in charity, 

rest in providence, and turn upon the poles of 

truth. In all of its uses as an auxiliary, have 

keeps a great deal of its primary meaning. 

Forms of have followed by a to-infinitive 

express necessity or constraint, as in we have to 

leave. Here have fo is equivalent to must and is 

a much more useful verb. Must cannot be used 

in past or future tense forms and phrases such 

as we had to and we will have to are convenient 

substitutes. In this construction have can be used 

with forms of the verb do, as in we do have to 

leave or we did have to leave. Or the word got 

may be used to make the statement more emphatic, 

as in we’ve got to leave. In you will have 

to have some one help you, the first have expresses 

necessity. The second have is a causative 

attached to the verb help. 

Have is sometimes used simply as a substitute 

for the passive voice, as in I had my ankle 

sprained and I had my house broken into. This 

is an ambiguous construction because it has 

exactly the form of the causative have, and 

should be avoided for that reason, at least in 

writing. 

he. See subjective pronouns and his. 

head. When this word is used in counting cattle, 

the singular form head is always used after a 

numeral, as in forty head of cattle. The plural 

form heads is used only when there is no 

numeral, as in wealth is reckoned by heads of 

cattle. The singular form is, of course, used after 

the article a, as in not a head of cattle. 

In the United States, the word cattle is used 

as a true plural and no need is felt for the particularizing 

word head. Ten thousand cattle 

straying is standard English in this country. 

head or tail of, not able to make. Sometimes it’s 

heads or tails, and sometimes it’s unable to 

make. The meaning seems to be that that which 

does not have a distinguishable head or tail or 

whose head cannot be distinguished from its 

tail would be difficult to classify. 

The phrase itself, however, is not at all hard 

to classify. It’s a clicht. It’s been around for 

well over two centuries and has been used until 

all freshness and original meaning have gone 

out of it and it deserves to be forgotten. 

head over heels. The phrase head over heels 

seems to have performed a somersault itself, for 

things are not topsy-turvy but in their proper 

order when the head is over the heels. Some 

tenacious purists insist that the phrase is proper- 

ly and logically heels over head, but, knocking 

logic heels over head, usage has decreed that it 

shall be head over heels. Moreover, the expression 

is often used in the United States with 

no suggestion of somersaulting or cartwheeling, 

as in he is head over heels in love or he is head 

over heels in debt. Admittedly, this makes no 

sense. But heels over head makes no sense 

either and does not have the advantage of being 

the familiar idiom. A writer who finds head 

over heels troublesome should keep to literary 

English and say extremely or very much. 

headlines. That a word is used in a special sense 

in a headline is no reason for assuming that this 

sense is standard for that word. Headlines have 

become a language unto themselves, often incomprehensible 

until the article itself has been 

read. Any restraint becomes a BAN. Anyone 

who is questioned is GRILLED. And all nouns 

become adjectives to be agglutinated in any 

sequence. MERCURY PLUMMETS may convey 

the knowledge that the temperature has 

fallen, but it isn’t standard English. And even a 

highly literate person would have to be forgiven 

for not perceiving that ENVOY CHAT 

DRAWS BAN refers to an eccentric who had 

been telephoning various ambassadors by long 

distance and had finally been ordered to stop 

bothering them. 

headquarters. As a rule this word is used with a 

plural verb, as in his headquarters are in New 

York, but it may also be used with a singular 

verb, as in his headquarters is in New York. 

There is no singular form a headquarter. 

healthy; healthful; salutary. Although healthy is 

applied especially to that which possesses health 

or is characteristic of health (The children 

looked wonderfully healthy with their bright 

eyes and glowing cheeks), it is also applicable to 

that which is conducive to health (Wilhelm 

found woodchopping a healthy pastime). 

Healthful used to mean healthy (Kate was tall 

and skinny . . . though perfectly healthful), but 

this meaning is now rare and the common usage 

confines the word to that which is conducive to 

health (He carefully chose a healthful diet). 

Salutary means conducive to health, especially 

in aiding recovery from sickness or counteracting 

some harmful influence (These mineral 

waters were thought to be higflly salutary for 

those aflicted with phthisic disorders). Salutary 

differs from healthy and healthful in having a 

wider application. It is applied to anything likely 

to bring about a better condition, anything 

wholesome or beneficial (He had a salutary 

respect for the old man’s temper). Healthy is 

coming to be used more and more in this sense, 

often humorously (He had a healthy respect for 

the old man’s temper. He knew it wouldn’t be 

healthy for him fo be found with his hand in the 

cash register), but such use is not yet recognized 

as standard. 

heap. Today, this word is standard English only 

when it means a pile. Four hundred years ago 

it could be used to mean a multitude, as in the 

heaps of people thronging in the hall. It is still

used in a derived sense, as in he had (I heap of 

trouble, but this is not now standard. One or 

two hundred years ago heap was replaced by 

deal as the word meaning a large amount. And 

in current English deal is being replaced by lot. 

hear. The past tense is heard. The participle is 

also heard. When hear is used in an active form 

it may be followed by an object and the simple 

form of a verb, as in I heard him speak, or by 

an object and the -ing form of a verb, as in I 

heard him speaking. When hear is used in a 

passive form it may be followed by a toinfinitive, 

as in he was heard to speak, or by the 

-ing form of a verb, as in he was henrd speaking. 

When hear is used in the sense of “hear of” it 

may be followed by a clause, as in Z heard that 

he spoke. 

Hear may be followed by an object and a 

past participle with passive meaning (that is, the 

be of a passive infinitive may be suppressed), 

as in Z have heard it told that he is a miser. The 

it may be omitted from a sentence of this kind, 

as in Z have heard said that he is a miser. The 

present tense form say, as in I’ve heard say he 

is a miser, is not the same construction but is 

an accepted idiom. It has probably been formed 

from the noun hearsay. Both expressions are 

standard English. Hear tell seems to be an effort 

to introduce variety into this idiom. It is accepted 

spoken English in the United States but 

does not now appear in writing. See also listen. 

heart. The heart is a tough organ but as a term 

for the seat of the emotions it has been pretty 

well worn out. As an expression for utter devotion, 

complete earnestness, absolute sincerity, 

heart and soul is now a cliche. No one with any 

feeling for freshness in language will refer any 

more to hearts of gold, or of stone, or of oak. 

Even if he had to refer literally to something 

that had an actual heart or center of gold or 

stone, he would probably use some circumlocution 

to avoid the hackneyed phrase. For the 

same reason one no longer speaks or writes of 

having a heart in the right place or in one’s 

mouth, or of having one’s heart bleed for someone. 

The discriminating will avoid getting to the 

heart of the matter. 

heathen. When speaking of men individually, 

heathen is a singular and has a regular plural 

in s, as in one heathen and three heathens. The 

singular form may also be used as a group 

name, meaning all of them, in which case it 

regularly takes a plural verb, as in the heathen 

are hard to persuade. But this is not a true 

plural and we do not speak of three heathen. 

See also agnostic. 

heave. The past tense is heaved or hove. The participle 

is also heaved or hove. Heaved is the 

preferred form in general English, for the past 

tense and for the participle, and hove is pretty 

much confined to nautical matters. We say the 

ship hove in sight and they hove up the anchor, 

but other things are usually heaved. 

heave a sigh of relief. Sighs have been heaved 

out of pensive bosoms so long and so often that 

the discriminating writer, if he must get a sigh 

217 Hebrew 

out of someone will find some other name for 

the portion of the anatomy from which it comes 

and some other word for its ejection than 

heaved. 

heaven; heavens. These words can be used interchangeably. 

Some grammarians claim that the 

plural form heavens always means the sky and 

the singular form heaven, the home of the blest. 

But this distinction is not observed strictly. 

Good heavens! does not refer to the atmosphere, 

and the New Jerusalem is not intended in sees 

in heaven the light of London flaring like a 

dreary dawn. Heaven (and sometimes heavens) 

is also used euphemistically as a term for God 

in various emphatic statements and exclamations 

(Heaven only knows. For heaven’s sakes). 

In this use it is sometimes capitalized, but, 

usually, those who feel that it ought to be capitalized 

in this sense recognize it as a piece of 

profanity and prefer not to use it at all. 

heavenly. See paradise. 

heavy. See weighty. 

Hebrew; Israelite; Israeli; Jew; Semite. A Hebrew 

is a member of that branch of the Semitic race 

descended from Abraham, an Israelite, a Jew. 

Hebrew is a Semitic language, the language of 

the ancient Hebrews, which although not vernacular 

after 100 B.C., was retained as the 

scholarly and liturgical language of Jews and is 

now used as the language of Israelis. When the 

word is used of a person in the United States 

today it is usually employed as a euphemism to 

avoid Jew and while the euphemism is, no 

doubt, well intended, it carries to the sensitive 

ear the implication that the speaker regards the 

word he is seeking to avoid as indecent, shameful, 

embarrassing or dangerous. 

An Israelite is a descendant of Jacob or Israel. 

In current American usage the word is confined 

to Biblical references. An Zsrueli is a native or 

inhabitant of the state of Israel. 

To define the connotations of the word Jew 

would require many harrowing volumes. It is 

the everyday, working word. It is a word of incomparable 

dignity and immeasurable scorn and 

everything in between. It used to be a word of 

great comic range but that, at least, is fading. 

Its colloquial uses as an adjective or a verb are 

all offensive. The guidance to the “correct” use 

of the noun does not lie in any dictionary but 

in the heart and mind of the user. 

Semite is properly a linguistic term and means 

a member of a speech family which comprises 

the Hebrews, Arabs, Assyrians, and others. The 

noun with its adjective is rarely employed today 

except by linguists and anthropologists. The 

compound anti-Semitism is, however, widely 

used as a term for hostility to Jews. The term is 

no longer accepted openly, as it was in France 

in the nineteenth century, by those who practice 

it, but is used almost exclusively by those who 

disapprove of it. It is a somewhat scholarly word 

and usually describes those attitudes and degrees 

of hostility that stop short of the violence to 

which they incite others. The English term lewbaiting 

(a closer translation of the German

Judenhetze than anti-Semitism) is not much 

used in Anierica where, happily, the more 

violent expressions of hostility to Jews are comparatively 

rare. See also Yiddish. 

hectic applied originally to the feverish flush 

characteristic of consumption (Pale young girls 

with hectic cheeks) and although this particular 

flush is usually a concomitant of weakness and 

languor the word got connected with the flush 

of excitement. When Hazlitt said of Shelley that 

he had a maggot in his bruin, a hectic flutter in 

his speech, he may have been alluding to the 

poet’s presumed phthisis but he was probably 

alluding to his excitable and impetuous nature. 

Certainly the word has come in contemporary 

usage to mean, primarily, that which is characterized 

by great excitement or passion (The 

hectic days of the holidays will soon overwhelm 

us) and is coming to have-perhaps as a reflection 

of the increasing average age of the 

population-more than a tinge of suggestion of 

the exhaustion that such excitement entails (We 

had a hectic day! I’m worn out. It was simply 

hectic! Z just can’t stand any more of it). Many 

writers have objected strongly to the extension 

of hectic’s meanings beyond flushed or feverish 

but it has been a natural linguistic process 

against which it is hard to see how objections 

may be sustained. 

hedonist; epicurean; epicure. A hedonist is one 

who holds that pleasure or happiness is the 

highest good and since, whatever our practice, 

the profession of such a doctrine is frowned 

upon, the word is strongly tinged with disapprobation 

and the hedonistic tendencies of the age 

are much sermoned against. Although Epicurus 

taught that the practice of virtue was the highest 

pleasure, his insistence that the seeking of 

pleasure was the strongest motive force men 

have and should be recognized as such has given 

his philosophy a bad name. During the ages 

when the ascetic virtues were extolled epicureanism 

became a synonym for indulgence in sensuous 

pleasures and the epicurean today is one 

who so indulges. The word is applied esneciallv 

to one who indulges luxurious-tastes in eating 

and drinking, though epicure, curiously enough, 

is not quite so pejorative as epicurean. The 

primary meaning of epicure today is not so 

much one who indulges as one who cultivates a 

refined taste. 

height is now almost the only form of the word 

for the state of being high. Highth is a recognized 

variant and hight is obsolete. Heighth is 

simply an error for highth. 

heir; heir apparent; heir presumptive. In the 

popular conception an heir, and especially an 

heiress, is one who expects to inherit---or, as 

the trustful masses say, “will” inherit. Legally, 

however, an heir is one who has succeeded to 

an estate, not one who will inherit but one who 

has inherited. 

An heir apparent is one whose right is indefeasible 

if he survive the ancestor. An heir presumptive 

is less secure. If the ancestor should 

die immediately, the heir presumptive would 

become the heir, but his right to the inheritance 

may be defeated by the birth of a nearer relative 

or some other contingency. In America there is 

very little use for these terms, at least in 

common speech; but since there is a suggestion 

of special knowledge in their use, they must be 

used correctly. 

held. See hoid. 

hello; halloo; hollo; holler. As Fowler says, “the 

multiplicity of forms is bewildering.” In addition 

to those given there are also hallo, halloa, 

hillo. hillou. h&lo. and hollow. All are exclamations 

to attract attkntion (or to urge on the dogs 

in hunting) and all are basically the same word, 

but usage has restricted certain of them to 

certain meanings. The common exclamation of 

greeting is hello in America, hullo in England. 

Hillo and halloo are hunting cries. Hollow, 

hollo, and holler designate a cry with a loud 

voice (I hollered but he didn’t seem to hear me), 

the last of the three being commonly regarded 

as dialectal or nonstandard. 

helot. A helot was a serf in ancient Sparta, owned 

by the state but assigned by lot to a certain landowner. 

The use of the word as a facetious or 

indignant term for workers (The helots who toil 

that others may wallow in idleness) is affected. 

help. In’ the United States the verb help may be 

followed by the simple form of a verb, such as 

peel in he helped us peel the onions. A toinfinitive 

in this construction, as in he helped us 

to peel the onions, is almost never heard. However, 

when helped is used in a passive form the 

to-infinitive is generally preferred, as in we were 

helped to get out. In Great Britain the toinfinitive 

is required in both constructions and 

the form without to is not considered standard. 

In the United States J cannot help but think 

is the preferred way of expressing this idea. 

Grammatically, the construction is as irreproachable 

as Z cannot choose but think. But in 

Great Britain an -ing form is required after 

help, as in Z cannot help thinking, and the form 

help but think is considered unacceptable. 

British grammarians sometimes claim that the 

but in the American construction constitutes a 

double negative. They say that help here means 

avoid and that the whole expression is equivalent 

to Z cannot avoid not to think, which in turn 

would mean that the speaker was compelled 

not to think. The answer is that help means 

avoid in the British idiom but not in the American. 

In the American expression help retains 

its basic meaning of aid or further, and the 

statement Z cannot help but think can be properly 

paraphrased as Z cannot do (or further) anything 

except to think, which of course means 

that the speaker is compelled to think. as is 

intended. - 

help; aid; assist; succor. Help is the everyday 

word for furnishing another with something he 

needs, especially furthering his efforts or relieving 

his wants or necessities (Help me, Cassius, 

or Z sink. God helps them that help themselves. 

But the jingling of the guinea helps the hurt that 

Honour feels). Aid and assist are more formal

and imply only a furthering or seconding of 

another’s efforts. Aid implies a more active helping 

than assist which suggests not only less help 

but also less need for help (aided and comforted 

the enemy;. . .my wife, without whose assistance 

this book would never have been published). 

Succor derives from a word meaning to 

run under, and there is still in it a sense of 

bringing aid, of coming to the relief of. This is 

especially so in military contexts where beleaguered 

cities or isolated detachments of 

troops are succored or succor is brought to 

them. Succor is a more emotional word than 

help or assisf. It suggests not only aid but comfort. 

Except in the military sense, it is, however, 

slightly bookish. 

help; servant. In the sense of a domestic servant 

or a farm laborer, help has been used in 

America, at least in New England, since earliest 

times (James Penn shall have 2Os, to be disposed 

among such of his servants & helps . . . . 

He has always had good help on his farm: he 

treats them right. In Indiana and Illinois, where 

white servants were employed, they would not 

tolerate being called servants. They were known 

us “the help”). It is now applied to hired laborers, 

especially those whose work does not 

require any special skills (Help wanted. He 

laid 08 half his help). While servant, as applied 

to employment in the service of a private individual 

or organization, is generally regarded as 

an undemocratic word, a person in the government 

can be called a servant without offense 

(a faithful civil servant). 

helping hand. The helping hand, especially when 

lent, is a clich6. 

helpmate; helpmeet. In the second chapter of 

Genesis, according to the King James version, 

God said that it was not good that Adam should 

be alone and that He would make him an help 

meet for him-that is a helper suitable for him. 

Wycliffe had translated the phrase an helper like 

hym and Coverdale an helpe, to beare him 

company. The Revised Standard Version has a 

helper fit for him. In the seventeenth century 

help and meet, for some reason, were taken to 

be one word and since Adam’s fit helper turned 

out to be Eve, his wife, the new compound was 

applied to a wife or husband, usually to a wife 

(A true helpmeet for him, young, beautiful, 

rich, and withal virtuous). In the eighteenth 

century meet and mate were often pronounced 

alike (as they are in Ireland today) and the 

absurd coinage was soon given a semblance of 

sense by being spelled helpmate, though the 

older spelling persisted alongside the new one 

and is still in use even today, especially among 

those who like to be quaintly learned. Both 

words are a little affected and bookish. 

hemlock. In England hemlock designates a poisonous 

umbelliferous herb, Conicum maculatum 

(Round about the caldron go;/ In the poison’d 

entrails throw, . . ./ Root of hemlock digg’d i 

the dark). It also designates a poisonous drink 

made from this herb (Socrates drinking the 

hemlock,/ And Jesus on the rood). In the 

219 herself 

United States hemlock chiefly designates an 

evergreen tree of the genus Tsuga, the hemlock 

spruce (This is the forest primeval. The murmuring 

pines and the hemlocks,/ . . ./ Stand 

like Druids of old). The early Americans made 

a drink from this spruce which they called hemlock 

tea. John Galt in his Lawrie Todd (1830) 

refers to it as “a pleasant and salutary drink.” 

her; hers. Her is one of the objective pronouns. 

It is used after a verb or a preposition in place 

of the word she, as in have you seen her? and 

did you talk with her? (See objective pronouns.) 

Her is also used as a possessive in place of the 

word hers. In this sense, the form her is required 

when the word qualifies a following noun, as 

in her home, her money, and the form hers is 

required in any other construction, as in have 

you seen hers? and compare this with hers. Hers 

is the form used in a double possessive where 

the word is separated from its following noun 

by and, as in hers and Sophia’s bedroom. Today, 

this construction is generally avoided. We are 

more likely to say her bedroom and Sophia’s or 

her own and Sophia’s bedroom. Neither word 

order shows clearly whether we are talking 

about one thing or two, but the old-fashioned 

form, hers and Sophia’s, suggests one thing 

possessed in common more strongly than the 

forms which use her. In current English the 

word hers is never written with an apostrophe. 

here. The adverb here cannot qualify a following 

noun, as in this here pencil, because too many 

teacher-hours have been devoted to saying that 

it couldn’t. If anyone uses this construction we 

know at once that either he never went to school 

a day in his life, or he is dangerously selfassertive. 

The trouble is not that here repeats the idea 

of this, but that it is an adverb standing in the 

adjective position. This player here is the purest 

English. A few words that are primarily adverbs 

have won the right to stand before a noun, as 

in the after life, the above remarks, but here is 

not likely to become one of them. See hither. 

hereabout; hereabouts. These forms are equally 

acceptable today, and have been for several 

centuries. Some grammarians claim that hereabouts 

ought to be the preferred form, because 

the word is used to qualify a verb and s is a 

formal adverbial ending. But there is no evidence 

that it actually is preferred. 

hem (pronoun) was once acceptable English, but 

it has not been used in the literary language for 

three hundred years. The only acceptable form 

today is hers. 

hernia. The plural is hernias or herniae. 

hero. The plural is heroes. 

heroics. This word is always treated as a plural 

and is usually meant derisively, as in these 

heroics are wasted on me. The adjectives heroic 

and heroical do not carry this sense but belong 

to the solemn word hero. Both forms of the 

adjective are acceptable, but heroic is heard 

more often. 

herself. In Ireland this word is sometimes used in 

place of the word her or she, as in YOII must ask

hesitate 220 

herself and herself will tell you. This was once 

literary English but is no longer standard in the 

United States. For the regular uses of herself, 

see reflexive pronouns. 

hesitate. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he hesitated to tell her. It is sometimes 

heard with the -ing form of a verb, as in he hesitated 

telling her. This is not standard English. 

hew. The past tense is hewed. The participle is 

hewed or hewn. Hewed is the preferred form for 

the participle but hewn is still acceptable. 

hiatus. The plural is hiatuses or hiatus, not hiati. 

hiccup; hiccough. The proper word for the characteristic 

sound caused by a quick, involuntary 

inspiration’s being suddenly checked by a 

closure of the glottis is hiccup, one of the best 

onomatopoeic words in the language. Hiccough 

is apparently a euphemism or genteelism in 

spelling. The dictionaries accept it as a permissible 

variant but, fortunately, it doesn’t seem to 

be gaining much ground. The obsolete spellings 

of hickop and hicket were good. It’s a pity 

they’ve been lost. 

hide. The past tense is hid. The participle is hidden 

or hid. Hidden is the preferred form for the 

participle. Hid is also used, as in he had hid the 

package, but is considered bookish by some 

people. 

hide; conceal; secrete. Hide is the everyday working 

word (He hid the money under the mattress. 

She hid her dismay under an assumption of indifference. 

The stop light was hidden by an 

intervening pole). Concenl is more formal. A 

hen would hide her eggs; a man would conceal 

his motives. Concealment, however, has become 

as much of an everyday word as we have for 

the act of hiding. Hiding is rarely used seriously 

to describe the act of concealing. To secrete 

means to hide carefully in order to keep secret. 

It has acquired a faint connotation of furtiveness; 

a secretive person is not merely reticent, 

there is a suggestion of something slightly dishonest 

about him. This may be due to a vague 

confusion with the biological meaning of secrete 

(really a different word), the separating off, or 

preparation from the blood, as in the secretions 

of the glands. Thus it may be felt that the 

secretive man is not merely concealing something, 

but internally creating something that 

may help him but harm us. See also cache. 

hide one’s light under a bushel. As a term, usually 

employed ironically, for concealing one’s 

merits or talents, to hide one’s light under u 

bushel (taken from Matthew 5:15) is now a 

cliche. Except in this phrase bushel has not been 

used for a bushel basket or container for more 

than two hundred years. 

high and dry. To say of something that has been 

abandoned or someone who has been forgotten 

or passed over that it or he has been left high 

and dry is a cliche. The figure is of a ship that 

has been beached. 

high; highly. When used in its literal, physical 

sense high is as truly an adverb as it is an adjective. 

We say he jumped high and never he 

jumped highly, When used in a derived sense, 

high is an adjective and highly an adverb. We 

say the table has a high polish and it is highly 

polished. See also tall. 

high-toned; stylish. High-toned literally applies to 

sounds that are high in pitch. Though in 

England the term also means having high or 

lofty moral principles (In whose high-toned impartial 

mind/ Degrees of mortal rank and state/ 

Seem objects of indifferent weight--Scott), it is 

usually employed in this sense in America contemptuously 

or ironically. Wallace Stevens, for 

instance, has entitled one of his poems “Hightoned 

old Christian lady.” A third sense, the one 

most frequently intended in America, is stylish, 

fashionably elegant (We don’t think there is 

any place in Arizona for high-toned fox hunting 

-Chicago Sun, Nov. 1, 1946). This sense, however, 

is still not so stylish as stylish. 

hilarity. See glee. 

him. See objective pronouns and his. 

himself. In Ireland and Scotland this word is 

sometimes used in place of the word him or he 

(when applied to the head of the family), as in 

Z see himself coming and himself will soon be 

here. This was once literary English but is no 

longer standard in the United States. For the 

regular uses of himself, see reflexive pronouns. 

hind. The comparative form is hinder. The superlative 

form is hindmost or hindermost. See also 

hart. 

hinder. The -ing form of a verb following hinder 

is usually introduced by from or in, as in hinder 

him from going and hinder him in carrying out 

his plans. See also prevent. 

hindrance. See handicap; obstacle. 

hindsight has such a homely, folksy, Anglo-Saxon 

ring to it that one would assume that it was the 

good old word and retrospection a stilted latinization 

dragged in by scholars in recent years. 

But the contrary is true. Hindsight was made up 

by scholars in the late nineteenth century and 

retrospection is of respectable antiquity, going 

back to the early seventeenth century. As a 

contrast to foresight (His hindsight is better 

than his foresight), however, especially in such 

ironical uses as the wisdom of hindsight, the 

word has definitely replaced retrospection, but 

in almost any other sense of looking backwards, 

retrospection is preferable. 

hippopotamus. The plural is hippopotamuses or 

hippopotami. 

hire; rent; charter. Hire is the general word, most 

commonly applied to paying money for labor 

or services (He hired twenty machinists. 

McGill’s was not hiring unskilled labor). In 

New England hire is used in speaking of money 

borrowed at interest (They hired the money, 

didn’t they?) to distinguish it, apparently, from 

money borrowed at no interest from a friend. 

The use of hired man, hired girl, while retained 

as a democratic euphemism for servant, seems 

to have had its origin in the fact that in colonial 

times there was an important distinction between 

an indentured servant and a hired servant. 

Hire is used also to designate paying for the 

temporary use of vehicles or buildings (The

school hired an old, dilapidated bus to take the 

team about the county. Oh, why don’t you hire 

a hall!), but rent is more common in this sense 

and better. Rent is usually applied to paying a 

set sum once or at regular intervals for the use 

of a building or personal effects (We rented the 

old Coghill property for the winter. You can 

rent a tuxedo for five dollars). 

Charter used to be confined to paying for the 

use of a vessel, but it is being used with increasing 

frequency to designate the hiring of any 

conveyance for the use of a group (The garden 

club found that it was cheaper to charter a bus 

and much more convenient). See also employ. 

hireling. See venal. 

his. In natural English, the words he, him, and 

his, always refer to a male. In theoretical 

English they can refer to either a male or a 

female when the sex is unknown. In 1850, this 

theory was recognized in “An Act for shortening 

the language used in acts of Parliament” 

which announced “that in all acts words importing 

the masculine gender shall be deemed and 

taken to include females, and the singular to 

include the plural, and the plural the singular, 

unless the contrary as to gender and number is 

expressly provided.” But neither this act, nor 

all the grammar books in the world can alter 

the fact that, if we are told somebody telephoned 

while you were out, we say did they 

leave a message? In natural English, the words 

they, them, their, are used more often than he, 

him, his, in speaking of an unknown individual 

who may possibly be a woman. His may be 

used instead of one’s in referring back to the 

indefinite pronoun one, as in if one loses his 

temper. 

hisn. This word was once acceptable English, but 

it has not been used in the literary language 

for three hundred years. The only acceptable 

form today is his. 

hisself. This-word is not standard; the only acceptable 

form is himself. Hisself is made with the 

possessive pronoun in the same way that myself 

and yourself are. It has been in use since the 

time of King Alfred but has been regarded as 

bad English for at least five hundred years. A 

grammarian writing in 1762 thought that 

himself was a corruption and hisself the logically 

correct form. But hisself was frowned 

upon in 1762 as much as it is today. However, 

when another word stands between the 

pronoun and the word self, the possessive form 

his is required, as in his own sweet self, and the 

objective form him is unacceptable. 

historic; historical. Though often used interchangeably, 

historic and historical have distinguishable 

senses. Historic means well-known 

or important in history (The signing of the 

Declaration of Independence was a historic 

occasion). Historical means relating to or concerned 

with history (The historical King Arthur 

was a Roman soldier). 

hit. The past tense is hit. The participle is also hit. 

Verbs of this kind show us how well we can get 

along without tense inflections and how much 

221 hoard 

unnecessary trouble we make for ourselves in 

preserving such forms as sing, sang, sung, and 

lie, lay, lain. This does not mean that any one 

can take it on himself to disregard the standard 

forms of speech. But it does suggest that if the 

rules were relaxed a little, language might do 

wonders for itself in a few generations and become 

a much simpler, and more efficient, tool 

than it now is. 

hit below the belt. Originally from boxing, to hit 

below the belt as a term for taking an unfair 

advantage is now a clich6. It should be used 

sparingly. 

hit the nail on the head. As a term for guessing 

correctly, stating something accurately, usually 

with an element of good luck in so doing, to hit 

the nail on the head has been in use for almost 

four hundred years. It has become a clichk and 

should be allowed a long rest. 

hitch your wagon to a star. Though the idea of 

the stimulus of an unattainable ideal was in the 

phrase when Emerson coined it (Society and 

Solitude: Civilization) he had also in mind a 

more practical interpretation than is now given 

it. Everything good in man, he had said, depends 

on what is higher. We can be strong and succeed 

only if we borrow “the aid of the elements.” 

The strong, downward stroke of an axe is really 

impelled by the force of gravity, of which the 

skillful carpenter is taking advantage. Mills on 

the sea shore which are driven by the tides 

“engage the assistance of the moon, like a hired 

hand.” And this is wisdom for a man in every 

instance of his labor, to hitch his wagon to a 

star, and see his chore done by the gods themselves. 

As a term merely for being nobly ambitious, 

the admonition to hitch your wagon to 

a star is now a clichb. 

hither; here. As an adverb hither means to or 

towards this place. The word is now archaic. 

Here has absorbed the meaning of hither (Come 

here) and has retained its basic senses of in this 

place (Leave it here), at this point of time 

(Here he paused and waited for the expected 

applause), and at this point in a time sequence 

(Here is where we came in). 

Hither is one of the few adverbs that have 

been accepted as adjectives. But it has been 

accepted, as in the hither side, the hither shore, 

and this use is as respectable as any. 

hoard; horde. A hoard is an accumulation of 

something presumably valuable and usually 

concealed (A large hoard of coins was discovered 

beneath the floor boards). A hoard of 

grievances would differ from an accumulation 

of grievances in that he who held them would 

hold them in secret and cherish them. A horde 

was originally a tribe of Asiatic nomads (They 

are divided into three hordes, under the government 

of a khan). The Golden Horde. for 

instance, was the name of a particular tribe that 

possessed the khanate of Kiptchak in central 

Asia in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 

The word came to be applied to any nomadic 

group and, usually in an uncomplimentary 

sense, to a large, unorganized crowd (The horde

Hobson’s 222 

of Christmas shoppers. A horde of ragged, 

little boys). 

Hobson’s choice, a humorous phrase for no choice 

at all, is now a cliche in England but not used 

enough in the United States to be regarded 

as one here. The phrase derives from Thomas 

Hobson (about 1544 to 163 1) , a carrier at 

Cambridge who rented horses and compelled 

his customers to take the horse he assigned to 

them or none at all. It is one of the vagaries of 

fame that this obscure man should have lent his 

name to a proverb and been the subject of two 

poems by John Milton. 

hodgepodge; hotchpotch; hotchpot. The original 

form horchpot is a legal term designating the 

bringing together of shares or properties in 

order to divide them equally, especially when 

they are to be divided among the children of a 

parent dying without a will (With regard to 

lands descending in co-parcenary, that it hath 

always been, and still is, the common law of 

England, under the name of hotchpoti 

Blackstone). Hotchpotch. a British variant of 

this form, is a general term to describe a heterogeneous 

mixture, an agglomeration, a jumble, 

farrago, medley, or gallimaufrey (That ethnological 

botch-patch called the Latin race). 

Hodgepodge is a variant of hotchpotch. Of the 

two forms it is now the preferred one in 

America. In its use there is often a suggestion 

that the jumbling has been clumsy and inept 

(The art collection was a hodgepodge of paintings 

from many periods and in several styles). 

hog. As a standard noun hog means a pig, sow, 

or boar, a domestic swine. In England it has 

been replaced (except in figurative uses, such 

as road hog) by pig. Thus American hogpen is 

English pigsty. In colloquial use the word 

describes a person having the hoggish attributes 

of selfishness, gluttony, and, less commonly, 

filthiness (He was a hog at the table. He was 

a hog and would always shove out in front and 

grub what he impudently called “his share”). 

In slang usage as a verb, to hog is to take something 

selfishly or to take more than one’s share 

(So, says I, s’pose somebody has hogged that 

bag on the sly?. At the movies he was &ways 

the one to hog the popcorn). See also pig. 

hoi polloi. These Greek words (hoi, the; polloi, 

many) signify the masses, the ordinary people, 

The phrase is often used by those who strain to 

be erudite to signify the rabble, the lowest class 

of people. It is condescending, with a touch of 

the labored jocular. It carries the definite suggestion 

of “I, who am so steeped in a classical 

education that I speak Greek as naturally as I 

do English, etc., etc.” Unfortunately, however, 

many who use the term seem to know no Greek 

at all, not so much as the definite article, and 

in their ignorance prefix a superfluous the (I 

read the News to see what the hoi polloi are 

doing). It is a good phrase not to use. 

hold. The uast tense is held. The narticiule is also 

held. When hold is used in the sense of believe, 

it may be followed by an infinitive, as in we hold 

these truths to be self-evident, or by a clause, as 

in we hold that they are self-evident. 

When hold is used in the sense of remain, it 

may be followed by an adjective describing the 

subject of the verb, as in the argument holds 

good. But when it is used in the sense of keep or 

grasp, it is qualified by an adverb, as in the glue 

holds well. 

holding one’s own. As a term for maintaining 

one’s position or condition, holding one’s own 

is overworked. 

hold-up (rob). See steal. 

holloa; hollow; holler. See hello. 

holocaust; disaster. A holocaust is a Greek word 

meaning something which is burnt whole. It was 

used for a burnt offering and has come to mean, 

especially in journalistic writing, a great or 

wholesale destruction of life, especially by burning 

(Incendiary bombs led to a holocaust in the 

slum quarter). Holocaust is often used as a 

synonym for disaster, but there is a difference: 

a holocaust may be a disaster, but there are 

many kinds of disasters which are not holocausts. 

Disaster (which means, literally, a bad 

configuration of the stars, i.e., just bad luck) 

designates any unfortunate event, especially a 

sudden and great misfortune. A holocaust may 

be accidental, but it may also be the result of 

human intention. A flood, a railway wreck, or 

the collapse of a building may be a disaster, but 

none of these things is a holocaust. 

home. Americans frequently use the noun home 

as an adverb showing “place at which,” as in 

I will stay home Wednesday. This is standard 

English in the United States. It is not standard 

in Great Britain and is condemned by many 

grammarians who claim that a prepositional 

phrase with at is required, as in Z will stay at 

home Wednesday. 

The most rigid grammarians allow home 

without a preposition after verbs of motion, as 

in I went home (where it shows “place to which” 

rather than “place at which”); and after forms 

of the verb to be when motion is implied, as in 

I will be home at five or he must be home by 

now. The famous lines, home is the sailor, home 

from the sea, and the hunter home from the 

hill, are considered formally correct because it 

is possible to read motion into is home in this 

case, even though it is an epitaph. But the best 

will in the world can’t read motion into stay or 

remain. With these verbs, therefore, some grammarians 

require an at. See also house. 

homely. The English have retained the word 

homely only in its kinder connotations of domestic, 

familiar, kindly, plain, unsophisticated 

(. . . those plain homely terms that are most 

obvious and natural. Yet portion of that unknown 

plain/ Will Hodge forever be:/ His 

homely Northern breast and brain/ Grow to 

some Southern free). These meanings would be 

understood in America, but the word is restricted 

here, especially in its application to 

people, to the meaning of unattractive. It is 

usually a euphemism for ugly (She was the 

homeliest woman I have ever seen). The English 

are often disturbed by this American use. 

They feel the word has been corrupted. But 

Shakespeare so used it (Hofh homelie age th’

alluring beauty took/ From my poor cheek?) 

and so did Milton (It is for homely features to 

keep home) and Horace Walpole (She was extremely 

deformed and homely). 

homicide; murder; manslaughter. Homicide, the 

killing of one human being by another, includes 

murder and manslaughter. Murder is the unlawful 

killing of another human being with 

malice aforethought and manslaughter is the 

killing of another human being unlawfully but 

without malice aforethought. 

homonyms. English is rich in homonyms, words 

that are similar in sound and, often, in spelling 

but different in meaning. Where the words are 

common and the meanings widely different (as 

in the bark of a dog and the bark of a tree) 

there is little danger of confusion, but when 

vanity and the desire to be thought learned lead 

a writer or speaker to venture out of his depth, 

homonyms can cause some preposterous blunders. 

Thus when a leading newsmagazine which 

prides itself on omniscience informs its readers 

that “peasant-born ‘Pace’ Gova” had “scaled 

the dizzy dome of St. Peter’s in Rome” and 

carved his initials “on the lantern that had been 

left there by Michaelangelo,” the verb had been 

left suggests that the architectural meaning of 

lantern was not known. And when in a later 

issue much merriment is made of the fact that 

President Tyler’s wife at her husband’s inaugural 

ball wore “bugles” in her hair, the gaiety implies 

that the writer of the article was unaware of the 

fact that one of the meanings of bugle is an 

elongated glass bead. Here, as elsewhere, modesty 

is a safeguard against being absurd. Where 

modesty is lacking, it is well to have a dictionary. 

Homonyms, in most instances, derive from 

different origins-frequently from different languages-and 

the similarity in sound is accidental. 

Sometimes they go back to the same source 

but have altered in spelling and meaning in 

their individual paths through usage; thus plain 

and plane are both from Latin planus but plain 

detoured thrcugh Old French. 

Though homonyms are the cause of a great 

deal of bad spelling, they are worth the cost 

because they are also the basis of puns. 

homosexual. The first element in homosexual is 

the Greek homo- meaning the same, not the 

Latin homo, man. That is, a homosexual is one 

who has sexual feelings, with an impulse towards 

genital expression, for a person of the 

same sex. A homosexual may be either a man 

or a woman. 

honest; honorable; honesty; honor. An honest 

man is candid, just, fair in his dealings, sincere 

in his utterances (After my death Z wish no 

other herald/ . . . To keep mine honor from 

corruption,/ But such an honest chronicler as 

Grifith). The honorable man is honest (though 

his honor may keep him, like Lancelot, falsely 

true), but honor is a more complex thing than 

simple honesty. Honesty functions within a system 

of absolute principles of right; honor functions 

within a complex system of standards of 

conduct of what is due to one’s self and to 

223 honorarium 

others. It is conceivable that a man might be 

honest because he felt that honesty is the best 

policy. The honorable man would probably find 

such motivation unworthy of himself. To conform 

to a high standard of honor is far more 

difficult, in that it is far more complex, than to 

conform to a high standard of honesty. 

When honor means privilege, it may be followed 

by an infinitive, as in Z have the honor to 

inform you, provided it is being used with the 

word have; otherwise, it may be followed by of 

and the -ing form of a verb, as in Z had the 

honor of informing him. 

honorable; honorary. That is honorable which is 

worthy of honor. That is honorary which is conferred 

as a mark of honor. The English go in 

much more than the Americans for honorary 

secretaryships and the like. For the sake of the 

dignity conferred by his name, so-and-so will be 

chosen the Honorary Secretary of a society, the 

actual secretarial duties being performed by a 

paid secretary. So-and-so is then usually listed 

on programs and announcements of the society 

as the Hon. Sec. or Hon. Secretary. Americans 

often mistake this for Honorable, a title bestowed 

in America on any public official. In 

England the title of Honorable (also abbreviated 

to Hon.) is confined to certain of the 

children of peers, maids of honor, judges of the 

High Court, and members of various Indian and 

Dominion Councils. Right Honorable is reserved 

for privy councilors, peers below the rank of 

marquis, certain judges and some lord mayors. 

In the United States, the title honorable requires 

the article the. It may precede a descriptive 

phrase, such as the Honorable Gentleman 

from Buncombe, or a full name, as in the Honorable 

John Hancock. But it should not stand 

immediately before a last name. If the given 

name or initials are not used some other title, 

such as Dr., or Mr., must take their place, as in 

the Honorable Mr. Hancock. When the word is 

abbreviated the article the is omitted, as in Hon. 

John Hancock. 

Honorable is not used without a proper name 

as a form of address, or in speaking about a 

person. 

honorarium. The plural is honorariums or honoraria. 

honorarium; fee; wages; pay; salary. In former 

times it was felt or at least pretended that certain 

persons were of so exalted a station or 

possessed of such incomparable skill or knowledge 

that no adequate compensation could possibly 

be offered them in return for any services 

they might perform. A monetary recognition 

not of the service, but of the honor conferred by 

their very presence, took the form of an honorarium 

the amount of which-at least in theory 

-was determined by the donor. Even late into 

the last century, particularly in England, this 

applied to unusually great physicians, men who 

today would be called specialists or consultants. 

The money (always in gold) was never handed 

to them directly but discreetly placed on a corner 

of the mantel and unobtrusively pocketed 

by the Great One. Today honorarium is simply

honored 224 

a graceful or embarrassed term for a fee smaller 

than the speaker would like to accept. It differs 

from a fee in that the amount of a fee is fixed 

by the one who performs the service, the amount 

of an honorarium by those who receive the 

service. Physicians now receive fees. Honorarizlms 

are now given almost exclusively to public 

speakers who are willing to accept almost anything 

they can get and grateful for a word which 

permits them to save face and accept less than 

they had uneasily demanded. 

Wages is used of payment to labor, for services, 

as by the day or the week. It is the word 

for regular payment as viewed from the point 

of view of the payer. The housewife thinks of 

the cook’s wages. The economist, identifying 

himself with the employer, speaks of wages as 

one of the costs of production. From the point 

of view of the person paid, the common word 

today is pay (It’s good pay for the hours you 

put in. After all the deductions my week’s pay 

isn’t enough for us to live on). 

A salary is a fixed compensation paid periodically 

for regular work or services, especially for 

work other than that of a manual, mechanical, 

or menial kind. 

A lecturer who is not in a position to demand 

a definite sum may receive an honorarium. 

Clergymen receive honorariums for performing 

marriages and officiating at funerals. Almost all 

professional men now receive fees, the amount 

of which they fix. Wages are paid to domestic 

help and to labor in the abstract. The whitecollar 

class draws its salary. The working man 

gets his pay. 

honored in the breach. See more honored in the 

breach. 

hood. That part of an automobile which in America 

is called the hood is in England called the 

bonnet. That which the English call the hood is, 

in convertibles in America, called the top. 

hoof. The plural is hoofs. The old plural hooves is 

now used only in poetry. 

hook or by crook, by, to accomplish something 

one way or another, by fair means or foul, has 

lodged in the language, and been there many 

centuries, probably because of its rime. Its original 

meaning has long been lost, though some 

have conjectured it goes back to the custom 

which permitted peasants to gather as firewood 

in the lord’s woods such dead branches as could 

be brought down by reaper’s hook or shepherd’s 

crook. This, however, fails to account for the 

“fair means or foul” implicit in the phrase. The 

chances are that they are simply two things that 

could be used to snare and draw in something 

desired and are joined together by the similarity 

of their sounds. 

hop in the senses of catching a train or making a 

short journey or an airplane’s flight or a dance 

or a dance party is not standard. 

hope. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in I hope to see him, or by a clause, as in 

I hope Z will see him. In the United States, the 

clause verb is often in the present tense when 

what is meant is future, as in I hope I see him. 

This is standard usage in the United States but 

is considered an Americanism in Great Britain. 

The plural form of the noun, hopes, is sometimes 

used where the singular would seem more 

appropriate, as in he was past hopes and in 

hopes of better times. This has been literary 

English for three hundred years and more and 

is still acceptable. See also anticipate. 

hope against hope. It was Abraham, according to 

Romans 4: 18, Who against hope believed in 

hope, that he might become the father of many 

nations. Since at the time alluded to Abraham 

was a hundred years old and Sarah ninety, and 

since it “had ceased to be” with her. “after the 

manner of women,” his hope was indeed noteworthy. 

But the phrase has been overworked 

today. 

hopeful. See optimistic. 

hopeless; desperate. Hopeless means without hope 

and implies abandonment to fate (After x-rays 

had shown that the liver was involved, the case 

was regarded as hopeless. Men have recovered 

from maladies which seemed hopeless). Although 

desperate means the state of having given 

up hope, the word in common usage is not quite 

as dark as hopeless. It conveys, rather, a suggestion 

of recklessness resulting from a decrease 

in but not a complete loss of hope. It may apply 

to either feelings or situations (As night approached 

for the second time and no search 

planes appeared, the men on the raft realized 

that their situation was desperate but not hopeless. 

Do not drive men to desperation unless 

you have the power to crush them, for desperate 

men are dangerous). 

horde. See board. 

horny-banded son of the soil (or of toil). Any 

reference to a farmer as a horny-handed son of 

the soil or to a laborer as a horny-handed son of 

toil is a dreary cliche. If used, as it now usually 

is, jocularly, it is a dreary joke. 

horrible; awful; dreadful; fearful; terrible; terrific; 

tremendous. That is horrible which inspires 

horror, a bristling or shuddering fear. 

That is awful which inspires awe, a feeling of 

deep solemnity and reverence mixed with fear. 

That is dreadful which inspires dread, an oppressive 

fear of evil to come. That is fearful 

which is either full of fear or capable of instilling 

fear. That is terrible or terrific which is 

terrifying, which moves us, that is, to an unreasoning, 

overmastering, panic fear. And that 

is tremendous which makes us tremble with 

dread. 

Properly used, these are all strong words, of 

great dignity and force. 0 horrible, most horrible! 

cries Hamlet when he learns that his 

revered father has been murdered by his incestuous 

brother. Kipling speaks of God’s awful 

hand, and Milton of His dreadful voice. Blake 

is amazed at the fearful symmetry of the tiger. 

Death, in Paradise Lost, is black : . . as Night,/ 

Fierce as ten Furies. terrible as Hell. Pave in his 

translation of the Ihad speaks of warriois dressing 

their huge limbs In arms terrific and John 

Evelyn alludes to the tremendous name of God.

Hyperbole is deep rooted in our minds, however. 

The usual narratives of the common man 

rarely have in them anything to compel attention 

or elicit admiration and strong words are 

used to convey weak facts. Every one of these 

words has been weakened by indiscriminate use 

until now most of them are, in popular use, 

mere intensives. This is a normal process of 

language and, to some extent, must be allowed. 

If a badly confused situation is said to be a horrible 

mess, the justification for the adjective is 

hard to challenge because there are wide ranges 

of sensitiveness and one man shudders at what 

leaves another unmoved. To a child a building 

might seem tremendous which to an adult would 

merely seem large. And so on. There is no absolute 

guide in words that reflect subjective feelings. 

The speaker or writer must decide for 

himself just what degree and kind of fear he 

wishes to describe. 

It is plain, however, that beyond a certain 

point these words become almost meaningless. 

To say, We had a dreadful meal, unless one had 

been dining with the Borgias, is to overstate the 

case-or, more probably, to avoid the effort of 

selecting from among nauseous, disgusting, illcooked, 

scant, tasteless, and so on, a suitable 

adjective. To say that a pun or a hat is terrible 

is to abdicate all rule over one’s vocabulary. 

And certainly these words become absurd 

when they are used, as they seem increasingly 

to be used, as mere intensives and used before 

adjectives whose primary meaning contradicts 

theirs. Such expressions-one hears them a 

dozen times a day-as “She’s awfully nice, 

really, once you get to know her,” “His play’s a 

smash hit, a-terrific success,” “It was a tremen- 

dous oitv.” “It’s dreadfullv _ good - of you,” etc., 

may be used as examples. It may be claimed that 

since usage has made them intensives they must 

be accepted as intensives, with no more meaning 

than very. But they still retain something of their 

original meaning and many shades of other 

meanings that have been acquired and these 

meanings are likely to intrude and prevent them 

from being pure intensives or, as above, suggest 

contradictions of meaning and so create absurdity. 

See intensives. 

horse. When used to mean cavalry, this word has 

the plural horse, as in there were two hundred 

horse. 

horse of a different color. The origin of the expression 

But that’s a horse of a different color 

(or of another co/or) is uncertain. The earliest 

known allusion to it occurs in Twelfth Night but 

it is used there in a way that makes it plain that 

it was already an established saying. Some think 

it may have had to do with tournaments where 

the visored knights would be distinguished by 

the color of their horses. Some think it may have 

to do with the curious white horses which the 

Britons or Saxons cut into the chalk downs of 

Southern England and are kept clear of overgrowth 

to this day. But all is conjecture. What 

is sure, however, is that as a term for something 

of a different nature from what is being con- 

225 house 

sidered, the expression is now a clichC, to be 

used sparingly. 

hose. When this word is used to mean a heavy 

rubber tube, it may have the plural hoses or 

hose, as in three fire hoses or three fire hose. 

Both forms are acceptable. 

When it is used to mean stockings, the only 

plural is hose. In this sense the word originally 

meant a pair of coverings for the legs and was 

commonly treated as a plural, as are trousers, 

breeches, pants, and so on. Some of this survives 

today. We do not ordinarily call a single stocking 

a hose but reserve the word for plural uses 

such as buying hose and needing hose. 

host; hostess. As the correlative of guest, host 

should be applicable to either a woman or a 

man who entertains guests in his or her own 

home or elsewhere. But, despite the insistence 

of some grammarians, usage has restricted host 

to a man who so entertains. In the biological 

sense of an animal that supports a parasite, host 

is the term for either male or female. So that if 

a woman were afflicted with a tapeworm she 

would be its host, but in all more gracious 

entertainments she is invariably a hostess. 

Although the primary meaning of hostess 

remains a female host, a woman who entertains 

guests (The hostess with the mostes’ on the 

ball. Mrs. Pearl Mesta’s career as Washington’s 

Number One Hostess was crowned by her appointment 

as ambassador to Luxembourg), a 

secondary meaning, derived from this one, of 

a woman employed in a restaurant to seat guests 

(The hostess is placed in a difficult position in 

regard to the other employees who sneer at her 

ladylike ways and think she has it “pretty soft”), 

has become so common that it may very well 

affect the primary meaning. Some of the airlines 

officially call the young women who wait on 

the passengers hostesses and the name is often 

applied, in the papers and by the general public, 

to all such young women, though many of the 

lines valiantly struggle to preserve the title of 

stewardess. If the tendency continues-and it 

seems probable that it will-then a time may 

come when it will seem improper to refer to 

someone who has entertained us privately as a 

hostess and a new word will have to be found. 

Such are the ways of language. One of the oldest 

meanings of the word, a female innkeeper 

(Hostess. my breakfast, come./ 0, I could wish 

ihis tavern were m; drum!), has fallen into disuse 

in America, though it is still employed 

somewhat in England. 

hot cakes. See sell like hot cakes. 

hot water. To be in hot water is now a cliche for 

being in trouble, especially a scrape or some 

avoidable, not quite criminal but often disgraceful, 

trouble. It is a very old phrase. A quotation 

dated 1537 shows that it formerly meant in a 

ferment or in a condition of discomfort. 

house in American usage most commonly denotes 

an ordinary place of residence (We sold our 

house last year). In the last century many hotels 

were called Houses-as Parker House, American 

House, and so on. In this use the initial

H was always capitalized. The Palmer House 

would be understood to designate a hotel, the 

Palmer house the residence of a family by the 

name of Palmer. In English usage House designates 

either a large and unusually splendid residence 

or an unusually impressive office building, 

as Imperial House. This meaning has been introduced 

into America with Lever House in New 

York, the office building of Lever Brothers 

Company. The English term may have been retamed 

to mark the English connections of the 

firm or merely for its distinction. If it is accepted 

-if the American people do not insist, that is, 

on calling it “the Lever Building” despite the 

company’s desire to have it called Lever House 

-the term may spread and be applied to other 

office buildings. See also building; residence. 

house; home. Mr. Edgar A. Guest’s insistence 

that It takes a heap o’ livin’ and some love to 

make a home was, for its time, philologically 

correct. But usage and the relentless optimism 

of real-estate dealers has made home now practically 

the equivalent of house. The old connotations 

of family ties and domestic comfort 

which home carried have been obliterated. 

Whole villages of homes are now mass-produced 

and any fifty by sixty foot lot will do for a 

homesite. One may look back longingly to the 

day when a home was more than a house and 

there is nothing to stop the discriminatingly 

sentimental from still preserving the distinction, 

but it can no longer be insisted on. See also 

residence. 

house-cleaning has now a definite idiomatic meaning, 

the removal of rubbish and dirt from the 

interior of a house, usually after a considerable 

period of less thorough cleaning, as in spring 

house-cleaning. Cleaning house would convey 

much the same meaning and is indeed sometimes 

used, but cleaning the house might suggest 

cleaning the outside of the house, a suggestion 

never conveyed by house-cleaning. 

housewife. An interesting example of the way in 

which usage establishes meaning is afforded by 

the fact that hussy, or huzzy, an ill-behaved girl 

or a worthless woman, is simply a shortened 

form of an older pronunciation of housewife, a 

term of sedate dignity. 

An even more remarkable development is 

shown in the words queen and quean. Both 

stem from the Anglo-Saxon cwene, woman. The 

king’s woman became the Queen. But quean, retained 

now chiefly in the Scottish dialect, means 

an impudent, bold young woman of the lower 

classes, often a prostitute (Draw, Bardolph! Cut 

me off the villain’s head. Throw the quean in 

the channel. Now Tam, 0 Tam! had they been 

queans/ A’ plump and strappin’ in their teens). 

From this word (according to Partridge in his 

Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English) 

comes the slang use of queen to mean 

homosexual (They were sweethearts; sure he’s 

a queen, didn’t you know that-Hemingway). 

This term is not recognized by any of the standard 

dictionaries but it is in almost universal use 

in America. 

hove. See heave. 

226 

how is ordinarily an adverb of manner. When 

used as an interrogative it always has this meaning 

and always stands first in the sentence or 

clause, as in how could he laugh?. It may also 

be used as an adverb of degree. In this sense it 

also stands first, but the sentence or clause does 

not have the interrogative word order, as in 

how he could laugh! How may be used as an 

adverbial conjunction, as in he told us how to 

make it. It may also be used as a pure conjunction, 

without reference to degree or manner, 

as in he told us how he had been left an orphan. 

This is standard English. But as how used in 

the same construction, as in he told us as how 

he had been left an orphan, is not standard. 

(For how come?, see come.) 

however. This word may be used to mean in 

whatever manner or to whatever extent. It may 

also be used in the sense of nevertheless. In 

Great Britain it is sometimes used as an interrogative, 

with the sense of “how?” as in however 

did you guess?. This is condemned by most 

British grammarians. Howsoever is an archaic 

form of however. Howsomever is a still older 

form of the same word and is not standard now. 

human. The use of human or humans for human 

being or human beings is severely condemned by 

some authorities and censured in varying degrees 

by most. The condemnations run from 

“affectation” and “jocularity” to “simply a vulgarism.” 

But it is hard to see why. The word was 

so used from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries 

(No man among men, nor humain among 

the humains-1533; Gibbie fell to hugging him 

[the dog] as if he had been a human-1879). 

The opposition to this use on the ground that 

human is an adjective and not a substantive 

seems to have developed late in the nineteenth 

century and to have been one of those schoolmasterish 

attempts to impose a spurious logic 

on grammar (like the double negative). But 

thousands of adjectives are used as nouns every 

day and made into plurals whenever that seems 

suitable (The whites will win unless the blue.7 

show more fight than they have shown yet). A 

simple word, such as humans, is needed to 

relieve men of its double duty of representing 

all human beings and also the males only. It 

would have helped the enthusiastic lady who 

amused Shelley so much by exclaiming: All, all 

are men-women and all! 

human and humane were once interchangeable 

variants. Shakespeare refers to a human statute 

where we would say humane and Pope’s famous 

line first appeared as To err is humane, to forgive 

Divine. The two words became established 

in separate meanings, however. Human now 

refers to the good and bad traits of mankind 

alike (The sweetest thing that ever grew/ Beside 

a human door!) with, perhaps, a little more 

emphasis on the bad, or at least the weak, than 

the good (I’m only human. No, it wasn’t noble, 

but it was the human thing to do. Human frailty, 

human faults.). Humane is now restricted to 

the nobler and especially the gentler aspects of 

man. A humane person is one actuated by benevolence 

and pity, especially-in popular usage

-in his treatment of animals. This specific 

meaning may have been shaped in part bly the 

Humane Society (These humane impulses hardly 

qualified him to be a success in the stockyards). 

In former times humane also suggested 

courtesy and refinement and this meaning survives 

in the term humane studies applimed to 

those studies (often called the humanities) 

which were thought to refine the mind, which 

concerned themselves with human rather than 

supernatural matters. 

humanist. The humanists (sometimes spelled with 

a capital H) were Renaissance scholars who 

pursued and disseminated the purely human 

study of the cultures of ancient Greece and 

Rome. The term is now sometimes applied to 

classical scholars or to those who are versed in 

the humanities. But since the study of thse cultures 

of ancient Greece and Rome were thought 

to weaken one’s faith in Christianity, the term 

came to mean free-thinkers, a meaning strengthened 

by the adoption of the term by those who, 

following Comte, have tried to make a religion 

of humanity and by others who profess to be 

merely students of human affairs. In all, humanist 

is about as vaplle and confusing a word as 

there is and should be avoided except where the 

context makes the particular meaning cle,ar. 

humblebee. See bumblebee. 

humbleness; humility; humiliation. Humbleness 

is the quality or state of being low in station, 

meek, unpretentious, modest. Humility h:as the 

additional suggestion of one’s being aware of 

this lowliness and accepting it as right and 

proper. We would speak of the humbleness of 

a man’s birth or social position, his humility in 

cheerfully accepting it. Humbleness is not very 

often used now but in the commercial exploitation 

of religiosity humility has become a vogue 

word used to such excess that it occasionally 

borders on the comic. 

If humility is the cheerful acceptance of 

humbleness as proper, humiliation is the sense 

of shame at the lowering of one’s dignity or 

prestige, an angry and resentful refusal to accept 

humbleness as proper or deserved. 

humble Die. The learned have insisted that to eat 

humble pie, to humiliate and abase onesel!f (To 

sue for peace when further resistance becomes 

houeless is a kind of “humble vie” that fate has 

condemned all vanquished nations to swallow 

from time immemorial) is derived from umble 

or numble pie, pie made of the umbles or internal 

organs of the deer. This, they say, was an 

unsavory dish reserved for menials; hence it 

would be a humiliation for an upper-claa,s person 

to eat it. But the use of the term dloesn’t 

bear this out. Pepys speaks of a hot umble-pie 

with apparent approval. Sir Walter Scott calls 

the umbles “the best,” and there is a recipe in 

the Babees Book cc. 1475) for “a dia,he of 

Umbles” under the ieading of “For to sserve a 

Lord.” The chances are that the phrase is simply 

a pun, the more likely since humble was often 

pronounced ‘umble. Though the meaning of the 

phrase may be uncertain, one thing about it is 

certain: it is overworked. 

227 humor 

humor: wit; irony; sarcasm; satire. Humor is etymologically 

akin to humid. It was applied to 

certain bodily fluids-especially the famous four 

humors, blood, bile, black bile, and phlegmwhose 

proper proportions kept the body in “temper.” 

Thence it came to mean one’s special condition 

of mind or mood or disposition, a special 

distinguishing caprice, whim or vagary. In this 

sense the word was fashionable in Shakespeare’s 

time-as, if we may trust Every Man in His 

Humour and a score of other plays, was the 

state or condition it designated. And since 

crotchety, whimsical, odd people are often amusing, 

humorous came to describe those who were 

ludicrous and those who went out of their way 

to be ludicrous by exhibiting a facetious turn of 

mind. However humor retained some of its older 

meaning in such terms as bad humor, an ill 

humor, surly humor, or a strange humor. In 

contemporary usage humor covers a great deal 

that is amusing, but it still has something of its 

old meaning. It is often whimsical, deliberately 

incongruous and absurd, extravagant and preposterous. 

Pudd’nhead Wilson was being humorous 

when on hearing a dog howl he said that he 

wished he owned half of that dog because, if he 

did, he’d shoot his half. Chaucer is a humorous 

writer and his humor shows in such a statement 

as that the Prioress spoke French “after the 

manner of Stratford atte Bowe” and in the 

Monk’s cheerful willingness to “Let Austin have 

his swink to him reserved.” 

Wit originally meant knowledge, wisdom, intelligence, 

judgment, sense, meanings which are 

retained in such phrases as at one’s wit’s end, 

to live by one’s wits, dull witted, and so on. As 

a form of humor (in the broadest sense of 

humor as something funny) wit is an intellectual 

matter. It is often spontaneous and consists 

in discovering analogies between things really 

unlike and expressing these connections in diverting 

and amusing ways. Wit startles us. We 

may smile at humor, but we will either laugh 

or be angry at a piece of wit. It was witty of 

Sir Boyle Roche when Curran boasted that he 

was the guardian of his own honor to congratulate 

him upon his sinecure. Wit is aggressive 

and often cruel. The common term a stroke 

of wit is usually justified. He that maketh others 

afraid of his wit, says Bacon, had need be 

afraid of others’ memory. 

Irony derives from a Greek word meaning a 

dissembler. The term was first used in reference 

to Socrates who exposed an opponent’s ignorance 

by pretending to desire instruction or 

information from him. Today the term means a 

covert sarcasm, the essential feature of which 

is the contradiction between the literal and 

intended meanings of what is said. Thus in 

Mac Flecknoe Dryden never ceases praising his 

enemy Shadwell, but the praise is all derogatory. 

He says that Shadweil was mature in dullness 

from his tender years and that while other 

minor poets to some faint meaning make pretense, 

Shadwell never deviates into sense. The 

common phrase the irony of fate alludes to an 

apparent mockery of destiny in circumstances

hundred 

in which something turns out the very opposite 

of what was expected. Thus it is a common 

irony of fate that rewards and honors passionately 

desired when we are young are often conferred 

when we are old and no longer prize 

them. 

Sarcasm derives from a Greek word meaning 

a tearing of the flesh, or a biting of the lips in 

rage. It designates a sneer or a taunt uttered in 

contempt or bitterness. It sometimes employs 

irony, but when it does so it makes no effort 

to conceal the real meaning under the apparent 

one. Aren’t you clever! spoken tauntingly after 

someone’s blunder or exhibition of ignorance 

would be a piece of sarcasm. Montesquieu was 

being sarcastic when he said that it would not 

do to suppose that Negroes were men, lest it 

should turn out that Whites were not. Sarcasm 

is usually violent in its aggressiveness, rough 

and brutal in the extreme, the very opposite of 

humor. 

Satire is the employment of irony, sarcasm, 

ridicule, and so on, for the purpose of exposing 

vice, denouncing folly or indecorum. It differs 

from invective in that it remains humorous. 

Swift left his fortune to found a lunatic asylum 

in Ireland, 

To show [he said] by one satiric touch 

No nation wanted it so much. 

See also burlesque, jocularity. 

hundred. This word was originally a noun and 

was followed by of, as in one hundred of 

leagues. Today the singular form hundred is 

treated as a cardinal number. That is, it is 

treated as an adjective and used without of, as 

in three hundred Spartans, except when referring 

to part of a specified group, as in two hundred 

of these men. An expression involving 

hundred is usually treated as a plural, as in 

three hundred men were admitted, but it may 

also be treated as a singular, as in two hundred 

years is a very long time. 

The plural form hundreds cannot be qualified 


followed by the name of anything countable, 

as in hundreds of men; the of is omitted only 

before a degree word such as more, less, too 

many, as in hundreds more men. 


as in a few hundred men; many usually takes 

the noun construction, as in many hundreds of 

men. But either form may be used with either 

word. 

hundredweight. This word has a regular plural 

hundredweights, but only the singular form is 

used with a number word, as in a few hundredweight 

of coal. In Great Britain, a hundredweight 

is 112 pounds. 

hung. See hang. 

hunt. An Englishman hunts foxes, hares, stags 

and other wild mammals, but he shoots game 

birds. An American hunts birds and beasts 

alike. Except by the very few who indulge in 

fox hunting, no American refers to a hunting 

expedition as a hunt. One who hunts is in 

America a hunter, not a huntsman or sports- 

man. A hunter in England today is likely to be 

a horse especially trained for hunting (He rode 

with dash upon a thoroughbred hunter), but it 

was not always so (The horn of the hunter is 

heard on the hill). 

hurl; hurdle; hurtle. To hurl is to fling violently 

(He hurled the book across the room). To 

hurdle is to leap over a barrier or hurdle or, 

by extension, to overcome some difficulty that 

can be conceived of as a hurdle on a racetrack. 

To hurtle is to rush violently, to strike 

together noisily, to resound noisily, as in collision 

(The train hurtled through the station 

with a great rushing wind that rattled the windows 

and shook the doors and flung cinders 

and gravel against the decrepit building). Hurtle 

is sometimes used to mean hurl, especially when 

the hurling is accompanied by noise, but on 

the whole the word is bookish and slightly 

archaic. 

hurricane. See cyclone. 

hurt. The past tense is hurt. The participle is aho 

hurt. 

husky in the sense of burly, sturdy, muscular is 

an Americanism (Thirty-eight men he counted, 

a wild and huskv crew). It is known in England, 

from American- literature and moving pi&u-es; 

but not used. 

hussy; huzzy. See housewife. 

hydrolysis. The plural is hydrolyses. 

hymenal; hymeueal; hymenial. Hymenal relates 

to the hymen. Hymeneal relates to marriage. 

Hymenial relates to the hymenium, the sporebearing 

surface in certain fungi. 

hyper-; hypo-. The prefix hyper- means over, 

above, and hence in excess. An organ which is 

hypertrophied has grown larger than its proper 

size. One who is hypersensitive is sensitive beyond 

the normal. A hyperbole is an exaggeration. 

The prefix hypo- means under. A hypodermic 

needle goes under the skin or epidermis. A 

hypocrite was originally a secondary figure on 

the stage. Hypocrisy may thus derive from the 

idea of playing a part like an actor. Or it may 

mean one who conceals an evil intention under 

a pretense of goodness. Shipley thinks it derives 

from the fact that the secondary actor served 

as what in stage parlance today is called “a 

straight man.” That is, he answered back. And 

we cannot believe that anyone who answers 

back, who maintains an opinion opposed to our 

own, is sincere. 

hyperbole is the term in rhetoric for obvious 

exaggeration. There is no intent to deceive. The 

extravagant language is for emphasis only. Ours 

is a hyperbolical age. We give a million thanks 

for a trifling favor and are forever indebted for 

something which we have forgotten before we 

have turned the corner. Such a fashion may 

sometimes make simple sincerity seem sullen 

indifference but more often it serves by the 

force of contrast to give plain speech great 

weight and effectiveness. 

hyphens. Hyphens are sometimes used to indicate 

stammering, as in s-s-see, or spelling out, as in 

c-a-n-d-y. Their more important uses are to join

words (see compound words, temporary compounds, 

prefixes, suffixes), or to break a word 

at the end of a line (see division of words). 

hypnosis. The plural is hypnoses. 

hypnotic. A hypnotic is an agent that prosduces 

sleep. This may be a drug, or in the case of 

what is commonly thought of as hypnosis, a 

spell or influence or suggestion. With the increasing 

use in therapy of hypnotic states induced 

by suggestion and susceptibility, the 

adjective will probably continue its trend to 

mean solely states so induced. But for the present 

the pharmacopoeias use hypnotic to designate 

a definite class of soporifics and seda.tives. 

hypocrite is a term of reproach freely bestowed 

in popular usage upon almost anyone whose 

actions belie his professions. But the word 

means one who pretends to be what he k:nows 

he is not, who for ulterior motives makes an 

ostentatious display of virtues which he secretly 

despises. Such a course of action would require 

a clarity of purpose, strength of will and Ihistrionic 

skill so far above those possessed lay the 

I. If you are in doubt whether to use me or I, the 

chances are that me is better. See subjective 

pronouns and passive voice. 

ibid. This is an abbreviation of the Latin word 

ibidem and means in the same place. 

-ic; -ical. These are both adjective endings taken 

over from Greek and Latin. Some adjectives, 

such as musical and logical, have only the long 

form. Some, such as frantic and public, have 

only the short form. But a great many have 

both. In such cases the form in -ical is likely to 

be the older of the two. Occasionally, as in 

politic and political, the two forms have different 

meanings, but as a rule this is not the 

case. 

A grammarian writing in 1765 said, “-ic is a 

foreign, and -ical a domestic termination. The 

former therefore is used upon solemn, the latter 

upon familiar occasions; as seraphic and seraphical, 

microscopic and microscopical. When 

the subject then is naturally solemn, the solemn 

ending prevails; and where familiar, the familiar.” 

This is no longer the situation. A twentieth 

century American might say microscopic 

at the breakfast table and give it no thought. 

Modern British grammarians say that the 

form in -ic frequently has the restricted meaning 

of “of the nature of,” and the form in -ical 

the wider, or looser, meaning of “practically 

connected with.” They give as examples a comic 

song but a comical incident, a tragic muse but 

a tragical fate. In the United States this distinction 

is recognized only in the case of a few 

words. In general, the short form in -ic is pre- 

229 -ic 

I 

ordinary person as to make him who had and 

could employ them a rare man. It may be 

doubted if outside of literature there have been 

many true hypocrites. There have, of course, 

been millions of muddled people who have 

failed to perceive the most glaring opposition 

between their ideals and their actions, and the 

capacity for combining high principles and low 

practices seems illimitable. But the intelligence 

and detachment to be aware of it and the 

strength of character to exploit it rarely go with 

the almost blindly stupid selfishness that hypocrisy 

requires. 

hypothesis. The plural is hypotheses. 

hysterics. This word may be treated as a singular 

when it is thought of as the name of a disease. 

But when it refers to the actual physical events 

it is always treated as a plural, as in hysferics 

are painfzcl fo watch. The shorter form of the 

adjective, hysteric, is sometimes used to mean 

a person who is inclined to hysterics, as in she 

always was a hysteric. In any other use, the 

longer form hysterical is preferred. 

ferred, and the long form in -ical leaves many 

people wondering why the speaker went to the 

trouble of pronouncing that unnecessary syllable. 

-ic; its. The suffix -ic is an adjective ending and 

is used to form adjectives from nouns, as in 

poetic, heroic, metallic. Adjectives formed in 

this way may in turn become nouns, as has 

happened with classic, cosmetic, lunatic, alcoholic. 

Nouns can also be made from adjectives 

ending in -ic by adding s, as in poetics and 

heroics. The names of most of the sciences were 

formed in one or the other of these ways. 

Names for branches of learning that came 

into English before 1500 end in -ic, as do music, 

logic, arithmetic. Names which have come into 

the language since then end in its, as do economics, 

physics, mathematics. Recently some 

writers, especially in philosophy, have chosen 

to use the older ending on the newer words and 

call their subjects metaphysic, ethic, or dialectic. 

There is no difference in meaning between these 

two forms. 

The names of the sciences, or any primarily 

intellectual subject, are always treated as singulars 

and are used with a singular verb, as in 

his mathematics was inadequate. Names of 

practical matters are usually treated as plural, 

as in his tactics were admirable. Frequently the 

same word may be used in both senses, as in 

acoustics deals with problems of sound and 

the acoustics here are bad. 

When words of this kind are used to qualify 

a following noun they may keep their noun

ice 230 

form, as in a hydraulics engineer, or they may 

take either of the adjective forms, as in an economic 

attache, a statistical report. Sometimes 

all three forms may be used with the same 

meaning. We sometimes hear of a hydraulic 

engineer and sometimes of a hydraulical engineer. 

It would be better if the noun form in 

-its was always used when the science itself is 

meant, as in a hydraulics engineer. This is especially 

true when the word can be understood 

in some other way, as energetic in (I photochemical 

reaction may be driven “uphill” in an 

energetic sense. The writer meant, “uphill, as 

the word is understood in the science of energetics.” 

This would have been clearer if the s 

had not been dropped. If the noun form is used 

for the science itself, the adjective forms could 

then be applied to whatever comes within the 

field of that science, such as a hydraulic press, 

a ballistic pendulum. This distinction does not 

have to be observed in order to write acceptable 

scientific English today, but if it is observed the 

words will be understood more easily. 

ice. An illustration of idiomatic meanings is 

furnished by the phrases to break the ice, to 

initiate an action or to penetrate reserve, and 

to cut no ice, a slang phrase widely used in 

America but unknown in England, meaning to 

fail to make a favorable impression, or to fail 

to amount to anything important. 

The British sometimes use an ice where an 

American would always say ice cream. An ice 

in America is sherbet. 

iced tea. These words are usually pronounced as 

though written ice tea, but some people feel that 

it would be a mistake to write them that way. 

The form ice fea is as justifiable as the form 

ice cream, or skim milk, both of which are now 

standard. 

id. This is an abbreviation of the Latin word idem 

and means the same. 

idea; conception; concept; notion. Anything existing 

in the mind may be called an idea (I have 

an idea of what Z want to do. That was a great 

idea. The very idea of such a performance!). 

Where an intellectual effort is needed, however, 

to abstract some quality (such as roundness or 

redness) from its existence in material objects, 

the idea that results is called a concept (The 

concept of time as a dimension is dificult for 

the lay mind to grasp. The concept of patriotism 

has been a powerful force in shaping 

history). A conception is the act of forming 

abstract ideas, but it has also become in 

standard usage a synonym for concept (He has 

a strange conception of honor if he regards 

such an action us honorable). 

Though notion may be a synonym for idea 

(The notion that the world was round had been 

conceived centuries before. He had no notion 

what she intended to do next), in its commonest 

usage it suggests a vague or imperfectly conceived 

idea (I had no notion such a thing was 

brewing. I’ve half a notion to give you the 

hiding you deserve). 

ideal; example; model. All three of these words 

refer to something worthy of imitation, a 

standard to be striven toward. An ideal is a 

standard of perfection either existing merely as 

an image in the mind (Absolute honesty is all 

very well as an ideal, but in practice it might 

cause a great deal of unnecessary unhappiness) 

or based upon a person or conduct (Abraham 

Lincoln remains the American ideal in humane 

statesmanship). 

Example is not necessarily honorific. There 

are bad as well as good examples (an example 

of the best workmanship, an example to be 

avoided). 

A model is primarily a physical shape to be 

closely copied (Art students cannot learn portraiture 

without models. The models for next 

year’s cars are already being constructed) but 

it is also a pattern for exact imitation in character 

or conduct (American assembly-line 

techniques have become a model for other 

nations. The village had always regarded him 

as a model husband and father). 

identified; connected. Identified is often misused, 

especially in business jargon, as a synonym for 

connected (in such a sentence as He has been 

identified with Western Electric for twenty 

years). The words, however, are not even 

loosely synonymous. Zdentified means recognized 

or established as a particular person or 

thing (On the basis of dentures and finger prints 

the victim of the lodging house fire was identified 

as Richard Roe). In the rare instances 

where a man’s fame is so great that it equals 

or even overshadows that of a company with 

which he is connected, he and the company 

might conceivably be identified or thought of 

as one and the same. Thomas A. Edison would 

be an example. Connected means attached to 

or associated with (He had been connected with 

harness-racing scandals never He had been 

identified with harness-racing scandals. Identified, 

in this context, is properly used in the 

statement: He had been identified as the leader 

of the harness-racing racket). 

ideology. Sir Alan Herbert is very hard on ideology. 

“A wriggling snob-word,” he calls it and 

says emphatically that “it does not mean a 

given person’s principles and beliefs or attitude 

to life and politics.” 

But, while it is true that in its strictest sense 

the word is a philosophic term meaning the 

science of ideas, most linguists now feel that 

usage has established it as a standard term for 

the body of doctrine, myth, and symbols of a 

social movement, institution, class, or large 

group, or such a body of doctrine, etc., with reference 

to some political and cultural plan, together 

with the means of putting it into operation 

(The fascist ideology included the ruthless 

extermination of all whom the party regarded 

as unfit). Creed and faith have too strong religious 

connotations to serve as synonyms. 

idle. See lazy. 

idle rich. Originally a term of contempt in nineteenth-century 

socialism’s comparatively polite 

lexicon of abuse, the idle rich was taken over 

by the populace as a humorous term. But it is 

now worn out as either an invective or a joke.

i.e., and e.g. have distinctly separate meanings. 

i.e., which is an abbreviation of the Latin id est 

(that is), introduces a definition (He threatened 

them with massive retaliation, i.e. the hydrogen 

bomb). e.g., which is an abbreviation of the 

Latin exempli gratia (for example), introduces 

an illustration (He avoids all frivolous diversions, 

e.g. dancing). Though the distinction 

between the terms may be understood ‘by the 

writer, it may not be understood by the reader, 

and even when it is understood by both writer 

and reader, the terms are still a form of shorthand 

and not English. It is better to say for 

example and that is. 

if. This word is a conjunction. Its chief function 

is to introduce a condition on which the principal 

statement in the sentence depends, as in if 

he falls it will kill him. Zf may also be used as 

the equivalent of though, as in if he falls it 

won’t hurt him. (See though.) In either case, the 

verb in the if clause may be a subjunctive or a 

present or past indicative. (See subjunctive 

mode.) In current English a future tense cannot 

be used in an if clause. The future is implied 

in if he asks me. In if he will ask me, the word 

will loses its function of indicating the future 

and takes on its basic meaning of “be willing 

to.” When a condition is introduced by if, the 

conclusion may be introduced by then, as in 

if he said it then it must be true. As a rule, these 

sentences are more forceful when then is not 

used. In literary English if may be omitted 

from a conditional clause and the conditional 

nature of the clause shown by placing were, 

had, should, or could, before the subject, as in 

were Z Brutus, had Z but served my God, should 

he betray me, and could I revive within me her 

symphony and song. 

Zf is also used to introduce a clause that is 

merely doubtful or uncertain, as in she doubts 

if two and two make four and judge, great 

lords, if Z have done amiss. Clauses that state a 

condition or have the force of though function 

as adverbs and qualify the principal verb in the 

sentence. The if clauses that merely express uncertainty 

function as nouns and are usually the 

object of a verb such as see, ask, learn, (doubt. 

The word whether is also used to introduce 

clauses of this kind. Some contemporary grammarians 

claim that only whether can properly 

be used to introduce a noun clause and that if 

“should be” restricted to adverbial clauses. Zf 

never has been restricted in this way and is not 

now. The notion that it should be is very recent. 

Fifty years ago, grammarians saw nothing 

wrong in the sentence I doubt if it is mine. At 

that time they were distressed if the word 

whether was used without an expressed allternative. 

When it occurred in a sentence of this 

kind, they said it was being used in place 

of if. 

if the truth were told or, sometimes, if the truth 

were known, is a formula of introduction to a 

statement, usually of something contrary to a 

popularly accepted idea, that has become a 

clich6. It is better to state whatever fact you 

231 

have to state and let it carry what conviction it 

can. A stressing of its truthfulness is as likely 

to arouse incredulity as to ensure acceptance. 

If the worst comes to the worst is a clich6. It 

is better to say Zf it comes to the worst or If 

the worst happens. 

ignominious retreat. All freshness of meaning 

has long ago been beaten out of ignominious 

retreat. 

ignoramus. The plural is ignoramuses, never ignorami. 

Ignoramus is a Latin verb form meaning 

we do not know. It was once the term used by 

grand juries in returning what we now call “no 

bill” or “not a true bill” and meant that they 

knew of no reason why the defendant should 

be held for trial. During the seventeenth century 

grand juries did not always take their responsibilities 

literally. It is said that “bills preferred 

to grand juries for high treason duly proved 

were returned ignoramus.” This outraged at 

least part of the citizenry and the word came 

to be used as a term of abuse, as in with nose 

cock? up and visage like a fury,/ or foreman 

of an ignoramus jury. From this, by ways not 

hard to imagine, the word has come to mean an 

ignorant person. 

ignorant. See illiterate. 

ilk. The use of ilk to mean breed, class, kind, 

especially in the phrase of that ilk, must now be 

accepted as standard despite the protests of 

purists for more than fifty years. It originally 

meant “same.” In the old ballad of King Arthur 

and the King of Cornwall we are told that Sir 

Tristram took powder and mixed it with warm 

sweet milk and put it in a horn and swilled it 

about in that ilk. Then the word got specialized, 

particularly in legal documents, to mean “of 

the same (estate)” when a man’s name and the 

name of his estate were the same. Thus 

“Macintosh of that ilk” would mean “Macintosh 

of Macintosh.” Through a misunderstanding of 

this came the modern meaning of “of that sort 

or kind.” But usage has sanctioned this as it has 

many other mistakes, so that it is now not only 

an acceptable meaning but the primary meaning. 

ill. The comparative form is worse. The superlative 

form is worst. (For worse and worst, see 

bad.) Ill is used as an adjective, as in an ill 

wind, an ill will, and also as an adverb, as in 

ill blows the wind that profits no body and these 

could ill be spared. The adverbial form illy is 

also heard, as in beauty is jealous and illy bears 

the presence of a rival. The form ill is generally 

preferred. 

Ill may mean hostile, unfavorable, unsatisfactory, 

as in ill-intentioned, in an ill moment, 

ill defined. In England the word no longer 

means immoral or blameworthy, but this use 

survives in Scotland and the United States, as 

in ill habits, ill company. 

ill: sick. In England ill is the usual word meanine 

‘not well. It is ordinarily a predicate adjective 

and follows the noun it qualifies, as in a child 

ill of the smallpox and another lying dangerously 

ill. The use of ill before the noun, as in a 

very ill man, is extremely rare.

illegal 232 

In contemporary American usage ill and sick 

both mean unwell, in poor health. 111 is the 

more formal word and because of its formality 

is likely to suggest a more serious indisposition, 

but this is not absolute. Sick in English usage 

has come to mean nauseated, almost to the 

point of being an indecent word. An American 

who announced that he thought he was going 

to be sick might elicit some sympathy from the 

assembled company. An Englishman would be 

more likely to arouse consternation. Here, as 

with many words, the American usage is the 

older one, once employed in England but now 

replaced by the newer or more specialized 

meaning. When the physician in Macbeth tells 

Macbeth that Lady Macbeth is not so sick as 

she is troubled with thick-coming fancies, the 

modern English meaning would be ludicrous. 

Peter’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever. Ruth, 

in tears amid the alien corn, was sick for home. 

And so on. Nausea is recognized in America as 

a form of sickness, especially in such phrases as 

a sick headache, sea-sickness, and sick at his 

stomach. (The form sick to is sometimes heard, 

but sick at is preferred.) 

illegal; illegitimate; illicit; unlawful. All of these 

words mean contrary to law, but each has 

acquired special meanings. Zllegal is the most 

sharply restricted of the four, meaning only 

forbidden by law, contrary to statute (Zt is 

illegal in some states to go fishing on Sunday). 

The earliest meaning of illegitimate was “not 

born in wedlock” (Many of Elizabeth’s subjects 

regarded her as an illegitimate child and hence 

not lawfully their queen) and from this it has 

developed the associated meaning of spurious. 

It can mean illegal and there is an increasing 

tendency to so use it. Illicit expresses more 

opprobrium than the other words. An illicit love 

affair is not only an illegal love affair but one 

of which the speaker or writer disapproves. It 

is shameful, furtive, dishonest. Unlawful can 

mean contrary to moral standards as well as 

contrary to law. It is now slightly archaic, its 

meaning of contrary to law being largely 

replaced by illegal and its meaning of contrary 

to moral standards being largely replaced by 

illicit. Unlawful issue or unlawful love would 

sound a little strange today. This very fact, however, 

gives the word certain shades of meaning 

that are desirable in special contexts. Its overuse 

by the rhetoricians and moralists of previous 

generations has given it, for example, a 

slight flavor of humor in some contexts (FVYP 

mair or horrible and awfu’/ Which even to 

name wad be unlawfu’). In others it has an 

added touch of dignity (These unlawful aspirations 

must be repressed). 

illegible; unreadable. That which is illegible is 

hard or impossible to read or decipher. It is 

used particularly of handwriting. That which is 

unreadable may be so because it is illegible, 

but more often the word means that it is unsuitable 

for reading, too dull, awkward, tedious 

or offensive (The manuscript was almost illegible 

and when finally deciphered was unreadable). 

ill-gotten gains. As a term for wealth acquired by 

evil means, ill-gotten gains is a clich6. 

illicit. See illegal; elicit. 

illiterate; ignorant. Illiterate is not so general a 

term as ignorant. In its strict sense it means 

unable to read (He was illiterate until he was 

twelve), but it has come to mean unable to read 

or write, and, more loosely still, lacking education 

and even showing a lack of culture (He 

loved to be bitter at/ A lady illiterate. Many 

sensational comic books are written with a vast 

audience of illiterates in mind). Ignorant means 

destitute of knowledge, unlearned. It may 

describe a general condition (He’s just an ignorant 

lout, what do you expect?) or refer to 

a lack of knowledge in regard to some particular 

subject or fact (I am ignorant of the 

cause of their quarrel). An illiterate person is 

ignorant, strictly speaking, only in this last sense 

of lacking knowledge of a particular subjectreading. 

But in contemporary United States, 

where free public education is not only available 

but compulsory, one who is truly illiterate 

is probably mentally deficient and grossly ignorant 

and the chances are that illiterate will 

come more and more to mean ignorant and 

stupid. It is already being used a great deal to 

designate one who doesn’t know the very basis 

-the ABC’s, as it were-of some specialized 

field (He was psychiatrically illiterate. Many 

of the tycoons are economic illiterates.) 

illness. See sickuess. 

illume; illuminate; illumine. All three of these 

words mean to light up, to throw light upon, 

either literally or figuratively, in the sense of 

explaining an idea to make it clearer. Zllume 

is a poetic archaism (A second sun array’d in 

flame,/ To burn, to kindle, to illume) and 

should be avoided unless the user is a poet 

nearing his two hundredth birthday. Zllumine 

is alsd strictly for the poets; it went out of 

fashion with Tennvson (The lone-illumined 

cities). Illuminate, - then,‘ remains- the only 

generally acceptable form. 

illusion; illusive; illusory. See allusion. 

illustration. See case and example. 

imaginary; imaginative. That is imaginary which 

is not real but exists only in the imagination or 

fancy (He had suffered all his life from imaginary 

ailments). That is imaginative which is 

characterized by or bears evidence of imagination 

(“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is a 

highly imaginative poem). An imaginative man 

would be one who imagines much, a man rich 

in fancy. An imaginary man would be a nonexistent 

being conceived of in someone’s imagination. 

imagination. See fancy. 

imagination run riot. See riot. 

imagine. This word may be followed by a clause, 

as in Z imagine they have finished, or by the -ing 

form of a verb, as in imagine finishing so soon. 

It may also be followed by an infinitive, as in 

I imagine them to have finished, but the clause 

construction is generally preferred. 

imagine; suppose. Although the primary meaning 

of suppose is to assume that something is true

or false for the sake of argument or for the 

purpose of tracing the consequences, and 

although the primary meaning of imagine is 

simply to form a mental image of something 

not actually present to the senses, the use of 

imagine as a substi*-lte for suppose has become 

so universal (I imagine five children and four 

dogs keep you pretty busy) that it is now 

standard. 

imbue; infuse; instill. The correct use of these 

three transitive veibs depends upon carefully 

understood distinctions. Imbue means 1.0 impregnate 

or inspire (literally, to saturate), as 

with feelings or opinions. It is always folllowed 

by with (His teachers imbued him with a love 

of learning). Znfuse means to introduce as by 

pouring. It is always followed by into (His 

schoolmates tried to infuse a contempt for 

learning into him). Znstill means to infuse 

slowly or by degrees into the mind or feelings. 

It, too, is always followed by into (Fear of the 

father is instilled into most children from their 

infancy). Znstil is a permissible variant spelling, 

though the preterit and participle remain instilled 

and instilling. 

imitation. See synthetic. 

Immaculate Conception. The Dogma of the Immaculate 

Conception, promulgated by the 

Roman Catholic Church, teaches that the 

Virgin Mary was conceived in her mother’s 

womb without the stain of original sin, through 

the anticipated merits of Jesus Christ. Many 

Protestants have the mistaken notion that the 

term applies to Jesus Christ. 

immanent; imminent; eminent. Immanent is restricted 

for the most part to theological and 

psychological writings. It means inherent, remaining 

within. taking Dlace in the mind of the 

subject-and ha;ing no&ect outside of it (God 

transcends nature and is immanent in nature). 

Zmminent means impending, likely to occur at 

any moment (With the paddle gone and the 

rapids looming directly ahead, death seemed 

imminent), projecting, leaning forward, overhanging 

(Of hairbreadth scapes i’ th’ imminent 

deadly breach). Eminent means high in s#tation 

or rank, distinguished, prominent or protruding 

(His counsel is eminently wise. Our eminent 

visitor.) 

immaterial. See unmateriai. 

immature; premature. That is immature which is 

not yet ripe, developed or perfected. That is 

premature which comes into existence too soon, 

which is mature or ripe before the proper time, 

or which is overhasty, as in action. The New 

Yorker (Nov. 13, 1954) quotes a solemn newspaper 

pronouncement that Six percent of all 

babies born in the U. S. are immature. All 

babies are immature. Six percent are premature. 

immeasurable. See unmeasurable. 

immediately; instantly; instantaneously; directly; 

right away; straightway; straightaway; presently. 

Procrastination blunts the force of almost 

every word that denotes complete absence of 

delay or lapse of time. Instantly still suggests 

that something happened on the instant (The 

light changed to green and instantly the car was 

immerge 

in motion) and instantaneously implies that 

something happened so soon after something 

else as to be practically simultaneous (The post 

mortem revealed that the passengers had died 

instantaneously with the explosion). Zmmediately 

retains much of this sense, and yet it is 

possible to say 1’11 be there immediately, 

although the use of the future tense involves 

some lapse of time however slight. Directly, 

which originally meant in an undeviating 

course, is often ambiguous (as in Tell him fo 

come home directly or He spoke directly and 

to the point) and therefore to be avoided unless 

the context makes its meaning unmistakable. 

When used of time it can mean immediately 

(Directly Z had finished speaking he began to 

wave his hand in an effort to gain attention), 

but in common use it often implies a delay (Tell 

him to wait; 1’11 be there directly). 

Right away is used more in America than in 

England (His face lit up right away. He knew 

me the minute he suw me). Straightway, which, 

plainly, like directly, originally meant going by 

an undeviating course, retains a considerable 

sense of immediacy (But let the winds of 

passion swell and straightway men begin to 

generalize), but it is now a literary word. 

Straightaway (like thataway) is not standard. 

Presently, which once meant “at the present 

moment, at the very time these words are being 

said” (The poor woman no sooner looked on the 

sergeant than she presently recollected him), 

has become obsolete in this sense and now conveys 

an idea of delay rather than of immediacy. 

The phrase as we shall presently see usually 

introduces a leisurely preamble and rebukes the 

impatient, implying that in the author’s good 

time whatever he is seeking to convey to us will 

be made manifest. 

immediately; immediately after. The use of immediately 

alone for immediately after, in such 

sentences as Zmmediately he sai down there 

were angry shoutings from the floor or The 

game starred immediately the president arrived, 

is not the best usage. It is better to use the full 

phrase. 

immense; enjoyable; great. Immense and great 

are sometimes used as slang terms to indicate a 

pleasurable satisfaction more enthusiastic than 

enjoyable seems to convey. Great means very 

enjoyable. Immense means exceedingly enjoyable. 

They are about as precise, however, as the 

Hollywoodnotes stupendous, terrific, and colossal, 

and should be avoided. 

immerge; emerge. Though immerge and emerge 

have the same basic root, their prefixes give 

them distinctly different meanings. Zmmerge is 

most commonly used as a transitive verb meaning 

to immerse or plunge into a fluid (He immerged 

the film in developer). It is also used 

intransitively (The feeding ducks were immerged 

for over a minute). Emerge, from its 

basic sense of rise or come forth from, as from 

water or other liquid (He emerged from the 

pool struggling for breath), has come to mean 

coming forth into view or notice, as from concealment 

or obscurity (The enemy soldiers

immigrant 234 

emerged from the hedgerow with their hands 

above their heads. He soon emerged from the 

obscurity of local ward politics). 

The best way to avoid any possible confusion 

between these two words is to use immerse in 

the place of immerge. 

immigrant. See emigrant. 

imminent. See immanent. 

immoral; amoral; unmoral. That is immoral 

which does not conform to the prevailing 

standard of morality (“Immoral contracts,” all 

contracts founded upon considerations “contra 

bonos mores. . .” ). Where conventional morality 

has been changing, as it has in Europe and 

America in the past century, immoral does not 

convey a clear meaning unless one knows the 

code of moralitv of the person using it. When 

the poet Shelley refused- to live with his wife 

after he no longer loved her, he was, for 

example, to some immoral, to others moral. In 

vulgar usage immoral almost always connotes 

sexual irregularity (Don’t dance or ride with 

General Bangs,/ A most immoral man). Samuel 

Johnson’s statement that A flatterer of vice is 

an immoral man might seem unwarranted to 

many modern readers. 

Amoral means apart from moral considerations. 

The word seems to have been coined by 

Robert Louis Stevenson who said that there was 

a great deal in life and letters which is not immoral, 

but simply amoral. A book might be 

regarded as immoral because it contained 

certain words whose use was not sanctioned by 

the prevailing morality, but a dictionary which 

contained the same words would be amoral. 

When used of persons, amoral usually means 

someone who does immoral things with no 

awareness of their immorality because he is not 

aware of the moral code. Unmoral is synonymous 

with amoral, not with immoral (The 

lower animism is not immoral, it is unmoral). 

immortal. See undying. 

immunity; impunity. Zmmunity is the state of 

being immune from or insusceptible to a particular 

disease (A successful vaccination confers 

an immunity from smallpox for many years), 

an exemption from any natural or usual liability, 

obligation, service, or duty (That particular 

type of fool seems to enjoy an immunity to 

shame. Religious pacificism gives an immunity 

from the draft but intellectual pacifism does 

not). Impunity is a more limited term meaning 

exemption from punishment (You can’t go 

through a stop sign in this town with impunity) 

or, in a weaker sense, exemption from unpleasant 

consequences of some action (Growing 

boys seem able to eat almost anything in any 

quantity with impunity). 

impassive; impassible; impassable. The difference 

in meaning between impassive and impassible 

is slight but important. The difference 

between these two words and impassable is 

great. 

Impassable describes something that cannot 

be passed over, through, or along (What roads 

there were were impassable in winter because 

of the snow and in spring because of the mud; 

so the peasants were isolated half of every 

year). 

Impassive means without emotion, unmoved, 

calm, and refers primarily to an observed state 

or condition (His success as a poker player was 

assisted by his impassive face). Impassible 

means noticeably incapable of suffering pain or 

harm or of experiencing emotion. With impassible 

the emphasis is on insusceptibility, on 

the cause of the behavior. With impassive it is 

on the behavior itself (The Pope has been called 

upon by various newspapers to say whether he 

would remain impassible to various demands 

for intervention for the Rosenbergs-Chicago 

Sun-Times, Feb. 14, 1953). 

impecunious. See poor. 

impediment. See obstacle. 

impel; induce; incite; prompt; instigate. To 

impel is to drive or to urge forward. It suggests 

a good deal of force or urgency and passion 

(He was impelled by demonic impulses that 

swept his reasonings- aside). To induce is to 

lead forward. It is a gentler word than impel. 

It is to lead or move by persuasion or influence 

(Such arguments gradually induced him to 

change his point of view). To incite is to urge 

on, stimulate, move to action. It is used when 

non-physical motives are the actuating power 

and it is usually an urging or stimulating 

towards something which the one urged himself 

strongly desires. A man may be impelled by 

force. He can be incited only by hope or aspiration 

or desire. Prompt is a milder and more 

general word than incite (I do not know what 

prompted him to open the letter at that exact 

moment). It has the suggestion often of the 

final nudge towards an action to which the 

subject was already strongly inclined, a nudge 

more of circumstances than of any human 

moving (He was prompted to the murder by 

reading in the paper of a man who in similar 

circumstances had been liberated by his wife’s 

sudden death). To instigate is to goad on, to 

spur to action, and almost always to bad action 

(These suggestions instigated him to commit 

the horrid crime with which his name is now 

indissolubly connected). It also implies that the 

urging was sly and underhanded. See also 

compel. 

imperative; imperious; imperial. These words, 

though related in meaning, are not interchangeable. 

Zmperative means not to be avoided, obligatory 

(It is imperative that the pilot remain at 

the assigned altitude until the control tower 

gives him permission to descend). Imperious 

once meant belonging to or befitting an emperor 

or supreme ruler (Imperious Caesar, dead and 

turned to clay,/ Might stop a hole to keep the 

wind away), but now it means domineering, 

dictatorial, overbearing (Beneath his imperious 

exterior was a genuine heart of flint). Imperial 

means of or pertaining to an empire (The 

British imperial capital is London) or of or 

pertaining to an emperor or empress (The imperial 

retinue had sadly dwindled since Henry

had crossed the Alps with such pomp the year 

before). 

imperative mode. The imperative is the form of 

the verb used in commands, requests, and 

advice. It is not necessarily dictatorial. The 

difference between an order and a suggestion is 

shown by the tone of voice or by some other 

words in the sentence, such as if you please. In 

English, the imperative is the simple form of the 

verb and ordinarily appears without a subject, 

as in go and catch a falling star. A negative 

imperative is formed by prefixing do not (or 

don’t), as in do not go. 

In contemporary English the imperative is 

considered a second person form. That is, the 

subject is said to be an unexpressed! you. 

Formerly, if the subject was expressed it 

followed immediately after the verb, as in 

comfort ye my people, This construction may 

still be heard, as in hark you, mind you, but it 

now sounds archaic or old-fashioned. Today, if 

we want to stress the subject of an imperative, 

we place the pronoun immediately before the 

verb, as in you go first. Some grammarians 

claim that in sentences such as someb0d.y lend 

me a hand, the imperative is a third person form 

with the subject somebody. Others hold that 

there is still an unexpressed you here, that 

somebody here means you. This is a purely 

theoretical question and makes no difference in 

practice. 

At one time the imperative could be u.sed as 

a first person plural form. In this case, the word 

we followed the verb, as in praise we the Virgin 

all divine and don we now our gay apparel. In 

modern English we use let us or let’s to in’dicate 

this type of imperative, and say let’s put on our 

best clothes. Let’s may be followed by you and 

me, as in let’s you and me dress up, but the use 

of I or us, as in let’s you and I dress up and 

let’s us dress up, is condemned by some grammarians. 

See let. 

An imperative is always the principal verb 

in a sentence. When a statement such as leave 

at once is repeated in indirect speech, that is, 

not as a direct quotation, the form of the verb 

must be changed. After verbs that take an indirect 

object, such as command, order, ter’l, the 

imperative may be replaced by an infinitive, 

as in he told me to leave at once. After say, 

which does not take an indirect object, an imperative 

is traditionally replaced by a subjunctive 

clause such as he said I should leave at 

once or he said I was to leave at once. But in 

current English say is often treated like tell and 

followed by an infinitive, as in he said to leave 

at once. For is sometimes used to indicate the 

person addressed, as in he said for me to leave 

at once. Thirty years ago these construc:tions 

were generally condemned. But they are used 

today by many well educated people and are 

probably acceptable English in most parts of 

the United States. See also future tense. 

impertinent (pert); impudent; insolent; riaucy 

(sassy); cheeky. The original meaning of impertinent 

was not pertinent to the matter in 

235 implore 

hand, hence irrelevant. This meaning is still 

retained in law but is otherwise obsolete. A deliberately 

introduced irrelevance would be silly 

and would indicate a lack of proper respect for 

those whose business was so interrupted. And 

that-an unseemly intrusion into what does not 

concern one, or a presumptuous rudeness 

towards one entitled to deference or respectis 

the word’s primary meaning today (He was 

inclined to regard the expression of any difference 

of opinion as a piece of impertinence, to 

be repressed with contempt). Annoying as impertinence 

often is, however, there are times 

when it is amusing and attractive and the diminutive 

pert, especially in colloquial usage, 

usually expresses an amused admiration (That 

was a pert little hat she had on). 

Impudent suggests a shameless impertinence, 

unblushing effrontery (The impudence of that 

young whelp, telling me that when he wanted 

my advice he’d ask for it!). Insolent means the 

highest degree of rude presumption, insulting 

and arrogantly contemptuous behavior (The 

recruit was so openly insolent to his superior 

officers that it was apparent that for some 

reason he wanted to be court-martialed). Impertinence 

is sometimes accidental, the result 

of folly or ignorance, but the affronts of insolence 

are deliberate and intended. There is a 

phrase studied insolence which implies that insolence 

is the product of careful planning and 

forethought. 

Saucy and its American dialect form sassy 

mean salty, full of bite. They are colloquialisms 

which can mean anything from impertinent to 

insolent (The child got sassy and she slapped 

him). Like pert, saucy can mean piquant and 

is often used favorably. 

Cheeky is also a colloquialism, chiefly British, 

which means either impudent or insolent. It is 

a slightly stronger term of opprobrium than 

saucy (That cheeky remark may cost him his 

job). 

implement. The primary use of implement, as a 

transitive verb, is to provide with implements 

(Whether armed for war or implemented for 

industry), though it is not often used in this 

sense of actual, tangible implements but of the 

more abstract kind (The resolution was noble 

but until it is implemented by specific legislation 

the voters will probably remain skeptical). In 

the sense of filling out or supplementing, it has 

been severely condemned as either pedantry or 

barbarous jargon, but usage has made it 

standard and the worst that can be said for it 

now is that it is ostentatious and overworked 

and should be replaced occasionally by the 

more homely fulfill or carry out. 

implicate. See involve. 

implicit. See constructive and explicit. 

implore. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in I implore you to tell me. It may 

also be followed by a clause with the clause 

verb a subjunctive or subjunctive equivalent, as 

in I implored that he tell me, but the infinitive 

construction is generally preferred.

imply; infer. The primary meaning of imply is to 

involve as a necessary circumstance. A deed 

implies a doer. The fact that a man is living 

implies that he was born. From this it is a 

natural development for it to mean to indicate 

or suggest something which is to be inferred 

without being expressly stated (Zt is not directly 

asserted, but it seems to be implied). To infer 

is to derive by reasoning from premises, to 

judge from evidence, or, colloquially, to surmise 

or guess (From your silence I infer that you do 

not approve). The speaker implies, the hearer 

infers. Sir Alan Herbert makes the matter clear 

when he says that inferring is a sort of thinking 

and implying a sort of saying. He illustrates by 

saying that If you see a man staggering along 

the road you may infer that he is drunk, without 

saying a word; but if you say “Had one too 

many?” you do not infer but imply that he is 

drunk (What a Word! New York, 1936). 

None the less infer has been used for imply 

for several centuries and by writers of considerable 

authoritv (Milton and James Mill 

among them) and is in such widespread 

common use that many of the best authorities 

now bow to usage and accept it as standard. The 

careful writer, however, will probably want to 

preserve the distinction, which is a useful one, 

and will be inclined to regard the common 

usage here as an accepted laxity rather than an 

example to be followed. 

imply; insinuate. To imply is to indicate as something 

to be inferred (He did not say in so many 

words that he was displeased, but he certainly 

implied it in the tone of his voice). To insinuate 

is to wind into a meaning like a serpent, to hint, 

suggest, subtly develop a meaning in the other 

person’s mind, or to establish oneself in his 

good graces. It is a word of sly and evil connotations; 

whereas imply is an open word. A 

meaning may be implied rather than spoken 

directly for bad reasons, but it also may be 

implied rather than spoken because of diffidence 

or delicacy or kindness. See also indicate. 

impolitic; impolitical. That is impolitic which is 

inexpedient, injudicious, unsuitable to the 

desired end (It is certainly impolitic to bring up 

these charges against the man at the very time 

you need his support). Impolitical is simply an 

older form of impolitic, rendered obsolete by 

the facts that the newer word is shorter and political 

has come to have a specialized meaning. 

important means of much significance, of more 

than ordinary title to consideration or notice. 

It is sometimes used as if it meant principal, as 

in The important difference between them is 

that one dress has white buttons and the other 

gray buttons. Unless important is used here 

ironically, it is misused. 

impossible is enjoying a vogue, not in its primary 

meaning of unable to be, exist, or happen, but 

in such senses as unendurable (He’s utterly impossible; 

I don’t see how you manage to stay on 

speaking terms with him), incredible (It’s an 

impossible story), impracticable (These impossible 

suggestions just annoy me; he knows 

we haven’t the necessary money). These are not 

corruptions but ellipses, condensations by omission. 

An impossible person is one with whom it 

is impossible to get along. An impossible story 

is one that it is impossible to believe. And so 

on. Yet the word is being overworked in this 

manner and it would be better most of the time 

to use the full phrase. 

impostor; imposture. An impostor is a person. 

An imposture is an act. An impostor is one who 

imposes fraudulently on others, who practices 

deception under an assumed character or name 

(The military hero turned out to be an impostor 

who had sat out the war in Mexico). An imposture 

is the action or practice of imposing 

fraudulently on others (His passing himself of7 

as a Russian archduke was one of the more 

successful impostures of the social season). 

impoverished. See poor. 

impracticable; impractical; unpractical. The British 

clearly distinguish between these adjectives by 

using impracticable of things and actions which 

are not practicable, which are not capable, that 

is, of being put into practice, or effected, 

especially with the available means or with 

reason or prudence (It was a thoroughly impracticable 

plan) and by using unpractical of 

persons who are not practical, who lack, that is, 

practical usefulness or wisdom (Because of his 

unpractical nature, he did not foresee the real 

difficulties of the situation). In America impractical 

serves indifferently to mean either impracticable 

or unpractical, depending on the 

context, though impracticable is also used as 

the British use it. Actually, British usage here 

is a good deal less confusing and therefore is 

deserving of adoption. 

impression. See edition. 

impromptu; extemporaneous; extemporary; extempore. 

Generally used as an adjective, impromptu 

means offhand, made or done without 

previous preparation (At the surprise party in 

his honor he made a witty impromptu speech). 

It is also used as an adverb (verses written 

impromptu) and as a noun (You won’t often 

hear that clever an impromptu). 

Extemporaneous, as well as its less-used 

synonyms extemporary and extempore, can 

mean about the same as impromptu-that is, 

unpremeditated, without preparation or with 

only partial preparation-but it is applied 

especially to an unmemorized speech given 

from an outline or notes (His vast experience 

of mountain climbing enabled him to deliver 

extemporaneous speeches on the subject). Extemporaneous 

and extemporary can be used as 

adjectives only. Extempore may be used as an 

adjective, though it seldom is. It is the only one 

of the three that can be used as an adverb (He 

spoke extempore-that is, without preparation 

or notes). 

impudent. See impertinent. 

impunity. See immunity. 

in. This word may be used with an object as a 

preposition, or it may be used alone as an 

adverb or as an adjective. 

In is primarily a preposition. It expresses the 

relation of “contained” or “surrounded by,” and

implies limitations of space, time, conditions, 

circumstances. We may say in the fog, in the 

evening, in breadth, in my opinion. The idea of 

condition or circumstance may be extended to 

include cause, as in he acted in anger, or influence, 

as in when in doubt, or manner, as in 

the yellow gods shut up their eyes in scorn. It 

may mean merely as regards or in respect to, 

as in he was unfortunate in his friends. It may 

also indicate the source of pleasant emotions, 

as in rejoicing in the truth, but not of unpleasant 

ones. We cannot say suffering in injustice. 

In is closely related to several other prepositions. 

It may have the sense of into when it is 

used with a verb that carries the idea of motion, 

as in come in. When in and of compete, 

of has the broad meaning of “pertaining to” 

and does not show as close, or as internal, a 

relation as in. In differs from at in that ai 

refers to a particular place without regard to 

its surroundings. Often it makes no difference 

which of these words is used. As a rule, we 

speak of being in a city, but we may say Z met 

her at the station or Z met her in the sfation. 

On and in are not interchangeable. On implies 

the outside and is in contrast to in. When streets 

were narrow lanes filled with overhanging balconies, 

it was natural to speak of being in the 

street. But in the United States today on is the 

more natural word. We might speak of fighting 

in the streets, where the action seems to be 

enclosed, but we would always say Z met her 

on Fifth Avenue and we lived on Fifteenth 

Street. In can only be used with nouns that are 

thought of as singular, as in in the army, in (I 

crowd. When a group name is thought of as 

plural, among is required, as in among the 

people. (For the use of the after in, as in in bed 

and in the bed, see the.) 

In is not a conjunction, but it may have as 

object the word that, which in turn may introduce 

a clause, as in men differ from brutes in 

that they can think and speak. Here in that has 

somewhat the same function as because. 

The preposition in is freely used with verbs 

of participation, such as share, join, meddle. It 

is also used with certain verbs to show an indirect 

object, as trust in. It may be used adverbially 

without an object, as in break in, fence in, 

full in with. It may be used in this way with 

verbs of motion and with the verb to be, as in 

when will he be in?. Sometimes this in can be 

interpreted as a preposition with the object unexpressed. 

But this is not always true. In the 

United States, in may be attached to a verb 

that names the beginning of an action in order 

to show that the action which is beginning is 

going to go on for a long time, as in he started 

in fo talk, it set in to ruin. Here in is in contrast 

to out, which can be used with the same verbs 

to show that the action had barely begun, as in 

he started out, we set out. 

The simple form in is occasionally used as an 

adjective, as in the in party said that such o law 

was unnecessary. But this is rare in present day 

English. However, the comparative form inner 

and the superlative forms innermost and inmost 

are in common use. The two superlative forms 

are equally acceptable. The comparative inner 

is now felt as a simple adjective and is not used 

in comparisons with than. 

in apple-pie order. Why the order of an apple 

pie should be more orderly than that of any 

other kind of pie is uncertain. As a metaphor 

for everything being as it should be, in upplepie 

order is now a cliche. It has the additional 

disadvantage of being one of those artificially 

homey phrases that give so much talk a tinny 

ring of false sincerity. 

in back of. See back of. 

in black and white. As a term for reducing something 

to writing, especially the terms of an 

agreement, so that it will be incontrovertibly 

clear, to set it down in black and white is overworked 


in spite of the fact that is usually no more than 

a wordy way of saying although. 

in the last analysis is a cliche. It sometimes means 

no more than “finally” and sometimes is no 

more than a sort of pompous clearing of the 

throat before the speaker introduces his opinion. 

in the last resort. As a term for a final expedient 

or for the last desperate course of action, in the 

lust resort is a cliche. It was originally a translation 

of a French law term. 

in the same boat. As a term for sharing a common 

predicament and, particularly, for being liable 

to the same punishment, in the same boat is a 

cliche. 

in the street; on the street. The American idiom 

says that so-and-so lives or does business on 

such-and-such a street. The English idiom says 

that he lives or does business in such-and-such 

a street. See in. 

inability; disability. Both of these words suggest 

a lack of power, capacity, or ability. Znability is 

a want of ability, usually because of an inherent 

lack of talent or power (He had a strange 

inability to make up his mind). A disability is 

some disqualifying deprivation or loss of power, 

physical, legal, or otherwise (His serviceconnected 

physical disability entitled him to a 

full military pension). 

inasmuch as. See because. 

inapt; unapt; inept. Inapt is the common term 

to mean something which is not apt, fitted or 

appropriate (His quotation about the sanctity 

of marriage was a little inapt when one remembers 

that this was the bride’s third venture into 

mutrimony). Unapt can mean unfitted or unsuited, 

but it is becoming more fixed in the 

meanings of unlikely or not disposed (We are 

unapt to find the way in the dark. He is unapt 

to agree with unyone who annoys him) or not 

quick to learn (He was un unapt pupil). Znapt 

has a secondary meaning of without aptitude 

or capacity, but the better word for this is 

inept (Zt would have been hard to find a more 

inept swordsman). 

Though these words overlap in some of their 

meanings, usage seems to be restricting them 

more and more to their special meanings. Thus 

the quotation about the sanctity of marriage 

alluded to in the illustration above was inapt

inaugurate 238 

in so far as it was inapplicable to a third marriage 

and inept in so far as it was an awkward 

thing to have brought up under the circumstances. 

Only an inept person would have 

brought it up. A delicate and perceptive person 

would have been unapt to do so. 

inaugurate. To inaugurate is to install in office 

with full inaugural ceremonies. It is a word of 

almost ponderous gravity and like all words of 

high solemnity may easily become ludicrous if 

applied to trivial occasions. The safe rule is to 

be sure you want inaugurate and not start or 

begin or commence. If you are sure you do, use 

it; otherwise stick to the commoner word. See 

also begin. 

incapable; unable. Incapable means a settled, inherent 

lack of ability or power (He was quite 

incapable of commanding troops in combat). 

Unable usually refers to a temporary lack of 

ability to do a specific thing (Because of heavy 

snows, he was often unable to drive to work 

that winter). 

incensed. See enraged. 

incentive. See motive. 

incessant. See eternal. 

incessantly. See constantly. 

incident. See happening and event. 

incident; incidental. As an adjective incident 

means likely or apt to happen (The confusion 

-. . . 

incident to breaking uy, camp afforded the lurk- 

ing Indians an excellent opportunity for a surprise 

attack). It also means that which naturally 

appertains (The obscurity incident to the 

life of a scholar has its compensations) or that 

which is conjoined or attached, especially as 

subordinate to a principal thing. 

Incidental also means that which is likely to 

happen, but it conveys a stronger feeling of the 

happening’s being fortuitous or in subordinate 

conjunction with something else of which it 

forms no real part (Yes, there was some incidental 

notoriety, but it is unfair to say that his 

purpose was to attract attention); hence purely 

casual (incidental expenses, incidental discomforts). 

When incidental conveys the idea of 

liability, it is followed by to; when it conveys 

the idea of an incident that merely ensues, it 

is followed by upon. 

Incidentally is used with increasing frequency 

by writers and speakers to warn that what is to 

follow is an irrelevance or an aside. It can be 

ambiguous, since it is not always made clear 

whether the stated fact is incidental to some 

action alluded to in the sentence or to the sentence 

as a whole. In the latter sense it can often 

be replaced, to the advantage of clarity, by Z 

may add or Z forgot to say that or some such 

phrase. Many times it can be omitted altogether, 

having no real meaning. 

In conformity to its common slurred pronunciation, 

incidentally is often written incidently. 

This is simply an error. There is no such word 

today as incidently, although there once was. 

incite. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in incite to riot. It is sometimes heard with 

the -ing form of a verb, as in incite to rioting, 

but this is not standard English, See impel. 

incline. When used as a verb, this word may be 

followed by an infinitive, as in this inclined her 

to leave and she was inclined to eat. It may also 

be followed by the -ing form of a verb with the 

preposition to, as in she was more inclined to 

sleeping than to eating. The noun inclination 

may be followed by an infinitive, as in an inclination 

to eat, or by the -ing form of a verb 

with the preposition for, as in an inclination for 

eating. 

Inclined in the metaphorical sense of being 

favorably disposed to do something must be 

confined to people since they alone can have 

this sort of inclination. Rather than say of certain 

trees, for example, that they are inclined to 

retain their dead leaves well into the spring, it 

would be better to say that they have a tendency 

to retain their foliage or simply that they 

retain it. 

To say of someone accused of some fault 

that one is inclined to give him the benefit of 

doubt is to say that one’s opinion is not yet 

absolutely settled in condemnation, that one is 

disposed, until unquestionable evidence of guilt 

has been adduced, towards as favorable an interpretation 

of the facts as possible. But to say 

that one is inclined to think, unless one definitely 

means that one’s emotions, attitudes, 

knowledge, and so on, are too confused or 

uncertain to permit them to be regarded as 

thought, is to indulge in unnecessary circumlocution. 

When Watson once said that he was 

“inclined to think” something or other, Holmes 

drily urged him to do so. More often than not 

the phrase serves as a timid, protective preface 

and actually means “I think, but I am prepared 

to suppress or amend my opinion should it disagree 

with yours.” 

include. See comprise; contain. 

incognito. There is very little occasion to use the 

personal noun, but should it arise, a man is an 

incognito and a woman an incognita (The fair 

incognita graciously inclined her head). The 

abstract noun is incognito only (She preserved 

her incognito). The original plural of the personal 

noun was incogniti, but its use would seem 

an affectation. Zncognitos is now the accepted 

plural of both the personal and the abstract 

forms. The adjective and adverb are both incognito, 

no distinction of gender being recognized. 

incomparable. See uncomparable. 

inconceivable. See unthinkable. 

inconsequent; inconsequential; unimportant. The 

primary sense of inconsequent is lacking sequence 

in thought, speech, or action. W. H. 

Hudson speaks of the profound inconsequent 

gravity of monkeys and their insane delight in 

their own unreasonableness. That is inconsequent 

which does not follow from the premises, 

as an inconsequent conclusion. 

Znconsequentiul once also meant irrelevant 

and illozical (The fiction is unnatural and the 

moral i&onskqueniial), and this meaning is 

still recognized as a secondary meaning, but the 

word’s usual meaning now is “trivial” (An inconsequential 

paragraph in his article was seized

upon us conveying his central doctrine). There 

is about the word, however, even in this meaning, 

a suggestion that the triviality is based 

upon the absurdity or illogicality of the utterance. 

When the matter is simply of no importance, 

it is better to use the commoner, 

unequivocal unimportant. 

incontinently. The adverb incontinently has two 

different meanings. In one sense it means lacking 

in restraint, especially sexual restraint 

(Queen Isabel . . . living incontinently with 

Mortimer). In a second sense, now archaic, it 

means immediately, at once, straightway (I will 

incontinently drown myself). In neither sense 

is the word particularly usable. For the first 

sense some such word as unrestrainedly or unchastely 

is to be preferred. For the second, 

immediately or at once. 

incontrollable; uncontrollable. Though incontrollable 

is still acceptable, its use is increasingly 

rare. In the United States, as in England, it is 

being superseded by uncontrollable. 

incorrect; uncorrected. Though incorrect and incorrectly 

are in daily use, incorrected is now 

obsolete. It has been superseded by uncorrected. 

increase. See step up. 

incredible; unbelievable. Although incredible and 

unbelievable are synonymous in meaning not 

credible, impossible to believe, incredible has 

been used so much in the weakened sense of 

something that is difficult to believe, or something 

which one would never, reasoning from 

common observation, have thought possible, 

that this is now its common meaning. Thus 

when we say of someone that he ran through 

his inheritance with incredible folly, we do not 

expect the alleged folly to be rejected as unbelievable. 

We mean that although such folly 

would seem impossible, yet it actually happened. 

Unbelievable is sometimes used in this 

sense, but more often it is qualified with almost, 

showing that the word itself retains its absolute 

meaning. 

incredible; incredulous. That is incredible which 

cannot be believed or seems too extraordinary 

to be possible. Properly only narratives can be 

incredible since things, to be things, must exist 

and hence, if produced or authenticated, must 

be believed in. However, incredible in its weakened 

sense of so extraordinary as to be almost 

unbelievable is often applied to things (He 

caught the most incredible fish you ever saw. 

There was an incredible house, built on stilts 

and painted blue and green). And since people 

are among the most extraordinary things on 

the face of the earth it is often applied, hyperbolically, 

to people (He was an incredible man. 

The whole community was proud of having 

such a freak in its midst), sometimes in such 

paradoxical phrases as an incredible liar where 

it is used to mean not that he was a liar who 

would not be believed in but so successful a 

liar that it was hard to believe the degree to 

which he compelled credulity. Much of the 

meaning depends on the intonation. To say 

quietly that someone was an incredible witness 

239 indefinite 

would probably mean that his testimony failed 

to carry any conviction, but to stress incredible 

with excited emphasis might mean that the extent 

to which his testimony compelled conviction 

was almost unbelievable. 

In such a situation there is, of course, infinite 

possibility for misunderstanding, so that the 

writer or speaker who wishes to have his meaning 

clearly understood will avoid the ambiguities 

which the weakened and hyperbolical uses 

create by avoiding these uses. 

Incredible means unbelievable. Incredulous 

means unbelieving. And since believing or not 

believing is, so far as we know, solely restricted 

to human beings, the word must also be so 

restricted. It is confined to people and to the 

expressions or gestures by which they indicate 

their unbelief (When he told me the same old 

incredible story, I merely smiled an incredulous 

smile). 

incubus; succubus. The plurals are incubuses or 

incubi, succubuses or succubi. In modern usage 

an incubus is an imaginary demon or evil spirit 

that is supposed to descend upon sleeping persons 

or, by extension, something that weighs 

upon or oppresses one like a nightmare. Sometimes 

a nightmare itself is called an incubus. 

A succubus is, in modern usage, any demon or 

evil spirit. 

In former times, when demonology was a 

more exact science, an incubus was a male 

demon which haunted the sleep of women and 

was responsible for their bearing witches, demons, 

and deformed children. The innocent 

maiden, however, plagued by his advances, 

could protect herself with St. Johnswort and 

vervain and dill. The succubus was the female 

counterpart. The offspring of the union of a 

man and a succubus was demonic, but the proper 

prayers, spells, or charms recited by the man 

upon awakening would prevent its conception. 

These distinctions no longer hold in standard; 

common usage, but the learned preserve them 

and delight in them. 

inculcate. To inculcate is to impress by repeated 

statement, to teach persistently and earnestly. 

It is a transitive verb whose Latin elements 

mean, literally, to stamp in with the heel. Therefore 

that which is inculcated must be inculcated 

in or upon the subject (As a teacher he inculcated 

in his students a love of questioning and 

a distrust of facile solutions) ; the subject is not 

inculcated with that which is inculcated. It is 

incorrect, for example, to say His parents inculcated 

him with frugal habits. They inculcated 

frugal habits in him. 

But even when used correctly inculcate is a 

little pretentious. It is probably better to say 

repeatedly impressed on. 

incumbent. See recumbeut. 

indecency. See blasphemy. 

indefinite article. See a, an. 

iudehite pronouns and adjectives. Pronouns 

which refer to certain individuals without specifying 

which ones, such as anyone, someone, 

everybody, each, either, neither, none, are called 

indefinite pronouns. When a word of this kind

index 240 

is used to qualify a noun it is called an indefinite 

adjective. 

These words are said to be singular. However, 

some of them, such as neither and none, 

usually take a plural verb, as in a maid whom 

there were none to praise. Others, such as anyone, 

everyone, each, usually take a singular 

verb, as in has anyone called?. But these, too, 

may be followed by a plural verb, especially 

when an of-phrase stands between the indefinite 

pronoun and the verb, as in each of the men 

were willing to contribute, although some grammarians 

insist on a singular verb here too. 

After a plural verb has been used, the indefinite 

word (pronoun or adjective-noun compound) 

is treated as plural rather than singular. 

That is, it is referred to by they, them, their, 

rather than by he, him, his. But it may also be 

referred to as they even when a singular verb 

has been used, as in everyone was here but they 

have left, every boy and girl invites their own 

parents, if anyone calls tell them I have gone. A 

masculine singular pronoun (he, him, his) is 

impossible after but, as in the first illustration; 

and pedantic, or ridiculous, after boy and girl, 

as in the second. And it is always unidiomatic 

English in a statement that is actually about an 

indefinite number of individuals some of whom 

may be male and some female, although some 

textbooks require if anyone calls tell him I have 

gone. This use of they, them, their in such constructions 

has been standard English for centuries. 

The best modern writers, like the great 

writers of the past, sometimes use the singular 

he and sometimes the plural they, depending 

upon the circumstances rather than on any rule 

of thumb about the “number” of an indefinite 

pronoun. 

Some grammarians include among the indefinites 

any word which does not have a specific 

reference, such as many, few, all, both, much, 

other, such. In this book some of these are 

treated as number terms and some as individual 

words with peculiar uses. See number terms 

and the individual words.) 

index. The plural is indexes or indices. 

indicate; imply. The transitive verbs indicate and 

imply can be interchanged if the user clearly 

understands the sense he intends. The central 

meaning of indicate is to be a sign of, to betoken, 

to imply (Booing indicates disapproval 

of an umpire’s decisions). But whereas imply 

is one of the central definitions of indicate, indicate 

is not the central definition of imply. 

Primarily, imply means to involve as a necessary 

circumstance (Violence implies danger); 

secondarily, with reference to words, it means 

to signify or to mean (The word “rush” implies 

speed) ; and only in its third sense, does it mean 

indicate. 

A special medical meaning of indicate, to 

point out a particular remedy or course of treatment 

as necessary (Absolute rest was indicated), 

has been taken up into general use and 

is at present something of a vogue word (Zncreased 

taxation wus indicated). See also imply; 

infer. 

indicative mode. The ordinary verb forms used 

in statements or questions about matters of fact 

are called indicative forms. See mode. 

indices. See index. 

indict; indite. These transitive verbs sound alike 

but have different meanings. Zndict is a legal 

term which means to charge with an offense or 

crime (What will you do if the grand jury 

indicts you for perjury? Let anyone who will 

indict him on the charge of frivolitv). Indict is 

a thoroughly serviceable word with ‘no acceptable 

substitute. But indite is a fancy literary 

term, meaning to compose or to write or to 

dictate what someone else is to write down, and 

almost any substitute for it is preferable. When 

a modern writer says indite, he should smile. 

The last serious inditing went on in the seventeenth 

century. 

indigent. See poor. 

indirect discourse. See tense shit. 

indirect object. The direct object of a verb is a 

noun or noun equivalent that is essential to the 

meaning of the verb, as lie in he told a lie. 

Without an object of some kind he told is a 

meaningless statement. An indirect object is not 

essential to the meaning of the verb but shows 

the person or thing affected by the total action. 

As a rule an indirect object represents a person, 

as me ‘in he told me a lie, but it may also represent 

a thing, as it in give it some thought. In 

Latin this function is shown by a dative case 

ending, which has the meaning of to or toward. 

In English the indirect object is sometimes 

called “the dative of interest or reference,” but 

the function is shown by the position of the 

word in the sentence. 

In a normal English sentence the indirect 

object stands between the verb and the direct 

object, as in give her a book. If the direct object 

is moved forward the indirect object remains 

attached to the verb, as in what did you give 

her?. In a compound verb, it stands between the 

verb and the adverb, as them in fix them up a 

box lunch. See adverbs. 

The meaning of the indirect object can also 

be expressed by a prepositional phrase using to 

or for (or occasionally on, in, or from). Some 

verbs, such as speak, explain, attribute, cannot 

be followed by an indirect object and so require 

a prepositional phrase to express this relation. 

A prepositional phrase must also be used with 

a relative or interrogative pronoun, as in who 

did you give the book to?, since these words 

always precede the verb and so cannot stand in 

the indirect object position. 

Whether a word is a direct or an indirect 

object sometimes makes a difference in the 

meaning of a sentence. When a verb is followed 

by two noun equivalents, the first may be an 

indirect object and the second a direct object, 

or the first may be a direct object and the 

second an objective complement. (See object of 

a verb.) Both of these constructions are seen in 

the witticism: the woman who makes a man a 

good wife also makes him a good husband. 

Here man is an indirect object and could be 

replaced by the phrase to a man or for u man;

him however is a direct object and could not be 

rephrased in this way. On the other hand, in 

can you spare me a minute? we may have an 

indirect object and a direct object, or we may 

have a direct object followed by an adverb of 

time. (See nouns as adverbs.) This difference is 

shown in speech by pitch or stress, but in 

written English there is no way to decide which 

construction was intended. 

In the United States there is no exception to 

the rule that an indirect object must stand immediately 

after the verb or be replaced by a 

prepositional phrase. When a verb is followed 

by two personal pronouns either form can be 

used, as in he gave me it and he gave it to me. 

In this case, the prepositional phrase is preferred. 

In Great Britain neither of these constructions 

is used. The rule there is: when both 

are personal pronouns, the direct object precedes 

the indirect, as in he gave it me. This 

construction is impossible to American ears. 

But it has been standard in England for centuries 

and is used in the King James Bible (for 

example, Exodus 23:30). To English ears the 

American to, as in he gave it to me, sounds like 

an affectation, a would-be elegance, to be 

classed with it is I. 

Occasionally the only object of a verb is 

logically an indirect and not a direct object, as 

in he told his sister. In Latin this distinction 

must be recognized and verbs such as help, 

trust, believe, obey, envy, pardon, require an 

object with a dative case ending. In English 

there is no practical difference between the two 

forms. All that remains of case here is the rule 

that a subjective pronoun cannot be used immediately 

after a transitive verb. This is true 

whether the word represents the indirect or the 

direct object. We cannot say 2 helped they any 

more than we can say Z made they. It is customary 

in English to call a word of this kind simply 

the object and to distinguish the indirect from 

the direct only when both are present. 

An indirect object may be made the :subject 

of a passive verb. In they gave him a ,reward 

the direct object of gave is reward and the 

normal passive construction would be a reward 

was given him. But in English we may also say 

he was given u reward. This is a very curious 

construction that is not found in any of the 

other Indo-European languages. 

At one time an indirect object could be 

placed before the verb, as in him was given a 

reward. An important characteristic of modern 

English has made this construction impossible 

today, In present-day English a subjective pronoun 

is not a form used when the word is the 

subject of a verb; it is rather a form used when 

the word stands immediately before a verb. 

This is why, in spite of the grammarians’ protests, 

we prefer he is taller than me or he is 

taller than Z am to he is taller than I. This feeling 

for the pronoun made he was given ;L more 

comfortable phrase than him was given, even 

when the word was an indirect object. This, in 

turn, led to our modern passive form in which 

an original indirect object is treated and felt as 

241 Indoor 

the subject of the verb. As late as 1855 the construction 

was considered ungrammatical but it 

is now preferred to the older form whenever 

both forms are possible. That is, most people 

today if asked to put the sentence he taught the 

child music into a passive form would say the 

child was taught music rather than music was 

taught (to) the child. 

indiscreet; indiscrete. These adjectives are pronounced 

alike but must be distinguished. Zndiscreet 

means not discreet, lacking in prudence 

or sound judgment (Swift’s parents made an 

indiscreet marriage: he used to say that he felt 

the effects of it all his life). Zndiscrete means 

not distinctly separate or distinguishable, undifferentiated 

or homogeneous (Creation of the 

world is said to have begun with indiscrete 

chaos. Zf he had virtues they were certainly 

indiscrete from his vices). Indiscreet is a useful 

word but indiscrete, which is easily confused 

with it and seldom understood in its proper 

sense, should be avoided. 

indispensable. See necessary. 

indisposition. See sickness. 

individual; person. Individual was originally an 

adjective, denoting the particular as opposed to 

the general (All effective advancement must be 

by individual, not public, effort). The individual 

was the single person in his capacity of 

one of many. In the nineteenth century, under 

the influence of that polysyllabic humor which 

attained its most popular success in the works 

of Dickens and which loved to make fun of 

people by exaggerating their dignity, individual 

came to be used a great deal as a noun in place 

of person (The recalcitrant individual with the 

glowing proboscis), and this use, its feeble 

humor having faded long ago, has become established 

among those who are addicted to 

unnecessary syllables. Many speakers and 

writers use it today with no facetious intent 

whatever (an individual of whom this, or any 

other community, might be justly proud. Who 

was that individual Z saw you with last night?). 

But in the best usage the correct word for a 

single human being is still person (What is a 

person to do on a desert island?). If individual 

is to be used as a noun, it must characterize a 

person as a single being in contrast with some 

such body as the family, the state, or society in 

general (The Club ought not to take a stand 

on political matters, though the members are 

free to express themselves, as individuals, in any 

way they see fit. Even in the best of democracies 

the rights of the individual are in constant 

danger of being sacrificed to the will of the 

society as a whole). Since it is easier to misuse 

individual than to use it in its proper sense as 

a noun, it is probably best to think of it in its 

commoner function as an adjective, where it 

means single, particular, separate (Each individual 

leaf differs in some particular from all 

the others), 

indolent. See lazy. 

indoor; indoors. Zndoor is the preferred form 

when the word is used to qualify a following 

noun, as in an indoor playground. Indoors is

indorse 242 

the preferred form when the word is used to 

qualify anything except a noun, as in he stayed 

indoors. But this distinction is not strictly 

observed. 

indorse. See endorse. 

indubitably. See undoubtedly. 

induce. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in we induced them to go, but not by 

the -ing form of a verb or by a clause. See also 

impel. 

inducement. See motive. 

induction; deduction. When these two nouns are 

used to describe reasoning processes they are 

often confused. Actually, the processes they 

describe are of opposite kinds. Deduction 

means applying a general statement or assumption, 

whether true or false, to a particular case 

(My deduction is that since all men die and I 

am a man I will die). Induction means arriving 

at a general principle on the basis of probabilities 

suggested by experiment with and observation 

of a number of individual cases (The 

essence of induction is inferring the general 

from the particular, the unknown from the 

known). 

indulge in; engage in. To indulge in something 

suggests an undisciplined satisfaction of improper 

or harmful desires (As a sailor he had 

indulged in all the excesses available to men of 

that calling). Engage has no such overtone of 

disapproval. It simply means to occupy oneself, 

to become involved (He engaged in business as 

soon as he had finished college). One engages 

in speech but indulges in rhetoric, engages in 

discussion but indulges in gossip, and so on. 

The attitude of the speaker towards the activity 

alluded to is often indicated by the word chosen 

to describe it and sometimes, for humorous 

effect, the words may be switched around (He 

was for many years engaged in petty larceny. 

He indulged himself in all manner of charitable 

activities, especially those concerned with the 

rehabilitation of fallen women), but the shock 

upon which such humorous inversion depends 

is based on the proper meaning of the word 

being clear in the reader’s mind. 

industrial; industrious. Zndustrial means of or 

pertaining to, or of the nature of, or resulting 

from, industry or the productive arts (His 

father thought that a course in industrial engineering 

would be a good preparation for 

him. The industrial world is little concerned 

with theories that have no immediate application). 

Industrious means hard-working, diligent 

(Zf you are industrious you can finish the job 

before dark). 

inebriated. See drunk. 

ineffable. See unspeakable. 

ineffective; ineffectual. When applied to persons, 

usage has established a difference between ineflective 

and ineffectual. An ineffective person 

is an inefficient person, but he may be inefficient 

in the one situation alone. An ineffectual 

person is a futile person, powerless, impotent, 

and inefficient in all situations. 

hrehrstic; unelastic. In England either of these 

words may be used to signify not elastic, lacking 

elasticity, unyielding, though inelastic is preferred, 

especially in figurative uses (He had a 

maddeningly inelastic mind). In the United 

States inelastic only is used, in all senses. 

inept. See inapt. 

inexecrable. See execrable. 

inexpensive. See cheap. 

inexperienced. See unsophisticated. 

inexplicable; inexplainable; unexplainable. All 

three of these adjectives mean not explainable, 

incapable of being explained or interpreted. Znexplicable 

is the most learned term (The nature 

of reality remains an inexplicable mystery). Znexplainable 

and unexplainable have little to 

choose between them. American usage tends to 

favor unexplainable, but all three words are a 

little cumbrous and most people wisely avoid 

them and express the thought in some such 

phrase as something Z can’t understand or Z 

can’t explain it or nobody can explain it. 

infant; child; baby. An infant, in the general 

usage of the word, is a child during the earliest 

period of its life when it is still being carried 

about, “a babe in arms.” Infant and baby in 

current American usage are synonymous, 

though baby is the everyday word and infant 

would seem formal or a little archaic. A child 

is a baby or an infant but in general use it 

applies to persons below the age of puberty and 

since baby is generally used of the very young, 

a child commonly designates someone anywhere 

between weaning and puberty. In law an 

infant is a minor, a person under twenty-one, 

and a child is any descendant, regardless of 

age. Baby is not recognized in the law as designating 

a category. 

infantile; childish; childlike; puerile ; boyish ; 

girlish. All of these words mean characteristic 

of or befitting the young. But some things that 

are characteristic of the young are admirable 

and charming and some are annoying. And 

what is befitting a child may be contemptible in 

an adult. Each of the words has acquired a set 

of connotations that makes it not quite synonymous 

with any of the others. 

Though infantile still means that which pertains 

to an infant (infantile diseases, the helplessness 

of the infantile state), it is most generally 

used in contempt of adult expressions or 

actions which are, in the opinion of the speaker 

or writer, more suitable to a small child than 

to an adult (Such endless talk of what he is 

going to do is infantile and infuriating. Guests 

are embarrassed to be ofiered these infantile 

diversions). 

Childish, like infantile, can be used without 

any implication of disapproval (His big manly 

voice,/ Turning again toward childish treble), 

but for the most part it is used to designate the 

improper or silly manifestation in an adult of 

something which would be proper only in a 

child (The unmarried are driven by boredom 

to childish amusements or vicious delights To 

attach importance to a low-numbered license 

plate is childish. But when Z became a man, Z 

put away childish things). 

Childlike is used almost always in a good

sense, connoting the innocence, freshness, and 

meekness of children. It is a literary word, used 

chiefly by theologians and others who wish to 

protect certain important passages in thl: New 

Testament from any of the depreciative: force 

that childish now carries. And certainly there is 

a difference, at least in the implication that the 

words carry, between a childish faith and a 

childlike faith. 

Boyish is now almost always favorable 

(boyish charm, boyish ambition, boyish 

fancies). An unfavorable attitude towards masculine 

juvenility will express itself in puerile 

(That a grown man should descend to such 

puerile accusations is astonishing). These meanings 

are not absolutely hard and fast. Boyish 

could be used unfavorably, but it rarely is any 

more. And Anthony Wood’s assurance that 

Franciscus Junius nTu.7 educated in puerile learning 

at Leyden would be understood, after the 

first amazement, but would seem strange and a 

little amusing. 

Girlish, not having such a synonym as puellaish 

to assume the unpleasant connotations, 

serves either way, but on the whole it is depreciative. 

Anything proper to a girl that is 

unquestionably admirable (as girlish grace or 

girlish modesty) is by its nature favorable; but 

in most other uses there is a faint disp.aragement 

(Of all beyond I was girlishly ignorant. 

I lost my girlish laughter). When auulied to 

young m&-it is definitely hepreciative; though 

boyish might be complimentary if applied to a 

girl. 

infectious. See contagious. 

infer. See imply, deduce. 

inferno. As a literary euphemism for Hell, inferno 

was introduced about the middle of the nineteenth 

century. It survives today chiefly .in the 

cliche! a raging inferno, a worn journalistic 

term for a bad fire or a bad literary term for 

the heart, mind, soul, or bosom of one agitated 

with violent passion. 

infertile. See unfertilized. 

infidel. See agnostic. 

infinite; great. That is infinite to which no bounds 

can be set. God’s mercy is said to be infinite. 

A young man’s aspirations may be infinil:e because 

of their very vagueness. Certain mathematical 

processes and perhaps space itself may 

with strict propriety be called infinite (A haze 

on the far horizon,/ The infinite, tender sky). 

Almost all other uses are hyperbolical and great 

or even very might be substituted. One cannot 

eliminate exaggeration from speech and probably 

should not even try to, but the effective 

speaker or writer will try to hold it in reserve 

and at least be aware of it when he is using 

it. To say He went to an infinite amount of 

trouble to find the reference, for example, is, 

really, to weaken the intended effect. He went 

to great trouble would probably be more impressive 

because it is more restrained. Trouble 

can be as near infinite as almost any human experience, 

but everyone has had enough trouble 

to set its bounds beyond anything incurred in 

looking up a reference. 

243 infinitives 

infinite capacity for taking pains. Miss Jane Ellice 

Hopkins’s preposterously pedestrian and typically 

Victorian definition of genius as an infinite 

capacity for taking puins has had such a fascination 

for millions devoid of genius that it has 

become a clich6. 

infinitives. The infinitive is the verb form that 

simply names the action of the verb, without 

any other specification such as by whom, when, 

how, the action occurs. It is called an infinitive 

because, unlike the other verb forms, it is indefinite 

in all these respects. 

If a verb is transitive and requires an object 

to complete its meaning, as the verb does in 

the phrase he makes music, the infinitive too 

will require an object, as in to make music. (See 

transitive verbs.) Like the finite verb forms, the 

infinitive is qualified by an adverb and not by 

an adjective. But it functions in a sentence as if 

it were a noun. Historically speaking, the infinitive 

is a single word, such as make or go. 

It may be used as the object of a verb, as in he 

must go, he did go, or as the object of the 

preposition to. In Old English the infinitive was 

used as the object of the preposition to about 

25 percent of the time. Today it is used in this 

way more than 80 percent of the time. 

(Some grammarians call the infinitive preceded 

by to “the supine,” to distinguish it from 

the bare infinitive. In this dictionary the true 

infinitive is called “the simple form of the verb” 

and the infinitive with to, the “to-infinitive,” or 

simply “the infinitive.“) 

In modern English the infinitive without to is 

used after do, let, and the regular auxiliary 

verbs such as will, can, must (see auxiliary 

verbs); after bid, dare, feel, hear, make, need, 

see, in the active voice but not in the passive; 

in certain constructions or with certain senses 

of the word after have, help, find, come, go, 

run, try; and occasionally after other verbs 

meaning “see,” such as behold, mark, observe. 

The infinitive with to is used after the auxiliaries 

ought, used, and in certain senses be and 

have; and in all other constructions involving 

independent verbs. The word to may apply to 

several infinitives in a series, as in she refused 

to eat, talk, or move, or it may represent an 

infinitive that is easily supplied from the context, 

as in he would like to. 

The eighteenth century grammarians, who 

relied on logic rather than research to solve 

their problems, had trouble explaining the word 

to before an infinitive. Some said that it was an 

adverb, some said that it was an auxiliary verb, 

and some said that it was “an equivocal article.” 

Actually, it is the simple preposition to, which 

means primarily “in the direction of.” It was 

first used with an infinitive to show intention or 

purpose, as it does in he was led to believe. But 

the construction has spread far beyond this and 

today the to is often no more than “the sign 

of the infinitive,” a prefix which shows that the 

following word is an infinitive. But grammatically 

the two words still form a prepositional 

phrase and are still treated as a prepositional 

phrase.

inlinitives 244 

(Whether this lo is explained as a preposition, 

an auxiliary verb, an adverb, or an 

“equivocal article,” there is no reason why a 

qualifying word should not stand between it 

and the infinitive, as in who dared to nobly 

stem tyrannic pride. Whether it should or not 

is a question of taste, not logic. See split 

infinitives. 

The agent of the action named by an infinitive 

is called the subject of the infinitive, as him 

in there is no need for him to come. Very often, 

as in the example, the subject is introduced by 

for. This is acceptable under some circumstances 

and not under others. (See for.) As a 

rule, the subject of an infinitive is the object of 

a verb or preposition, but it may also be the 

subject of a passive verb, as he in he wus heard 

to say. This fact might conceivably affect the 

case of a personal pronoun following to be, but 

otherwise is of no importance. See be. 

USES OF THE INFINITIVE 

An infinitive phrase may function as an adjective 

qualifying a noun or pronoun, and when 

it does, it follows the word it qualifies, as in 

the first to come and the last to leave. It may 

also function as an adverbial phrase. As a rule, 

it is an adverb of purpose, as in she looked 

down to blush and she looked up to sigh and 

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him; but it 

may show cause, result, necessity, and similar 

ideas. The infinitive may also be used as a noun. 

It may be the subject of a verb, or the complement 

of the verb to be, as in where but to think 

is to be full of sorrow. Or it may be the direct 

object of certain verbs, as in learn to labor and 

to wait. 

In many of these uses the infinitive competes 

with a full clause containing a subjunctive or 

subjunctive substitute verb. I do not know what 

to say is equivalent to I do not know what I 

should say; and I am here to see him is equivalent 

to I am here (so) that I may see him. In 

contemporary English the infinitive is more 

common than these subjunctive clauses. 

The infinitive also competes with the -ing 

form of the verb. One can say dogs delight to 

bark and bite or dogs delight in barking and 

biting. Frequently the two forms are interchangeable, 

but not always. Some verbs can 

take one as object and not the other. The verbs 

that are most troublesome in this respect have 

been listed individually in this dictionary. In 

these entries, the statement that a particular 

verb cannot be followed by an infinitive means 

that it cannot take an infinitive as object. It 

does not mean that the verb cannot be qualified 

by an adverbial infinitive of purpose. 

The infinitive does not express time. The 

same form is used in speaking of the past, the 

present, and the future, as in he liked to skate, 

he likes to skate, he would like to skate. The 

time is shown by the tense of the true verb, 

such as like. 

The infinitive to be followed by the past 

participle of a verb, as in to be seen, is called 

the passive infinitive of that verb. This is a 

relatively new development in English. Until 

recently the infinitive itself was indifferently 

active or passive, and it can still be understood 

in a passive sense, as in there is a lot to see in 

Rome. But the new, distinctly passive form is 

an advantage when it is necessary to be precise. 

And it allows us to say such things as to love 

and be loved by me. We can also make a progressive 

infinitive, as in to be seeing, and a progressive 

passive, as in to be being seen. Verbs 

that are followed by the simple infinitive without 

to, are also followed by the simple form 

of the passive and progressive infinitives, as in 

he may be seen and he may be seeing. 

THE PERFECT INFINITIVE 

The infinitive to have followed by the past 

participle of a verb, as in to have seen, is called 

the perfect infinitive of that verb. It too can 

have a passive form, as in to have been seen, a 

progressive form, to have been seeing, and a 

progressive passive, to have been being seen. 

This last form is rare, and some grammarians 

say that it is never used. But it is a perfectly 

proper form and is heard occasionally, as in 

how would you like to have been being scolded 

all day?. Again, verbs that are followed by the 

simple infinitive without to also omit the to 

when followed by a perfect infinitive, as in he 

may have seen. 

The perfect infinitive sometimes expresses 

completed action and sometimes indicates that 

what is said is contrary to fact. It always expresses 

completed action when it is dependent 

on a present tense verb, as in we expect to 

have left by then, and may do so when it is 

dependent on a past subjunctive auxiliary. When 

it is dependent on a past indicative verb form, 

it indicates that the action is contrary to fact. 

Milton writes: I made him just and right, sufficient 

to have stood though free to fall. The 

perfect form is used with stood because actually 

he did not stand, and the noncommittal form 

with faZ1 because, actually, he fell. The same 

use of the perfect infinitive is seen in I thought 

thy bride bed to have deck’t, sweet maid. 

This construction is still used, as in he expected 

to have left, but in contemporary English 

we more often make a contrary to fact statement 

by using the auxiliary had in the principal 

verb (that is, by using the past perfect tense), 

as in he had expected to leave. When the two 

forms are used in the same statement, as in he 

had expected to have left, we have a definitely 

redundant sentence. The redundancy is not in 

a class with the double negative, but it offends 

people who are sensitive to words. The sentence 

is unliterary, simply because it isn’t neat. 

A perfect infinitive used after phrases involving 

would have, might hnve, and so on, is a 

different matter. These past subjunctive forms 

are used in the conclusion following a contrary 

to fact condition, as in if he had come, I would 

have been pleased. The contrary to fact clause 

may be replaced by a perfect infmitive phrase 

in just the way that a straightforward subjunctive 

clause may be replaced by the plain infini-

tive. In it would huve done you good to have 

walked in the garden with us, the words to have 

walked replace if you had walked. This is an 

established literary construction, used by all 

good writers of English, and should not be 

confused with sentences such as he had enpetted 

to have left. 

A perfect infinitive is justifiable after some 

of these verb phrases in other constructions. 

With the exception of would (and in British 

speech in certain constructions should), tlhe subjunctive 

auxiliaries followed by have and a past 

participle express completed action, which may 

or may not be contrary to fact. That is, he could 

have asked her to send it, he should have asked 

her to send it, do not necessarily imply he did 

not ask her. In speech, a special emphasis is put 

on the first auxiliary to show that such a statement 

is contrary to fact. After verbs Iof this 

kind a perfect infinitive, as in he could have 

asked her to have sent it, is not redundant but 

precise. 

This is not the case with woald have, which 

always indicates a contrary to fact statement. 

Technically, he would have liked to have left 

has the same redundancy as he had expected 

to have left. But practically, there is a difference. 

On the one hand, the sentence using 

would have suggests the type of sentence in 

which the infinitive replaces a conditional 

clause, although that is not actually the case 

here. On the other hand, if might have had 

been used instead of would have, the perfect 

infinitive would have been appropriate. Theoretically, 

these facts are irrelevant, but they 

have an effect on the way the expression s’ounds. 

And to most people, he would have liked to 

have left sounds like the natural way to say it. 

inlinity; infinitude. Infinity and infinitua’e are 

synonymous. Since infinite, by definition is incomprehensible, 

infinity, or the quality or attribute 

of being infinite, must be even more so, 

an abstraction of an unintelligibility. Those 

who deal in such concepts may occasionally, 

as Fowler drily remarks, find infinity te:dious. 

When they do, they can use infinitude for 

variety. Thinkers in limited fields will find the 

variation needless. 

intlammable; inflammatory. That which is i.nflammuble 

is capable of being set on fire, .but in 

popular usage the word is reserved almost exclusively 

for those substances which catch fire 

easily and burn with rapidity and violence (Deposits 

of gasoline and other inflammable muteriuls 

must be clearly marked by wurning 

signs). (See also flammable.) When the word 

is applied figuratively to persons, it means excitable, 

easily roused to (fiery) passions. 

Inflammatory means tending to inflame. 

Though it would be understood in a literal sense 

(as in such a statement as an inflammatory 

spark or the inflammatory torch), it is no longer 

so used, being confined to the figurative sense 

of inflaming or kindling the passions (These 

inflammatory speeches fired the mob with 

murderous fury). In pathology inflammatory 

has the special meaning of pertaining to or 

attended with inflammation (an inflammatory 

sore throat). 

inflict; afflict. To aflict is to distress with mental 

or bodily pain, to trouble greatly or grievously 

(They were ufi‘hcted with plagues. My afflictions-are 

more..thun I can bear). To inflict is to 

impose or lay on something unwelcome (At 

the captain’s command the bosun inflicted a 

dozen lushes. You have no right to inflict these 

punitive restrictions upon the child). An affliction 

may be inflicted only upon sensitive beings. 

In such a statement as The land was aflicted 

with famine, fund means the living things in the 

land. 

inform. See advice, tell. 

informant; informer. An informant is one who 

supplies information. An informer is also one 

who supplies information but this meaning has 

been almost superseded by the specialized 

meaning of one who makes it his business to 

bring criminal information concerning others 

to the police. He differs from a voluntary 

witness or a citizen doing his duty in that he 

expects to be paid for the information that he 

brings and rather specializes in charges of 

treason. The word was much in use in seventeenth 

and eighteenth century England when it 

acquired strong connotations of detestation. It 

has come into use in America only recently 

but has rapidly re-acquired much of its former 

odium. 

infrequent; infrequency. See unfrequent; unfrequented. 

infuriated. See enraged. 

infuse. See imbue. 

-ing. The -ing form of the verb must be distinguished 

from ordinary nouns that have the 

same form. When the Mock Turtle tells Alice 

that he has studied reeling, writhing, drawling, 

stretching, and fainting in coils, he is using 

ordinary nouns because he is talking about 

courses of study or skills and these are “things,” 

as are concepts, customs, and events. The -ing 

form of the verb never refers to a “thing.” It 

is a way of mentioning the action named by a 

particular verb, sometimes as a noun, as in the 

stretching of the rope, and sometimes as an 

adjective, as in the reeling man. In what follows 

we are speaking only about these verb forms 

and not about similar words which are actually 

the names of things. 

In current English the -ing form, if it is not 

qualified by an adjective (and this includes a 

and the) and if it is not followed by of, can 

be used any place in the sentence that the sense 

permits. 

If the -ing form follows a personal pronoun 

and the two words are the object of a verb or 

of a preposition, the pronoun may have an 

objective form or a possessive form, as in do 

you mind us having secrets? and do you mind 

our having secrets?. If the two words are standing 

in a subject position, the pronoun may have 

a subjective form or a possessive form, as in 

you going out is no proof that you are well and

yo~cr going out is no proof. A noun or any other 

kind of pronoun followed by an -ing form may 

be in the common case (that is, not in the 

genitive case), as anything in mere’s not the 

least likelihood of anything having happened 

to them and lady in is the lady bothering you 

any reason for you to come bothering me?. 

Some of these constructions are offensive to 

some people and are condemned by some grammarians, 

who recommend that the genitive or 

possessive be used before -ing words. But the 

rules just given describe the way in which most 

people now use the -ing form, and these uses 

must therefore be recognized as acceptable contemporary 

English. 

Older constructions involving the -ing are 

also heard today. Many people still use nineteenth 

century forms in which adjective qualifiers, 

the word of, and a genitive case in the 

preceding word, are required under certain circumstances. 

(See l-3 below.) These forms are 

acceptable in speech and are generally considered 

more literary than the modern forms. 

Still older constructions, from the seventeenth 

and eighteenth century, are also heard but are 

not considered standard now. 

It is possible to describe the modern use of 

the -ing without talking about different kinds 

of -ing. But if anyone wants to use older forms 

and wants to know which of these are standard 

and which are not, he will have to recognize 

certain distinctions. During the nineteenth 

century it was customary to say that there were 

three ways of using an -ing, or that the -ing 

form had three distinct functions. 

1. In one case it had all the characteristics 

of a noun, as in the worshiping of idols was 

forbidden. This form was referred to as “the 

verbal noun,” but it is now called “the gerund” 

to distinguish it from true nouns derived from 

verbs. Grammarians in the first part of the 

nineteenth century defined this form as the -ing 

preceded by a definitive word, such as a, the, 

this, that, a genitive, or a possessive. This 

gerund form can be immediately preceded by an 

adjective but not by an adverb. That is, we can 

say the occasional worshiping of idols but not 

the occasionally worshiping of idols. It cannot 

be followed immediately by an object but 

requires the preposition of. That is, we cannot 

say the worshiping idols was forbidden. (The 

word of may be omitted when a gerund is preceded 

by the word no, as in there was no persuading 

them, but under no other circumstances.) 

Only the direct object of the verbal 

idea can be joined to the gerund by means of of. 

An indirect object requires the preposition to. 

That is, we may say the giving of cnndy to 

children but we cannot say the giving of 

children candy. 

During the nineteenth century the gerund was 

often required for the subject or the object of 

a verb, but it was not often used for the object 

of a preposition, as in a law against the worshiping 

of idols, where a simpler form was possible 

and preferred. 

2. The -ing form may have all the characteristics 

of an adjective. When it does it is called 

a participle. This form is used in the twentieth 

century just as it was in the nineteenth. A participle 

that is an integral part of a sentence 

must qualify a noun or noun equivalent in just 

the way an adjective does. It may stand before 

a noun, as in a laughing girl, or it may follow, 

as in a girl picking cherries. A personal pronoun 

qualified by a participle is subjective or objective 

depending on its function in the sentence. 

It is never possessive. A noun or any other kind 

of pronoun is always in the common case. (An 

-ing form may also be part of a phrase that is 

grammatically independent of the sentence, as 

in generally speaking, girls are a nuisance. For 

a discussion of this, see participles.) A participle 

may be qualified by an adverb but not by an 

adjective (that is, we may say a girl occasionally 

picking cherries but not a girl occasional 

picking cherries) ; and it may be followed by an 

object (such as cherries) but not by an of 

phrase, unless the verb itself requires of, as in 

thinking of her. Earlier, a participle might be 

followed by of, as picking in a dozen of them 

picking of his bones, but this is not considered 

standard now. 

3. The third way in which an -ing form can 

be used is seen in there were laws against worshiping 

idols. Here worshiping is not an adjective 

qualifying a noun or pronoun, but it has 

some of the characteristics of the participial adjective. 

And it does not have the characteristics 

required of a gerund. Nineteenth century grammarians 

called this form of the -ing the gerundive 

because it resembled the Latin adjective 

made from the verbal noun or gerund, and not 

the simple participle. They defined the gerundive 

as the -ing form of the verb that is used 

after a preposition. (Today the one word gerund 

is often used for this form as well as for the 

verbal noun.) 

The gerundive could be qualified by an adverb, 

as in laws against occasionally worshiping 

idols, but it could not be qualified by an 

adjective, as in laws against occasional worshiping 

idols. A genitive or possessive form is 

equivalent to an adjective and conservative 

grammarians claimed that the gerundive could 

not be preceded by one of these forms. That is, 

they claimed that one could not say laws against 

their worshiping idols. The gerundive could be 

followed by a direct object but not by of. 

Formerly it might be followed by of, as in I 

thank you for receiving of me and as to giving 

of you up. These old constructions can still be 

heard today but are no longer considered 

standard. The aerundive could be followed by 

an indirect object as well as by a direct, as in 

a rule against giving children candy. (This is 

also true for the participle.) 

These three forms of the -ing all occur in: 

(we will) silence their mourning with VOWS of 

returning, but never intending to visit them 

more. There is the gerund mourning, which is 

the object of the verb silence; the gerundive

eturning, which is the object of the preposition 

of; and the participle intending, which qualifies 

the pronoun we. There is another kind of verbal 

noun, the infinitive, which can also function as 

the subject or the object of a verb, and we have 

this too in to visit, which is here the object of 

the participle intending. See infinitives. 

The Victorian gerundive is treated like a participle 

but it is essentially a noun and al!ways 

carries the implication of the verbal noun and 

not of the adjective. It may be used to qualify 

a following noun, but when it is it has the force 

of an abbreviated prepositional phrase, as if a 

preposition such as for had been omitted. Singing 

is a participle in a singing child but not in 

e singing lesson. The -ing words are gerundives 

and not participles in drinking glasses, walking 

sticks, growing pains, writing paper. See ‘cornpound 

words. 

By Victorian standards a gerundive with an 

object could not be used as the subject or the 

object of a verb. That is, one could not. say 

worshiping idols was forbidden or the law 

forbade worshiping idols. The gerund or some 

other construction, such as an infinitive or a 

clause, was required here. In contemporary 

English, the gerundive is used freely as the 

subject of a verb, but it is not always acceptable 

as an object. 

By Victorian standards, a noun or pronoun 

standing immediately before the gerund must 

be a genitive or possessive. A word standin’g in 

this position always represents the subject of 

the verbal idea expressed in the gerund. A participle, 

on the other hand, may follow an uninflected 

noun or a subjective or objective 

pronoun, but it cannot qualify a preceding genitive 

or possessive. What form a noun or .pronoun 

standing before a gerundive and representing 

the subject of the action should have, is 

a more complicated problem. 

During the first half of the nineteenth 

century, conservative grammarians claimed that 

a genitive or possessive form could not stand 

before a gerundive, since an adjective could not 

stand in this position. Thackeray was reflecting 

conservative speech when he wrote: I insist on 

Miss Sharp appearing, rather than Miss Sharp’s 

appearing. Noah Webster opposed this tradition. 

He claimed that if the preceding word was 

the subject of the verbal idea a genitive or 

possessive form was required. 

Modern grammarians settle a question like 

this by counting instances. An examination of 

English literature made forty years ago to determine 

this point shows that from 1400 to 1900 

a possessive pronoun was almost always useal in 

preference to an objective pronoun before a 

gerundive, and that the genitive form of a noun 

was used approximately half the time. Thlere 

is no doubt that Webster had a better ear for 

English than his opponents. By the end of the 

nineteenth century his teachings had been :accepted 

as standard, and they are what now 

appear in textbooks. 

But in the meantime, the eighteenth and 

247 -iIlg 

early nineteenth century standards had had 

their effect. An analysis of the speech of educated 

Americans made thirty years ago found 

that the common form of the noun was overwhelmingly 

preferred to the genitive before a 

gerundive and that an objective pronoun was 

used in preference to a possessive pronoun 

48 percent of the time. In current English it is 

more usual to say on Miss Sharp appearing than 

on Miss Sharp’s appearing. Either form of the 

pronoun may be used. One may say I’m surprised 

at his saying that or I’m surprised ot 

him saying that without intending any difference 

in meaning or emphasis. A possessive form 

is often used parallel with a noun in the 

common case, as in I can undersfand an Afghan 

stealing but I cannot understand his crying. Of 

course, if the pronoun itself is the object of a 

verb or preposition and the -ing a descriptive 

participle, the pronoun must have the objective 

form, as in we saw him running. 

What has been said applies only to an -ing 

construction that is the object of a verb or preposition. 

When the -ing is the subject of a verb 

some people still prefer a noun in the genitive, 

as in the children’s wanting that surprises me; 

but the simple form, as in the children wanting 

that surprises me, is also acceptable and is preferred 

by many. If the noun itself is the subject 

of the verb and the -ing a descriptive participle, 

only the simple form can be used, as in the 

children, wanting some candy, came into the 

room. In the case of a pronoun, most people 

prefer a possessive form when the -ing is the 

subject of a verb, as in their being my friends 

makes it worse; but a subjective form, as in 

they being my friends makes it worse, is used 

too often by good writers to be called anything 

but standard. Again, if the pronoun itself is the 

subject of the verb a subjective form is required, 

as in he, being in a hurry, began to run. but 

constructions of this kind are not often used. 

In the case of pronouns, the situation is complicated 

by the fact that there are three forms 

instead of two. A subjective form is often used 

where the logic of grammar would require an 

objective or possessive form. When the subjective 

pronoun is close to the preceding verb or 

preposition, as in instead of he converting the 

Zulus, the Zulu chief converted him, it is offensive 

to most educated people, but not to all. 

When a great many words come between the 

pronoun and the verb or preposition so that the 

construction is obscured, the subjective form is 

acceptable to most people, as the they in without 

my interfering with their sleep or they with 

mine and the he in that would be a motive for 

her murdering him, not he her. 

An objective pronoun is also heard in a subjective 

position, as me in me knowing their 

names surprised them and him in it’s no use 

him wiring buck. This is in keeping with the 

tendency in English to use a subjective pronoun 

immediately before a true verb and an objective 

form in any other position. Sentences of this 

kind are acceptable in speech. That is to say,

ingenious 248 

they are seidom noticed by any one except a 

grammarian. But ordinarily these forms would 

be changed to possessives before appearing in 

print. 

ingenious; ingenuous. Ingenious used to mean 

possessed of genius (For epigram few could 

surpass the learned and ingenious Mr. Thomas 

Clover), but it has now been weakened to mean 

simply clever, especially at contriving or making 

things (At the age of ten he had made a most 

ingenious device whereby his alarm clock, on 

going off, closed the windows and turned on 

the heat). Ingenuous, which once meant of free 

or honorable birth, now means open or frank 

(He ingenuously acknowledged the fault and 

besought the old man’s forgiveness). Cynicism 

has operated somewhat upon the word and a 

secondary, though increasingly common, meaning 

is guileless, innocent, and frank almost to 

the point of folly (So ingenuous a revelation of 

gullibility set the whole table laughing). 

inhabitable. See habitable. 

inharmonious; unharmonious. As an adjective to 

describe anything that is discordant or not harmonious, 

whether it be music or ideas, inharmonious 

is preferred to unharmonious, though 

unharmonious is not incorrect. 

inherent; innate. That is inherent which exists as 

a permanent and inseparable element, quality, 

or attribute of something (There is an inherent 

baseness in lying that no amount of casuistry 

can remove). That is innate which is inborn, 

existing or as if existing in one from birth, or 

arising from the constitution of the mind rather 

than acquired from experience (The moral feelings 

are not innate but acquired). See also 

essential. 

inhibit; prohibit. Inhibit and prohibit are in many 

situations synonymous. Calhoun’s insistence that 

the treaty-making power of the government of 

the United States is limited by all the provisions 

of the Constitution which inhibit certain acts 

from being done by the government could just 

as well have been prohibit. None the less, they 

are not at all times interchangeable and are 

becoming increasingly less interchangeable as 

the popular feeling grows that something which 

is inhibited is restrained or forbidden by some 

inner feeling or condition and something which 

is prohibited is restrained or forbidden by some 

outside authority. A man might be inhibited 

from smoking by a sense of delicacy or a personal 

fear of its effect on his health. He would 

be prohibited from smoking by his doctor’s 

orders, under some circumstances by state fire 

laws, in airplanes at the take-off by regulations 

of the Civil Aeronautics Authority, and so on. 

inhuman. See unhuman. 

initiate; initiation. While initiate means “begin,” 

the two words are not completely synonymous. 

An initiation may be a formal introduction to 

certain mysteries. Or it may be an ingenious 

first act in a new field (He initiated the present 

procedures in examining applicants). One begins 

a conversation but initiates a series of 

conferences between persons of great impor- 

tance. One takes the initiative in doing something 

not of doing it. See also begin. 

inmates; patients. An inmate is, strictly, one who 

dwells with another or others in the same house. 

It is still sometimes used, though rarely, in this 

and the closely associated sense of inhabitant 

(The present inmate is a Mr. Murchisotz). In 

current usage inmates is used most frequently 

to designate prisoners in a certain prison or 

patients in a certain insane asylum (The inmates 

sullenly refused to listen to the warden’s 

terms) or the inhabitants of various institutions 

such as homes for the aged or the blind. 

The common application of the word does not 

seem to rest on any suggestion of criminality 

or even of social undesirability, though this 

inference might well be drawn by the sensitive 

among many of these unfortunates, but on the 

idea of a more or less permanent dwelling in 

an institution. 

For those who are confined to a hospital for 

medical or surgical treatment, so long as it is 

not a hospital restricted solely to mental patients 

or attached to a penal institution, the term is 

patients. Where an institution for the care of 

the insane calls itself a hospital its inmates are 

often called patients. There seems to be an 

association of the two words. 

inmost; innermost. These forms are equally acceptable 

as superlatives for the idea contained 

in in. 

innate; instinct. Innate means inborn. Znstinct 

when used as an adjective means urged or animated 

from within, infused with some active 

principle. Innate is followed by in. Znstinct is 

followed by with (The urge to self-preservation 

is innate. There was an innate skepticism in 

Johnson’s mind that warred continually with 

his deep piety. The buds, instinct with life, lay 

yet within their sticky teguments). See also 

inherent. 

inner man. The inner man which St. Paul prayed 

might be strengthened by God’s spirit was the 

soul, the inner or spiritual part of man. It was 

“saving doctrine” which Milton felt attracts the 

soul,/ Governs the inner man, the nobler part. 

The application of the term to the stomach and 

of “strengthening” to eating was a flight of midnineteenth 

century humor which has survived 

its impiety and its humor to become a clichk. 

innervate; enervate. To innervate is to give nervous 

energy to, to stimulate through the nerves, 

or to grow nerves into. The word is restricted 

to works on anatomy and neurology. To enervate 

is to deprive of nervous strength, to 

weaken. It is in general use (enervated by luxury), 

but has become specialized, almost to the 

point of being a clich6, as a term for the enfeebling 

effect of a hot, moist climate (The high 

temperatures of the rain forest are exceedingly 

enervating to whites). 

innings. In Great Britain this word is a singular 

as well as a plural and can be used in speaking 

of just one, as in the ninth innings. In the United 

States the singular form is inning and innings is 

used only in speaking of more than one.

innocent as a newborn babe. A baby has: long 

been established as a type of innocence and 

various wits have labored to heighten the simile. 

The phrase has appeared at different times over 

the past four centuries as innocent as an unborn 

child, innocent as a newborn babe, innocent 

as an unchristened babe. In any form it is 

now a cliche. W. S. Gilbert gave a humlorous 

freshness to the idea with his as innocent as a 

new-laid egg. 

innuendo. The plural is innuendoes. 

innumerable. See endless. 

inquire; ask; demand; question. As verbs, these 

words all imply the seeking of information by 

one person (or persons) from another (or 

others). Ask is the everyday word (He asked 

me what Z knew about the incident), but it is 

sometimes ambiguous because it has the further 

meanings of demanding and soliciting (He asks 

forty-five dollars for it. Z ask you to help me). 

Inquire is more formal and always implies asking 

about something specific (inquire the route, 

inquire the time of departure). It has a slight 

advantage over ask because it has a corresponding 

noun inquiry whereas asking is limited in its 

uses and except for the phrase It’s yours-or 

his-for the asking has a suggestion of deliberate 

archaism. To demand is to ask for with 

authority, peremptorily, urgently (His face grew 

red with anger and he demanded an answer at 

once). To question is to ask repeatedly and persistently. 

Witnesses are questioned in trials and 

investigations. It carries, also, a connotation of 

skepticism (I question the veracity of that statemerit). 

inquirer; inquisitor. An inquirer is simply one 

who makes an inquiry. An inquisitor is .a persistent 

questioner, often inquisitive, eager to 

know matters which the one questioned1 may 

feel he has a right to keep to himself. From 

association with the Holy Office, better k:nown 

as the Inquisition, and its chief officer the Grand 

Inquisitor, the word inquisitor has some connotation 

of one who carries his questioning to a 

point that is torture to the one being questioned. 

inquisition; disquisition. An inquisition is an investigation 

or process of inquiry (Nor have 

these mysterious comings and goings escaped 

the inquisition of the suspicious). A disquisition 

is a formal discourse or treatise in which a subject 

is examined and discussed, a dissertation. 

A disquisition may well embody the results of 

an inquisition. 

inquisitive. See curious. 

insanitary. See unsanitary. 

inscrutable. See mysterious. 

inside of. This phrase ordinarily means “on the 

inside.” It may also mean “in less than,” as in 

inside of an hour, inside of a mile. This sense 

of the word is standard in the United States, but 

in Great Britain it is considered “colonial.” 

insidious: invidious: offensive. That is insidious 

which’is intended to entrap (an insidious question) 

or is stealthily treacherous or deceitful 

(an insidious foe, continually offering terms 

which he had no intention of abiding by). The 

inspiration 

word is often used of a disease which proceeds 

without any very alarming symptoms to a grave 

or fatal condition. 

That is invidious which is prompted by or 

adapted to excite dislike or ill will. unfairlv 

discriminating. An invidious comparison or invidious 

praise would be a comparison or praise 

designed to cast odium rather than actually to 

compare or praise (What needs, 0 monarch, 

this invidious praise,/ Ourselves to lessen, while 

our sires you raise?). Invidious used to mean 

envious and invidious praise would have been 

praise designed deliberately to excite envy. The 

sense of envious has now been lost, however, 

and all that is retained is the ill will that the 

envy would engender. It differs from oflensive, 

however, in that it designates a particular kind 

of offensiveness, an offensiveness based on unflattering 

or spiteful comparisons or praise of 

others. It would simply be offensive to compare 

a man to a pig. It would be invidious to compare 

him to someone who plainly surpassed 

him in some field of endeavor in which he 

prided himself on his accomplishments. If the 

comparison were so worded (as in satire it 

often is) that it seemed a compliment though 

it was actually an insult, it would be, as a compliment, 

insidious. 

insidious; beguiling. Though insidious and beguiling 

both mean treacherous and deceiving, 

insidious designates things which are evilly deceiving 

and dangerously treacherous while beguiling 

is now largely restricted to things which 

deceive by pleasing artifice and whose deceptions 

are not only delightful but involve no great 

loss or harm to us and sometimes, indeed, do 

us good (The child’s beguiling ways could always 

win over her doting grandparents. How 

often have his affectionate antics beguiled me 

from melancholy thoughts!). 

insignia. This word has a plural form and may 

always be used as a plural, as in all these insignia 

and the insignia are well known. The 

Latin singular is insigne and some people believe 

that this is the only correct singular. But 

the word insignia is used as a singular, as well 

as a plural, in literary English. Hawthorne, for 

example, wrote he bore a slender white wand, 

the dreaded insignia of his ofice. In the United 

States Army insignia is used officially as a singular 

and is given a regular English plural 

insignias. 

insinuate. See imply. 

insipid. See vapid. 

insolent. See impertinent. 

insoluble; insolvable; unsolvable. In the senses 

of incapable of being dissolved and incapable 

of being explained, insoluble is now the standard 

word, though insolvable and unsolvable are 

both admissible variants. Znsolvable retains one 

particular, rare meaning: not convertible into 

cash, as a banknote or bill that cannot be 

cashed. 

inspiration; aspiration. Though the older solemn 

religious meaning of inspiration is understood 

and still retained in use, the common meaning

installment 250 

of the word today is little more than encouragement 

or hope or that which or he who (or, more 

often, especially in popular song and story, she 

who) gives encouragement or hope (Margie, 

you’ve been my inspiration, Margie). Further 

weakened, it is used a great deal for a happy 

thought or unexpected solution to a problem, 

usually a minor problem (Hey, I’ve got an inspiration: 

there’s that fellow visiting Joe-he’ll 

do for a fourth). 

Aspiration remains a more dignified word. 

It means a lofty and ambitious desire (The high 

aspirations and vast yearnings of the young). 

installment plan. The dividing of a debt into 

equal sums to be paid at fixed successive intervals 

which is known in America as the 

installment plan, or buying on the installment 

or selling on the installment plan, is known in 

England as the hire purchase plan or system. 

instance. See example; case. 

instant. See minute. 

instant; ultimo; proximo. While the use of instant, 

abbreviated inst., to mean “of the present 

month” in referring to dates, as Yours of the 

12th inst. to hand and contents noted, is quite 

correct, it has come to be regarded as a piece 

of business-letter jargon and is now generally 

avoided. Your letter of the 12th will usually do 

quite as well, though many men prefer, in the 

interest of strict accuracy, to say Your letter of 

May 12, or whatever month it may be, even 

though the answer is written in the same month. 

And though this may seem a little stiff, it is 

safe. 

The same applies, even more strongly, to 

ultimo, abbreviated u/t., meaning of the month 

preceding the present month, and pronimo, abbreviated 

prox., meaning in or of the next or 

coming month. 

instanter is a law term for instantly. Outside of 

legal documents or legal talk it now seems a 

little forced and affected. 

instantly; instantaneously. See immediately. 

instigate. See impel. 

instill. See imbue. 

instinct (adj.). See innate. 

instinct (noun). See intuition. 

institute; institution. Institution is the general word 

and covers more meanings. It designates an 

organization for the promotion of a particular 

object, usually for some public, educational, or 

charitable work (The State Institution for the 

Blind), or the building devoted to such work 

(Turning the corner, he was confronted with 

the bleak walls of the Institution). In sociology 

an institution is an organized pattern of group 

behavior, fully accepted by the members of a 

cultural group (the institution of slavery) or 

any established custom. Colloquially the word 

is used to designate any familiar practice or object 

(Old Sam’s drunks were quite an institution 

in the town). And, of course, it can mean the 

act of instituting (The institution of the new 

regulations caused a great deal of grumbling 

among the employees). 

An institute may also be an organization for 

carrying on a particular scientific, educational, 

or artistic work (The Institute for Advanced 

Study) or the building in which such work is 

carried on (The Art Institute). Like institution, 

it has been used so much as a euphemism for 

houses of correction, particularly those established 

for youthful offenders, that in many contexts 

it has a pejorative connotation (Root de 

toot, root de toot,/ We’re the girls from the 

Institute). It is usually confined to such institutions 

as have chosen to call themselves institutes 

and to the buildings that house them. Many 

universities designate one of their units, usually 

for advanced study in some special field, an 

institute (The Oriental Institute, The Technological 

Institute). The word can also mean a 

short course of studies, established for a particular 

group and purpose (The Institute of 

African Studies). And it has the special meaning, 

in the plural, of a collection of principles 

and precepts (Calvin’s “Znstitutes” remains one 

of the world’s great demonstrations of logic). 

instructional; instructive. Both instructional and 

instructive mean educational, but instructional 

refers more directly to teaching and learning 

(Although it is to be hoped that the cruise will 

be pleasurable, it is intended primarily to be 

instructional). Znstructive refers more directly 

to the conveying of information but differs 

slightly from informative in that it suggests that 

the information is conveyed with an instructional 

purpose (Once more, Democritus, arise 

on earth,/ With cheerful wisdom and instructive 

mirth). It is this shade of meaning that 

gives satiric point to Pope’s account of the 

activities of the belles and beaux at Hampton 

Court in The Rape of the Lock: 

In various talk th’ instructive hours they past, 

Who gave the ball, or paid the visit last; 

One speaks the glory of the British Queen, 

And one describes a charming Zndian screen; 

A third interprets motions, looks, and eyes; 

At ev’ry word a reputation dies. 

He had originally written the cheerful hours but 

changed it, in the second edition, to instructive. 

And a happy revision it was, for it suggests, in 

keeping with the mocking light gravity of the 

poem, that in Belinda’s set a knowledge of these 

trivia was necessary to one’s education as a 

courtier. The acquirement of gossip was their 

schooling, indispensable to the business of 

frivolity. 

insufferable. See unsufferable. 

insurance. See assurance. 

insure. See assure; ensure. 

integrate. In mathematics, or anywhere else, to 

integrate means to bring parts together into a 

whole. It is rarely used in a literal sense (To 

say that automobiles were integrated on the 

assembly line would cause a stare or a laugh), 

but it has become a vogue word in educational, 

advertising, and, especially, psychological 

circles. Programs are always being integrated, 

plans are integrated, campaigns are integrated 

-indeed anything at all that can be combined 

or joined may be said to be integrated. The 

diverse or conflicting elements of character or

personality are continually being “integrated” 

by those who approach the problems -of the 

mind or spirit in a brisk, businesslike way. One 

of the authors of this book saw Ye must be integrated 

scrawled in chalk on the wall of a 

midwestern theological seminary, one of the 

more remarkable graffiti of our times. Outside 

of mathematics, the word needs a rest. 

intelligent; intellectual; intelligentsia. Znteli’igent 

suggests a natural quickness of understanding. 

The word implies a native capacity indtependent 

of education. Indeed, it is often used of 

animals (I never had a more intelligent dog). 

In addition to such a high degree of understanding, 

however, intellectual implies a capacity and 

taste for the higher forms of knowledge (Intellectual 

pursuits are the solace of advancing 

years). An intellectual is one who possesses or 

shows mental capacity of a high degree or 

(more often) a member of a class or group 

that professes or is supposed to possess enlightened 

judgment. Since this implies superiority, it 

is a term more often applied than claimed and 

in a democratic society often has slight overtones 

of contempt. There is no English ward to 

designate the intelligent as a group (the intelligent 

rarely going in groups and probably too 

intelligent to permit themselves to be recognized 

as superior people). Intelligentsia first appeared 

in English during the present century and came 

from Russia. It is sometimes used seriously, 

meaning the intellectuals, but more often it is 

used derisively meaning, as H. G. Wells says, 

“an irresponsible middle class with ideas.” In 

either case, it is a group name and is regularly 

used with a plural verb, as in the intelligentsia 

were oflended. It is not a true plural and cannot 

be used with a numeral. We may say three intellectuals 

but we must say three members of 

the intelligentsia. 

iuteiligent; intelligible. To be intelligent is to possess 

good sense and quickness of understanding. 

An intelligent remark is one that shows its 

utterer to have had these qualities. An intelligible 

remark is one that is clear and cain be 

understood. An intelligent person, if he has 

anything to say, takes pains to be intelligible 

to the person to whom he is speaking. 

intend. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in I intend to go myself, or by the -ing 

form of a verb, as in I intend going myself. 

Both forms are standard in the United States. 

Zntend may also be followed by a clause, but 

the clause verb must be a subjunctive or a 

subjunctive equivalent, as in I intend he go. An 

infinitive construction, such as I intend to let 

him go or to have him go, is generally preferred. 

intended. As short for intended husband or wife, 

intended is colloquial. Fowler calls it “vulgar,” 

the product of an “ill-bred shyness” and wistfully 

wishes that betrothed, a dignified and accurate 

word, might be “given another chance.” 

But words once out of fashion are rarely given 

another chance. For some uneasy or evasive 

reason we feel the relationship is best concealed 

in the French fiance’(e) and betrothed has :Eaded 

251 intensives 

with the attitude it expressed. That words rarely 

come back is not, however, wholly discouraging; 

intended is also fading from use. 

intense; intensive. That is intense which exists or 

occurs in a high or extreme degree (as the 

intense brilliance of the sunlight on the snow) 

or is acute or vehement (as intense anxiety or 

an intense gale). That is intensive which is concentrated 

(as intensive research, intensive fire). 

What is intensive is usually intense, and what 

is intense may be intensive, but it need not 

necessarily be so. An intense bombardment 

would be a severe bombardment. An intensive 

bombardment, in the strictest sense-as Fowler 

points out-is one in which “the fire converges 

upon a much narrower front than that from 

which it is discharged.” In common usage it is 

one which is directed upon a small section of 

the city, fortification, encampment or whatever 

it is that is under bombardment. 

Zntensive used to be completely synonymous 

with intense (Robert Burton speaks of an intensive 

pleasure), but this use is now obsolete. 

Of course if the loose use of intensive to mean 

intense continues and gains wide enough acceptance, 

it may be so again. But at the moment 

it is not. 

intensely; very. Intensely is often used as a synonym 

for very. In such a sentence as It was 

intensely hot this is admissible, since heat can 

be intense. In such a sentence as He was intensely 

learned it is confusing and close to 

meaningless. In such a sentence as He was 

intensely rich it is simply wrong. There must 

be some element of intensity in the meaning 

before its use can be justified. If in doubt, use 

very. 

intensive pronouns. A pronoun that has no function 

in a sentence except to emphasize a noun 

or some other pronoun, such as himself in he 

himself has said it, is called an intensive. In 

current English the -self words are used freely 

in this way. 

Formerly, the simple personal pronouns were 

also used as intensives, as they in thy rod and 

thy staff they comfort me. This construction is 

now considered redundant and is condemned 

in most textbooks. But it is still literary English. 

It is used in poetry, as it in the rain it streams 

on stone and hillock, and in prose that has an 

emotional tone, as they in these men who gave 

their lives for their country, they did not ask 

for a cash payment in advance. But when it 

occurs in a very simple sentence, such as my 

father he suys no, it is generally condemned. 

Most people today do not use the personal pronouns 

as intensives. If anyone uses them in this 

way because he does not know that it’s against 

the rules, his speech is uneducated. But if anyone 

uses them in this way because he knows that 

English literature does not support the rules, his 

speech is “literary.” Sometimes one would have 

to know the speaker in order to classify the 

sentence. See also reflexive pronouns. 

intensives. A word that merely makes another 

word more emphatic is called an intensive, such 

as do in I do believe you and very in it is very

intent 252 

late. These particular words are conventional 

intensives and actually make a statement more 

emphatic. But some words used as intensives 

may have the opposite efIect. 

When a certain kind of adverb, such as fearfully, 

frightfully, dreadfully, is used merely to 

intensify an adjective, it becomes so weak that 

the entire statement is weakened. Z am sorry is 

a stronger statement than I am dreadfully sorry. 

When used properly, these words are among 

the strongest in the language. Carl Sandburg, 

describing a fish peddler, says: his face is that 

of a man terribly glad to be selling fish. Here 

terribly keeps its meaning and is very strong. 

But if the fish peddler himself said: Z am terribly 

glad to do it, the statement becomes ridiculously 

weak. This is because all these words, 

terribly, dreadfully, and so on, mean “inspiring 

fear or awe” and can only be used properly 

by an observer who experiences the emotion. A 

man may say that he feels a terrible joy but 

he cannot say that he himself is terribly glad. 

The people around him must be the judge of 

that. These words, terribly, dreadfully, etc., 

cannot retain their meaning when used as pure 

intensives. They become mere substitutes for 

very, and the fact that the speaker is not satisfied 

with very but is casting around for a 

stronger word shows that the emotion is not 

overwhelming. What he is feeling is obviously 

less important to him than the effect he wants 

to make. 

Adjectives are frequently used before other 

adjectives as intensives, that is, as words meaning 

primarily “in a high degree,” as in icy cold, 

red hot, dead tired. In such combinations the 

first word is functioning as an adverb but that 

does not make these expressions “ungrammatical.” 

This is a natural English construction that 

no one thought of questioning until recently. 

Some combinations of this kind are no longer 

considered standard, such as dreadful sorry, 

powerful glad. But others, made on exactly the 

same pattern, are still literary English. Whether 

one of these expressions is standard or not 

depends entirely on what sort of people use it. 

There is nothing wrong in the pattern itself and 

as a rule nothing is gained by giving the first 

word a clearly adverbial form. Deadly tired 

and powerfully glad, for example, are pathetic 

attempts to be “correct” and do not improve 

the original forms, which at least have the advantage 

of being natural English. See horrible, 

etc. 

intent; intention. Though intent and intention are 

interchangeable in the meaning of that which is 

intended, purpose, aim, design, intent is now 

slightly archaic and to most Americans would 

seem bookish or a little affected. There are 

occasions, of course, when one wants to be 

bookish or wants the effect of the less common 

word. But except on such occasions it should 

be, of these two words, intention. 

intentionally. See advisedly. 

intents and purposes, to all. The full legal phrase 

used to be to all intents, constructions, and 

purposes. Even simplified, however, it is a 

wordy way of saying practically. It is a hackneyed 

way, too. 

interesting. Znteresting is one of the most overworked 

words in the language. It would be a 

good exercise for the student, every time he 

finds himself about to write the word, to search 

his mind to see if there is not some more accurate 

adjective that could be used in its stead, 

something that would express the intended 

meaning more forcefully, with greater freshness. 

How about alarming, arresting, attractive, 

curious, gratifying, pleasing, puzzling, remarkable, 

striking, or any one of a hundred other 

words? 

interfere; interference. Sometimes a child that 

walks awkwardly will strike one ankle bone 

against the other, often with sufficient force to 

cause abrasion of the skin and bleeding. Among 

some old-fashioned people this is called interfering 

and those who hear the word so used for 

the first time probably assume that is some 

quaint derivative meaning. But, actually, this 

is the original meaning (as a term in farriery) 

and butting in, meddling, intervening, obstructing 

an opposing player in football, and the 

jumbling of radio signals are the derivative 

meanings. 

The word interference has two meanings 

in American usage that are not recognized in 

English usage. It is a technical term in our 

Patent Office for a proceeding to determine 

priority (An application for a patent which, 

after an interference litigation with Edison, was 

finally issued to Maxim). And, as has been indicated 

above, it is a term in football for interposing 

between a runner and a tackler to obstruct 

the tackler (As any football player knows, 

to win a game you have to have good interference) 

. 

interject; interpolate. To interject is to throw or 

cast in between. As a procedure in conversation 

it means to remark parenthetically in an interruption. 

It may be transitive (She interjected 

one of her characteristically absurd remarks) 

or intransitive (She frequently interjected and 

otherwise made herself a nuisance). Some 

writers insist that properly it can only be transitive, 

but usage simply does not support this. 

To interpolate is, strictly, to alter a text by 

the insertion of new matter, especially when 

the matter is spurious and the insertion done 

without authorization or with intent to deceive 

(These passages have definitely been shown to 

be interpolations and no reputable scholar has 

accepted them as genuine for centuries). It is 

not always used in the pejorative sense, however; 

it often means no more than to insert a 

passage or, in conversation, a comment. When 

so used it is a milder word than interject. It 

suggests a less rude form of breaking into another’s 

talk, more of an addition to than an 

interruption of the conversation. 

interjections. These are free-floating words, or 

meaningless syllables, that interrupt the orderly 

progress of speech. They are accepted as evi-

dence of emotion. An interjection must be set 

off from the rest of the sentence with commas, 

unless this is accomplished with an exclamation 

point. The single letter 0 is always capitalized, 

but it is not necessary to capitalize longer words 

such as oh and lo. 

There are fashions in interjections as there 

are in everything else. Say! is an Americanism, 

2 say! is British. La is now unspeakably oldfashioned, 

law is supposedly dialectal, and ah 

is very genteel. But since these sounds are presumably 

torn from the speaker without his foreknowledge, 

any discussion of standards would 

seem inappropriate. See also exclamations. 

intermediary; mediator. An intermediary lis an 

agent, a go-between, one who is the connecting 

link between two parties (He did not buy his 

stocks directly from the broker but through an 

intermediary). A mediator is a go-between who 

serves the special purpose of reconciling, or 

trying to reconcile, parties at variance (Charles 

hud hoped that he might be a mediator between 

his estranged parents but found their hostility 

to each other increased rather than lessened by 

his efforts). 

internal revenue. That which in the United States 

is known as internal revenue is in England 

inland revenue. The effect on the taxpayer is 

much the same. 

international languages. Interest in international 

languages is traceable in large part to the decline 

of Latin as a medium of scholarship after 

the rise of nationalism encouraged the use of 

the vernaculars. A desire for a single vehicle of 

cultural intercourse between learned groups 

and knowledge of the languages of Asia and 

Africa brought back by explorers, merchants 

and missionaries, spurred the drive to construct 

an international language. The French philosopher 

Descartes outlined a plan for a constructed 

language as early as 1629. Leibnitz, many years 

later, saw that the basis for such a language 

could only be established by an analysis of 

languages then in use. He saw clearly th.at the 

twd international languages then proposed, by 

the Scotsman Dalaarno in 1661 and the Briton 

Wilkins in 1668,~would not do because they 

started with a preconceived system unrelated to 

any living speech. 

The first constructed language actually 

spoken and written was Volapiik (“world 

speech”), invented in 1880 and received with 

enthusiasm but nearly dead by 1890. Hard on 

Volapiik came Bopal (1887), Spelin (1888), 

Mundolingue (1890). Dil (1893), Balta (1893), 

Veltparl (1896), Idiom Neutral (1903), Ido 

(1907), Interlingua (1908) and Novial (1928). 

Esperanto, the most popular successor to 

Volapiik, was devised by Dr. Ludwig Zamenhof 

who published in 1887 Linguo Znternacia de la 

Doktoro Esperanto (“International Language 

by Doctor Hopeful”). It is often incorrectly 

referred to as “the” international language. In 

1950 the thirtv-fifth annual conference in Paris 

claimed that one and one-half million people 

read, spoke and wrote it daily. It has a literature 

253 international 

of about 8,000 books, mostly translations but 

some originals. Over 1,000 conferences of all 

kinds have used it for reports and communications. 

Interlingua has had two lives. Originally it 

was the language that developed out of Professor 

Peano’s Latin0 sine Flexione. The 

modern Interlingua was started by a group of 

scholars at an international conference in 1924. 

It is now being backed by the International 

Auxiliary Language Association and seems to 

be gaining ground. In 1954, thirteen journals 

used Interlingua for summaries of articles 

(Science News Letter, 7/17/54). It is apparently 

being promoted through sponsorship of 

scientific organizations. Science Language Association 

is working for its adoption and some 

scientific journals occasionally run an article 

in it. 

These, with the exception of Basic English, 

have been the most serious and successful 

candidates for acceptance. (See Basic English.) 

As far back as 1817 plans were being advanced 

for international communication based 

on ideas rather than on existing languages. 

Solresol, based on the notes of the scale, was 

one of the first. Others were Lingualumina, 

Blaia Zimondal, Zahlensprache, and Ro. These 

all had the character of codes rather than of 

linguistic systems and required much memorizing. 

In the twentieth century similar approaches 

have produced Antido I and II, Lingvo Kosmopolita, 

Nov-Esperanto, Latinesce, Nov-Latin, 

Monario, Europan, Optez, and Romanal, 

among others. 

The English-speaking peoples have not made 

much contribution to these constructed languages. 

Their self-satisfaction in language must 

be exasperating to many who speak other 

languages, but it is only a matter of degree, for 

most of the constructed languages are built 

upon European languages only. 

The first significant British contribution to 

the literature of international languages was 

C. K. Ogden’s Basic English, first described in 

1929. Ogden has inspired some American competition 

in Swenson English, Iret and Little 

English but these have not yet gained any great 

headway. Basic English is probably the best 

suited to become an international language. 

English is already the chief of world tongues. 

More people speak English today than any 

other language except Chinese and Chinese is 

broken into several dialects and confined almost 

entirely to one continent. There is a great 

practical demand to know English, at least as 

an auxiliary language and the number of people 

using English has increased enormously since 

World War II. Basic English is simply more 

satisfactory than any of the constructed languages. 

As H. L. Mencken said, the trouble 

with the constructed languages is that “the 

juices of life are simply not in them.” They are 

the work of scholars “drowning in oceans of 

dead prefixes and suffixes.” Whereas Basic 

springs from a living speech, used by almost

interpellate 254 

300,000,000 human beings, a speech that forges 

ahead of all its competitors “simply because it 

is already spoken by more than half of all the 

people in the world who may be said, with any 

plausibility, to be worth knowing.” 

interpellate; interpolate. To interpellute is to interrupt 

a speech in Parliament or in the 

Chamber of Deputies to ask a member of the 

government to explain some official act or 

policy. It is a rare word, confined now to this 

special use. To interpolate is to alter a text by 

the insertion of a word or phrase or longer 

statement. There is usually a suggestion that the 

inserted matter is spurious and the insertion an 

act of deceit. The word is also used to mean the 

interposition of a remark into a conversation. 

In this sense it has no unfavorable connotation. 

See also interject. 

interpret. See explain. 

interpretative; interpretive. Although the adjective 

interpretive is acceptable for that which 

serves to interpret or explain, interpretative is 

the preferred form. 

interred; interned. That is interred which is 

buried, placed in a tomb, especially with appropriate 

ceremonies (The evil that men do lives 

after them;/ The good is oft interred with their 

bones). He is interned who is obliged to live 

within prescribed limits under prohibition to 

leave them, as a prisoner of war or an enemy 

alien, or a combatant who has taken refuge in 

a neutral country. Ships of belligerents are also 

interned when during wartime they are detained 

in the port of some neutral country. 

Zntern is also used as a verb in the United 

States to mean serving as an intern (or interne), 

a resident member of the medical staff of a hospital 

(After receiving his degree at Northwestern 

University Medical School, he interned 

at Christ’s Hospital in Cincinnati). 

interregnum. The plural is interregnums or interregna. 

interrogative pronouns and adjectives. The words 

who, whose, whom, which, and what, are interrogatives 

when they are used without an antecedent 

that precedes them in the sentence. Who 

and whom are always pronouns. Whose, which, 

and what, may be used as pronouns or as adjectives. 

Interrogatives always stand before the 

verb in a simple question, such as what did he 

do?, and in a subordinate clause that carries an 

indirect question, as in Z don’t know what he 

did. See questions. 

(For the person and number of an interrogative 

pronoun, see agreement: verbs; for case, see 

who; whom.) 

interrogative sentences. See questions. 

into. This is a preposition. It represents the relation 

expressed by in with the added implication 

of motion or direction. In also may be used 

where the idea of motion is involved, as in he 

went in the house, he fell in the water. Some 

grammarians consider this regrettable and would 

like to see in driven out of these constructions. 

Some others feel that in should be allowed 

when “the idea of remaining is prominent.” 

Speaking historically, in once carried all the 

meaning of into, but this is now decidedly 

weakened. Into suggests motion more emphatically 

than in does, but either preposition can 

be used. 

In is sometimes used as a pure adverb, or as 

part of a compound verb, as in they went in. 

An expression of this kind may happen to be 

followed by a prepositional phrase beginning 

with to, as in they went in to see him, they went 

in to dinner. This separate use of in and of to 

must not be confused with the single idea into. 

We say send this in to the secretary but not send 

this into the secretary. 

Into is used freely in a literal sense with 

verbs of changing, making, moving. It is also 

used with certain other verbs simply to make 

the action more penetrating, as in enter into, 

examine into. Look at this report means no 

more than to read it. But look into it means to 

really learn something about it. 

intolerable; intolerant. That is intolerable which 

is unendurable, insufferable, not tolerable (The 

heat in the little room exposed all day to the 

glaring sun was intolerable). It was formerly 

used in a loose sense to mean excessive or great 

(0 monstrous, but one half pennyworth of 

bread to this intolerable deal of suck?) but this 

meaning is now obsolete. 

He is intolerant who is bigoted, unable or indisposed 

to endure contrary opinions, especially 

religious or political opinions (He was u stuunch 

Republicun and intolerant of any expression 

that seemed to favor the New Deal). The adjective 

is often applied to expressions, gestures, 

or attitudes that reflect the intolerance of those 

who express or hold them (Such intolerant 

phrases may ease the wrath of those who 

express them but they do not conduce to 

harmony in mixed groups). The intolerant are 

usually intolerable. 

intoxicated. See drunk. 

intransitive verbs. A verb is said to be intransitive 

if it does not require an object to complete its 

meaning. Intransitives are sometimes called 

“complete” verbs. A transitive verb, on the 

other hand, has an object. The verbs are transitive 

in the face that launched a thousund ships 

and burnt the topless towers of Ilium; they are 

intransitive in now the great winds shoreward 

blow, now the salt tides seaward flow; now the 

wild white horses play, chump and chafe and 

toss in the spray. (See object of a verb.) Linking 

verbs, such as is in April is the cruelest month, 

are considered intransitive. They cannot stand 

by themselves as other intransitives can, but the 

words that follow them add something to the 

meaning of the subject and not to the meaning 

of the verb. See linking verbs. 

Many verbs can be used either transitively 

or intransitively. Most intransitives can be 

made technically transitive by using an object 

that simply repeats the meaning of the verb, as 

in smile a timid smile, think a bitter thought, 

live a lonely life. This device should not be 

condemned as redundant. It is sometimes a 

more effective way of qualifying the verb than 

the usual adverbial construction, such as smile

timidly, think bitterly, live lonelily. It is found 

frequently in literature, as in the latest dream 

I ever dreamed. 

Some verbs that are usually intransitive, such 

as sit and walk, may be used transitively as 

causative verbs, meaning “cause to do,” as she 

sat the baby up, he walked his horse. Tile intransitive 

verbs in The rubbish burns, the boat 

sinks, the dog starved are transitive in burn the 

rubbish, sink the bout, starve the dog. The intransitive 

verb lie is sometimes used as a causative, 

especially in the past tense, as in she lay 

the baby down, but at present this is condemned 

by most grammarians. See causative verbs and lie. 

Verbs that are usually transitive may allso be 

used intransitively, especially with passive force. 

For a discussion of this, see transitive ,verbs. 

intrigue. Despite the protests of the purists, usage 

has established intrigue in the meaning of to 

excite the curiosity of, to interest by a puzzling 

novelty, or even to take the fancy of (Mr. 

Johnstone gives a detailed account of their 

literary background, and intriguing summaries 

of their work. Her hat intrigued me; I couldn’t 

see how she got if to stay on at that ridiculous 

angle). The older meanings of to entangle, to 

enmesh, to bring or force by underhand machinations 

linger on but have been almost completely 

displaced, in popular usage, by the newer 

meanings which less than fifty years ago Fowler 

stigmatized as “gallicisms, that have no merit 

whatever except that of unfamiliarity to the 

English reader.” All of which, of course, does 

not change the fact that it is a vogue word, 

greatly overworked by those who like to force 

dramatic tension into every situation. 

intriisic. See essential. 

introduction. See foreword. 

intrude; obtrude. That is intruded which is thrust 

in. That is obtruded which is thrust out or upon 

something else. We intrude upon others’ privacy 

when, uninvited, we come into their rooms. We 

obtrude our opinions upon others when we 

insist on stating them even though they are unwanted. 

We intrude our opinions into a discussion 

when they have not been solicited. The 

last two meanings are plainly inseparable. 

Whether the opinions have been intrud’ed or 

obtruded is a matter of argument and point of 

view; hence under some circumstances the 

words are interchangeable. 

iutrust is a variant of entrust which is the preferred 

form. 

intuition; instinct. Intuition is the direct perception 

of truths or facts without the intervention 

of any process of reasoning. It is pure, untaught, 

noninferential knowledge (By what intuition he 

was apprised of our plans I do not know; he 

certainly could not have learned of them )I. 

Instinct is an inborn pattern of activity and 

response common to a given biological stock 

(Since the mother abandons the eggs before 

they are hatched, the young cannot learn from 

her: their actions must be governed whor’ly by 

instinct). It is used more loosely to designate 

any innate impulse or natural inclination or 

natural intuitive power. In these uses instinct 

255 invite 

and intuition are often used interchangeably. 

If someone says, I had an instinctive dislike of 

that man the minute I saw him, he probably 

means that he had an intuitive dislike, a dislike 

based on no evidence or process of reasoning 

but (usually) a dislike which later events 

proved to have been justified. However, the 

speaker may have meant that some inborn 

pattern of activity or response led him to this 

immediate dislike, as many animals are said to 

fear their natural enemies on first sight. 

An intuition produces an opinion or judgment. 

An instinct produces an act or physical 

response. An intuition is an immediate, individual 

experience, unrelated to anything that 

has gone before. An instinct is a response produced, 

in some way, by the previous experience 

of the species. Intuition is commonly conceived 

of as something superior to reason. Instinct, 

ascribed to the lower animals-often in popular 

zoology as a compensation for their assumed 

lack of reason-is usually thought of as something 

inferior to reason. The cliche-both of 

words and thought-a woman’s intuition is 

usually an insult timorously disguised as a compliment. 

There is a suggestion in it that women’s 

mental processes are above reason; but almost 

all who use the phrase seriously intend to imply 

that women lack the power of reasoning and 

reach their conclusions (which, they admit, are 

often correct and speedily come to) by some 

nonhuman means. 

inure and enure are simply variant spellings. All 

attempts to make fine distinctions in meaning 

between them are only baseless ostentation. 

Znure is the preferred form. 

invalidated; invalided. A document which has 

been exposed as spurious or in some other way 

deprived of its value or authority is invalidated. 

One who has become an invalid or a soldier or 

sailor who has been retired from active service 

because of sickness or injury has been invalided. 

invaluable; priceless. Although the prefix in- is 

usually negative, invaluable does not mean “of 

no value” but “of so great value that no estimate 

of its value can be conceived.” Znvaluateable 

would be the proper word, but fortunately 

it has not been coined. The proper word for “of 

no value” is valueless. 

Although the suffix -less is negative, priceless 

likewise means a worth so great that no price 

could be set. In England, especially among the 

gayer social set, priceless has become a vogue 

word of commendation, especially of wit. It is 

already so weakened in this sense that it has to 

be shored up with such vague intensives as 

perfectly, absolutely, and simply. America has 

remained comparatively immune from this visitation. 

The opposite of priceless is worthless. 

invective. See abuse. 

invent. See discover. 

inventory. See invoice. 

invidious. See insidious. 

invite. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in we invited them to come, but not by the 

-ing form of a verb or by a clause. See also 

allure.

invite 256 

invite; invitation. Though damned as incorrect 

and ill-bred and listed in the dictionaries as 

slang, invite as a synonym for invitation has 

remained impudently in use for three hundred 

years (Bishop Crunmer gave him an earnest 

invite to England-1659. Did you get an invite 

to the Phi Sip dance?--1957). It is one of those 

words that may be used with a full assurance 

that it will be clearly understood but must be 

used with an awareness that in some quarters 

it is condemned. If, therefore, you use it in 

these quarters, you risk condemnation. 

invoice; inventory. An invoice is a written list of 

merchandise, with prices, delivered or sent to a 

buyer (We trust the shipment reaches YOU in 

good condition. The invoice is enclosed). An 

inventory is a detailed descriptive list of articles, 

with number, quantity, and value of each 

(Every six months he set down an inventory of 

his stock). Taking inventory is sometimes used 

metaphorically of taking stock of one’s resources. 

The English term for taking inventory 

is stock-taking. Invoice is often misused for 

inventory. 

involve; entail; implicate. To involve meant originally 

to envelop or infold by surrounding and 

it should not be used unless there is some 

suggestion of including as a necessary circumstance 

or consequence. To say of someone that 

he found himself more deeply involved in the 

consequences of an act than he had intended 

to be would be to use the word with a proper 

understanding of its meanings. But to say of 

a project that the cost involved has been tremendous 

(unless it is definitely meant the cost 

inextricably connected with a certain policy or 

action, ensuing upon the decision to put the 

policy into force or take the action) is to use 

the word weakly and unnecessarily. Why not 

simply The cost has been tremendous? 

To entail is to bring on or involve by necessity 

or consequences (Moving to New York entailed 

a change in their whole way of Iife). It 

differs from involve in that involve often carries 

a suggestion of trickery in the entanglement 

with embarrassment to the one involved, consequences 

not foreseen at the time of the action. 

One is often involved in harmless matters and 

an act may entail good, bad, or indifferent consequences, 

but one is implicated in something 

discreditable. If a man is involved in a scandal, 

he may be an innocent victim. If he is implicated 

there is a suggestion that at least someone 

thinks him to some extent guilty. 

inward; inwards. Inward is the only form that 

can be used to qualify a following noun, as in 

that inward eye. Either form may be used in 

any other construction, as in driven inwards 

and driven inward. The form inward is generally 

preferred in the United States. 

ipse dixit. “Unless the witness explains the process 

of analysis and reasoning by which he reached 

his conclusion, the jury must take-or refuse 

to take-the conclusion simply upon his ipse 

dixit.” The term is useful, but the colloquial 

his soy-so is preferable. 

. . 

i.q.; 1.0. 1.4. IS an abbreviation of the Latin idem 

quad and means “the same as.” When the 

same letters are capitalized, as in I.Q., they are 

an abbreviation of the English words intelligence 

quotient, which means the ratio of one 

particular person’s intelligence to the average 

intelligence of people of his age. 

iris. The plural is irises or irides, not ires. 

iron curtain. Sir Winston Churchill’s statement, 

at Fulton, Missouri, on March 5, 1946, that an 

iron curtain had descended across the continent 

of Europe, separating the Soviet sphere from 

the rest of the Western world, caught the public 

fancy and passed at once into the language. 

Like the Fifth Column of the Soanish Civil 

War in 1936, it supplied a dramatic term for 

something new that had not yet found a name. 

It was a good metaphor, with all the cold, grim, 

and menacing connotations of iron and the 

suggestion, in curtain, of shutting out the light. 

But the term has become a little too popular 

-even to the point of impeding and confusing 

thought in regard to Russia and our relations 

with her. And like many highly successful and 

felicitous phrases it has begotten a number of 

less felicitous imitations, such as the bamboo 

curtuin surrounding China or the nylon curtain 

which we have been charged with lowering. 

iron band in a velvet glove. As a term for ruthless 

severity hypocritically masked in suavity 

and seeming kindliness, an iron hand in a velvet 

glove is a hackneyed metaphor. 

iron out. The metaphorical use of iron out, in the 

sense of removing difficulties or disagreements 

as an iron smooths out wrinkles (The Chairman 

of the Board was confident that these differences 

of opinion could be ironed out before the 

next stockholders’ meeting), seems to be confined 

to American speech and writing. Though 

many dictionaries do not recognize its existence, 

it is used and understood everywhere in the 

United States and is not regarded as slang. 

irons in the fire. As a term for having more 

enterprises than one can well look to, having too 

many irons in the fire is now a clich6. When it 

was fresh and especially when the sight of a 

smithy was a part of everyone’s daily experience, 

it was a valuable metaphor. The clangor 

of the heavier hammers, the rapid ring of the 

lighter ones, the roar of the bellows, the heat, 

the flying sparks, the hiss of hot metal being 

tempered and, above all, the furious urgency 

engendered by the need to work the metal while 

it was red hot, and that in the face of considerable 

danger, all combined to give the figure 

vitality. But few people today are familiar with 

a smithy and the metaphor has cooled to the 

point where it can no longer be worked. 

irony. See humor. 

Iroquois. The singular and the plural are both 

Iroquois. This word was originally a plural but 

may now be used also as a singular, as in three 

Iroquois and one Iroquois. 

irregardless. There is no such word as irregurdless. 

It is a redundancy, erroneously patterned 

after irrespective.

irregular. See anomalous. 

irregular verbs. Practically all English verbs form 

the past tense and the past participle by adding 

-ed to the simple form of the word, as in they 

talk, they talked, they had talked. Any verb 

that deviates from this, as in they speak, they 

spoke, they had spoken, is an irregular verb. 

In present-day English there are 227 verbs 

that have at least one irregular form. Solme of 

them change the vowel sound, as in sink, sank, 

sunk; some are completely irregular, as in 6e. 

was, been; and some are contractions of the 

regular forms, such as creep, crept, crep,t, and 

hear, heard, heard. Among the irregular verbs 

there are 72 which also have regular forms, 

such as dig, digged or dug; spell, spelled or 

spelt. This means that there are only 156 verbs 

that cannot be treated as regular, and solme of 

these are archaic and no longer used in natural 

speech. Estimates of the number of irregular 

verbs actually in use vary from less than 100 

to 150. 

Some verbs are used only, or chiefly, in the 

third person singular, such as it snows, it ,sZeets. 

Potentially, these verbs are regular and can be 

given other forms when there is occasion for it, 

as in thick on Severn snow the leaves. For this 

reason they are not counted among the irregular 

verbs. A few others do not have some of the 

normal verb forms. For example, ought has no 

-ing form, no past participle, and cannot be 

used as an imperative or an infinitive. But no 

verb of this kind forms a past tense by adding 

-ed, and therefore all of them come under the 

original definition of an irregular verb. 

All verbs that have any irregular forms are 

listed in this dictionary. If both a regular and 

an irregular form are given, either may be used. 

But where only one form is standard, there is 

no choice. One cannot say knowed for knew 

and, in America at least, one does not say crew 

for crowed. There is no logic to this. It is simply 

a question of usage. But people generally are 

more insistent, more intolerant, in regard to 

these verb forms than they are to other parts 

of grammar, and the use of an out-of-fashion 

form is always taken as evidence of illiteracy. 

irreligious. See unreligious. 

irreparable loss. Many losses are irreparable but, 

even so, the phrase has been overworked. 

irresponsible; irresponsive. In modern usage irresponsible 

means acting or being without a sense 

_ _ 

of responsibilitv (He’s utterly irresponsible: YOU 

cannot put him in any position of trust). Irresponsive 

means unresponding, giving no answer 

or showing no emotional reaction (The irresponsive 

child often offers a more serious 

problem than his more passionate brother or 

sister). The commoner word is unresponsive. 

See also unresponsible. 

irritate. See aggravate; tantalize. 

irruption. See eruption. 

is. See be. 

ism. Basically, -ism is a suffix, forming a noun of 

action (heroism, hooliganism, cannibalism, vandalism). 

In addition to this it came to injdicate 

the name of a system, whether in practice or 

theory (Protestantism, Catholicism, atheism, 

communism). From this use it was a natural 

step to mean a peculiarity (Americanism, witticism). 

When the suffix was detached to become 

a word in itself, denoting some unspecified 

system or peculiarity, it connoted scorn and 

disparagement (God knows what ism he’s embraced 

now. I can’t keep track of ‘em). The 

favorable word is theory. 

isotope; isotrope. Isotope is a noun, a term applied 

to any of two or more forms of a chemical 

element occupying the same place in the periodical 

table and nearly identical in properties but 

differing by one or more units in atomic weight. 

Most of the elements are mixtures of isotopes. 

Zsotrope is an adjective, a variant of isotropic. 

In physics it means having the same properties 

in all directions. In biology it means not having 

predetermined axes, as certain eggs. 

Israelite. See Hebrew. 

issue. See emerge. 

issued; supplied. An established meaning of the 

verb issue is the military meaning of be supplied 

with (The new arrivals were issued regulation 

uniforms). The use of with following this use 

of issue (as in The new arrivals were issued 

with regulation uniforms) is redundant and 

erroneous. 

isthmus. The plural is isthmuses or isthmi. 

it. It is first of all a pronoun used in speaking 

about inanimate things or living things that are 

not thought of as being either male or female, 

as in whose baby is it? When used in this way. 

it is “anaphoric,” that is, it must refer to something 

that has been mentioned previously. It is 

always singular and refers to something that is 

expressed by a singular noun. 

It is also used with an unspecified reference, 

as in it’s stuffy in here, it’s eleven o’clock, and 

various statements about the weather. This is 

called the “impersonal” it and is said to represent 

“the great neuter of nature.” 

No one questions either of these uses of it. 

But the word has several other uses which have 

been challenged. In fact, textbooks sometimes 

say that these two uses are the only proper ones. 

This is what is meant by a statement such as: 

Do not use it without a definite antecedent 

except in impersonal expressions. Anyone who 

takes a rule like this seriously will find it impossible 

to write natural English. 

It has very important uses as a “dummy” 

word. It can stand where English sentence order 

requires the subject of the verb and in this way 

set the true subject free to stand in some other 

position. This is especially valuable when the 

subject is a large group of words, usually an 

infinitive phrase or a that clause, as in it is surprising 

to hear you say such things and it has 

been shown that these things always fail. Here 

the it represents the words beginning with to or 

the words beginning with that. This is not a 

“weak” construction. It is a device for making 

the true subject more emphatic by allowing it 

to be taken out of its normal position. It may

it 258 

be used for this purpose when the subject is 

extremely simple, as in ii is rhe wife who 

decides. Here if represents merely the wife. 

If may also be a dummy object. This is useful 

when the object is long and there is an objective 

complement which should not stand too far 

from the verb, as in we have it in our power fo 

do great harm or great good and he took it for 

granted that I would come. Here again, it represents 

the words beginning with to or that and 

allows us to complete the verbal idea with in 

our power or for granted sooner than we otherwise 

could. Similarly it may represent a clause 

and be the object of a preposition, which could 

not otherwise have a clause as object, as in, see 

to it that the door is locked. 

This is called the “anticipatory” it, or the 

“expletive” it. (For the difference between it and 

there, see there.) Anticipatory it is always singular, 

even when the logical subject is plural, as in 

it is the crickets that you hear. The person and 

number of the verb in a subordinate clause is 

more complicated. In it is not Z who is angry 

and it is you who is angry, the verb is is technically 

correct because the straightforward 

sentence is (the one) who is angry is not I or 

is you. But in current English we are much 

more likely to make the verb agree with the 

preceding pronoun and say it is not I who am 

angry and it is you who are angry. Since one 

form is theoretically correct grammar and the 

other is the usual practice, both forms must be 

recognized as standard. 

II may also be used to represent a complex 

thought that is perfectly clear from the context 

but that has not been put into words. This is 

the “indefinite” or “vague” it that the textbooks 

mean to condemn. But it is an extremely useful 

device for shortening and simplifying a sentence, 

as in it’s a long way to Tipperary and 

when the work is slow, it may be nobody’s fault. 

Here it has no antecedent, but since the sentences 

are perfectly clear it is obvious that no 

antecedent is required. To avoid constructions 

of this kind is to have more interest in analyzing 

language than in using it; or more interest 

in being “correct” than in being understood. 

It is used with prepositions in a number of 

idiomatic phrases, such as hard put to it, 

nothing for it, make a good job of it. These are 

all standard English. It is used as an “empty” 

or meaningless object with certain verbs that do 

not take an object, such as bluff it, and after 

J 

certain nouns and adjectives used as if they were 

verbs, as in lord it, rough it, brave it. The same 

construction is used in many slang expressions, 

such as hoof it, leg it, beat it, pub it. 

The word it is also used in slang as a noun, 

meaning something important and nameless, 

and in this sense is sometimes written with a 

capital letter, as in She has It and This is It. 

it stands to reason that is one of those exasperating 

expressions by which we often unwittingly 

antagonize other people during a discussion. 

Usually it is meant as no more than a clearing 

of the throat as a preface to whatever we have 

to say; but if what we have to say differs from 

what someone else has just said we have, by 

this assurance that our opinion is reasonable, 

implied that his is unreasonable. And people 

don’t like to be told they’re unreasonable. They 

often get quite unreasonable about it. 

iterate. See repeat. 

its. This word is a possessive pronoun and means 

“pertaining to it.” It has no apostrophe and 

should not be confused with it’s, which means 

“it is.” 

The form its is relatively new. That is, it first 

appeared around the year 1600. It is not found 

in the King James Bible, where his is used 

instead, as in if the salt have lost his savor. 

Shakespeare uses its in only a few places and 

generally prefers the simple form it as a possessive, 

as in it lifted up it head. By the year 1700, 

its was in general use as a possessive standing 

before a noun, comparable to the words her 

and their. But a grammarian writing in 1819 

said: “When I see many its in a page, I always 

tremble for the writer.” 

More recently, its has been used alone without 

a following noun, comparable to the words 

hers and theirs, as in these nations will have 

attained their maximum development before 

the rest of the world has attained its. This construction 

is technically acceptable today, but it 

is still extremely rare. 

it’s not for me to say, if spoken sincerely, would 

have to be followed by silence. Whereas, as 

everyone knows, it is usually followed by a 

flood of self-justification or self-laudation. And 

since this is intended to persuade or convince 

it would be more effective if the argument were 

not immediately preceded by a wornout phrase 

whose false modesty instigates doubt. 

itself. See reflexive pronouns. 

izzard. See from A to Z. 

jag; load. A jag in some English dialects is a driftwood. It then became a slang term for a 

load. The word was so used in America a load of liquor, all that a man could carry (That 

century ago. Thoreau speaks of those whose moonshine stuff’11 really give you a jag) and, by 

wealth consisted of nothing more than a jag of extension, for any state of intoxication or ex-

citement resembling intoxication (She has those 

crying jugs about once a month). These latter 

meanings are still listed as slang in the dictionaries 

but the word is so widely used now, especially 

in the last sense, with no intentilon of 

being quaint or original or amusing that it probably 

ought to be accepted as standard. 

Load in this sense, however (Brother, has he 

got a load on), is still slang. As also in the sense 

of take a good look at (Get a load of this:) and, 

in the participle, to be rich (He’s loaded; if that 

guy dropped a ten dollar bill it wouldn’t be 

worth his time to pick it up). 

jail delivery. In the United States a jail delivery 

is a deliverance of imprisoned persons by force, 

either a rescue or a breaking out (A da&g attempt 

at a jail delivery at Pontiac Reformatory 

was thwarted this morning). In England the 

phrase means the clearing of a jail of pris:oners 

by bringing them to trial. 

Japanese. The singular and the plural are both 

Japanese. At one time this word had a distinct 

plural, as seen in the following sentence, written 

in 1693: the Japaneses prepare tea quite 

otherwise than is done in Europe. This word is 

now obsolete and the one form Japanese is used 

for both the singular and the plural, as in one 

Japanese and three Japanese. The shortened 

form Jap is derogatory and should not be 

used. 

jargon. See argot; vernacular. 

jeer. As a transitive verb jeer is now obsol’ete in 

England; the English always jeer at someone 

or something. American usage retains the old 

transitive form (They jeered the speaker as soon 

as he begun to talk) and employs the intransitive 

as well (They jeered at Columbus, #didn’t 

they?). 

Jehoshaphat. The layman has little occasion to 

refer to the son of Asa who removed the remnant 

of the Sodomites but did not take away 

the high places and whose ships went not to 

Ophir, but if he must allude to him, the name 

is Jehoshaphat not Jehosaphat. 

jerrymander. See gerrymander. 

jetsam. See flotsam. 

Jew. See Hebrew. 

Jewess. See Negress. 

Jew’s-harp (Jews’ harp); juice harp. For over four 

hundred years the small lyre-shaped musical 

instrument with an elastic steel tongue which 

is held between the jaws and plucked, the tone 

being changed by varying the position of the 

mouth, has been connected in English with the 

Jews. It was called a Jew’s trump or Jews’ trump 

before it was called a Jew’s harp or Jews’ harp 

but no one knows why. The Oxford English 

Dictionary characterizes all attempts to derive 

the first element from jaws or from the French 

jeu as “baseless and inept.” Whether any derogation 

was originally intended is not known but 

it is apparently believed that some might now 

be felt, for the instrument is invariably referred 

to in radio and television programs as a juice 

harp. Considering the drooling that often accompanies 

amateur performances on the thing, 

this is a fairly ingenious emendation, and1 con- 

259 

. . . 

IO* 

sidering the fact that it is only on radio and 

television programs that children hear of the 

instrument at all any more, the new name is 

probably better established among the young 

than the old name and one more word has 

undergone one more preposterous change. 

jimmy; jemmy. The American name for a short 

crowbar used to effect burglarious entrance is 

a jimmy. The English name is iemmy. Both 

forms are familiar diminutives of james-(Mayor 

Jimmy Walker. 0 Jemmv Thomson. Jemmv 

Thor&on, 0). How the name got applied tb 

the instrument nobody knows. 

jingo. The plural is jingoes. 

jiuni; jinn. If one must employ Arabic in writing 

an English sentence, the grammar should be 

correct. The word for those spirits in Mohammedan 

mythology which are lower than the 

angels and capable of appearing in human and 

animal form is in the plural jinn, in the singular 

jinni. How this iinn ever escaued from his bot- 

;le is incorrect..It should haie bken How this 

jinni. . . . 

job; position; situation; place. The standard meaning 

of job is a piece of work. an individual uiece 

of work done in the routine.of one’s occupation 

or trade (How much for the job? We pay by 

the job. Let’s get the job done. Job printing). 

In American usage a situation or post of employment 

is also called a job (Hey mom, I got 

the job). In America the word is also applied 

to an affair, matter, occurrence, or state of 

affairs (Well, we’ve got to make the best of a 

bud job). The apdication of the word to a 

theft- or- robbery-or any criminal deed (The 

gang pulled a job in Madison and were over the 

Illinois line before daybreak) is slang. 

Position is usually applied to any post of 

employment above manual labor (His position 

in Clark’s grocery didn’t offer much hope of 

getting rich quick. This is a good position for 

the right man. Position wanted. Will travel). 

Place and situation are used mainly today in 

regard to positions or jobs that are being sought 

(situation wanted). Place is now generally restricted 

to domestic employment, especially of 

a female (She had a good place with a Winnetka 

family for twenty years). 

Job’s comforter. Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad 

the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite are 

known now to very few and the term Job’s 

comforter for one who under the guise of offering 

consolation only adds to his victim’s distress 

is now an empty phrase. 

John Doe; Richard Roe. John Doe is a fictitious 

personage in legal proceedings, usually the 

plaintiff. The corresponding fictitious defendant 

is Richard Roe. Their female counterparts are 

Jane Doe and Mary Roe who also serve in 

warrants, when necessary, as John and Richard’s 

respective spouses. 

join together. Although join means to bring or 

put together, join together is too solidly established 

as an emphatic phrase (What therefore 

God hath joined together, let not man put asunder) 

to be forbidden as a redundancy. Purists 

have tried but usage has been on the other side.

joiner 260 

&isfer. A joiner in England is a carpenter, especially 

one who does light and delicate work, 

such as dovetailing, the fitting of jambs and sills 

(the workshops of joiners and cabinet-makers). 

The word was formerly so used in the United 

States (Wanted, a ship joiner, to finish the cabin 

of a small vessel-1840) but that meaning is 

now obsolescent. Joiner in current American 

usage is a colloquial term of good humored 

contempt for one who makes a practice of 

joining clubs and lodges and other societies 

(The real Joiner loves to sit up on an elevated 

Throne, wearing a Bib and holding a dinky 

Gavel). 

jolly; jocose; jocular; jocund; jovial. Jolly means 

full of life and merriment, gaily cheerful, exciting 

mirth (For he’s a jolly good fellow). The 

word is known in America and used, but it is 

connected so strongly with English speech in 

the American mind (especially in such uses as 

jolly good thing too or We’ll have to jolly him 

up a bit; he’s rather in the dumps), and is so 

invariably employed in waggish burlesques of 

English speech that a serious use of it would 

seem slightly affected. Jolly is sometimes used 

colloquially in America to mean banter, make 

fun of good naturedly. 

locose and jocular both mean sportive, merry, 

given to joking. Both suggest that the humor 

involved is a little ponderous and deliberate. 

One thinks of jocosity as taking place among 

old men in solid clubrooms. The diminutive in 

jocular, the “having one’s little joke,” still colors 

its meaning faintly. One thinks of jocularity 

often as a sly joke, the evading of a too direct 

question by a facetious answer. Both words are 

somewhat bookish, not in common everyday 

use. 

Jocund is now purely bookish. It seems far 

too heavy a word for airy mirth or lightness. 

Milton’s jocund rebecks would have to be translated 

into gay fiddles today, and Shakespeare’s 

jocund day would now be inconceivable tiptoe 

on the misty mountaintops. 

Jovial does not come to us directly from Jove 

but from the planet Jupiter which as a natal 

planet made those born under it joyous and 

happy. Yet Jove’s majesty echoes in it. There 

is a suggestion of heartiness in the word, of lofty 

serenity and, sometimes, a touch of godlike condescension. 

The jovial do not giggle; they 

chuckle. Joviality is definitely avuncular. not 

nepotal. 

got or tittle. As an expression of an intransigent 

or firm refusal to make the slightest change or 

an insistence that things are going to remain 

exactly as they are, especially spoken of something 

set down in writing, not one jot or tittle 

will be changed is a cliche. It is an echo of 

Matthew 5: 18, One jot or tittle shall in no wise 

pass from the law, where jot means iota and 

tittle any point (like the dot over an i) by which 

pronunciation is indicated. 

journalese. As a term for all newspaper writing, 

journalese is a snob term. There is just as good 

and effective writing in the best newspapers as 

in the best books and the faults that are com- 

monly classed as journalese are to be found in 

all writing. 

Nevertheless, the poorer and more sensational 

papers have these faults to a degree that justifies 

some name for it. Their writing is frequently 

trite, oversimplified, distorted, exaggerated, colored 

for sensational effect and wrenched to 

meet the space demands of headlines. Their 

vocabularies are often pretentious and abstract 

and loaded with violent images which are overworked 

and soon worn out. A mild example 

will suffice : 

“Leaders of South Carolinians for Independent 

Electors, the grozcp sponsoring the 

slate, insist their twin objectives are to give 

segregation South Carolinians a place to go, 

and make available eight uncommitted electoral 

votes as the South’s bargaining weapon 

should neither Mr. Eisenhower nor Adlai E. 

Stevenson win the necessary clear majority 

of electoral votes from the 47 other states.” 

Aside from the expansiveness of the “should” 

clause, are the two objectives so similar as to 

be twins? Wherein does a “clear” majority differ 

from a majority? And is the cacophonous use of 

“segregation” as an adjective justified? 

Bad newspapers love elaborate words: obfuscate, 

plebiscite, inculcate, anomaly, shibboleth, 

indigenous, cataclysm, aggrandizement, 

implementation, encroachment, peripheral. Certain 

pompous phrases must remain permanently 

set up in type: bipartisan foreign policy, act of 

overt aggression, fusillade of shots, dereliction 

of duty, titular head of the party, diplomat without 

portfolio, deficit spending, eschewing presidential 

ambitions, policy of containment. But 

to assume that such inflated terminology is confined 

to newspapers is to be as ignorant as 

unjust. It was not some petty, pretentious scribbler 

who invented massive retaliation and agonizing 

reappraisal or spoke of unleashing Chiang 

Kai-shek. 

Newspaper writing has to be done under 

pressure to meet a deadline and such pressure 

invites the use of cliches. They become a sort 

of time-and-thought saving code: legal bombshell, 

sweeping investigation, innocent bystander, 

fair sex, kiddies, smoking weapon, ill-gotten 

gains, minced no words, whirlwind courtship, 

tongue-lashing. 

Headlines account for the greatest abuse of 

the meaning of words, but as the meaning becomes 

established through constant use in headlines, 

it eventually works its way into news 

stories, Thus bid is made to serve a score of 

uses in the headlines that are not recognized in 

the dictionaries. In the headlines all treaties and 

agreements are pacts, all ambassadors envoys, 

all investigations probes, all contests for public 

office races, all criticisms hits or raps, all unsavory 

agreements deals, all increases in pay or 

charges hikes, all requests pleas. The reading 

of headlines is becoming as specialized an 

activity as the solving of crossword puzzles. 

Who but the initiate could make sense of 

SHUNS CHICAGO RETURN GO?

journey. See trip. 

joy is more than pleasure. It is a keen, ilively, 

ecstatic pleasure (But fhere is no joy in Mudville-mighty 

Casey has struck out). Hence 

such phrases as simple joys or quiet joys must 

be used with care as they are self-contradictory. 

Usually pleasures is intended. Delight is a synonym 

for joy. The phrase a joy and a a’elight 

is a cliche. 

judge. This verb may be followed by a clause, as 

in I judge they have finished, or by an intinitive, 

as in I judge them to have finished. The (clause 


judge; adjudicate. In addition to its primary Imeaning 

of trying a person or case as a judge does, 

judge has the related meanings of forming a 

critical opinion or an estimate (I judge it’s about 

a mile further. Their deeds I judge and much 

condemn,/ Yet when did I make lanjs for 

them?). Adjudicate means to award judicially 

(The prize was adjudicated to the little man in 

the bowler hat) or to sit in judgment, to pronounce 

judgment on. In this use it is followed 

by upon (The right to adjudicate upon these 

pretensions can be claimed only by those who 

have experienced the same misfortune). In 

many contests judge and adjudicate c.an be 

interchanged, but the practice is becoming increasingly 

common of using adjudicate in reference 

to contests or disputes not in the courts. 

See also think. 

judicature; judiciary. As a term for the judicial 

branch of government, the system of courts of 

justice in a country, the judges collectively, the 

British prefer judicature and the Americans 

judiciary, though both words are known in both 

countries and may be used interchangeabbly. 

judicial; judicious. Judicial means pertaining to 

judgment in courts of justice (judicial proceedings) 

or pertaining to courts of law or judges 

(judicial functions, judicial chambers) or proper 

to the character of a judge (judicial calm, judicial 

fairness). Judicious implies the possession 

and use of discernment and discrimination 

(That was a judicious choice). There are some 

contexts in which the use of judicious may be 

ambiguous, for a judicial opinion may also be 

judicious. 

junction; juncture. A junction is an act of joining 

(Soon afterwards Nelson effected a junction 

with the main body of his fleet) or a place 

of joining (The torn sheet had been so skillfully 

mended that the junction of its two halves 

could be perceived only by the most careful 

scrutiny). 

A juncture is also an act of joining (The 

juncture of the Ohio and the Mississippi . . .), 

though this use is now rare, junction being 

commonly preferred. As a place of joining, it 

refers to the line or point at which two bodies 

are joined (the juncture of the head and neck). 

Its commonest meaning, however, is of a point 

in time which is important because of the concurrence 

of circumstances (How remarkable 

that he should appear at this juncture of events. 

A critical juncture). At this juncture has come 

to be used so much for simply at this moment, 

261 junk 

whether or not the moment is one made sign& 

cant by the junction of certain events, that a 

careful writer will avoid it unless the context 

makes it plain that it is a juncture and not just 

a moment. 

junior. The word junior is used much in America, 

rarely in England. In America it means the 

third or next to the last year of college or one 

who is a member of that year (By his junior 

year the candidate for the degree must have 

completed . . .). It also means of a more recent 

admission or appointment to an office, especially 

the United States Senate, where a junior senator 

is not necessarily younger than his colleague 

from the same state but more recently 

elected or appointed. 

When an American boy is given his father’s 

name or his grandfather’s name he usually ap 

pends junior to his own name during the lifetime 

of the older bearer of the name. Miss Amy 

Vanderbilt in her Complete Book of Etiquette 

says that the word should be in small letters if 

appended in full but the I capitalized if abbreviated 

and Mr. prefixed to the whole (Mr. William 

Schwartz, junior or Mr. William Schwartz, 

Jr.). Where the father himself is already junior 

-where, that is, grandfather, father, and grandson 

all bear the identical name, and the gradfather 

and father are still living-the grandson 

is third. On the death of the grandfather, the 

father would then become Mr. William Schwartz 

and the grandson William Schwartz, junior, UP 

til he was of age and then Mr. William Schwartz, 

junior. In some places it is customary for a son 

who has been known as Mr. William Schwartz, 

junior, to retain the junior for a year after his 

father’s death. 

Though dictionaries do not recognize it, it ia 

well for parents to face the fact that among 

schoolboys junior is a term of good-humored 

contempt. 

It is improper to refer to a girl or young 

woman as junior (as Miss Helen Smith, Jr.) 

even if she does bear the same name as her 

mother. Of course she could be described as 

the junior Miss Smith to distinguish her from 

an elder sister, but younger would be better. 

And Junior Misses is a definite category in girls’ 

clothing. 

junk. In English usage junk is still chiefly a nautical 

word, meaning old, stiff, worn-out, discarded 

cordage and-by derivation-salt meat 

(which, apparently, was regarded as having the 

consistency and appearance of such cordage, 

and probably its palatability). In America junlr 

means any old or discarded material, especially 

metal, paper, and rags (They were ashamed 

because their uncle was in the junk business. 

There was nothing up there but a lot of old 

junk. The old mills will simply be dismantled 

and the machinery sold for junk). The verb to 

junk, to discard as worthless (When he got 

home his ship was a complete wreck. It will be 

junked), is wholly American. The word is used 

as a verb in English, but rarely, and then it 

means to cut into hunks. 

The Chinese ship junk is a totally different

junket 

word. It is a shortening of the Portuguese form 

of the Javanese word jong. 

junket. The sweet custardlike food of flavored 

milk curded with rennet (Eat your junket, 

Deborah!) was so called because it-or something 

like it-used to be served on rushes 

(Italian giunco, a rush). Rushes were also 

spread on the floor or ground at merrymakings 

and picnics and hence pleasurable entertainments 

and excursions came to be called junkets. 

The first meaning is retained in America, though 

when the I is capitalized it is a trademark. The 

second, however, has undergone a curious, cynical 

change and in its commonest use in the 

United States today means a trip taken at public 

expense by an official or a group of officials 

ostensibly to obtain information but actually for 

pleasure (Several rules committee members have 

opposed the resolutions on the ground that they 

kangaroo court. As a term for an unauthorized 

or irregular court, especially for a mock court 

held by prisoners in jail or an irregularly conducted 

court in a frontier district, kangaroo 

court is an American term. It is often classified 

as informal English but it has become so definitely 

the name for irregular courts conducted 

in jails by the prisoners themselves that it is 

hard to see how else one could identify them 

without resorting to circumlocution. 

The origin of the term is unknown. It is, apparently, 

not Australian but American. Dr. 

Charles Earle Funk hazards the auess that since 

the term came into use soon after the gold rush 

to California, in 1849, the early purpose of 

such courts may have been to try those who 

jumped claims. 

keep. The past tense is kept. The participle is also 

kept. Keep may be followed by the -ing form 

of a verb, as in keep trying, but not by an infinitive 

or a clause. Keep may be followed by an 

adjective describing the subject of the verb, as 

in I kept cool, or by an adverb describing the 

action itself, as in it kept well. 

keep a stiff upper lip. As an admonition to be 

firm in times of stress and trouble, keep a stifl 

upper lip is a cliche. It seems to be an American 

phrase, coming into use in the 1830’s. Like 

many cliches, its exact meaning is puzzling, 

since it is not the upper but the lower lip that 

trembles in weakness and self-pity. 

keep a weather eye open. As an admonition to 

be alert, keep a weather eye open is a cliche, 

a tediously jocular assumption of nautical language. 

keep body and soul together. As a term for achieving 

the bare minimum of subsistence, to keep 

K 

would provide “nice junket trips” for committee 

members). 

just; justly. When these words mean fair or according 

to justice, the form just is an adjective 

and is used to qualify a noun, and the form 

justly is an adverb and is used to qualify other 

kinds of words, as in the just man was justly 

pardoned. When the form just is used as an 

adverb and qualifies a word that is not a noun, 

it means exactly, merely, or very recently, as in 

the man has just been pardoned. The form fustly 

is never used to qualify a noun. 

juvenile. As an adjective for that which pertains 

to, is suitable for, or intended for young persons, 

fuvenile is neutral in its connotations 

(juvenile fiction), though the frequency of its 

use in the phrase juvenile delinquency may 

make it in time pejorative. The disparaging 

adjectives are childish and puerile. See infantile. 

body and soul together or keeping body and 

soul together has been overworked. It has been 

in constant use for more than two hundred years 


kept. See keep. 

kerb. See curb. 

kerosene; paraffin; coal oil. Kerosene is, or was 

until recently, the common American word for 

heating and illuminating oil distilled from petroleum, 

bituminous shale, coal, etc. (She would 

put kerosene on her fire to make it burn). The 

English word for this substance is paraffin, a 

shortening of paraffin oil (He set his face against 

para#in and the whole family of oils); but 

parafin in the United States means a white or 

colorless waxy substance, obtained from crude 

petroleum and used for making candles and 

forming preservative coatings on paper, homemade 

preserves, jellies, and so on. This the 

English call parufin wax. The term paraffin 

is also used in England for medicinal oils taken 

as laxatives, what in America are called mineral 

oils. 

Coal oil is an old-fashioned American term 

for what is now usually called kerosene (This 

lamp is especially designed for burning coal oil 

and similar substances). But kerosene is now 

generally being displaced by fuel oil, very little 

oil being used any more for lighting but an 

increasing amount for heating. 

ketchup. See catchup. 

key (island or wharf). See quay. 

kick. As a noun or a verb meaning a complaint 

or to complain (You’ll get a kick on that, you 

wait and see. Aw, they’re always kicking about 

something. Who cares?), kick is accepted spoken 

English. As a noun meaning a thrill (I get a

kick out of just watching that kid), it is slang. 

So also is its meaning of stimulation in an 

alcoholic drink (That home brew stuff had an 

awful kick in it), or, as a verb, to be around 

(He’s been kicking around here for six months 

now, don’t seem to want to go any place else), 

or in the compound, to kick in, contribute (Her 

lawyer kicked in with the necessary five hundred 

,- 

bucks). Kick off. start (The drive kicked off with 

a big rally in the square), and kickback, ‘io pay 

part of one’s wages, fee, or receipts back 

surreptitiously (Longshoremen were finding it 

tougher than ever to get jobs, even through kickbacks 

of pay, bottles of liquor and cigars), are 

slang terms on the way to becoming accepted 

spoken English. 

kill. The use of kill to mean to cancel a word, or 

a paragraph, or item (Publisher Forsberg decided 

to kill the editorial page) is standard in 

American usage. So also to let an automobile 

engine go dead (He killed the engine right on 

the tracks). 

kill or cure is a cliche, sustained solely by inertia 

and alliteration.. 

kill the fatted calf. To kill the fatted calf in festal 

preparation, or the goose that lays the golden 

eggs in greedy folly, or two birds with one stone 

in thrift or efficiency is to be guilty of using 

very tedious phrases. 

kin. Though kin is standard in the meaning of 

one’s relatives collectively, kinsfolk, family relation 

or kinship (You’ll find our kin all through 

Kentucky. They’re kin to us through the Pruitts 

around Olympian Springs), it is archaic as 

a designation of a group of persons descended 

from a common ancestor (We’re all Adam’s 

kin) or a single kinsman (He’s no kin of mine). 

The word is more widely used in the South, 

where the older feeling for family relationships 

is still retained, than in the North. See ldth 

and kin. 

kind of. The use of singulars and plurals in expressions 

involving kind of is complicated only 

in the sense that there are several constructions 

all of which are equally acceptable. 

Kind of is singular. Traditionally, it is qualified 

by a singular, such as this and not these, 

and is followed by a singular verb. The noun 

following kind of may be either singular or 

plural. We may say this kind of man is dangerous 

or this kind of men is dangerous. Both constructions 

are formally correct but the second, 

with a plural noun before a singular verb, is 

not heard in the United States. We may also 

say these kind of men are dangerous. This use 

of a plural qualifier and a plural verb with the 

singular kind of is formally irregular, but it has 

a long history in literary English. It is used 

today by educated people and must therefore 

be recognized as standard English. 

Kinds of is a plural and is used only in speaking 

of more than one kind. It is qualified by a 

plural, such as these and not this, and is followed 

by a plural verb. The noun following 

kinds of may be either singular or plural. We 

may say these kinds of iree are easy to grow or 

263 kind 

these kinds of trees are easy to grow. In the 

United States a plural noun is generally preferred 

after kinds of, but both forms are standard, 

literary English. 

In every case, a following pronoun is singular 

if the verb is singular and plural if the verb is 

plural, as in this kind of tree is nice if you like 

it and these kind of trees are nice if you like 

them. 

What has just been said covers everything 

that anyone needs to know about the use of 

singulars and plurals with kind of. But unfortunately, 

a great deal of confusion has grown 

up in recent years over the form these kind of 

trees. Before anyone changes his speech habits 

in regard to this, he should understand just what 

it is that is under attack. 

About fifty years ago some eminent grammarians 

commented on the fact that kind was 

used in a way not possible for a word such as 

group. They said that, although grammatically 

incorrect, this irregular construction was acceptable 

spoken English, and gave as examples 

of it: these kind of men have their uses &rd 

what kind of trees nre those? If a word like 

group was being used in these sentences we 

would say: this group of men has its uses and 

what group of trees is that? The grammarians 

were recommending as technically correct this 

kind of men has its uses and what kind of trees 

is that? They had no objection in the world to 

a plural noun after kind of. They themselves, 

in another context, speak of a kind of compasses. 

All that can be said about this singular construction 

with a plural noun is that it is not used 

in the United States today. We do not use kind 

in exactly the same way that we use group. The 

recommended construction is so alien to our 

speech habits that American handbooks which 

condemn these kind of trees are do not mention 

the alternative this kind of trees is. They sometimes 

say that the only acceptable form is trees 

of this kind are. This is absurd. And it becomes 

even more absurd when applied to what kind 

of trees are those? Sometimes they suggest, or 

at least students conclude, that one should always 

say these kinds of trees. This is worse yet. 

Kinds should never be used unless more than 

one kind is meant. 

To sum up, if only one kind is meant, kind 

may be used with a singular noun to suggest 

the type, as in this kind of tree, or with a plural 

noun to suggest the group, as in these kind of 

trees or this kind of trees. These kind of trees 

is idiomatic and literary English. This kind of 

trees is historically justifiable but seldom heard 

in the United States today. 

The phrase kind of a, as in this kind of a 

man, is condemned by many grammarians. But 

it can be heard frequently in the speech of the 

best-educated people and is found in the works 

of some of our best writers, including William 

James. 

Kind of is sometimes used to qualify an adjective 

or a verb, as in it is kind of silly and

kindling 264 

he kind of hesitated. This is almost universally 

condemned. But it too can be heard in the 

United States in all levels of sueech. including 

the speech of those who condemn it. A sentence 

such as I kind of had to leave undoubtedly 

creates a bad impression. But this is due more 

to the speaker’s excessive timidity than to his 

grammar. 

kindling wood; matchwood. When an American 

wishes to say that something has been smashed 

into minute splinters, he may say that it has 

been reduced to kindling wood (His calm verdict 

upon the struggle for the gold standard 

makes kindling wood of the Republican platform). 

An Englishman will say matchwood 

(Most of the ships that struck were broken up 

into matchwood). 

kindly; please. The use of kindly for please in 

such phrases as kindly remit has a touch of 

unctuousness about it that may defeat its intention 

of being elegant or ingratiating. The 

quality of kindness or sympathetic benevolence 

is not one that can be produced upon demand, 

especially upon the demand of a creditor. It 

may be argued that the same holds for pleasure, 

yet please remit is an established formula. So 

it is, but it is so thoroughly established that 

in this particular context there is no longer any 

thought of pleasure, any more than of affection 

in Dear Sir. It is simply a courteous formality 

and courteous formality is the proper manner 

in which to ask for something that is owed one. 

When in a desire to seem less coldly formal 

one employs words that have unsuitable connotations, 

one’s meaning may be misunderstood. 

The unusual word may make the demand seem 

unusual and resentment is quick to seize on 

trifles to justify itself. 

lriPdred spirits. As a term for those who are alike 

in natural dispositions and who share the same 

interests, kindred spirits is hackneyed. 

King James Version. The version of the Bible, 

properly known as the Authorized Version, 

which was prepared at the command of King 

James I of England and first published in 1611 

is often called the King James Version (or the 

King lames’ Version) and often miscalled the 

Saint James Version. The confusion may be 

abetted by the fact that the British court, to 

which our ambassador is accredited, is called 

the Court of St. James (which see). 

tingly; regal; royal. That which is kingly may 

belong to a king or be fitting for or worthy of 

a king (. . . what seemed his head/ The likeness 

of a kingly crown had on). Regal applies to the 

office of kingship, to its outward manifestations 

of majesty and grandeur (With them comes a 

third of regal port,/ But faded splendor wan. 

This exercise of regal authority proved to be 

immensely popular). Royal is applied especially 

to what pertains to or is associated with the 

person of a monarch (the royal bedchamber, 

the royal family) or to that which is ideally 

like or characteristic of a king, noble, generous, 

munificent (What a royal housekeeper his 

grandfather was, in what magnificent style he 

kept open house! A royal welcome). 

kith and kin is a clichC, one of those meaningless 

phrases kept current by alliteration. A fitting 

punishment for anyone who uses it would be to 

require him to use the word kith at once in 

some other context. The chances are overwhelming 

that he couldn’t do it. The word meant 

originally those who are known to us, friends, 

fellow-countrymen, neighbors, acquaintances. 

It is related to the old word couth, known. In 

the stable societies of older times all of one’s 

kin were probably kith, though not all who 

were kith were kin. When Middleton wrote, in 

1620, A maid that’s neither kith nor kin to me, 

he seems to have the proper distinction in mind. 

But for well over a century the two words have 

been assumed to be synonymous. Burns wrote 

My lady’s white, my lady’s red,/ And kith and 

kin o’ Cassillis’ blude, though one cannot be 

kith of blood. 

klang association is a term applied to the manner 

in which the meaning of many words is unconsciously 

affected by our hearing the sound of 

other words in them. Thus fakir (derived from 

an Arabic word meaning poor) suggests an 

impostor because it seems to contain fake 

(which is probably derived from a German 

word fegen, to sweep). People expect greyhounds 

to be gray, though the first syllable has 

nothing to do with color but is derived from 

a Norse word for dog. In England today bug 

is almost an iudecent word and the American’s 

frequent use of it greatly agitates his transatlantic 

cousin. Since it derives from the same 

root as bogey, it is a harmless word, but the 

English seem to connect it with bugger, sodomite 

(a corruption of Bulgarian); in America, 

on the other hand, bugger seems to have been 

decontaminated by its klang association with 

bug and mischievous little boys are affectionately 

called little buggers with no moral implication 

intended. 

kneel. The past tense is knelt or kneeled. The 

participle is also knelt or kneeled. Knelt is the 

preferred form for the past tense and for the 

participle, but both forms are acceptable. 

knees of the gods, on the. To say of something 

of which the outcome or future is wholly dependent 

upon chance, or at least of which we 

no longer have any control, that it is on the 

knees of the gods (or in the lap of the gods) is 

to employ a hackneyed phrase. The term, which 

is a translation of a phrase that occurs repeatedly 

in the Iliad and the Odyssey, originally carried 

the idea that since the matter had, whether 

of choice or necessity, been handed to the gods 

for solution or furtherance, it would be impious 

of man to attempt to do anything more about it. 

knew. See know. 

knickers; knickerbockers. The plural forms refer 

to one garment but are always treated as plurals, 

as in these knickers are torn. In order to 

use the word with a singular verb or to speak 

of more than one such garment, it is necessary 

to say this pair of knickers is torn or several 

pairs of knickers. The form knickers is also 

used as the first element in a compound, as in 

his knickers pocket,

knife. The plural is knives. 

knit. The past tense is knit or knitted. The participle 

is also knit or knifted. For a long time 

knitted was used only as an adjective, as in 

u knitted coat, but it is now also used in verb 

forms. The form knit is always used when the 

word has a figurative sense, as in she knit her 

brows, but we may say she knit a sweater or 

she knitted o sweater. 

knock has a number of colloquial and slang uses 

in the United States which are not current in 

England. Thus the making of harsh or illnatured 

criticisms (Don’t knock, boost!) or, 

when followed by about, to wander aimlessly 

(I’ve knocked about a lot since I quit high 

school) or, when followed by down, to get 

money illicitly, usually by embezzling from sums 

that pass through one’s hands (Those ticket sellers, 

they really knock down the dough!). 

A striking instance of the idiomatic pitfalls 

that await the uninstructed is the phrase 

knocked up. The expression is slang in both 

England and America, but has a totally different 

meaning in each country. In England the 

phrase has an old-fashioned meaning of to be 

awakened by knocking (I say, if you’re leaving 

early, knock me up, will you?) and a modem 

slang meaning of to be tired out. In Am,erica it 

means to make pregnant or to have been made 

pregnant. A lady who announced in England 

after a gay evening that she was completely 

knocked up might create a minor ripple (of sympathy. 

The same announcement in America 

would be sensational. 

knot (nautical). A knot, as any exasperated seaman 

is eager to inform any pretentious and 

ignorant landlubber, is not a measure of distance 

but a unit of speed of one nautical mile 

per hour. [The nautical mile is officially fixed 

in the U. S. at 6,080.20 feet, in Great Britain at 

6,080 feet, as against 5,280 feet in both countries 

for the land mile.] Thus it is wrong to 

speak of a ship’s going so many knots an hour. 

She simply goes so many knots. Nor does she 

cover so many knots a day. She goes at so many 

knots and covers so many miles. 

know. The past tense is knew. The participle is 

known. When know is used in an active form, 

in speaking of a present or future event it may 

be followed by a clause, as in Z know she lies, 

or by to be, as in Z know her to be a Car, but 

not by any other infinitive. When speaking of 

a past event it may be followed by a clause, as 

in Z know she lied, or by an infinitive, as in 

Z have known her to lie. It may also be followed 

by the simple form of a verb, as in Z have 

known her lie, but the to-infinitive is preferred. 

When know is used in a passive form, it is followed 

by a to-infinitive, regardless of the time 

referred to, as in she is known to lie and she 

has been known to lie. 

As a word for knowledge, the fact of knowing, 

know-now restricted almost entirely to 

the phrase in the know-is slang. Know-how, 

however, the knowledge of how to do something, 

faculty, or skill, is now standard in 

American usage. Some authors have insisted 

265 know 

that a distinction must be made between knowing 

someone and merely having an acquaintance 

with him, but American usage will not 

support any such distinction. When someone is 

asked, Do you know so-and-so? he may answer 

Only slightly or Very well or make the degree 

of the acquaintance clear in any way that he 

chooses, but it does not occur to him that he is 

being asked if he knows the person in the same 

sense in which he might be asked if he knows 

a certain subject. To know of someone, however, 

means to know him only by name or 

reputation. 

know; comprehend; understand. To know is to 

be aware of something as a fact (I know I’m 

right. Zi was apparent that he had known of 

our plans all along. Z know a bank whereon the 

wild thyme grows). To comprehend is to know 

something thoroughly and at the same time to 

perceive its relationship to certain other facts 

and ideas (He comprehends the full implication 

of the figures. A comprehension of the theory 

would require considerable knowledge of mathematics 

as well as biology). To understand 

something is to be fully aware not only of its 

meaning but of its implications (I comprehended 

all that he said, but Z failed to understand 

why he was so upset). See also understand, 

I. 

know enough to come in out of the rain, not to. 

In a famous book of jests published in the 16th 

century and attributed to John Scogan, Edward 

IV’s fool, there is a story of a sly fellow who 

sought to establish himself as a natural idiot 

by standing under an open downspout during 

a rainstorm. Apparently the proverb was current 

even then. By now it is a cliche, a once 

good, useful phrase worn out by repetition. 

know from Adam, not to. As a way of saying 

that someone is so completely a stranger that 

even his appearance is unfamiliar, nor to know 

him from Adam is a cliche. The original meaning 

seems to have been: Adam is the prototype 

of all men; I know that the person alluded to is 

a man, and I would recognize that much but 

nothing else. Wits have had great diversion over 

the possible absence of a navel in Adam as a 

distinguishing feature. 

know the ropes. As a way of saying that someone 

is thoroughly familiar with a certain situation 

or procedure, to say that he knows the 

ropes is to employ a cliche. 

The origin of the phrase is uncertain. Some 

say it is from boxing or wrestling, the skillful 

contestant knowing how best to utilize the protection 

or impetus of the ropes. But the phrase 

antedates the use of ropes to mark off the prize 

ring. It seems most natural that it should have 

been a nautical phrase, especially from the 

latter days of sailing vessels when the sails were 

controlled by a bewildering maze of ropes. But 

it is interesting that one of the earliest uses of 

the phrase, exactly where one would expect to 

find it. in Richard Ilenrv Dana’s Two Years 

Before’ the Must (1840); argues against this 

because Dana carefully encloses it within quotation 

marks (The captain, who . , , “knew the

opes,” took the steering our) to suggest that 

he knew that he was using it out of its proper 

meaning. The oldest uses of the phrase refer to 

the racetrack, the ropes being the reins and 

those who knew them being the most successful 

jockeys. 

known. see know. 

Kodak; kodak. Kodak was a word coined by 

George Eastman as a trademark for his small 

box camera. The coinage was too successful; 

the public soon called every camera a kodak 

(Some of the rest took kodaks with us) and 

even used to kodak as a verb for to photograph. 

Competitors have finally managed, however, to 

make the public aware of brand names for 

labor of love. As a term for something which is 

done solely with the desire to please another, 

not from hope of gain, a labor of love (taken 

from the Bible) is weakened by overuse. 

laconic. See reticent. 

lady. See woman. 

ladybug; ladybird. The beetles of the family Coccinellidae, 

known in England as ladybirds, are 

in America most commonly called ladybugs, 

though ladybird is known to the educated. They 

are also sometimes called lady beetles. 

The first element of the word is a linguistic 

curiosity, being the ancient uninflected possessive 

case. It is (Our) lady(‘s) bird or bug or 

beetle, the insect being associated with the Virgin 

Mary or Heaven in many European languages. 

For centuries children have besought 

the creature to fly away home since its house is 

on fire and its children in various conditions of 

distress and disaster. The Oxford Dictionary of 

Nursery Rimes says that the meaning of the 

rime is unknown but that it is “undoubtedly a 

relic of something once possessed of an awful 

significance.” 

laid. See lay. 

lain. See lie. 

lama; llama. A lama is a priest or monk of the 

form of Buddhism urevailing in Tibet and Mongolia. 

A llama is a-woolly-haired South American 

ruminant used as a beast of burden and 

valuable for its fleece. 

lament. See regret. 

lampoon. See burlesque. 

land flowing with milk and honey. Originally a 

Biblical term, a poetic epithet for the natural 

richness of Palestine, a land j?owing with milk 

and honey was so overworked by preachers in 

the nineteenth century that it became a humorous 

phrase. But repetition has destroyed the 

humor as it formerly destroyed the solemnity 

and poetry and the phrase is now merely a husk. 

266 

L 

other cameras and kodak is not used much any 

more as a generic term, though Kodak remains 

an Eastman trademark. 

kudos. The use of the Greek word kudos, meaning 

praise or renown, for glory, fame, honor, 

even when restricted to the rather pale and 

limited glory, fame, and honor of an honorary 

degree, is an academic affectation. Neither those 

who confer nor those who receive honorary 

degrees are so steeped in Greek any more that 

it comes more naturally to them than English. 

It was originally a piece of university slang, 

with a touch of contempt in it (Lauded in pious 

Latin to the skies;/ Kudos’d egregiously in 

heathen Greek). 

landslide. The sliding down of a mass of soil, 

detritus, or rock on a steep slope is in the United 

States called a landslide (Heavy rains often precipitate 

landslides where the new roads have 

been cut through the mountains). In England it 

is called a landslip. 

The word is used figuratively in the United 

States as a political term to describe an election 

in which a particular candidate or party receives 

an overwhelming mass or majority of votes 

(The presidential election of 1936 was a Democratic 

landslide). 

language. See vernacular. 

languor. See lassitude. 

lap of luxury. As a term for wealth or affluence, 

the lap of luxury, whether one is cradled in it, 

reared in it, or just living in it, is hackneyed. 

lap of the gods. See knees of the gods. 

lapse. See elapse. 

larboard. See port. 

large and great are interchangeable in some but 

not all of their senses. Either may be used to 

designate dimensions which are unusually extensive. 

We may speak of a great house or a great 

body of water or a large house or a large body 

of water. We may speak of a great number of 

people or a large number of people. 

Large is the less formal term and therefore to 

be preferred for general use. Only great can be 

used to indicate distinction. A great man or a 

great painting is something quite different from 

a large man or a large painting. Great also indicates 

something unusual or considerable in degree 

(The birth of the baby brought them great 

joy). Great is the correct adjective to accompany 

words like breadth, depth, distance, height, 

and length. In a large room, the distance from 

one end to the other is great. 

jargely; chiefly. The adverbs largely and chiefly 

suggest different degrees of importance. Lorgely 

is less emphatic, meaning to a great extent, in

great part (Admiral Collingwood was largely responsible 

for some of the fleets being wrecked 

after the victory at Trafalgar). Chiefly means 

principally, above all (Nelson was chie,fly responsible 

for the plan of battle). 

large-scale. No one has any quarrel with largescale 

in its restricted and original sense of drawn 

to a large scale (a large-scale map), but E.nglish 

authors refuse to accept it in the common American 

use of extensive or of large scope (The directors 

decided on a large-scale reorganization 

of the company). The term which is used widely 

in business, especially in relation to reorganizations, 

promotions, production schedules, ,advertising 

campaigns, and other activities where 

optimism and “vision” are required, seems to 

mean not that plans and so on will be dralwn to 

a large scale but that in the scale of accomplishment 

they will be comparatively large. 

lark. The word lark used alone means in England 

the skylark (Alauda arvensis) and in America 

the mkadow lark (Sturnella magna and Sturnella 

neplecta of the familv Zcteridae). The two 

birds are unlike in appearance, habits, and song 

and the raptures of the English poets gain a 

fuller meaning for the American when he first 

hears the bird that has moved so many of them 

to ecstasy. 

The practice of the early colonists of bestowing 

the names of English birds on the strange 

species of the New World, while natural and 

even touching, has led to considerable confusion. 

The American robin, for example, is properly a 

thrush, and the American buzzard is plainly a 

vulture. 

lassitude; languor. As a term for weariness of 

body or mind, lassitude seems to suffer from the 

very condition it denotes. It is a weak word, 

slightly affected and bookish. Chapman s:3ys of 

Odysseus, when he collapsed on the beach at 

Phaeacia after shipwreck and days in the ocean, 

the sea had soaked his heart through. Pope says 

that the hero lav lost in lassitude. This was the 

passage that moved Keats to his famous sonnet 

and contemporary taste is definitely with :Keats. 

Languor and lassitude are often interchangeable, 

but generally languor is the milder word of 

the two, ranging from fatigue (I nearly sank to 

the ground through languor and extreme weakness) 

through want of energy (She quickly forgot 

her languor at the good news. That stick 

over which his tall person swayed with fashionable 

languor) to a tenderness or softness, often 

amorous (The lilies and languors of virtue). 

last; latest. These words are both superlative 

forms of the same word, late, but last has a 

much broader meaning than latest. In presentday 

English, only the form latest can be used in 

speaking about lateness. But in other senses the 

two words may overlap. Both may be used in 

speaking of the final member in a series of 

events. But last is not restricted to time and may 

be used in speaking of any things that are in a 

sequence, as in the last house on the left. Last is 

also used in contrast to next, to mean the immediately 

preceding, as in last summer, last 

Christmas. Where the two words can be used 

interchangeably, last may carry a suggestion of 

finality that is not in latest, as in I hope his latest 

book will not be his last. 

Both words may be used as adjectives, as in 

the latest train and the last train. Both may be 

used as adverbs in some constructions, as in he 

studied latest and he read the paper last. But 

latest cannot be used as an adverb immediately 

before a verb. In this position only the form last 

is used and here it does not carry any sense of 

finality, as in when I last saw him. 

In current English the adverbial form lastly is 

used only to mark the last point in a discourse. 

When last is used with a cardinal number. it 

may either follow or precede the cardinal. U&l 

the seventeenth century it usually followed the 

cardinal, as in the two last. Coleridge wrote, the 

fifty or sixty last years of her life. Jn current 

English last usually precedes a cardinal, as in the 

last two, except when it is being used in the sense 

of “the last-mentioned.” 

In expressions of time, last is used without the 

article the, as in last night, last Tuesday. 

last but not least-one more clichd to which we 

are led by alliteration’s lilt and lure. 

last gasp. Whether a man is breathing his lust 

gasp or on his last legs or collapsing under the 

weight of or revolting against the imposition of 

the last straw-all the terms are clichCs. 

late. The comparative forms are later and latter. 

The superlative forms are latest, last, lattermost. 

Late originally meant slow. The earliest meaning 

of the word that survives today is “behind 

time,” as in the child was late for school. In the 

earliest records late also has the meaning of far 

along in the day or after the usual hour for going 

to bed, as in it was already late and we keep late 

hours. In both of these senses one can see some 

relation to the idea of slow. But eventually the 

idea of far along in the day was extended to far 

along in any period, as in the late summer, the 

late Roman Empire. Here the idea of slow has 

been lost. Late also acquired the almost unrelated 

meaning of belonging to the recent past. 

Today lute may be used as an adjective and 

as an adverb in all four senses. In the first sense 

of behind time, it is not often used as an adjective 

qualifying a following noun, but it may be. 

We may say the late child, but as a rule we 

don’t. In the last sense of belonging to the recent 

past, late may be used as an adverb, as in I sent 

thee late a rosy wreath, but this is now considered 

extremely bookish and the adverb lately is 

preferred. In the other two senses late is used 

freely as an adjective and as an adverb. We 

speak of late suppers and say they stayed late. 

We speak of the late empire and say found as 

late as Constantine. The adverb lately can be 

used only in the fourth sense, of recently. 

Latter is the older of the two comparative 

forms. But after late had taken on so many 

senses a new comparative later appeared with 

the limited meaning of after in time. It is both 

an adjective and an adverb. We may say at a 

later time or he later told me. Latter now means

the part nearer the end, as in his latter life, or the 

more recent. It is no longer used in a comparison 

with than. Its chief function is as a contrast to 

former. The contrast implies that some group 

has been separated into two parts, but more than 

two elements may be involved. We may say the 

three latter events. Latter is never used as an 

adverb. For both meanings of this word we have 

the distinct adverbial form latterly. 

Of the superlative forms, latest is the superlative 

of later. It appeared when later did and 

means after all others in time. It may be used 

as an adjective or as an adverb, as in the latest 

book and he stayed latest. The word lattermost 

first appeared in the nineteenth century and has 

never been widely used. It is specifically the 

superlative of latter in its present-day senses 

and means nearest the end or the most recent. 

It is used only as an adjective, as in the Iattermost 

day. Last is the old superlative of late. It 

is still used in the senses covered by lattermost 

and in some of the senses covered by latest. It 

is both an adjective and an adverb, as in the last 

man and when last we met. See last; latest. 

late; belated. Both late and belated are adjectives 

which mean being after the usual or proper time. 

Late is the general term to describe this circumstance 

without commenting on its desirability or 

undesirability (We saw the late edition of the 

newspaper). Belated, however, connotes an undesirable 

delay or one that is blamable (He 

offered a belated apology for his misconduct). 

late in the day when used literally (Three o’clock 

is just too late in the day for lunch) is a useful, 

sensible, standard phrase that can never be worn 

out so long as there is a proper occasion for it. 

Used metaphorically, however (1813 was pretty 

late in the day for Napoleon to be talking about 

Europe’s need for peace), it is a clich6. 

latex. The plural is latexes or latices. 

latitude. See breadth. 

latter; lattermost. See late. 

laud. To laud for to praise is either a cliche 

(lauded to the skies) or a bookish term that 

sounds a little affected in ordinary speech. 

laudable; laudatory. That is laudable which is 

worthy of being praised (His desire to pay off 

his father’s debts was laudable). That is laudatory 

which expresses praise (He spoke in the 

most laudatory terms of your loyalty and 

ability). 

laughable. See funny. 

laugh in (or up) one’s sleeve. Derisive laughter 

seems to have been concealed in various ways at 

various times and places. The French used to 

laugh in their capes and the Spaniards in their 

beards. The English took to laughing in their 

sleeves early in the sixteenth century when 

sleeves were large and flowing, capable of concealing 

immense amounts of mirth. But to laugh 

in one’s sleeve today would be awkward and 

obvious and the phrase is a cliche. 

laugh to scorn. Whether one makes one’s enemies 

laugh on the wrong side of their mouths or 

laughs them to scorn or laughs them out of court, 

or whether the whole procedure is no laughing 

matter, and even though one has the last laugh, 

all the terms employed are clichCs. 

laundry; launder. Articles of clothing to be 

washed and ironed are laundry and the place in 

which they are washed and ironed is a laundry. 

The verb is to launder, not to laundry. Clothes 

are laundered, not laundried. The process as a 

whole is laundering. It used to be laundry 

(Chalky water is too fretting as it appeareth in 

laundry of clothes, which wear out apace if you 

use such water-1626), but the adoption of the 

-ing form has simplified at least that much of 

this so-often-confusing word. 

laurel. The word laurel in Eneland designates a 

small lauraceous evergreen tree, Laurus nob&, 

sometimes called true laurel. In America the 

word is applied to a number of trees and shrubs 

that in one way or another resemble the true 

laurel, as Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel) or 

Rhododendron maximum (the great rhododer?dron 

or great laurel). Cecil Sharp (quoted by 

Horwill) found that the Laurel Country, as it is 

called, of North Carolina derived its name from 

the rhododendrons which grow there. There was 

some true laurel, but this was called ivy, while 

the ivy was called vine. 

lavish; prodigal; profuse. All three of these words 

mean unstinted, extravagant. They refer to that 

which exists abundantly and is poured out copiously. 

One may be extravagant with little; but 

it takes a great deal to be lavish, prodigal, or 

profuse. 

Profuse is the weakest of the three. It suggests 

abundance (profuse strains of unpremeditated 

art) but it also suggests exaggeration, over-demonstration 

of feelings, etc. (profuse apologies, 

profuse thanks, profuse protestations of undying 

affection). Lavish is stronger than profuse. It 

suggests excessive display or generosity on a 

grand scale (Such lavish hospitality soon reduced 

one of the greatest fortunes of the day to 

no more than a competence). Prodigal suggests 

wastefulness and improvidence, and again on a 

large scale. It commonly refers to habits or character 

and, by inescapable association with the 

prodigal son of Luke 15:11-32, suggests immorality 

and ruinous indulgence (Bankrupt of 

life, yet Prodigal of ease. . . The chariest maid 

is prodigal enough/ Zf she unmask her beauty to 

the moon. These prodigal excesses will furnish 

material for a thousand sermons that will delight 

the staid and frugal). 

lawful. See legal. 

lawyer. See attorney. 

lay. The past tense is laid. The participle is also 

laid. This verb means cause to lie. It therefore 

implies both an object and an agent. But it does 

not follow that both have to be mentioned every 

time the verb is used. According to the strictest 

rules of English, there are two situations in 

which one or the other may be omitted. 

1. Formerly, the object of lay was often a 

pronoun referring back to the subject of the 

verb, the agent, as in now Z lay me down to 

sleep. As these reflexive pronouns began to be 

dropped, they were still understood and it was

proper to say I will lay down for a nap, meaning 

I will lay me down. Later, grammarians who 

were more impressed by logic than by facts insisted 

that since the verb had no object in this 

construction, it was necessary to use lie, as in I 

will lie down for a nap. As so often happens 

when children are taught grammatical rules that 

run counter to the established idiom, the result 

was simply confusion. The children could not 

say lie-because that was not what thseir respected 

elders said-and they were afraid to say 

lay. The result was a kind of panic, in which 

they were sure that whatever they said would 

be wrong. In current English, lie is used more 

often than lay in these constructions where the 

object would be a reflexive pronoun, and many 

people consider lay undesirable here. But many 

other people still use lay. This may show that 

the speaker is depending on his grandmother 

more than on his teachers. Or it may show that 

his speech habits have been formed by reading 

English literature. 

(In some parts of the United States people 

speak of laying up for a nap, rather than laying 

down. This is not the standard idiom, but it 

carries a vivid suggestion of old-fashioned high 

beds. In all parts of the country we say (laid up 

with a cold and not laid down, regardless of the 

height of the bed.) 

2. When the verb in a sentence is passive the 

thing acted on becomes the grammatical fsubject 

and is always mentioned, but the agent may be 

ignored. In many English verbs the activ’e form 

may be used with a passive sense, as in the door 

shut, the room filled, the car drives easily. (See 

passive voice and transitive verbs.) This has 

always been true for lay. People have always 

said the book is laying on the table and let it 

lay, just as they say the water is spilling and 

let it spill. Some grammarians claim that lie is 

required here, on the grounds that the verb does 

not have an object. This is an overstatement. 

Lie may be used here, but it is not required. 

To sum up. The verb lay, with its past tense 

and participle laid, is almost impossible to misuse. 

It is required in a statement that ha.s both 

a subject and an object. It is defensible in a 

statement that has only a subject, provided ( 1) 

the understood object is identical with the subject, 

as in he lays on the floor, or (2) the verb 

is understood in a passive sense, as in it is laying 

on the table. But lie may also be used provided 

the object is not mentioned. We may say he lies 

on the floor and it is lying on the table. Both 

verbs, lay and lie, are correct so far as theoretical 

grammar is concerned. The preferred form 

is the one heard most often in your own community. 

There is a tendency -in present-day 

English to prefer the verb lav in sneakine of 

inanimate objects, and the veib lie ih speaking 

of living creatures. 

The verb that is apt to be misused is lie. Its 

past tense lay and its participle lain are often 

heard with an object, as in he lay it down and 

he has lain it down. The strict rules of grammar 

call for laid in these sentences because the object 

is mentioned. But some people seem to think 

that laid is wrong under any circumstances. As 

a result, the technically incorrect forms are used 

too often to be called unacceptable. That is, they 

do not suggest a backwoods or uneducated person. 

But they do suggest a timid person who has 

tried too hard to please. 

English has a number of idioms involving lay 

in which an object is understood but not expressed. 

For example, to lay about means to lay 

blows about, and to lay for originally meant to 

lay an ambush for. This use of lay occurs in 

many nautical expressions where the course or 

the ship is understood as object. 

The words lay and lie may also be used as 

nouns with the same sense they have in the verbs, 

and either form may be used. The lie of the land 

is a British expression. In the United States the 

same thing is called the lay of the land. 

lay it on with a trowel. To say of someone who 

is flattering another grossly that he is laying it 

on with a trowel was once to employ an effective 

metaphor. The facts that this is a trade or 

livelihood for the person doing it and that in the 

act he is building some edifice of his own, that 

the material laid on is sloppy and the gesture of 

laying it on mechanical and habitual, all heighten 

the effect of the figure. But after three hundred 

years of steady use and a hundred of overuse, 

it is worn out. 

lay on, Macduff!-usually spoken with a hearty 

guffaw and immense self-approval by the speaker 

at the range of his own literary knowledge and 

the felicity of its application-must be among 

the most hackneyed of quotations, one whose 

repetition transgresses boredom into humiliation. 

First Henry the Fourth, I, ii, 101, offers a 

fitting rejoinder: “0, thou hast damnable iteration.” 

lay one’s cards on the table. As a term for frankly 

stating one’s intentions, admitting one’s weaknesses 

or showing one’s resources, to lay one’s 

cards on the table is a clichC. 

lazv: idle: indolent: slothful. All of these words 

apply to one wdo is inactive, but they carry 

different degrees of moral reproach. Zdle may 

imply no reproach at all; one may be relaxing 

temporarily or inactive through necessity (Zn 

idle moments he rested his eyes. The shutdown 

at the boxboard plant kept the men idle all the 

winter). Or it may be mildly derogatory (I don’t 

like all those idle boys hanging around the drugstore 

corner). 

Lazy, though it too can be a neutral word 

(Oh, I feel so gloriously lazy. We spent a lazy 

afternoon on the beach), is usually derogatory, 

describing a sluggishness, an aversion to work, 

especially to continued application (That lazy, 

good-for-nothing lout! I’ve told him a dozen 

times to put the tools away when he’s done. All, 

with united force, combine to drive/ The lazy 

drones from the laborious hive). The verb to 

lazy (So we would put in the day, lazying 

around, listening to the stillness) is usually favorable 

and at its worst not strongly condemnatory. 

A special American use of the word lazy,

with no derogatory implication at all, is its 

designation of a livestock brand which is placed 

on its side instead of upright (Things were pretty 

quiet at the U Lazy D ranch when Curly dismounted). 

An indolent person (the word has the rather 

charming literal meaning of free from pain) is 

one who shows a natural disposition to avoid 

exertion and indulge in ease. Because in our 

civilization exertion is considered a good thing, 

the term is derogatory (An indolent man makes 

a poor husband). 

Slothful is the most derogatory term of the 

four. It denotes a reprehensible unwillingness to 

do such work as one should (Such a slothful 

person is bound to be a burden to society). Sloth 

is the fourth of the Seven Deadly Sins, more serious 

than gluttony, avarice, or lechery. Whether 

we are becoming more energetic or more forbearing, 

slothful is not often used today. 

lea; lee; lees. A lea is a tract of arable land under 

grass. Though still used in England in certain 

dialects and in a great many place names, it is 

not used at all in the United States, though it 

is recognized in the older poets (So might I, 

standing on this pleasant lea,/ Have glimpses 

that would make me less forlorn. Now dance 

the lights on lawn and lea). From a completely 

different derivation, lea also means a measure 

of yarn of varying quantity-for wool, usually 

80 yards; for cotton and silk, 120 yards; for 

linen, 300 yards. 

A lee is a sheltered place out of the wind (In 

Iceland a weatherwise soldier takes advantage 

of every available lee). The word is perhaps 

most familiar in the sense, chiefly nautical, of the 

region or quarter toward which the wind blows. 

This sense may be used adiectivally (He headed 

for the lee shore). Finally lee, derived from a 

different word, means that which settles from a 

liquid, especially from wine. It is usually plural 

and is roughly synonymous with dregs (In decanting 

wine one should be careful to disturb 

the lees as little as possible. Z will drink life to 

the lees). 

lead. The past tense is led. The participle is also 

led. Lead may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

this led him to believe. It is also heard with the 

-ing form of a verb and the preposition to, as in 

this led him to believing. This construction is not 

literary English but it is heard too often in the 

United States to be considered anything but 

standard. 

leading question. A question thought to be unfair 

(Have you stopped beating your wife?) is 

often miscalled a leading question. But a leading 

question is simply a question so worded as to 

suggest the proper or desired answer. It is designed 

not to embarrass the person questioned 

but to helo him. It is unfair only by legal definition; 

it is ‘the type of question counsel may not 

ask in examining a witness whom he has called 

to the stand, since it is, in effect, a form of 

prompting. But an unfair question, a question so 

worded that any answer will reflect unfavorably 

270 

on the person answering is not a leading question 

but a misleading question. 

leaf. The plural is leaves. 

lean. The past tense is leaned or leant. The participle 

is also leaned or leant. Leaned is the preferred 

form for both the past tense and the 

participle. Leant is heard in Great Britain more 

often than it is in the United States. 

leap. The past tense is leaped or leapt. The participle 

is also leaped or leapt. In the United 

States, leaped is the preferred form for the past 

tense and the participle. Both forms are used in 

Great Britain, but leapt (pronounced Z?pt) is 

preferred. 

leaps and bounds. By leaps and bounds, as a term 

for rapid progress, is a cliche. Repetition has 

drained all the original vigor from it and it 

should be avoided. - 

learn. The nast tense is learned or learnt. The 

participle ‘Is also learned or learnt. 

learn; teach. To learn is to acquire knowledge. 

To teach is to impart knowledge. The use of 

learn for teach (as in That’11 learn you to look 

where you’re going next time) is not standard 

and is usually labelled as “vulgar” by the authorities. 

That is not as severe a condemnation 

in linguistics as in morals. Indeed, by some 

linguistic standards it might be regarded as 

praise. And certainly a usage which has been employed 

by Wycliffe, Coverdale, Caxton, Spenser, 

Shakespeare, Fuller, Bunyan, Defoe, Richardson, 

Coleridge, Disraeli and several million 

other people during the past six hundred years 

cannot, by contemporary linguistic standards, be 

simply dismissed as an error. And that should 

learn us, as Hamlet said, There’s a divinity that 

shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will. 

learut. See learn. 

least. See little. 

leastways; leastwise. Leastwise is literary English, 

but it is seldom heard in the United States. 

Leastways is heard more often but is not standa 

r d . 

leave (noun). See permission. 

leave. The uast tense is left. The uarticinle is also 

left. The-primary meaning of ieave is go away 

from, but it may also mean abandon or not 

interfere with and is sometimes used as the 

equivalent of let, as in you may stay with me as 

long as you leave me alone. This is standard 

English. Any form of the verb leave, such as’ 

left, or leaving, may be used in this way, provided 

it is followed immediately by an object 

and the word alone. In any other construction, 

leave used in the sense of let is unacceptable. 

Leave may be followed by a to-infinitive, as 

in Z left her to find out for herself, or by the -ing 

form of a verb introduced by off, as in he left of7 

speaking. Let, on the other hand, cannot be followed 

by a to-infinitive or an -ing form. It must 

be followed by the simple form of a verb, as in 

Z let her find out for herself. In present-day English, 

leave cannot be followed by the simple 

form of a verb, as it is in leave me be, leave me 

do it, leave go of it. Fifty years ago these forms

were acceptable spoken English in the ‘United 

States and they are found in the writings of 

Thackeray, the Brontes, R. L. Stevenson. But the 

construction is now old-fashioned. As a matter 

of fact, it is heard chiefly in the speech of educated 

people who consider it amusing to say 

leave us go and leave us not. Leave alone is also 

unacceptable when used in place of the idiomatic 

let alone to mean “not to mention,” as in Z 

couldn’t get a girl, leave alone a woman, to 

help me. 

The word leave may be used as a noun to 

mean departure or leave of absence. In literary 

English the one form leave is used in speaking of 

one person or of several, as in they took their 

leave, they were all given leave. A plural form 

leaves is sometimes used in the army. (For Z had 

as leave, see lief.) 

leave no stone unturned. When Polycrates asked 

the Delphian oracle how he should go about 

finding a treasure presumably buried by Mardonius, 

one of Xerxes’ generals, on the field of 

Plataea (479 B.C.). the oracle answered. “Move 

every stone.” Sin& the battle covered’s great 

deal of rocky terrain, the phrase became a proverb 

for immense and thorough industry. It 

achieved its present form in English in the early 

sixteenth century and is now a clichC. Like many 

clichCs, however, it has a certain value, especially 

for the witty, in the fact that it is a clich6, 

that one can count on its being known to everyone. 

Thus when Ogden Nash says that when he 

throws rocks at seabirds he leaves no tern unstoned, 

the joke is posited on the clichC. 

leave strictly (severely) alone. The injunction to 

leave something or someone severely or strictly 

alone must be regarded as a clichC. The meaning 

seems to be in an ellipsis: leave it alone in strict 

or severe conformity to the instructions given. 

leaves. This is the plural of leaf. 

leaves much to be desired is a trite and tedious 

way of saying unsatisfactory. 

led. See lead. 

lee. See lea. 

lees. This word, meaning dregs, once had a singular 

form, as in the gross lees settle quickly and 

also the flying lee in time. Shakespeare uses the 

plural form with a singular verb in the wine of 

life is drawn and the mere lees is left. Neither 

of these constructions is standard today. Lees is 

now treated as a mass word with a plural form. 

It is always followed by a plural verb, as in the 

lees are bitter, but we do not speak of a lee or of 

several lees. 

left. See leave. 

left-handed compliment. Most of the age-old, sinister 

(sinister means left) associations and connotations 

of left-handedness have disappeared 

and the phrase a left-handed compliment, an 

ambiguous compliment which on reflection turns 

out to be an insult, is now a clichC. 

left in the lurch. Lurch was a game resembling 

backgammon, played in the sixteenth century. 

When one incurred a lurch he had scored nothing 

or was so far behind his opponent as to be 

271 lemma 

helpless. Hence the figurative meaning of leaving 

someone in a helpless plight. But all awareness 

of the original meaning has faded and to 

leave someone in the lurch is now a hackneyed 

phrase. 

There was an older form of the expression, 

to leave someone in the lash. But even linguists 

have been unable to discover its original 

meaning. 

legal; lawful; licit. That is legal which conforms 

to the prescriptions of authority, especially those 

of a sovereign or state (There are many thing.s 

which are legal which a man of strict honor 

would not do). That is lawful which is permitted 

by law or recognized or sanctioned by law 

(lawful marriage, lawful heirs). It is synonymous 

with legal (legal rights, lawful rights), 

though in this sense it is now slightly archaic, 

but it has more figurative uses than legal which 

is exact and restricted. Legal always means in 

conformity to human law; lawful is often used 

to mean in conformity with moral and religious 

precepts. 

Licit means legal. It is not often used except 

in the phrase licit or illicit in reference to business 

transactions. See also illegal. 

legionary; legionnaire. A member of the American 

Legion, an organization of military veterans, 

is called a legionnaire. A member of the 

British Legion, the corresponding organization 

in England, is called a legionary. A member of 

a Roman legion or of the French Foreign Legion 

is in England called a legionary (though some 

English when referring to the French soldier 

call him by the French term, legionnaire, and 

Thomas Hardy calls a member of a Roman 

legion a legionnaire). In America, except among 

the learned who might employ Zegionary to designate 

a Roman soldier, legionnaire is used at 

all times. 

legislator; legislature. A legislator is one who 

gives or makes laws. A legislature, made up of 

legislators, is the legislative, law-making body of 

a country or state. 

legitimate drama (stage, theater). The Oxford 

English Dictionary defines legitimate drama as 

the body of plays, Shakespearian and other, that 

have a recognized theatrical and literary merit 

-as opposed, for example, to farce and melodrama. 

In the United States (where it is often 

shortened to legitimate and in slang legit), legitimate 

drama has widened and shifted its sense to 

mean any drama, including farce and melodrama, 

produced on the stage-as opposed to 

that which is presented in motion pictures, on 

radio or television (Mrs. Carter, with no legitimate 

vehicle in sight, has accepted a part in a 

radio serial. Z was in legitimate at the old 

Alcazar). 

leg to stand on, not a. As a term for having no 

logical or factual basis, not a leg to stand on is 

a clich6. 

leitmotif. See motive. 

lemma. The plural is lemmas or lemmntu, not 

lemmae.

lend. The past tense is lent. The participle is also 

lent. 

lend an ear, to. Whether one means simply to 

listen or to listen with sympathetic interest, to 

lend an ear is a clich6. 

lengthways; lengthwise. These forms are equally 

acceptable. 

lengthy; long. Long is the everyday serviceable 

word to describe that which is not short. Lengthy 

is largely restricted to speeches and writings and 

carries the reproachful suggestion that they are 

longer than they need be (The lengthy proceedings 

had disgusted the nation which had hoped 

for a speedy decision favorable to the plaintiff). 

Before the nineteenth century, by the way, 

lengthy was used only in America and was condemned 

by many British writers as an Americanism, 

but by the end of the nineteenth century 

the British had adopted it. 

lent. See lend. 

less; lesser. These words are both comparative 

forms of the word little. Lesser is a double comparative 

made from the comparative form less 

and is grammatically equivalent to more smaller. 

It first appeared around 1450. By 1600 it was 

standard English and was used in the King 

James Bible, as in the greater light to rule the 

day and the lesser light to rule the night. During 

the eighteenth century Dr. Johnson, and a great 

many others after him, condemned the form as 

pleonastic. But it has survived and today is considered 

a more “literary” word than less. 

Lesser is now used as the comparative of little 

in the sense of smaller in value or importance, 

as in the lesser poets. It may be used in comparing 

things that differ only in size, as in the lesser 

circle, the lesser distance, but it cannot be used 

alone to mean smaller in size as the word littler 

can. We cannot say the lesser child. Similarly, 

it may be used in comparing things that differ 

only in amount, as in the lesser sum, the lesser 

weight, but it cannot be used to mean smaller 

in amount. We cannot speak of lesser money or 

lesser sugar. Lesser is always an adjective. It 

may be used before a singular or a plural noun, 

as in a lesser man, lesser men, or without a 

noun when a comparison is implied, as in the 

lesser of the two and which is the lesser. It cannot 

be used in any other construction. 

When less is used as an adjective it means 

smaller in amount and we can speak of less 

money, less sugar. It may be used in this sense 

to qualify words that themselves show size, 

value, or importance, as in less length, less value, 

less importance, but in itself it always refers to 

the amount. Less can be used in any way that 

an adjective can be used. It can be used as a 

predicate adjective without the article the, as in 

which is less? It may be used after a noun, with 

the force of minus, as in ten less two. Less may 

also be used as if it were a noun, as in the less 

said the better. The less may stand before another 

noun and mean the less of. This is not true 

of lesser. 

Less may also be used as an adverb and mean 

to a smaller degree or in a smaller amount. It 

272 

may qualify a verb, as in he complains less, or 

an adjective, as in it is less expensive, or another 

adverb, as in he moves less quickly. It may be 

used with the word than, as in it is less than I 

expected and he is less a fool than I thought. 

The adjective lesser cannot be used in any of 

these ways. 

When the word little means small in amount 

it is a singular and qualifies only singular nouns, 

as in we had little trouble. When used with a 

plural noun it loses this meaning and refers to 

size or significance, as in we had little troubles. 

Many grammarians claim that less, being the 

comparative of little in this sense, cannot be 

used to qualify a plural noun, as in less men, 

less complaints. They say that the word fewer 

is required here. Some go so far as to say that 

less should never be treated as a plural, even 

when it is used with than and not with a plural 

noun, as in less than twenty were invited. They 

claim that we must say less than twenty was or 

fewer than twenty were. At one time less was 

used freely as a plural. So there is no question 

here of logic or tradition. It is simply a question 

of present-day usage. And there is no doubt that 

less than is treated as a plural in standard English 

today. Less before a plural noun, as in less 

men, is not as widely accepted. A great many 

people object to it. But a great many others, 

whose education and position cannot be questioned, 

see nothing wrong in it. In the United 

States a college president might speak of less 

men or less courses. 

lessee; lessor. A lessee is one to whom a lease is 

granted. A lessor is one who grants a lease (The 

lessor often requires a large deposit to prevent 

the lessee from breaking the lease and moving 

to less expensive accommodations). 

lest. This is a conjunction and indicates that the 

following words express something that the 

speaker does not want to see happen. It may 

have the force of “in order that - - not,” as in 

be with us yet, lest we forget. It may also be 

used to introduce a clause explaining fear or 

doubt. In the United States, lest is always followed 

by a subjunctive verb, as in they were in 

a panic lest they be overtaken by the police or 

thev were in a uanic lest the maid leave. But the 

word itself is considered bookish and that followed 

by a subjunctive substitute, such as would 

or should, is generally preferred. 

let. The past tense is let. The participle is also let. 

This word, which now means allow, once meant 

prevent, and still means that in the expression 

without let or hindrance. At one period let had 

both meanings at the same time, which must 

have been confusing. 

When used in its ordinary sense of allow, let 

must be followed by the simple form of a verb, 

as in let me go, let me do it. Let is never followed 

by a to-infinitive, even when it is used as 

a passive, as in the grass was let grow and I was 

let know. As a rule we avoid this passive let and 

find some other word to use, as in the grass was 

allowed to grow and I was informed. 

Let is used in a number of idiomatic expres-

sions that are difficult to explain but which are 

nevertheless standard English. Let ulone may 

mean “not to mention,” as in he Imd never owned 

a white mouse, let alone a white elephant. When 

an object stands between let and alone, as in let 

the cat alone, the compound means “stop annoying.” 

The expression let go of is impossible to 

analyze grammatically, but it is standard English 

for “take your hand off.” 

Let is also used to form a peculiar imperative 

that includes the speaker along with the person 

addressed, as in let us be true to one another. 

This is sometimes called the first person plural 

imperative. In spoken English this let us is usually 

contracted to let’s, as in let’s wash the dishes. 

The uncontracted form let us is always used 

when let is a regular imperative followed by us, 

that is, when let us wash the dishes means “allow 

us to” and is addressed to somebody not included 

in the “us.” This is a valuable distinction 

that is made in speech but very often lost in 

print, largely because of the mistaken notion 

that contractions are undignified. 

When let is used as a regular imperative it 

cannot be followed by a subjective pronoun. 

That is, we say let John and me wash the dishes 

and not let John and I wash them. According 

to the theoretical rules of grammar, the same 

thing holds true for the peculiar imperative with 

let’s. The contracted us is an objective pronoun 

and presumably should be repeated by the objective 

me, and not the subjective I, in a sentence 

such as let’s you and me wash the dishes. But in 

actual practice, the subjective I, as in let’s you 

and I wash the dishes, is preferred by many people, 

including some of our best writers. This 

could be defended, academically, on the grounds 

that let’s is here merely a sign of the imperative, 

that the true imperative is wash, and you and Z 

its subject. In any case, let’s you and I is heard 

too often not to be called standard. Let’s you 

and me is preferred by purists, but both forms 

are acceptable. 

Us is sometimes used after let’s, as in let’s us 

try it out. This construction is not often seen in 

print and is condemned by many grammarians 

as redundant, although it is hard to see why us 

is any more redundant than you and me. 

let the cat out of the bag. As a term for disclosing 

a secret, usually inadvertently, to let the cat 

out of the hap is hackneved. The origin of the 

phrask is uncertain. Some think it may refer to 

revealing the fact that a cat had been substituted 

for a pig in a sack (pig in a poke), but this is 

not established. 

liable. In Great Britain liable means subject to or 

exposed to some undesirable change or action, 

as in the adventure is liable to end sadly and 

some of the colors are liable to fade. Lord Chesterfield 

wrote in 1749: You know, I suppose, 

that liable can never be used in a good sense. 

But in older English it was used at least in an 

indifferent sense and meant subject to any kind 

of action, good or bad. This usage survives in 

the United States and an American might say 

we are liable to be in Chicago next week with- 

273 libel 

out meaning that that would be a calamity. 

Liable also has the legal meaning of bound by 

law or legally answerable for. 

Americans who see no reason to question 

their own speech habits often use liable in the 

sense of likely. This is true of many public officials 

and highly respected citizens. Anyone who 

wants to use the word in this way is in good 

company. But on the other hand, a great many 

people know that there is some question about 

this word, without knowing what the question is. 

These people are likely to think that liable is not 

standard, even when it is used in the purest 

British manner. Anyone who wants to avoid 

giving offense in any quarter will have to avoid 

the word entirely, except in its purely legal uses. 

liaison; alliance. In military terminology liaison 

is the contact maintained between units in order 

to ensure concerted action. In cookery liaison is 

a thickening for soups, gravies, and so on. In 

phonetics it means the running together of 

words in their pronunciation. In personal relationships 

it describes an illicit intimacy between 

a man and a woman (He [Byron] has a permanent 

sort of liaison with Contessa Guiccioli). 

These are the accepted meanings of liaison. It 

should not be used to mean any combination or 

alliance. An alliance is a regularized connection 

entered into for mutual benefit (A marriage is 

an alliance, not a liaison. The alliance between 

the Western powers and Russia could last only 

so long as they were threatened by a common 

enemy). 

libation; drink. A libation is a pouring out of 

wine or other liquid in honor of a deity or th,e 

liquid so poured out. The ancient Greeks made 

libations to their gods as a part of their worship 

(Aeschylus’s play, The Libation Bearers, begins 

with libations at the grave of Agamemnon). The 

word is not a synonym for drink and if so used 

jocularly is a tedious affectation. 

libel; slander; scandal; calumny; defamation. The 

blanket term to describe the wrong of injuring 

another’s reputation without good reason or justification 

is defamation. Calumny is a seldom 

used term to describe a false and malicious 

statement designed to injure someone’s reputation 

(Be thou chaste as ice, as pure as snow, 

thou shalt not escape calumny). 

In the legal sense, libel (from the Latin word 

meaning a little book) means defamation by 

written or printed words, pictures, or any form 

other than spoken words or gestures (When in 

Smith’s article Jones was alluded to as a petty 

mobster, Jones sued him for libel). Slander 

designates defamation by oral utterance (Had it 

not been for his senatorial immunity, he would 

have fallen afoul the laws of slander). In popular 

speech libel and slander are used synonymously 

for defamation, though libel usually 

implies a somewhat more serious charge. It is 

best, however, to keep the legal distinction between 

the two words in mind. 

Scandal, in so far as it is synonymous with 

libel and slander, means defamatory talk or malicious 

gossip. But it is a milder word than the

libelant 

others (He dearly loved a juicy bit of scandal) 

and does not carry an implication that the 

charges are false. The breath of scandal, usually 

used in a disavowal (The breath of scandal has 

never touched her name), is a clichC. 

libelant; libelous. Libelant, a legal term, is defined 

differently in England and America. In 

America it can mean either one who libels, a 

libeler, or one who institutes suit. In England, 

says Partridge, only the second sense is acceptable; 

for the first libeller (The English use two 

I’s in all these words) is the only correct form. 

LibeZ(l)ous, it is agreed on both sides of the 

Atlantic, is an adjective meaning containing, constituting, 

or involving a libel, maliciously defamatory 

(He wrote a libelous account of the 

transaction and was promptly sued). 

liberal arts. Liberal in the phrases liberal arts or 

a liberal education does not have any of the 

common meanings of liberal, such as generous, 

candid, copious, abundant, bountiful, openhearted, 

open-minded, and so on. It means, etymologically, 

befitting a free man. In practice it 

means a course of studies comprising the arts, 

natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities, 

which is not designed, as are courses 

in engineering, business administration, forestry, 

and so on, to have an immediate utility. 

libretto. The plural is librettos or libretti. 

lice. This is the plural of louse. 

licence; license-both forms are acceptable, but 

license is the preferred spelling for both noun 

and verb. 

licit. See legal. 

lick into shape. It was believed for millennia that 

bears brought forth their young as shapeless 

lumps and gradually licked them into their 

proper shape. The belief is now known to be 

erroneous and the phrase is jaded. 

lick one’s chops. The use of chops for jaws is 

now limited, in popular speech, entirely to the 

phrase to lick one’s chops, a figure, drawn from 

a characteristic action of dogs and wolves, denoting 

eager anticipation of something to be 

eaten. Exceut when used literally of a dog or a 

wolf, the phrase is now a clich6. 

lickerish; liquorish. Lickerish, a word now dropping 

out of general use, means eager for choice 

food, greedy, lustful (Green peas are ready to 

satisfy the longing appetite of the lickerish palate. 

Be not licker&h after fame). It is related 

to lecherous, not to lick. Liquorish, a false variant, 

narrows the sense to a greed for liquor, 

imposing in the spelling a limiting folk etymology. 

But it doesn’t matter much. One has to go 

out of his way to use either word and there are 

simpler, unambiguous words to convey their 

meanings. 

lie. The past tense is lay. The participle is lain. 

Traditionally, this verb can only have a subject 

and should not be used with an object. 

According to the strict rules of grammar, the 

forms lie, lying, and lain should never be used 

with an object, as they are in Z will lie it on the 

table and I have lain it on the table, and the 

form lay should not be used with an object when 

it is a simple past tense, as it is in I lay it on the 

table this morning. When lay is not a simple past 

tense but is used with an auxiliary, it belongs to 

another verb meaning cause to lie. It is therefore 

all right to say I did lay it on the table this morning. 

(See lay.) As a matter of fact, very few 

people misuse lie or lying. But a great many well 

educated people do use the simple past tense lay 

and the participle lain with an object. At present 

the verbs lie and lay are hopelessly confused in 

many people’s minds. The confusion is so great 

and these technically incorrect forms are heard 

so often, that some grammarians believe they 

should be recognized as standard English. 

An adjective that describes the subject of the 

verb may stand next to lie, as in he lies sick and 

uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. An 

adverb, qualifying the verb, may also stand in 

the same position, as in he lies quietly. The verb 

lie that means “say what is not true” is regular 

and has the past tense and participle lied. 

lie tow is accepted spoken English for not calling 

attention to one’s self, remaining hidden and 

inactive, especially in a time of danger. The 

correct past tense is lay low not laid low. Laid 

low is an archaic and slightly bookish phrase for 

felled or knocked down. 

lie; falsehood; fib; untruth; mendacity. Lie is the 

coarse, harsh, direct, everyday word for a statement 

which distorts or suppresses the truth in 

order to deceive and falsehood the more dignified 

and less offensive term (Lies come naturally 

to him; he has to stop and think when he wants 

to tell the truth. Such falsehoods are certain to 

be detected in time and will do much harm to his 

reputation). A fib-which sounds as though it 

were a slang word, though actually it is standard, 

probably a weakening of fable-describes a 

trivial falsehood, often one uttered with good 

intentions (He told a little fib about ulcers in 

order to decline the proffered highball without 

offending his hostess). An untruth is less reprehensible 

than a falsehood. It describes a statement 

either intentionally misleading or, more 

often, made from misunderstanding or ignorance 

(Moreover, they have spoken untruths . . . 

and, to conclude, they are lying knaves. He 

may not be aware of it, but, none the less, these 

assertions are untruths and have aroused a great 

deal of resentment). Mendacity, though not a 

common word, is still used for the quality of 

being mendacious, a disposition to lie, or habitual 

lying (The brazen mendacity of the assurance 

took our breath away. He’s addicted, as 

you will find, to a rather colorful mendacity). 

As a synonym for a lie, however (Such mendacities 

carry no conviction), it is archaic and its 

use in this way would seem forced, ostentatious, 

or pedantic. 

lief or lieve. This word, with its comparative and 

superlative forms liefer or liever and liefest or 

lievest, originally meant beloved or precious. It 

could be used like any other adjective, as in 

my liefest lord, and children mine, liefe and 

deare. It was also used with had, where the two 

words together meant “would hold dear” or

“would like,” as in I had as lieve Hellen’s golden 

tongue had commended Troylus. This construction 

can still be heard but it now has an archaic 

tone. In current English lief is more often used 

with would, where it means gladly or willingly, 

as in Z would us lieve stay here. The comparative 

form is heard less often but is also acceptable, 

as in she would liefer have died. (In Great Britain 

this would becomes should in certain constructions, 

as in lief should Z rouse at morning.) 

life. The plural is lives. The form life is used as 

the first element in a compound, as in a life-long 

friend. 

life and soul of the party. Even if applied ironically 

to an objectionable person, the life and 

soul of the party is a clichC that merely adds to 

the tedium which the irrepressible one has been 

engendering. 

lifeguard; lifesaver. In American usage a lifeguard 

is an expert swimmer employed on a bathing 

beach to aid in case of accidents to bathers 

(During the two summers he worked as a lifeguard 

he saved three children from drowning). 

In England a life-guard is one of a bodyguard of 

soldiers (the Life-Guards) or the entire bodyguard 

consisting (according to the Oxford English 

Dictionary) of two regiments of cavalry, 

forming, together with the Royal Horse Guards, 

the household cavalry. A lifeguard in America 

is also sometimes called a lifesaver, though a 

lifesaver need not be a lifeguard: he can be anyone 

who has saved someone from danger of 

death, especially from drowning. The word is 

not used much anymore in this sense, however, 

as it has become better known as the trade name 

of a candy mint made in the form of a lifebelt 

and in the slang sense as a term for something 

which opportunely saves one from trouble or 

embarrassment. 

lifelong; livelong. Lifelong means lasting or continuing 

through life (His lifelong concern about 

his health may well have made his life less long 

than it otherwise would have been. They were 

lifelong friends and endured each other with 

mild contempt). Livelong (originally lief long, 

dear long) is an intensive of long, meaning to 

the full extent in terms of time (I’ve been 

working on the railroad/ All the livelong day). 

It is now seldom used except in bad poetry and 

the stereotyped phrases livelong day and livelong 

night, both of which carry a connotation of 

tediousness. 

light. The past tense is lighted or lit. The participle 

is also lighted or lit. Light may mean kindle or 

put fire to. A grammar published in 1765 claims 

that lit used in this sense is “very familiar, or 

rather low.” This is no longer true. The forms, 

lighted and lit, are equally acceptable today. We 

may say she lighted the lamp or she lit the lamp, 

A participle litten is sometimes heard, as in she 

has litten the lamp, but this is not standard. 

Light may also mean descend or land. In this 

sense too, lighted and lit are equally acceptable. 

These words are used in speaking of things that 

come down not under their own control, such 

as stones, snow flakes, and curses. We may say 

275 like 

one lit on rhe roof. The similar verb alight is 

used in speaking of things that come down deliberately, 

as in our friends alighted at the door. 

Birds are sometimes said to light and sometimes 

to alight. The uncertainty is not in the words, but 

in what it is the bird is doing. 

light as a feather is a simile so worn that the 

careful writer and speaker will avoid it. 

light fantastic. Dr. Johnson once growled that 

Milton did not write in English but in a language 

of his own that he made up. And certainly his 

use of fantastic in the famous couplet Come, 

and trip it as ye go,/ On the light fantastic toe 

to mean “in a manner varied according to your 

imagination or fantasy” was arbitrary and idiosyncratic. 

Like many other of his neologisms, 

however, it was successful, startled the reader 

into delight and surprised him with a fine excess. 

But to use this flash of linguistic gaiety, with 

heavy facetiousness and stale archness, as a 

cliche for dancing, is lamentable. 

light on the subject, to shed. As a term for 

making something clear or bringing additional 

information to bear on an obscure or disputed 

matter, to shed light on the subject is weakened 

by overwork. 

lightening; lightning. Lightning is a noun meaning 

a flashing of light, or a sudden illumination 

of the heavens, caused by the discharge of atmospheric 

electricity (Any man with a proper 

respect for lightning will not touch a wire fence 

during a rainstorm). Lightening is the gerund or 

participle of the verb to lighten in all of its 

meanings-to make less heavy, to become less 

dark, to cheer or gladden, or to flash as or like 

lightning. 

lights. This word may mean the lungs of animals 

that are used for food. The word lung comes 

from the same source, which meant light in 

weight. At one time the two words were equivalent, 

as in as if his lungs and lites were nigh 

assunder brast. Today lung is the broader term 

and has both a singular and a plural form. 

Lights is now used only of animals and only in 

the plural. It takes a plural verb, but cannot be 

used with a word implying number. 

-like. See suffixes. 

like. This word is actually used as a noun, a verb, 

an adjective, an adverb, a preposition, and a 

conjunction. (For the use of like as a conjunction, 

see like; as.) 

NOUN 

There is one noun form of like that is used 

only in the plural, as in his likes and dislikes. 

There is another form that usually appears in 

the singular, as in Z never saw his like or the 

like of that. A plural is also heard here, as in 

the likes of you, but this is not literary English. 

VERB 

To like. which now means to enjoy or to be 

pleased with, originally meant to be like or to 

be suitable for. From this it came to mean to 

please. Milton says that the angels color, shape 

or size assume, as likes them best. And Rossetti 

says, I rode sullenly upon a certain path that 

liked me not. The joke often made about some

like 276 

food, that I like it, bzzt it doesn’t like me, unintentionally 

combines the present and the earliest 

meaning of the verb. See also love. 

Like may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

she likes to travel. It may also be followed by 

an -ing form, as in she likes traveling. Some people 

object to this but it is generally acceptable 

in the United States. Like cannot be followed by 

a clause. We cannot say I like that you are here. 

In order to say what amounts to the same thing 

we must insert it as the object of like, as in I like 

it that you are here. The clause then qualifies 

the word it instead of functioning as the object 

of like. 

In literary English for is not used after like to 

introduce the subject of an infinitive, as in he 

would like for you to come, and the simpler 

form, he would like you to come, is required. 

(See for.) But like for is generally acceptable 

in the United States. It is standard in the southern 

states and considered “southern” elsewhere. 

In Great Britain the auxiliary should (and 

not would) is used with like when the subject 

of the verb is I or we, as in I should like to go. 

To British ears I would like seems to say “I am 

determined to enjoy.” When the subject of the 

verb is anything except I, we, or you, the auxiliary 

would (and not should) is used, as in they 

would like to go. When the subject of the verb 

is you, the rules are more complicated. See 

shall; will. 

In the United States the British should like is 

sometimes heard but would is generally preferred, 

regardless of the subject of the verb. TO 

most Americans, I shozdd like seems to say “I 

know I ought to enjoy.” 

ADJECTIVE, ADVERB, AND PREPOSITION 

When like is used as an adjective or an adverb 

it is followed by an object and this makes it 

indistinguishable from a preposition. The object 

may be any noun equivalent, including the -ing 

form of a verb, as in Z felt like laughing. If the 

obiect is a personal pronoun it must have the 

objective form, as in like me. A subjective pronoun 

following like, as in a girl like I, is not 

standard. In current English like always means 

similar to or resembling. It could once be used, 

as likely is, to mean probable, as in he is like to 

die and there were more like eight of us. This 

use is heard today but is old fashioned or questionable. 

In older literary English like is sometimes 

used in the comparative or superlative form, as 

in liker to a madman and likest to a hogshead. 

These forms are now archaic and today like is 

always compared by using the words more or 

most. 

Like is also used as a suffix, as in owl-like. 

(For the use of the hyphen, see suffixes.) It 

should not be used to modify or tone down a 

full statement, as in she was out of her mind 

like and he didn’t pass his examinationr like. 

like; as. When like is followed by a full clause 

instead of a simple noun or noun equivalent 

object, it is being used as a conjunction, as in 

you don’t know Nellie like Z do and wood does 

not contract like steel does. This is an estab- 

lished function of the word as. (See as.) Some 

people believe that it is a grammatical mistake 

to use like in this way. But they are a minority. 

The second example quoted above is taken from 

the eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. 

Keats wrote, it is astonishing how they 

raven down scenery like children do sweet meats. 

The construction is also found in the writings 

of Shakespeare, More, Sidney, Dryden, Smollett, 

Burns, Southey, Coleridge, Shelley, Darwin, 

Newman. BrontE. Thackerav, Morris, Kipling, 

Shaw, Wells, Ma&field, and Maugham. - - 

During the nineteenth century literary gentlemen 

felt strongly about this question. Those 

whose education had been chiefly Greek and 

Latin said that the use of like as a conjunction 

was a vulgarism. But Furnivall, the foremost 

English language scholar of the period, defended 

it. He tells how on one occasion, “having to 

answer some ignorant in a weekly about the use 

of like, I said to Morris: ‘Have you ever used 

like as a conjunction?’ ‘Certainly I have,’ answered 

Morris, ‘constantly.’ ‘But you know 

there’s a set of prigs who declare it’s vulgar and 

unhistorical.’ ‘Yes I know. They’re a lot of 

damned fools.’ ” But Tennyson belonged to the 

other camn. He told Furnivall: “It’s a modern 

vulgarismthat I have seen grow up within the 

last thirty years; and when Prince Albert used 

it in my drawing room, I pulled him up for it, 

in the presence of the Queen, and told him he 

never ought to use it again.” Actually, the Prince 

was speaking a more classical English than 

Tennyson realized. 

Around 1600 like was used with a preposition, 

usually to, whenever a person or thing was being 

compared, that is, when it qualified a noun 

or pronoun, as in like to one more rich in hope 

and like unto whited sepulchres. It was used with 

as when the comparison involved an action, 

that is, involved a clause containing a verb, expressed 

or implied, as in like as a father pitieth 

his children, and the description of the ghost in 

Hamlet which moved like as it would speak. 

But about that time the to began to be 

dropped out and its meaning was carried by like, 

which in this way took on the functions of a 

preposition. This can be seen happening in Hamlet’s 

words: no more like my father than Z to 

Hercules. By now this has become standard English 

and we would normally say like whitened 

sepzzlchres. But as was dropping out of these 

constructions too, at about the same time. Shakespeare 

felt that like could carry the meaning of 

as, and so function as a conjunction, just as it 

carried the meaning of to. Juliet says, no man 

like he doth grieve my heart-that is, no one 

grieves her as he does. 

The modern purist claims that like is correctly 

used when it functions as a preposition and carries 

the meaning of like to, and incorrectly used 

when it functions as a conjunction and carries 

the meaning like as. There is no doubt but that 

like is accepted as a conjunction in the United 

States today and that there is excellent literary 

tradition for this. There is no reason why anyone 

should take the trouble to learn when like is a

conjunction and when it is a preposition, unless 

he wants to. But if anyone wants to be a purist, 

he should be a thorough one. He should not 

himself use like as a conjunction in some constructions 

and condemn other people for using it 

in this way in other constructions. Like is not 

being used as a preposition unless the single 

word to can be inserted between it and the word 

immediately following. It is a conjunction in he 

takes to it like a duck to water. 

At one time like could be used to mean as if 

(just as as means as if in the statement about the 

ghost that moved like as it would speak). This is 

acceptable today when the if clause is shortened 

to a few words that do not include a verb, as in 

he ran like mad and the dress looks like new. Like 

is sometimes used in this way before a complete 

clause, as in he acts like I was a worm. Many 

people who accept like in place of as do not accept 

it in place of as if. The construction is generally 

frowned upon, but it is more acceptable in 

the southern states than it is in other parts of this 

country. 

likely. Today likely is used freely to qualify a 

noun or pronoun, as in a likely story and he is 

likely to come. Until recently it could also be 

used as an adverb, as in he would likely refuse. 

Today this has an old fashioned tone and likely is 

not used as an adverb except when it is qualified 

by very or most, as in he would very likely refuse. 

See also apt. 

limit and limitation are synonymous in the senses 

of a boundary or terminal point, fixed points between 

which something is confined, or the point 

at which something is no longer possible or allowed 

(This is the limit of my estate. Within these 

limitations you are free to do as you choose). 

Limitation has the special meaning of a limiting 

condition or circumstance, a restricting handicap 

or misfortune (In view of his limitations, his accomplishment 

was admirable. Deafness is a serious 

limitation in this job). In law limitation has 

the special meaning of an assignment, as by statute, 

of a period of time within which an action 

may be brought, or the period of time so assigned 

(a statute of limitations). 

limit; delimit. To limit is to restrict by or as by 

fixing limits. In this sense it is followed by to 

(The first four volumes of the study wi21 be limited 

to Fitz-Greene Halleck’s early poems). It 

also means to keep within assigned limits (We 

must limit expenditures if we expect to show a 

profit). In both of these senses the word has been 

in use for centuries. 

To delimit is a fairly recent coinage, coming 

into use after the middle of the last century and 

being still fairly uncommon. It means to mark or 

determine the limits of (The present system of 

delimiting the towns and preserving the memory 

of their bounds is archaic), to demarcate. A delimiting 

curve is one which separates two regions 

of the surface upon which it is drawn. To delimit 

does not mean to remove established limits. 

limited; small. The use of limited should be limited 

to that which is restricted within limits. It 

should not, for example, be used as a synonym 

for small (as in Hurry, I’ve only a limited amount 

277 linking verbs 

of time or I have limited resources; these prices 

are too high for me), because something may be 

limited and still be very large. 

In England Limited designates a company in 

which the liability of the partners or shareholders 

is limited to a certain amount (Hall Brothers, 

Limited-abbreviated Ltd.). This sense is irrelevant 

in America where the closest equivalent is 

Incorporated. A special application of Limited 

in the United States is to trains, buses, etc., restricted 

as to the number or class of passengers, 

stops, or time occupied in transit (If you want to 

save time, take the Twentieth Century Limited). 

Unless used as a part of the full name of a special 

train or bus, the word is not capitalized (The limited 

ought to be along any minute now). 

linage; lineage. Linage is a two-syllable noun 

that designates alignment or the number of lines 

of written or printed matter covered (They paid 

the printer on the basis of linage). 

Lineage is a three-syllable word meaning lineal 

descent from an ancestor, ancestry or extraction, 

the line of descendants of a particular ancestor 

(His pride in his noble lineage was often ludicrous) 

. 

Confusion between the words grows out of the 

fact that each is a variant spelling of the other, 

though each retains its own pronunciation in 

either spelling. To avoid confusion it is best to 

use (as usage increasingly dictates) linage when 

referring to printing and lineage when referring 

to ancestry or descent. 

line. One meaning of line is business, profession, 

trade, sphere of economic activity. It probably 

developed from the line of goods that a salesman 

carried or sold (Hardware, that’s a good line. 

He’s been in that line of work for thirty years). 

The television show What’s My Line has probably 

given it the shove, if one were needed, to 

move it over from slang to standard usage. It is 

a short and unpretentious word but the slight 

slanginess that makes it so popular unfits it for 

more serious uses and occupation (q.v.) fits into 

some contexts better. 

liniment; lineament. The familiar word in this 

pair is liniment, a liquid preparation for rubbing 

on or applying to the skin as for sprains and 

bruises (Between the halves the coach rubbed 

liniment on his bud shoulder). Sometimes liniment 

is mistakenly used for lineament, a word 

which properly means a feature or detail of a 

face, body, or figure, considered with respect to 

its outline or contour (He recognized the bold 

lineaments of his face). 

linking verbs. Most verbs assert something about 

their subject, as he swum, he built a house. The 

verb to be usually does not do this. It merely connects 

the subject with some other words, as in he 

is honest, he is an honorable man. This is also 

true of seem and become, and about sixty other 

verbs when they are used to mean be, seem, or 

become, as in he remained calm, he appeared 

anxious. he grew fat. These are called linking 

verbs. Their most valuable contribution is in 

showing time differences, as in he seems honest 

and he seemed honest, which cannot be shown in 

the pidgin English him honest. In addition, each

linking verbs 278 

verb has its unique meaning and this colors to 

some extent the relation expressed between the 

subject and the following words. 

ADJECTIVE OR ADVERB 

Often, as we see above, a linking verb connects 

a descriptive word with the subject. This 

word is an adjective and not an adverb, because 

it describes the subject and not the verb. For 

example, keep and stand are followed by adjectives 

because they are both being used to mean 

“be” in keep cool and stand firm. Many verbs 

are followed by adjectives because they are being 

used to mean “become,” as in fall sick, turn sour, 

wear thin. A still greater number of verbs are 

followed by adjectives because they are being 

used to mean “seem,” as gleamed in the steersman’s 

face by his lamp gleamed white; and 

looms in a period that looms heroic through the 

distorting mist of history. All verbs that refer 

to some particular sense may be used as substitutes 

for seem, as in smell sweet, taste good, 

feel soft, look nice. 

The truly empty verbs, be, seem, become, may 

be qualified by an adverb without changing their 

meaning. In Dick is certain, the adjective certain 

annlies to the noun Dick. In Dick is certainly my 

b%her, the adverb certainly applies to the verb 

is. Is does not have a different meaning in the two 

sentences, nor would seem or become. But any 

of the other verbs, which are sometimes linking 

and sometimes not, cease to be linking verbs and 

take on their full meaning as soon as they are 

qualified by an adverb. For example, felt is a 

linking verb in he felt strong (seemed to himself) 

but not, in he felt strongly: and worked is a linking 

verb in the hinge worked loose (became) but 

not, in the hinge worked loosely. 

Because the adjective following a linking verb 

is in a position that ordinarily belongs to an 

adverb, many people are inclined to use an adverb 

form, especially after the verbs that mean 

“seem,” as in it smelled sweetly, it tasted well, it 

looked nicely. The same construction in I feel 

badly is now thoroughly established, and other 

examples are heard too often to be called unacceptable. 

But t.hey are based on a misunderstanding 

of grammar. Anyone who would rather 

use an adverb form after these verbs may do SO 

without being classed as illiterate. But he should 

not think that he is speaking a superior form of 

English. 

SUBJECTIVE OR OBJECTIVE PRONOUNS 

The true linking verbs, be, seem, become, and 

the verb remain, sometimes join a noun or pronoun 

to the subject, as in he seemed a perfect 

gentleman and he became a colonel. These 

nouns and pronouns are called “predicate nominatives” 

or “subjective complements” because 

in Latin a word functioning in this way would 

be in the nominative (or subjective) case. Since 

English nouns do not have distinctive nominative 

and accusative cases, it makes no difference 

what one calls them. But there are six pronouns 

in English which are nominative (the subjective 

pronouns, I, we, and so on) and six which are 

accusative (the objective pronouns, me, us, and 

so on), and these create a problem. 

The most conspicuous difference between 

standard English practice and the rules of Latin 

grammar is in the choice of a pronoun following 

a linking verb. According to the rules, an objective 

pronoun cannot be used here because it is 

not actually the object of a verb. But the tendency 

in standard English since the sixteenth century 

has been to disregard the question of what is an 

object and what is not, and to use the objective 

form of the pronoun after all verbs. In each of 

the following sentences the objective pronoun is 

contrary to the rules, but some of these were 

written by masters of English and all of them 

represent standard usage today. 

In God’s name, Janet, is it me thy ghost has 

come to seek! (Rossetti) 

Be thou me, impetuous one! (Shelley) 

Zf it was me, I did it in a dream. (Keats) 

It is us, we simple men and women, who must 

decide. (Faulkner) 

It is you who will be blamed for it, not them. 

If it had been him, he would have admitted it. 

That’s her at the door now. 

In natural English a subjective pronoun is used 

after a linking verb only in the following situations. 

It is required in a simple identity, such as 

I am I and he is he, and before the -self words, as 

in it was she herself I saw. A subjective form is 

frequently used when it is felt as the subject of a 

following verb that actually has the subject who, 

as in it was Z who said that. In any other type of 

sentence, a subjective pronoun after a linking 

verb sounds like a classroom. A good many 

Americans use a subjective pronoun in any extremely 

simple sentence such as it is Z and that 

is he, but it is never heard in more complicated 

constructions. Surely, even the most determined 

purist would refuse to follow the rules and say 

in a sense, the books we read become we. 

In writing formal English, “correct” forms 

that are too much at variance with the spoken 

language should be avoided. But within therange 

of forms that are correct and also tolerable, there 

are three kinds of constructions that are likely to 

give trouble. 

1. When a relative pronoun is the object of 8 

verb it is frequently, and quite properly, omitted. 

For example, in the sentence it was this 

man I saw, there is an omitted that between man 

and 1. This pronoun is the object of the verb saw. 

When it is omitted, it is very easy to feel that the 

preceding word is the object of the verb and, if 

it is a pronoun, to use the objective case, as in it 

was him Z saw. This is not bad English, because 

it is in keeping with good practice. But it is contrary 

to the rules, which require he here, as in 

it was he (that) Z saw. 

2. The form to be creates more serious problems. 

If to be is directly attached to the subject 

of a verb, the formal rules require a following 

pronoun to be subjective, as in the man seemed 

to them to be 1. But to be may be attached to the 

object of the verb, and in that case a following 

pronoun must be objective, as in they supposed 

the man to be me. To use a subjective form here 

and say they supposed the man to be I is both

‘incorrect” and contrary to good usage, and 

therefore indefensible. 

3. The word being may also give trouble. If a 

possessive pronoun or a noun in the genitive case 

stands before being, the rules require a following 

pronoun to be subjective, as he in think of its 

being he! But if the preceding word is not a possessive 

or a genitive, both the rules and good 

practice require a following pronoun to be objective, 

as him in think of it being him! (For the 

kinds of pronouns that may be used before an 

-ing verb form, see ing.) 

When in doubt whether to use a subjective or 

an objective pronoun, choose the objective form. 

A wrong subjective pronoun suggests that the 

writer is straining himself to appear superior to 

other men, and proves that he does not understand 

the rules of grammar. A wrong objective 

pronoun proves nothing more than that he is 

willing to use the language most of his countrymen 

use. 

links. See golf links. 

Lion’s share. As a term for the largest or most 

important share, usually of the rewards or profits 

of some undertaking, the lion’s share is hackneyed. 

The phrase derives from either of two versions 

of a fable by Aesop. In one version a lion, an 

ass, and a fox hunt together, agreeing to share 

the spoils. A stag is killed and the ass does the 

best he can to divide the carcass into three equal 

portions. Whereupon the lion kills the ass and 

asks the fox to apportion the proper shares. The 

crafty, and enlightened fox takes a few bites for 

his share and leaves the rest to the lion. In the 

other version three other weaker animals join 

with the lion. When the kill is made the lion divides 

it into four fairly equal portions, takes the 

first as his share by virtue of the agreement, the 

second as his share by virtue of his courage, and 

the third as his share by virtue of his strength. 

The fourth share he assigns to his fellow hunters 

but warns them that they touch it at their 

peril. 

liqueh liquidate. The sense of liquefy is clear 

enough. It means to make or become liquid (In 

great heat the metal will liquefy). It is liquidate 

that makes trouble. In its primary sense it means 

to settle or pay a debt or an account (No ejfort 

should be suared to liquidate the National 

Debt). It can mean to convert into cash (He 

liquidated his assets) or it can mean to break up, 

abolish, or do away with. And it is in this last 

sense, now very much in vogue, that it must be 

used judiciously because it covers too many 

meanings. The liquidation of a company and the 

liquidation of political opponents are actions so 

diverse that it is putting any word, and especially 

a word basically metaphorical and hence restricted 

by the connotations of its literal meaning, 

to an improper strain to make it describe 

both. Our language is rich in words expressing 

various ways of abolishing or doing away with 

things and it is better to employ whichever of 

them is closest to your meaning than, for the 

mere sake of using a word in the vogue, using a 

word so vague as liquidate. 

279 literally 

liquid refreshment. Even as a jocularity, making 

fun presumably of a former elegancy and pretentiousness, 

liquid refreshment is dreary and 

affected. 

liquorish. See lickerish. 

list. To list is to set down together into a list, to 

make a list of (The names are to be listed in 

alphabetical order). By an understandable extension 

it is often used to mean to add to a list 

(Three new courses are listed in the catalogue), 

but mention, include, or add would usually be 

better. And surely the word has been carried 

beyond its province when it is used to mean 

merely to state or to say or to set down (in 

such a sentence as She listed her occupation as 

“Housewife”). 

listen; hear. To listen is to pay attention in order 

to understand the meaning of a sound or sounds 

(Listen, my children, and you shall hear/ Of the 

midnight ride of Paul Revere). To hear is to 

have a perception of sound by means of the 

auditory sense (One could heor the bell buoy out 

in the harbor). One can liiten without hearing 

(I listened carefully but couldn’t hear what they 

were saying) and hear without listening (I 

wasn’t li.rtcTning to lvhat they were saying but I 

could hear them quarreling). 

Incidentally, one listens at something only 

when one applies his ear to or near the thing in 

order to hear (Nel/y had lixtened at many a keyhole). 

When one pays attention in order to understand 

a sound. he listens to it (Listen to the 

story of a woeful man). 

listen to. These two words may be followed by 

an object and the -ing form of a verb, as in 

listen to it singing. In the United States they 

may also be followed by an object and the simple 

form of the verb, as in listen to it sing. In 

Great Britain this is considered an American 

barbarism, but it is standard usage in this 

country. 

lit. See light. 

litany; liturgy. A litany is a ceremonial form of 

prayer consisting of a series of invocations or 

supplications with responses which are the same 

for a number in succession. The Litany is the 

general supplication of this form in the Anglican 

Book of Common Prayer. A liturgy is more 

extensive than a litany, for it is a form of public 

worship, a ritual, a particular arrangement of 

services. It includes prayer and, conceivably, a 

litany or The Litany. The Liturgy is the name 

for the service of the Eucharist, especially in the 

Eastern Church, equivalent to the Mass in the 

Western Church. 

literally means in a manner which follows the letter 

or the exact words (A figurative phrase if 

translated literally is almost certain to be ludicrous), 

or in a literal or strict matter-of-fact, 

prosaic sense (He took the injunction literally 

and renounced his mother and his brothers). It 

has also come to mean actually, in strict accuracy, 

without exaggeration (The effect of the 

bombing was literally devastating. The attack 

literally decimated the company; one-tenth of 

the men lay dead). 

Unfortunately this last meaning has led to the

literate 280 

word’s being used simply as an intensive, with 

no regard whatever to any meaning of literally, 

as in such a sentence as He was literally dumbfounded 

by the report where no literal meaning 

can be attached to dumbfounded. The word has 

become a particular favorite of those who seek 

to express intense feelings in metaphor, with the 

paradoxical result that in a great deal of loose, 

hyperbolic talk literally is used to mean the exact 

opposite of what it properly means. When, 

for example, on a hot day someone says I’m literally 

melting, he means I am figuratively 

melting and the meaning of figuratively here is 

“not literally.” A fish, partly submerged in a 

chowder, might be said to be literally stewed to 

the gills, but an inebriated man is at best (or 

worst) only metaphorically stewed to the gills. 

When we say that we are literally fed up with 

someone, we are either making a confession of 

cannibalism and gluttony or using literally to 

mean not literally. The word should be avoided 

except in its stricter meanings. 

literate; literal. Literate means able to read and 

write, hence educated (Only through free general 

education can a literate population be created). 

By extension, it has come to suggest 

literary (T. S. Eliot is a highly literate man). 

Literal, as applied to persons, means tending to 

construe words in their strict sense, unimaginative, 

matter-of-fact (He’s very literal; if you tell 

him you are dying with the heat, he’ll call an 

undertaker). In its general sense, literal means 

following the letter, or exact words, of the original 

(Bold as Fitzgerald was, he feared to offend 

his contemporaries by a literal translation of the 

entire poem). 

literature. For centuries literature has meant writings 

in which expression and form, in connection 

with ideas of permanent and universal 

interest, are characteristic or essential features 

(The reading of literature still remains the best 

form of education). Literatztre can also mean 

the entire body of literary writings of a specific 

language, period, people, or subject (the literature 

of England, the literature of the Renaissance, 

American literature). In the sciences, 

where expression and form are not regarded as 

supremely important, literature is often used to 

mean the entire body of writing relevant to any 

given subject (Have you made a thorough search 

of the literature? I am sure there is an article 

on that very subject somewhere) and although 

this usage is annoying to professors of belles 

lettres it is probably here to stay. 

The use of literature to describe any printed 

matter on any subject (Please send me descriptive 

literature concerning your garbage disposal 

unit. He spent more on campaign literature 

than his opponent did on the whole campaign) 

is usually classed as a misuse. But who is to de- 

cide? _.--. The authors of advertising folders and 

campaign biographies may feel that their works 

have expression and form and are concerned 

with matters of universal and permanent interest 

and hence, under the dictionary, entitled to be 

called literature. If enough of them think so and 

can persuade enough other people to say so, this 

meaning may become standard. At the moment 

it is not. 

literatus. The plural is Ziterati. 

litotes is a figure in rhetoric in which an affirmative 

is expressed in the negative of its contrary. 

When St. Paul said that he was a citizen of no 

mean city he meant that he was “a citizen of a 

great city” and when he said to the Corinthians 

Z praise you not, he meant “I blame you.” Similarly 

not a few means “many” and not bad means 

“good.” Litotes is a form of meiosis or understatement. 

little. The comparative forms are less, lesser, littler. 

The superlative forms are least, littlest. 

When little means small in size it is always an 

adjective and may be used with a singular or a 

plural noun, as in a little child and little children. 

The forms iess, lesser, and least cannot be used 

with this meaning of little. We cannot say the 

least child. It is claimed that in this sense little 

is itself a comparative, as in the Little Dipper, 

and a superlative, as in the little toe. But this is 

very unsatisfactory. During the last century a 

number of writers have used the forms littler 

and littlest. Littlest, as in the littlest child, the 

littlest fish, is better established than littler, but 

both can be used when they are needed. And 

they are sometimes needed. Small is a thin, intellectual 

word and means only what it says. 

Little carries an emotional tone and means that 

the small size is attractive. 

Little may mean small in importance, as in 

little people, a little fault. In this sense too it is 

always an adjective and may qualify either a 

singular or a plural noun. 

When little means small in amount, it may be 

an adjective, an adverb, or a noun. The adjective 

is essentially negative and means not large in 

amount or not much, as in they gave us little 

trouble. 

The noun little has the same negative meaning 

when used without a qualifier, as in little we 

see in Nature that is ours. But when it is qualified 

by a definitive adjective, such as a, the, my, 

the noun is affirmative and means a small amount 

or some, as in a little goes a long way. The form 

a little can be used to mean a little of and so 

function as if it were an adjective with the affirmative 

meaning, as in they gave us a little 

trouble. When a little is made negative, as in not 

a little, it means a good deal, as in they gave 

ZIS not a little trouble. In general, of is not used 

after little except when it precedes a definitive 

adjective, as in little of the work had been done. 

Formerly, little was used with of in other constructions, 

as in little of work had been done, 

but this is now considered affected. 

The adverb Little also has the negative sense 

of not much, as in the world will little note. Like 

never and other negative adverbs, its proper position 

is before the principal verb form. The 

noun forms, a little and not a little, may also 

be used as adverbs and keep their affirmative 

meanings, as in comrades, leave me here a little 

and we have been worried not a little.

When little means a small amount or not 

much, it is always singular. It is used with a 

singular verb and cannot qualify a plural noun. 

If we say they gave us little troubles, the word 

little inevitably takes on the meaning of small 

in size or small in importance. To express the 

idea of small in amount with a plural noun, we 

must use the word few. 

Lesser is the comparative form of little in the 

sense of small in value or importance. Less is 

the comparative form in the sense of small in 

amount. (For the difference in the uses of these 

two words, see less; lesser.) 

Least is the superlative form for both less and 

lesser. At one time it could also be used in the 

sense of smallest in size, but this is now extremely 

rare. It may be used as an adjective, as 

in her least whim, or as an adverb, as in I am 

least happy now and with what I most enjoy, 

contented least. When the least qualifies a verb, 

it means in the least degree. Like the prepositional 

phrase, it can be used in a conditional 

clause, a question, or a negative statement, but 

not in an affirmative statement. We may say if 

you are the least worried or I am not the least 

worried, but we cannot say I am the least worried. 

We may, however, say I am the least bit 

worried, because here the least is not an adverb 

qualifying the verb but an adjective qualifying 

the noun bit, which in turn is functioning as an 

adverb. 

Lesser is a comparative form made from the 

comparative form less and is equivalent to more 

smaller. This does not prevent it from being 

standard English. On the other hand, the double 

superlative the leastest is not standard. But we 

may say the least little if we like. 

little bird told me. As a way of saying I have 

heard something but will not name my informant, 

a little bird told me is infantile, a sad attempt 

to appear cute. 

liturgy. See litany. 

live. This verb may be followed by an adjective 

describing the subject, as in they lived happy or 

they lived poor. It may also be followed by an 

adverb describing the verb, as in they lived happily 

or they lived poorly. Sometimes there is no 

real difference in meaning between the two 

forms. See also reside. 

live (adjective). In the meanings of alert and of 

present interest (He’s a live fellow, that man! 

It’s still a live issue in these parts), live is slang, 

not standard. The trouble with such uses is that 

they are too general. Obviously, an alert man 

must be live, but a live man need not be alert, 

for alert suggests being live in a certain wayhaving 

a ready and prompt attentiveness together 

with a quick intelligence. 

live audience. Since an audience is an assembly 

of hearers or spectators, live audience should 

logically be a redundancy. And such it certainly 

would have been up until this generation. But it 

is an illustration of the strange and rapid ways 

that words can change their meanings and, at 

the same time, of the irrelevancy of applying 

logic to language, that this phrase has a clear 

locality 

and definite meaning to millions of people today 

and fills a need in their speech. In many radio 

shows that are heard and even some television 

shows that are being seen, the audience, whose 

ecstatic delight with the performance is intended 

to move the viewers either to join in thoughtlessly 

or at least to feel that if they don’t laugh 

the fault is theirs, is not there at all. The sounds 

are dubbed in from recordings made of genuine 

laughter at more amusing shows. 

livelong. See lifelong. 

lively. See breezy. 

lives. This is the plural of life. 

living from hand to mouth. As a term for improvidence 

or for a complete lack of any store 

of necessities, living from hand to mouth is worn 

threadbare. 

living in clover. As a term for luxurious living 

or simply good fortune living in clover or often, 

now, merely in clover (both shortenings of living 

like pigs in clover, clover being very rich 

fodder) is a cliche. 

Lloyd’s is a London insurance underwriting corporation, 

composed of some three hundred syndicates. 

It is so called because it was founded in 

the late seventeenth century at Edward Lloyd’s 

coffeehouse. It is spelled Lloyd’s, not Lloyds or 

Lloyds’. 

load. See jag. 

load down; load up. In the passive, American 

load down equals English load up (He returned 

from the New York Public Librarv loaded down 

with books. The lorries pulled out of Tilbury 

loaded up with ammunition). In the active, 

however, an American uses load up (Load up on 

that stuff you can grab and let’s get out of here). 

Ioadstone; lodestone. Though either form is correct, 

loadstone is preferred to lodestone. Lodestar, 

however, is preferred to loadstar. 

loaf. The plural is loaves. 

loan. The use of loan as a verb, as in he loaned 

me five dollars, is condemned in Great Britain 

as an Americanism. Actually, it is a very respectable 

verb. It has been in existence for almost 

eight hundred years and was used in an act 

of Parliament in 1542. It is thoroughly acceptable 

in the United States, especially when used 

by bankers or in speaking about money. 

loathe. This word may be followed by the -ing 

form of a verb, as in 2 loathe washing dishes, or 

by an infinitive, as in I loathe to wash dishes. 

Both forms are acceptable in the United States. 

See also hate. 

loaves. This is the plural of loaf. 

local habitation and a name. Shakespeare, in a 

glorious passage in A Midsummer Night’s 

Dream, says that the poet’s imagination bodies 

forth the forms of things rdnknown and his pen 

Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing/ 

A local habitation and a name. As a term for 

anything fixed and definite, the concluding 

phrase has been reduced to dreary meaninglessness 

by tedious repetition. 

locality; location. A locality is a place, spot, or 

district, with or without reference to things or 

persons in it, viewed in reference to its geo-

locate 282 

graphical situation or its surroundings (It was u 

pleasant locality in which to live). A location is 

a place of settlement or residence (The doctor’s 

house was in a desirable location, near the center 

of the town), or a tract of land of designated 

situation or limits selected or suitable for a certain 

purpose (Myrtle Point is an excellent location 

for lookozzt stations). In the terminology 

of the motion picture industry a locution is a 

place outside the studio, usually out of doors, 

affording suitable environment for photographing 

particular scenes or incidents. It is rarely 

spoken of as a location but the actors, camera 

crews, and so on, are said to be on location when 

shooting scenes in such a spot. 

locate. Though decried by English grammarians, 

to locate, in the sense of setting up one’s residence, 

establishing one’s place of business 

(Where are you folks located now?), is standard 

American usage. 

locate and find are not synonymous. To locate 

something is to discover its place of location by 

hunting for it (The mechanic soon located the 

leak in the gas line. They finally located him in 

a West Madison Street pophouse). To find 

something is to meet with it, whether by intention 

or chance, but without reference to a particular 

setting (If 1 don’t locate the book on the 

fourth poor, 1’11 assume Z can’t find it). 

lot. cit. This is an abbreviation of the Latin 

words loco citato and means in the place cited. 

lock, stock, and barrel. As a term for the entirety 

of something, lock, stock, and barrel, the 

component parts of an old-fashioned gun, is 

worn out. 

lock the stable door after the horse is stolen. 

To speak of a precaution taken too late as locking 

the stable door after the horse has been 

stolen is to employ a clichC. It is further objectionable 

in that it has now a false earthiness 

about it, an assumption of rusticity that carries 

no conviction. 

locus. The plural is lotuses or loci. 

locution; circumlocution. A locution is a particular 

form of expression (The locutions of the 

mountain folk, such phrases as defining a certain 

distance as “a whoop and a holler,” were strange 

but ztsually vigorous and imaginative). A circumlocution 

is a roundabout way of speaking, 

the use of too many words. During the time that, 

for instance, is a circumlocution for while; in 

this day and age a circumlocution for today. A 

locution suggests an idiomatic expression and, 

carefully chosen, locutions may enliven a style. 

Circumlocutions, on the other hand, are tedious 

and almost always to be avoided. 

lodging; lodgings. Both forms may be used to 

mean living quarters. There is no difference in 

meaning. The plural is generally preferred, but 

the singular is required in the phrase board and 

lodging and may also be used in other contexts, 

as in a lodging for the night. 

loft. See garret. 

lofty. See tall. 

logic and grammar. Maurice Barr& once said 

that the only difference between a logical argu- 

ment and a play on words is that the play on 

words cannot be translated. This is a fair enough 

description of what often passes for reasoning. 

But anyone who insists that grammar and logic 

are essentially the same ought to accept this gibe 

as solemn truth. 

Logic deals with the rules of valid inference. 

Grammar deals with the ways in which a given 

group of people habitually express themselves. 

There is no reason to think that these would be 

identical. In the eighteenth century, learned gentlemen 

talked a great deal about the language 

spoken in the Garden of Eden, which they called 

Lingua Adamica, and which, they said, “did not 

consist merely of conventional signs but expressed 

rather the very nature and essence of 

things.” If they were right, logic and grammar 

may have been somewhat similar at that time. 

But even the eighteenth century grammarians 

realized that this happy state of affairs had 

ended with the Tower of Babel. 

Any language must be capable of showing 

logical relationships. But it does not necessarily 

do so in the most efficient manner. The idea that 

a grammatical distinction must necessarily reflect 

a logical one is responsible for much of the 

bad thinking that has plagued mankind. It is not 

only the uneducated who fall into this pit. The 

fact that, in Latin, an adjective is obviously different 

from a noun, the fact that, grammatically, 

nothing is in a class with something, the fact 

that the copula is also means exist, confused the 

best minds of Europe for centuries. On the other 

hand, the idea that whatever is logical must also 

be grammatical is responsible for a great deal of 

bad writing. At its best, it produces an unnatural, 

and therefore ineffective, prose. This is especially 

true when the writer is not a logician 

and feels obliged to change a straightforward 

statement, such as everyone does not read the 

same paper, into its logically identical but much 

more obscure form, not everyone reads the 

same paper. At its worst, this theory leads to 

such grammatical monstrosities as Z won’2 stay 

longer than Z can’t help. 

lone wolf. As a term for one who is highly independent, 

one who accomplishes his purposes 

alone, a lone wolf is a hackneyed metaphor. It 

is preeminently an American phrase and is usually 

restricted to someone whose activities are 

slightly shady or at least wholly selfish. It seems 

to be based on the erroneous assumption that 

wolves normally hunt in packs. 

lonely; alone; lonesome. Lonely and alone both 

mean a state of solitariness, being without companionship. 

Alone describes the physical fact of 

isolation. Since most human beings do not like 

to be alone, it usually carries in its context a 

suggestion of desolation or dejection (A 11 alone 

by the telephone/ All alone, feeling blue), but 

it need not; some people like to be alone (The 

joy of closing the door behind the last departing 

guest and knowing that at lust one was blessedly 

alone). Lonely almost always has a suggestion 

of a dejection of spirits at the thought of aloneness. 

Even when it is applied to non-human

things, there is a projection of the human feeling 

into the situation (So lonely ‘fwas, that God 

himself/ Scarce see&d to be there). 

Lonesome and lonely are synonyms, but 

lonesome is the more sentimental word of the 

two (Lonesome and blue, in spite of all I can 

do. Look down, look down, that lonesome 

road/ Before you travel on). It expresses a 

slightly greater degree of loneliness (Like one 

that on a lonesome road/ Doth walk in fear and 

dread) and desolation (In November days/ 

When vapors rolling down the valleys made/ A 

lonely scene more lonesome). 

long. This word is as truly an adverb as it is an 

adjective. In current English the adverb long 

always refers to time, as in the world will long 

remember. When used as a verb meaning yearn, 

long may be followed by an infinitive, as in Z 

long to see him; in any other construction we 

must use the compound long for. See lengthy. 

long and the short of it. As a term for the essence 

of some proposition, the long and the short 

of it is a clichC. As a humorous description of a 

tall person and a short person walking together, 

it is even more tedious. 

long distance is the American term to designate 

telephone service between distant points (Spirits 

of the Greek dead spoke to the living as if over 

a bad long distance telephone connection). The 

equivalent British term is trunk. 

long-felt want. To say of something needed that 

there had been a long-felt want for it or of something 

that has been provided that it fills a longfelt 

want is to employ an overworked phrase. 

longshoreman; docker. The term to describe a 

man employed on the wharves of a port, as in 

loading and unloading vessels, is longshoreman 

in America and docker in England. 

long shot, not by a. The English version of the 

American not by a long shot is noi by a long 

chalk, so that it is evident that shot and chalk 

are being used in the one sense in which they are 

synonymous: a tavern reckoning or score. 

The phrase is a clich6, its meaning unknown 

to most who use it, and should be used only with 

care. 

look. When this word means expect it may be 

followed by an infinitive, as in Z look to hear 

from you, but the -ing form of a verb with the 

compound forward to. as in Z look forward to 

hearing from you, is preferred today. 

In the United States look at may be followed 

by an object and the simple form of a verb, as in 

look at her strut. In Great Britain this is considered 

an American barbarism and the -ing form 

of the verb is required, as in look at her strutting. 

Both forms are acceptable in this country. 

When look means appear it may be followed 

by an adjective describing the subject of the 

verb, as in it looks good on you, it looks nice on 

you, he looks angry. Formerly, an adverb could 

be used in just this way, as in how cheerfully 

my mother looks. This is no longer standard 

English. Today, look in this sense may be followed 

by well, as in it looks well on you, but not 

by other adverbs, such as nicely. (When look is 

283 lot 

used in the sense of glance it is, of course, followed 

by an adverb and not an adjective, as in 

she looked angrily at him.) 

look daggers. As a term for glaring resentment 

or resentful glaring or any open expression of 

hatred in the countenance, to look daggers is a 

clich6. 

look; see. Look bears to see the same relation 

that listen bears to hear; in each case the first 

term suggests preparation for the second. To 

look is to fix the eyes upon something or in some 

direction in order to see (Look for the silver 

lining). It implies a desire to see but not necessarily 

the fulfillment of that desire (I am looking, 

Mother, but Z can’t see it anywhere). To see is 

to perceive with the eyes, to view, whether by 

intention or not (Once over the pass you will see 

the town below you). 

lookout; outlook. In the senses of a looking out 

or a watch kept, lookout and outlook are interchangeable. 

Lookout is the preferred term, however, 

to designate the place from which a watch 

is kept (A lookout had been erected on top of 

Bear Mountain). It is also the term for the 

observer himself (The thieves had their lookout 

at the corner. He spent a year as lookout for 

the National Park Service). In slang lookout 

has the sense of the proper object of one’s 

concern (It’s no concern of mine, son; that’s 

your lookout). 

Outlook is the preferred term for the view or 

prospect seen from a lookout (The outlook from 

the ranger’s tower consisted of range after range 

of mist-shrouded mountains). It is also the 

proper term for a mental view or attitude (This 

warped outlook was certain in time to cause 

trouble) or for a prospect of the future (The 

financial outlook for the college was not good). 

Lord Bacon. See Bacon. 

lose. The past tense is lost. The participle is also 

lost. See miss. 

lose the thread of one’s discourse is a hackneyed 

expression. The original suggestion of a clew 

guiding one out of a labyrinth, with echoes of 

Ariadne and the dreadful Bull, was good, but 

all such meaning is now lost and the phrase is 

empty and tiresome. 

lost. See lose. 

lot; lots. When used to mean merely an indefinitely 

large amount, these words are both treated 

as singulars when standing alone, as in there is 

a lot here and there is lots here. Both forms are 

treated as plural when followed by of and a 

plural noun, as in there are a lot of men and 

there are lots of men, and as siugular when followed 

by of and a word that is singular in 

meaning, as in there is a lot of butter and there 

is lots of news.) 

Some people feel that a lot of used with a 

plural verb is questionable, but this has been 

standard English for 250 years. Others, who 

would accept this use of a lot of, object to lots 

with a singular verb. This has been standard 

English for about 150 years. Both forms are 

acceptable in the United States today. 

A lot and lots may both be used as adverbs,

especially to qualify an adjective or adverb in 

the comparative, as in he is working a lot harder, 

he is working lots harder. 

In all constructions, lots is the more emphatic 

of the two terms, but a lot is generally preferred, 

perhaps for that reason. 

loud. This word is as truly an adverb as it is an 

adjective. Spenser wrote, a lyonesse that roaring 

all with rage did lowd requere her children 

deare. 

loud; showy. Although loud properly means striking 

strongly upon the organs of hearing, as sound 

or noise, it has assumed, by analogy, the sense 

of excessively striking to the eye, or offensively 

showy, making an imposing display, usually in 

bad taste (He turned up at the funeral in a loud 

green pinstripe). This use is commonly labeled 

“colloquial” in the dictionaries, meaning that it 

is used in cultivated speech but not in formal 

writing. But since there has been a marked tendency 

for almost two generations now to approximate 

in writing the easy familiarity of 

speech the distinction between colloquial and 

standard has tended to disappear. Loud in this 

sense conveys a striking impression. It is generally 

accepted and widely used. Its appearance 

in any piece of writing except, perhaps, a sermon, 

a legal document, or an epitaph would be accepted 

today. 

loud speaker; loudspeaker. A loud speaker is a 

speaker who speaks loudly. A loudspeaker is 

any one of various amplifying devices by which 

speech, music, or other sounds can be made 

audible through a room, hall, or the like (He is 

such a loud speaker that even in the municipal 

auditorium he doesn’t need a loudspeaker). 

low. See lower. 

louse. The mural is lice. The sineular louse is ureferred 

asthe first element in a-compound, as in 

louse nits and lousewort, but the plural is also 

heard, and is acceptable, as in lice nits and licebane. 

lovable. See amatory. 

love. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in I love to tell this story. It may also be followed 

by the -ing form of a verb, as in I love 

telling this story. This latter construction is relatively 

new but it is thoroughly established in the 


love; like. Love has been used so much to mean 

to have a strong liking for, to take pleasure 

in (She loves to travel-anywhere, it doesn’t 

matter so long as she’s moving), that this sense 

is accepted as standard. But it is used on such 

trivial occasions (as in I’d love to join you for 

a cup of coffee but I’ve got to get these reports 

finished) that it is often nothing more than an 

expression of mild inclination. Whether one uses 

love or like depends upon the intensity of the 

emotion one intends to suggest (an adult might 

say I like to ride in front; there’s more leg room. 

Of children, however, whose delight is more intense 

and not a mere rational preference, it 

might properly be said The kids love to ride in 

front and pretend they’re driving). In general, 

it is well to avoid using love unless the emotion 

is strong. 

love or money. To say that one cannot get something 

or get something done for love or money 

is to employ one of those phrases that once had 

vigor but have been worn out by overuse. 

loving. See amatory. 

low. This word has two superlative forms, lowest 

and lowermost. The two forms low and lowly 

are both adjectives and both adverbs. We may 

say the low lands, a lowly captain’s daughter, 

and swing low sweet chariot, bow lowly. 

lower; lour. The verb lower means to let down 

from a higher position, to reduce in amount, 

decrease, diminish. The verb lower also means 

to be dark or threatening, as the sky or the 

weather, to frown, scowl, or look sullen, and 

sometimes, though not often now in America, it 

is spelled lour. 

The two verbs are wholly different words 

springing from wholly different roots, but in 

their meanings there are an astonishing number 

of opportunities for ambiguity. When the clouds 

lower, in the sense of threatening rain, they usually 

lower in the sense of coming down nearer 

to the earth. When a countenance lowers, in the 

sense of becoming sullen and threatening, the 

brows are lowered or drawn down nearer the 

eyes. Fowler felt that the distinction should be 

preserved in the spellings, lower for letting down 

and lour for being sullen, but this does not hold 

in standard American usage where lower is used 

for both meanings, though with a different 

pronunciation, and lour is recognized only as 

a permissible variant spelling for the second 

meaning. 

ludicrous. See funny. 

luggage. See baggage. 

lumber. The word lumber derives from the Lombards 

(which, in turn, derives from Langobardi, 

long beards) who, as money lenders and 

pawnbrokers, accumulated stores of cumbrous 

and discarded household articles. This is still the 

primary meaning of lumber in England, where a 

lumber room is a place where such things are 

stored. In America this meaning is recognized 

(We’ve got to clear all that lumber out of the 

attic; there just isn’t room for anything to be put 

up there) but the primary meaning of the word 

in the United States and Canada is timber sawed 

or split into planks, beams, joists, boards and 

the like (See if you can get me some two-byfours 

at the lumber yard, Jim). 

The origin of the American meaning is not 

absolutely certain. One would assume that in a 

rapidly expanding country where so much building 

was of wood it was because sawed timbers 

were stored in the lumber room, but A Dictionary 

of American English says that the specific 

American meaning “undoubtedly arose from the 

fact that ship masts, sawed timber, barrel staves, 

etc., as important but bulky commodities, once 

blocked or lumbered up roads, streets, and harbors 

of various towns.” The assertion is supported 

by a number of convincing quotations. 

lunch and luncheon both mean a light meal between 

breakfast and dinner or, more loosely, 

any light meal. Of the two lunch is the more 

casual, luncheon more formal (They dropped in

for lunch one day. The annual luncheon was 

held at the Brown Hotel. The restaurant offered 

a very good three-course luncheon for a dollar). 

Brunch, a portmanteau combination of breakfast 

and lunch, is now accepted as standard for 

a mid-morning meal that serves both as breakfast 

and lunch but, whether the artificiality of 

the coinage is too obvious, whether it is used too 

exclusively by ladies’ clubs, or whether the meal 

it describes is too uncommon, the word, somehow, 

seems slightly affected. The common man 

would be appalled to hear it used seriously in 

his company. 

lure. See allure. 

lustful and lusty both convey a sense of vitality, 

but lustful is restricted to a vitality of sexual 

desire. It means full of or imbued with lust and 

is not in most polite circles regarded as a complimentary 

term (Lustful Tarquin was the ignoblest 

Roman of them all). Lusty, however, 

suggests vitality of physical condition. One who 

is lusty is full of or characterized by healthy 

vigor and a delight in his own being. The term 

has favorable connotations for most people, 

especially pediatricians, poets like Browning and 

Whitman, and physical education instructors 

(Those lusty lads who work all day/ And dance 

all through the night). The adverb of lustful is 

lustfully, of lusty is lustily. 

luxuriant and h~xurlous both derive from luxury, 

but after a long history in which they have fre- 

mackerel. The plural is mackerel or mackerels. 

mad; angry. Though mad in its basic sense means 

disordered in intellect, insane, or, in special reference 

to dogs, afflicted with rabies (Mad as a 

March hare. The dog, to gain some private 

ends,/ Went mad, and bit the man), its familiar 

sense, “moved by anger,” has been in use so 

long and so universally that it would unquestionably 

be accepted as standard had not purist 

teachers made it the special target of their disapprobation. 

They have done their job so well, 

however, that although it is used a million times 

every day in our speech (I’m so mad I could 

spit) and is lodged in a score of phrases (mad as 

a wet hen), it is not often encountered in formal 

writing. Angry is the formal word. And since the 

stigma has been put on mad, one uses it in writing 

at his peril. 

mad as a March hare, mad as a hatter. The wild 

frolicking of the buck hare in March, its breeding 

season, has made the creature a trope of 

giddy recklessness and lunacy for centuries. The 

hatter is a more recent comparison, though the 

phrase as mad as a hatter antedates Alice in 

Wonderland by almost thirty years. Some say 

the phrase is a corruption of as mad as an adder. 

285 madam 

M 

quently mingled they have achieved separate 

meanings. Luxuriant now means abundant or 

exuberant in growth (He parted the luxuriant 

jungle foliage for a glimpse of the sea. Leonardo’s 

luxuriant genius, efflorescing in painting, 

sculpture, mechanics, and the arts of war). Luxurious 

means characterized by luxury, ministering 

to or conducing to luxury (After a month in 

the trenches the simple life of the village seemed 

luxurious). The words are most commonly 

confused in their adverbs luxuriantly and luxuriously. 

lyceum. The plural is lyceums or lycea. 

lyric and lyrical are both adiectives that can be 

used of -poetry having the* form and musical 

quality of a song, or of one who writes such 

poetry, or of something sung to the lyre. This 

last was the original sense. However, lyric is 

now the established form for most uses (lyric 

poetry, lyric poets, the lyric muse). It classifies 

definitely while lyrical describes vaguely (He 

was positively lyrical in your praises) or survives 

only in certain titles (The Lyrical Ballads). 

The use of the noun lyric for the words of a 

song (It’s got a swell tune but the lyric’s no 

good) is slang. 

lyricist; lyrist. A lyrist is one who plays on the 

lyre or a lyric poet. In England lyricist is sometimes 

used to refer to the poet; in the United 

States it is mainly used to refer to the author of 

the lyrics for a musical comedy. 

Others believe that it grew out of an occupational 

disease of hatters, characterized by jerky, 

involuntary movements, brought on by their 

handling of mercurial compounds. 

Both phrases are more used in England than 

in America. Both are hackneyed. 

Madagascan; Malagasy. Madagascar, the French 

colonial island in the Indian Ocean off the southeast 

coast of Africa, has the noun and adjective 

Maduguscan; but the more specific term Malagasy 

is also used as a noun and adjective to 

describe a native of Madagascar or the Austronesian 

language of Madagascar. 

madam; madame; ma’am. Madam, as a polite 

form of address, was used originally to a woman 

of rank or authority. It is a fine thing, Chaucer 

says, speaking of an alderman’s wife, “to be 

called ma dame” and to take precedence of 

others in church. Today it is addressed to any 

woman and is to be preferred to lady as a form 

of address (see woman). A madam or the 

madam, and sometimes just madam if the context 

makes the meaning plain, is the woman in 

charge of a brothel (Sal, of “My Gal, Sal” was 

the madam of a sporting house in Evansville, 

Indiana).

madding 

Madame, the conventional French title of respect, 

originally addressed to a woman of rank, 

is used distinctively to or of a married woman, 

either separately or prefixed to her name. The 

plural is mesdames. The abbreviation of the singular 

is Mme., of the plural, Mmes. 

Ma’am, as a pronunciation of madam, has 

been relegated in England as a form of address 

“to the speech of servants or other persons of 

markedly inferior position” (Oxford English 

Dictionary). In America, outside of the large 

cities, it is still in use, especially in the South, 

though it is beginning to sound a little rustic or 

quaint. In English usage, paradoxically, by the 

way, it is still the correct, formal term to use in 

addressing the Queen or a royal princess-perhaps 

to show that all are but as “servants or 

other persons of markedly inferior position” in 

comparison, but more likely out of the conservatism 

of extreme formality. See also Mrs. and 

woman. 

madding; maddening. Madding, going mad, acting 

as if mad, frenzied, is known today only in 

Gray’s Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble 

strife, and even that, nine times out of ten, is 

misquoted as Far from the maddening crowd. 

This makes sense to the common man and affords 

the uncommon man an opportunity to 

show his superior knowledge. Some who are 

ostentatious of fine distinctions insist that mad is 

to go mad and madden is to drive mad, but the 

distinction cannot be preserved, for both forms 

have been used with both meanings (The devil 

has madded their minds. Fire in each eye, and 

papers in each hand,/ They rave, recite, and 

madden round the land). 

made. See make. 

mademoiselle. The plural is mesdemoiselles. 

mad man; madman. A mad man may be an 

angry man or an insane man. A madman is invariably 

an insane man. 

maestro. The plural is maestros or maestri. 

magic; magical. Of the two adjectives, magical is 

the more versatile, since it can be used to describe 

attributes or characteristics (a magical 

transformation) and to stand predicatively (The 

reaction was magical). Magic, on the other 

hand, is now used chiefly to identify (magic 

lantern, Magic Flute). 

Magna Charta is, strictly speaking, the “great 

charter” of English liberties forced from King 

John by the English barons at Runnymede on 

June 15, 12 15. It has come to mean, in addition, 

any fundamental constitution or law guaranteeing 

rights. Partridge declares to British users that 

for Magna Charta should be substituted either 

the Latin Magna Carta or the English The Great 

Charter, since “Charta is neither Latin nor 

English.” And indeed it is not, but it has become 

good standard American and, outside of classrooms, 

standard English usage too. Magna Carta 

is an acceptable variant spelling. 

magniloquent. See grandiloquent. 

magnitude, of the first. The brightness of the 

stars is expressed by astronomers according to 

an arbitrary numerical system, stars of the first 

five magnitudes being visible to the unaided eye. 

The use of the word star to designate a prominent 

actor or singer led to the adoption of the 

astronomical term to distinguish the highest 

degree of presminence, but it is now worn out. 

magnum opus for one’s great work, especially a 

literary or artistic work (One man’s magnum 

opus is often another man’s magnum opium), 

is forced and affected. If a man hasn’t the courage 

to call it his grent work, let him not try to 

get the advantages of both vanity and modesty 

by hiding in Latin. 

Mahomet will go to the mountain. In the Middle 

Ages, when the Mohammedans constituted 

a very real threat to Europe, Mahomet, under 

the name of Mahound, was thought to be a 

demon, worshipped as a god by his misguided 

followers. In later centuries, when the threat had 

abated, he was regarded as an impostor and the 

success of his teachings (which it would have 

been the grossest impiety to have even thought 

of investigating) attributed to his boldness and 

impudence. This last quality was exemplified in 

the apocryphal story of his summoning the hill 

and, when it ignored the summons, saying If the 

hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go 

to the hill, a story, by the way, which cannot be 

traced in English beyond the 1612 edition of 

Bacon’s essays. In the passage of time mountain 

has been substituted for hill, probably for the 

sake of alliteration, and the saying and its various 

parts have been repeated so often that any 

reference to it is not a mark of wit but of dullness. 

maid of honor; maid of honour. Maid of honor 

is a term used in the United States to describe 

the chief unmarried attendant of a bride. It is 

also used to denote an attendant, usually unmarried, 

of the various beauty queens, regional 

queens who preside at various festivals, and so 

on. Maid of honour is the British spelling and it 

is used exclusively of a lady in attendance upon 

the Queen when she appears in public. 

mail or post may be used as a noun to describe 

the system of transmission of letters and packages 

which is a department of the federal 

government, the delivery of such letters and 

packages, and the letters and packages delivered. 

Either word may be used as an adjective to 

designate the box in which the letters and packages 

are placed and the man and the vehicle 

which delivers them. In America the noun mail 

is preferred in nearly all instances except parcel 

post. The plural is sometimes used to designate 

the entire matter in transit (The mnil must go 

through. The protection of the mails was assigned 

to the United States Army). In America 

the adjective mail is preferred in almost all instances 

except Post Ofice. Postman would be 

understood (The postman always rings twice. 

Postman’s knock) and is used to designate the 

man who delivers the mail by some people in 

eastern cities, but mailman is almost universal. 

The verb mail is far more common in the United 

States than post, though post a letter is by no 

means rare.

The British prefer post as a noun and a verb, 

though they use the adjective mail in certain set 

expressions such as mail-trains, mail-bags, mailvans. 

mailed fist. As a term for military force, especially 

its display with intent to intimidate, the 

mailed fist is a journalistic clich6. 

maintain. See assert, claim. 

major, as an adjective, is, strictly speaking, the 

comparative of Latin magnus, great. It means 

greater, as in size, amount, extent, importance, 

rank (The major empha.ris in the new cars seems 

to be on speed rather than on safety). The word 

is used a great deal and often indiscriminately. 

The major difficulty may prove to be the main 

or principal difficulty. A major campaign speech 

may be more precisely an important campaign 

speech, though, of course, it may be major in 

the sense of being more important than other 

speeches. 

major general; the Major General. The form 

chosen depends on the purpose the words serve. 

Major general is the military term for an officer 

ranking next below a lieutenant general and 

the next above a brigadier general. If a particular 

major general is being referred to, the correct 

form is the Major General. If the term is used 

as an adjective to characterize an officer by 

rank, it is capitalized (Major General Thomas 

Fairfax). In England whenever a military officer 

has a title, the military title precedes the 

social title (Major General Sir Reginald Pinw). 

major portion is a vague and pretentious term 

for greater part. 

majority can only properly mean the greater part 

when it is applied to the greater part of a number 

of things. One may refer to the majority of 

mankind or the majority of the members of a 

club or the majority of those who prefer cigarets 

to cigars, and so on, but to say that the majority 

of the valley was flooded is not the best usage. 

It would be better to say The greater part of the 

valley was flooded. Strictly speaking, majority 

ought not to be used when most serves a.s well. 

Majority is better reserved for the occasion 

when a majority and a minority are in mind. 

majority; plurality. In relation to an election or 

to jury returns, a majority is a number of voters 

or votes in agreement constituting more than 

half the total number (He barely got a majority: 

the vote was seven to five) or the excess whereby 

the greater number, as of votes, surpasses the 

remainder (He won by a majority of two: the 

vote was seven to five). A plurality may, but 

does not necessarily, mean a number constituting 

more than half the total. The usual sense of 

the term is to describe the excess of votes, when 

there are three or more candidates, received by 

the leading candidate over the next candidate 

(Since Smith got eight votes, Jones six, and 

Brown four, Smith had a plurality of two but 

fell short by three of having a majority). 

make. The past tense is made. The participle is 

also made. 

Make may be followed by an object and the 

287 make 

simple form of a verb, as in what makes the 

wind blow? It could once be followed by an 

object and a to-infinitive, as in I had killed the 

bird that made the wind to blow. This construction 

is now obsolete when make has an active 

form. When make has a passive form the toinfinitive 

is required, as in the wind was made to 

blow. Make may also be followed by an object 

and a past participle with passive meaning (that 

is, the be of a passive infinitive is usually suppressed), 

as in I made it known. 

Make could once be followed by an adjective, 

but this construction is now obsolete except for 

a few set phrases, such as make bold, make 

merry, make free. 

make; earn. Earn means to gain by labor or service 

(He earns more delivering milk than he ever 

did teaching school) or to merit compensation 

(They paid me more than I really earned). Make 

as a synonym for earn (Even after ten years 

they are only making forty dollars a week) has 

been stoutly opposed by the purists but it is now 

so common that it must be accepted as standard. 

make a clean breast of it. As a term for making 

a confession, especially one that relieves anxiety 

and pent-up feelings of guilt, to make a clean 

breast of it is overworked. 

make a virtue of necessity. It was St. Jerome who 

put the idea of gaining merit by accepting gracefully 

that which one is compelled to do anyway 

into its present proverbial form of making a virtue 

of necessity. It was definitely a saying and 

close to a clichC when Chaucer used it eleven 

hundred years later. By now it is hackneyed and 

needs a rest. 

make bricks without straw. When Moses asked 

Pharaoh to let the Children of Israel go three 

days’ journey into the desert to sacrifice unto the 

Lord, the wicked king not only refused but said 

if the Hebrews had that much time on their 

hands he would see if he couldn’t find more 

work for them, just to keep them busy, and ordered 

his taskmasters to give them no more 

straw with which to make their daily tale of 

bricks but to compel them to go and gather the 

necessary straw for themselves. Thus the bricks 

were not made without straw but the gathering 

of the straw from the stubble fields was laid on 

the people as an added burden, the same number 

of bricks was demanded from them, and they 

were beaten for failing to meet the demand. 

Thus the modern use of the phrase to be compelled 

to make bricks without straw as an image 

meaning to be required to execute some task 

without being given the necessary tools or materials 

distorts the actual situation described in 

the fifth chapter of Exodus. Far worse, it is worn 

out with overuse. 

make hay while the sun shines. As a metaphor 

for acting while circumstances are favorable, 

seizing the propitious moment, making the most 

of opportunities, make hay while the sun shines 

is a faded one. 

make no bones about. As a term for not raising 

objections or not making a fuss or not being 

very scrupulous, to make no bones about is one

of those phrases that after four or five hundred 

years of constant use has lost all sense of its 

original meaning. It is not known for sure just 

what it did mean (it sometimes appears as make 

no bones of and sometimes make no bones in), 

but it seems to refer to someone who was too 

eager to swallow his soup to make any objection 

to whatever bones might be in it or to permit 

them to be an obstacle to the swallowing of it. 

make one’s blood boil. As a term for indicating 

great indignation, to say of something that it 

makes one’s blood boil is to employ a clich& 

Whatever force the exaggeration may once have 

had, it has long ago weakened to meaninglessness 

through repetition. 

make the best of a bad bargain. As a term for 

accepting a misfortune resignedly or exploiting 

an unfavorable situation resourcefully, making 

the best of a bad bargain is hackneyed. Boswell 

spoke the expression with disdain a hundred and 

sixty years ago. 

malady. See sickness. 

malapropism is the misapplication of a word, 

such as surface for service or contagious for contiguous. 

It is worse than a mispronunciation because 

a mispronunciation, unless the result of 

affectation, is simply honest ignorance; whereas 

malapropisms are likely to occur in the speech of 

those who, ambitious to use fine language but 

not industrious enough to consult a dictionary, 

soar above their abilities and display, in the malapropism, 

not only their ignorance but their 

vanity as well. 

Malapropism (from French ma1 ci propos, inappropriate) 

derives from Mrs. Malaprop, an 

affected, talkative woman in Sheridan’s The Rivals 

( 1775). Of her many misapplications of 

words the most famous is her reference to “an 

allegory on the banks of the Nile.” It is an instance 

of the capriciousness of fame that the 

word should be malapropism instead of quicklyism, 

for Shakespeare’s Mistress Quickly (Henry 

IV, Parts 1 and 2) does the same thing, often 

more amusingly. Her assurance (in Henry V) 

that the dead Falstaff is “in Arthur’s Bosom” is 

finer than anything Mrs. Malaprop ever blundered 

into. 

male; masculine; manly; virile; mannish. Male 

always refers to sex, whether of human beings, 

animals, or plants (There is no more mercy in 

him than there is milk in a male tiger). There 

are a few extensions of the word as special applications 

in machinery, gems, and so on, but they 

are not common and belong in specialized vocabularies. 

Masculine applies to qualities that properly 

characterize men as contrasted to women 

(He had a masculine love of horseplay). If 

applied to a woman, it suggests something incongruous 

with her femininity (Large shoulders 

gave her a masculine appearance) or conveys a 

compliment (She had a logical, masculine mind). 

Manly and virile refer to typical qualities in a 

man that are to be admired. Manly implies possession 

of the noblest and most worthy qualities 

a man can have, as opposed to servility, insincerity, 

underhandedness, and the like (He answered 

his inquisitors in a manly fashion. He bade me 

act a manly part, though I had ne’er a farthing 

O/For witho!lt an honest manly heart, no man 

was worth regarding 0). Virile is an even stronger 

word than manly. It formerly emphasized the 

obvious maleness of one able to procreate but it 

now implies the vigor, health, and force of mature 

manhood (Charlemagne Ivas a virile monarch). 

Mannish though its central meaning is 

“characteristic of or natural to a man,” is more 

often used in the senses of “resembling a man” 

or “imitating a man.” It is a term of contempt 

for affectedly masculine qualities (Her mannish 

clothes and hair style hid her natural feminine 

grace). 

malice; malignity; malevolence; rancor. Malice is 

that ill will or spite which arouses the desire to 

inflict injury or suRering on another (And malice 

in all critics reigns so high,/ That for small errors 

they whole plays decry). Malignity is intense 

malice, hatred and the desire to injure so fierce 

as to dominate the whole mind and bring it to the 

borders of sanity (The political reigns of terror 

have been reigns of madness and malignity,-a 

total perversion of opinion). Malevolence means 

literally a wish of evil towards someone and it 

still has something in it more of the wish than 

of the act which the wish may instigate. It is a 

smoldering ill will (The magic power of the 

witch lay in the force of her malevolence; her 

wishing ill could project harm upon the victim, 

make him liable to natural accidents and the 

prey of casual misfortunes). 

Rancor is bitter, rankling resentment, inveterate 

spitefulness and ill will. The word is akin to 

rancid: it is hatred so prolonged and intense that 

it has, as it were, turned the possessor’s nature 

rancid (Such rancor is not to be placated; it will 

find justification for its resentment). 

malignant fate, especially when it pursues someone 

or “dogs his steps” or “relentlessly dogs his 

steps,” is a clicht. 

mall; the Mall; pall-mall; Pall Mall. Though 

mall in its original sense is now obsolete, we 

know its diminutive mallet and its cognate maul. 

Pall-mall was a game, something between croquet 

and golf, played in England up until the 

eighteenth century. Its “fairways” consisted of 

long avenues and the word mall came to mean a 

shaded walk, usually public. The Mull is a fashionable 

promenade in St. James’s Park, London. 

It is so called because it was originally a pallmall 

alley. Pall Mull, the former site of another 

of these alleys, is now a street in London famous 

for its clubs. 

mamma, a word used by children to signify 

mother, is the result of reduplication of ma, a 

syllable common in natural infantile utterance. 

In French the word is maman, in Latin mamma, 

in Greek m&me’, in Russian and Lithuanian 

mama. In English, mama is a variant spelling of 

the word in this sense. Americans tend to accent 

the first syllable, the English the second syllable. 

In comparative anatomy mamma has the specialized 

meaning of the organ, characteristic of 

mammals, which in the female secretes milk.

The plural of the word for mother is mammal 

(The children with their mammas in the park). 

The plural of the anatomical word is mammae. 

mammoth, strictly speaking, designates a large, 

extinct species of elephant, the northern woolly 

mammoth, which resembled the present Indian 

elephant but had a hairy coat and long, curved 

tusks. More broadly, it designates any of various 

related extinct species of elephant. 

By extension mammoth has come to be used 

as an adjective for anything huge or gigantic 

(Plans for the production of a mammoth amusement 

park, dwarfing all others, etc.). Some grammarians, 

especially English authors, have objected 

strenuously to the use of mammoth as 

an adjective, but Americans, whose way of life 

makes much greater demands for superlatives, 

have accepted it as standard (Mammoth sale 

opens this morning, The mammoth parade began 

at Third and Main and extended beyond 

Twelfth Street). This adjectival use of mammoth 

has been taken up even by the august National 

Geographic Magazine which (in July, 1947) 

turned it back into a noun (Electric-drive mammoths 

are now being turned out by assemblyline 

methods). 

man. The plural is men. Nouns ending in -man 

have plurals ending in -men whenever the first 

part of the noun is itself a meaningful English 

word, as in Englishman, juryman, chessman. 

When the first part of a noun ending in -man is 

not a true English word, the whole has a regular 

plural in s, as in Germans, Romans, Ottomans: 

the only exception is women. 

Compounds that have man as a qualifying element, 

and that actually refer to certain classes of 

men, have the form men in the plural, as in menservants, 

men friends, men dancers. This is contrary 

to the usual practice in English, according 

to which the first element in a compound is singular 

even when the whole is plural, as in maidservants, 

boy friend.s, girl dancers. When a compound 

that has man as a qualifying element 

means something other than a class of men, it 

follows the general rule and keeps the singular 

man in the plural, as in man-hours and manholes. 

When the first element of a compound is not 

a qualifier but the object of the second element, 

only the singular form man may be used, as in 

man-eaters and man haters. 

When man is the second element in a compound 

meaning a certain kind of man, a preceding 

noun usually has a final s, as in sportsman, 

statesman, craftsman. 

The words man and men, when used generically, 

may be ambiguous. Either word may be 

used to mean the human race, as in man is born 

unto trouble as the sparks fly upward and the 

best laid schemes of mice and men. But they may 

also be used to mean the males only, as in man 

is destined to be a prey to woman and men were 

deceivers ever. The singular man is used more 

often to mean the race, and the plural men, to 

mean the males. But this rule is not followed 

consistently. When the context does not show 

that only the male is meant, it will generally be 

assumed that men includes women, regardless of 

what the author may have had in mind, as when 

Milton undertook to justify the ways of God to 

men. See gentleman. 

man after my own heart. It was David whom 

God chose when He sought him a man after his 

own heart to replace the errant Saul. But all remembrance 

of this, with its sadness and solemnity, 

has faded from the phrase which is now 

merely a cliche for anyone who happens to agree 

with us. 

man in the street. Whether one describes the ordinary 

man as the man in the street or the extraordinary 

man as a man of parts or an imaginary 

adversary, wholly unreal, as a man of straw or a 

wealthy man as a man of substance or a military 

leader who acquires such influence over the 

people as to threaten the existence of the government 

as a man on horseback, one is employing a 

clicht. They are all hackneyed phrases, faded 

and worn, devoid of any clear and vigorous 

meaning. 

man of letters; author; writer. Partridge says that 

in England an author is a writer of fiction, a 

writer is a writer of fiction, history, biography 

and belles lettres, a man of letters is a writer of 

any or all of these or of poetry or works of 

scholarship. He feels that man of letters should 

be avoided as pretentious. Author, he thinks, has 

a dusty connotation, turning up chiefly in legal 

and official and semi-official documents, club 

titles, income-tax forms, and the like. Of the 

three terms, he feels writer to be the least invidious 

and hence the most generally useful. 

In America man of letters is seldom used. It 

would be understood but would seem stiff and 

pompous. Author designates one who writes a 

novel, poem, or essay (a more inclusive term 

than in Britain), the composer of a literary work 

as distinguished from a compiler, translator, editor, 

or copyist. Writer has a more general meaning 

and, as in England, is the most used of the 

terms. It describes one who expresses ideas in 

writing, one engaged in literary work, one who 

writes, one whose occupation is writing. In the 

movies, radio, and television, writer means one 

who prepares the script. It is a regular title and 

one, by the way, which is not very high in the 

vast hierarchy of production. An author would 

be thought of as the man who wrote the story 

upon which the movie or script is based, a writer 

the man who adapted it for movie or television 

use. Distinguished authors have often worked as 

writers in Hollywood. 

manage. See handle. 

mandatary; mandatory. Mandatary is a noun. It 

describes a person or nation holding a mandate 

(The congressman regards himself as mandatary 

of his constituents. On the award of the League 

of Nations, the Union of South Africa became 

mandatary over the former German colony). 

Mandatory may be used as an adjective or as 

a noun. It means pertaining to, of the nature of, 

or containing a mandate. In America it is often 

used to mean obligatory or compulsory (The invitation 

was actually mandatory; the cadet was

maneuver 290 

not permitted to decline it). This use would be 

understood in England but is rarely employed 

there. Mandatory has a legal meaning of permitting 

no option (There was a mandatory 

clurtse in fhe contract). And it may mean having 

received a mandate (The Union of South 

Africa became a mandatory power after World 

War I). 

As a noun mandatory is an acceptable variant 

of mandatary, though it is convenient to retain 

the distinction between the two words and to use 

mandatory as an adjective only. 

maneuver. See trick. 

manifest. See evince. 

manifesto. The plural is manifestoes. 

manifold; multifarious; multiform; multiple. Manifold 

means of many kinds, numerous and varied 

(His manifold duties included coaching tennis, 

leading the choir, teaching Latin and English, 

and supervising the study hull). Multifarious 

means having many different parts, elements, 

forms; and whereas manifold stresses the combination 

of diverse elements, multifarious stresses 

their diversity (that multifarious thing called a 

state). Multiform means having many forms, 

of many different forms or kinds (The danger, 

though multiform, is not critical). Multiple 

means consisting of or involving many individuals, 

parts, elements, relations (The problem has 

multiple solutions. The multiple images of a 

series of mirrors). 

manly; mannish. See male. 

manner; manners. When mnnner means a way 

of doing something, it is a singular noun and has 

a regular plural manners, as in he paints in many 

different manners. But when the word means 

politeness, only the plural form can be used. The 

word in this sense is treated as a plural, as in 

your manners are improving, but it is felt as a 

singular and cannot be used with a word implying 

number. See also fashion. 

manner born, to the. Horatio, a visitor to Elsinore, 

walking with his old college friend, Prince Hamlet, 

on the platform before the castle at midnight, 

hears a flourish of trumpets, a roll of 

drums, and a discharge of ordnance. He asks 

what this means. Hamlet says that the king is 

having a drinking party and that each time his 

majesty drains a flagon of wine the feat is hailed 

with this uproar. Horatio asks if this is an old 

Danish custom. Hamlet says, Ay, marq, it is;/ 

But to my mind, though I am native here/ And 

to the manner born, it is a custom/ More honored 

in the breach than the observance. 

It would seem redundant to stress the fact 

that he is referring to a habit, practice, custom, 

were it not that wiseacres insist that the phrase 

is to the manor born, that is, to high estate, to 

the aristocracy. This is absurd for several reasons. 

One is that the original context of the 

phrase, given above, doesn’t support it. Another 

is that while a seeming pauper who had come 

down in the world might boast that he had been 

born to the manor (though it would be an 

awkward way of putting it, and except for the 

corruption of this passage appears nowhere in 

English), it would be a ridiculous thing for 

Hamlet to say; for though no doubt he had 

been born to many manors he had been born to 

the crown, to the kingdom. 

manner of. This expression is somewhat bookish 

today and is not often used in natural speech. 

When used, it follows the pattern of kind of and 

not kinds of. If it is followed bv a singular noun 

the whole cbnstruction is treateh as a singular, as 

in what manner of man is this? If it is followed 

by a plural noun it takes a plural verb and a 

plural pronoun, as in what manner of men are 

these? Since manner, as used in this expression, 

is historically both a singular and a plural, it is 

technically correct in either construction and so 

not open to the attacks sometimes made against 

kind of. 

manner of means. By no manner of means is an 

elaboration of by no means which is an elaboration 

of not. Each elaboration intends to be more 

emphatic and intense than the phrase or word it 

seeks to improve on and once they become, as 

they have, clichts, they are less emphatic and 

less intense. No and not remain effective negatives. 

manslaughter. See homicide. 

mantis. The plural is mantises or mantes. 

mantle and mantel were originally simply variant 

spellings but they have become fixed in different 

meanings. A manile is a sleeveless cloak and by 

extension a number of things that cover, envelop, 

or conceal like a cloak. The verb mantle means 

to cover with or as with a mantle (The mourningstole 

no longer / Mantled her form). The word 

used to apply to garments worn by men and by 

women but for several generations now it has 

been largely restricted to women’s garments. 

Mantel is a noun, meaning the more or less 

ornamental structure above and about a fireplace, 

usually having a shelf or projecting ledge. 

It is also used as short for mantelpiece, the shelf 

itself. 

manuscript; typescript. In the strict sense a manuscript 

is something written by hand (His manuscript 

consisted of ten neatly penned pages). The 

word is used loosely, however, to designate an 

author’s copy of his work, whether written by 

hand or typewritten, which is used as the basis 

for typesetting (The manuscript was so full of 

stenographic errors that the publisher had to 

send it back to the author). Some authorities 

have objected to this extension of manuscript, 

insisting that a typewritten work should be called 

a typescript, but contemporary American usage 

has accepted the extension of manuscript as 

standard. 

Manuscript is abbreviated MS. or ms. with the 

plural MSS. or mss. 

many. The comparative form is more. The superlative 

form is mosf. 

Many is primarily an adjective meaning a 

large number, and is used principally before a 

plural noun, as in many men, many minds. It 

may follow the noun, as in she had children 

many, but this is no longer natural English. The 

adjective many may be separated from its noun

y are or were, as in many are tke hearts that are 

weary tonight. It is sometimes used in this way 

with a singular noun, as in many is the time Z 

have said and many is the man who has tkozzght. 

This construction is now considered old fashioned 

in the United States and not accepted as 

standard in Great Britain. But many may still be 

used before the article a in a singular construction, 

as in many a man has tkozcght and Z was 

many a weary month in finishing it. 

Many may also be used as if it were a noun 

and is then always a plural, as in many are strong 

and rick and would he just and the many who 

know him say. Formerly, this plural many could 

be preceded by the article a, as in a many of them 

were there. The plural word few is still treated in 

this way, but a many is now regarded as unacceptable 

except in the two expressions, a good 

many and a great many. There is no difference 

in meaning between the noun construction many 

of and the adjective many, but the construction 

with of is now used only before a pronoun or a 

definitive adjective, as in many of these, many of 

the books. We do not say many of books. 

map; chart. A map is a representation of the surface 

of the earth or a section of it or of some 

other area (Utopia will not be found on any 

map). To say of some community that has suffered 

a disaster that it has been wiped off the 

map is to employ a hackneyed metaphor. 

A chart may be an outline map with symbols 

conveying information superimposed on it, a 

map designed especially for navigators on water 

or in the air (Without up-to-date kydrograpkic 

charts, wartime convoy escorts could never have 

operated). The word chart is also used for a diagram 

or a table giving information in an orderly 

form. 

marbles. When referring to the game, the plural 

word marbles takes a singular verb, as in marbles 

is sometimes played on the sidewalk. One piece 

is called a marble and marbles used with a plural 

verb means several of these, as in marbles are 

round. Only the singular form marble is used as 

the first element in a compound, as in marble 

playing. 

When the word means the material used in 

building, it is a singular mass noun and the plural 

marbles means different kinds of marble. 

The fragments from the frieze and pediment 

of the Parthenon in the British Museum are 

known as the Elgin Marbles. This term for a collection 

of sculptured pieces is now archaic except 

in museum terminology. 

mare’s nest. Since horses do not climb trees and 

lay eggs, he who discovers a mare’s nest is a 

credulous simpleton who thinks he has found 

something wonderful but can only have done 

something silly. Two hundred years ago the 

finding of a mare’s nest had already passed from 

a good, strong humorous phrase through a proverbial 

expression into a cliche. It is not much 

used now but when it is, it is frequently misused, 

as if it meant a mere false alarm or much ado 

about nothing. 

marionette. See puppet. 

291 martyr 

marital. See matrimonial. 

mark. The term easy mark, for one easily swindled 

or imposed upon, is an American slang term 

for which the British equivalent is gull. 

mark of the beast. As a term for an indication 

in someone of something common to those of 

whom we disapprove, the mark of the beast is 

hackneyed. It is an echo of the twentieth verse 

of the nineteenth chapter of Revelation where 

the beast is the great whore of Babylon. The 

term appealed strongly to evangelical preachers, 

who used it so much in their denunciations that 

it became a term of jest among the wits and in 

time worn out by repetition. 

mark time. To say of soldiers who lift their feet 

as though marching but set them down in the 

same place, so that they do not move forward, 

that they are marking time is to employ a figure 

of speech. But this particular figure of speech 

became connected so inseparably and so exclusively 

to this action that all sense of its being a 

figure of speech disappeared and it became the 

ordinary, prosaic name for it. From the action 

it was taken up again, however, as a new metaphor 

for any action which fills the time but does 

not lead to progress (These sales are just marking 

time, holding a place in the market until we 

get ready to expand) and this use is now so worn 

by repetition that it is better avoided. 

market and mart are both acceptable in the 

United States as names for a trading center. 

Mart, which derives from the Dutch spoken variant 

of markt, market, is archaic in England, Partridge 

says, and rather literary. But in the United 

States it flourishes. It may have been used at first 

to give a touch of distinction, but there are now 

so many motor marts and furniture marts that 

is is accepted as standard. When capitalized, mart 

refers to a particular building, as Chicago’s Merchandise 

Mart and Furniture Mart. 

marriage. See wedding. 

martyr; victim. The word martyr derives from a 

Greek word meaning a witness. A martyr was 

one who witnessed to his faith in his religion by 

being willing to die rather than to renounce his 

beliefs (Stephen was the first Christian martyr), 

or one who is put to death or endures great suffering 

on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause 

(He was a martyr in the cause of constitutional 

liberties), or, quite loosely, one undergoing severe 

or constant suffering. In this usage the suffering 

has to be severe, the illness grave, and the 

endurance of its pains dignified. One who died 

of cancer, for instance, after long suffering, might 

be spoken of as a martyr to the disease. But one 

who suffers from colds in the head, however unpleasant 

the affliction may be, cannot be called a 

martyr. 

A victim differs from a martyr in that the 

martyr actively accepts his infliction, while the 

victim is the passive recipient of his. A victim is 

a sufferer from any destructive, injurious, or adverse 

action or agency (Juvenile delinquents are 

often victims of their environment), a dupe (He 

was the victim of card-sharpers), a person or 

animal sacrificed, or regarded as sacrificed, in

marvel 

any undertaking (He was a victim of the Dieppe 

raid), or a living creature sacrificed in religious 

rites (the victim led lowing to the altar). 

marvel; miracle. A marvel is something to wonder 

at, a prodigy, something astonishing (It was 

a marvel that any of the passengers escaped. 

Both engines were on fire when the wheels 

touched the runway). A miracle is a marvel, but 

it is more; it is something which has an effect in 

the physical world which surpasses all known or 

human powers and is, therefore, ascribed to 

supernatural agency (Christ’s first miracle was 

changing water into wine). People who jump 

off Brooklyn Bridge and survive, or go over 

Niagara Falls in barrels, perform marvels but 

not miracles; while far less spectacular natural 

happenings, such as the provision by certain female 

insects for the young which they will never 

live to know, may be described as miracles. 

Whether a given event is properly a miracle or 

a marvel is disputable; the employment of one 

word instead of another is often dependent upon 

the attitude of mind of the speaker. But there is 

no doubt that a continuous use of miracle to describe 

any coincidence or amazing happening is 

vulgar. 

masculine. See male. 

mass. One sense of muss is the main body, bulk, 

or greater part of anything. The word thus becomes 

an equivalent of majority (In 1944 the 

mass of American military strength was in Europe). 

This use, though occasionally decried, is 

now standard. 

massacre and slaughter, whether as nouns or 

transitive verbs, imply violent and bloody methods 

of killing. Massacre designates the unnecessary, 

indiscriminate killing of a number of human 

beings, as in barbarous warfare or persecution, 

or for revenge or plunder (It was assumed 

that the settlers were massacred by the Indians: 

no trace of them was ever found). Massacre may 

not be used to describe the killing of one person. 

Slaughter, like butcher, is a term usually applied 

to the killing of animals and gains some of its 

violent horror when applied to human beings 

from that fact. An individual may be slaughtered 

(Prism wns slaughtered ns he clung to the altar) 

and so may great numbers of people. Massacre 

carries a suggestion that the victims were innocent 

and helpless or unresisting; whereas soldiers 

may be slaughtered in battle if the carnage is 

sufficiently widespread and fierce. 

masseur and masseuse are both borrowed from 

the French but now fully naturalized in our 

language and therefore not to be italicized in 

writing. A masseur is a man who practices massage, 

a masseuse is a woman. 

mass nouns. A singular noun is used to refer to 

one thing and a plural noun to refer to more 

than one, as boy and boys, book and books. But 

some nouns, such as butter, sunlight, Latin, oxygen, 

are neither singular nor plural in meaning. 

They do not refer to precise countable things but 

to something formless and uncountable. Words 

of this kind are called muss nouns. In contrast, 

words that refer to countables are called unit 

nouns. Names of abstractions, such as beauty, 

justice, childhood, arithmetic, logic, are mass 

nouns, but so are the names of such concrete 

things as gunpowder, lettuce, mud, dust, and 

ammunition. 

Most mass nouns, like the examples given so 

far, are grammatical singulars. These are always 

treated as singulars. They are used with a singular 

verb and can be qualified by the, this, or that. 

But they do not form plurals and they cannot be 

qualified by the article a. Also, unlike singulars, 

they can be used without any qualifiers. We can 

say sunlight is good for you, although we cannot 

say book is good. 

When a word that is ordinarily a mass noun, 

such as fur, space, injustice, is qualified by a, as 

in a fur, a space, an injustice, it is being used in 

a slightly different sense. In this new sense it is a 

unit noun, it refers to a countable thing, and can 

have a plural form, such as furs, spaces, injustices. 

Similarly, a word that is ordinarily a 

unit noun can be used without a as a mass noun. 

Lamb is a unit noun in there is a little lamb in 

the meadow and a mass noun in there is a little 

lamb in the icebox. In the first sentence a qualifies 

lamb and makes it a unit noun. In the second 

sentence a qualifies little and lamb is unqualified. 

Expressions like this, with more than one meaning, 

are very common in English. But they are 

not ambiguous in context-that is, they are not 

misunderstood-and are not noticed unless one 

is bored and looking for trouble. 

Not all mass nouns are grammatical singulars. 

Some nouns, such as munitions, news, measles, 

riches, savings, morals, are plural in form but do 

not refer to countable things. These require special 

attention. They are mass nouns, not true 

plurals. 

Words of this kind do not have a corresponding 

singular form and cannot be used with a 

numeral, which would suggest several singulars. 

As a rule, these words cannot be used with any 

qualifier that suggests countables, such as many, 

several, few. That is, in speaking of a savings 

account we cannot say how many savings has 

he? When such words are not the subject of a 

verb, they can be qualified by words used with 

singular mass nouns, such as much and little. We 

may say how much savings has he? or he has 

very little savings. In these respects, plural mass 

nouns are being treated as if they were singular 

mass nouns. In the case of some words, such as 

news, hydraulics, and economics, mass nouns 

with plural form are treated in every respect like 

singular mass nouns. That is, they are also followed 

by a singular verb, qualified by this and 

that, and referred to by it, as in this news is good; 

where did you hear it? But more often mass 

nouns with a plural form keep some of their 

plural characteristics. That is, they are followed 

by a plural verb, qualified by these and those, 

and referred to by they or them, as in these savings 

are all Z have; Z would hate to lose them. 

Many plural mass nouns are like savings and 

morals. They are related to unit nouns that have 

a singular and a plural form but a slightly differ-

ent meaning. That is, a saving means an economy, 

and in this sense we may speak of many 

savings. But when savings means money that has 

been put aside, it is a mass word and we speak of 

much savings. Similarly, a moral is an edifying 

generalization and we may speak of many morals. 

But morals, meaning moral habits or principles, 

is now a mass noun and we cannot say he 

hasn’t many morals. Usually, though not always, 

a plural noun that does not have a singular form 

with exactly the same sense is a mass noun and 

cannot be treated as a true plural. 

A few mass nouns, such as ash and ashes, sand 

and sands, have both a singular and a plural 

form. This is very convenient, grammatically, 

since such words can be used in any kind of construction 

we like. But it should be noticed that 

there is not the usual difference in meaning between 

the singular and the plural form. The 

plural form does not mean more of the substance 

than the singular does. 

Names of foods are usually mass nouns. The 

names of meats-fish, Aesh, or fowl-have the 

singular form, as in we ute cod all winter or we 

ate goose every Sunday. The names of grainswheat, 

barley, rice, and so on-are also treated 

as singulars. The only exceptions are oats and 

grits, which are treated grammatically as if they 

were names of vegetables. The names of most 

vegetables and fruits, when the plant is ready to 

eat, may be treated as true plurals, as in there 

are a few beans left but not many peas, or as 

mass words with plural form, as in there is a 

little beans left but not much peas. There are a 

few exceptions. Potato is sometimes, and cabbage 

is always, treated as a singular mass noun, 

as in a little potato but not much cabbage. 

Lettuce is a singular mass noun, even before the 

plant reaches the table. 

master. See boss. 

matchwood. See kindling wood. 

materialize, as a transitive verb, means to give 

material form to, to make physically perceptible 

(The medium materialized the apparition by 

means of magical words). Used intransitively, to 

materialize means to assume material or bodily 

form, to come into perceptible existence (Mephistopheles 

materialized as a black poodle). Used 

loosely as a synonym for appear or come into 

existence, especially when used of things that do 

not have a physical being anyway (as in There 

was a good deal of grumbling but the mutiny 

never materialized), it is incorrect and often 

borders on the silly, as in Time’s assurance (November 

22, 1954) that despite the promises in 

various headlines of startling disclosures in a 

famous murder trial no new angles materialized. 

materially; greatly. Materially means substantially, 

to an important degree, considerably (He 

contributed materially to the success of the undertaking). 

Where something material, such as 

money or equipment, is contributed to a cause 

or enterprise of some kind, the word has a slightly 

different meaning (Though he insisted that he 

was unfit to advise us, he assisted materially with 

money and ammunition). and in such fairly rare 

293 matter 

instances there is no doubt that it is the proper 

word. But much of the time greatly would be a 

better word. It is more common, less pretentious, 

and less likely to be ambiguous. 

matins. In speaking of the church service, only 

the plural form matins is used and this is now 

regularly followed by a plural verb, as in the 

matins were sung. The singular form matin is 

used only in an extended or figurative sense, as 

in the lark’s shrill matin. Both forms are found 

in compounds, as in matin time and matins book. 

There is not as much variation in the use of 

the word matins as there is in the use of the word 

vespers. Perhaps this is because the great lay 

public hears vespers while matins are chiefly 

attended by the clergy, who are more conservative 

in their use of words. 

matrimonial; marital; nuptial; conjugal; connubial. 

All of these words mean of or pertaining 

to the married state, but there are some differences 

in their meanings that have to be observed 

and others that the careful speaker or writer will 

want to observe. 

Nuptial refers to the wedding or to events 

immediately succeeding the wedding (the nuptial 

day, the nuptial feast) that are related to it. In 

describing the marriage itself the word, used as 

a noun, is always used in the plural (Their nuptials 

were solemnized amid a blaze of beauty). 

Save for certain legal and quasi-legal uses (the 

nuptial contract, pre-nuptial experiences), nuptial 

is forced and stilted. It is dear to the pens 

of tired society editors. 

Mutrimoniol is now the most common term 

for anything concerned with the marriage relation 

(matrimonial problems, matrimonial dif,Eculties). 

Marital comes next, with the attraction 

of being a shorter word (Marital troubles often 

have in them something comic: the couple have 

made their bed and must lie on it), but it has, in 

addition to its general meaning, a specific meaning 

of pertaining to a husband (A husband may 

exercise his marital authority so far as to give 

his wife moderate correction). 

Conjugal and connubial are used interchangeably, 

though both are a little ponderous and are 

employed, chiefly, in heavy-handed jocosity. 

Conjugal relates, strictly, to the married persons 

(Their conjugal affection was touching to behold), 

connubial to the married state (connubial 

rites, ‘connubial bliss). 

matrix. The plural is matrixes or matrices. 

matter. For mutter used as a verb, as in nothing 

matters, see mind. 

matter; material; stuff. Matter and material both 

refer to that of which physical objects are composed. 

Matter, as distinct from mind and spirit, 

is by far the broader term. It applies to anything 

perceived or known to be occupying space (The 

molecular theory of matter . . . supposes that all 

visible forms of matter are collocations of simpler 

and smaller portions. All we know about 

matter is that it is the hypothetical substance of 

physical phenomena). Material usually means 

some definite kind, quality, or quantity of matter, 

especially as intended for use (It was hard to

matter 294 

get building material during the war. The top of 

the table was covered with some hard, smooth 

material painted to resemble marble). 

Stuff has much the same meanings as material. 

When used to refer to material objects, it is a 

loose term (The building was made of some 

funny white stuff. Any sort of stuff will do to 

fill in the holes). When used abstractly, it is 

literary and poetical (The stuff of life to knit me/ 

Blew hither; here am I). 

matter, the. The use of the phrase the matter to 

mean trouble or difficulty, especially in the question 

What’s the matter? is standard usage. It has 

been so employed for five hundred years and 

more. Horwill seems to feel that it is an Americanism, 

and certainly we use the phrase freely to 

mean “what is the objection to?’ or “what can be 

alleged against?” this or that proposal or course 

of action, but it was so used in England from at 

least the fifteenth centurv on (Falstaff: How 

now? Whose mare’s dead- What’s the mutter?) 

and if it has fallen into disuse in England in the 

past few decades (for it was certainly in use at 

the end of the nineteenth century), it is a change 

there rather than in the United States. 

maunder; meander. To maunder is to whine or 

grumble in an incoherent way, to mutter or talk 

idly and disconnectedly. Burton in The Anatomy 

of Melancholy characterizes a demented man 

as maundering, gazing, listening, affrighted with 

every small object. Carlyle speaks of one who 

was always mumbling and maundering the 

merest commonplaces. 

To meander is to proceed by a winding course, 

to wander (Five miles meandering with a mazy 

motion/ Through wood and dale the sacred river 

ran. He was just meanderin’ down the pike with 

nothing special in mind). Indeed, the word is 

derived from the name of a Greek river which 

wound a great deal in its course. But one can 

meander in speech as well as in walking or flowing 

and the question of at what point divagation 

ceases to be meandering and becomes maundering 

must be decided by the individual observer 

or listener. Meandering can often be brilliant; 

maundering is stupid. But whether a digression, 

especially an aimless and wandering one, is to be 

described as brilliant or stupid often depends on 

the charity and sympathy of the listener. 

mausoleum. The plural is mausoleums or mausolea. 

maximum. The plural is maximums or maxima. 

may. This is the present tense. The past tense is 

might. 

He may does not have the s ending we ordinarily 

expect in a present tense verb. This is 

because may is an ancient past tense form. But 

it had come to be felt as a present tense by the 

time English became a written language. Might 

is a new past tense form that was created for it, 

but which has also come to be felt as a present 

tense. Today may and might are treated as subjunctive 

tenses. They represent different degrees 

of probability rather than a difference in time. 

The present subjunctive form may represents an 

event as possible while the past subjunctive 

form might represents it as possible but not 

likelv, as in he may come and he might come. 

In asking permission, might is more diffident 

than may, as in might I come in?, since it 

politely suggests that the speaker does not 

expect to get what he is asking for and so 

won’t be surprised by a refusal. See subjunctive 

mode. 

The verb may has no imperative, no infinitive, 

no past participle, and no -ing form. Because the 

words may and might are grammatically past 


follow (that is, they cannot be dependent 

on) another verb. We can no more say will may, 

did may, used to might, than we can say will 

went, did went, used to went. Since we cannot 

use auxiliaries, such as do, be, have, we form 

negative statements and ask questions in the old 


as in he may not come and may Z come? 

May and might themselves are always used as 

auxiliaries and require another verb to complete 

their meaning. This may be the simple form of 

the verb, as in Z might say, or have and the past 

participle, as in Z might have said. In the first 

case, the statement refers indefinitely to the present 

or the future. In the second case, it refers to 

a past event. The complementary verb must be 

actually stated or easily supplied from the context, 

as in do you think you might see him? and 

Z mav. 

Can frequently is, and sometimes should be, 

used in place of may. For a discussion of this. 

see can; may. 

maybe has been so long “as natural as perhaps, or 

more so,” in American speech that Fowler’s 

characterization of it as “stvlishlv archaic” 

sounds very strange. He admits that It was once 

normal English, but insists that it became rustic 

and provincial and is now something of an tiectation. 

So it may be in England, or may have 

been a generation ago when Fowler first wrote, 

but in the United States it has always been 

acceptable. 

me. In natural, well-bred English, me and not I 

is the form of the pronoun used after any verb, 

even the verb to be. When Mayor Cermak of 

Chicago was shot by a bullet intended for 

Franklin Roosevelt, he said: “I’m glad it was 

me instead of you.” A local newspaper thought 

they could improve the dying man’s words and 

quoted him as saying, “I’m glad it was I.” See 

objective pronouns. 

meal. See flour. See also repast. 

mean. The past tense is meant. The participle is 

also meant. 

When this word means intend it may be followed 

by an infinitive, as in Z mean to wait. 

When it means signify it may be followed by 

the -ing form of a verb, as in this means waiting. 

mean. See average. 

meander. See maunder. 

meaningful verb. This expression is used in this 

book to mean the element in a verbal phrase that 

supplies the meaning to the phrase, as eaten in 

the tzukey will have been eaten by now. It is 

sometimes called the notional verb, in contrast 

to the others in the phrase, which are auxiliaries.

means. When this word means something that enables 

one to accomplish his purpose, it can be 

used as a true singular or as a true plural. We 

may say evev means has been tried, all means 

have been tried, one means is still open to us, 

several means are still open to us. 

When the word means wealth, it is always followed 

by a plural verb, as in his means have increased, 

never his means has increased. But it is 

here a mass word and not a true plural. We can 

speak of great means or of no great means, but 

not of many means or few means. When the 

word is not followed by a verb, it may be treated 

as a singular and we may speak of much means 

or little means. 

The singular form mean is now used only for 

something that is in the middle, such as a geometric 

mean, and in this sense the word has a 

regular plural means, as in insert three geometric 

means. 

meant. See mean. 

mean time; meantime. Mean time, more properly 

called mean solar time, is time measured by 

the hour angle of the mean sun. The mean sun 

is an imaginary and fictitious sun moving uniformly 

in the celestial equator and taking the 

same time to make its annual circuit as the true 

sun does in the ecliptic (If a navigator does not 

have the mean time, he cannot determine his 

position by means of his sextant). 

Spelled as one word and used as a noun, 

meantime means the intervening time (There 

must have been little meantime between the 

lighting of the fuse and the explosion). Such 

usage is exceedingly rare and would seem forced 

and affected. The most common use of the single 

word is in an adverbial phrase meaning “in the 

intervening time, during the interval” (In the 

meantime, in between time,/ Ain’t we got fun?). 

meanwhile is a noun. It may be used in a prepositional 

phrase, as in it had grown dark in the 

meanwhile, or alone as an adverb, as in it had 

grown dark meanwhile. Both constructions are 

standard Enzlish. In Great Britain this word is 

often writteias two, that is, as mean while, but 

in the United States the solid compound is preferred. 

measles. This word has a plural form and may 

be treated as a plural, as in measles are contagious 

and he caught them from me. But it is 

more often treated as a singular, as in measles 

is contagious, and he caught it from me. Both 

constructions are acceptable. The singular form 

measle is not used in connection with this disease 

and an individual spot is called a pustule. 

The plural form measles is used as the first 

element in a compound when referring to the 

disease that occurs in human beings, as in a 

measles epidemic. The singular form measle may 

be used in speaking of certain other diseases that 

occur in animals, as in a measle epidemic. 

measures 

DISTANCE 

The names for units of distance, such as inch, 

foot, fathom, mile, are nouns. When used without 

a numeral before another noun these words 

have a genitive form, as in a mile’s walk, a foot’s 

295 measures 

depth. When used with a numeral before another 

noun, the measure term is treated as the 

first element in a compound and the simple 

form of the word, that is, the singular form, is 

used, as in u three-mile walk, a five-foot pole. 

This is true even when an adjective stands between 

the measure term and the noun, as in a 

three-mile-long walk and a five-foot-high wall. 

But when the measure term is not followed by 

a noun, the plural form should be used in speaking 

of more than one, as in a walk, three miles 

long and a wall, five feet high. 

At one time, these measure terms always had 

the singular form when used with a numeral, 

regardless of whether or not they qualified a following 

noun. This was standard English for 

measures cf distance as late as the eighteenth 

century and Defoe wrote, ten mile out of London. 

The construction is not standard now, except 

for foot and fathom. Fathom is still used 

in this way in Great Britain but is rarely heard 

in the United States. Foot is still used in this way 

in the United States, as in he is five foot ten. But 

feet is also heard here. Both forms are acceptable. 

The use of the plural form before a following 

noun, as in a three-miles walk, a five-feet wall, is 

not literary English. But it is heard too often in 

the United States not to be called standard here. 

Measurements are often given in a form such 

as it was three feet long by two feet wide. Here 

the preposition by has an adjective, wide, for its 

object. This is curious, grammatically, but it is 

the standard way of expressing measures of this 

kind. In he stood at two yards distant and the 

wall had risen to ten feet high, we again have a 

preposition, at or to, with an adjective, distant 

or high, as its object. These constructions, but 

not the construction involving by, are condemned 

by some grammarians. So far as theoretical 

grammar goes, there is no difference 

between the first sentence and the last two, and 

no one should feel obliged to avoid these constructions 

if they seem natural to him. 

TIME 

The names of units of time, such as hour, 

week, month, year, are also nouns. When used 

without a numeral before another noun, they 

too have a genitive form, as in an hour’s walk, 

a year’s delay. When they are used with a numeral 

before another noun, no s is required. A 

half-hour walk, a two-hour walk, is literary 

English. But, unlike the units of distance, units 

of time frequently have a final s when standing 

in this position. If the numeral is one, or less 

than one, the s is considered a genitive singular 

and the expression is written a one-hour’s walk, 

a half-hour’s walk. When the numeral is larger 

than one, there is no agreement as to whether 

the s represents a genitive singular, a genitive 

plural, or a simple plural, and the words may be 

written in any of these ways, as in a two-hour’s 

walk, a two-hours’ walk, a two-hours walk. All 

three forms are used by reputable publishers but 

the last, without the apostrophe, is generally 

preferred. 

An adjective may stand between the time

meat 296 

word and the noun it qualifies, as in a year-old 

child. In this case, the form without s is generally 

preferred, as in a two-year-old child. A 

plural form is sometimes heard here, as in a twoyears-old 

child. This is not literary English but 

it is acceptable in the United States. No apostrophe 

should be used here. 

When a time word is not followed by a noun, 

the plural form must be used in speaking of 

more than one, as in a child two years old and 

he has been away two years. In the case of time 

words, the use of the singular form in constructions 

of this kind has not been standard for four 

or five centuries. It occurs in some of Shakespeare’s 

plays but only “in the language of low 

persons.” 

The adjective old is often used in literary English 

as the object of a preposition, as in a child 

of a year old, at ten months old. This construction 

is condemned by some grammarians, but it 

is a standard English idiom. 

QUANTITY 

Names for measures of quantity, such as ton, 

gallon, teaspoon, are also nouns and are usually 

joined to other nouns by of, as in a ton of bricks, 

u smidgin of salt. The singular form, but not the 

plural, may be used as the first element in a 

compound, as in a five-ton truck, a ten-gallon 

hat. In any other construction, measures of capacity 

require the plural form when speaking 

of more than one, as in ten gallons of gas. But 

measures of weight can always be used in the 

singular with a numeral, as in three ton of coal. 

In the United States the plural form is more 

usual, as in three tons of coal. But the singular 

form is preferred in Great Britain and is acceptable 


See the individual words and full; -ful. For 

the use of the a in five dollars a visit, ten cents 

a ton, see nouns as adverbs. 

meat. A peculiarly American use of the word 

meat is to attach it to the name of the animal 

whose flesh is being considered as food. Crab 

meat, for example, is standard (Crab meat is a 

delicacy of which one easily tires. She was very 

fond of crab-meat salad). Turkey meat is, perhaps, 

questionable and hog meat is definitely 

regional, its use being confined, for the most 

part, to the mountainous regions of southeastern 

United States. Horse meat (or more often 

horsement), designating in some contexts, formerly 

more common than now, what is fed to 

horses, now generally means the edible flesh of 

the horse. In this one instance the usage is accepted 

in England. 

meat and drink in the metaphorical sense of spiritual 

sustenance (Such praise was meat and 

drink to him) is a clich6, to be avoided. 

Mecca is a city in Saudi Arabia. It was the birthplace 

of Mohammed and is the spiritual center 

of Islam to which every devout Mohammedan 

hopes some day to make a pilgrimage. Hence it 

has come to mean a place which constitutes a 

center or goal for many people, but even in this 

extended sense it is better to confine it to a place 

to which people wish to go for some high or 

solemn purpose or which represents to them 

deep aspirations. It is all right to say Paris is the 

Mecca of most sophisticated young American 

artists. It is journalese to say Miami Beach is the 

midwinter Mecca of well-heeled New Yorkers or 

Palm Springs is the Mecca of the elite of Hollywood 

and all who want to be seen in public with 

them. And like all metaphors it cannot be used 

in any sense that conflicts ludicrously with its 

original sense. The writer who said that Rome is 

the Mecca of all good Catholics may have meant 

well but his statement would seem offensive to 

millions of Roman Catholics. 

mechanical. See equipment. 

Medes and the Persians, laws of. As a term for 

something fixed and unalterable, the laws of the 

Medes and the Persians is hackneyed. Its use in 

English is due to its being referred to in two 

separate passages in the Old Testament (Esther 

1:19 and Daniel 6:8) though very few who 

employ the clich6 have any longer a knowledge 

of that fact. 

media in the sense of all of the means by which 

products may be advertised-newspapers and 

magazines, radio, television, billboards, etc. 

(B. T. Babbitt Co., making a major switch in 

media strategy, has scheduled an intensive newspaper 

campaign this fall for its new household 

cleaner, Bab-0 with Bleach) is a jargon word 

that will probably have to be accepted as standard 

in time. Some word is necessary in the 

advertising world to describe collectively all of 

the ways of advertising and this quite natural 

extension of medium in its meaning of an agency 

or instrument is too firmly established now 

to be easily dislodged. See also medium. 

mediocre means middling, neither good nor bad, 

ordinary, average, commonplace. In a democracy 

such words ought to be regarded as commendatory 

but they are not. Every man likes to 

regard himself as superior to others and a word 

which says one is like most other men is regarded 

as derogatory. Mediocre in common 

usage certainly carries a pejorative implication. 

It does not mean bad, but it definitely means 

poor, feeble, and inferior. Very mediocre, though 

often heard, is not standard. You cannot apply 

an intensive to the ordinary or average. Of 

course those who do apply it no longer think of 

the word as meaning average but poor and hence 

feel their intensive is justified. But until this 

sense of mediocre is accepted as standard-as in 

time it well may be--the use of an intensive is 

improper. 

meditate. See contemplate. 

medium. The plural is mediums or media. The 

Latin plural is used correctly in the rather ponderous 

expression media of mass communication. 

This is sometimes shortened to mass media. 

The new form is then frequently treated as a 

singular and given a new plural, mass medias. 

Other Latin plurals, such as agenda and candelabra, 

have become English singulars in this way 

and that of itself would not be enough to condemn 

the new term. This is particularly true 

since the form medium is regularly used in connection 

with supernatural matters. The real difficulty 

with mass medias is that mass has here lost

all connection with communication and is in 

danger of taking on the derogatory implication 

of the masses versus the discriminating few. For 

this reason it is safer to shorten the expression 

still further and speak of medias. 

meet. The past tense is mef. The participle is also 

met. 

meet with an untimely end. To say of one who 

died before, in the natural order of things, he 

might have been expected to die, especially of 

one who died by violence, that he met with an 

untimely end is to use a clichC. 

meiosis is a term in rhetoric for understatement. 

It is the opposite of hyperbole or, more accurately, 

a form of hyperbole which gets its effects 

by diminishing rather than enlarging the truth. 

See litotes. 

meliorist. See optimist. 

melody; tune. A tune is a melody, but a melody 

need not be a tune. That is, in addition to tunes 

there are such things as plainsongs (the unisonous 

vocal music used in the Christian church 

from the earliest times) which may be classified 

as melodies. A tune is a succession of musical 

sounds forming an air or melody, with or without 

the harmony accompanying it. Tunes tend 

to be short and catchy, like nursery rhymes 

(But the only tune that he could play/ Was 

“Over the Hills and Far Away.” That’s the tune 

the old cow died on). Melody describes likewise 

the succession of single tones in musical composition 

but, unlike the tune, a melody may go 

on for a long time (The song is ended, but the 

melody lingers on). Melodious and tuneful, 

however, are synonymous. See also harmony. 

memorandum. The plural is memorandums or 

memoranda. Many educated people use the form 

memoranda as a singular, with a regular plural 

memorandas. These forms are therefore acceptable 

English. But they are offensive to some 

people. Of the three plurals, memorandums 

probably rouses less antagonism than memoranda 

or memorandas. 

men. See man. 

mendacity; mendicity. Mendacity is untruthfulness 

(the ineradicable tendency of the human 

mind to mendacity) or an untruth (Father, I 

will not tell a mendacity;/ It is beyond my 

capacity). See also lie. 

Mendicity is the practice of begging or the 

condition of life of a beggar (In the case of professional 

authors, mendicity often trails mendacity 

along with it). Though it is an old word, 

having been in use in English for six hundred 

years or more, it is still rare and even the most 

fluent author would not be likely to have occasion 

to use it. 

menial meant originally a household servant, usually 

employed by contract or a binding stipulation 

that required him to continue the service for 

a definite period of time. The word designated 

one of a body of household servants and it is 

this that makes any use of it today an affected 

elegancy, for no one has a body of household 

servants any more. 

As an adjective, menial is, and for centuries 

has been, a term of disparagement and contempt, 

297 meretricious 

synonymous with servile (The necessity of performing 

these menial tasks was galling to his 

pride). 

mentality; mind. Mentality means mental capacity, 

intellectual endowment, degree of intellectual 

power (He had the mentality of a child). It has 

become a vogue word for mind in recent years 

(Use your mentality/ Wake up to reality), and 

there are many contexts in which either word 

may be used, for mind cannot be defined precisely. 

But when in doubt it is better to use 

mind. 

mention may be followed by the -ing form of a 

verb, as in I mentioned having gone there. It is 

sometimes heard with an infinitive, as in I mentioned 

to have gone there, but this is not standard 

English. 

mentor is a wise and trusted counselor. Mentor 

vas the friend to whom Odysseus, when departing 

for Troy, gave the charge of his household. 

In America mentor is currently sportswriter’s 

jargon for an athletic coach, especially a football 

coach. There is a grim appropriateness in the 

application, though not probably the one intended 

by the sportswriters; for the demands 

imposed on coaches, wise and otherwise, by 

greedy players, ravening alumni, envious faculty 

members, and harassed administrators, are as 

onerous as those imposed on the old Ithacan by 

Penelope’s disorderly suitors. 

mercenary. See venal. 

mere; bare. Mere means nothing more nor better 

than what is specified, a scant sufficiency (He 

wrested a mere livelihood from the poor land), 

pure and simple, nothing but (Such a suggestion 

is mere idiocy). It is often inserted as an intensive 

(The book is mere trash; it is ridiculous to 

hail it as a masterpiece) where the sentence 

would be more forceful without it. 

Bare, in the sense in which it is synonymous 

with mere, means without other things, no more 

than. In designating a minimum of sufficiency, 

the words are often interchangeable, but there 

is usually a subtle difference in their implications. 

Bare is positive. It means that something 

is adequate by itself, that there is a chance, etc. 

(The bare mention of his name brought the delegates 

to their feet in a tumultuous demonstration). 

Mere is negative. It seems to suggest a 

deficiency. The effects that it attends are more 

likely to be unpleasant (mere folly. This is 

mere conjecture, not an established fact. The 

mere mention of his name seemed to plunge 

the delegates into despair). See also pure. 

meretricious does not merely mean bad or false 

or deceptive. It is derived from a Latin word for 

“prostitute” and it means alluring to a bad end 

by false attractions, not merely tawdry and 

showy but tawdry and showy covering up of 

something base or evil. It is a word of strong 

condemnation, with moral disapprobation underlying 

aesthetic disapprobation. In most uses 

it is stilted, but there are occasions when it is 

the word wanted. False honors, for example, 

would simply imply that honors had been conferred 

where they were not merited. Meretricious 

honors would imply that the honors were

meridian 298 

the reward of evildoing or used to conceal evildoing. 

meridian; meridiem. See a.m. 

merriment. See glee. 

Merry England is a clich6. When applied to a 

place or country, merry originally meant pleasant 

or delightful in aspect. A thirteenth century 

translation of Genesis refers to the Garden of 

Eden as that merry place. When applied to persons, 

merry means animatedly joyous, hilarious, 

and this meaning has been substituted in the 

phrase Merry England for the older meaning. 

mesdames. This is the plural of madame. 

mess as a noun quite properly describes a dirty 

or untidy condition, a state of disorder (The 

whole barracks was in a mess), or a state of 

embarrassing confusion (He left his financial 

affairs in a mess). But the word is greatly overused. 

There is often a more precise and vivid 

equivalent. As a term for a person who is confused 

or disorganized, it is definitely not standard. 

As a term for a person who is so covered 

with mud or so disarranged in appearance that 

his identity is lost in the messiness of his appearance, 

so that he is part of a mess, it is an 

exaggeration, apparently acceptable in speaking 

to children. 

messieurs. This is the plural of monsieur. 

met. See meet. 

metal; mettle. From its primary sense of describing 

any of a class of elementary substances, such 

as gold, silver, copper, etc., all of which are 

crystalline when solid and many of which are 

characterized by opacity, ductility, conductivity, 

and a peculiar luster when freshly fractured, 

metal has come to mean any formative material, 

including the characteristic disposition or temper 

(Sir, I am made/ Of the selfsame metal that my 

sister is, / And prize me at her worth). However, 

for this last meaning, with its derivative 

meanings of courage and spirit, the variant spelling 

mettle has become the established form (The 

gruelzing campaign tested his mettle). It is always 

a word of praise, meaning an ardent or 

fiery spirit, high courage and enthusiasm (The 

winged courser, like a generous horse,/ Shows 

most true mettle when you check his course). To 

put a man on his mettle is to put his energy or 

courage to the test. 

metamorphosis. The plural is metamorphoses. 

metaphor. A metaphor is a figure of speech in 

which a term or phrase is applied to something 

to which it is not literally applicable in order 

to suggest a resemblance (moonlight sleeping 

on a bank. And tear our pleasures with rough 

strife/ Through the iron gates of life. Man is the 

shuttle, to whose winding quest/ And passage 

through these looms/ God has ordered motion, 

but ordained no rest). It may consist, as the examples 

show, of a single word or an elaborated 

idea. The virtue of metaphor is that it permits us 

to say a great deal in few words. Furthermore it 

sets up in the mind of the reader or listener a 

creative process that makes him amplify the idea 

and come to feel that it is his own and hence to 

accept it. 

Metaphors do not suggest merely resemblances. 

They evoke concomitant images and 

often call up emotions that strengthen or enlarge 

upon the intended meaning: Thus when 

Macbeth says that he has suuped full with horrors, 

the very homeliness oi the metaphor (to 

which many eighteenth century critics objected 

as being undignified, “unworthy” of poetry) 

heightens the effect; it is as if Macbeth had 

come to accept horror as his everyday food. 

And so when Hamlet, considering the effect of 

his “mousetrap” on his uncle’s conscience, says: 

If his occulted guilt 

Do not itself unkennel in one speech, 

It is a damned ghost that we have seen, 

And my imaginations are as foul 

As Vulcan’s stithy 

he has employed two good metaphors. His uncle’s 

guilt has been likened to a skulking dog 

and his own mind to a stithy or an anvil. The 

latter is particularly good because it suggests not 

only the dirt, the foulness of his imaginations, 

but the ceaseless, metallic hammering of them in 

his brain. 

A metaphor is effective if it conveys the desired 

comparison. It is good insofar as the 

details and associative comparisons of the primary 

comparison enhance the desired effect 

and bad insofar as they call up opposing or 

incongruous suggestions. (See allegory, mixed 

metaphor, simile and metaphor, and such individual 

entries as lay it on with a trowel, literally, 

ceiling, bottleneck, and so on.) 

metathesis. The plural is metatheses. 

metempsychosis. The plural is metempsychoses. 

meteorologist is one proficient in the science of 

the atmosphere and its phenomena, especially as 

they relate to the weather. One who studied 

meteors would be an astronomer. 

method; methodology. Mefhod is the orderly regulation 

of procedure in order to carry out a 

definite purpose. Methodology is a branch of 

logic that seeks to show how the abstract principles 

of a science may be used to gain knowledge. 

A method may thus be a specific application 

of methodology, but method and methodology 

are no more the same thing than a blow is 

a club. The use of methodology for method is 

common among social scientists, many of whom 

seem to have a great love of redundant syllables. 

meticulous; scrupulous; punctilious. Meticulous is 

derived from a Latin word meaning fearful or 

timid and kept this meaning in English up until 

the end of the seventeenth century. In 1535 a 

Scotch chronicler wrote Zf thou be meticulous 

and dare not see blood drawn. . . . By the beginning 

of the nineteenth century, however, it had 

become fixed as the designation of a particular 

manifestation of timidity: solicitude about minute 

details, minute and finical carefulness (He 

was meticulous about the appearance of his men, 

insisting that the very bows of their shoelaces 

should be of even length). It has now become 

a vogue word (“What strange charm,” Fowler 

demands, “makes this wicked word irresist-

ible . . .?I’) and is used on all occasions to denote 

an exacting attention to detail. 

Scrupulous and punctilious are really more 

suitable words unless one wishes to suggest that 

the attention to detail is motivated by timidity. 

A punctilious man is one who is attentive to nice 

points, especially in conduct, ceremony or proceeding, 

observing the forms of politeness and 

correct social usage with great exactness (The 

marshal of the faculties insisted on punctilious 

consideration of academic standing in assigning 

the various professors to their place in the commencement 

procession). A scrupulous man is 

one who is cautious for fear of erring, attaching 

great weight in his uneasiness to minute considerations, 

precise, rigorous (He was scrupulously 

honest, returning on one occasion to an astonished 

host a paper napkin which had been inadvertently 

packed among his things). 

metonymy is the rhetorical figure which expresses 

the name of a thing in terms of another which 

is a part of it or is associated with it. The use of 

the part for the whole used to be differentiated 

as synecdoche, but the distinction scarcely exists 

any more. 

This figure of speech may take the form of an 

effect for a cause or a cause for an effect, as in 

The pen is mightier than the sword where pen 

stands for that which has been written by the 

pen. The commonest form of metonymy is the 

sign for the thing signified, as a good table for 

satisfying fare, the chair for the presiding officer 

sitting in the chair, Shakespeare for Shakespeare’s 

works, the press for newspapers, Washington 

for the federal government, the scepter 

for sovereignty or the bottle for strong drink. 

metropolis. The plural is metropolises or metropoles. 

mettie. See metal. 

meum et tuum or, more often, meum and tuum, 

literallv “mine and thine.” is now a clichC when 

used ai a general term for private property or 

for the distinction between what is one’s own 

and what belongs to others. 

mews. From meaning cages for hawks, this word 

came to mean a group of stables. In the United 

States it usually means stables that have been 

made over into elegant living quarters. The word 

is ordinarily a singular but it may also be used as 

a plural, as in the mews of London. A double 

plural mewses occurs in an act of Parliament of 

1797 and so has at least that much standing. 

miasma. The plural is miasmas or miasmata, not 

miasmae. 

mice. See mouse. 

middle; midst. See center. 

Middle West; Middle Western; Midwest; Midwestern. 

Middle West is the preferred term to 

describe that region of the United States which 

is bounded on the east by the Allegheny Mountains, 

on the west by the Rocky Mountains, and 

on the south by the Ohio River and the southern 

boundaries of Missouri and Kansas. The preference 

is not overwhelming, however, and many, 

especially among the younger contemporary 

writers, seem to prefer Midwest. As adjectives, 

usage seems to favor Midwest and Midwestern 

over Middle West and Middle Western. The 

average inhabitant of this region is far more 

likely to call himself a Midwesterner than a 

Middle Westerner. 

midst. A generation ago many grammarians condemned 

the expression in our midst, on the 

grounds that there was no “true possession” 

here. They held that the only acceptable form 

was in the midst of us. The expression in our 

midst had been standard English since the time 

of Chaucer and there was no justification for 

limiting the genitive, or the possessive pronouns, 

to instances of “possession.” But the word midst 

does not seem to have survived the battle. In 

current English we say middle for things that 

actually have a midd!e, and among for collections 

that do not. 

midsummer madness, a quotation from Twelfth 

Night (III, iv, 61), as a term for the height of 

folly, is worn out. 

might. See may. 

might and main, with all one%. Might and main 

may once have had distinct meanings, such as 

skill and strength, but all memory of any such 

distinction has been forgotten and the phrase 

continues in use chiefly through inertia and the 

fatal fascination of alliteration. 

mighty; almighty. The word mighty was once very 

popular as an intensive, as in mighty glad to see 

you and mighty good of you to come. It was 

thoroughly respectable and much more forceful 

than the little word very. Although it is not 

heard as frequently today, it has an old-fashioned 

rather than a nonstandard tone. Some 

younger people use it half humorously, in imitation 

of their grandparents. 

Almighty was once also used as an intensive in 

this country, as in almighty smart, almighty 

quick. But this word was always questionable. It 

was used by strong men but not by ladies. Perhaps 

nobody was quite sure whether it was taking 

the name of God in vain or not. 

mile. Only the singular form mile should be used 

as part of a compound adjective qualifying a 

following noun, as in a ten-mile walk. The form 

with s is sometimes heard here, as in a ten-miles 

walk, but this is not literary English. 

Except in this one position, the singular mile 

should not be used in speaking of more than one 

mile. It sometimes is used in place of miles after 

a numeral, as in we live ten mile from here. This 

construction was literary English two hundred 

years ago, but it is not now standard. 

militate. See mitigate. 

milk of human kindness. Lady Macbeth feared 

that Macbeth was too full of the milk of human 

kindness to catch the nearest way to the crown 

by murdering his liege lord and benefactor. Her 

term for humanity or pity, unsurpassed in its 

original context, is now hackneyed. 

mill. In both England and America mill. as a 

transitive verb,-has a meaning consistent with 

its primary meaning as a noun; that is, it means 

to grind, work, treat, or shape in or with a mill 

(In Minneapolis wheat from the prairie states is

millermy 300 

milled). In America only, mill is also used intransitively 

to mean to move confusedly in a 

circle, as a herd of cattle (She sat on, watching 

the other miners’ wives mill and chafe against 

the barriers. The crowd was milling in the street, 

but it seemed good natured and the police were 

having no dificulty controlling it), 

millenary; millinery. Millenary, as an adjective, 

means consisting of or pertaining to a thousand, 

especially a thousand years, or pertaining to the 

millennium. As a noun it means an aggregate of 

a thousand, a millennium, or a millenarian (a 

believer in the millennium). Millinery, a much 

commoner word, is a noun designating articles 

made or sold by milliners, as hats and accessories, 

or the trade of a milliner. 

millennium. The mural is millenniums or millennia. 

- 

million was originally a noun and was followed 

by of, as in a million of thanks. Today the singular 

form million is treated as a cardinal number. 

That is, it is an adjective and used without of, as 

in fifty million Frenchmen, except when it refers 

to part of a specified group, as in two million of 

these men. An expression involving million is 

usually treated as a plural, as in three million 

pencils were sold, but it may also be treated as 

a singular, especially when referring to money, 

as in three million dollars was set aside. 

The plural form millions cannot be qualified 



in millions of dollars; the of is omitted only before 

a degree word such as more, less, too many, 

as in millions more dollars. 


as in a few million dollars; many usually takes 

the noun construction, as in many millions of 

dollars. But either form may be used with either 

word. 

mince matters. One of the earlier meanings of 

mince, now obsolete, was to nullify some statement, 

usually a condemnatory one, by cutting it 

up with petty exceptions. Hence not to mince 

matters was to refuse to do this, to come to the 

unpleasant point directly without dwelling on 

extenuations (These were hard sayings, but men 

did not mince matters in those days). The phrase 

is now timeworn. 

mind. When this is a verb meaning care about, it 

may be followed by the -ing form of a verb, as 

in she doesn’t mind being late, but not by an 

infinitive. We do not say she doesn’t mind to be 

late. Mind in this sense is often followed by a 

that clause, as in she doesn’t mind that she is 

lure. This construction is condemned by some 

grammarians who claim that an it, or the fact, 

is necessary, as in she doesn’t mind it that she’s 

lute, but the sentence without it is acceptable in 


At one time mutter was used as a verb in just 

the way we now use mind, as in he mattered not 

whether he went and if it had not been out of 

doors, I had not mattered it so much. Today this 

verb matter is used only in an impersonal construction, 

as in it doesn’t matter and a personal 

subject always requires mind, as in I don’t mind. 

When mind means remember it is followed 

by an infinitive, as in I mind to have seen him 

once, but this use of the word is now archaic or 

dialectal. When mind means obey, it is not followed 

by a verb form. 

mind. See mentality. 

mind to, have a. The use of mind in the sense of 

inclination, wish, desire, intention (Compound 

for sins they are inclin’d to,/ By damning those 

they have no mind to), is now archaic except 

in the phrases I’ve a mind to, I’ve a great mind 

to, or I’ve half a mind IO and these are cliches. 

All have the nature of threats, though the last is 

usually an admission that the threat will not be 

carried out. 

mind your P’s and Q’s, as an admonition to be 

careful, especially in matters of social deportment, 

is a cliche. 

In regard to its original meaning there has 

been much conjecture, with no really satisfying 

explanation. Some believe that it was a warning 

of schoolteachers to those learning to write the 

alphabet or of master printers to their apprentices 

in setting type. Some think it has to do with 

pints and quarts in the alehouse reckoning. Some 

think it was an injunction of French dancing 

masters to their charges, to mind their feet 

(pieds) and pigtails or wigs (queues). And some 

would have solicitous wives beseeching their 

husbands, especially if they were seamen who 

often tarred their pigtails (queues), not to soil 

their peajackets. The interpretation of linguistic 

obscurities, as Chaucer once drily remarked, “is 

a glorious art, certeyn.” 

mine. See my. 

miniature, as an adjective, should be restricted to 

mean on a very small scale (miniature golf 

course) or in a greatly reduced form (When 

what to my wondering eyes should appear,/ But 

a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer). It 

should not be used loosely as a mere synonym 

for small (as in She had to put up with a miniature 

kitchen and scarcely any closet space at all). 

minimize. See diminish. 

minimum. The plural is minimums or minima. 

minions of the law, as a term for members of the 

police force. is a dreary cliche. Minion means 

darling. Drake was spoken of as the Sea’s 

minion and St. John as Christ’s minion. Macaulay 

said that Pitt was the minion, the child, the 

spoiled child of the House of Commons. In applying 

the term to the police there may have 

been a feeling that in any dispute between a 

citizen and a policeman the courts would show 

favoritism to the police. Or-and more likely 

since the term carries a tinge of contempt-it 

may have been adopted because of the resemblance 

in sound between minion and menial. 

minister. See pastor. 

minority. In its commonest sense, minority is a 

number forming less than half the whole (Since 

the Liberal got 25 votes and the Conservative 40, 

the former’s supporters were obviously a minority). 

Minority may also be used to indicate the 

extent to which one group is exceeded by another 

(They were consoled that their minority 

was only 2). Minority serves also to describe a

smaller party or group opposed to a majority, 

as in voting or other action (The three dissenting 

Justices brought in a minority report). 

Finally, minority describes the state or period 

of being a minor or under legal age (Richard, 

in the minority of the princes, assumed the 

regency). 

minute; second; moment; instant. The distinction 

between these four words for indicating very 

brief periods of time is worth making even 

though it is frequently ignored in everyday 

speech. A minute is the sixtieth part of an hour 

and a second is the sixtieth part of a minute. The 

word second derives from the fact that the period 

of time is the result of the second sexagesima1 

division of the hour. A moment, unlike a 

minute or a second, is not mechanically measurable 

but is simply a very short, but indefinite, 

period of time. Instant, like moment, is not 

measurable. It describes not a period in time but 

a point in time now present, or present in reference 

to some action (the dying Edmund, in King 

Lear, hearing of the deaths of Regan and Goneril, 

says: Z was contracted to them both: all 

three/ Now marry in an instant). In speech all 

four words are used interchangeably in the sense 

of moment (Don’t wait! 1’11 catch up with you 

in a moment [or minute or instant or second]). 

minutia. The plural is minutius or minutiae. 

mirabile ditto for “strange to say” or “marvellous 

to relate” is a cliche. It was already a worn 

phrase in the time of Cicero and Vergil. 

miracle. See marvel. 

mirth. See glee. 

miscarriage of justice. To refer to some decision 

or sentence that does not happen to please us as 

a miscarriage of justice or, more often and 

worse, a grave miscarriage of justice is to employ 

a phrase worn out by overuse. 

miserly. See economical. 

mishap; accident. Although the primary meaning 

of accident is now an undesirable or unfortunate 

happening, the word still retains its earlier meaning 

of something that happens unexpectedly, 

without design, by chance (I was there by accident). 

Mishap describes an unfortunate accident 

(It wus a mishap that the letter should have been 

delivered to that particular wrong address) but 

usually something less serious than an accident. 

Accident, within the past thirty years in 

America, has come to mean automobile accident. 

If it is said that so-and-so was killed in an accident, 

it would now be assumed that it was an 

automobile accident unless otherwise specified. 

misplace. See displace. 

misremember; forget. As a synonym for forget, 

misremember is dialectal (Ah misremembered 

to get d’ cuwn pone). Its standard meaning is 

to remember incorrectly (He misremembered 

and brought jam instead of jelly). 

Mtss. This word used as a title before a woman’s 

name is not an abbreviation and should not be 

followed by a period. It is a shortened form of 

the word mistress and in current English implies 

that the woman is unmarried. 

In speaking of two women known as Miss 

Bonn we say the Miss Banns. If the women are 

301 mistaken 

distinguished by their given names, the word 

Miss must be made plural, as in the Misses 

Susie and Laura Bonn. In the United States the 

plural Misses is seldom used before a single 

name, as in the Misses Bonn, and many people 

consider this form affected. 

The word Miss should not be used before a 

name that is followed by letters representing an 

academic degree, such as B.A. or M.A. 

In Great Britain the word Miss is no longer 

used as a form of address but this is still acceptable 

in the United States. In some parts of this 

country children address their teachers as Miss. 

When the word is used by adults alone without a 

proper name, it implies that the person spoken 

to is young. It may be used by saleswomen as a 

form of flatterv. When used bv the villarre elders 

it is a mild rebuke, or a reminder of the-inferior 

status of the young. Miss could once be used 

without a name in speaking about a young 

woman, as in with a boarding school miss for a 

wife, but this is no longer standard. 

miss and lose can both mean to be unsuccessful, 

to fail to accomplish something (By not being 

there he missed his chance. By not being there 

he lost his chance). In modern usage, however, 

lose is the stronger word, suggesting a failure 

that is permanent rather than one of only transitory 

significance (Zf you miss this opportunity, 

you may lose the chance of the appointment). 

mistake. The past tense is mistook. The participle 

is mistaken. 

When this verb has an object, it may be used 

in an active form, as in Z mistook your meaning. 

When it does not have an object it is always 

used in a passive form with active meaning, as 

in 1 was mistuken and unless we are mistaken. 

An active form here, such as Z mistook or unless 

we mistake, is unidiomatic and ludicrous. It 

suggests that the speaker is unfamiliar with modern 

English usage or that he has appointed himself 

to remake the language. 

mistake; error; fallacy. Mistake and error are frequently 

(and pardonably) interchanged, though 

they are different in emphasis. A mistuke is an 

error in action, opinion or judgment caused by 

bad judgment or a disregard of rule or principle 

(He mude a mistake in taking mathemutics at 

all). An error is an unintentional wandering or 

deviation from accuracy or right conduct (He 

made an error in multiplication which ended the 

usefulness of his navieutionul mot). A fuhucv is 

a deceptive, misleading, or false ‘deduction- or 

belief (Zt is a fallacy to hold that since all horses 

are quadrupeds all quadrupeds are horses. It is 

a fallacy to think that because every fallacy involves 

a mistake or an error, all mistakes and 

errors ure fallacies). 

mistaken; misunderstood. Z was mistuken means 

“I made a mistake,” “I was in the wrong,” “I 

was in error.” The proper phrase for “I was improperly 

interpreted” is Z was misunderstood. 

Some grammarians have maintained that the 

participial adjective mistaken must mean misunderstood 

in the sense of being taken amiss or 

miss taken. But one will avoid ambiguity and 

confusion if he confines mistaken to “wrongly

mistreat 302 

conceived or done,” and he will be following the 

best usage. 

mistreat; maltreat. To mistreat is to treat badly 

or wrongly. The word suggests a deviation from 

some accepted norm of treatment and a deviation 

always towards the bad. To maltreat, to 

abuse, to handle roughly or cruelly, is to mistreat 

in a special way. The words are often used 

interchangeably (Horwill believes that Americans 

prefer mistreat and English maltreat) but 

maltreat is usually restricted to the rougher 

forms of mistreating. A doctor who was a cruel 

man, a bad husband, and an incompetent physician 

might maltreat his dog, mistreat his wife, 

and treat his patients improperly. Mistreatment 

used to cover what is now called malpractice. 

Bulwer-Lytton speaks (1862) of certain unhappy 

patients who died from being mistreated 

for consumption. Today we would say from being 

improperly treated or from being given an 

improper treatment. If we said that a doctor 

mistreated his patients, we would most likely be 

understood to mean that he was rough with them 

or discourteous or charged them excessive fees. 

mitigate; militate. To mitigate is to make milder 

or more endurable, to assuage, moderate, or alleviate 

something unpleasant (The smile that 

accompanied it mitigated the severity of the lecture. 

Her gentle stroking seemed to mitigate the 

pain). To militate is to operate against or in 

favor of something, to have effect or influence 

on, favorably or unfavorably (These arguments 

militate strongly against the fulfillment of his 

hopes. His frank confession certainly militates 

in his favor). The word is more often used in 

negative than in positive contexts. 

Mitigate is sometimes used for militate (as 

in I do not think these accusations ought to 

mitigate against him). This is simply an error. 

mixed metaphor. A metaphor is said to be a 

mixed metaphor when its several parts cancel 

each other out or call up incongruous images 

and thoughts. There is nothing wrong in merely 

mixing a metaphor, in combining, that is, in one 

comparison elements from several different 

things that have a likeness. The mind is fully 

capable of perceiving the common element in 

the comparison. The fault in what is usually 

recognized as a mixed metaphor is that the mixture 

is bad. The effect of a metaphor has been 

compared to that of a stone dropped into a large 

body of water. As the first splash of the stone 

sets up an ever widening series of concentric 

circles, so the primary comparison of the metaphor 

sets up a series of associative comparisons, 

widening out into other aspects and qualities of 

the things compared. And if any of these are 

grossly inapplicable to the primary comparison 

the effect may be ludicrous, and what was intended 

to arouse the reader or listener to a fuller 

comprehension of the idea may divert him to 

laughter or direct him to a conclusion wholly 

different from the one hoped for. 

To take an everyday example, consider the 

appropriateness of the name Old Ivory as applied 

to a shade of household enamel that has a 

color approximately the same as that of old 

ivory. It’s a good name not merely because it 

conveys an accurate idea of its color but because 

old ivory has other qualities that are desirable 

in an enamel. It is hard and smooth, for of 

course the ordinary person has never seen a 

piece of old ivory except in polished objects of 

art. And this, too, has its effect, for Old Ivory 

brings up associations of luxury and wealth and 

beauty. These things, of course, are not produced 

by an enamel, however well made or 

applied, but they are part of the dreams that lead 

us to decorate our houses and repaint old furniture. 

Now Pale Custard would convey an idea 

of the color just as well. But it would be a singularly 

inappropriate name for an enamel because 

people don’t want to spread custard on 

their walls and furniture, and the associative 

ideas of mess and stickiness are the very things 

one does not want in an enamel. Furthermore 

there is nothing dignified or splendid about custard. 

There is no use saying that the name is 

intended only to suggest the color, that the can 

contains neither ivory nor custard and the purchaser 

knows it. The mind cannot be restricted 

to only one part of a thing in a comparison. 

Mixing a metaphor is no indication of illiteracy. 

The greatest writers have done it. Thus 

Addison, in his poem Letter from Italy, says 

that, fired with excitement at the mention of a 

certain name, 

I bridle in my struggling Muse with pain, 

That longs to luunch into a nobler strain. 

Of which Dr. Johnson remarked: “To bridle a 

goddess is no very delicate idea; but why must 

she be bridled? Because she longs to launch; an 

act which was never hindered by a bridle: and 

whither will she launch? into a nobler strain. 

She is in the first line a horse, in the second a 

boat; and the care of the poet is to keep his horse 

or his boat from singing.” Nor is Addison alone 

in such blunders. Congreve, in what he thought 

to be a very fine passage, refers to Melancholy 

as sitting on an ancient sigh. Tennyson’s description 

of the new moon as like the paring of a 

lady’s fingernail doesn’t seem as poetic to the 

modern reader as it did to the author. Nor does 

Dryden’s conception of the serous matter exuded 

by the pustules of smallpox as the disease’s 

tears of repentance for “the fault . . . it did commit.” 

Longfellow’s famous assurance that lives 

of great men all remind us we can make our 

lives sublime and, departing, leave behind us 

footprints on the sands of time seems unfortunate 

to the modern reader because his image 

makes human example and fame not permanent 

but ephemeral. Instead of being moved to high 

endeavor, one wonders whether it is worth making 

much of an effort when all remembrance of 

us will be swept away by the next tide in the 

affairs of men. And in addition it is a faintlv 

ludicrous image in that it calls up thoughts oi 

Robinson Crusoe and Man Friday. 

The following half dozen or so mixed metaphors, 

all taken from actual publications or

public speeches in which they were presented 

seriously, may be instructive as well as amusing: 

Crime has within it the cancer which may well 

be the thin entering wedge leading to the destruction 

of society if it be not always kept on 

the shortest possible leash. 

When you boil it right down to brass tacks.. . . 

The Council was still putting its house in order 

and he was anxious that they should not 

change horses crossing the stream, while there 

was so much spadework to be done. 

When you are in a fight, you can’t be too particular 

about whom you get in bed with. 

However, as far as the main plum was concerned, 

Hitler was shutting the stable door 

after the horse had escaped. 

The admiral warned the Japanese people that 

what they are now hearing is only the distant 

rumbling of the handwriting on the wall. 

This interpretation of Hamlet’s madness adds 

meat to the very foundations of the play. 

There is not an iota of truth in such a thing. 

It is a deliberate attempt by the Democrats to 

throw a dust cloud when they know their ship 

is sinking. 

Occasionally an author uses a bad metaphor 

on purpose. So P. G. Wodehouse’s The raspberry 

was not actually present, but he seemed to hear 

the beating of its wings or Ring Lardner’s He 

give her a look that you could have poured on a 

waffle or Samuel Butler’s And like a lobster 

boiled, the morn/ From black to red began to 

turn. But these are rather good jokes than bad 

metaphors. 

mixer for one who is sociable and mixes easily 

with other people at social gatherings is a slang 

term. (He was a good mixer. He just naturally 

loved cocktail parties, community picnics, and 

other neighborly get-togethers). 

mob is a disorderly or riotous assemblage of persons. 

An abbreviation of mobile vulgus (the 

movable-that is, excitable--common people), 

the word was for a long time slang but is now 

standard. It is wrong, however, to use it of any 

large gathering (as in The mob was peaceable 

and hot and happy and fanned itself and perspired 

and lay apathetic on the beaches and the 

grassy hummocks). To be a mob the crowd must 

be excited, disorderly, and dangerous. 

mode or mood. In many languages, a verb has 

different forms depending on the speaker’s attitude 

toward what is saicl. These are called modes 

or moods. English has three modes, the indicative, 

the subjunctive, and the imperative. The 

indicative is the form used in speaking about 

actual events or facts and is by far the most 

common of the three. In this book, statements 

about a verb always refer to the indicative form 

unless one of the other modes is specifically 

mentioned. The subjunctive is the mode used in 

speaking about ideas or thoughts in contrast to 

facts. (See subjunctive mode.) The imperative 

303 modest 

is the mode used in expressing one’s will, as 

in commands and requests. (See imperative 

mode.) 

model. See ideal. 

moderate and modest are synonymous in the 

meaning of not excessive, extreme, or intense; 

or of medium quantity, extent, and so on. There 

would be little to choose between moderate talent, 

say, and modest talent. In regard to prices 

and especially fees, however, moderate has the 

suggestion of reasonable, within due limits, not 

exorbitant, while modest suggests something 

quite low. A moderate demand is a fair and 

reasonable demand. A modest demand is a demand 

far less than might have been reasonably 

made. A moderate allowance would be sufficient 

to meet all normal expenses, as much as most 

other boys got; a modest allowance would be 

smaller than the average, one that required care 

and a little self-denial to make do. 

Modest has the special application to persons 

of showing a humble estimate of one’s own 

merits, being free from vanity or boastfulness. 

Moderate has the special application to persons 

of being reasonable, fair-minded, temperate, not 

excessive in speech or demands. 

There is a tendency to qualify both words 

with adverbs of superlative degree (a very modest 

demand, all thinp considered: He has taken 

an extremely mode-rate attitude and is to be 

commended). Since their meaning is “between 

extremes,” such a qualification is illogical, but it 

is understandable when modest is thought of as 

meaning humble or small and moderate as meaning 

conciliatory. The tendency is so strong that 

the qualification probably has to be accepted as 

idiomatic. 

modern; modernistic. Although modern and modernistic 

are given as synonyms in most dictionaries, 

it is always better to employ modern when 

the meaning is simply of or pertaining to present 

or recent time, not antiquated or obsolete. Modernistic 

is ponderous if only modern is meant 

and in addition it has special meanings which 

may produce ambiguity or convey an idea different 

from the one intended. It can, for instance, 

mean of or pertaining to modernism, a movement 

in the Roman Catholic Church condemned 

by Pope Pius in 1907. And in design it can refer 

to a short-lived exaggerated style that was popular 

in the Twenties and Thirties but is now out 

of fashion. 

modest; diffident; shy; bashful; shamefaced; coy. 

One is modest who is free from vanity or egotism, 

free from ostentation or showy extravagance, 

with a humble estimate of his own merits. 

One is diffident who lacks confidence in his own 

abilities, mistrusts himself (Distress makes the 

humble heart diffident). One is shy who shrinks 

from asserting himself, is sensitively timid, has 

a dislike, almost amounting to panic, of being 

conspicuous or being compelled to make any 

public appearance. A modest man is not necessarily 

diffident. He may have a humble estimation 

of his own merits but be quite willing to 

undertake anything that he thinks lies within his

molasses 304 

powers. Nor are the shy necessarily modest. A 

man may shrink from asserting himself or from 

being conspicuous and yet entertain an exaggerated 

conception of his own abilities and worth. 

One is bashful who is modest to excess, who 

is easily put to confusion (Come, you pernicious 

ass, you bashful fool, must you be blushing?). 

Shamefaced (a corruption of shamefast) is a 

synonym for bashful. Coy, which until very recently 

meant only modest, shy, or bashful, now 

is used almost entirely to mean affectedly shy, 

displaying a modest backwardness in order to be 

enticed. 

molasses has a plural form and is used with a 

plural verb in parts of western United States. In 

the eastern states and in England it is treated as 

a singular. In either case it is a mass noun and 

cannot be used with words implying number. 

mold is now the standard American spelling for all 

three words-a hollow matrix for giving a particular 

shape to something in a molten or plastic 

state, a growth of minute fungi forming on vegetable 

or animal matter, and loose, friable earth. 

Mould is recognized as a variant spelling for 

each of the words and is the preferred spelling 

in England. The three words, by the way, have 

no etymological connections. 

molten is an old participle corresponding to 

melted. It is no longer used in verb forms but 

survives as an adjective. We always say melted 

when we are speaking about things that melt 

easily, such as butter or snow, but we sometimes 

say molten in speaking about things that are 

more difficult to liquefy, such as gold or glass. 

Even here we are likely to say melted when we 

are being businesslike. Lavn is always molten, 

never melted, perhaps because we never have 

any occasion to talk about lava in a businesslike 

way. 

moment. See minute. 

momentary; momentous. That is momentary 

which lasts but a moment or occurs at any moment 

(There wus a momentary thrill of exultation 

at the news, but it faded when he thought of 

his mother. He lived in momentary expectation 

of death). That is momentous which is of great 

importance or consequence, fraught with serious 

and far-reaching consequences (Henry knew that 

his resolve to break with the church was a momentous 

decision). 

momentary aberration, as a term for a temporary 

fit of inattention or forgetfulness, a sudden violent 

and irrational state wholly uncharacteristic, 

is a clich6. 

momentum. The plural is momentums or momenta. 

monastic and monkish both mean of or pertaining 

to or characteristic of monks, but monkish is 

almost always depreciatory (monastic vows, the 

monastic life, monkish and crabbed learning). 

Monastic also means of or pertaining to monasteries 

(monastic architecture). 

money. This is a mass word and in its ordinary 

sense does not have a plural. In literary English 

the plural form moneys is considered unacceptable 

and is used in place of money only when a 

writer wants to suggest Shylock. 

The plural form may properly be used in 

speaking of different coinages or issues, as in the 

moneys of several countries. It is sometimes used 

in financial reports to mean different sums of 

money. Here it has a pseudo-archaic flavor. The 

romantic effect is sometimes heightened by the 

obsolete spelling monies. 

monkey plays a larger part in the American 

vocabulary than in the British. Monkey with, to 

meddle with, or play with idly, is in widespread 

colloquial use in America but unknown in England. 

Monkeyshine, a mischievous or clownish 

trick, is American slang. In British slang monkey 

means five hundred pounds. 

monologue. See dialogue. 

monopoly. In American usage it is standard to 

speak of a monopoly on something (The Government 

is granting General Motors virtually n monopoly 

on certain classes of military vehicles). In 

British usage, it is a monopoly of. 

monsieur. The plural is messieurs. 

Monsignor. The plural is Monsignors or Monsignori. 

monstrous. Though monstrous is a synonym for 

huge (What a monstrous liar he is, to tell us 

these fantastic stories!), the word is not properly 

restricted to size alone. There must be a suggestion 

of the unnatural, frightful, hideous, or wondrous 

in the great size or bigness it designates. 

To say That was a monstrous sum of money to 

spend in less than two years implies that the 

speaker is not only impressed but also shocked 

by the bigness of the amount spent. 

mood. See mode. 

moonlight and moonlit both mean illuminated by 

the light of the moon. Moonlit is the more 

poetic and less used of the two. One might refer 

to a moonlit scene or a moonlit night but where 

the adjective is at all established in a phrase, as 

Moonlight Cruise, Moonlight Sonata, it is moonlight. 

The noun is always moonlight. 

moose. The plural is moose. See elk. 

moot point. In Saxon times a moot was an assembly 

of the people, especially an assembly that 

served as a court. There were folk moots and 

hall moots and burg moots and hundred moots 

and many other kinds of moots. But, except for 

historical references, this meaning faded away 

in the thirteenth century. In the sixteenth century, 

however, the word was adopted at the Inns 

of Court, the great law colleges in London, as a 

term for the discussion of a hypothetical case by 

students, just for the fun or practice of it. Hence 

moot came to have its modern meaning of subject 

to argument or discussion. As a term for a 

debatable point, and as a way of saying that 

there is evidence or there are valid arguments 

against some dogmatic statement that has just 

been made, a moot point is now hackneyed. 

moral; morale; morals. Moral is an adjective 

meaning pertaining to or concerned with right 

conduct or the distinction between right and 

wrong (It is not merely a matter of expediency: 

there is a moral issue here). 

Morale, a noun, was borrowed from the 

French during World War I. It means the mental 

condition in respect to confidence and cheerful-

ness (Despite these dreadful suflerings, the morale 

of the soldiers remained high. Unle,rs there 

could be some assurance of increased pay, faculty 

morale, already low, would collapse). 

The lesson to be learned from a story or an 

event is a moral, and in this sense the word has 

both a singular and a plural form. But only the 

plural form can be used to mean a standard of 

conduct, (See also ethics.) In this sense the 

word is treated as a plural, as in his morals are 

questionable, but it is not a true plural and cannot 

be used with a word implying number. 

moral victory. As a consolatory phrase for a 

defeat which the defeated or his friends feel to 

have been an ethical victory or at least to have 

afforded an opportunity for displaying the righteousness 

of his cause, a moral victory is a cliche. 

moratorium. The plural is moratoriums or moratoria. 

more. This is the comparative form of the words 

much and many. 

The adjective more first meant “a greater 

amount of,” and in this sense it is always treated 

as a singular, as in more sugar and there is 

more in the kitchen. But in the last two or three 

hundred years more has also come to mean 

“a greater number of,” and in this sense is 

treated as a plural, as in more chairs and there 

are more in the dining room. In both senses, 

more may be used as if it were a noun, as in the 

examples just given. More may also be used as 

an adverb meaning “to a greater extent.” It may 

qualify a verb, as in he is sleeping more, or a 

phrase, as in more at a loss. But its principal 

function as an adverb is to qualify adjectives 

and adverbs, making what is equivalent to a 

comparative form, as in more happy, more unusual, 

more quickly. See comparison of adjectives 

and adverbs. 

The word more may be qualified by a measure 

term which tells how much more, as a lot in a lot 

more work, a lot more men. These words are 

often nouns, as the word lot is, and would ordinarily 

require the word of before another noun, 

as in a lot of work, a lot of men. The word of 

disappears when the word more is used, because 

the measure term is then no longer standing in a 

noun relation to the following noun but is functioning 

as an adverb of degree and qualifies the 

adjective more. 

In more writers than one have said, the adjective 

more qualifies the plural noun writers, 

which is the subject of the plural verb have. But 

in more than one writer has said, the phrase 

more than is a compound adverb qualifying the 

adjective one. The subject of the sentence is the 

singular noun writer, which requires the singular 

verb has. This is one of the rare exceptions to 

the rule that the number of an English verb is 

determined by the meaning of the subject rather 

than by its grammatical form. 

more honored in the breach than the observance. 

There was formerly a custom (still preserved on 

formal occasions in at least one of the Oxford 

colleges) of sounding trumpets when some special 

toast was to be drunk at a banquet. In those 

nations that prized heavy drinking as a virtue, 

305 moron 

carousing was accompanied with a great deal of 

noise. The usurper Claudius, in Hamlet, is a 

heavy drinker and his drinkings, since he is the 

king, are signalized not only by the sound of 

trumpets but by the roll of drums (as the wine 

went down) and even the discharge of ordnance 

(as it was seen that his majesty had drained his 

flagon to the bottom). Hamlet and Horatio, 

waiting on the icy battlements of Elsinore for 

the appearance of the ghost, hear the tumultuous 

uproar of the royal wassailing in the banquet 

hall below and Horatio, astonished, asks what it 

means. Hamlet, who hates his uncle and loathes 

him for his drunkenness, explains what is going 

on. Horatio asks if it is a custom. Hamlet says 

that it is and adds that although he was born 

there and is used to it it is, in his opinion, a 

custom / More honour’d in the breach than the 

observance since such swinish goings on have 

gained the whole Danish nation the reputation 

of drunkards and soiled the glory of their true 

achievements. 

What Hamlet is saying, then, as the context 

makes plain, is that although old customs should 

be honored by being observed, this particular 

custom is so dishonorable that it would be more 

honorable not to observe it than to observe it. 

Had he only used “honorable” instead of “honour’d” 

here, he would have saved a great deal 

of ink and argument. 

A paradox confusedly worded has an immense 

appeal. It seems oracular, cryptic, darkly wise. 

This phrase has been worn to shreds by generations 

of the sententious. 

more in sorrow than (in) anger. It was Hamlet’s 

father’s ghost that, magnanimous under the circumstances, 

showed a countenance more in sorrow 

than in anger. The phrase is now used almost 

entirely ironically by the wits and is stilted and 

hackneyed. 

more than meets the eye. As a way of saying that 

there is more in some situation than is immediately 

apparent, there is more to it than meets the 

eye is a cliche. 

more the merrier. As a term of welcome to an 

extra, often an unexpected, guest, or just as an 

addition to the general gaiety, the more the merrier 

is hackneyed. In this particular instance that 

fact might be an incentive rather than a deterrent 

to its use, since in the early forcing stages of 

conviviality one seeks not to distinguish himself 

but to submerge himself in the group, to show 

that “the gang’s all here,” not a collection of precise-speaking 

individuals. 

The full form of the proverb is The more the 

merrier; the fewer the better fare. 

Mormons. Although the members of the church 

founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 accept the appellation 

of Mormons, they are, properly, members 

of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-dav 

Saints, and as such their organization should be 

described in all formal writing. 

moron was originally a term coined by psychologists 

to designate a person of arrested intelligence, 

judged incapable of mental development 

beyond the stage of an eight- to twelve-year-old 

child. It is used loosely in popular speech to

Morpheus 306 

mean a stupid person (Any moron would know 

enough not to give his right name) and has become 

a term in the more sensational newspapers 

for a sex pervert (Moron strikes again. Removing 

shrubbery and lagoons will not improve the 

morals of a moron). This last use is not standard 

and should be discouraged if only because it 

helps to obscure a serious social problem. 

Morpheus, in the arms of. To refer to being 

asleep as being in the arms of Morpheus is to 

employ a strained and tedious expression. It is a 

pedantic observation, though the affectation of 

the usual reference to Morpheus justifies it, but 

Morpheus was not the god of sleep. He was the 

shaper of dreams. His father, Hypnos, was the 

god of sleep. 

mortal. In addition to its standard meanings of 

liable to death or pertaining to man as subject to 

death or pertaining to death or to this world, 

mortal has a number of meanings in America, 

none of which are found in literary English. It 

means long and wearisome (She held me there 

three mortal hours, going into the details of her 

various ailments), great (He was in a mortal 

hurry), and possible or conceivable (The thing 

was of no mortal rrse). The last of these is probably 

an extension of its standard meaning of 

“related to this world in which all living things 

are mortal.” That is, “It is of no use in this 

world.” 

Moses, as meek as. We don’t hear As meek as 

Moses as much as we used to, but the conservative 

force of alliteration still keeps it alive. 

The phrase is a cliche and seemingly a contradiction. 

We are assured in Numbers 12:3 that 

the man Moses was very meek, above all the 

men which were upon the face of the earth. But 

his actions hardly bear this out. He killed the 

Egyptian taskmaster, he destroyed Pharaoh’s 

host. he smashed the tablets of the Ten Commandments, 

he literally forced the golden calf 

down the throats of the backsliders, he instigated 

the slaying of about three thousand Israelites 

as a disciplinary measure and smote the 

rock which God had commanded him merely to 

speak to. 

All of this may indicate a vigor of character 

inseparable from his powers of leadership but it 

doesn’t accord with any known definition of 

meekness. The commentators have striven manfully 

with the passage, though their task has been 

the more difficult in that until quite recently it 

was assumed that Moses himself had written it 

and it is hard to reconcile the possession of 

meekness with so unequivocal a declaration of 

it. The Bishops and Clergy of the Anglican 

Church (in 1888) saw in Moses’ account of his 

own humility “the simplicity of one who bears 

witness of himself” and felt that his engaging 

frankness in the matter “especially manifested 

the direction of the Holv Spirit.” Weedon 

felt that since this particular virtue of the prophet’s 

might otherwise have escaped our attention 

we had cause to be grateful to him for setting 

false modesty aside and pointing it out to us. 

The Cambridge Bible sought to resolve the 

difficulty by suggesting that meek was here to be 

understood in the sense of “pious,” though they 

admitted that the suggestion offered “serious 

difficulty,” not the least of which was that no 

dictionary recognized any such sense. 

Then in 1941, speaking before the annual 

meeting of the Oriental Society, Professor 0. 

R. Sellers, Professor of Old Testament at the 

Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Chicago, 

pointed out that meek was a mistranslation of 

the Hebrew word that would be better rendered 

as vexed, put out, or irritable. 

most; mostly. Most is the superlative form of the 

words much and many. 

The adjective most may mean greatest in 

amount and qualify a singular noun, as in the 

most power. It may also mean greatest in number 

or nearly all and qualify a plural noun, as in 

most men. It may be used in both senses as if 

it were a noun, as in the most he could give was 

ten dollars and most of his friends are awav. In 

England the article the is no longer used before 

most when it has a plural sense and the use of 

the in a construction of this kind is considered a 

Scotch idiom. In the United States the is not 

used when most means nearly all but it is still 

used when most means the greatest number, as 

in the most were on my side. 

The suffix -most is added to certain nouns and 

adjectives to form superlative adjectives indicating 

position, as in topmost, bottommost, furthermost, 

innermost. 

Most is also used as an adverb and means to 

the greatest extent or in the highest degree, as 

in he works most. It may be used before an 

adjective or adverb to make what is equivalent 

to a superlative form, as in most extraordinary, 

most quickly. (See comparison of adjectives 

and adverbs.) It may also be used in this position 

as a pure intensive, or a stronger form of 

very, as in it was most convincing and a most 

wholesome meal. It always has this intensive 

force when it follows the article a rather than 

the article the. 

In standard English most is not used freely as 

an adverb with the meaning of nearly or almost. 

It cannot be used in this sense to qualify a verb, 

as in he most won, or before the article the, as 

in he is most the richest man I know. But it is 

used in this sense to qualify the adjective-pronouns 

all, everyone, everybody, anyone, anybody, 

and the one adverb always, as in most anyone 

would say and we most always go shopping 

on Saturday. Some grammarians claim that most 

used in the sense of almost is always unacceptable. 

But there is no doubt that these forms are 

acceptable spoken English in the United States. 

They are heard everywhere. And there is no 

theoretical, or grammatical, reason why most 

should not be used in this way. 

The adverb mostly could once be used interchangeably 

with the adverb most. The two words 

may still be used in the same positions but they 

now mean different things. Mostly means in the 

main or on the whole, as in their homes are 

mostly shabby. The adverb most, on the other

hand, means in the highest degree or extremely, 

as in their homes are most shabby. 

motion pictures; moving pictures; movies; cinema. 

Motion picture has completely triumphed over 

moving picture for all dignified uses (The Motion 

Picture Industry, the educational v&e of 

motion pictures). Movie and movies are universally 

used in the United States colloquially for a 

single motion picture or a number of them or the 

industry as a whole (There’s a good movie on at 

the Teatro. I don’t see many movies. She went 

out to Hollywood and tried to get inlo the 

movies). Cinema in British usage designates the 

building in which motion pictures are exhibited. 

In America it is a highbrow word for motion 

pictures collectively, especially when considered 

from an artistic point of view. The very people 

who speak of the art of the cinema would, however, 

probably refer to the social effect of motion 

pictures. 

motive; motif; leitmotif. A motive is an incentive, 

something that prompts a person to act 

(Vanity is the motive of many acts that seem 

motiveless), or the goal or object of a person’s 

actions (His motive was revenge). A motif is a 

subject or theme for development or treatment 

in art, literature, or music (The motif of Lycidas 

may be said to be the fear of unfulfillment), or a 

distinctive figure in a design, as of wallpaper 

(The motif was a cluster of blue roses on a pink 

trellis). A motif may thus be a motive. It may be 

that which motivates the work of art. But no 

other motive is a motif. A leitmotif (sometimes 

spelled leitmotiv, since it was originally a German 

word as motif was French), or leading motif, 

to translate it from German into English by 

way of French, is a motif or theme associated 

throughout a musical drama with a particular 

person, situation, or idea. 

motive; inducement; incentive. A motive is something 

that prompts a person to act in a certain 

way, that determines volition (The desire to be 

accepted as a member of the group is said to be 

a strong motive in human behavior). It is applied 

chiefly to an inner urge that moves or 

prompts to action (The biographer is on dangerous 

ground when he seeks to establish motives; 

the acts he knows, the reasons for them are often 

obscure). 

An inducement is not an inner urge ancl it is 

not usually a goal. It is, rather, used as a term 

for the opportunities which are offered by the 

acceptance of certain conditions (The chance to 

be near his parents was an added inducement to 

accepting the assignment). An inducement may 

be offered by one person to another or it may 

simply be an element in the situation. 

An incentive was formerly anything that inspired 

or stimulated the emotions or imagination 

(Incentive comes from the sortl’s self) but today 

it is applied chiefly to something offered as a 

reward, particularly to stimulate competitive effort 

(The incentive of the bonus can hardly be 

exaggerated). 

motto. See slogan. 

mould. See mold. 

307 MB. 

mountain out of a molehill. Almost every language 

has some proverbial expression for magnifying 

difficulties or grievances out of all proportion 

to their actual significance or making much 

ado about nothing. The Babylonian Talmud 

speaks of enlarging Yod (the smallest letter in 

the Hebrew alphabet) into a city. The Greeks, 

the French, and others call it making an elephant 

out of a Ay. Alliteration fixed the phrase in English 

as making a mountain out of a molehill. It 

was proverbial for centuries but has been so 

hackneyed for at least the past hundred years 

that it must now be classed as a cliche. 

mouse. The plural is mice. The singular mouse is 

the preferred form for the first element of a 

compound, as in mouse tracks, but the plural, as 

in mice tracks, is often heard and is also acceptable. 

moustache. See whiskers. 

move; motive; motivate. One of the established 

meanings of the verb to move is to cause to act 

or operate (And all the woe that moved him so/ 

That he gave that bitter cry . . . He was moved 

partly by charity and partly by a shrewd desire to 

save himself some money later on). The use of 

moiive as a verb, meaning to provide with a motive, 

was attempted (Emerson so used it) but it 

never became very popular. Motivate, however, 

the most recent enlargement, has become so 

popular within two or three generations of the 

time of its first introduction that it must be accepted 

as standard. But it is hard to see what 

advantage it has over move. 

move heaven and earth. As a figure for making 

every effort, doing everything in one’s power to 

accomplish some desired end, to move heaven 

and earth is a cliche. It should be used sparingly. 

mow. The past tense is mowed. The participle 

is mowed or mown. 

Mr. is an abbreviation for mister. The word is 

used only before a name and is always abbreviated. 

The plural of Mr. is Messrs. In speaking of 

more than one man known as Mr. Lohr, we say 

the Mr. Lohrs. But when we combine different 

names we must use the plural form Messrs., as in 

Messrs. Tavenner, Hamphries, and Newcomb. 

Mr. should not be used with any other title 

except honorable or reverend and should not be 

used before a name that is followed by letters 

representing an academic degree, such as B.A., 

M.A. 

Mister used without a proper name as a form 

of address is now extremely informal. The more 

acceptable word is sir. Mister is never used without 

a name in speaking about a man. If we do 

not know his name, we call him “the man.” 

Mrs. is an abbreviation for mistress. In current 

English it is used before the name of a married 

woman. Only the abbreviation is used. The word 

is never spelled out. 

There is no plural for Mrs. We may say the 

two Mrs. Bonns, but if we want to distinguish 

the women we must repeat the Mrs., as in Mrs. 

Philip and Mrs. Jerry Bonn. 

The form Mrs. should not be used with any

much 308 

other title, except possibly honorable or reverend, 

and should not be used before a name that 

is followed by letters representing an academic 

degree, such as B.A. or M.A. 

The word Mrs. or missus is never used without 

a proper name as a form of address. It is sometimes 

used in speaking about the woman of the 

house, as in the missus says, but this is usually 

intended as humor. When it is not, it is dialectal. 

Madam may be used in place of a woman’s 

name in speaking to her. But it should not be 

used without a name in speaking about her, as in 

madam said. And it should not be used to avoid 

saying you, as in does madam wish. In some 

department stores this construction is supposed 

to give a European or cosmopolitan air, but it 

is inferior English. 

A woman whose name one does not know 

may be referred to as the woman or rhe lady. 

Both words are acceptable, but well educated 

people usually prefer woman. See also madam; 

madame; ma’am. 

much. The comparative form is more. The superlative 

form is mosf. 

The word much may be used as an adjective, 

an adverb, or a noun. The adjective means a 

great amount of. It can be used only with a singular 

noun and only before the noun it qualifies, 

as in there is much beast and some devil in man. 

Much may also be used as a noun, as in much is 

forgiven and this is not much. The noun much 

is always singular. It is never qualified by the 

article a but it may be qualified by other definitive 

adjectives, as in this much is certain, and 

we have each given our little or our much. 

The adverb much means greatly or to a great 

extent. It is used freely to qualify verbs, as in 

he does not talk much, she complains much 

about her health. Until recently much was used 

to qualify the past participle of a verb used as 

an adjective after some form of the verb to be, 

as in he was much pleased, he was much 

amused, but today very is generally preferred 

in these constructions. (For a fuller discussion of 

this, see very.) Much may also be used to qualify 

a prepositional phrase, as in much at his 

ease, much on his own. 

Much is now limited in the kinds of adjectives 

and adverbs it can qualify. It can always be used 

with a word in the comparative form, as in it is 

much clearer, he reads much faster. It is used 

with the positive form of an adjective or adverb 

that is already qualified by some word implying 

degrees, as in much too fast. But it cannot be. 

used with the simple positive form of these 

words. We can no longer say much fast or much 

unkind. At one time such combinations were 

normaI English but much has here been replaced 

by very. Words such as inferior, superior, anterior, 

which are actually comparatives but do 

not have the English comparative form, may be 

used with either much or very. The word like 

may also be used with either word. We may say 

he is much like his father or he is very like his 

father. Some people whp would use very Bke in 

an affirmative statement feel that much like is 

required in a negative, as in he is not much like 

his father. But a great many more also use very 

in a negative statement. Much may qualify the 

article the, as in much the same, and in this way 

may precede the superlative form of an adjective 

or adverb, as in much the fastest. It may also 

qualify the article a, as in she was very much a 

lady. 

The combination much of may occur in severa1 

different constructions. In there is not much 

of it, the word much is a noun meaning a great 

amount and is being used in a normal noun construction. 

In they were much of an age, the word 

much is an adverb meaning to a great extent 

and qualifies the prepositional phrase of an age. 

In he was not much of a scholar, the word cannot 

be interpreted in either of these ways. Here 

the two words much of are being used as a single 

adverb meaning much. Some grammarians say 

that this is not literary English and that we should 

say not much a scholar. But in the United States 

much of is preferred to much in a negative statement 

of this kind. 

much in evidence is a wordy way of saying evident 

or conspicuous. 

muchly is an unnecessary adverbial form. It is 

permissible English but never means anything 

that would not be better expressed by much. 

much obliged. See oblige. 

mucilage is the American word for any of various 

preparations for causing adhesion, particularly 

of paper. In England the word is gum. 

mulatto. The plural is mulattoes. 

mulatto; half-breed; etc. A mulatto is the offspring 

of parents of whom one is white and the 

other a Negro. Half-breed is reserved in America 

for the offspring of a white person and an American 

Indian. A quadroon is a person who is onefourth 

Negro, the offspring of a mulatto and 

a white. An octoroon is a person having oneeighth 

Negro blood, the offspring of a quadroon 

and a white. All of these terms are now offensive. 

The last two are rarely encountered any 

more. 

A half-caste is a person of mixed European 

and Hindu or Mohammedan parentage. The 

word is disparaging. Eurasian, a word for one of 

mixed European and Asiatic parentage, was 

coined to take its place and it does have more 

dignity than half-breed or half-caste, but contempt 

will always show through and Eurasian is 

now also felt to be derogatory. Anglo-Indian was 

substituted by some as a further euphemism, but 

it is ambiguous since this term is (or was) applied 

formerly to an Englishman who had spent 

most of his life in India. 

All racial designations illustrate the difficulty 

underlying euphemism: contempt or disdain or 

dislike cannot be made acceptable to its victims 

by a mere change of words. See also creole and 

African. 

mulct is properly a fine (The state now receives 

those mulcts which formerly accrued to the sovereign) 

and to mulct means to levy a fine. Since 

most people who are fined feel that they have 

been unfairly dealt with, the word has come to

mean to deprive of by trickery (He was soon 

mulcted out of his inheritance). Purists have 

objected to this meaning, but it is a natural development 

and, in American usage at least, is 

now standard. 

mull. In British usage to mull is to make a mess 

of something, especially in athletics (B,ronson 

mulled a catch and Zpswich scored). 

In American usage to mull over is to ruminate, 

especially in an ineffective way (I like a 

little privacy and mulling things over by myself). 

The phrase is usually classified as questionable 

English but it is now so well established as to be 

standard. 

mumps. This word has a plural form and may be 

treated as a plural, as in mumps are cont(qious 

and he caught them from me. But it is more 

often treated as a singular, as in mumps is contagious 

and he caught it from me. Both constructions 

are acceptable. The form mumps is 

used as the first element in a compound, as in a 

mumps serum. 

mundane. See earthen. 

munitions; ammunition. In the seventeenth century 

these words meant the same thing and 

ammunition was simply a mistaken pronunciation 

of munition. Today the two word!s are 

slightly different in meaning and in grammatical 

form. Ammunition now means whatever is 

needed to discharge firearms, including the projectiles 

and munitions means these together with 

other materials of war. Both are mass words. 

Ammunition does not have a plural form and 

we speak of an ammunition dump. Munitions, 

on the other hand, is now used only in the 

plural form and we speak of a munitions ,plant. 

But we cannot use the word with a numeral or 

speak of many munitions. 

mural survives in British usage only as an adjective 

(mural tablets, mural decorations). It was 

formerly a noun in England, meaning a wall; but 

this meaning has been obsolete for four hundred 

years. The adjectival use is common in 

America but the word has been newly re-created 

as a noun meaning a mural painting (He did 

that fine set of murals in the college library. He 

painted historical murals for the MinnesotSa and 

Wisconsin capitols). 

murder. See homicide. 

mushroom. As a verb, to mushroom means only 

to spread out as in the shape of a mushroom. It 

was formerly applied only to bullets but has 

been extended recently to describe the characteristic 

cloud above an atomic explosion. In Almerican 

usage the verb means this but it also 

describes a rapid growth or spread, often of 

short duration, not in the shape but in the manner 

of mushrooms (The flames mushroomed 

from the shaft on all floors above. The town 

mushroomed out in every direction, overrunning 

a score of prairie villages). 

musical; musicale. Musical is an adjective, meaning 

of or pertaining to or producing music, or of 

the nature of or resembling music, melodious, 

or fond of or skilled in music (a musical instrument. 

The sound of the wheels was musical). 

309 mutual 

Musicale is a noun meaning a program of 

music that forms part of a social evening. It is 

standard in the United States but not used in 

Eneland. The word is simulv a taking over into 

English of the last word bi the French phrase 

soire’e (or matine’e) musicale, an evening (or 

afternoon) musical party. 

muslin. See calico. 

must is a present subjunctive developed from an 

obsolete verb form mot, meaning “may.” It has 

no corresponding past subjunctive form. See 

subjunctive mode. 

The verb must has no imperative, no infinitive, 

no past participle, and no -ing form. Grammatically 

it is treated as a past tense form, just 

as went is. It cannot follow (that is, it cannot 

be dependent on) another verb. We can no more 

say will must, had must, used to must, than we 

can say will went, had went, used to went. To 

express these ideas we use some form of have to. 

Since we cannot use auxiliary verbs, such as do, 

be, have, before must, we form negative statements 

and ask questions in the old direct way 

that is now obsolete for most verbs, as in Z must 

not stay and must you leave? 

Must itself is always used as an auxiliary and 

requires another verb to complete its meaning. 

It may be followed by the simple form of a verb, 

as in I must leave, or by have and a past participle, 

as in he must have left. In the first case, 

the statement refers indefinitely to the present 

or the future.‘in the second case, it refers to a 

past event. As a rule, the complementary verb 

must be actually stated or easily understood 

from a preceding sentence, as in you must speak 

to her and I suppose I must. But at one time 

verbs of motion were omitted after verbs of 

willing and this construction may still be found 

in poetry, as in the sun is up and up must I and 

I must down to the seas again. 

must needs. See need. 

mutatis mutandis, “with the necessary changes,” 

is a clich6. Latin clichCs. now that Latin nlavs 

a very small part in thd learning of even the 

best educated, are particularly offensive. They 

show the speaker to be affectedly unoriginal. He 

has gone out of his way to be tedious. He has 

labored to be dull. 

mutual; common; reciprocal. That is mutual 

which is possessed, experienced, performed, etc., 

by each of two or more with respect to the other 

or others. A mutual dislike, for example, would 

be a dislike of A for B and a dislike of B for A. 

When two men hold each other in mutual 

esteem each thinks well of the other. A mutual 

admiration society is a society in which each 

member thinks well of the others and is thought 

well of by them. Common, in the sense that it is 

sometimes confused with mutual, has to do with 

the relation of two or more people not to each 

other but in reference to some other person or 

thing. Thus two men who share the same hobby 

have a common interest. If A and B both regard 

C as a friend, then C is their common friend. 

I-Ie is often called their mutual friend and this 

usage, greatly strengthened by Dickens’s famous

mutual 310 

title, Our Mutual Friend, has been singled out, 

among popular errors, for particular disapproval 

by the purists. But usage is against them. The 

word was so used for centuries before Dickens 

lent it the authority of his name and it has the 

advantage of avoiding the ambiguity latent in 

common in this context. A mutual friend, though 

improper, is clearly understood; a common 

friend may be either a friend two men have in 

common or a vulgar or commonplace friend. A 

mutual friend, therefore, is now accepted as 

standard by all but a few die-hards. 

Reciprocal means complementary or balancing. 

In some situations things that are complementary 

are equivalent and in such cases reciprocal 

may be synonymous with mutual. But 

even here reciprocal has uses that mutual does 

not. A mutual act or feeling must take place 

between two persons at the same time. A reciprocal 

act or thought can take place later than 

the one which it reciprocates (In the spring he 

was able to pay him back with a reciprocal 

favor). Then mutual is not applied to physical 

acts or material things. People exchange reciprocal 

gifts or blows, not mutual ones. 

mutual cooperation. Since cooperation means 

working together, each assisting the other, mutual 

cooperation is redundant. The cooperation 

of capital and labor, for example, implies a mutual 

assistance and nothing is gained by adding 

the extra word. 

muzzle. See nozzle. 

my; mine. At one time the difference between 

these words was that my was used before a consonant 

and mine before a vowel, as in my friends 

and mine enemies. This usage had already become 

irregular in the time of Shakespeare and 

Milton. Mine continued to be used before eyes, 

as in mine eyes have seen the glory, long after 

it was obsolete before any other word. But this 

construction too is now archaic. In current English 

we say my eyes are tired. 

Today, the form my is used to qualify a following 

noun and the form mine is used in any 

other construction, as in you are my all and all 

mine and oh my Amy, mine no more. Mine may 

be used immediately after a noun, as in mistress 

mine, brother mine, but this construction verges 

on the archaic and is not heard in natural speech. 

Because my cannot stand alone, the exclamation 

my! means my goodness! or something 

stronger. 

The form mine, and not my, is used in a double 

possessive where the word is separated from 

its following noun by and, as in mine and love’s 

prisoner, mine and her child. Today this construction 

is generally avoided. We say instead 

my child and hers or my own and her child. 

Neither word order shows clearly whether we 

are talking about one thing or two. As a rule, 

we use the word our when we are talking about 

one thing possessed in common, that is, we say 

our child. The constructions just described will 

generally be understood to mean separate things 

possessed by separate individuals unless the con- 

text makes it clear that this is not what is 

intended. 

myself is a reflexive pronoun. Its normal use is in 

a sentence that has Z as the subject of the verb, 

as in Z taught myself. (For a discussion of this, 

see reflexive pronouns.) But myself is also used 

in place of Z or me in sentences where it does 

not reflect the subject of the verb. Some of these 

uses are more acceptable than others. 

Myself may always be used where the formal 

rules of grammar require Z but me is the traditionally 

preferred form. That is, myself may be 

used after a linking verb, as in the guests were 

myself and Alyse; after than, as or but, as in no 

man was ever better disposed, or worse qualified, 

for such an undertuking tharz myself; and in an 

absolute construction, as in Miss Wordsworth 

and myself being in tke rear. (See subjective 

pronouns.) This use of myself is established beyond 

question, in speech and in literature. 

Myself may also be used in place of me when 

it is part of a compound object, as in he saw 

neither myself nor any other object in the street. 

When myself is placed first, as it is in this example, 

the construction has an old-fashioned tone, 

but when it is the last element, as in they invited 

my sister and myself, it is normal spoken English 

today. It is literary English in either position. 

Formerly, myself was often used as the simple 

object of a verb or preposition, as in when we 

had placed him in his coach with myself at his 

left hand. This construction is still heard in the 

speech of educated people, but it is no longer 

used in written English. 

At one time myself could be used as part of 

the subject of a verb, as in Mrs. Washington and 

myself adopted the two youngest children. This 

construction is now old fashioned and is condemned 

by many grammarians. 

Occasionally myself is used as the whole subject 

of a verb, as in myself when young did 

eagerly frequent doctor and saint. This construction 

is extremely rare, in speech and in literature, 

and therefore has an artificial tone. See 

personally. 

mysterious, inscrutable, mystical, and obscure all 

designate something which is not understood. 

That which is mysterious is unknown but 

puzzling. It arouses our curiosity or awe (Who 

is this mysterious man who seems to have access 

to the mayor at any hour? God moves in 

a mysterious way/His wonders to perform). 

That which is inscrutable is incapable of being 

searched into or investigated. It defies investigation 

(God’s inscrutable purposes, the Sphinx’s 

inscrutable smile). It arouses more awe than 

curiosity; while that which is mysterious arouses 

more curiosity than awe. That which is mystical 

has a secret significance. It is presumably incomprehensible 

to the uninitiated, but the initiate 

perceives the meaning which is attached to certain 

rites, words, and signs (The swastika has 

served as a mystical symbol at many times and 

in many places. The mystical symbol of the fish 

that represented Christ). That which is obscure

is comprehended dimly or with great difficulty 

(These obscure passages have lent themselves to 

divers interpretations among divers sects). Since 

there is a possibility of a meaning under obscurity, 

obscure is often used by the modest and the 

polite as a euphemism for unintelligible (The 

obscure wording of the note left me in doubt as 

to whether he would come to me or expected me 

to go to him). 

mystery. Except when used attributively in such 

established phrases as mystery novel or m,y.stery 

story, mystery should be used sparingly as an 

adjective. A man of mystery is, actually, more 

effective, more mysterious, than mystery man. 

The mystery of the old mystery plays is an 

entirely different word, now obsolete except in 

this phrase and historical references. It meant a 

craft or a trade and later one of the guilds that 

sponsored these little religious plays. 

mystic; mystical. Although mystic and mystical 

are synonymous, mystic, perhaps because it is 

less commonly used, is a little more formal, especially 

in designating something comprehensible 

only to the initiated or to those more finely 

endowed. It is more likely now to be used in 

religious contexts than mystical, though mystical 

is definitely established in many liturgical 

phrases. Mystical, perhaps because of its frequent 

misuse as a mere synonym of mysterious, 

suggests less awful obscurities, at least in many 

passages (‘Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical 

lore,/ And coming events cast their shadows 

before). 

myth; legend; fable. A myth is one of a class of 

stories, usually concerning some superhuman being 

or great hero, which attempt to explain some 

nai’f; naive; naive. Nai:ve is the acceptable adjective, 

whether masculine or feminine, to describe 

having or showing natural simplicity of 

nature, being unsophisticated, ingenuous. The 

shade of meaning that it has that these other 

words, and such words as artless and innocent, 

lack is a touch of amusement in the observer. 

The na’ive person is not himself amused. He 

may be, indeed he probably is, most earnest, 

but his simplicity is amusing to the sophisticated 

onlooker (Zt is nai’ve to assume that power 

won by struggle will be surrendered without a 

struggle). 

Though the French masculine nu?f is sometimes 

used, and is certainly not improper, it is 

unnecessary and a little ostentatious witih a 

suggestion of rebuke for the less knowing. A 

spelling, however, which is acceptable and deserves 

to replace nai’ve is naive, without the 

311 name 

belief or natural phenomenon (The myth of the 

gorgon may be a poetical attempt to portray the 

combined beauty and horror of reality). The 

word has come in popular usage to mean any 

invented story (The election results destroyed 

the myth of his popularity which his followers 

had so assiduously cultivated). In sociology and 

anthropology a myth is a collective belief that is 

built up in response to the wishes of the group 

instead of a rational analysis of the situation to 

which it pertains (The myth of its own moral 

superiority is probably necessary to the selfpreservation 

of any nation). 

Originally something to be read (from the 

Latin legere, to read), legends were written 

stories of admirable persons. In the Legends of 

the Saints there is no implication of the nonhistorical 

or the unverifiable that the word legend 

now carries (The story of the cherry tree is only 

a legend). A legend is now thought of as an unverifiable, 

and probably untrue or at least inaccurate, 

story concerning some real person or 

place, which has been handed down for several 

generations. 

A fable is a fictitious story (often with animals 

or even inanimate objects as the actors or 

speakers and hence, plainly, not intended to be 

taken as factual history) which is designed to 

teach a moral (Aesop’s fable of the ass and the 

lapdog shows that u man will suffer from acting 

out of his station even if he has the best of intentions). 

A fable differs from a parable in that 

the lessons suggested by fables are usually more 

practical and earthly than those conveyed by 

parables which usually concern themselves with 

ethical and religious concepts. See also allegory. 

dieresis. Nai’vete, however, always has the 

dieresis and usually with an accent mark on the 

final e (n&et&). See also unsophisticated. 

nail one’s flag to the mast. To prevent the shooting 

down of a flag being mistaken for its being 

lowered in surrender, doughty captains on going 

into combat often had the flag nailed to the 

mast. Nelson sometimes had several nailed to 

separate masts. It was a gallant gesture, but 

the use of the phrase to nail one’s f&zg to the 

mast as a term for taking an unyielding position 

is now a clich6. 

name; denominate; nominate. For giving a name 

to or specifically indicating by name, name is 

the everyday word (They named the baby 

Abner. He was named in the suit) and there is 

little need for seeking another. To denominate 

(They of the papal faction were denominated 

Guelphs) means to name, especially to call by

name 312 

a specific name, but it is a ponderous and 

literary word. To nominate used to mean to 

name or stipulate expressly (Is it so nominated 

in the bond?) but it has come, in American 

usage at least, to mean almost exclusively to 

propose as a proper person for appointment or 

election to an office (Jackson was nominated 

for the presidency). 

name is legion. When Jesus demanded of the 

unclean spirit that infested the unhappy Gadarene 

that it reveal its name, the spirit answered 

My name is Legion: for we are many. The 

name legion, as the New Standard Bible Dictionary 

points out, had come to be used “in 

Greek. Rabbinical Hebrew. and nrobablv in 

Palestinian Aramaic for any great number” 

and is used in this passage “with perhaps 

the thought of obedience to a superior will.” 

But to say today of any great number of 

persons that their name is legion is to employ 

a cliche. That this phrase is almost always used 

to designate those of whom the speaker disapproves 

or is contemptuous, even though few 

speakers could tell whence the phrase derives, 

is an interesting illustration of the manner in 

which many words acquire a connotation in 

one context which they carry over into others. 

For there is a suggestion in the cliche that those 

spoken of are possessed with devils-with a 

faintly blasphemous suggestion (to the more 

knowing) concerning the speaker who would 

free them from their errors. 

name of. By the name of and of the name of are 

wordy and pompous ways of saying called or 

named. 

names identifying state origin. Only inhabitants 

of Montana and North Dakota seem to have 

escaped nicknames identifying them with the 

states in which they live. H. L. Mencken, G. E. 

Shankle, and David Shulman have called to 

general attention the following names for residents 

of each of the other forty-six states. Some 

of them were plainly not invented by the residents 

to describe themselves and many have 

now fallen into disuse. 

Alabama-Lizards, Yellowhammers 

Arizona-Sandcutters 

Arkansas-Toothpicks, Yahoos 

California-Gold Diggers, Gold Hunters 

Colorado-Silverines, Rovers, Centennials 

Connecticut--Nutmegs, Wooden Nutmegs 

Delaware-Muskrats, Blue Hen’s Chickens 

Florida-Alligators, Fly-up-the-Creeks, Evergladers, 

Gulfers 

Georgia-Crackers, Buzzards, Goobergrabbers, 

Sand-Hillers 

Idaho-Fortune-seekers, Cutthroats 

Illinois-Suckers, Egyptians, Sand-Hillers 

Indiana-Hoosiers 

Iowa-Hawkeyes 

Kansas-Sunflowers, Grasshoppers, Jayhawkers 

Kentucky-Bears, Corn-crackers, Red Horses, 

Blue Grassers 

Louisiana-Creoles, Pelicans 

Maine-Foxes, Lumbermen, Pine-trees 

Maryland-Clam-humpers, Craw-thumpers, 

Oysters 

Massachusetts-Bay Staters, Baked Beans, Puritans 

Michigan-Michiganders, Wolverines 

Minnesota-Gophers 

Mississippi-Mudcats, Mudwaddlers, Sharpshooters, 

Swelled Heads, Tadpoles 

Missouri-Pukes, Pukers 

Nebraska-Bug-eaters, Corn Huskers, Treeplanters 

Nevada-Diggers, Miners, Sagehens 

New Hampshire-Granite Boys 

New Jersey-Clams, Clam-catchers, Foreigners, 

Jersey Blues 

New Mexico-Spaniards, Spanish Indians 

New York-Cockneys, Excelsiors, Knickerbockers 

North Carolina-Tar-boilers, Tarheels, 

Tuckoes 

Ohio-Buckeyes 

Oklahoma-Okies, Sooners 

Oregon-Beavers, Hard Cases, Webfeet, Webfoots 

Pennsylvania-Broad-brims, Flying Dutch, 

Leatherheads, Pennamites. Ouakers 

Rhode Island-Gun-flints - 

South Carolina-Clay-eaters, Nullifiers, Palmettoes, 

Rice-birds, Sand-billers, Sand-lappers, 

Weasels 

South Dakota-Coyotes 

Tennessee-Big-benders, Butternuts, Buckskins, 

Corn-crackers, Mud-heads, Volunteers 

Texas-Beef-heads, Blizzards, Cowboys, Longhorns, 

Rangers 

Utah-Brighamites, Mormons, Polygamists, 

Saints 

Vermont-Green Mountain Boys 

Virginia-Beagles, Cavaliers, F.F.V.‘s, Sorebacks, 

Tuckahoes 

Washington-Clam-grabbers, Evergreeners 

West Virginia-Pan-handleites, Mountain Men 

Wisconsin-Badgers 

Wyoming-Sheep Herders 

name to conjure with. Names have had a magic 

importance in all cultures. Jehovah’s name is, 

plainly, one of the awful mysteries of the Old 

Testament. When Jacob wrestled with the 

“man” at the ford (Jabbok) his chief desire 

was to know the spirit’s name and after the 

event he changed his own name. Many American 

Indians kept their actual names secret, 

going through life under another name. In imperial 

China it was a crime to use the name of 

a reigning emperor, even when that name was 

the same as some word in common use. In 

diabolism the uttering of the name of an evil 

spirit put the spirit temporarily under the power 

of the necromancer, although when the demon 

was a particularly dreadful one (Orcus and 

Ades, and the dreaded name/ Of Demogorgon) 

his power might so far transcend that of the 

wizard who had invoked him as to entail disastrous 

consequences for his summoner. 

All of this was once implied in the phrase

a name to conjure with, but it has now faded 

from it and the words are merely a hackneyed 

expression to designate one who is influential. 

napkin. See serviette. 

narcissus. The plural is narcissuses or narcissi. 

narrate. See describe. 

narrative. See relation. 

nasty in American usage still means, primarily, 

physically filthy or disgustingly unclean, nauseous, 

or obscene (The ill-kept barn was in a 

nasty condition. The famous elixir was a .nastytasting 

stu# of a brownish-green color. When 

we used nasty words Aunt Susan used to make 

us wash our mouths out with soap and )water. 

Nasty little boys). Eighty years ago, De Vere 

tells us in his Americanisms, the word itself was 

a nasty word in America, not to be spoken in 

the hearing of ladies. The meanings of the word 

now more common in England, of unpleasant 

or disagreeable (He’s in a nasty mood; I 

wouldn’t ask him just now. I say, that’s a nastylooking 

bump you’ve got on your head. We 

were two hours in a nasty trafic jam on the 

Headington road), would be recognized in 

America and even used--though probably with 

a slightly humorous intent-but the older 

meanings are far more common. 

native. See African. 

natural. See normal. 

nature is used unnecessarily in such phra:ses as 

the dangerous nature of the assignment where 

the danger of the assignment would be more 

effective. It is a great favorite of those who like 

to make a short story long. 

naught. See aught. 

nautilus. The plural is nautiluses or nautili. 

naval; navel. Naval is an adjective meaning of or 

pertaining to ships, especially, and now only, 

ships of war, or belonging to, or pertaining to, 

or connected with, a navy (Trafalgar remains 

the greatest of all naval engagements. Naval 

regulations do not permit . . .). 

Navel is a noun. It designates the umbilicus 

or, in Sir Thomas Browne’s words, “that tortuosity 

or complicated nodosity” that is empitted 

in the middle of the surface of the belly (This 

ingenious theory, that the real “use or o@ce” 

of Adam’s navel was to tempt men into the sin 

of being sensible, was revived in 1857 by Philip 

Henry Gosse); and, by extension, the central 

point or middle of any thing or place (Within 

the navel of this hideous wood/ Immur’d in 

cypress shades a sorcerer dwells). 

The navel orange is so called because it has 

at its apex a navellike formation containing a 

small secondary fruit, but one often sees them 

marked, through ignorance or false delicacy, as 

naval oranges. 

n.b. This is an abbreviation of the Latin words 

nota bene and means “note well.” 

near; nearly. Near was once the comparative 

form of nigh but it is now felt as a positive and 

given a regular comparison, nearer, nearest. 

Near may be used as an adjective to qualify a 

noun, as in the nearest house, the near juture. 

Both near and nearly may be used as adverbs. 

313 necessary 

Nearly is ordinarily used as an adverb of 

degree meaning approximately or almost. In 

current English it is preferred to near in this 

sense, as in it nearly broke her heart and it is 

not nearly as late as I thought. Traditionally, 

near may also be used in this sense but sentences 

such as it near broke her heart and it is 

not near as late as I thought are now considered 

old fashioned. The construction is more acceptable 

today if near itself is qualified by an adverb 

of degree, as in it very near broke her heart and 

it is nowhere near as late as I thought. Nearly 

cannot be used as an adverb of place. For this 

we must use neur, as in I was standing near. 

The word near may be followed immediately 

by an object, as in the atmosphere near the 

earth and it came near him; or the preposition 

to may be used, as in the atmosphere near to 

the earth and it came near to him. Both constructions 

are acceptable. Near may be combined 

with some form of come or go to mean 

almost succeed. In this sense, forms of the verb 

come may be followed by near or near to and 

the -ing form of a verb, as in this came near 

convincing him. Forms of the verb go may be 

followed by near to and an -ing form, as in this 

went near to proving it, or by near to and the 

simple form of a verb, as in this went near to 

prove it. The idiom involving go is not often 

heard in the United States. See also almost and 

practically. 

nearby. This word or compound is not standard 

in Great Britain. In the United States, it may 

be used as an adjective, as in a nearby town, 

or as an adverb, as in there was a stream 

nearby, but is not standard when used as a 

preposition with an object, as in he stood nearby 

me. 

neat but not gaudy. Originally serious, with neat 

having the meaning of clear, bright, or fine, 

neat but not gaudy became ironical in the nineteenth 

century and in this use has become a 

clichC. It was made a part of several sayings 

whose humor now seems forced to us: Neat 

but not gaudy, as the devil said when he painted 

his tail green or as the monkey said when he 

painted his tail blue, etc. 

nebula. The plural is nebulas or nebulae. 

necessary; essential; indispensable; requisite. That 

is necessary which cannot be dispensed with or 

is the inevitable consequence of certain causes 

(It is necessary to see him first. Must that 

necessarily follow?). Essential means of the 

very essence of being (Air is essential to the 

maintenance of human life). Although it is a 

synonym of necessary, usage has made it-or, 

perhaps, lack of use has left it-a stronger word 

than necessary. If a man is told that it is necessary 

for him to attend a certain meeting, there 

is the implication of a strong compulsion. But 

if he is told that it is essential for him to go, 

there is an implication that the meeting or his 

own affairs, or both, simply will not continue 

in their present state of being if he does not go. 

Indispensable designates that which cannot be 

done without or removed from the rest of a

necessities 314 

unitary condition (There is no indispensable 

man). That is requisite which is judged necessary 

from the nature of things or of circumstances 

(The first requisite is a room and a 

desk). It is the weakest of the four words. 

necessities; necessaries. Although necessities and 

necessaries are synonymous as words for things 

that are indispensable, necessities is by far the 

more popular word of the two in contemporary 

American usage, though some English writers 

insist that necessaries is to be preferred. The 

American preference may have been influenced 

by the fact that until recently a necessary was 

a euphemism in many rural areas for a privy or 

a chamberpot. 

neck. The crop of neck and crop is the craw or 

pouchlike enlargement of the gullet of many 

birds. Why the phrase should be a term for 

completely, altogether (Throw them out, neck 

and crop. We’re going in for the new mode 

here, neck and crop), is not clear. It is now a 

meaningless clich6. Neck or nothing, as an expression 

denoting a determination to take all 

risks, is also a clichC whose original meaning is 

now uncertain. It would seem to be a term from 

hard riding (Away went Gilpin, neck or nought) 

and may, perhaps, have had something to do 

with a willingness to risk breaking the horse’s 

or the rider’s neck in a fall. Neck and neck is 

clearly from horse racing and is not a cliche 

when used of horses that are abreast of each 

other in a race. In figurative uses, however, it 

is a clich6. 

necropolis. The plural is necropolises or necropoles. 

need. This is a regular verb with a past tense and 

participle needed. It may be followed by a toinfinitive 

which has an active meaning, as in he 

needs to talk to US, or by the -ing form which 

has a passive meaning, as in he needs talking to. 

In negative statements and in questions, the 

word need may be used like the word must. 

That is, it may be used without an auxiliary 

verb such as do, be, have, may be followed by 

the simple form of a verb instead of the toinfinitive, 

and may not have the final s in the 

third person singular, as in he need not go and 

why need he go? Like must, the word need may 

also be followed by have to refer to a past 

event, as in who knows whether I need have 

fled? These forms are standard English. They 

exist in the language side by side with the 

regular forms which are also standard, such as 

he does not need to go and who knows whether 

Z needed to flee? The verb dare also has both 

forms. But while need is a regular verb that is 

coming to be used as an auxiliary, dare is an 

old auxiliary that has developed regular forms. 

See dare. 

The new constructions, following the pattern 

of must, cannot be used when need is not 

followed by another verb but has a noun or 

pronoun object, as in he needs money. We 

cannot say need he money? The new forms 

cannot be used in a truly positive statement, 

such as that is what he need know, but may be 

used when the statement is positive in form only 

and negative in meaning, as in that is all he need 

know. The words needed and needs always require 

the old, regular constructions. We cannot 

say he needed go or needs he go? Verbal 

phrases, such as will need, did need, also require 

regular constructions. They may be followed by 

a to-infinitive, as in he will need to go, but not 

by the simple form of a verb, as in he will need 

go. Constructions of this kind, without the to, 

are sometimes heard but are not literary 

English. 

The words need and needs may also be used, 

principally in combination with must, as adverbs 

meaning necessarily, as in he need must 

go and he must needs go. The first form is now 

archaic and the second extremely artificial. 

need; necessity; want. Need and necessity are 

nouns which designate a lack or a demand 

which must be filled. Need, a word of Old 

English origin, has connotations which give it 

a strong emotional appeal (A friend in need is 

a friend in deed. I had most need of blessing, 

and “Amen”/ Stuck in my throat. 0, reason 

not the need! Our basest beggars/ Are in the 

poorest thing superfluous). Necessity, a word of 

Latin origin, is more forma1 and impersonal 

or objective. Though much stronger than need 

in expressing urgency or imperative demand, it 

is less effective in appealing to the emotions 

(Necessity is the mother of invention. The art 

of our necessities is strange,/ That can make 

vile things precious). Want, as a noun, is 

synonymous with need (His wants were few 

and little would sufice). It, too, is an Old 

English word and has strong emotional connotations 

and often great dignity (For want of 

a nail a shoe was lost. They are wet with the 

showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock 

for want of a shelter). It is used, especially, in 

dignified contexts, as a term for poverty (So 

shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, 

and thy want as an armed man. In Misery’s 

darkest cavern known,/ His useful care was 

ever nigh,/ Where hopeless anguish pour’d his 

groan,/ And lonely want retir’d to die). As a 

verb, want means to wish for, and is therefore 

weaker than need which means to lack something 

indispensable (Buy not what you want, 

but what you need). There are many contexts 

in which want as a noun is colored by its meaning 

as a verb or made ambiguous. Its literary 

associations have also made it a little too stately 

for common use. 

needle in a haystack was originally needle in a 

bottle of hay, a bottle being an old word for a 

bundle of hay. As this meaning of bottle faded, 

the term was often changed to needle in a 

bundle of hay. In America, however, one hears 

only the phrase needle in a haystack, and one 

hears it all too often. Some years ago Mr. Jim 

Moran searched for and found a needle in a 

haystack on a street corner in Washington, D.C. 

needs must. See need. 

needs no introduction. How the hearts of audiences 

sink when the chairman assures them that

the speaker needs no introduction, for the hackneyed 

phrase is usually the prelude to a. long 

and dreary recitation of the feeble accomplishments 

and obscure honors of some unknown 

mediocrity palmed off on the listeners by a 

desperate program committee. 

negatives. See the individual negative word:;. 

neglect. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he neglected to wrap it. It ma:y also 

be followed by the -ing form of a verb, as in 

he neglected wrapping it, but the infinitive is 


neglect and negligence imply carelessness, failure, 

or some important omission in the performance 

of one’s duty. Neglect commonly refers to the 

act (This slight neglect led to the tragedy), 

negligence to the habit or trait of failing to 

attend to or perform what is expected Ior required. 

When Goneril, in King Lear, orders her 

servants to assume a weary negligence in carrying 

out her father’s orders, it was the insolence 

of habitual disregard which she hoped ,would 

provoke the old tyrant to an outburst of which 

she could take advantage. 

In contexts where neglect and negligence are 

interchangeable, neglect is the stronger word. 

His death was the result of negligence is not 

quite as strongly condemnatory as His death 

was the result of neglect. 

negligent; negligible. The adjectives negligent and 

negligible present, respectively, active and 

passive aspects of neglect. Negligent Imeans 

neglecting, guilty of or characterized by neglect 

(He was habitually negligent of his personal 

appearance). Negligible means deserving of or 

capable of being neglected or disregarded (The 

saving from the long tax form is negligible). 

Negress. Although -ess is the regular suffix for 

forming distinctly feminine nouns (hostess, 

lioness) with no connotation of contempt, 

Negress is often used derogatorily and he:nce is 

likely to be offensive. So also is Jewess. 

Negro; nigger; niga; darky. Negro (the plural 

is Negroes) is the proper and, in formal writing, 

now the only permissible name for a member of 

the Negro race. Even when used as an adjlective 

it is capitalized, although white, when u.sed as 

an adjective to designate a member of or that 

which pertains to the white race, is not. Nigger, 

although originally merely a slurred pronunciation 

of Negro, is, and has been for centuries, 

a contemptuous and offensive term. Fowler’s 

statement that the word when “applied to others 

than full or partial Negroes, is felt as an insult 

by the person described” is puzzling, though his 

further assurance that its use “betrays in the 

speaker, if not deliberate insolence, at least a 

very arrogant inhumanity” is unexceptionable. 

Nigru is claimed by many who use it to be 

a fully respectful word, merely a pronunciation 

of Negro. It is not accepted as such by those 

to whom it is applied, who are inclined to 

regard it, rather, as an evasive pronunciation of 

nigger or at the best a reluctant compromise. 

Darky, originally a euphemism and perhaps 

kindly intended (All de darkeys am a-weeping,/ 

315 neither 

Massa’s in de cold, cold ground), has today the 

double opprobrium of sentimentality and condescension. 

It is particularly connected with the 

comic stereotype of the American Negro developed 

in the minstrel shows and passed on to 

vaudeville. 

It is plain that it is not the word but the feeling 

behind it. There is no word which if spoken 

in contempt will not in time express that contempt 

and hence give offense. The supreme 

illustration--one by which many sociologists 

who feel that a new set of euphemisms would 

ease many tensions in the world ought to ponder 

-is the word slave. Derived from Slav, of 

which people many were enslaved by the conquering 

Komans, the word has acquired connotations 

of servility, timidity, and cowardice 

(The doggerel that was produced by the thirdrate 

poets who slavishly imitated Pope. This 

slavish flattery is disgusting. The coward slave, 

we pass him by,/ We dare be poor for a’ that). 

Yet slav in Slavic means glory. (See also African, 

colored, Caucasian, Creole, European, 

mulatto.) 

neighborhood. Those British lions, Fowler, 

Horwill, and Partridge, unite in roaring at the 

American use of in the neighborhood of (The 

work will cost in the neighborhood of two 

million dollars) for about or nearly. Fowler 

calls it “a repulsive combination of polysyllabic 

humor and periphrasis.” Partridge feels it to be 

“a bad and wholly unnecessary substitute.” And 

Horwill notes with alarm that the expression 

has caught on in England. In the United States 

it is certainly standard, though it does seem 

awkward, vague, and unnecessary. See also 

vicinage. 

neither. This word introduces alternatives and 

makes the statement in which it occurs negative 

for each of them. It may be used as an adjective, 

as in neither man had arrived, or independently 

as a pronoun, as in neither had 

arrived; or it may be used as a conjunction, as 

in these neither laughed nor sang. There may 

be more than two alternatives, as in heat, light, 

electricity, magnetism . . . are all correlative 

. . . neither, taken abstractedly, can be said to 

be the essential cause of the others. 

When neither is used as an adjective it qualifies 

a singular noun and requires a singular 

verb, as in neither box has arrived. In any other 

construction a singular verb is permissible but 

a plural is preferred, as in Thersites’ body is as 

good as Ajax, when neither are alive and without 

that labor neither reason, art, nor peace, 

are possible to man. A singular verb is particularly 

objectionable when the last alternative is 

you or I, as in neither my dog nor I is for sale. 

A plural pronoun may be used to refer to 

neither, as in neither of them had their tickets. 

At one time neither might be followed by 

or or nor. In current English only the form nor 

is used after neither. Formerly neither might 

follow another negative, as in these will not 

move her neither and not sparing neither man, 

woman, nor child. This form of the double

neither 316 

negative is generally condemned today and the 

word either is preferred in sentences of this 

kind. The construction with two negatives is 

more acceptable when the second negative is 

semi-independent, as in there was no respite, 

neither by day nor by night, but this too is 

condemned by many grammarians. However, 

when neither is used as the equivalent of nor 

to introduce a full clause, it must follow a negative 

statement, as in if there are no teachers, 

neither are there disciples and they toil not, 

neither do they spin. Here neither qualifies the 

second clause and so does not form a double 

negative. 

Neither is the negative form of the word 

either. Like either, the pronoun has a genitive 

form, as in neither’s house. The adjective can 

be used to qualify a genitive noun, as in neither 

man’s house, but cannot follow a genitive, as in 

the man’s neither house. To express this idea 

we must use the pronoun form and say neither 

of the man’s houses. See also double genitives. 

neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring. The 

older form of the proverb-neither flesh nor 

fish-made a certain sense but the addition of 

the good red herring (as early as Heywood’s 

Proverbs, 1546) reduces the whole thing to 

nonsense. Some have attempted to improve it 

by substituting fowl for fish and some have put 

in the fowl and still left in the herring. But all 

have used it much too much. The distinction 

between fish and flesh is not the universal thing 

it was. And the phrase, as a term for something’s 

being neither one thing nor the other is 

now a clicht. 

neither rhyme nor reason. As a way of saying 

that something is utter nonsense, neither rhyme 

nor reason is now a clicht. In various forms it 

has been in the language for more than four 

hundred years but overuse has exhausted it. 

nemesis. When used in its classical sense, this 

word does not have a plural. It is the name of 

the goddess of retribution, or means retribution 

in the abstract. Anyone, therefore, who feels 

the need for a plural should use the English 

form nemesises rather than the pseudo-classical 

nemeses. 

neophyte; beginner. The use of neophyte as a 

substitute for beginner seems to be especially 

dear to sports writers among whom has grown 

up a tradition of employing esoteric words flippantly. 

Basically neophyte, from a Greek word 

meaning newly planted, means a converted 

heathen or heretic. In the Primitive Church it 

meant one newly baptized; in the Roman 

Catholic Church it means a novice. From such 

qpecialized senses to that of beginner is a long 

leap, and only writers who habitually leap 

before they look take it. 

ne plus ultra. As a term for the acme (The ne 

plus ultra of fashion) or in its more literal 

meaning of no further, ne plus ultra is now a 

clicht. 

nether. This is the comparative form of an adjective 

meaning lower. It has a superlative form 

nethrmost. The positive form of this word is 

no longer in use but a related form can be 

seen in the adverb and preposition beneath. 

nenrasthenic; neurotic. A person is nerlrasthenic 

who is suffering from a nervous debility or 

exhaustion, as from overwork or prolonged 

mental strain, characterized by vague complaints 

of a physical nature in the absence of 

objectively present causes or lesions (This type 

of headache is commonly assumed to be neurasthenic 

in origin). A person is neurotic who is 

suffering from an emotional disorder in which 

feelings of anxiety, obsessional thoughts, compulsive 

acts and physical complaints without 

objective evidence of disease, in various 

patterns, dominate the personality. Neurasthenic 

is not now used as much as it was a 

generation ago. Neurotic, however, has become 

a vogue word to designate almost everything 

from serious mental illness to little deviations 

from normal behavior that were formerly regarded 

as merely eccentric or cranky or moody 

or crotchety. The modest, who know the limitations 

of their own knowledge, will leave both 

words to the physicians. The exact will sometimes 

be puzzled which of the two words to use 

and will do well, when in doubt, to use neither. 

The courteous will certainly use neither within 

the hearing of the person or persons alluded to. 

neurosis. The plural is neurosises or neuroses. 

new; newly. The form new may be used as an 

adjective to qualify a noun. Either form may 

be used to qualify a participle. New is preferred 

with short, familiar words, as in new laid eggs, 

new born child, new baked bread, new found 

pride; newly is preferred with longer, less familiar 

words, newly discovered pride, newly 

furnished rooms. Neither form can be used to 

qualify a verb. 

new and novel derive from a common Latin root 

but although they are often interchanged they 

are not properly interchangeable. New refers 

to position in time, to that which has not been 

long in existence, or to an original state or condition. 

Novel refers to kind and is opposed to 

that which is common or familiar, as new is 

opposed to that which is old or worn. Novel 

suggests newness which has an unexpected 

quality or is strange or striking but generally 

pleasing (His coat was the novel part of his new 

suit, for it had no lapels). When Ring Lardner 

said that Scott Fitzgerald was a novelist and his 

wife a novelty, he-meant that Mrs. Fitzgerald 

was odd and strange in a delightful way. 

new broom. Until recently a broom was brush or 

twigs or plant stems bound on a handle, the 

besom that witches are conventionally pictured 

as riding on. A number of proverbs and quotations 

indicate that when the twigs were green 

the broom swept clean but after a very little 

while (an Italian proverb says three days) the 

twigs lost their resilience and became brittle and 

often made more litter than they swept up. 

With changing times the proverb has lost some 

of its force and with repetition most of its fresh-

ness. To refer to anyone who assumes an office 

with vigor and bustle and good intentions as a 

new broom is to employ a ciichd. 

new lease on life. As a term for renewed hope 

and effort or an increment of vitality or interest, 

a new lease on life is a hackneyed expression. 

news. In current English this word is always 

treated as a singlllar. We say this news is good 

and where did you hear ii?. 

Originally, the word was an adjective used as 

a noun and meant that which is new. Until 

about a hundred years ago it was often felt as 

a plural and used with a plural verb, as in ‘There 

are bad news from Palermo and ill news fly 

fnsf. It could also be treated as a true singular, 

as in a news so new, and could be given a regular 

plural, as in two important newses. None of 

these constructions are standard today. 

The form news is used as the first eiemment in 

a compound, as in newspaper and news t’road- 

CUSf. 

newsdealer; news agent; newsstand; news stall. 

One who deals in newspapers and magazines is 

in America called a newsdenler, in England a 

llews agent. The place where newspapers and 

magazines are sold, especially if it is at a street 

corner or in a railroad or bus station or ajlrlines 

terminal, is in America called a newsstand, in 

England a news stall. 

newsroom; news-room. In England a newsroom 

is a room, usually connected with a public iibrary, 

in which various newspapers are available 

for reading. In America such a room is 

usually called a periodical room. In America a 

newsroom is that department of a newspaper 

office which deals with the news section ‘of the 

paper (Hemingway kept the newsroom of the 

old Toronfo Star in stitches with his reportorial 

antics). 

newt; eft. In some parts of the United States the 

common newt in its land stage is still called by 

its ancient name of eft. 

new wine in old bottles. The observation in Matthew 

9:17 that men do not put new wine into 

old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine 

runneth out, und the bottles perish has reference, 

of course, to wineskins which when dried 

out with age would burst under the pressures of 

fermentation of new wine. The age of a modem 

glass bottle has nothing to do with the iage of 

the wine it can contain. For most people the 

meaning of the parable is lost and the Iphrase 

should be used as infrequently as possible. 

New Year; new year; New Year’s; New Year’s 

Day. The phrase which unequivocally describes 

January 1 is New Year’s Day. Though some 

English writers object to it, New Year and 

New Year’s are acceptable in America. For the 

sake of absolute clarity, one may best use New 

Year’s Day or New Year’s to describe the first 

day of January and reserve new year, uncapitalized, 

to describe the year approach.ing or 

newly begun. 

next. This word was once the superlative of nigh 

and may still be used in the sense of nearest, as 

317 nice 

in the next of kin, the chair next the fire. But as 

a rule in current English next is not a superlative. 

It ordinarily refers to a series and indicates 

the item immediately following. For example, 

the next house usually means the first house in 

the direction one is moving or facing and not 

the nearest house in any direction. 

Next to may be used to mean nearly, as in i? 

was next to impossible. Next most usually means 

just short of being most, as in the next most 

desirable solution. 

nexus. The plural is nexuses or nexus, not nexi. 

nexus; focus; cynosure. Nexlts is sometimes used 

as if it were a synonym for focus. A nexus is a 

tie or link, a means of connection (Gas/l Payment 

. . , the universal sole nexus of man to 

man). Foczts, the Latin word for hearth, was 

adopted by Kepler, in 1604, as a term in optics 

to designate the point at which rays of light 

that originally diverged from one point meet 

again. The figurative use of the word (influenced, 

perhaps, by its Latin meaning) is a gathering 

point, a center of attraction or interest, 

the point about which anything is concentrated 

(More and more the school has replaced the 

chllrch as the focus of community interest. As 

Augusta entered the room on her brother’s arm 

she was the focus of all attention). 

A cynoslrre differs from a focus in that it is 

something which by its brilliance attracts attention 

(Where perhaps some beauty lies,/ The 

Cynosure of neighboring eyes). Attention is 

focused on something; it is attracted by a cynosure. 

nice. Those who believe that a word has its “proper” 

meaning and should be used in no other 

sense should consider the wanderings of nice. 

Beginning as the Latin nescius, ignorant (from 

ne, not + scire, to know), it may have been 

influenced by Middle English nesh, delicate, but 

this is not absolutely certain. By the sixteenth 

century it had come to mean (among other 

meanings) fastidious, difficult to please (Your 

nice critic will, of course, find no good in anything). 

The reasons for this development are 

not clear. Perhaps the ignorant are finicky 

or, hesitating to choose because of ignorance, 

seemed hard to please. At any rate among those 

who are hard to please some are hard to please 

because they have high standards and make fine 

distinctions (He has a nice eye for these delicate 

differences) and the word was extended to 

designate the objects or situations which such 

people can perceive. For a time it was not aitogether 

favorable; it could designate things which 

were poised in such delicate equilibrium that 

the nicest or finest impetus could incline them 

either way. The nice hazard of one doubtful 

hour upon which Hotspur felt it were not good 

to “set so rich a main” as ail his fortunes was 

not a desirable or pleasant hour but one too 

dangerously poised between success and ruin. 

The Duke of Wellington’s famous observation 

that Waterloo was for a while a damn nice rhing 

did not mean that he had enjoyed it but that

nice 318 

the issue of the battle had been uncertain and 

turned eventually in England’s favor by a narrow 

margin of advantage or good fortune. Today, 

however, the word is almost entirely favorable. 

A nice apple is the sort of apple that a nice 

or discriminating person, a connoisseur of apples, 

would select, or just a good apple. And so 

with a nice day or anything else said to be nice. 

When someone says that someone else has said 

the nicest things about us, we do not assume 

that the compliments were fastidious or finely 

discriminating. We just know that something 

agreeable has been said. 

From agreeable nice has also developed the 

meaning of decorous, proper, though this sense 

is expressed negatively in conjunction with not 

(That’s not a nice song. It’s not nice of little 

boys to do such things). From this, the word 

is now taking on the meaning of “kind,” as in 

be nice to him. 

nice; choice; dainty; fine. Unless it is to be reduced 

to a mere synonym of pleasant, as it so 

often is, nice should keep something of its older 

meaning of subtle or precise. Choice means 

worthy of being chosen, carefully selected; 

hence excellent, superior (choice apples, choice 

phrases). Where there is no selection the word 

might be absurd and it is so much overworked 

as an adjective of commendation (perhaps to 

suggest that the user is himself a judge of fitting 

selections) that it is well to use another word if 

possible. Fine (probably a back formation from 

finish), like nice, designates the sort of thing 

that would be selected by those capable of delicate 

or fine discrimination, hence of striking 

merit (a fine-looking boy). Feeling for this 

meaning has been largely lost and the word has 

become- a vague synonym for good (You’re 

looking fine. We had a fine time). An echo of 

the older meaning is heard in ‘the common 

ironic use of the word. When someone says A 

fine mess you made of it! there is a suggestion 

that the mess is so bad that it could be selected 

from among other messes for its particular 

badness. 

Dainty, akin afar off to dignity, first meant 

honor and then the sort of thing suitable to a 

person who is honored. Hence excellent, fine, 

choice (Wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before 

a king?). But the preferences of such people 

seemed to the common man, apparently, to run 

to the delicate, the fragile, the exquisite (Such 

dainty china was not for everyday use). It’s a 

point-of-view word and from the robust point 

of view, daintiness merges into squeamishness 

(You can’t be dainty about the boss’s cigar, my 

girl. See also fastidious. 

nicknames. A nickname is a name given instead 

of or in addition to the actual name. It is usually 

descriptive, or a familiar form of the proper 

name. The word nickname is in itself a sort of 

nickname, since it is a corruption of an eke 

name, or an additional name, folk-etymologized, 

it would seem, under the influence of the 

common nickname Nick. 

Sobriquet is given in most dictionaries as a 

synonym for nickname, and so it may now be 

used. But it is slightly pompous and there are 

differences in the meanings of the two words 

which the discriminating speaker or writer may 

wish to preserve. First, a nickname is likely to 

be an adjunct of the name itself and not peculiar 

to the individual (as Tom for Thomus), 

while a sobriquet is usually applied to a person 

because of some special association with a quality, 

achievement or incident (Old Curmudgeon, 

Wizard of Menlo Park, Swedish Nightingale, 

Greut Commoner, Last of the Red Hot 

Mamas). In other words, a sobriquet is unique. 

Second, a nickname could generally be used in 

addressing a person. A sobriquet very often 

would not, or could not, be. One who knew 

Abraham Lincoln might have called him Abe 

in talking to him. But he would not have 

addressed him as Great Emancipator or Rail 

Splitter. Thus a nickname, while not necessarily 

more individual, is more personal. 

Nicknames are usually derived from some 

adaptation of the regular name or from some 

individual characteristic, though this need not 

be unique. In the first instance it might be the 

result of a simple shortening-as Dave for 

David; a slight change in the form of the name 

or a part of it-as Jim for James, Ned for 

Edward or Betty for Elizabeth. Dick for 

Richard is hard to explain, though it is one of 

the commonest and oldest of all nicknames. It 

was a shortened form of the once common 

name Dickon and may simply have been transferred. 

Many nicknames are diminutiveslohnnie 

for Zohn. Some are a combination of 

initials--Casey for K.C., Mu Ferguson for 

Miriam A. Ferguson. In the second instance, 

the nickname might develop from appearance 

-Red, Slim, Shorty; from a quality-Speed, 

Happy, Gabby; from place of origin-Tex, 

Frenchy. The line between nickname and sobriquet 

becomes blurred in such appellations as 

Dizzy Dean, Hot Lips Paige and Pretty Boy 

Floyd. 

On the whole nicknames have friendly, 

pleasant connotations. Those with negative 

associations are comparatively rare. And nicknames 

are not as a rule taken. They are given. 

There is some recognition of a personality in 

the bestowing of a nickname. Perhaps that is 

why people in public life are so often referred 

to by their nicknames. It establishes an identification 

as a personality, something more than 

the mere bearer of a name. Ike Eisenhower, 

Yogi Berra, Liz Taylor, Rocky Graziano, 

Danny Kaye-all derive an intangible benefit 

from their nicknames. 

The negative nicknames are those given to 

unpopular figures, such as criminals (Scarface, 

Cherry Nose) or those who have in some way 

offended the public (or perhaps a columnist). 

Baby Face Nelson was, apparently, so named 

by his criminal associates and the public (which, 

on the whole, is fond of its criminals) relished 

the irony. Golf Bag Sam Hunt, one of Chicago’s 

more resourceful hoodlums, gained his nick-

name by carrying his sawed-off shotgun in a 

golf ban, a symbol of solid respectability that 

deceived. the police and lured his vi&s into 

fatal inattention. 

Nicknames are usually bestowed on people 

by those close to them, family or friends. But 

those in the public eye are often given sobriquets 

by journalists who may invent or record 

a striking appellation. Sometimes history pins 

a name on someone already dead-in the light 

of later events or appraisal. Thus Richard, 

whom we know as The Lion-hearted was known 

to his contemporaries as Richard Yea-and-Nay 

because he so rarely kept his word. 

A peculiar trend in nicknames in contemporary 

America is the giving of boys’ nicknames 

to girls as their regular names. Billie 

Burke was one of the first. But now lackie, 

Tommy, Bobbie, Frankie, Gussie and a dozen 

other nicknames that a generation ago were 

thought of as purely masculine are more used 

by girls than boys. 

Sobriquets are sometimes invented for or 

assumed by people who wish to benefit from a 

trademark, usually entertainers. Frank Sinatra 

is The Voice; Bing Crosby is The Groaner or 

Mr. Music: Clara Bow is The It Girl: Marie 

MacDonald is The Body. 

nick of time. As a term for opportunely, at the 

critical moment, or for the very last mfoment 

that would be useful, in the nick of time is a 

cliche. It is usually spoken with great intenseness, 

seeking to lend emphasis to the dramatic 

event it is always employed to depict. But intenseness 

exhausts itself as well as its aullience 

and such phrases seem to be in continual need 

of additional emphasis. For centuries this 

phrase was in the nick. Then in the late seventeenth 

century it became in the nick of time. 

And there is now a tendency to make it in the 

very nick of time. It is best to avoid it altogether. 

nigh. The comparative form is nigher or near; the 

superlative is nighest or next. The regular 

forms nigher and nighest have been in general 

use for only a few hundred years and are 

already archaic. See near; next. 

As an adverb nigh means near in space, time, 

or relation. It is archaic in prose and has not 

been used effectively by a good poet since 

Thomas Hardy (And all mankind that haunted 

nigh/ Had sought their household fires). In the 

sense of nearly or almost, nigh is archaic or 

dialectal (It’s nigh sundown. He’s nigh on to 

ninety). As an adjective it means being near, 

not distant, near in relationship. With ref’erence 

to animals or vehicles it means left or near 

(the nigh horse). One use of nigh, now (chiefly 

dialectal or archaic, means parsimonious (He 

may not be a miser, but he’s mighty nigh). 

Close in this sense remains standard. Well nigh 

is a cliche. 

Night Riders, when capitalized, designates the 

members of a secret organization of Kentucky 

and Tennessee tobacco farmers which in 

1908-09 tried to organize against a monopoly 

319 IlO 

of tobacco buyers. The Night Riders burned the 

barns of those who refused to join their organization 

and dynamited some of the tobacco 

warehouses. See Robert Penn Warren’s novel 

Night Rider. 

night stick; tnmcheon. American night stick is 

English truncheon. In England the truncheon 

is carried at all hours. The night stick, a heavy 

stick or long club, is carried by policemen at 

night and sometimes in the daytime (The police 

. . . charged the marchers and bystanders alike, 

swinging their nightsticks). 

nimbus. The plural is nimbuses or nimbi. 

nine days’ wonder. The Romans seem to have 

fixed nine days as the life span of a minor 

marvel or gossipy sensation. Chaucer said that 

wonders last only nine nights “in toune,” implying 

perhaps that country folk cherish them a 

bit longer. Shakespeare used the proverb several 

times and Robert Burton gave it an amusing 

addition: A wonder lasts but nine days, and 

then the puppy’s eyes are open. In recent times 

it has come to be applied especially to sensational 

stories in the newspapers which are kept 

alive more by the papers than by their own 

intrinsic interest. During World War II the term 

was applied derisively by the common soldiers 

to zealous officers who, coming as replacements, 

commenced their command with much bustle 

and vigorous intentions. The phrase is now 

worn out with overuse. 

ninepins. When referring to the game, the plural 

word ninepins takes a singular verb, as in ninepins 

was being played. One piece is called a 

ninepin and ninepins used with a plural verb 

means several of these, as in the ninepins were 

set up. Only the singular form is used as the 

first element in a compound, as in a ninepin 

alley. See also ten pins. 

nip. The English and the Americans have various 

special meanings for nip in addition to its 

common, standard meanings of to compress 

sharply between two surfaces or points, to 

pinch, bite, and so forth. 

An English colloquial meaning is to move 

or go suddenly (Well, 1’11 just be nipping along 

now). Although a nipping frost would be 

standard American, the adjective nippy, to 

describe a sharply cold day, is English, used in 

America only for humorous effect. 

Nip and tuck is an American expression. It 

describes the relation of competitors in a race 

or other contest in which the outcome is continually 

in doubt as one slightly gains over and 

then loses to the other. The nearest English 

equivalent is the phrase, also standard in 

America, neck and neck. However, they are not 

quite the same: neck and neck suggests a sustained 

equality; nip and tuck suggests fluctuating 

chances. 

nip it in the bud. As a term for stopping something 

in the early stages before it can become 

a menace or even a serious threat, to nip it in 

the bud is hackneyed. 

no. This word is primarily an adjective. It may 

qualify either a singular or a plural noun, as in

IlO 320 

no man and no men. A singular noun qualified 

by no requires a singular verb, as in no man 

knows, and a plural noun a plural verb, as in 

no birds sing. The adjective no cannot be used 

alone as a noun or pronoun; the form for this 

is none. 

As a rule, the adjective no makes an entire 

statement negative. That is, no great man would 

say that is equivalent to a great man would not 

say that. For this reason, a noun can often be 

qualified by no when what is meant is the verb 

qualified by not, as in I was troubled by no 

doubt and you need have no fear. But this is 

not always true. No little usually means much 

and no few, many, as in it added no little to 

his happiness and tender dreams, no few of 

which have since been realized. 

No may be used as an adverb to qualify 

other, diRerent, and the comparative forms of 

adjectives and adverbs, as in if is no different 

and Z will waif no longer. (The rest of this paragraph 

involves some hair-splitting. It should not 

be read except by those who enjoy this sort of 

thing.) Some grammarians feel that no is also 

used as an adverb with the positive form of 

certain adjectives, as in at no inconsiderable 

yearly loss. Here, if no qualifies only the word 

that -immediately follows, that is, inconsiderable. 

it is an adverb. If it aualifies all the words 

that’ follow, including the noun, that is, if it 

qualifies inconsiderable yearly loss, it is an adjective. 

To say which of these interpretations is 

the better one requires a subtle feeling for the 

meaning of words. But anyone who can see the 

problem has a right to his own conclusions. If 

no is an adverb here it may be preceded by a 

definitive word, as in at the no inconsiderable 

or at my no inconsiderable. If it is an adjective 

it cannot be used after a word of this kind 

because no is itself a definitive. Some grammarians 

say that no is here an adjective and 

that therefore the construction with the, my, or 

any other definitive word, is ungrammatical. 

Others say that the fact that this construction 

is used proves that no is here an adverb. 

No may be used to answer a question, as in 

Did you hear that? No.: or to introduce a negative 

statement, as in No, Z don’t. In these uses 

of the word, no is interpreted as an adverb 

aualifvinr a verb. This adverbial no may be 

.

squalid, dark and fetid). It also means harmful, 

injurious, noxious (The noisome pestilence). 

It is sometimes misused for noisy. A good corrective 

for this error is supplied by a quotation 

from the poems of Henry Hirst in the Oxford 

English Dictionary: LIegirt with noisome ivy 

vines/ That shroud me like a pall. 

nom de plume; nom de guerre; pen name; pseudonym. 

Finding a name for a writer’s assumed 

name seems to be dil-ficult in English. Nom de 

plume is a French phrase coined in English 

from French words to mean pen name. Pen 

name means what it says, but it sounds artificial 

and is, for it developed after nom de 

plume as a translation of it. Nom de guerre 

(war name) is the French term for assumed 

name but can be used unself-consciously only 

by the French. The Greeks had a word for it, 

pseudonym, and if assumed name seems to have 

too strong criminal connotations, pseudonym 

is probably the least objectionable of the lot. 

nominal means being such in name only (The 

peace was nominal, for border clashes continued. 

He was the nominal ruler, but he was 

nothing but a figurehead, the actual functions 

of government being controlled entirely by the 

Chief Minister). When it is used to describe a 

price or consideration, it means named as a 

mere matter of form, being trifling in comparison 

with the actual value. A nominal fee 

is not a low fee but one so low that it is not a 

fee at all but merely a token payment. The 

business men who served in Washington during 

World War I for a dollar a year received a 

nominal wage. When nominal is used with 

some such limiting word as merely, it designates 

complete contrast to something substantia.1. 

nominate. See name. 

nominative absolute. See participles. 

nominative case. The nominative is a Latin case 

used to mark the subject of a verb. In modern 

English this relationship is shown by position. 

See subject of a verb and subjective pronouns. 

nonce word. A nonce word is a word coined and 

used only for the particular occasion, not 

adopted into use (Coleridge’s mammonolatry 

-mammon worship). Since in making such a 

coinage the author implies that he finds the 

immense vocabulary of the English language 

insufficient, there is always the danger in its 

use of being charged with vanity, affectation, 

or ignorance of the language. There is also the 

danger of not being understood or of annoying 

the reader by compelling him to stop and 

puzzle out the meaning of the strange word. If 

the author and the reader are clever there may 

be the surprise of a fine excess. But it’s risky. 

Fowler says don’t try it unless you’re sure 

you’re good. 

none. At one time the words no and none had the 

same relation to each other that my and mine 

had. That is, only the form none could be used 

alone without a noun; either form could :;tand 

before a noun, and no was used before a consonant 

and none before a vowel, as in no good 

and none evil. This usage had become irregular 

by the end of the sixteenth century. In the King 

James Bible we find in Deuteronomy 5:7 thou 

shalt have none other gods before me, but in 

Exodus 20~3 thou shalt have no other gods 

before me. In current English none is used 

chiefly as a pronoun and no is the regular adjective 

form. None may still function as an 

adjective provided it is separated from the noun 

it qualifies, as in but answer there came none 

and better be jocund with the fruitful grape 

than sadden after none, or bitter, fruit, but it 

cannot stand in the normal adjective position. 

We would now say no other gods. 

The pronoun none may have a preceding 

noun as antecedent, such as cause in men will 

fight for any cause, or for none: or the antecedent 

may not be expressed, as in none can 

now say. The pronoun may be qualified by a 

following adjective, such as living in none living 

can remember the day and stranger in This glass 

had seen some strange things. And surely none 

stranger than itself. In they cause none such to 

die, such is an adjective qualifying the pronoun 

none. This construction is condemned by some 

grammarians, but it is traditional, literary 

English. None may be followed by an of phrase. 

Here none of may mean no part of, as in none 

of it is his, but it is more often an emphatic 

negative equivalent to not at all as in it’s none 

of your business and it’s your misfortune and 

none of my own. This too is standard, literary 

English. For genitive problems, see double 

genitives. 

The pronoun none is ordinarily used to make 

a negative statement about all the members of 

a certain group. A statement of this kind is 

essentially plural. But grammar is not logic, 

and grammatically the word may be either 

singular or plural. It has been used in both 

ways for as long as we have any records of the 

language. An analysis of English literature 

shows that from the time of Malory (1450) to 

the time of Milton (16.50), none was treated as 

a plural once for every three times it was treated 

as a singular; and from the time of Milton to 

1917, it was treated as a plural seven times for 

every four times that it was treated as a singular. 

Its use as a plural has increased noticeably 

in the last forty years. In current English, none 

is always treated as a plural when it refers to 

persons. If we want to have the verb singular we 

must now use no one or nobody as the subject. 

The modern usage is seen in no one thinks he is 

clever, but none except his family know how 

stupid he really is. In speaking of things, none 

may still be treated as a singular, but it is more 

often treated as a plural. 

None may also be used as an adverb in some 

constructions. It may qualify the comparative 

form of an adjective (or adverb) preceded by 

the, as in none the worse for it, none the wiser, 

none the less surely; or a positive form preceded 

by too, as in none too soon, none too sure. In 

Great Britain it may be used before a positive 

form qualified by so, as in it’s none so pleasant, 

but this construction is not often heard in the 

United States. None may also be used alone 

with a verb to mean not at all, as in I slept none

noplace 322 

that night. The uard is used in this way in the 

United States and Scotland and the construction 

is standard in those countries, but not in 

England. This has been true for at least 150 

years. Boswell, using the speech that was 

natural to him, wrote: we spoke none. But he 

apparently considered this an inferior form of 

English, for he later corrected the sentence to 

we had no conversation. 

noplace. The use of noplace as a substitute for 

nowhere, as in I could find it noplace, is condemned 

by many grammarians because the 







nor. See or. 

normal; regular; ordinary; natural. That is normal 

which conforms to the established standards for 

its sort of thing (The normal response to such 

a statement would be derision. Anybody with 

normal intelligence would have known better). 

That is regular which conforms to prescribed 

rule, accepted principle, recognized pattern 

(The regular thing is to have dinner first. It’s 

best to do it the regular way; it will cause less 

comment). To say of someone that he is a 

regular scoundrel is to say that he conforms, in 

every respect, to the recognized pattern of 

scoundrelism. The slang commendation, that 

so-and-so is a regular guy, carries an interesting 

suggestion of the importance of conformity 

in achieving popular approbation. That is 

ordinary which is opposed to the uncommon, of 

the usual kind (The ordinary driver seems to feel 

that trafic regulations are meant only for the 

other fellow). That is natural which conforms to 

the principles of its own nature and since most 

normal and ordinary people and things do, 

there are many contexts in which the words are 

interchangeable. See average, common. 

normalcy; normalism; normality; the normal; 

Normal. It was in Boston, in 1920, that Senator 

Warren G. Harding, moved by alliteration and 

the spirit of the times, declared that what 

America then needed was not heroics but healing; 

not nostrums but normalcy; not revolution 

but restoration: . . . not surgery but serenity. 

The idea seemed sound to the voters who 

elected him president. But the wits, who were 

just starting a brilliant decade in the opposition, 

seized on the word normalcy and made it a 

banner of derision. Without bothering to consult 

their dictionaries, they simply assumed 

that the Senator meant normality and had 

blundered. As late as 1953 even so astute and 

literate a man as Frederick Lewis Allen (in 

The Big Change, N.Y., Harper) could say of 

Harding: He preferred to talk about what he 

called “normalcy,” meaning normality. 

But normalcy, although until that moment a 

rare word, is a perfectly legitimate word, meaning 

the character or state of being normal. It 

is a complete and acceptable synonym for 

normality, and had been in use for at least 

seventy years before Mr. Harding’s or his ghost 

writer’s lust for alliteration led him to it. 

Normality, however, the normal state or 

quality, is the common and most readily understood 

word, though it is being displaced by the 

normal, the standard or type. 

Normalism is so rare a word that most 

standard dictionaries do not recognize its existence. 

Those that do identify it as a theological 

term designating an early Buddhistic belief in 

a cosmic order, opposed to animism, which is 

not subject to the will of a personal deity. 

Normal schools (after the French e’cole 

normale) are so called because they teach the 

norms or rules of teaching. 

north; northern. These words have one comparative 

form, more northern, and two superlatives, 

northmost and northernmost. 

nostalgia, derived from Greek words meaning 

“return home” and “pain,” originally meant an 

aching longing for home, homesickness. Now 

a vogue word, nostalgia has come to mean any 

vague yearning, especially for the past and especially-as 

most yearning for the past iswhen 

tinged with tenderness and sadness. It is 

so vague and yet so popular that it has become 

slightly comic (as in The Night the Old 

Nostalgia Burned Down, by Frank Sullivan, 

Boston, 1953). Homesickness, yearning, and 

longing should all be carefully considered 

whenever the impulse to use nostalgia comes 

upon us. 

not. This word, which is an abbreviated form of 

nought, is now the simple adverb of negation. 

Until about six hundred years ago, the simple 

negative adverb was ne. It stood before the 

verb, as in twenty thousand infants that ne wot 

the right hand from the left, but could be 

strengthened by a following negative, as in ne 

doubt ye nought. This gave English a compound 

negative ne . . . nought somewhat like 

the French ne . . . pus. In time nought became 

not and ne disappeared. Although the old construction 

was forgotten, not kept its position 

after the verb, as in pomp that fades not and 

this body dropt not down. 

In a normal English sentence a negative adverb 

stands immediately before the verb. A 

post-placed negative, as in fades not and dropt 

not is permissible but unusual. One would therefore 

expect to see not brought forward, and this 

was occasionally done, as in I not doubt he 

came alive to land and they possessed the island 

but not enjoyed it. This is the reasonable way 

to handle not and if grammar was controlled 

by reason this is the way we would now use 

the word. But we all feel that this word order 

is wrong or “impossible.” That is because. 

language is much too big a thing to be altered 

at will, even by school teachers or textbook 

writers. It is the speech habits of all the people 

who use the language, and these in turn depend 

upon speech habits handed down from the past. 

Language changes as the needs of people 

change. But it changes as a living creature does

and cannot be manipulated mechanically. We, 

today, cannot place nor in the normal position 

for an adverb because Seven hundred years ago 

it was the object of the verb and has come 

down to us in the object position. 

In present-day English we solve the problem 

of not by never using the word except in a 

verbal phrase, such as he will not doubt. Here 

it follows a verb form, as tradition requires, 

but stands before the meaningful verb, as the 

normal word order requires. In the simple past 

ad present tenses, where we do not ordinarily 

have an auxiliary verb, we deliberately create 

a verbal phrase by using some form of do, as 

in he did not doubt, he does not doubt. 

There is one exception to this rule. Do is 

never used with forms of the verb to be. Here 

we keep the old word order, as in he is not 

here, I am not sclre. Fifty years ago it was 

considered better not to use do with the simple 

forms of have, and to say he hasn’t a pencil, 

he hadn’t a pencil. In America today do is 

used with have more often than not and most 

people would say he doesn’t have a pencil, he 

didn’t have a pencil. The old word order without 

do is still possible with any verb. We may 

still say I doubt not your word. It is still natural 

English with have, especially in the present 

tense, as in he hasn’t a nickel. But it is required 

only after the verb to be. 

When not follows be, have, or an auxiliary 

verb, we ordinarily do not pronounce the o. ‘We 

say isn’t, doesn’t, can’t. But in writing it is customary 

to use the full form. We write 2 cannot 

come when we would say I can’t come. This is 

unfortunate because it makes the written sentences 

stiff and over-emphatic. But many people 

are offended when they see contractions in 

print. A writer must therefore decide whether 

it is better for him to use the full forms and be 

considered didactic by &some people, or to use 

the contractions and be considered undignitied 

by a great many others. 

Not may be used to qualify one element in a 

sentence, an adjective, adverb, phrase, or clause. 

When it is, it is placed immediately before that 

element, as in he told a not very convincing 

story and he said it not to me but to YDU. But 

in most cases not is a sentence adverb and 

negates the entire statement. This is alwiays 

true when it stands before the subject. The lines 

not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, . . . 

not a soldier discharged his farewell shot mean 

simply it is not true that a drum was heard, 

or a funeral note, or that a soldier discharged 

his farewell shot. When not stands in or immediately 

after the verb form, it has exac:tly 

the same force unless the subject of the verb is 

some. 

These points may seem too obvious to be 

worth mentioning, but they are often overlooked 

in discussing negative statements tlhat 

have all as subject. The sentence all the invitations 

have not been mailed says nothing 

about how many have been mailed. It merely 

denies that all have. Ifwe want to say that none 

323 notable 

have been mailed we must ei’her use the word 

none or make an affirmative statement such a.9 

all the invitations are still to be mailed. Not all 

have been mailed is exactl’l the same statement 

as all have not been mailed. The fact that 

sentences of this kind say very little may be a 

reason for not using them. But it is no justification 

for trying to force a distinction on them 

which they do not have, logically or grammatically. 

not un-. There are occasions when the not unconstruction 

is justified, as where a situation 

or something said seems to have a negative 

import but actually does not. To say of some 

speaker that he was not unkind in his remarks 

is to imply that the remarks might very well 

sound unkind or it might be expected of this 

particular speaker on this particular occasion 

that he would be unkind, but that the context 

or the intonation or the exact choice of words 

or some other circumstance made it clear that 

in fact there was no unkindness in his utterance. 

But for the most part the not unconstruction 

is simply a bad habit, a circumlocution of 

timidity, a desire not to give offense that can 

be more annoying than the offense it seeks to 

avoid. 

not wisely but too well. It was Othello who Iov’d 

not wisely, but too well. Recognition of the 

original context, which once may have given 

this quotation a touch of wit, has now been lost, 

so far as the common user is concerned-if 

ever there was anything in it that made it particularly 

witty to apply to other situations. 

not worth the paper it’s written on. To say of 

some agreement, promise, or assurance that it is 

not worth the paper it’s written on, as a way of 

saying that it is worthless and unreliable, is 

to employ a phrase that has been debilitated by 

overuse. 

notable; noted; noticeable; notorious; famous. 

Noted means conspicuous, celebrated, famous 

(A number of noted actresses attended the 

premiere). That which or he who is notable is 

worthy of note or notice (Only a few friends 

recognized Hopkins as a notable poet in his 

lifetime). Noticeable means such as to attract 

notice (The contents of the bottle were noticeably 

diminished. There was a noticeable sabre 

scar on his left cheek). Many a noticeable 

person is not notable and few of the notable 

are noted and many who are noted are really 

notorious, that is, widely but unfavorably 

known (Charles James Fox, the noted statesman, 

was a notorious gambler). Notorious is 

the antithesis of famous, which means renowned 

or well-known in a favored sense; yet 

infamous is a far stronger word than notorious, 

expressing detestation where notorious 

expresses merely ill repute. Then, of course, 

the same person may be regarded as notorious 

and famous by different groups at the same 

time or by the same group at different times. 

Hitler was a famous statesman to many Germans, 

a notorious madman to his nation’s enemies. 

Lola Montez, was, as a girl, a famous

notary 324 

beauty; as a woman, a notorious adventuress. 

Then, if one is exceedingly notorious he may 

after his death become famous. We speak of 

famous, not notorious, criminals of the past. 

See also celebrity. 

notary; notary public. The second form is preferred 

to describe a public officer authorized to 

authenticate contracts, acknowledge deeds, take 

affidavits, protest bills of exchange, take depositions, 

etc. The plural form is notaries public. 

note and notice are interchangeable in the sense 

of to become aware of, to pay attention to, to 

observe, perceive (The world will little note 

nor long remember what we say here, but it 

can never forget what they did here. Notice 

Neptune, though,/ Taming a sea-horse). Note, 

however, often conveys the additional sense of 

mark down, as in writing, make a memorandum 

or notation of. 

notice. When this verb is used in an active form 


form of a verb, as in he noticed her hesitate, by 


he noticed her hesitating, or by a clause, as in 

he noticed that she hesitated, but not by a toinfinitive. 

We do not say he noticed her to hesitate. 

When notice is used in a passive form 

it may be followed by a to-infinitive, as in she 

was noticed to hesitate, or by the -ing form of 

a verb, as in she was noticed hesitating. See 

also descry. 

notion. See idea. 

notoriety. See celebrity. 

notwithstanding. This word is ordinarily an adverb 

or a preposition, but it may also be used 

as a conjunction. That is, it may introduce a 

full clause without the aid of the word that, as 

in John Hunter, notwithstanding he had a bee 

in his bonnet, was really a great man. 

nought. See aught. 

nouns. It is very difficult to define a noun purely 

in terms of English grammar. If one can refer 

to Latin, the definition is easy. In Latin, nouns 

are words that have gender, number, and case 

and determine the gender, number, and case of 

other words in the sentence. As a rule, teachers 

of English mean by a noun, any word that 

would be a noun in Latin. But they can hardly 

offer this as a definition to American students. 

The definition usually given, that a noun is 

“the name of a person, place, or thing,” is unsatisfactory 

in two ways. In the first place, it is 

misleading to beginning students because it involves 

an unfamiliar meaning of the word thing. 

For example, in the lines: 

They are not long, the weeping and the 

laughter, 

Love and desire and hate: 

I think they have no portion in us after 

We pass the gate. 

the words weeping, laughter, love, desire, hate, 

portion, and gate are all nouns. It is unlikely 

that anyone who did not already know that 

these words were nouns would think of calling 

weeping or desire a thing. In the second place, 

it is illogical to try to distinguish the various 

parts of speech by classifying their meanings. 

A noun is not what it refers to, but simply a 

certain kind of word that needs to be distinguished 

from other words in some intelligible 

manner. 

A noun might be defined functionally, according 

to the role that a word plays in a 

sentence. But such a definition would make nonsense 

of the question: When can a noun be 

used as an adverb? And some of the most interesting 

questions in grammar come in just 

this form. For this reason, a different type of 

definition, and one that may at first seem unnecessarily 

complicated, is more useful in the 

long run. 

Most nouns have a singular and a plural 

form, such as boy and boys. Some, such as 

mud, have only a singular and some, such as 

trousers, have only a plural form. A few, such 

as deer, have the same form in the singular and 

in the plural. But whenever a noun is used, it 

must be used as a singular or as a plural. The 

question of number cannot be disregarded, as 

it is in words such as green, quickly, toward. 

Verbs are also said to have number, but in an 

entirely different sense. A plural verb, such as 

they walk, does not mean that they walk more 

than once. In languages that do not have a 

rigid sentence order, verbs take on special 

forms to show which word in the sentence they 

are attached to and a verb is said to “agree 

with its subject in number.” A little of this 

survives in English and a few verb forms show 

number. But this is merely a reflection, or a 

matching, of the number which properly 

belongs to some noun. A noun, therefore, can 

be defined as “a word that has number,” that 

is, a word that must be either singular or 

plural. 

This definition is not completely satisfactory. 

Pronouns, which are words that are used in 

place of nouns, also have number. In addition, 

adjectives are sometimes used as nouns and 

when they are, they too have number, as in 

the injured were removed. One can distinguish 

nouns from pronouns by the fact that a pronoun 

is a word used instead of a noun, to 

designate something without naming it. That is, 

a pronoun is a function word and has no true 

meaning until we know what noun it is standing 

for. It is much harder to say whether a word 

is actually a noun or merely an adjective functioning 

as a noun. But since adjectives may be 

qualified by adverbs and nouns may not, most 

grammarians say that the word is an adjective 

as long as it is possible to use an adverb before 

it, as in the seriously injured. Recognizing these 

problems, we may define a noun more accurately 

as “a word that has number but that does 

not have an antecedent and cannot be qualified 

by an adverb.” 

(For problems having to do with number in 

nouns, see singular nouns, plural nouns, generic 

nouns, group names, mass nouns, and adjectives 

as nouns. For questions of number in verbs and

pronouns, see agreement: verbs and the individual 

words.) 

In addition to a singular and a plural, nouns 

also have a genitive or possessive case which 

enables them to function very much as an adjective 

does. (See genitive ease and nouns as 

adjectives. The other functions of a noun are 

discussed under subject of a verb, object of a 

verb, object of a preposition, indirect object, 

linking verbs, and nouns as adverbs.) 

Nouns are sometimes classified as coZ/ec~ive, 

common, proper, abstract, and concrete. These 

terms are defined in this dictionary but are not 

used in discussions of noun problems. 

(For questions regarding hyphens, see compound 

words.) 

nouns as adjectives. It is sometimes impossible 

to say whether the first element in a compound 

is a noun or an adjective. For example, a. nineteenth 

century English schoolmaster failed. some 

children for saying that cannon was a noun in 

the compound cannon ball. During the 1880’s 

the greatest English grammarians argued this 

question at length. Those who held that cannon 

was a noun seem to have had the best of it, but 

not to everybody’s satisfaction. They pointed out 

that we use an adjective and not an adverb 

before cannon ball. But this proves nothing. 

Other compounds, such as old age, that obviously 

have an adjective for the first element, are 

qualified by adjectives. We say extreme or’d age. 

They pointed out that cannon cannot be: compared. 

That is, we cannot speak of a cannoner 

ball. But some undoubted adjectives, such as 

previous, several, yearly, cannot be compared. 

They also showed that in the twelfth century, 

when English was an inflected language and it 

was easy to see the difference between a noun 

and an adjective, the first element in similar 

compounds, such as sea water, was a noun in 

the genitive and not an adjective. The answer 

to this is that such words “might have ua.ed the 

intervening seven or eight hundred years to 

become adjectives.” A few nouns, such as 

square, have been used as qualifiers so consistently 

that they have even developed comparative 

and superlative forms, as in he who 

can sit squarest on a three-legged stool. 

Those of us who are neither grammarians 

nor school children do not have to answer such 

difficult questions. Almost any English noun 

can be used in the singular form as if it were 

an adjective. That is, almost any English noun 

can be used to qualify another noun. It makes 

no difference whether we call this an adjiective, 

a form of the genitive, or a noun used as an 

adjective. (See singular nouns, compound 

words, and genitive case. For the difference between 

a noun and an adjective in -ing, see -ing.) 

Almost any prepositional phrase that limits 

the meaning of a noun can be dropped arnd the 

qualifying noun placed immediately before the 

principal one. In this way research in socio/ogy 

becomes sociology research and opportunities 

for outdoor recreation, outdoor recreation opportunities. 

The construction is as old as the 

325 nouns as adjectives 

English language, but before 1900 it was pretty 

much restricted to short words and names of 

material things, such as river bunk, cotton dress, 

sea water. Since then its use has been enormously 

extended. At first many people objected 

to the new forms. They objected particularly to 

compounds expressing abstract ideas, such as 

word order, death threat, child management, 

thought relationships. But the construction was 

too useful to be given up. It makes for a terse, 

compact style, very much in keeping with our 

modern temper. If too many syllables are involved, 

that is, if the individual words are too 

long-as they certainly are in the first examples 

given above-terseness loses most of its advantages. 

For this reason, good writers do not 

often combine nouns of more than two syllables 

each. And even when the words are short, there 

may be such a thing as too much terseness. 

Most people would find a sequence of eight 

nouns fatiguing, as in he absconded with the 

River Street fire house Christmas Eve party 

funds. But this is a question of style, not 

grammar. 

As a rule, prepositional phrases that are 

evaluative or imply a judgment cannot be 

handled in this way. For example, in an ornament 

of value, a man of honor, a work of distinction, 

we cannot simply place the second 

noun before the first. We have to use an adjective 

form such as a valuable ornament, an 

honorable man, a distinguished work. The fact 

that in most cases an adjective form must be 

used for a phrase that is evaluative, while a 

noun form may be used when the phrase is 

defining or limiting, leads to the feeling that 

the adjective form is always evaluative. For this 

reason, although educational is not evaluative 

in the following example, many people would 

rather say the education committee than the 

educational committee in speaking of a committee 

that is to consider questions of education. 

Traditionally, both forms mean the same 

thing and can be used interchangeably. But 

the movement away from the distinctive adjective 

form is strong. 

The noun in a descriptive phrase may itself 

be qualified by a definitive adjective (such as 

the, this, that, my, any, no, some), as it is in 

a box of this size, a cur of that color. In phrases 

of this kind, the preposition may simply be 

dropped and the remaining words, such as this 

size, then function as adjectives. They may 

stand immediately after the principal noun, as 

in a child that age, or they may be separated 

from it by a linking verb, as in the child wus 

that age. A prepositional phrase cannot be 

treated in this way unless the phrase noun is 

qualified by a definitive adjective. We cannot 

drop the of from is it of use? although we may 

say is it any use?. The preposition cannot be 

dropped from a phrase that is not purely descriptive. 

For example, the of cannot be 

dropped from a phrase that shows the whole 

of which something is a part, as in o?ze of these 

men. But within the limitations just described,

nouns as adverbs 326 

the construction is standard literary English and 

can be used on the most solemn occasions, as 

in we are not now that strength which in old 

days moved heaven and earth. 

Today, words of this kind are sometimes 

placed before the noun they qualify instead of 

after it, as in do you like this color car?. This 

has been true of age and size, as in what age 

child and any size box, for almost two hundred 

years. But the free use of this construction, as 

seen in this type engine, uny style dress, is very 

recent. It is heard too often in the speech of 

well educated people to be condemned. But it 

is not yet used in literary English. And it makes 

some older people very unhappy. 

mnms as adverbs. Any adverbial idea can be expressed 

by a prepositional phrase, as manner is 

in he worked with a will and place in he worked 

in the basement. But a noun can often function 

as an adverb without first being made part of a 

prepositional phrase. If the common form of a 

noun is used, it is called an adverbial accusative. 

This may be either singular or plural. If the 

noun is clearly singular but nevertheless takes 

a final s, it is called an adverbial genitive. 

1. A noun can be used as an adverb of extent, 

that is, as a word which shows “how much,” 

‘as bit in woit a bit and lot in he is a lot better. 

Five dollars is an adverb of extent in it cost five 

dollars. In expressions such as five dollars a 

lesson, twice a year, ten cents a piece, the final 

noun is also called an adverb of extent. Actually, 

the a used here once meant in and these 

are remnants of prepositional phrases similar 

to the words alive, asleep, awake, afloat. (See 

adjectives.) The is sometimes used instead of a 

in expressions of this kind, as in six dollars the 

pair. This is a late development, influenced by 

French. It is acceptable, but a is preferred. 

A noun used as an adverb of extent is ordinarily 

an adverbial accusative, as way is in a long 

way 00. In it is a long ways off, the form ways 

is an adverbial genitive. This construction is no 

longer used in Great Britain and some grammarians 

say that it is no longer standard anywhere. 

But it was once literary English in 

England and is still standard in the United 

States. It is used by many well educated people 

and by some of our best writers. There is no 

feeling today that this is a genitive form and 

an apostrophe is never used here. 

2. A noun can be used as an adverb of 

manner, that is, as a word which shows “how.” 

We may say send it air mail, travel pullman, 

don’t act that way. Nouns are used in this way 

more freely in the United States than they are 

in Great Britain, but the construction is natural 

English and needs no apology. 

3. Nouns are not ordinarily used to show 

“place.” They may be used to show distance, as 

miles in five miles . . . the sacred river ran, but 

this is considered an adverb of extent rather 

than of place. The verb leave takes an object 

which means “place from which,” as in leave 

town, leave school, but this is not truly an adverb 

construction. 

Words which represent the points of the 

compass, and the single word home can be used 

adverbially in the sense of “place to which,” as 

in swift hoofs thundering south and home they 

brought her warrior dead. But we cannot say 

ofice they go or they run school. Nouns are 

used to show “place at or in which” in a few 

expressions, such as he smote them hip and 

thigh and we painted it top and bottom. But in 

general, nouns cannot be used in this way. We 

cannot say I mm staying ofJce, 

In the United States the word home is used 

to show “place at which” as well as “place to 

which,” as in we stayed honze all day. This is 

not acceptable in Great Britain where an at is 

required, but it is standard English in this 

country. The noun place is also used in the 

United States to show “place to which,” as in 

we are going some place tonight, and “place at 

or in which,” as in I have looked every place. 

These constructions too are standard in the 


4. Nouns are used freely to show “extent of 

time,” as night in and trains all night groan 

on the rails, and years in wedded we have been 

these twice ten tedious years. These may be 

classed as adverbs of extent or as adverbs of 

time. Nouns may also be used to show “time 

at which,” as in I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last 

night and tomorrow I shall miss you less. 

An adverbial genitive is used to show “repeated 

time,” as in he works nights. This construction 

is condemned by some grammarians 

and is no longer standard in Great Britain, 

where it is replaced by a prepositional phrase, 

as in he works at night. But it is still acceptable, 

and widely used, in the United States. 

nouns of multitude. See group names and col- 

Iective nouns. 

novel. See new. 

novice. See amateur. 

now. This word is primarily an adverb of time 

but it may also be used as an adverbial conjunction, 

as in but, oh! the heavy change, now 

thou art gone. Some grammarians claim that 

this is improper. That is, they insist that the 

conjunction that is required in a sentence of 

this kind. But now has been used to introduce 

a clause from the earliest times and by most of 

the great writers of English. 

noway; noways; nowise. Both -way forms are 

standard English in such constructions as he 

was nowuy (or noways) to blame. In the United 

States nowuy is preferred to nowuys. The form 

nowise is also standard but it is not often used 


nowhere; nowheres. Nowhere is the only acceptable 

form in written English. In the United States 

nowheres is often heard in the speech of well 

educated people, but it does not appear in print. 

Nowhere is sometimes used with an unnecessary 

that, as in nowhere thut I have been. This 

is not as well established as the similar use of 

onywhere, but it is acceptable to many educated 

people in the United States. 

noxious and obnoxious both derive from the 

same Latin root meaning harm. Indeed obnoxious 

simply is, or was, the word noxious

with the prefix ob- meaning towards or in the 

direction of. In modem usage, however, noxious 

is the stronger term, for it means injurious to 

health or physical well-being (The chemical 

plant filled the air with noxious fumes. The 

strong smell of sulphur, and a choking sensation 

in the lungs, indicated the presence of noxious 

gases). Obnoxious means objectionable, offensive, 

odious (Many a pleasant man becomes 

obnoxious on becoming famous). A thing may 

be both noxious and obnoxious, as mustard gas; 

obnoxious but not noxious, as a bugle call at 

dawn; noxious but not obnoxious, as a piipe of 

opium. 

nozzle; nuzzle; nose; muzzle; snout. Nozzle is 

perhaps most familiar as the term to describe 

a projecting spout, terminal, discharge pilpe, or 

the like, as of a bellows or hose. Among its 

other meanings is the slang one of “nose.” 

Nuzzle is a verb only. Intransitive, it means to 

burrow or root with the nose, as an animal 

does, or to thrust the nose against (The puppy 

nuzzled up close to the little boy and borh fell 

asleep). Transitive, it means to root up with 

the nose or to touch with the nose. 

Nose is a noun or a verb. As a noun it 

describes the part of the face or head which 

contains the nostrils or anything whic:h resembles 

the nose of a person or an animal, as 

a spout or nozzle, or the prow of a ship (I’ll 

hold her nose agin’ the bank/ Till the last 

galoot’s ashore), or a projecting part of anything. 

As a verb it can mean to thrust with or 

as with the nose (It looked as though she had 

made a safe landing but as soon as the propellers 

were reversed the airship nosed over, 

crumpling the right wing). It has the special 

meaning (not shared by nozzle or nuzzLe) of 

to smell out (But indeed, if you find him not 

within this month, you shall nose him as you 

go up the stairs into the lobby). The slang adjective 

nosy, prying, inquisitive, has a suggestion 

of both of these meanings of the verb nose-to 

thrust into and to smell out other people’s 

affairs. 

Muzzle, most familiar as describing the 

mouth, or end for discharge, of the barrel of a 

gun or pistol, also describes the projecting part 

of the head of an animal, including jaws, 

mouth, and nose, or a device placed over this 

part to prevent the animal from biting. As a 

verb it means to put a muzzle on or, by extension, 

to silence, to gag. 

Snout, like muzzle, refers to animals. Unlike 

muzzle, it may be used in humorous or contemptuous 

reference to a person’s nose when 

it is large or prominent. 

ntb degree. Although the idea of largeness is not 

inherent in to the nth degree, popular usage 

has made the phrase mean to the utmost extent, 

and exasperated mathematicians must console 

themselves with the reflections that language is 

not exact and that more sciences than their own 

have been so plundered. 

nub is a variant of knob. It means a protuberance, 

a lump, or a small piece. In American slang it 

may also mean the point or gist of anything 

327 

number terms 

(The nub of his argument was that we were 

licked and had better make the best of it). 

nucleus. The plural is nucleuses or nuclei. 

number. When used as a grammatical term, 

number means the distinction between singular 

and plural. Number exists in all nouns and 

some pronouns, such as he, they, and is reflected 

in a few adjectives, such as this, these 

and much, many, and in the present tense of 

most verbs, as in he walks, they walk. Problems 

of number are discussed in this dictionary under 

agreement: verbs, dual words, plural nouns, 

singular nouns, and the individual nouns, pronouns, 

and adjectives. 

The word number itself is plural, that is, it 

requires a plural verb, when it is used with the 

article a, as in a number of boxes were sent, 

and is singular when it is used with the article 

the, as in the number of boxes is small. See 

amount and numerals. 

number (song, tune). In the plural number can 

mean metrical feet or verse (Tell me not in 

mournful numbers/ Life is but an empty dream) 

or musical periods, measures, groups of notes 

(Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow/ For old, 

unhappy, far-off things,/ And battles long ago). 

In the singular it can mean a distinct part of 

an extended musical work, or one in a sequence 

of compositions. The word is being used with 

increasing frequency by band leaders, disc 

jockeys, and even publishers of music, to mean 

a song or dance tune (Ginny Simms in a popular 

number. The next number is a waltz). But 

this use is certainly not standard, being chiefly 

a piece of jargon. 

number terms. In this book the expression number 

terms means: (1) the ordinal numerals such 

as third, fifth, and the related words first, last, 

next, other; (2) the cardinal numerals such as 

three, five, and the indefinite number words few, 

many, several; (3) the fractions and the words 

that represent a definite number but that are 

not part of the number system, such as couple, 

dozen, gross; and (4) under some circumstances, 

the degree words more, most, less, 

least. (See numerals; fractions; and the individual 

words.) 

Most of the number terms can be used as 

adjectives. When they form part of a series 

qualifying the same noun, the number terms 

precede all other kinds of adjectives except the 

definitives (such as the, this, my, some), as in 

my three beautiful big brown dogs. 

Sometimes several number terms are used 

together in the same series. When this happens, 

the individual words follow approximately the 

order in which they are listed above. The 

ordinals precede the cardinals, as in the second 

three men. First, last, and other are exceptions 

and may stand before or after a cardinal 

number or an indefinite number word, as in 

the last two men and the two last men. The 

cardinals and the indefinite number words 

precede the words in group three, as in the 

first few dozen eggs. The degree words are 

ordinarily last in a series of number adjectives, 

as in bring two dozen more glasses.

numerals 328 

numerals. 

CARDINAL NUMBERS 

The cardinal numbers larger than one, such 

as three, five, ninety-nine, are primarily adjectives 

and qualify plural nouns, as in the two 

men. But when they refer to part of a specified 

group they must be treated as nouns and 

followed by the preposition of, as in two of the 

men. 

A hyphen is always used in a compound 

cardinal, such as twenty-one, fifty-four. 

The large numbers, such as hundred, 

thousand, the fractions, and a few other number 

words such as couple, dozen, score, are primarily 

nouns that have taken on some of the adjective 

functions of the cardinal numbers. Some 

of these changes are now standard English, such 

as a dozen eggs, and some, such as a couple 

dollars, are not. (For more specific information, 

see the individual words.) 

Expressions involving cardinals greater than 

one are usually treated as plurals, as in these 

fen men were ready. But they may also be 

treated as singulars when the individual elements 

are thought of as a unit, as in this three 

days was wasted and there was two hundred 

dollars in the purse. When the numbers themselves 

are thought of, as in arithmetic, the 

words are being treated as nouns, not adjectives, 

and are usually considered singular, as in twenty 

is greater than fifteen and two times three is six. 

But this is not followed consistently and in 

multiplication and addition a plural verb is 

sometimes used, as in fwo times three are six. 

In written material that contains a great 

many numbers, figures are better than words 

and should be used as much as possible. As a 

rule a figure is not used at the beginning of a 

sentence. But when a number is very large, as 

in 3,982 questionnaires were returned, some 

writers begin the sentence with a figure rather 

than write out such a difficult number or recast 

the sentence into a less direct statement. Figures 

are also preferred to numbers in footnotes, 

where space should be saved. When all numbers 

are being expressed in figures, it is important 

to remember that the word one is not always 

a number. It is not a number in one would 

think and it usually is not a number in one day 

we saw a bird. See one. 

In writing that is not primarily statistical 

the first word in a sentence is never a figure. 

Otherwise, figures are always used for dates, 

addresses, page numbers, decimals, and any 

number that cannot be expressed in two words. 

That is, we write out ninety-nine and fifteen 

thousand but not 102 or 350. Generally, when 

one number in a sentence must be expressed in 

figures any others in the same sentence are 

also expressed in figures as in between 90 and 

120. 

ORDINAL NUMBERS 

The ordinal numbers. such as third. fifth. 

ninety-ninth, name positions in a series: They 

are primarily adjectives and qualify singular 

nouns, as in the second man. Occasionally an 

ordinal is followed by of and a plural noun, as 

in the second of the men. This is an awkward 

expression and seldom means anything different 

from the second man. 

Theoretically, expressions involving ordinals 

are singular and should be followed by a singular 

verb, as in the second ten boxes is ready to 

go. Here the word second qualifies the noun 

ten, which is understood as a unit. But the group 

may also be thought of as a plural, and we may 

say the second ten boxes are ready to go. Both 

forms are acceptable. 

A hyphen is always used in compound 

ordinals, as in twenty-firsi, fifty-fourth. An 

ordinal is sometimes written in figures in a 

date, as in January 12th. This is now slightly 

old fashioned and January 12 is generally 

preferred. In any other context, ordinals are 

written out in words. 

Adverbs are formed from the ordinals by 

adding -ly, as in thirdly, fijthly, ninety-ninthly. 

These are used chiefly in numbering the steps 

in an argument or sermon. Simple ordinals 

would serve the purpose just as well. 

(The words first and last are not pure ordinals; 

see first and last.) 

POSITION 

In a series of adjectives, cardinal and ordinal 

numbers both follow the definitive adjectives, 

such as the, this, my, any. 

A cardinal number is sometimes treated as 

a name to distinguish one object from other 

similar ones, as in page IO, chapter 3, room 20. 

In such cases the numeral follows the common 

noun. The names of monarchs are sometimes 

followed by a numeral, as Louis XIV, George 

III. In such cases the number is written in 

Roman numerals and is read as an ordinal, as 

Louis the Fourteenth. George the Third. With 

these two exceptions,’ a numeral regularly precedes 

the noun it qualifies. Any reversal of this, 

such as Soldiers Three, is an unnatural order 

and should only be used when the strange effect 

is what is wanted. 

When the two are standing together, an 

ordinal number always precedes a cardinal, as 

in the second trvo dozen eggs. This order is 

never reversed unless the ordinal is being used 

in a peculiar sense, as when a bridge club offers 

ten second prizes. 

MULTIPLICATIVES 

The words once, twice, thrice, four times, 

and so on, are called multiplicatives. They are 

adverbs and may qualify a verb or a cardinal 

number. They cannot qualify a noun, but they 

may stand before a definitive adjective and have 

the effect of qualifying the noun, as in it has 

twice the population of Canada. The words 

single, double, triple, quadruple, five-fold, and 

so on, are primarily descriptive adjectives and 

qualify nouns. But they may also be placed 

before a definitive adjective, as in double the 

population of Canada. They are then being 

used as multiplicative adverbs. 

A cardinal numeral followed by of may 

also be used as a multiplicative in a com-

parison, as in he is worth two of his son and 

you are a match for three of him. Here two of 

means twice. This idiom is at least as old as 

Shakespeare. But it is used only in statements of 

this kind. 

numerous, numberless and many describe the 

presence of a large number of units. Many is 

the commonest word to express this id’ea and 

0; oh. Both words are interjections. 0 is the 

word to be used before the name in address, 

especially in solemn or poetic language, to lend 

earnestness to an appeal (0 God our help in 

ages past, “0 Pioneers!,” 0 Wind,/ If Winter 

comes, can Spring be far behind?); or with a 

word, phrase, or clause that makes up a unit of 

exclamation (0 dear! what can the mutter be?). 

Notice that no punctuation immediately follows 

0. On the other hand, oh is used independently, 

and is always followed by a comma or an exclamation 

point. It may express surprise, joy, 

pain, approval, disapproval (Oh, what a man!). 

Both 0 and oh may be used alone as exclamations, 

though oh is preferable. When it is used 

alone as an exclamation 0 is, of course, 

followed by an exclamation point. 0 is always 

a capital letter. Oh is capitalized only when it 

begins a sentence. 

oaf. The plural is oufs, not onves. 

oarlock; rowlock. Oarlock, the older word for 

the contrivance on a boat’s gunwale in or on 

which the oar rests and swings, is still the 

common and correct term in America (C’linkerbuilt 

boats, one pair ash ours and ourlocksad 

in N. Y. Evening Post, 1904). In England it 

has been generally replaced by rowl,ock, a 

variant of oarlock by association with row (He 

surveyed the cushions, the oars, the rowidcks, 

and all the fuscinating fittings-Kenneth 

Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, 1908). 

oasis. The plural is ousises or oases. 

oats is a mass word with plural form. It is usually 

treated as a plural, as in these outs arie good 

and we will cook them. But it may also be 

treated as a singular, as in this oafs is good and 

we will cook it. We may also speak of many 

oats and of much oats. 

The true singular form oaf is rare. It is used 

by botanists to mean an individual plant or a 

species, and in this sense has a true plural, as in 

Z have found three oats. The singular is also 

used for the grain in order to make an emphatic 

negative, as in the horses would not to.uch an 

oat and he had not sown a single wild goat. 

The singular out is preferred as the first 

element in a compound, as in oatmeal a.nd out 

grass. 

329 object 

0 

still the best when there is any doubt as to 

which one to use. Numerous is more formal. It 

usually refers to a great number, very many 

units. Numberless suggests such a large number 

of units that they cannot be counted, that no 

exact number can be affixed to them. 

nuptial. See matrimonial. 

nuptials. See wedding. 

When vegetables are spoken of in mass the 

plural form is used, as in peas, beans, potatoes. 

But the mass words for cereals, wheat, burley, 

corn, rice, and so on, are grammatical singulars. 

The only exceptions are outs and groats or grits, 

both of which originally meant oats. This has 

led some people to believe that our forefathers 

ate oats whole, like a vegetable, and did not 

grind it into meal like the other cereals. 

eaves.. See oaf. 

object and demur mean to oppose, to disagree 

with. To object is to oppose or disagree with in 

thought or speech; whereas to demur always 

implies speech (Zf you don’t object, I’d like to 

think this over. Before you demur, let me 

explain my position). To object may imply 

violent opposition; whereas demur implies 

quieter, more dignified opposition, or perhaps 

less certainty in the opposition (I object to this 

procedure and will withdraw my support. Z 

must demur at this unnecessary haste). 

The special meaning of demur is an interesting 

illustration of the way in which an older 

meaning of a word may lie concealed within 

it, as it were, unperceived but shaping its use. 

To demur originally meant to delay (They dare 

not demur nor abide), a meaning that survives 

in the technical word demurrage, the charge 

made for the detention of ships or railroad cars. 

Then it came to mean to pause in uncertainty, 

to delay by suggesting scruples or difficulties, 

by objecting irresolutely or taking exceptions 

(My process was always very simple-in their 

younger days, ‘twas “Jack, do this”; if he 

demurred, Z knocked him down: and if he 

grumbled at that, Z always sent him out of the 

room--Sheridan, The Rivals, 1775). From that 

it was a short distance to the contemporary 

meaning. 

In law to demur has the special meaning of to 

interpose a demurrer (The plaintiff demurred, 

that is to say, admitted [the] plea to be true in 

fact, but denied that it was a sufficient answer). 

Object may be followed by the preposition to 

and the -ing form of a verb, as in Z object to suying 

anything which may compromise that lady. 

It is occasionally followed by an infinitive, as in 

we object to puss Sundays in a state of coma.

objective 330 

The noun objection is also heard in both constructions, 

as in I have no objection to doing 

it and you understand my objection to go 

through with it. The infinitive construction is 

condemned by many grammarians but it is used 

by Shaw and other modern writers and is therefore 

acceptable English. However, the -ing form 


objective. See target. 

objective pronouns. There are six objective pr@ 

nouns, me, us, him, her, them, and whom. 

The formal rules of grammar require these 

objective forms (and not their subjective counterparts) 

whenever the word is used as: (1) the 

object of a verb (We saw them); (2) the object 

of a preposition (We talked to them) ; (3) an 

indirect object (We gave them some apples). 

In standard English practice the objective 

forms can always be used except when the word 

is standing in a subject position. 

With one exception, an object never stands 

in a subject position. Therefore, with this one 

exception, the objective forms are always used 

where the rules call for them. The exception 

is the word whom which usually precedes the 

verb, as in whom do you like best? and whom 

are you looking for?. The subjective form who 

is preferred in sentences of this kind. See who 

and whom. 

But in standard practice the objective forms 

are also used where the rules do not call for 

them. In general, objective pronouns which 

break the rules can be justified on the grounds 

of good usage. Again, the word whom is an 

exception. When this word is not required by 

the formal rules of grammar, it is also contrary 

to good usage and therefore cannot be defended. 

Whom is wrong, theoretically and practically, 

in sentences such as whom is it?. 

object of a preposition. The noun or noun equivalent 

that unites with a preposition to form a 

qualifying or descriptive phrase is called the 

object of the preposition. Wings and wind are 

the objects of the prepositions on and of in 

hang weights on the wings of the wind. 

A preposition is said to “govern” its object 

because the preposition determines the case of 

the object in languages that show case. This 

has practically no meaning in English. At most 

it would mean that the six subjective pronouns 

cannot be used as the object of a preposition. 

Many grammarians claim that this is true. In 

practice, educated people do not use a subjective 

pronoun as an object following a preposition. 

Since the pronouns that show case usually 

follow the preposition, the two rules amount to 

the same thing most of the time. But occasionally 

a pronoun that shows case precedes the 

preposition. Then the subjective rather than the 

objective form is preferred, despite the protests 

of the grammarians. See who and whom. 

The relation between a preposition and its 

object has nothing in common with the relation 

between a verb and its object. Some grammarians 

do not like to use the term object for 

two such different relations and prefer to speak 

of the regimen of a preposition. 

object of a verb. 

MEANING 

Some verbs, such as swim, laugh, sleep, 

express a complete idea and may occur as the 

last word in a normal declarative sentence, such 

as he is sleeping. But there are some verbs, such 

as make, like, take, which require additional 

words in order to express a complete idea. A 

word or group of words without which the 

meaning of a verb is incomplete is called the 

object of the verb, such as noise in he is making 

a noise. 

An adverb, such as suddenly in he suddenly 

made a noise, also affects the meaning of the 

verb, but not to the same extent that the object 

does. The object completes the meaning of the 

verb; the adverb qualifies it. Without the object, 

the statement would have no meaning; without 

the adverb, it would be too broad or too crude. 

A verb which has an object is called a transitive 

verb, and the action of the verb is said to 

“pass over” to the object. A verb which does 

not have an object is called intransitive. In 

English a great many verbs may be either transitive 

or intransitive, as in he is playing ball and 

he is playing; he is reading the newspaper and 

he is reading. 

A linking verb-that is, a verb meaning be, 

seem, or becomedoes not express a complete 

idea without some additional words. But, unlike 

a transitive verb, it does not name an action. 

The words which follow a linking verb, such 

as captain in he has become a captain, are more 

closely related to the subject than they are to 

the verb itself. Traditionally, such words are 

called the complement of the verb but not its 

object. This distinction has no meaning in 

English except when the complement is a 

personal pronoun. The rules of Latin grammar 

require an objective pronoun for the object of 

a transitive verb and a subjective pronoun for 

the complement of a linking verb. Many grammarians 

claim that these rules should also be 

observed in English. But the practice in English 

is to use a subjective pronoun before a verb 

and an objective pronoun after a verb, regardless 

of whether the verb is transitive or linking. 

KINDS 

Sometimes the object of a verb merely 

repeats an idea already expressed by the verb, 

as song in we will sing a song. These are called 

cognate objects. Sometimes the full verb idea 

requires two objects, such as him and prisoner 

in they took him prisoner. In this case, the 

second object may be called an objective complement. 

In sing us a song we have an entirely 

different situation. Here the word US is not the 

object of sing in the sense in which we are 

using the word object. It is called an indirect 

object, and for this reason the true object of a 

verb is sometimes called a direct object. See 

indirect object. 

As a rule, the object of a verb is more than 

a single word. It may be a noun and all the 

qualifying words that go with it, as in she shot 

her man who was doing her wrong. Here, all 

except the first two words are the object of shot.

In a case like this we say that the word man 

is “the simple object.” Some verbs maty be 

followed by a noun and the simple form of a 

verb, as in let the lady pass. Some may take 

the -ing form of a verb as object, as in Z enjoy 

dancing; some may take a to-infinitive, as in 

Z want fo dance; and some may take a full 

clause, as in Z believe Z will dance. Very often 

a verb that is standard English with one kind of 

object is not standard with another. For 

example, Z enjoy to dance is unnatural English. 

Z want that you should dance is heard but is 

not standard. Infinitives are often used in the 

United States where an -ing form is required in 

Great Britain. The verbs that people are most 

likely to be uncertain about in this respect are 

listed in this dictionary. (See the individual 

verb.) 

POSITION 

The object of a verb usually follows after the 

verb without a break of any kind except for 

an indirect object, such as us in sing us a song. 

No other element in a sentence can be placed 

between the verb and its object without creating 

a break which may be fatal to the sense. 

In lob cursed the day that he was bor.q the 

word day is the simple object of cursed. But in 

Job cursed, the day that he was born the comma 

break destroys the verb-object relation and day 

becomes an adverb of time. To some extent, the 

same result would follow if an adverb such as 

bitterly had separated the verb and object, instead 

of a comma. Usually two meanings aren’t 

possible for the same sentence and a break of 

this kind is not actually misleading. But it is 

always undesirable and should be avoided. 

A direct object may also stand as the first 

element in a sentence or clause. An interrogative 

pronoun or a noun qualified by an interrogative 

adjective must always have this position, 

regardless of its relation to the verb, as in 

what do you want? and which book did you 

read?. When the object is not an interrogative, 

this front position is unusual and extremely 

emphatic, as in talent, Mr. Micawber has; capital, 

Mr. Micawber has not. 

obligate. As an adjective, obligate means bound 

or constrained. It is used chiefly as a biological 

term to mean restricted to a particular condition 

of life, as certain parasites which must live in 

close association with their usual hosts in order 

to survive (An obligate parasite is one that is 

of necessity parasitical). 

oblige may be followed by an infinitive, as in he 

obliged us to go, but not by the -ing form of 

a verb or bv a clause. 

oblige; obligate. To obligate is to bind morally 

or legally (The treaty of Deuce oblieates the 

United States to umiertak; the release of all 

Spanish prisoners. You are obligated to pay the 

tax, whether you like it or not). In former times 

it was used as a synonym for oblige (I am 

much obligated by the trouble you have taken 

-1810) but this is no longer standard usage. 

Oblige is a broader and more inclusive te;m 

than obligate. Basically, it means to require or 

constrain, as the law, a command, duty, or 

- 

oblivious 

necessity does. When one of the Duke of 

Queensberry’s servants who had answered the 

bell and had then been ignored, timidly asked 

His Grace if he wanted anything, the irascible 

duke shouted, G-d d-m you, am Z obliged to tell 

you what Z want? Among other senses, oblige 

conveys the idea of conferring a favor (You 

will greatly oblige me if you return the book 

promptly). 

Much obliged, though often spoken with sincere 

gratitude, is a sort of democratic evasion 

of the acknowledgment of the even temporary 

inferiority thought to be implicit in an open 

statement of thanks. Visitors to America in the 

early days of the republic were struck by the 

unwillingness of the Americans to say “Thank 

you.” The people were often friendly and obliging 

in the extreme, yet their sense of independence 

made them far more willing to confer than 

to accept favors and reluctant to acknowledge 

the acceptance when one had to be accepted. 

Much obliged is a sort of halfway thanks; it 

acknowledges an obligation and feels that sufficient 

gratitude is displayed in the acknowledgment. 

See also appreciate, thank you. 

oblique; obliqueness; obliquity. Oblique is an adjective 

meaning neither perpendicular nor parallel 

to a given line or surface, but slanting or 

sloping (Since he set a course oblique to the 

convoy, he was soon far behind it). By extension 

it acquired the figurative meanings of indirectly 

stated or expressed (These oblique 

accusations were the more galling because they 

could not be answered directly), or deviating, 

especially morally or mentally, from the 

straight course of rectitude (He prospered by 

oblique means). 

Obliqueness is the noun commonly used to 

characterize the literal sense of oblique (The 

obliqueness of the intersection had been the 

cause of many accidents). Obliquity suggests 

the figurative senses of oblique, that is, divergence 

from moral rectitude, mental perversity, 

or deviation from directness in action or speech 

(The perverseness and obliquity of my will. 

The insoltznce of benefaction terminates not in 

negative rudeness or obliquities of insult. The 

obliquities of diplomatic negotiation make it a 

process particularly unsuited to the blunt, the 

direct, and the impatient). 

oblique case. This term is used variously to mean 

any case except the nominative, any case except 

the nominative and vocative, or any case except 

the nominative, vocative and accusative. So far 

as English nouns are concerned, the oblique 

case is the genitive. The word may or may not 

include the six objective pronouns, depending 

on who is using the term. 

oblivious; forgetful; unmindful. The basic sense 

of oblivious is forgetful, without remembrance 

(Faust, under the influence of Mephistopheles, 

was oblivious of his life as a scholar). American 

usage permits the sense of unmindful, heedless 

(He was oblivious of his responsibilities), while 

British usage permits only the more carefully 

restricted sense of no longer mindful, forgotten. 

Furthermore American usage countenances the

obloquy 

meaning of unconscious and, despite the indignant 

protests of Fowler, Partridge, and Sir A. P. 

Herbert, permits oblivion in this sense to be 

followed by either of or to (She was oblivious 

of his infatuation. She was oblivious to his 

attentions). In sum, oblivious can be synonymous 

with forgetful and unmindful. Like forgetful 

and unmindful, it may be followed by a 

clause without a preposition, as in he was oblivious 

how closely his humanitarianism bordered 

on sentimentality. 

obloquy. See abuse. 

obnoxious. See noxious. 

obscenity. See blasphemy. 

obscure. See mysterious. 

obsequies. An obsequy is a funeral rite or ceremony. 

It is almost always used in the plural. 

Funeral obsequies is redundant. Obsequies is a 

word of high solemnity and rather pretentious 

and a little consciously elegant when applied to 

the ordinary funeral service. Since funerals are, 

however, commonly times when elegance and 

splendor are thought fitting, the very faults of 

the word may make it harmonious with the 

occasions to which it is applied. 

One of the finest scenes in American literature 

is when the duke, in Huckleberry Finn, 

tries to persuade the king to substitute obsequies 

for the more original term orgies. But the king 

is too skilful a master of hokum and false 

etymology to have to admit a fault. 

I say orgies [he blandly observes], not because 

it’s the common term, because it ain’t 

--obsequies bein’ the common term-but 

because orgies is the right term. Obsequies 

ain’t used in England no more now-it’s gone 

out. We say orgies now in England. Orgies is 

better, because if means the thing you’re after 

more exact. It’s a word that’s made up out’n 

the Greek orgo, outside, open, abroad; and 

the Hebrew jeesum, to plant, cover up; hence 

inter. So, you see, funeral orgies is an open 

or public funeral. 

As Huck says, “He was the worst I ever 

struck.” 

observance; observation. Observance describes 

the action of conforming to or following (A 

wise couch insists on the observance of training 

rules), the keeping or celebrating by appropriate 

procedure, ceremonies, etc. (The observance 

of Easter . . .). 

Observation describes the act of noticing or 

perceiving, of regarding attentively (The observation 

of the habits of birds has brought to 

light some very curious facts), or the faculty 

or habit of noticing or observing (His powers 

of observation were highly developed), or an 

utterance or remark presumably based upon 

observing (These unfriendly observations were 

not well received by the sullen crowd). See also 

remark. 

observe. When this verb is used in an active form 


form of a verb, as in I observed him stop, by 


I observed him stopping, or by a clause, as in 

I observed he stopped. When it is used in a 

passive form it may be followed by a toinfinitive, 

as in he was observed to stop or by 

the -ing form of a verb, as in he was observed 

stopping. 

obsolete; obsolescent. That is obsolete which is 

no longer used, has been discarded, is out of 

date. That is obsolescent which is becoming out 

of use, is in the process of being discarded, is 

to all appearances going out of date. If a word 

is obsolete it is not used any more or is not 

used in a certain sense any more. There is very 

little dispute about whether or not a certain 

word is obsolete. Obsolescent, however, often 

reflects merely an opinion, an estimate, an 

assumption. It is nowhere near so certain a 

word as obsolete. There can be wide differences 

of opinion as to whether or not a word is obsolescent. 

It may, for instance, be going out of 

use in one part of the country, or in one social 

group, but flourishing in others. 

obstacle, meaning something that stands in the 

way or obstructs progress, is properly followed 

by the preposition to (His reluctance to compromise 

is an obstncle to his political success). 

obstacle; obstruction; biudrance; impediment. An 

obstacle is something material or non-material 

which stands in the way of literal or figurative 

progress (The great obstacle to progress is 

prejudice. A roadblock was the first obstacle 

to the tank column’s advance). An obstruction 

is something that more or less completely 

blocks a passage (An obstruction of the bowels 

precipitated his death). When used figuratively, 

it often carries the suggestion of something that 

has been put in the way intentionally (These 

delays seem a deliberate obstruction of justice). 

A hindrance is something which hinders or 

holds back (It is a question whether language 

has been an aid or a hindrance to knowledge. 

The fetters. . which he had been unable to break 

off, proved a hindrance to his escape). An impediment 

is derived from the Latin for a burden 

which by its weight shackles the feet. Zmpedimenta 

was the Latin word for the baggage of 

an army and the word is still occasionally used 

in this special sense (The general decided to 

go ahead of his impedimenta). In the sense 

of an obstacle, therefore, an impediment does 

not so much obstruct as hinder by being a 

burden (Those impediments provided for my 

hindrance . . .). In the sense of something that 

impedes the functions or health of the body, 

impediment is marked obsolete in the Oxford 

English Dictionary which, however, admits it 

in the special sense of stuttering as an impediment 

in the speech. In the United States impediment 

in this sense (His defective hearing proved 

a severe impediment in his college work) is 

standard. 

obtain. See get and secure. 

obtrude. See intrude. 

obvious. See apparent. 

occurrence. See event, happening. 

octopus. The plural is octopuses or octopodes or 

octopi. Octopuses is good English, Octopodes 

is good Greek. Octopi is an incorrectly formed

plural that has been in use so long that it has 

now become standard. 

octoroon. See mulatto. 

oculist; ophthalmologist; optician; optometrist. 

An oculist is a doctor of medicine skilled in the 

examination and treatment of the eye. The 

term is synonymous with ophthnlmologist, a 

doctor of medicine skilled in ophthalmology, 

which is the science dealing with the anatomy, 

functions, and diseases of the eye. 

An optician is one who makes glasses for 

remedying defects of vision, in accordance with 

the prescriptions of oculists and optometrists. 

He may also be a seller of optical glasses and 

instruments. An optomefrist is one skilled in 

optometry, the practice or art of testing the 

eyes, by means of suitable instruments or appliances 

(usually without the use of drugs), for 

defects of vision. 

odd; strange; peculiar; queer. All of these adjectives 

describe something which is not ordinary. 

That which is odd is irregular or unconventional, 

and sometimes approaches the bizarre 

(His odd hut and bulbous nose made him an 

object of amusement). Strange implies that the 

thing or its cause is unknown or unexplained. 

It is unfamiliar and unusual and since the unfamiliar 

and the unusual are often frightening, 

the word, in many contexts, has connotations 

of alarm (It was a strange object, about three 

by five inches and very heavy. Strange, that 

he shouldn’t be home by now; he’s always here 

by six). Peculiar emphasizes the existence of 

qualities not shared by others (Zr was his 

peculiar virtue never to be afraid. He had a 

peculiar grin on his fnce that boded no good). 

Qlceer sometimes adds to odd the suggestion of 

something abnormal or eccentric (He’s a queer 

duck. There are some queer things going on 

around here). In American today queer carries 

connotations of sexual deviation and therefore 

should be used of persons, particularly males, 

seldom and with discretion. See also funny, 

quaint. 

odd has as one of its meanings “additional to a 

whole mentioned in round numbers; being a 

surplus over a definite quantity.” To convey 

the idea that there are 100 and a few more 

people, write loo-odd people or 100 and odd 

people. The phrase 100 odd people is ambiguous 

and therefore to be avoided, for it may indicate 

a number in excess of 100 or merely 100 

eccentric people. See also su5ixes. 

odds, as a term used in comparing probabilities, 

has no singular form. It is ordinarily treated as 

a plural today, as in the odds are good. Formerly 

it was sometimes treated as a singular. 

This is heard today only in the expression what’s 

the odds?-meaning “is there any difference?” 

odds and ends. The phrase used to be odd ends, 

or remnants of cloth, fragments, pieces cut off 

or things broken off, extraneous or additional to 

what is taken into account. Odds and ends seems 

to have been an improvement, a result probably 

of euphony, of the eighteenth century. When 

used of miscellaneous articles of no great value 

it is now so established as to be practically a 

333 of course 

word in itself and it is hard to see how it could 

be avoided without circumlocution. But in its 

figurative extensions (Having picked up several 

odds and ends/ Of free fhorcghts) it is hackneyed. 

odor; odour; odorous. The American spelling is 

odor, with odour admitted as a variant. The 

British spelling is odour. In both countries the 

adjective is odorous. 

An odor is usually a fragrant odor. An unpleasant 

odor is usually designated by an adjective 

(a rank odor, a foul odor). Odorous is 

even more strictly confined to pleasant fragrances, 

since it has its opposite malodorous. 

of. Until a few hundred years ago of and off were 

merely different pronunciations of the same 

word. Beginning with the physical meaning of 

“out from,” the word was used to indicate 

origin or source. It was later used to translate 

the Latin genitive case and so acquired all the 

meanings expressed in Latin by the genitive. 

Today the form of is the principal word for 

showing a relation between nouns, as in a hnir 

of the dog, or between adjectives and nouns, as 

in full of, sick of. It sometimes expresses one 

of its original meanings, such as origin or cause, 

as in ashamed of, or separation, as in free of, 

but it is used most often to express one of the 

genitive relations. See genitive case. 

Of is also used with some verbs and may 

show any of the types of relations that it does 

between nouns. Frequently it means “concerning,” 

as in I have not heard the Eroica but I 

have heard of it. It was once used with certain 

verbs to mean “some but not all,” as in taste of 

the soup and accept of my hospitality. Such 

precise, or cautious, statements are now out of 

style and these compounds have a decidedly oldfashioned 

tone. But it is still used in a related 

sense to weaken the meaning of a verb. What 

verbs are conventionally weakened in this way 

varies with time. A century ago people said 

1 approve him and I disapprove your choice, 

where we now use of. But we now say remember 

and consider where they said remember 

of and consider of. Until recently repenf was 

followed by of but today the of is frequently 

dropped. 

Of performs too many functions to be a 

meaningful word. Some of these functions are 

being taken over by more specialized prepositions. 

At one time of was commonly used to 

indicate the agent with a passive verb, as in 

that face of all men feared. It may still be used 

in this way but by is now preferred. In many 

expressions of competes with for, as in love of, 

covetous of, or with from, as in purchase of, 

borrow of. Where both sound right, the more 

specialized word is probably better. 

of course. It is always well to avoid the obvious. 

People do not like to be informed of what they 

already know. When it is necessary to state 

some fact that is likely to be known to the 

reader or listener, the assumption of pompousness 

or condescension may be mitigated or removed 

by the interposition of of course, but 

the phrase can easily become a bad habit. In

such a sentence as It may have been a coincidence, 

of course, but if it were it was certainly 

an extraordinary one, it is hard to see what 

purpose of course serves more than a rhythmic 

pause or a pompous clearing of the throat. 

off. Originally off was the word of pronounced 

emphatically. The same difference between a v 

and an f sound can be heard today in the 

auxiliary verb have, which we sometimes pronounce 

hafl. Speaking matter-of-factly, we might 

say Z have to leave, but when we are insisting 

we say Z huff to leave. For many centuries this 

was the only difference between of and off. (See 

of.) But eventually the words became independent. 

Of kept the vaguer genitive meanings 

and is now used only as a preposition, that is, 

it is used only with an object. Off kept the older 

meaning of separation or removal from contact 

with, and can be used as a preposition, as in 

lift it off the shelf; an adverb, as in Z can’t get 

it off; or an adjective, as in an off season. 

In he bought it of7 a peddler, off expresses 

the genitive idea of source. This use of the word 

is still acceptable in Great Britain but not in 

the United States. In we can make a meal of7 

sandwiches, off expresses the genitive idea of 

material. This is acceptable only in statements 

about eating. All other meanings of off are 

derived from the idea of separation and imply 

a discontinuity of some kind. 

Ofl is related by its meaning to from and by 

its history to of. Formerly ofi was often followed 

by of, as in lift it off of the shelf, make 

a meal off of sandwiches. This construction is 

still used by educated people in the United 

States but is not so used in Great Britain. OfJ 

can always be followed by from when the idea 

of separation is involved, as in we got of.7 from 

work. The combination o# from is heard in 

Great Britain more often than it is in the United 

States. Actually neither of nor from is ever 

necessary after off. We can say simply off the 

shelf, of,7 sandwiches, ofi work. This is the preferred 

construction in the United States, but 

the compounds are also acceptable. 

offensive. See insidious. 

offer. This verb may be followed by an infmitive, 

as in Z offered to go in his place. It is also heard 

with the -ing form of a verb, as in Z offered 

going in his place, but the infinitive is preferred. 

office (in the sense of position). See assignment. 

o5cer, in the commonest contemporary sense of 

the word, is one who holds a position of rank 

or authority in the army, navy, or any similar 

organization, especially one who holds a commission 

(The unit consisted of three officers and 

thirty men. Every time an enlisted man sees an 

oficer get an extra privilege, it breaks him down 

a little more), though there are also petty officers, 

warrant officers, and noncommissioned 

officers. In its broadest sense, oficer designates 

one who is invested with an office. There are 

corporation officers and municipal officers, 05cers 

on a ship (these are more like army and 

navy officers) and peace officers. It is in this last 

category that policemen fall and the addressing 

of a policeman as oficer is more a slight 

archaism than the compliment it is often thought 

to be. Every policeman is an officer of the law 

and may be addressed as officer, but with the 

introduction into most police forces now of a 

gradation of rank similar to and modeled after 

that of the army, the word is coming to be 

applied to those in the force who hold ranks 

equal to those that would cause their holders 

in the army to be considered officers. The 

chances are that this tendency will increase with 

the increasing gradation of the police forces. 

If so, a new polite form of address for the 

common policeman will have to be found. 

olcial; officious. Ofhcial means of or pertaining 

to an office or position of duty, trust, or authority 

(His oficial powers were quite limited), 

authorized or issued authoritatively (The oficial 

report was eagerly awaited), holding office 

(He had no oficial capacity), appointed or authorized 

to act in a special capacity (He was at 

the convention as an ofhcial delegate). 

O&ions formerly meant ready to serve, 

ready to exercise one’s appointed function. 

When Dr. Johnson in his elegy on his friend 

Robert Levett (1782) referred to Levett as 

oficious, innocent, sincere, he did not mean 

that Levett (who was a sort of amateur doctor) 

was meddlesome or intrusive but simply that 

he was always willing to help. It is a sad commentary 

on human nature, on either the vanity 

of many who give or the ingratitude of many 

who receive aid, that the word now connotes 

forwardness in offering help, a fussy obtrusion 

of unwanted assistance (This oficious bustling 

about, with here a nod and there a gesture of 

encouragement, was vastly annoying to most 

of those present). 

Generalizing on current usage, one can say 

that oficial is a general descriptive term, oficious 

an emotionally charged term imputing 

blame. In diplomatic usage, however, ofbcious 

has a distinctly different meaning. Ofjiciul in 

diplomatic usage retains its usual sense of formal, 

authorized; but oficious, with no connotation 

of meddlesomeness, *means informal, 

unauthorized, not binding-the very antithesis 

of oficial. 

offspring is properly plural (The offspring of this 

union were five boys and three girls). It has 

been used so much as a singular, .however 

(Have you ever met our offspring, Jimmy, 

girls?), that this usage is accepted as standard, 

though it usually has a touch of the labored or 

facetious about it. The word is used of a child 

or animal in relation to its parent or parents 

or to designate a descendant or descendants 

collectively. By extension the word may mean 

the product, result or effect of something 

(Xanadu was supposedly the offspring of an 

opium dream). 

often and frequently may be used interchangeably 

in most contexts but, where they differ, often 

is simpler and stronger. It suggests numerous 

repetitions and, sometimes, regularity of recurrence 

(I often visit my uncle who lives there). 

Frequently suggests repetition at short inter-

vals (It happens frequently and I have warned 

him of the consequences). Though frequently 

is the longer word, it has the advantage of 

having the adjective frequent. Often used to 

appear as an adjective (as in By often use we 

accustom ourselves to hardship), but this use 

is now obsolete. 

oftentime; oftentimes. Today the only acceptable 

form is oftentimes. Formerly, oftentime was 

also used, but it is now obsolete. 

0. Henrv. William Svdnev Porter nublished his 

famous stories unde; the pseudonyh of 0. Henry 

-not, as it is sometimes erroneously written, 

O’Henry (as in A breathless story with an 

O’Henry ending was enacted in the streets today). 

The 0. Henry ending, which came to be 

widely imitated, was a surprise ending, a statement, 

usually in the last sentence or two, that 

gave a wholly unexpected interpretation to what 

had gone before or a wholly unexpected twist 

to the action. Wholly unexpected, that is, until 

you had read several of 0. Henry’s stories. 

O.K. There are several spellings: O.K., OK, okay. 

The term is used as an adjective (Is it O.K.?), 

an adverb (They’re doing O.K. up there, I hear), 

a verb (The boss O.K.‘d it), and a noun (Sure, 

I got his O.K. or I wouldn’t have started. Here, 

you guys, put your O.K.‘s on this page). 

Originating in the United States, O.K. has 

spread to almost every country on earth. There 

is something about the phrase as a term of 

assent or agreement that gives it universal appeal. 

It is probably today the most widely used 

single term in human speech. Yet it remains a 

colloquialism. Used a billion times a day in 

informal speech and business notes and letters, 

it has not yet been adopted into formal, written 

usage and may not be. Approve, endorse, agree, 

assent to, confirm, and a host of other words 

express shades of meaning in relation to agreement 

and giving consent so that the serious 

writer is not willing to give them up for so loose 

a blanket term. 

Experts disagree on the origin of this remarkable 

term. Some think it is the Choctaw Indian 

okeh, “it is so.” Others would trace it to the 

initial letters of a humorous or illiterate spelling 

of “all correct,” 011 Korrect, or to a misreading 

of O.R., meaning order recorded. It 

has been variously ascribed to Andrew Jackson, 

John Jacob Astor and one Obadiah Kelly, a 

mythical railroad clerk who initialed all the 

parcels he accepted for shipment. The explanation 

that has the most authoritative backing is 

that it derives from the O.K. Club, formed in 

1840 by partisans of Martin Van Buren who 

allegedly named their organization in allusion to 

Old Kinderhook, Van Buren having been born 

at Kinderhook, N. Y. 

O.K. must be accepted in informal speech 

and writing. Such slang extensions and derivatives 

as oke and okeydoke have not yet achieved 

this acceptance. 

oid. The comparative form is older or elder. The 

superlative form is oldest or eldest. The forms 

older and oldest have come into the language 

more recently than elder and eldest but are now 

the only forms that can be used for most purposes. 

Older and oldest may be used of persons or 

things and usually refer to actual age. Elder and 

eldest are now used only in speaking of persons 

and indicate seniority, or relative date of birth, 

rather than age. That is, we would say the eldest 

son died in infancy and the oldest child now 

living was her third. 

The form elder cannot be used with than. 

We cannot say he is elder than she. But when 

used with the article the it may be followed by 

an of phrase, as in he is the elder of the two. 

Older may be used with than or in the construction 

with of. Elder may be used as if it 

were a noun, as in she is my elder and the 

village elders. Older is never used in this way. 

The eldest may be used with of, as in the 

eldest of the children, but the oldest is preferred 

in this construction. Both eldest and oldest 

may be used as singular nouns, as in the 

eldest, I think, is seven. (For the use of old with 

measures of time, such as a child of one year 

old, see measures.) 

old; advanced; ancient; senile; senescent; veteran. 

The everyday, serviceable word for one who or 

that which is advanced in age is old. It is idiomatic 

to say of one who died when he was old 

that He died in his old age or He died at an 

advanced age. To say that he died at an old age 

is unidiomatic. 

Ancient means of or in times long past, especially 

before the end of the Western Roman 

Empire (476 A.D.). Applied to persons, the 

word is archaic; it is now restricted to things. 

Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner was deliberately 

archaic. (There is another word ancient, now 

obsolete, in English which sometimes puzzles 

the student. It is a corruption, actually, of ensign. 

So the ancient Pistol in Shakespeare’s 

Henry IV and Iago, Othello’s ancient.) 

Senile means characteristic of old age, especially 

of the feebleness of old age, its mental 

and physical weakness and degeneration. It has 

become one of the cruelest words in the language 

and, with the increasing life expectancy 

that is prolonging the lives of ever increasing 

millions, will become increasingly so. Senescent 

means growing old, aging. It does not have the 

full offensiveness of senile, though of necessity 

it has for the aging an unpleasant sound. 

A veteran is one who is aged in experience. 

A man may be a veteran of love, for example, 

at twenty. In the United States it has the special 

meaning of one who has fought in a war, regardless 

of his age or the amount of his experience. 

old Adam. As a term for the worse aspects of 

human nature, especially its carnality, the old 

Adam is a cliche. 

old head on young shoulders. To say of some 

youth who has shown a gravity or wisdom beyond 

his years that he has an old head on young 

shoulders is to employ a clich.5. It is falling 

somewhat into disuse as the wisdom of age, 

once assumed as axiomatic, is called into question 

and might not seem as much a compliment

today as it was always intended to be in former 

times. 

old school tie. Preparatory schools do not play 

as large a part in American life as in English 

and the distinctive tie as a symbol of loyalty to 

the old school and all that it stands for in the 

way of social position, good form, and so on, 

is not commonly known here. However the 

sophisticated among the educated picked up the 

term, with all its implications of derision, from 

the brighter young English set of the 1920’s and 

wore it out. As a serious term it is practically 

never heard or seen. As a term of amused contempt 

it is now a clichk. 

oldster. There is condescension in the word oldster. 

Formed in ignorant good intentions on 

the analogy of youngster, it overlooks the fact 

that the -s&r suffix usually implies contempt 

(gangster, punster, whipster), being, originally, 

a feminine suffix (spinster). Now a certain condescension 

to children is all right. They are used 

to it and it is commonly mitigated by affection. 

But oldster has the condescension without the 

love, and condescension without love is contempt. 

The old and the aged are sad terms, but 

at least they have dignity. 

Olympian and Olympic, though interchangeable 

in former times, are restricted in contemporary 

usage to special and distinct meanings. Olympian 

means pertaining to or dwelling on Mount 

Olympus, as the greater gods of Greece (the 

Olympian eagle’s vision), or in bearing or manner 

like these gods, grand, imposing, dignified 

above ordinary human dignity and hence, sometimes, 

pompous and condescending in a lofty 

way (What . . . Max Miiller . . . calls his Olympian 

manners never repelled me). Olympic now 

means pertaining to the games held at Olympia 

in ancient Greece to honor Zeus (Before Plato 

became a philosopher, he had won acclaim at 

the Olympic games) or to the modern international 

contests that have adopted this name 

(He captained the British team at the Olympic 

games that year). Olympic can mean pertaining 

to Olympia, but when so used it can be ambiguous 

as it may also mean pertaining to Mount 

Olympus. 

omission. See oversight. 

omit may be followed by the -ing form of a verb, 

as in he omitted reading the second page, or by 

an infinitive, as in he omitted to read the second 

page. These forms are equally acceptable. 

omnibus. The only plural is omnibuses, never 

omnibi. See also bus. 

on; onto. The primary, physical, meaning of on 

was “in contact with the surface,” and, later, 

usually the upper surface. It was also used to 

express motion toward such a position. From 

the first meaning, on has developed various uses 

relating to the idea of support, as in rely on, and 

also of “time when,” as in on that day. From 

the second meaning it has come to express 

vaguer ideas, such as towards, as in smile on; 

continued motion, as in roll on; and against, as 

in knock on. 

Today on is often used with an independent 

verb to emphasize the fact that an action was 

continuing and not completed, as in she was 

darning on a sock, he was working on a poem. 

Begin on, improve on, refine on, all suggest an 

unending process. It is also used with the meaning 

of “against” in speaking of something injurious 

or undesirable, as in they played a trick 

on me, they shut the door on me. Here on is 

used in contrast to for which carries the meaning 

of “in favor of,” as in they played a trick 

for me, they shut the door for me. This is sometimes 

called the on of disadvantage. 

As on lost its old meaning of direction toward 

“on-ness,” this had to be supplied by the 

preposition to, as in climb on to the box. Keats 

is thought to have been the first person to write 

these as a single word onto, and the practice did 

not become general until this century. This is 

now customary when the two prepositions on 

and to have a single object, as in climb onto the 

box. When on is simply a qualifying word attached 

to the verb and not part of a prepositional 

phrase, as in they went on to victory, it 

must not be joined with to. 

once and for all. The “and” in once and for all 

seems to have been added solely for rhetorical 

emphasis. The phrase used to be once for all. 

once; oncet. Oncet is formed on the same pattern 

as against, amidst, amongst, but it has never 

been standard English. Once is the only acceptable 

form. 

Ordinarily once is an adverb. It qualifies a 

verb and means one time. But in current English 

it is often used as a conjunction, to introduce 

a clause, and means when. Yeats uses it 

in this sense in once out of nature I shall never 

take my bodily form from any natural thing. 

This use of the word is condemned by some 

grammarians, but it is acceptable in the United 

States. Most conjunctions were originally adverbs 

and no one should be surprised to see a 

new one developing. 

one is sometimes a numeral, but it is sometimes 

an indefinite adjective and sometimes a pronoun. 

One is used as an indefinite pronoun meaning 

“a man, a person,” as in one may smile and 

smile and be a villain. In Great Britain one in 

this sense is now considered a bookish word 

and a man is preferred in speech and informal 

writing. But in Great Britain today this one, 

when it is used, can only be referred back to 

by another form of the same pronoun, as in 

one has to take care of oneself and one’s family 

if one can. In the United States this one is used 

in speech as well as in writing, and is regularly 

referred to by a form of the pronoun he. Using 

a form of he after one was standard practice in 

England from the time of Oueen Elizabeth to 

the-time of Victoria and is siill standard in the 

United States. John Dewey in discussing automatic 

responses writes: one nofes, for example, 

a motor car bearing down on him. An English 

editor would have changed this him to one. An 

American editor would be more likely to change 

a one in this position to him.

Except when it refers indefinitely to a human 

being, the pronoun one is anaphoric, that is, it 

is always used in place of a noun that has been 

mentioned a short time before. In this use., one 

has the plural ones and the genitive one’s. It 

may be qualified by the, a, or any other adjective, 

as in the good ones, the other ones, a ripe 

one. It may even be qualified by the number 

one, as in one good one. A one is an emphatic 

form of one. The phrase is considered redundant 

by some people but it has been used at least 

since Elizabethan times, as in there’s not a one 

of them but in his house I keep a servant jee’d, 

and is standard in the United States today. 

One is often used after an adjective that is 

parallel to a preceding adjective and noun, as 

in the big bear and the little one, this book and 

that one. This construction is possible when we 

are speaking of individual, countable things, 

but not when we are using a mass word, such 

as bzztter in this butter and that. Modern grammarians 

say that in this construction one is a 

“prop word.” It is logically unnecessary but 

required by our feeling for words which demands 

some noun equivalent after these a’djectives. 

Fifty or seventy years ago the construction 

was considered pleonastic. (See pleonasm,) It 

is now standard English. 

The pronoun one is always singular and the 

adjective one always qualifies a singular noun. 

One is usually followed by a singular verb. 

Although the subject is logically plural we ordinarily 

use a singular verb after more than one, 

as in more than one is broken. Theoretically, 

a singular verb is required because the subject 

is the word one and more than is merely a qualifying 

phrase. And practically, the singular verb 

feels right because the word one is standing 

immediately before it. With a phrase such as 

one olct of ten we have a different situation and 

either a singular or a plural may be used. We 

may say one oz4t of ten is or one out of ten are. 

In speaking of people the plural form is preferred. 

One of must be followed by a plural noun, 

and this may be followed by a descriptive 

clause. When it is, the clause verb should, logically, 

be plural, as in one of the best books 

that have appeared. Actually, a singular is often 

used here, as in one of the best books that has 

appeared. This construction is condemned by 

many grammarians on the grounds of logic. But 

it is found in the earliest English and has been 

used by some of the greatest writers. It shows 

that the writer still has one in mind. Shelley 

wrote: I am one of those who am unable to 

refuse my assent. Here the word I has overridden 

one and those. This is unusual. But in 

the United States the more familiar construction, 

using a third person singular verb, (does 

not offend anyone except grammarians. 

When numerals are being written in figures 

the symbol 1 must not be used for the word one 

unless it actually represents a numeral. The 

pronoun one is almost never a numeral, although 

occasionally it may be, as in somew.here 

among those hundreds of letters was my one. 

The adjective one is often a numeral, but not 

always. It may be no more than a particularizing 

adjective, as in one man’s meat is another 

man’s poison. The numeral one always means 

“one and one only.” It usually stands in contrast 

to some other number word, such as three, 

several, many. In speech the numeral one has 

a particular stress that the word does not have 

when it is not a number. 

The one . . . the other is an ambiguous form 

of speech. In a man and a woman were coming 

down the road: the one was about twenty years 

old and the other, twice that age, we cannot be 

sure whether it is the woman or the man who 

is twenty years old. On theoretical grounds, the 

one should mean the first and the other should 

mean the second, but we can’t be sure that the 

writer knew this. And what is more to the 

point, if we are doing the writing, we can’t 

assume that the reader will know this. The 

words are sometimes used to mean the first . . . 

the second, and sometimes to mean the reverse, 

this one . . . that one. They should therefore be 

avoided except where the context makes the 

meaning clear. 

one another. See each other. 

one foot in the grave. To say of someone feeble 

with age or mortally stricken with a serious 

sickness that he has one foot in the grave is to 

employ a worn expression. 

one touch of nature makes the whole world kin 

is usually spoken as if it meant that any appeal 

to the simple, basic emotions will, by the immensity 

of the response, show the basic kinship 

of all men, their common humanity, the power 

of sympathy. The expression, however, is a line 

from Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida (III, 

iii, 17.5). spoken by the cynical Ulysses. It is 

there a part of a passage which says that one 

natural trait shows the kinship of all men and 

this natural trait is inconstancy and a continued 

preference for anything new and gaudy, however 

worthless, over anything older of more 

solid worth. 

oneself. This word was formerly written one’s 

self. The old spelling is still acceptable, but the 

newer oneself is preferred. (For the ways in 

which oneself may be used, see reflexive pronouns.) 

only. This word may be an adjective, an adverb, 

or a conjunction. The adjective only means sole 

or single of its kind and always stands before 

the noun it qualifies, as in his only friend. In 

current English the word has no comparative or 

superlative form although it was once possible 

to say tlze onliest method. 

The adverb only is a negative and means 

“not anything except” or “nothing except.” 

When it qualifies an individual element in a 

sentence it may stand before or after that element, 

as in only here and here only. It may be 

used.to qualify the subject of the verb, as in 

onlv children believe this. The word is not an 

adjective here because it in no way limits the 

meaning of the word children. On the con-

OdY 

trary, the sentence says “no adults believe this.” 

(The adjective only in this sentence would refer 

to children who have no brothers or sisters and 

would not be used except after a definitive 

adjective such as these, .some, such.) 

In most cases only is a sentence adverb and 

qualifies the entire statement. When used in this 

way its natural position is before the verb, as 

in but now I only hear its melancholy, long, 

withdrawing roar. This word order is standard 

literary English and should be followed unless 

there is a very good reason for placing only 

somewhere else in the sentence. 

It is not true that when only stands between 

the subject and the verb it qualifies the verb 

alone. One might as well argue that never qualifies 

saw rather than the full statement in I 

never saw a purple cow. It is no more necessary 

to place only after hear and say I hear only its 

roar than it is to place never after saw and say 

Z saw never a cow. Only may be placed later. 

But when it is, it puts special emphasis on a 

subordinate part of the sentence, and this is 

often undesirable. The original sentence quoted 

above, which is by Matthew Arnold, says that 

at the moment there is nothing in the world for 

him except this melancholy sound. It does not 

say that he only hears and does not see. And if 

only is placed after hear to avoid this imaginary 

ambiguity, roar is given undue importance. We 

may be left feeling that he heard the roar but 

not the other sounds that went with it. 

Nor is it true that only standing in this position 

may be understood as qualifying the subject. 

If it is intended to qualify the subject, 

something must be doni:: to make that clear. It 

may be placed ahead, ;:ts in only Z hear, or it 

may be followed by a comma, as in Z only, hear. 

Or the word alone may be used instead, as in 

Z alone hear. 

Like other negative adverbs, only must be 

placed ahead of its natural position if it is to be 

made emphatic. When only brings an adverb 

into the first position in ,a sentence, it also brings 

the verb ahead of its a,ubject, as in only then 

did he realize. In only less, as used in only less 

free than thou, we also have a pre-placed only. 

What is meant is less free than only (nothing 

except) thou. 

Only may also be used as a conjunction (or 

preposition). It cannot be used in place of the 

word except, as it is in do not cross the railroad 

tracks only by the bridge. But it may be used 

in place of but, as in many a man would have 

become wise, only he thought he was so already 

and we would have co,me, only the car broke 

down. Some grammarians condemn this construction. 

It has been literary English for six 

hundred years and so cannot be considered an 

innovation. Perhaps it is falling into disuse in 

some parts of the country. If so, it should be 

classed as old fashioned in those areas. But in 

many places the construction is used freely by 

all kinds of people and is therefore still standard 

English. 

only too; more than. Whether one is only too 

glad to be of assistance or only too willing to 

338 

help or only too ready to give advice when it 

is asked for, he betrays in the confused excess 

of the phrase a certain doubt or reluctance inconsistent 

with the warmth of the assurance. 

Literally only too glad must mean that there 

are degrees of gladness beyond this excessive 

gladness which we recognize but to which we 

do not propose to yield ourselves. The whole 

phrase is rather silly. It is better simply to say 

Z am glad or, if one is not glad, Z am willing. 

To say that one is more than pleased or more 

than happy to do something is a part of the 

same sort of excessive talk but in these phrases 

there is at least a sort of sense. One says, in 

effect, “I shall pass beyond a state of happiness 

or pleasure into one of rapture or ecstasy.” Few 

listeners would take such an assurance literally 

and it is, as we say, “merely a manner of speaking.” 

But it is not a good manner of speaking 

because like all excesses it tends to defeat its 

own purpose. The only possible aim of such a 

protestation could be to assure the listener of 

the warmth of our feelings towards him, but 

the exaggeration is likely to lead him to doubt 

our sincerity and hence our warmth altogether. 

onomatopoeia is the technical name for the formation 

of a name or a word by imitating some 

sound associated with the thing designated. 

Cuckoo and whippoorwill are probable examples. 

Bang, fizz, burp, rattle, smack, fZop, sneeze 

are others. There are hundreds of such words 

in the language. 

As a device, onomatopoeia often appeals to 

poets and their use of it ranges from Vachel 

Lindsay’s 

Beat an empty barrel with the handle of a 

broom 

Hard as they were able, 

Boom, boom, BOOM. 

With a silk umbrella and the handle of a 

broom, 

Boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, BOOM. 

to Swinburne’s With lisp of leaves and ripple of 

rain, in which the sound of the wind and the 

rain is suggested in an appropriate combination 

of standard words. 

In its wider application, onomatopoeia is a 

fitting of the sound to the meaning. Alexander 

Pope in his Essay on Criticism gave a famous 

pronouncement on this subject with a series of 

brilliant illustrations: 

‘Tis not enough no harshness gives offence, 

The sound must seem an echo of the sense: 

Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows, 

And the smooth stream in smoother numbers 

flows; 

But when loud surges lash the sounding shore, 

The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent 

roar. 

When Ajax strives some rock’s vast weight to 

throw, 

The line too labours, and the words move slow: 

Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain, 

Flies o’er th’unbending corn, and skims 

along the main.

This, of course, is obvious, as a good example 

should be. But Pope was able, when he chose, 

to achieve the effect with great subtlety, as in 

his description of a sneeze in The Rape of the 

Lock: 

Sudden, with starting tears each eye o’erflows, 

And the high dome re-echoes to his nose. 

Milton is a great master of onomatopoeia. 

His skill in using the device contributes to the 

grandeur of many of his fmest passages--as, for 

instance, the ominous reverberation in his description 

of the opening of the gates of Hell: 

. . . on a sudden open f7ie 

With impetuous recoile and jarring sound 

Th’infernal dores, and on their hinges gnate 

Harsh thunder. . . . 

But onomatopoeia in itself has little merit. 

The mere doing of it is a sort of trick or at best 

a skilful exercise, as in Poe’s The Bells. It is 

only when it enhances the meaning, by creating 

a mood or contributing by the suggestion of its 

sound to the main thought, that it has value. 

No one should be encouraged to use it deliberately 

and in serious prose it should probably be 

avoided. 

The adjective is onomatopoeiac or onomatopoetic, 

the first being the preferred form. 

onset means basically an assault or an attack, the 

act of setting upon (The onset at Omaha Beach 

was especially bloody), a beginning or a start 

(The onset of winter, with its lowering skies 

and dreary winds, was especially depressing). 

Only in medical usage (The onset of fhe disease 

was obvious on cursory examination) may onset 

be used to designate initial symptoms or Erst 

signs. 

onus; gravamen. An onus is a moral burden, a 

resDonsibilitv (He shouldered the onus for the 

wh>le adventure). The gravamen is that part 

of an accusation which weighs most heavily 

against the accused (The gravamen of the charge 

was that the revolver which fired the fatal shot 

was found in the trunk of his car). By extension 

gravamen means grievance. This meaning is 

obsolescent in England but standard in the 

United States (The real gravamen of the charges 

[against Democracy] lies in the habit it has 

of . . . asking the powers that be whether they 

are the powers that ought to be). The plural 

of gravamen is gravamina. 

onward; onwards. Onward is the only form that 

can be used to qualify a following noun, a:$ in 

the onward course. It is the preferred form in 

giving a command, as in Onward, Christian soldiers. 

Either form may be used in any other 

construction, as in the road led onwards .and 

he went onwurd. In the United States the form 

onward is generally preferred. 

op. cit. is an abbreviation of the Latin words 

opere citato and means in the work cited. 

opera. See opus. 

operative; operator. Operative is used chiefly as 

an adjective, meaning active, exerting force, 15% 

cacious, effective (The original rules are *still 

operative). When used as a noun, opera,tive 

339 opposite 

means a worker, one skilled in some branch of 

work, especially productive or industrial work; 

a workman, artisan, factory hand, especially one 

who tends a machine (The cotton operatives, 

being unorganized, had no remedy for their 

miseries). This use is now largely American, 

the English preferring mill-hand or workman. 

American also is the use of operative for a 

detective, a euphemism adopted by the Pinkertons 

at the turn of the century which passed 

into common usage (I had pawned the pistol 

for twenty dollars . . ., and in its place Z was 

carrying a small pistol belonging to another 

operative). 

Operator, in various combinations, is more 

specific than operative (linotype operator, punch 

press operator, telephone operator). Used alone 

-particularly in America-it applies to those 

conducting large-scale operations (mine operators, 

mill operators) and, especially, to those 

who operate in stocks in a large or speculative 

way (Wall Street operators began jumping out 

of windows in the fall of 1929). Big operator 

is a slang term, often with sarcastic overtones, 

for one who bustles about in self-importance, 

manipulating and maneuvering with great to-do. 

ophthalmologist; optician; optometrist. See oculist. 

opinion, in my. An opinion is a judgment or belief 

resting on grounds insufficient to produce 

certainty. When, therefore, one adds in my opinion 

to some statement, one is modestly or tactfully 

seeking to avoid the appearance of being 

dogmatic. This is admirable, but it may also be 

tedious and sometimes timid. Then the emphasis, 

somehow, seems to fall on my rather 

than on opinion and the phrase, meant to be 

disarming, is often pontifical and irritating. It 

is usually better to say Z think. 

opinionated; opinionative. Opinionated is an adjective 

describing one who is obstinate or conceited 

with regard lo his opinions, conceitedly 

dogmatic (At the risk of sounding opinionated, 

Z say that Yeats is our best poet since Milton). 

Since an opinion is a judgment not sufficiently 

grounded in fact to be a certainty and since 

conceit is an exaggerated estimate of one’s own 

abilities, opinionated is necessarily a vague 

word. It is highly charged emotionally and usually 

conveys a wholly subjective estimate made 

by the user. It is now completely derogatory 

and comes, like bigoted, close to being a term 

of vulgar abuse. That does not mean, of course, 

that it is not useful. But in using it these things 

should be borne in mind. 

Opinionative is a word faultily formed from its 

Latin root and seldom understood by writer or 

reader. Basically it means of, pertaining to, or 

of the nature of opinion (That’s a purely opinionative 

conclusion). In a secondary sense it 

means opinionated, though in the interests of 

clarity one might better use opinionated when 

that is what one means. 

opponent. See antagonist. 

oppose. See antagonize. 

opposite. As an adjective, opposite is followed by 

to (His store is opposite to mine); as a noun,

optimism 340 

it is followed by of (My view is the very opposite 

of his). See also contrary. 

optimism was the name given by the Jesuits to 

Leibnitz’s doctrine (propounded in his The’odicke, 

1710) that our world is the “best of all 

possible worlds.” The word gained currency 

from the attack on the doctrine by Voltaire in 

Candide ou I’Optimisme, 1759. 

From this philosophical beginning the word 

has spread out to include many meanings which 

might otherwise be better conveyed. Among the 

more general senses of optimism are the belief 

that good ultimately predominates over evil, 

that good pervades reality, and (the loose, popular 

sense) the disposition to hope for the best, 

the tendency to look on the brighter side of 

things, to be hopeful in adversity. In this last 

sense optimism may, indeed often does, have no 

philosophical basis whatever. It is simply a loose 

synonym for cheerfulness, a term to express a 

function of sound health. the reflection of good 

luck or limited powers of observation. - 

optimist; pessimist; meliorist. Philosophically, an 

optimist is one who believes that because the 

Creator is infinitely good and infinitely powerful 

this is the best of all possible worlds. In the 

popular use of the term, he is simply a cheerful, 

hopeful person who, when faced with a number 

of possible happenings or consequences, assumes 

that the one most favorable to himself 

will occur. 

Philosophically, a pessimist is one who believes 

that evil is dominant in the world, that 

life’s unhappiness is not compensated for by its 

happiness. In popular use the word is applied 

to anyone who takes an unusually or consistently 

gloomy view of things and since the modern 

world, especially in its economic aspects, is 

wedded to optimism, the word is usually disparaging. 

Really an optimist, though usually considered 

a “middle-of-the-reader,” is the meliorist, 

one who believes that the world is not perfect 

but that it can be made better by human action. 

Most people are probably meliorists, but the 

word is not widely used or even known, the 

extremes being more suitable for popular discussion. 

optimistic; hopeful; sanguine. All three of these 

words suggest a favorable view of things. The 

difference between optimistic and the other two 

is one of kind. Between hopeful and sanguine 

it is one of degree. 

Optimistic, in its proper sense, describes a 

habit of mind, a disposition to take a favorable 

view of things. It is correct to say He was optimistic 

or even He was optimistic about the 

future of mankind or about world government. 

But the word which designates a habit of mind 

is not applicable to a small matter or a particular 

thing and it is improper to say He was 

optimistic about his chance of getting a ticket. 

Here hopeful or sanguine would be a better 

word. Of the two, hopeful, which means having 

hope or being full of hope, would be better in 

this context. Sanguine, which means naturally 

cheerful and hopeful, confident, having a high 

degree of hope, is a stronger word than hopeful, 

but it is little used in England (except in the 

now slightly archaic expression of a sanguine 

complexion meaning “of a cheerful disposition”) 

and almost never in America except in 

such stock phrases as beyond our most sunguine 

expectations and not sanguine about the 

outcome. Optimistic, however loosely it may 

convey the desired sense, seems to have crowded 

out its more accurate rivals. 

optimum, as an adjective, is not merely a synonym 

for best. It means, rather, the best under 

the (usually conflicting) circumstances, the 

most favorable, that is, towards attaining some 

desired end. The best speed of a car might be 

its utmost. The optimum, if the desired end 

were economy of fuel, would be a great deal 

less than that. The optimum number of students 

that a college might seek to enroll would not 

be the largest number that could be accommodated 

in the dormitories or the classrooms but 

the largest number consistent with a number of 

conditions, such as the energies of the teaching 

staff, the facilities of the library, and so on, with 

a view to giving each student the best education 

possible under the circumstances. 

option means the power or liberty of choosing, 

the right or freedom of choice (Zt is his option, 

whether he will fight or Ron away), something 

which may be or is chosen (The town was dry 

by local option), or-a special legal and commercial 

use-a privilege acquired, as by the 

payment of a premium or consideration, of demanding, 

within a specified time, the carrying 

out of a transaction upon stipulated terms (If 

he does not take up his option within six months, 

the money in escrow will be forfeited). A choice 

is simply the act of choosing, that which is 

chosen, or an alternative. It implies the opportunity 

to choose; where option stresses, rather, 

the free right or privilege of choosing. Where 

there is any doubt, choice is to be preferred to 

option, if only as the more common, less pretentious 

word. And certainly option is not to be 

used where the broader equivalent, choice, is 

superfluous. To say I had no option but to sign 

is a pompous, wordy way of saying “I had to 

sign.” 

opulent. See rich. 

opus. The plural is opera, not opi. The English 

plural opuses is used only facetiously. 

or; nor. These words are conjunctions and join 

elements that are grammatically alike. A personal 

pronoun following or or nor must have 

the form that it would have if it were being used 

in the sentence itself instead of after or. That 

is, the form him is required in no one suw you 

or him because him is required in no one sow 

him; and the form he is required in either 

you mltst do it or he because he is required 

in he must do it. In present-day English the 

verb is usually repeated after a subjective pronoun 

such as he, as in either you must do it 

or he must. 

Nor makes the words that follow it negative.

Used with a negative statement, nor introduces 

an alternative and negates it, as in he shall not 

fail nor he discouraged. Since nor affects ‘only 

the words that it adds to an already complete 

sentence it never forms a double negative ,with 

what has gone before. It can be used wherever 

the words and not could be used. When the 

words following nor include a verb and its subject, 

the verb stands before the subject. If written 

out fully, the sentence just quoted would 

read: he shall not fail nor shall he be dizouraged. 

After an afftrmative statement nor adds a 

contrasting or contradictory negative and not 

an alternative. This construction is rare in 

present-day speech but it is standard English 

and is used in poetry and solemn prose, as in: 

he will watch from dawn to gloom . . . the 

honey-bees in the ivy bloom, nor heed nor see 

what things they be. 

Or is used with an affirmative statement to 

introduce an alternative, as in YOU told me or 

I read it somewhere. The alternative must be 

affirmative or the simple negative of what has 

just been said, as in he may come or he may 

not. Or may be used in a negative statement to 

introduce an alternative to one of the negative 

elements, as in I want no notes or promises; I 

want money and I will not agree to that, or even 

consider it. In every case, the words following 

or must be parallel with some previous word or 

group of words that has been made negative. 

Nor can also be used in these same constructions 

and makes a more emphatic negative. We 

can say I want no notes nor promises and Z will 

not agree to that, nor even consider it. Or 

cannot be used with a negative statement to 

introduce an alternative that is grammatically 

independent. We cannot say he did not come or 

will not. For this we must use and or nor, as in 

he did not come nor will he. 

Or does not always introduce a simple alternative. 

It sometimes has the sense of if so or 

if noi and gives the preceding clause the force 

of a conditional. This is the case whenever it 

joins an independent statement to a preceding 

negative, as in Z can’t stay longer or Z will be 

lute, or an independent negative statement to a 

preceding affirmative, as in he told me himself 

or Z would not believe it. 

In present-day English, neither is followed by 

nor and either by or. 

Theoretically, when the subject of a verb is 

a compound joined by or or nor, the verb has 

the number and person of the element standing 

nearest to it. But in the best modern prose this 

rule is not strictly observed. If the element nearest 

the verb is plural the verb too is always 

plural, in practice as well as in theory, as in 

either he or his neighbors are mistaken. In practice, 

the verb is usually plural in a negative 

statement, as in neither Eric nor Regina are 

there now, and often plural in a question, as in 

what are honor or dishonor to her? In an affirmative 

statement the verb is usually singular if 

the part of the subject nearest it is singular, 

341 orchestra 

as in either Eric or Regina is there now, although 

even here a plural verb may be used, 

as in marble, bronze, or clay are the materials 

of sculpture. Questions of person, as distinct 

from number, only arise in connection with the 

pronouns I and yore. The rule requires either he 

or you are mistaken, either you or Z am mistaken. 

Most people avoid compounds of this 

kind and say either he is mistaken or you are, 

either you are mistaken or Z am. See agreement: 

verbs. 

oral. See aural. 

oral and verbal are not synonymous, though 

verbal is misused for oral quite often, perhaps 

by persons encouraged to take as precedent the 

very special case of verbal agreement which 

means oral agreement, agreement in speech 

only. Actually oral means uttered by the mouth, 

spoken (He teaches oral interpretation of literature), 

as opposed to what is conveyed in 

writing. Though verbal is used for oral in verbal 

agreement, it normally applies to the words, 

spoken or written, in which thought or feeling 

is conveyed. When we refer to a verbaZ account 

of an event, we mean an account conveyed in 

words instead of one conveyed by gestures, pictures, 

or other means. Thus verbal is the more 

inclusive term, emphasizing words themselves 

as distinguished from ideas, emotions, actions, 

images. 

orate. There was an old English verb to orate, 

meaning to pray, and we still have an oratory, 

a place of prayer. But this meaning of orate is 

now obsolete and the modern verb is actually 

a new coinage, a back formation from oration. 

It is used humorously and sarcastically to mean 

make an oration, hold forth in a lofty style 

(I should hate exceedingly to have the present 

speeches of the gentleman from Pennsylvania 

orated around over the country ds mine-Congressional 

Record). If the giving of a public 

address is referred to seriously, the correct term 

is deliver an oration or, if one wishes to be less 

formal, deliver (or make) a speech, speak in 

public. 

orchestra; stalls; pit. As used with reference to 

floor space in a modern theater, the word orchestra 

in America describes the space reserved 

for the musicians, usually the front part of the 

main floor, the orchestra pit, or, more often, 

it describes the entire main-floor space for spectators. 

The stalls in an English theater are the 

seats in the front division of the main floor or 

in the front of the lower balcony. The pit is a 

term used in England for a section of the main 

floor of a theater behind the orchestra and in 

front of the parquet, parterre, or orchestra 

stalls, usually of unreserved seats. In former 

times, when ladies and gentlemen of fashion 

frequented only the boxes, the pit was the station 

of the common man in the theater, the 

cheapest space available. The term the pit was 

applied to persons occupying this section and 

playing to the pit has much the same meaning 

in England as playing to the gallery has in 

America.

orchis. The plural is orchides, not arches. A new 

singular orchid, with a regular plural orchids, 

was coined by a botanist in 1854. It is now the 

usual name for these plants. 

order. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he ordered her to go. It may also be followed 

by a that clause with the clause verb a 

subjunctive or a subjunctive equivalent, as in 

he ordered that she go. The infinitive construction 

is generally preferred. When order is followed 

by a passive infinitive, as in he ordered 

them to be sent, the to be may be omitted, as in 

he ordered them sent. This construction is not 

often used in Great Britain but is standard 

practice in the United States. 

order; command; instruction; direction; directive; 

injunction. All of these terms have the meaning 

of an authoritative mandate. Order is the 

most inclusive. In law it means the command 

of a court or judge (He paid alimony by court 

order). The military term (usually in the plural) 

describes commands or notices issued by 

military authorities. It may also describe assignments 

to duty stations. 

In former times the wishes of the sovereign 

were commands, a meaning that survives in 

Britain in command performance, a theatrical 

performance in response to a royal invitation. 

The commands of the sovereign were often expressed 

as wishes (Lr Roi le veult). Today 

command usually refers to the military. It is 

used in a number of senses, such as an order in 

prescribed words, usually given in a loud voice 

to troops at close-order drill; or it may designate 

a body of troops or an area or a station 

under a commander. It may also mean the possession 

or exercise of controlling authority 

(I’m in command here). 

In one of its senses instruction, usually plural, 

means an order or direction (Please read the 

instructions before assembling the antenna). Direction 

in one of its senses means much the 

same as instruction and always appears in the 

plural. It is the usual word to describe instructions 

concerning the route to be taken to arrive 

at a desired destination (If he follows my directions, 

he can’t miss Rockefeller Center). 

Directive is a new noun. It means an authoritative 

instruction or direction (A directive was 

issued by the Secretary of State on conduct of 

Foreign Affairs Oficers). 

An injunction is usually thought of in its legal 

sense, which describes a judicial process or order 

requiring the person or persons to whom it 

is directed to do (or, more commonly, not to 

do) a particular thing. However, it can be more 

generally applied to mean a command, an order, 

or an admonition (In spite of all injunctions of 

secrecy, the news had spread). 

order. The use of order in idiomatic expressions 

varies sufficiently in British and American usage 

to require comment. A speaker is called to order 

in England when the chairman finds it necessary 

to rebuke him for violating rules of procedure. 

A meeting is called to order in America by the 

chairman as he formally opens its proceedings. 

In England in order means in accordance with 

rules of parliamentary procedure. In America it 

may also mean permissible, fitting, appropriate 

(I hear that congratulations are in order). In 

short order is an American phrase meaning immediately, 

in no time. A short-order cook is one 

who in lunch wagons, small restaurants, and so 

on, fries eggs, hamburgers, and griddle cakes, 

heats canned soup, makes coffee, and prepares 

other dishes that can be made ready quickly. 

From restaurant usage order has also come to 

mean, in the United States, a portion of food. 

When a waitress says I had those two orders of 

potatoes right here on my tray she does not 

mean a written order for the potatoes but the 

potatoes themselves. 

ordinance; ordnance; ordonnance. Ordinance in 

America means an authoritative rule or law, a 

decree or command, a public injunction or regulation, 

usually municipal (Zt is an ordinance in 

our city that residents must wrap their gnrbage). 

The English equivalent is by-law. According to 

Horwill, ordinance is rarely used in England except 

historically (as the Self-Denying Ordinance, 

an Act passed by the Long Parliament in 1644, 

by which the members of Parliament bound 

themselves not to accept commands in the army) 

and in the phrase religious ordinances (religious 

rites). 

Ordnance, a variant of ordinance, has become 

established in a series of special meanings. From 

an ordering, supplies, it has come to mean military 

supplies, primarily cannon or artillery, but 

also military weapons of all kinds with their 

equipments, ammunition (At three o’clock the 

heavy ordnance was brought into position. 

During the war he got a job in an ordnance 

plant filling cartridges). 

Ordonnance is also an ordering, but not of 

political or religious affairs or of military equipment. 

It designates the ordering, disposition, arrangement 

of parts, as of a building, a picture, 

or a literary composition. Coleridge speaks of 

the difference between the ordonnance of poetic 

composition and that of prose. 

In older English writing one often finds ordonnance 

used for ordinance, especially in reference 

to foreign decrees and promulgations. 

ordinary. See average, common, normal. 

ordure. Save in a few grim humorous contexts 

(such as the natural ordure of things) ordure 

as a term for filth or excrement is a literary 

euphemism. 

Orient. See East. 

orient: orientate. Both orient and orientate mean 

to place so as to face the east and, by extension, 

to adjust in relation to, or to bring into due relation 

to, surrounding circumstances, facts, and 

so on. In the United States orient is the preferred 

form for all meanings. In England orientate is 

still used for placing so as to face in some specific 

direction, particularly to the east but orient is 

used there in all figurative senses (The whole 

village was oriented to gain the maximum sunlight. 

As soon as the Commandos were orientated, 

they began their advance along the quay.

He wus quick to orient himself to rhe commu&y). 

Many American colleges have what they call 

orientation courses, broad general introductory 

courses, usually in the social sciences, intended 

for the beginning student. Their professed 

purpose is to enable the student to “place” himself 

in history or the social structure of the 

world-or whatever the subject of the course 

may be. Since it is assumed that any introductory 

course serves this vague purpose to some 

extent, the term is unnecessary and pompous. 

ornamental; ornate; decorative. Anything is ornumental 

which is used for ornament (The plaid 

cape was more ornamental than useful). There 

is perhaps an echo of our Puritan background, 

a suggestion in the word of something unncxessary 

and often a further suggestion of something 

insubstantial or tinselly. That is ornate 

which is elaborately or sumptuously adorned, 

showily splendid. Since modem taste disapproves 

of the sumptuous and since there is 

far more show of splendor than actual splendor, 

the word often carries a connotation of disparagement, 

especially in reference to speech. Decorative 

is a more favorable word, suggesting a 

becoming ornamentation, something which fittingly 

adds to an appearance of festivity. 

The Englishman, Collins, holds that ornamental 

is an active term and that ornate and 

decorutive are synonymous passive terms but 

American usage does not make these distinctions. 

ostensible; ostensive; ostentatious. Although the 

dictionaries recognize ostensible and ostensive 

as synonyms, there are distinctions in their use 

which can be ambiguous and it is better not to 

use them interchangeably. Ostensible is a wellknown 

adjective, suitable for general use. Ostensive 

is a little-known, usually specialized 

term which should be used with discrimination. 

That is ostensible which is given out or outwardly 

appears to be, is professed or pretended 

(His ostensible motive was charity; his actual 

motive was self-glorification). Ostensive means 

showing, but its primary meaning is showing 

in logic, setting forth a general principle by 

virtue of which a proposition must be true. An 

ostensive demonstration (in mathematics;) is 

a demonstration which plainly and directly 

demonstrates the truth of a proposition, as distinct, 

say, from a reductio ad absurdum. 

If that is ostensible which shows on the 

surface and that is ostensive which shows logically 

beyond cavil, that is ostentatious which 

is overly showy, pretentious, demonstrative beyond 

need in order to impress others. It is now 

a disparaging word, though in the days when 

public demonstrations of even affection were 

staged for political purposes it was not always 

so. When Octavius, in Shakespeare’s Antony 

and Cleopatra, told his sister that her quiet and 

unexpected return to Rome had prevented the 

ostentation of his love, he merely meant that 

she had made it impossible for him to have 

her received with the pageantry and splendor 

343 ought 

which, as his loved sister, was her due. She had 

prevented him from making a public demonstration 

of his regard for her and this he felt 

was, under the circumstances, a political error. 

0 tempora! 0 mores! When the contemplation 

of Catiline’s wickedness moved Cicero in 63 B.C. 

to exclaim in horror at the times and the manners 

that could produce such a monster, he so 

expressed the indignation of all who view with 

alarm that his phrase has been repeated ever 

since. Of late it has been so often repeated that 

it has become a cliche, the more meaningless 

because finally even our orators prefer (like 

Cicero) to speak in their own language. 

other; otherwise. Other was once the ordinal 

form for the cardinal number two and meant 

what we now mean by second. It now has the 

vaguer meaning of additional or different from, 

but it is still used occasionally in its earlier 

sense, as in we bake every other day. Because 

it was once an ordinal number other may stand 

before a cardinal, as ;n the other two men, and 

because it no longer is an ordinal, it may stand 

after a cardinal, as in the two other men. 

Other is primarily an adjective and may 

qualify either a singular or a plural noun, as in 

the other man and the other men. It may also 

be treated as a noun and given singular, plural, 

and genitive forms, as other, others, other’s, 

others’. (When used in this way it is ordinarily 

called a pronoun.) The adjective form other 

may be used alone as a noun in speaking of 

more than one person, as in like other of the 

world’s great men and two other among that 

handful of young soldiers. This construction is 

acceptable before the word of; otherwise, the 

plural form others is preferred. 

Other, in any of its forms, may be used in 

a comparison with than, as in another world 

than ours. Other followed by from, as in another 

world from this, is not standard English. 

Other is sometimes used as an adverb before 

than, as in it was impossible for her to speak 

other than kindly. This construction is acceptable 

in the United States, but the regular adverbial 

form otherwise is generally preferred in 

any position that would call for an adverb. The 

form otherwise may be used to qualify a preceding 

noun, as in the workers, industrial or 

otherwise. Very often this is an elaborate way 

of saying something that could be said more 

simply. But there is nothing wrong with the construction 

grammatically. A noun may always be 

followed by an adjective or an adverb, or by 

both, as the noun is in angel visits, few and fur 

between. 

ought is an old past subjunctive form of the verb 

owe. It has no corresponding present subjunctive 

form. See subjunctive mode. 

Grammatically, ought is a past tense form, 

just as went is. The verb has no imperative, no 

infinitive, no past participle, no -ing form, and 

therefore cannot follow (that is, cannot be dependent 

on) another verb. We can no more 

say had ought, did ought, used to ought, than 

we can say had went, did went, used to went.

ought 344 

This was not always true. At one time ought 

could also be used as a participle, corresponding 

to gone, and had ought was literary English. 

Today these forms are obsolete or dialectal. 

Since we cannot use auxiliaries, such as do, be, 

have, we form negative statements and ask 

questions in the old direct way that is now obsolete 

for most verbs, as in he ought not fo say 

it and ought I to tell you? 

Ought itself is always used as an auxiliary 

and requires another verb to complete its meaning. 

Usually this is a ro-infinitive. It may be the 

infinitive of the meaningful verb, as in I ought 

ro tell her, or it may be to hnve and a past participle, 

as in Z ought to have told her. In the 

first case, the statement refers indefinitely to the 

present or the future. In the second case, it 

refers to a past event. The infinitive must be 

actually stated or easily supplied from the context. 

When it is to be supplied, we usually keep 

the word to, as in I think you ought to, although 

this is not required and we may also say I think 

you ought. In the United States the simple form 

of the verb is sometimes used instead of the toinfinitive 

after ought not, as in you ought nof 

slay. The construction with to is generally 

preferred. 

Some people claim that the word ought 

always means obligation or duty and that we 

cannot say he ought to 6e hanged because “that 

is the duty of others.” There is no justification 

for this. The word is also used to mean befitting, 

advisable, expected, and SO on, as in you ought 

to take a nap and they ought to be here soon. 

ought. See aught. 

our; ours. The form our is used to qualify a 

following noun, as in our country, our all. The 

form ours is used in any other construction, as 

in this country of ours and all ours. Ours is 

also the form used in a double possessive where 

it is separated from its following noun by and, 

as in ours and Jacob’s God. Today this construction 

is generally avoided and our God and 

Jacob’s or our own and Jacob’s God is used 

instead. Neither word order shows clearly 

whether we are talking about one thing or two, 

but the old-fashioned form, ours and Jacob’s, 

suggests one thing possessed in common more 

strongly than the forms which use our. 

The plural word our is frequently used after 

a grammatically singular word such as neither 

or each, in order to avoid using his when the 

reference may be to either a man or a woman, 

as in neither of us had broken our vow and 

each in our own way. 

In current English, the word ours is never 

written with an apostrophe. 

ourn. This word was once acceptable English, but 



form today is ours. 

ourself; ourselves. Originally, the word self could 

be used as a plural or as a singular and the 

plural of myself was ourself. The form ourselves 

did not appear until the sixteenth century, 

but it has since driven ourself from natural 

speech. During the nineteenth century, the form 

ourself was the preferred reflexive for a we that 

actually represented only one person, as in we 

found ourself running among the first. But this 

obviously defeated whatever purpose there was 

in using we. Today, ourself is recognized as the 

traditionally correct form to use with a “royal 

we,” as in which ourself have granted. But in 

any other context it is felt to be a slip, and 

evidence that the user has not taken his we 

seriously but has been thinking Z all along. The 

plural form ourselves is always used when more 

than one person is actually involved, as in we 

ourselves have agreed. (For the ways in which 

ourselves may be used, see reflexive pronouns.) 

out; outer; outmost; outermost; utter; utmost; 

uttermost. The primary meaning of out is “away 

from within.” It is used chiefly as an adverb to 

qualify a verb, as in he is going out, but it may 

also be used as an adjective to qualify a noun, 

as in the out side and the out man. When out 

forms part of a compound verb it frequently 

has the meaning of “going forth,” as in think 

out, write out, or of “going beyond,” as in outbid, 

outgush. 

In Great Britain out is never used as a 

preposition but must be combined with of 

before it can have an object, as in he went out 

of the room, he jumped out of the window. In 

the United States out requires of when it is used 

in the sense of away from, as in he went out of 

the house, he went out of her life, but it is used 

as a preposition without of when it means 

through, as in he jumped out the window, he 

ran out the door. 

Outer and outmost or outermost are comparative 

and superlative forms of out and mean 

farther and farthest from the center. They are 

relatively new words that have been in general 

use less than three hundred years. Utter, utmost, 

uttermost, are older ways of expressing the same 

ideas. Utter was used in the sense of “exterior” 

until late in the seventeenth century, but this 

meaning is now obsolete. Today outer is used 

in this sense and utter always means “in a high 

degree” or “absolute.” As a result, outer darkness 

and utter darkness mean different things. 

The superlative forms utmost and uttermost 

can still be used in both senses and may mean 

remote, extreme, or last in a series. 

The words outer and utter, like the words 

elder and former, have comparative forms but 

are felt as positive descriptive adjectives and 

not as comparatives, and therefore cannot be 

used in a comparison with than. 

out of one’s depth. As a metaphor, signifying 

that anything from a social situation to an idea 

is too much for one, out of one’s depth is 

hackneyed. 

out of the woods. As a way of saying that a 

danger has not completely abated, we are not 

yet out of the woods is a clichC. 

outdoor; outdoors. Outdoor is the preferred form 

when the word is used to qualify a following 

noun, as in an outdoor fire place. Outdoors is 

the preferred form when the word is used to 

qualify anything except a noun, as in they lived 

outdoors. But this distinction is not strictly

observed. The sme is true of our-of-door and 

out-of-doors. There is no difference between the 

forms with of and those without, in either 

meaning or use. 

Both of the forms ending in s may be used 

as nouns, as in the great outdoors, rhc great 

out-of-doors. 

outfit. As a standard noun ourfit means an assemblage 

of articles for fitting out or equipping 

(The explorer’s outfit must include a few yards 

of mosquito netting) or a set of articles for any 

purpose (His grandmother gave him a carpenter’s 

outfit when he was only twelve). In 

American slang it has the further senses of a 

group associated in any undertaking, as a 

military body (There was entirely too much 

coddling going on in the outfit--Norman 

Mailer), a party, company, or set, especially 

men in charge of cattle (The outfit consisted 

of three covered wagons, four tents, eighty 

saddle horses, three cooks, and about tn’enty 

riders), and, by extension, a number of people 

combined for any purpose (The Tummany outfit 

had supported him in the gubernatorial 

campaign). 

The basic sense of the word, as listed in the 

Oxford English Dictionary, the act of fitting 

out or furnishing with requisites (as in If you 

secure the commissions, 1’11 make the outfit 

easy), is seldom used in the United States. 

out-Herod Herod. King Herod was represented 

in the old mystery plays as a bellowing, ranting, 

raging ruffian of a tyrant. He was obviously 

very dear to the audiences and successive 

generations of anonymous hams must have 

labored mightily to outdo each other in the role. 

By Shakespeare’s time to out-Herod Herod was 

proverbial for tearing a passion to tatters, outrageous 

blustering, and violent denunciation. 

Shakespeare’s use of the phrase kept it i,n the 

language long after its original meaning had 

faded. It is now a clicht. 

outlandish. See exotic. 

outline; summary; brief; synopsis. An outline is 

a rough draft or first general sketch, account, 

or report, in which the main features only of 

some book, subject, or project are set forth. It 

is a plan showing the parts of a discourse in 

some sort of skeletal form (He submitted an 

outline of his speech to his superior for approval). 

A summary is a brief statement or 

restatement of the main points, especially as 

the conclusion to a work (The last chapter 

contained an excellent summary of the whole 

book). As an adjective, summary means. concise, 

brief and comprehensive, and, by extension, 

unceremoniously fast (This summary 

dismissal of his plea was infuriating). In relation 

to trials and courts-martial it means a 

proceeding which is conducted without or is 

exempt from the various steps and delay:s of a 

formal trial. 

A brief is a detailed outline, by heads and 

subheads, of a discourse (usually legal) to be 

completed. It is an outline, the form of which 

is determined by set rules, of all the possible 

arguments and information on one side of a 

controversy. Its contemporary use is confined 

almost entirely to law and debating. 

A synopsis is a condensed statement giving a 

general view of some subject. In modern English 

it is most commonly used to designate a compressed 

statement of the plot of a novel or a 

play (Such synopses have little value for the 

student, because the mere events of the action 

are not the most important part of the plays). 

outlook. See lookout. 

outside. The single word outside may be used in 

place of the phrase ozzlside of, and is generally 

preferred in the United States. It may be used 

literally of space, as in outside the city limits, 

or it may be used figuratively, as in that is outside 

his interests. The word means exterior to 

and fixes the mind on what is exterior. The 

statement this is not dune outside the South 

is a statement about New York and Oregon. 

The speaker may have been thinking of what 

was interior and may have used outside as the 

equivalent of “except in.” This is acceptable 

because it is still possible to hear the sentence 

with the conventional meaning of outside. But 

this is not possible when the word is used in 

place of “except for,” as in I have seen no one 

outside the milkman. The fact that we can’t 

hear the word with its usual meaning in a 

sentence of this kind calls our attention to its 

meaning, and the sentence becomes ridiculous. 

outskirts once had a singular form outskirt, but 

this is now obsolete. The form outskirts is used 

with a plural verb as in the ozcfskirts were a few 

miles away, but it cannot be qualified by a word 

implying number. We cannot speak of a few 

outskirts, for example. 

outspoken. See frank. 

outward; outwards. Outward is the only form 

that can be used to qualify a following noun, 

as in the outward voyage. Either form may be 

used in any other construction, as in outwards 

bound and outward boztnd. The form outward 

is generally preferred in the United States. 

outworn; worn-out. One may use either oulworn 

or worn-out to describe that which has been 

consumed by use, wear, or the action of time, 

whether the thing described is physical or 

figurative or that which is exhausted in strength 

or endurance. Worn-ozci has come, however, 

to be used more often in the sense of being so 

injured by wear as to be no longer serviceable 

or to be wearied or exhausted, as with toil; and 

outworn has acquired the peculiar senses of 

outgrown (as of clothes which are still serviceable 

but no longer large enough for a child) 

and obsolete, out of date (I’d rather be/ A 

Pagan suckled in a creed outworn). As a 

general rule, when either ozltworn or worn-out 

will serve, it is better to use worn-out. It is more 

idiomatic and straightforward. 

over is primarily a preposition, as in jump over 

the wall, or an adverb, as in think the matte} 

over; but adjective forms of the word survive in 

compound nouns, such as overcoat and overlord. 

From the earliest times the word has 

carried the meanings of in excess, as in overeat; 

above, as in overhead: beyond, as in overseas;

over 346 

across, as in come over; and completion, as in 

he thought it was over. 

Over with the idea of completely was often 

used with a numeral, as in you shall have gold 

to pay the petty debt twenty times over, or with 

n&n, as in we will do it over again. From this, 

it came to be used alone with the idea of repetition, 

as in he plans to do it over. But over 

again is better established historically than over 

in this sense, and is still preferred by most 

people. The idea of “complete” in over again 

has not been entirely lost. Today we say again 

when all we mean is “once more,” as in 1’11 see 

you again. Over again still carries the idea of 

“start at the beginning again,” and usually 

suggests that this is a tiresome thing to do. 

over and above is a clichC as a term for “in 

excess of.” 

over and done with, as a term for finished or 

passed, is a clicht. 

overall. As a noun, overnll offers no difficulty. In 

Britain it designates a smock or loose housedress. 

The plural, overalls, designates in Britain 

a man’.s trousers, leggings, outer suit for dirty 

work or bad weather, In America it describes 

loose, stout trousers, most commonly of blue 

denim, often extending up over the breast, worn 

over the clothing to protect it, as by workmen 

and others. 

The plural form refers to one garment but is 

always treated as a plural, as in these overalls 

are dirty. In order to use the word with a singular 

verb or to speak of more than one such 

garment, it is necessary to say this pair of overulls 

is dirty or several pairs of overalls. The 

form overalls is also used as the first element 

in a compound, as in his overalls pocket. 

The trouble comes with the adjective, 

written over-all in Britain, overall in America. 

Properly speaking, it is used attributively to 

mean including everything between the extreme 

points (The mine sweeper had an overall length 

of 120 jeet). In an extension of this use, overall 

has co&e tb mean covering or including everything. 

As Sir Ernest Gowers has said, the wide 

use of this extension is “an egregious example 

of the process . . . (of) boring out a weapon 

of precision into a blunderbuss.” It is commonly 

misused as a synonym for any number of more 

precise words, such as ag,pregate, total, average, 

comprehensive, complete, or whole. As Collins 

has observed, in most uses overall is at best an 

inelegant variation, a mere manifestation, that 

is, of a desire for variety even at the cost of 

precision and clarity. If overall can be justified 

in any sense beyond its literal one, it is in its 

power to combine in a single word the idea of 

“supreme” with the idea of “complete” or 

“comprehensive” (The overall direction of the 

battle came from corps headquarters). 

overly is a double adverb, but so are many other 

forms ending in -1~. The Oxford English Dictionary 

lists it as found in Old English, and 

as being used in Scotland and the United States. 

It is not used in England but is acceptable 

in this country, especially before an adjective, 

as in overly cautious. 

oversight; omission. An omission is an act of 

omitting. It may be deliberate or accidental. An 

oversight is a failure to notice or consider. 

When it is used to mean omission, it means one 

due to inadvertence, an unintentional omission 

(Not inviting Joe to the party was an oversight). 

Occasionally one comes across oversight in 

its slightly obsolescent sense of supervision, 

watchful care, the function of an overseer 

(Legree had general oversight of the planfation). 

overweening; overweaning. Ween is an archaic 

verb meaning to think or hope. It survives only 

in overweening. One who is overweening has 

expectations beyond merit or likelihood and 

hence is arrogant, egotistical. One occasionally 

sees the word misspelled overweaning. But this 

is simply a blunder or sheer ignorance. There 

is no such word as overweaning. If it existed it 

could only denote a mother who in some way 

weaned her children excessively, prematurely 

perhaps or was too eager to get the process 

done with. 

overwhelming is most likely to be used correctly 

when one bears in mind that it derives from 

the transitive verb to overwhelm which means 

to come, rest, or weigh upon overpoweringly, 

to crush, to overcome completely in mind or 

feeling. Overwhelming means, then, that which 

overwhelms, that which, moving against us and 

overspreading us, is so great as to render opposition 

useless (The demands of his admirers 

were not merely great: they were overwhelming). 

Overwhelming is not to be used as a 

synonym of vast or preponderant. 

Overwhelming odds and an overwhelming 

majority are clichCs. 

owe. When this word is used in speaking of something 

which we have already received in the 

past, the preposition to must be used in naming 

what we received it from, as in we owe the 

discovery of the prismatic spectrum to Sir Isaac 

Newton. When it is used in speaking of something 

which we must pay in the future, the to 

may be used, as in I owe five dollars to the 

grocer, or it may be omitted and the name 

treated as an indirect object, as in 2 owe the 

grocer five dollars. Owe in this second sense 

may be used in a passive construction, as in 

five dollars is owed to the grocer, but this is not 

possible when the word is used in the first sense. 

Instead, we must say the discovery is due io Sir 

Isaac Newton. (For the difference between 

owing to and due to, see doe to.) 

own. This verb may be followed by the -ing form 

of a verb with the preposition to, as in she owns 

to knowing about it and she owned to having 

known about it. It may also be followed by a 

perfect infinitive with have, as in she owned to 

have known ahout ir. Both forms are acceptable, 

but the -ing construction is heard more often. 

The adjective own does not ordinarily have a 

comparative or superlative form, but Tennyson 

wrote: my ownest own. 

own flesh and blood, close relatives, usually 

spoken by parents about their children, is a 

hackneyed expression.

own worst enemy. To say of someone that he is 

his own worst enemy, meaning that he does 

himself more harm than anyone else does him, 

that, indeed, most others are well disposed 

towards him but that some unfortunate trait of 

character, such as drunkenness, stands in his 

way, is to employ a cliche. 

ox. The plural is oxen. Very few Americans use 

the word ox except to call some one a dumb ox. 

Two such people would probably be c,alled 

dumb oxes, and not dumb oxen. And where the 

animals themselves are actually used the plural 

axes is often heard. Oxes is considered uneducated, 

but it is possible that it is used more than 

the literary oxen. 

When ox is the second element in a compound 

the plural is ox, as in three musk O.K. 

oxymoron is a rhetorical term for a figure of 

speech which produces an effect by seeming 

pack. This verb may be followed by an adjective 

describing what is packed, as in the place was 

packed tight, or by an adverb describing the 

packing, as in she packed it tightly. As a rule 

there is no difference in meaning between these 

two constructions. 

pack; packer; packing; package. Pack as a verb 

meaning to prepare food for preservation seems 

to be one of those words which survived in 

America but dropped out of English speech. 

It was used in this sense in England as early as 

1494 and has been so used in America since 

colonial times but is not now so used in England. 

As a noun meaning the quantity of anything, as 

food, packed or put up at one time or in one 

season, pack is standard in America (The salmon 

pack in 1952 was surprisingly large) and acceptable 

in England. 

Pucker in America has the specialized meaning 

of one whose business is packing food, 

especially meat, for the market. This meaning 

was known in England up until the last century 

but seems to have fallen into disuse there 

except, as a sort of borrowing, in reference to 

the American packers. The term in America is 

particularly applied to the heads of the great 

meat-packing businesses (The great packersthe 

Swifts, the Armours, the Wilsons-built 

gothic castles beside the lake). Packing is the 

American term to describe the preparing and 

packaging of foodstuffs. This meaning is known 

in England but, again, it is now used there chiefly 

in reference to the American industry and its 

processes. 

The noun package is in America equivalent to 

the British terms packet and parcel; it describes a 

bundle of things packed and wrapped (He came 

347 pagan 

P 

contradiction. In general it brings together two 

words which would appear to be opposed to 

each other but which in the context of their 

juxtaposition have a pointed meaning. Thus 

the King of France, in King Lear, describes 

Cordelia, after her father has disowned her, as 

this unpriz’d precious maid. Common oxymorons 

are the proverbial injunction to the rash 

to make haste slowly and the sentimental sympathy 

for the poor little rich girl that the 

tabloids expend on unhappy heiresses. 

ozone. The use of ozone for clear, invigorating, 

fresh air (Among the pines, away from the 

haunts of men, he breathed deep of God’s ozone 

and felt himself a better mun) is a vulgar elegancy. 

It is also an error. Although ozone is a 

form of oxygen, it does not possess oxygen’s 

invigorating power; in anything but minute 

quantities it is poisonous. 

home from the store with a large package under 

his arm). In America a packet is a small package 

or bundle. A parcel is that which when wrapped 

up forms a single, small bundle (parcel post). 

pact; compact. In the sense of an agreement, pact 

and compact are practically synonymous. A compact 

is a pact, an agreement between parties, a 

covenant, a contract. Some English authorities 

maintain that as a rule pnct is used for an agreement 

between nations or large bodies of people 

(North Atlantic Pact) and compact for an arrangement 

between private persons (The brothers 

acted together as if by compact), and this 

may be the present tendency in English usage, 

though it is not supported by the Oxford English 

Dictionary. But in America pact may be used 

for an arrangement between private persons (I 

make a pact with you, Walt Whitman-Ezra 

Pound) and compact for an agreement between 

nations or large groups (The Federal constitution 

has been styled a compact between the 

States . . .-Wharton). 

In America there is little distinction between 

the words, although pact for this sense is more 

frequently used. 

paddle. The normal sense of the transitive verb to 

paddle is to propel, as a canoe, with a paddle. 

This sense has begotten, in America at least, a 

figurative slang term paddle your own canoe, 

meaning “mind your own business.” Since a 

short paddle is used sometimes on young children 

and pledges of high-school and college 

secret societies, the verb is also used colloquially 

in America to mean to beat with or as with a 

paddle, to spank (If you don’t keep quiet and go 

to sleep, 1’11 paddle you). 

pagan. See agnostic.

Page 

page. Although the older meanings of page are 

known in America today through their preservation 

in romantic and historical novels, the 

commonest meaning, when the word is used to 

refer to a person, is a young male attendant, 

usually in uniform, in a legislative hall or a hotel 

(A page took the message from the Clerk to the 

Speaker). As a verb, page means to wait on or to 

follow like a page. In America it has the additional 

meaning of seeking a person by calling 

out his name, as a hotel page does (Z’ll have him 

paged over the loudspeaker at the railroad station). 

paid. See pay. 

pail. In its traditional sense a pail is a container 

of wood or metal with a bail or handle, for holding 

liquids (The full-fed beast shall kick the 

empty pail). In America only, pail may mean a 

vessel for carrying solids also. Hence the term 

dinner pail to describe the container once commonly 

used by schoolchildren and now by laborers 

and college professors to hold their noonday 

meal. Early in the twentieth century in America 

The Full Dinner Pail was a slosan of prosperity 

which Mark Hanna publicized in support of thk 

claims of the Republican Party. 

pains. When this means considerable care or 

trouble, as in take pains with it, it is a mass 

word and not a true plural. It is followed by a 

plural verb, as in these pains were of no avail 

and no pains were taken, but we cannot speak 

of many pains. Formerly the word was often 

used with a singular verb, as in much pains was 

taken and all this pains was for nothing. Today 

the singular construction is not used before a 

verb, but we can say he didn’t take much pains 

or speak about a great deal of pains. 

The singular form, a pain, and the true plural, 

three pains or many pains, always refer to sensations 

of pain, physical or mental. 

pair. The plural is pair or pairs. Six pair of gloves 

is the older form. Six pairs of gloves is newer. 

Both are acceptable. 

Pair, meaning “two,” is a noun. It cannot 

stand immediately before another noun, as the 

word two can, but must be joined to it by of. 

The singular pair is regularly followed by a singular 

verb, as in a pair of gloves is a nice present. 

But when the meaning of a sentence is unambiguously 

plural, as it is in a pair of thieves is 

conspiring to rob us, it is better English to recognize 

this fact and use a plural verb, as in a pair 

of thieves are conspiring to rob us. 

pair of twins; twins. A pair of twins is redundant, 

since twihs itself implies two, forming a couple 

or pair, Yet custom sanctions the term and there 

is certainly no great harm in it. Twins are, after 

all, a living redundancy. 

pajamas. The plural form refers to one garment, 

or set of garments, but is always treated as a 

plural, as in these pajamas are new. In order to 


of more than one set, it is necessary to say this 

pair of pajamas is new or several pairs of pajamas. 

A singular form pajama is used as the first 

element in a compound, as in pajama top and 

pajama pocket. 

348 

palate; palette; pallet; pallette. Palate, now the 

best known of the four, describes, roughly, the 

roof of the mouth (A cleft palate made it dificult 

for her to speak). This part of the mouth 

is considered (popularly but erroneously) as the 

organ of taste and, by extension, the word is 

used for the sense of taste or discrimination in 

taste (Though seen of none save him whose 

strenuous tongue/ Can burst Joy’s grape against 

his palate fine). The adjective palatable, by the 

way, is restricted to things of an agreeable taste. 

Palette is a French word, now anglicized. It 

meant a flat-bladed instrument, but in its commonest 

English and American use it now means 

a thin, usually oval or long, board or tablet with 

a thumb hole at one end, used by painters to lay 

and mix colors on. By transference from this 

meaning, it may also mean the range of colors 

used by a particular artist. 

There are two completely separate words 

spelled pullet. One derives from an Old French 

word for straw and means a bed or mattress of 

straw, a small or poor bed (On your midnight 

pallet lying,/ Listen, and undo the door. The 

sick man was found in a wretched garret on a 

miserable pallet). A second word, derived from 

the French palette, a flat-bladed instrument, has 

many technical applications. It is applied to special 

instruments in ceramics, horology, and gilding, 

none of which are in common use. 

A pallette, derived from the same French 

word, is a term in armory describing a small 

armpit plate or a piece of armor for the head. 

And even here, just to add to the confusion, 

palette is the preferred spelling and pullet is an 

acceptable variant. 

pales into insignificance. To say of something 

that loses much of its seeming importance in the 

light of certain circumstances that it pales into 

insignificance is to employ a phrase worn smooth 

by repetition. 

palladium. The plural is palladiums or palladia. 

pall mall; Pall Mall. See mall. 

palmy days. The original sense of palm is the 

palm of the hand. The tree is so called because 

of the shape of its fronds, resembling the palm 

of the hand with the fingers expanded. A leaf of 

the palm tree was in ancient times carried or 

worn as a symbol of victory or triumph on festal 

occasions. Hence the word palm came of itself 

to stand for victory or triumph. To receive the 

palm was to be acknowledged as supreme and 

victorious, to yield the palm was to concede another’s 

superiority, to dispute the palm was to 

question another’s claim to superiority, and so 

on. One’s palmy days were the time of one’s 

glory and acknowledged excellence, unchallenged 

superiority. But palmy state and palmy 

days are now hackneyed, worn out and meaningless. 

palpable lie. That is properly palpable which can 

be felt by touch. When a doctor palpates a patient’s 

abdomen he presses down upon it with his 

fingers to see if he can feel anything abnormal 

in its contents. A palpable lie is, therefore, a lie 

so gross that you can actually feel it. Whoever 

first made this figurative extension was a bold

and fortunate man. The violence of its exaggeration 

no doubt paralleled the violent exaggeration 

of the lie that moved him to the coinage. 

But centuries of use have worn it bare. Its meaning 

and glory have departed. 

paltry. See petty. 

panacea derives from a Greek word meaning “allhealing” 

and means a remedy for all diseases, 

a cure-all (At first penicillin was hailed by the 

lay press us a panacea). It is, therefore, incorrect 

to speak of a panacea for any particular disease 

(as a panacea for polio, a panacea for cancer, 

etc.). The same holds for figurative uses of the 

word. A panacea for our social ills is correct. A 

panacea for the stock market is not. 

pandemic. See epidemic. 

panegyric; praise. Panegyric is not synonymous 

with praise. It describes an oration, discourse, or 

formal writing in praise of a person or a thing, 

a eulogy (I piofess to write, not his panegyric, 

which must be all uraise. bui his Life-James 

Boswell, of his Life-of Johnson). The emphasis 

in panegyric is on public, formal praise, whether 

in speech or writing. See also elegy; eulogy. 

panhandle. In America and England panhandle 

has the simple, basic meaning of the handle of 

a pan. In the United States there are two figurative 

extensions of this meaning. As a standard 

noun panhandle may describe a narrow projecting 

strip of land, especially part of a state extending 

between two others. West Virginia, 

Texas, Oklahoma, Idaho and Alaska have panhandles. 

There is a slang verb, panhandle, which 

suggests figuratively holding out a pan or cup 

for alms, hence begging, especially begging on 

the street (Men in Skid Row are quick to panhandle 

each other). From this verb there is a 

further slang noun, panhandler, one who panhandles 

(You can’t go a block on Michigan Avenue 

without having to claw off half a dozen 

panhandlers). 

panic. As an intransitive and a transitive verb, 

panic has the present participle, panicking, and 

the past and past participle, panicked. 

In its transitive sense, panic means to affect 

with panic, a demoralizing terror with or without 

clear cause, often as affecting a group of 

persons or animals (Word of the German breakthrough 

panicked civilians clogging the roads 

from Paris). To panic also has, in theatrical 

slang, the meaning of to amuse an audience to 

the point of rendering it hysterical and disorganized 

(Will Rogers panicked them with his Oklahoma 

drawl and his rope tricks). In its intransitive 

sense, panic means to be affected with 

panic (At the first shot the whole herd panicked). 

pants, a familiar abbreviation of pantaloons, in 

American use means meh’s trousers (Sam, you 

made the pants too long. She wears the pants in 

that family). In England pants is the colloquial 

term for drawers (what Americans would call 

underpants), garments for the lower part of the 

body and legs, to be worn next to the skin. This 

British sense is in America applied only to 

women’s lower undergarments, though the more 

usual term is panties (Ten students were suspended 

today after having entered the women’s 

349 paragraphs 

dormitory last night and taken several pairs of 

panties). 

The word refers to one garment but is treated 

as a plural, as in these punts are new. In order 

to use the word with a singular verb or to speak 

of more than one garment, it is necessary to say 

this pair of pants is new or several pairs of pants. 

The form punts is also used as the first element 

in a compound, as in a punts pocket. 

papyrus. The plural is papyruses or papyri. 

parable. See allegory, myth. 

paradise; paradisal; heavenly. Whatever its perfections 

as a place, paradise has a peculiar imperfection 

as an English noun: it is extraordinarily 

difficult to base a satisfactory adjective on it. 

Parndisaic, paradisaical, paradisiac, paradisiacal, 

paradisean, paradisal, paradisic, paradisicalthough 

correctly formed all sound awkward. 

Of them, in Fowler’s opinion at least, paradisal 

is the least intolerable because it retains the 

sound of the last syllable of pnradise. Paradisaic, 

paradisaical, paradisial and paradisian are ill 

formed on the substantive root, though this is 

not a matter of much concern to the common 

speaker or writer. Fowler’s concluding suggestion, 

no doubt at least semi-humorous, that the 

wise man abandon the search and “take refuge” 

in heavenly is not wholly satisfactory because 

heaven and paradise are not the same places and 

have wholly different atmospheres, rights, privileges, 

and conditions. Then heavenly has become 

an enfeebled gushword. Paradise has a much 

stronger connotation of sensual delights, probably 

from its oriental associations, and, at the 

same time, a wistfulness or ominousness, from 

the Biblical associations, at the evanescence of 

its pleasures and the imminence of separation 

and expulsion. 

paradox. A paradox is a statement which seems 

absurd, obviously untrue, self-contradictory, yet 

which upon investigation or explanation will be 

seen to be well founded. Many riddles are paradoxes 

(These are old fond paradoxes to make 

fools laugh i’ the alehouse), but so also are many 

profound statements. Paradoxes are much used 

in rhetoric because of the force of their seeming 

self-contradiction. A good example is supplied 

by the 9th and 10th verses of the 6th chapter of 

Second Corinthians: As unknown, and yet well 

known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chnstened, 

and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always 

rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having 

nothing, and yet possessing all things. 

The adjective is paradoxical. He who indulges 

in paradoxes is a paradoxer. And the holding 

and defending of paradoxes is paradoxology. 

paraffin. See kerosene. 

paragraphs. The break made by a new paragraph 

has two purposes. It causes the reader to make a 

fresh start and it breaks the monotony of the 

printed page. How long a paragraph should be 

depends a great deal on such mechanical matters 

as the size of the page, the width of the columns, 

the kind of type used. Breaks should be made 

where there is also some break in thought, where 

making a fresh start will not be disrupting. But 

as a rule, almost any paragraph could be broken

parallel constructions 350 

into more than one or merged with the preceding 

or the following paragraph. 

In general, paragraphs are longer in technical 

or intellectual material than in material that 

appeals to the emotions or is intended as entertainment. 

Paragraphs that are too long are fatiguing 

because they are difficult to follow. 

Paragraphs that are too short give the material 

an excited, hurried tone that may also be exhausting. 

parallel constrnctions. Correlative conjunctions, 

such as either. . . or, not only. . . but, both.. . 

rind, are used to connect statements or phrases 

that have the same importance in the sentence. 

It is sometimes claimed that the words which 

follow one member of the pair must be grammatically 

identical with the words which follow 

the other. This is called the rule of parallel construction. 

The sentence they not only tell lies but 

bad lies violates the rule, which requires either 

they tell not only lies but bad lies or they not 

only tell lies but tell bud lies. The original sentence 

is said to be faulty because the first conjunction 

is followed by a verb and the second is 

not. 

This sentence was written by Jowett, and all 

the great writers of English. including Burke. De 

L 

Quincey, Macaulay, have used correlatives more 

freely than the rule allows. Sometimes the difference 

is that they fail to repeat a word, such as tell 

in the example just given, and sometimes they 

do repeat a word unnecessarily, such as the second 

he in he not only tells lies but he tells bad 

ones. Constructions of this kind are standard 

literary English. The groups of words joined by 

a pair of conjunctions should not be so different 

that the feeling of similarity is lost. But so long 

as the intention is clear, there is no reason why 

one should use a stiff, unnatural English. Sentence 

rhythm and the spacing of significant 

words are very important factors in effective 

writing. They should not be sacrificed for mathematical 

precision, which has no value at all 

where it is not needed. 

Whether and or are also correlative conjunctions. 

But the or is so often followed by the single 

word not that no one claims a parallel 

construction is necessary here. 

paralysis. The plural is paralyses. 

paramount is an adjective meaning above others 

in rank or authority, superior in power or jurisdiction 

(In the eighteenth century England became 

the paramount power in India), chief in 

importance, supreme, preEminent (Matters of 

paramount importance are rarely discussed on 

the floor of the conference). Paramount must 

not be used as a mere synonym of important. 

When a thing is said to be paramount, it can only 

mean that it is more important than all other 

things concerned. 

paramount and tantamount look deceptively alike 

but they mean very different things. Paramount 

means supreme in rank, preEminent. Tnntumount 

means equivalent, as in value, force, effect, 

or significance. It is usually followed by to 

(Your statement is tantamount to a confession). 

Tantamount is properly applied to acts and statements 

but not to material things. 

paramour. As a term for an illicit lover, especially 

of a married person, pnramour is now slightly 

archaic and poetic. Yet there does not appear 

to be any modern substitute. Current usage 

seems to prefer that certain things shall be nameless. 

paraphrase is a statement of the meaning of a text 

or passage in other words, for clearness, often 

to reveal some hidden meaning in the original. 

It is a free rendering or translation. Or it can 

even be a mere re-ordering of the language of 

the original (Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra 

is a brilliant paraphrase of a section of 

North’s Plutarch). 

paraphysis. The plural is paruphyses. 

parasol; umbrella; sunshade. A parasol has always 

meant in English a light, portable protection 

against the sun, a carried sunshade. It is 

now restricted to such a device as carried by 

women (What he saw wus . . . a lady, at the 

stern, with a pink parasol). Umbrella was at first 

used as a synonym for parasol but by the beginning 

of the eighteenth century it had become 

fixed in its modern meaning of a protection 

against both sun and rain, but especially against 

rain, carried by men and women. Swift, in his 

Description of a City Shower (1710) wrote of 

The tuck’d up semstress who walked with hasty 

strides While streams run down her oil’d umbrella’s 

sides. Obviously the thing and the name 

were in common use by that time although there 

is a persistent legend, supported by almost every 

standard work of reference, that the umbrella 

was “invented,” “introduced,” or “pioneered” by 

Jonas Hanway (1712-1756). 

A sunshade in its most general sense is something 

that protects from the rays of the sun. It 

thus includes visor, parasol, and any kind of an 

umbrella whether portable or stationary, lattice 

or awning. In contemporary American usage it 

refers often to a kind of awning in front of a 

store. 

pardon me; excuse me. See apology. 

parenthesis. The plural is parentheses. Parentheses 

are used chiefly to enclose explanatory material 

that is not to be considered part of the actual 

sentence. Specifically, they are used: 

1. To illustrate, define or add information, as 

in With so many new suburbs (now 14) springing 

up, the city public health program must be 

expanded and The Lexington (Kentucky) parade 

float won the prize. 

2. To set off comments or describe actions 

not intended to be included in the main statement, 

especially in dialogue written without 

quotation marks, as in Erica (laughing): Well, 

that’s what he said! and Q: Do you recognize this 

man (handing photograph to the witness). A: 

(examining photograph) No, Z don’t think Z have 

ever seen him. 

3. To enclose letters or numbers in a series, as 

in The reasons are as follows: (I) ________...._...; (2) 

. . . . . . . . ..______. and (3) .__.___.._..._._. 

4. To eliminate any confusion in numbers

spelled out, the corresponding figure is inserted, 

enclosed in parentheses, as in Please send seven 

(7) mongooses immediately. 

When a complete sentence is in parentheses, 

the period comes before the final parenthesis. 

Punctuation belonging to an including sentence 

comes after the parenthesis. A reference in parentheses 

at the end of a sentence comes before 

the period, as in The new statistics reveal substantial 

changes (see fig. 1). 

When more than one paragraph is to be put in 

parentheses, each paragraph should begin with 

a parenthesis but only the last paragraph should 

end with a parenthesis. 

Sometimes the parenthesis and the dash are 

used together. This is not necessary; in such a 

case the two marks are serving approximately 

the same purpose, and one should be dropped. 

par excellence. The use of the French phrase par 

excellence, “by excellence or superiority,” to 

mean pregminently or superior to others of its 

kind (Of course the illustration par excellence is 

. . . ) is a clichC. The word good is usually preferable 

and usually more effective (A good example 

is . . .). Where the idea of supremacy is 

to be expressed it is better to say the best example 

or the supreme example or a most illuminating 

or u most fitting exumple. There are 

dozens of words and phrases that will do the job 

better than par excellence. 

parish; parochial. Only in England is there an 

ecclesiastical division known as a parish, a subdivision 

of a county, originally a township or 

cluster of townships having its own Established 

Church and clergyman. In the United States the 

term, in its ecclesiastical sense, is more restrictive, 

since it describes a local church with its 

field of activity (American parishes overlap, since 

there is no state church, and local churches draw 

their membership from a common area). In 

both England and America parish may describe 

a non-ecclesiastical district. In England it is a 

civil district or administrative division of a 

county. In America (in Louisiana only) it is a 

county. In both countries parish may describe 

the people of a parish, ecclesiastical or civil 

(The parish was resolved to have its bingo). 

The adjective is parochial. Americans often 

use parochial in a sense corresponding to the 

English denominational. A parochial school, to 

an American, means a school administered by 

a religious body, especially Roman Catholic or 

Lutheran, as distinct from one administered by 

the government. Parochial also implies a narrow 

quality of mind or a limited range of interest, a 

mind or point of view confined to or interested 

only in one’s own parish or some small field 

(Despite his cosmopolitan environment, the averuge 

New Yorker is parochial in outlook). 

park (noun). The commonest American meaning 

of park, a meaning also familiar in England, is 

a tract of land set apart, as by a city or a nation, 

for the benefit of the public (London’s Regent 

Park compares with New York’s Central Park 

. . . but there are no such extensive parks in 

England as the Yellowrtone or the Yosemite). 

351 parlay 

Park is also commonly used in America to describe 

a tract of land set apart for recreation or 

sports, as an nmusement park or a ball park. In 

a sense mainly British, park describes a considerable 

extent of land forming the grounds of a 

country house, used for ornament, recreation, 

and often for pasturing deer or cattle (The deer 

park at Magdalen is one of Oxford’s many unexpected 

beauties). So important was the park to 

a great country house that it often formed a part 

of the name (After the death of his only son Sir 

William retired to Moor Park, his country seat). 

The British alone use park to describe an enclosed 

tract of land for wild beasts. The Americans 

alone use park to describe a high, plateaulike 

valley, as in Colorado and Wyoming, shut in by 

high hills or mountains (The Zndiun name for 

these parks signified “cow-lodge” or “bull-pen” 

on account of the immense herds of buffalo with 

which they abounded). 

In two more senses, one popular and one semitechnical, 

park means enclosure. A park, or more 

commonly a purking lot, is a place where vehicles, 

especially automobiles, may be assembled 

or stationed. In military usage a park is the 

space occupied by the assembled guns, tanks, 

vehicles, stores, etc., of a body of soldiers, the 

assemblage so formed, or a complete equipment. 

park (verb). As a transitive verb park means to 

put or leave an automobile, etc. for a time in a 

particular place, as on the street. More and 

more the word is coming to mean leaving an 

automobile at some designated spot, either at the 

curb or in a parking lot, for the use of which a 

charge is made or the occupancy of which is 

limited by law as to time. This is not an absolutely 

clear distinction yet, but it is becoming 

one. If an American says I parked the car at such 

and such a place there is usually implied a sense 

of urgency or expense or limited time. If he says 

1 left the car there is a suggestion that it is somewhere 

outside of the municipal parking lots or 

zones and not subject to these pressures. 

The sense of merely putting or leaving the car, 

though American in origin, has been adopted in 

England. 

In informal speech and writing, park has 

come to mean to place or leave in a suitable 

place or, rather, in a slightly unsuitable place 

(He Darked himself in Joe’s ofice and has been 

ihere all day. Pari your hat& the table here 

and join us). The inseparableness of the automobile 

and social life in America has led park, 

in journalistic euphemism and slang, to be used 

as a delicate synonym for love making (Many 

couples who have been parking at nights by the 

old water tower have been annoyed by young 

hoodlums). 

parlay. Unknown in British usage, parlay is a 

standard verb in the United States, transitive 

and intransitive, meaning to bet an original 

amount and its winnings on the same card or 

another race or contest and, from this, to build 

up with a gambler’s boldness from a small beginning 

to a large fortune (He parlayed his bet 

and won a fabulous sum. H. 1. Heinz . . . par-

layed a pickle into one of the most valuable family 

heirlooms in America). 

The word was formerly sometimes spelled 

parley and sometimes parlee. 

parley. In England the word parley is usually restricted 

to a discussion of terms between representatives 

of contending forces. This sense is 

common in America where, however, the word 

may also mean a discussion or a conference, as 

it formerly did in British usage. 

parlous, simply a variant in spelling and pronunciation 

of perilous, is archaic and its use a mild 

and minor affectation. It survives chiefly in such 

tired phrases as in a parlous state, a parlous condition. 

parochial. See parish. 

parody. See burlesque. 

parole. In America and England parole means the 

promise of a prisoner of war to refrain from trying 

to escape, or, if released, to return to custody 

or to forbear taking up arms against his captors 

(Since the colonel refused to give his parole 

there was nothing for it but to keep him under 

close guard). 

In the United States, but not in England, the 

commonest use of the word is an extension of 

this to penology. Parole in America means the 

liberation of a person from prison, conditional 

upon good behavior, prior to the end of the maximum 

sentence imposed upon that person, or 

such a release or its duration (He had not been 

out on parole a week before he committed another 

robbery). Such persons must have a sponsor 

who will accept responsibility for them, and 

they are said to be paroled into the custody of 

or paroled to the sponsor. They must report at 

regular intervals to a parole officer. 

The English equivalent of parole in the penological 

sense is ticket-of-leave and the parolee 

(as he is called in the United States) is on ticketof-leave 

or a ticket-of-leave man. Violation of 

parole is regarded in America as a serious offense. 

The English public-whatever the attitude 

of the law-seems to take a lighter or more merciful 

view of a former convict’s lapses. For generations 

one of their most popular comic-strip 

characters was Tom the Ticket-of-leave Man 

whose burglarious adventures delighted the 

young. Despite the dreadful nature of so many 

American comics, it is inconceivable that one 

could be based on eternal violations of parole. 

But, then, American crimes are too often lethal 

to be funny. 

paronamasia is the technical term for punning. 

See pun. 

parricide; patricide. A parricide is one who kills 

either of his parents or anyone else to whom he 

owes reverence. It is also the act of so killing, 

and especially the act or crime of killing one’s 

father. Patricide is specifically the killing of one’s 

father or one who has killed his father. Thus 

parricide may be a synonym for patricide, when 

the victim is a father, but patricide cannot always 

be used as a synonym for parricide which 

can include the killing of a mother, of a sovereign 

to whom allegiance has been sworn or of 

others who stand in a parental relationship to the 

killer. The killina of a mother or one who kills 

his (or her) mother is a matricide. 

parson. From its traditional sense of the holder or 

incumbent of a parochial benefice, parson has 

come, even in British usage, to mean any clergyman, 

minister, or preacher, not solely an Anglican. 

In England today the term is slightly depreciatory. 

In America it is rarely used except 

for humorous or archaic effect. Minister, pastor, 

and preacher are the common words, though 

the last, unless referring specifically to one who 

preaches, is rustic. Parsonage, however, is in 

use for the residence of a minister of religion. 

See also clergyman. 

part; parts. Either of these words may be treated 

as singular or plural, depending on the meaning. 

When referring to something inanimate, part 

should be followed by a singular verb, as in the 

greatest part of these years was spent in work. 

When referring to a large number of human 

beings, it should be followed by a plural verb, 

as in the greatest part of the population were 

illiterate. Similarly, the word parts must be used 

with a singular verb when it refers to a single 

unit or a portion, as in three parts of him is ours 

already. If the plural verb are is used here, the 

three parts become separate bits or pieces. 

Only the plural form parts can be used to 

mean “talents,” as in a man of parts; or geographical 

areas, as in foreign parts. 

part; portion; share; proportion; percentage. Part 

is the general word to describe that which is less 

than the whole (All Gaul is divided into three 

parts). A portion is a specific part allotted or 

assigned to a person or purpose (Father, give me 

the portion of goods that falleth to me). A share 

is a portion, rather as seen from the point of 

view of the receiver than from that of the assigner 

(That’s less than my fair share. It was 

agreed that because of the extra risks Z ran Z was 

to have a larger portion than the others). Share 

also has about it, possibly for no better reason 

than the rime involved, a suggestion of a fair or 

due portion (Share and share alike. Just relax 

and wait your turn; everybody will get his 

share). In a special sense, a share is one of equal 

fractional parts into which the capital stock of a 

joint-stock company or a corporation is divided. 

Proportion should not be substituted loosely 

for part. It should refer to ratio, to a comparative 

relation between things, or magnitude as to 

size or quantity (The proportion of organisms 

that reach maturity is small compared to all that 

start as fertile seeds or eggs). Percentage, like 

proportion, is derived from mathematics and is 

often misused in general senses by the pretentious. 

It is best used in describing a rate or proportion 

per hundred, an allowance, duty, commission, 

or rate of interest on a hundred. In 

looser use, percentage can mean a proportion in 

general (We hope for a lower percentage of cas- 

&ties in the next landing) and, in slang, it is 

used to mean gain or advantage (What’s the percentage 

in working hard only to pay higher 

taxes?).

part; some. Part is not an exact synonym of some. 

Part means something less than the whole. Some 

means a certain unspecified number, amount, degree-something 

less than the total. Part of our 

aircraft is missing means that a part of an aircraft 

is missing. Some of our aircraft are missing 

means a certain number from the total number 

of aircraft are missing. 

part and parcel. A part is a portion of the whole. 

The word emphasizes the separateness of the 

portion from the whole. Parcel, in the original 

meaning of this phrase, also meant a portion of 

the whole, but it emphasized the portion’s inclusion 

in the whole rather than its separateness. 

The phrase part and parcel was a legal phrase 

until the end of the eighteenth century. It is now 

almost meaningless. 

partake is not simply a fancy variant of take. It 

means to take or have a part or share in common 

with others. It always connotes sharing with 

others. One should not, for example, partake of 

a meal alone. As a matter of fact, one should not 

now partake of a meal under any circumstances, 

for the phrase, as a term for eating especially, is 

considered affected, genteel, stilted. Slmre in usually 

conveys the desired idea more effectively. 

partiality. See prejudice. 

partially; partly. Both partially and partly mean 

“in part, in some measure, not wholly.” The difference 

between them (as Fowler has pointed 

out) may be made clear by their opposites: 

wholly is the opposite of partly and completely 

the opposite of partially. Partly, that is, emphasizes 

the part, and partially emphasizes the whole 

of which the action or condition is a part (It 

was partly my fault. He was partially disabled). 

If either word will give the required sense 

equally well, it is better to use partly, since partinily, 

which looks more elegant, tends to be 

overused. 

On the other hand, partially also means with 

a prejudice or bias in favor of a person, group, 

or side as in a controversy, unjustly (Since he 

views everything partially, one cannot hope for 

a fair verdict). 

participles are verbal adjectives. They are sometimes 

used as adjectives and sometimes to form 

verbal phrases. See -ing. 

The English verb has two participles. The first 

is made by adding -ing to the simple form of the 

verb, as in breaking and mending. This is sometimes 

called the present participle and sometimes 

the active participle. Neither name is satisfactory. 

The form does not show time and is 

used in past tense phrases as well as in present, 

as in they were mending the wall. Until recently 

it was indifferently active or passive and may 

still be understood in a passive sense, as in it 

will bear telling, it is worth seeing, use every 

man after his deserts and n’ho should escape 

whipping?. It is essentially the form of the verb 

that refers to an action thought of as in progress 

(whether at the time of speaking or at some 

other time) and is used with forms of the verb 

to be to make the progressive tenses, as in the 

box is breaking. See progressive tenses. 

353 participles 

The second participle is the third form given 

in the principal parts of a verb, such as broken 

and mended. (See principal parts of a verb.) It 

is sometimes called the past participle and sometimes 

the passive participle. It is used with 

forms of the verb lo have to make the completed 

action tenses, as in he has broken the 

box (see perfect tenses), and with forms of the 

verb to be to make the passive voice, as in Ihe 

cup was broken (see passive voice). But the 

form itself does not express time and may be 

used in speaking of the present, as in wondrous 

things of thee are spoken. And it is used in the 

completed action tenses with an active meaning, 

as in he has broken it. Essentially, the second 

participle is the form of the verb that names an 

action as compIeted. 

The participle having followed by the second 

participle of the meaningful verb, as in having 

mended, is sometimes called the third participle 

or the perfect participle. The word perfect may 

be confusing here since older grammarians 

called the second participle the perfect, because 

it represented completed action. Being followed 

by the second participle, as in being mended, 

might equally well be called the passive participle, 

but as a rule it is not given a name. 

Besides being used to form the compound 

tenses, both participles may be used as adjectives. 

The -ing participles are adjectives in a 

squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, 

covetous, old sinner. When they stand before 

the noun, as here, participles are classifying 

words. These, for example, tell us the kind of 

old sinner he was. A participle following a noun 

is descriptive, as in a covetous old sinner, squeezing, 

wrenching, grasping, and so on. See position 

of adjectives. 

It is sometimes difficult to say whether a present 

participle is being used as an adjective or as 

part of a progressive verb form. If the preposition 

to is used to connect a participle following 

a form of to be with an object, as in this was distressing 

to her, the participle is certainly an adjective. 

If an object follows immediately, as in 

this was distressing her, it is part of the verb. If 

no object follows at all, either interpretation is 

possible. There is very little difference, so far as 

meaning goes, between these two uses of the 

word. 

With the second participle there is a greater 

difference in meaning between the adjective and 

the verb form. The words cttt, grown, burned, 

learned, are all second participles in cut is the 

branch that might have grown full straight/ And 

burned is Apollo’s laurel-bough/ That sometime 

grew within this learned man. Learned is clearly 

an adjective and grown part of a verb form, but 

cut and burned might be adjectives or might be 

part of a passive verb. Most people today would 

take them as adjectives. When no form of the 

verb to be occurs in a verbal phrase, there is no 

question of how the participle is to be interpreted. 

It is part of the verb unless it is placed 

immediately after the object of the verb, and if 

it is placed after the object it is an adjective.

participles 354 

Written is part of the verb in he had written a 

letter and an adjective qualifying letter in he had 

a letter written. 

When a participle is an adjective it may be 

qualified by the words very and too, as in this 

had been very distressing to her. When it is part 

of a verb form these words cannot be used. We 

cannot say this was very distressing her. Whether 

or not one can say she had been very distressed 

depends upon how the participle is interpreted. 

See very. 

THE “NOMINATIVE ABSOLUTE” 

The word absolute as used in grammar means 

“free” or “independent.” The expression “nominative 

absolute” means a participial phrase that 

is not grammatically connected with the rest of 

the sentence and that contains the noun or noun 

equivalent that the participle qualifies, as in that 

done, we started home, where done is the participle 

and that the word qualified. A phrase of 

this kind has the force of a condensed clause 

showing time, cause, condition, or descriptive 

circumstance, and can always be replaced by a 

clause, such as when that was done or since that 

was done. 

Both the present and the past participle are 

used in this way, as in I having few friends, my 

business began to fail and the money spent, we 

went to work again. The construction is unquestionably 

literary English. Some grammarians 

claim that “it is good Latin but not good English,” 

meaning, presumably, that it is not natural 

English. But this is no longer true. The form was 

taken over from Latin and did not become popular 

in English until the seventeenth century, 

but it is now thoroughly naturalized. There is 

nothing over-bookish about the river being high, 

we were afraid to go on and phrases such as that 

settled, everything considered, that being the 

case, are in constant use. 

When the word qualified by the participle in 

this construction is a personal pronoun, the rules 

say that the subjective form must be used. (Nominative 

means “subjective” and is applied to 

nouns as well as pronouns. The construction is 

called the nominative absolute because the nominative 

form is required here.) 

The rule is observed in practice whenever an 

-ing participle is used, as in she having finished 

the work, there was nothing for us to do. An objective 

pronoun before an -ing in an absolute 

phrase, as in maybe he can help, him being a 

scholar, is considered incorrect. This is also 

true when no participle is used and the word 

being is implied, as in it’s very sad, and him so 

fond of children. 

The rule is not observed with a simple past 

participle. Milton, who uses the subjective pronoun 

before an -ing in this construction, uses the 

objective form before the past participle, as in us 

dispossessed, me overthrown. This is also used 

in contemporary speech where him taken care 

of, we could go on is more natural than he taken 

care of. Some people would begin a phrase like 

this with a preposition to justify the objective 

form, as in with him taken care of. Others would 

insert having been to justify a subjective form, as 

in he having been taken care of. All three constructions 


An independent phrase beginning with a preposition 

and containing an -irzg form is called an 

absolute gerund phrase. Everything said so far 

and in what follows about the absolute participial 

phrase applies also to the gerund phrase, 

except that in a gerund phrase a personal pronoun 

is always objective, as in with him being 

sick, she had a great deal to do. 

THE “DANGLING PARTICIPLE” 

Very often a participial phrase does not contain 

a noun or pronoun that the participle can 

qualify. The word may be somewhere else in 

the sentence, as in the children ran into the house 

calling for her, where the phrase calling for her 

qualifies children. But sometimes there is no such 

word. as in it rained hard coming back. This is 

called the dangling participle by those who do 

not like it. It too is an absolute construction, but 

not the nominative absolute-because there is 

no nominative. It is a native English construction, 

not one borrowed from Latin, and is used 

by Chaucer and all our great writers before and 

since. But it is commonly condemned in textbooks. 

J. Lesslie Hall suggests that it should be 

called “the persecuted participle.” 

Children are usually taught that a participial 

phrase must either be a nominative absolute or 

qualify an easily identifiable word in the sentence. 

In order to persuade them that a sentence 

such as knowing as much as you do, the situation 

is easily explained is a grammatical mistake, 

they are shown sentences such as having eaten 

our lunch, the bus went on to Chicago. 

The rule against the “dangling participle” is 

pernicious and no one who takes it as inviolable 

can write good English. In the first place, there 

are two types of participial phrase which must 

immediately be recognized as exceptions. (1) 

There are a great many participles that are used 

independently so much of the time that they 

might be classed as prepositions (or as conjunctions 

if they are followed by a clause). These 

include such words as concerning, regarding, 

providing, owing to, excepting, failing. (2) Frequently, 

an unattached participle is meant to 

apply indefinitely to anyone or everyone, as in 

facing north, there is a large mountain on the 

right and looking at the subject dispassionately, 

what evidence is there?. This is the idiomatic 

way of making statements of this kind and any 

other construction would be unnatural and 

cumbersome. 

And the rule is still bad, even if these exceptions 

are recognized. There is no need to twist a 

sentence out of its natural form merely in order 

to make the subject of the participle also the subject 

of the principal verb. Good writers do not 

hesitate to use exactly the construction the rule 

forbids, as in lying in my bed, everything seemed 

so different; taking up, by the merest chance, a 

finely bound book, it proved to be . . . ; thus 

loaded, our progress was slower; bred up from 

boyhood in the Custom House, it was his proper 

field of activio. 

The sentence in which the bus eats the lunch

is a mistake, not because the participle is dangling 

but because it isn’t dangling, because it is 

firmly attached to bus. The rule should say that 

a participial phrase having the force of an adverb 

of time, manner, circumstance, should never be 

attached to a noun element in the sentence. To 

disregard this rule is indeed a gramma.tical 

blunder. And it might be added that the mistake 

is likely to occur when one is using having followed 

by a past participle. With any other form 

it is extremely rare, and occurs chiefly in madeup 

examples. 

particular. See special. 

parting of the ways. As a metaphor for the point 

at which a decision must be made and one of 

two different courses followed, or even for a 

personal separation, the porting of the ‘ways 

(whether one “comes to it” or “reaches it”) is 

hackneyed. 

parting shot. As a term for a witty retort or an 

effective jibe or remark made as one is leaving, 

a parting shot is a cliche. It is a corruption, by 

the way, or folk-etymologizing of a Parthian 

shot, from the custom of the soldiers of Parthia, 

in western Asia, of shooting backwards -from 

their horses as they ran away. 

partly. See partially. 

parts of speech. Words are traditionally divided 

into eight classes which may be defined, roughly, 

as follows. 

1. Nouns name things. In this definition s,7uce, 

time, whooping cough and earthqunkes are all 

considered things. In a given sentence a noun is 

either singular or plural. That is, an important 

characteristic of nouns is number. 

2. Verbs show what happens to things. In a 

given sentence a true verb form must refer to 

either the past, the present, or the future. That 

is, an important characteristic of verbs is tense. 

3. Prepositions show relations between things 

or events. These may be spatial, temporal, or 

logical. 

4. Adjectives are words that qualify nouns, 

that is, they make the meaning of a noun more 

specific. 

5. Adverbs qualify other words, but not nouns. 

It should be noticed that these five classes appear 

to be a break-down, or an analysis, of experience. 

They reflect distinctions which have seemed 

important to men in what they talk about. This 

is not true of the next two classes. These are 

purely grammatical devices and have no counterpart 

in what we call reality. 

6. Pronouns are words that are used in place 

of nouns. 

7. Conjunctions are words that show relations 

between other words, not between things. 

8. Znterjections are sounds that interrupt a 

sentence. They are put in a class by themselves 

because no rules apply to them. 

The distinction between things and actions. or 

between things and qualities, does not seem as 

clear cut to us as it did to men a few centuries 

ago, and in modern English this classification of 

words is hard to defend. Nouns are freely made 

from verbs and verbs from nouns. Nouns and 

adjectives, adjectives and adverbs, adverbs and 

355 pass 

prepositions, merge into one another. Adjectives 

may be used as nouns, pronouns as adjectives, 

nouns as adverbs, and adverbs as conjunctions. 

In fact, most of the words in common use cannot 

be put into any one of the traditional classes exclusively. 

What part of speech a word is depends 

to a great extent on how it is used in a particular 

sentence. And even when we have the word in a 

sentence, it is sometimes impossible to say how 

it is being used. Of course, when it is impossible 

to say, it is also unnecessary to say. 

The distinctions between the eight parts of 

speech, therefore, are not very helpful. But they 

do account for some of the preferences, and requirements, 

of modern English. They block out, 

in a rough way, the problems of language. And 

the old names are familiar to most people. All 

of this makes them as good a starting place as 

any for an analysis of English grammar. 

In this book there is a general article on each 

of the parts of speech. These describe more exactly 

what is meant by nouns, verbs, prepositions, 

and so on, and list the problems that are 

involved in using words of each type. The problems, 

in turn, are discussed individually, in separate 

entries, and are cross-referenced to related 

problems. When he reaches this point, the reader 

will be face to face with the practical questions 

of grammar. The theoretical, or academic, distinctions 

will be behind him and he will probably 

find that the reality is not as strange as he had 

feared. 

party; person. Person refers to one. Party refers 

to more than one constituting a group, whether 

social (a dinner party), political (rhe Democratic 

Party), or other (A scouting party was 

sent forward). 

Party may be used with a singular verb, as in 

the party was just setting out, or with a plural 

verb, as in the party were just setting out. 

When ptrrty seems to refer to one, it is in the 

special senses of one of the litigants in a legal 

proceeding or a signer of a legal instrument. And 

even here party means not so much one as a side 

(one or more persons) in a contract or action. 

Though party is not be to used in formal speech 

or writing for person, it is often humorously so 

used. Some authorities regard this usage as an 

Americanism, but Mr. Somerset Maugham, no 

American, referred to himself on his seventieth 

birthday as “a very old party.” 

Party also survives in telephone usage to designate 

a line shared by others and the person 

whom one calls (Here’s your party. To call another 

party on your line, dial “Operator,” give 

her the number you want, and tell her it’s on 

your line). 

pass. The past tense is passed or past. The participle 

is also passed or past. 

Passed is the preferred form for the past tense 

and participle, but past may also be used here, 

as in we past it an hour ago. Pnst is now the only 

form used for other parts of speech, such as adjective, 

adverb, preposition. But this is a relatively 

new development. A gentleman wrote in 

1773: 1 received them handsomely at half past 

seven, as the modern English now is.

pass 356 

Puss may be followed by an adjective describing 

the subject of the verb, as in they puss unseen. 


the act of passing, as in they pass quickly. 

Of the numerous senses of the verb to puss 

(the American College Dictionary lists 46), a 

few require comment. There is the transitive 

sense of omitting the payment of a dividend (I 

dreamed that A.T.&T. passed a dividend). This 

originated in America but is being accepted in 

England. Partridge believes it is an error to say 

that two trains pass when moving in opposite 

directions. He feels that one train can pass another 

only when, proceeding in the same direction, 

it overtakes it and goes beyond it, and that 

the proper word for trains going in the opposite 

directions should be meet. But meet to an American 

would suggest a head-on collision and pass is 

the accepted word under these conditions (The 

eastbound and westbound limiteds pass between 

Erie and Bufjalo). 

Among the intransitive senses, two are worth 

being mentioned. When followed by for or as, 

pass in the United States can mean to be accepted 

or received (He made a grimace that passed for a 

smile). Then there is a meaning of pass peculiar 

to America: a person with an inconspicuous 

strain of Negro blood who chooses to represent 

himself as a white is said to pass (Possibly as 

many as 5,000,OOO people with a “determinable 

part” of Negro blood are now “passing” as 

whites. Nettie went up to Cincinnati and passed; 

they don’t write to her any more). This may be 

an extension of the meaning of being accepted, 

or it may be a shortening of passing over the 

line. 

pass away. See die. 

pass up. The American expression pass up is the 

equivalent of the English (and American) decline, 

refuse, disregard (Well, Z guess 1’11 pass up 

the whole thing). 

pass, make a. Whether because of the frequency 

of the act or of the phrase, make a puss (usually 

followed by at), as a term for making an 

amorous overture or gesture, is now standard in 

American usage. 

passable; passible. That is passable which may be 

passed (That cur’s not passable here; wait till the 

road broadens at the foot of the hill) ; which may 

be proceeded through or over, or traversed, penetrated, 

or crossed (The roads became passable 

in early April) ; which is tolerable, fair, or moderate 

(The weather was passable, but I’ve seen 

it better) ; which may be circulated or has valid 

currency (Gold certificates are no longer passable: 

they must be redeemed at the bank); which 

may be ratified or enacted (I doubt if the bill is 

passable in its present form). 

Passible is a little-used and rather specialized 

term meaning capable of suffering or feeling: 

susceptible of sensation or emotion (The Paradise 

Saints have bodies of flesh, passible, and 

such a,s must have food-Baxter. And as he 

[God] is the Head of that body, he is passible, 

so he may srtffer. . . . -Donne). 

passion; Passion. The sense of the Latin word 

passio, suffering, is preserved in the capitalized 

form Passion which describes the sufferings of 

Jesus Christ on the cross or his sufferings subsequent 

to the Last Supper, the gospel narrative 

of his sufferings, as in Mark 14-15 and parallel 

passages in the other gospels, a musical setting 

of this narrative, or a pictorial representation 

of these sufferings. The use of the word to designate 

the sufferings of a martyr is archaic. 

The uncapitalized form, passion, has developed 

from the Latin sense to mean any kind of 

feeling or emotion, as hope, fear, joy, grief, 

anger, love, desire, especially when it is of compelling 

force. In popular usage passion specifically 

connotes strong amorous feelings (He had 

felt tenderness before, but never passion). And 

by extension it may describe any extravagant 

fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything 

(She had a passion for fresh strawberries). Its 

other specific popular sense is violent anger 

(News of the defeat put the general in a passion). 

passivals. See transitive verbs. 

passive voice. The form of the verb which shows 

that the subject is the recipient of the action 

named by the verb and not the agent, is called 

the passive voice, as seen in the thief was robbed. 

Only transitive verbs, that is verbs which imply 

both an object and an agent, can have a passive 

form. 

FORMS 

In English the passive voice is made by adding 

the past participle of the verb in question to any 

form of the verb to be. This may be a simple 

tense, as in ke was robbed; a perfect (completed 

action) tense, as in he had been robbed; or a 

progressive (continued action) tense, as in he 

was being robbed. It may be an infinitive, as in 

to be robbed, or an imperative, as in be hanged.’ 

But the passive made with forms of the verb 

to be cannot be used in emphatic statements 

requiring the auxiliary do. We cannot say he 

does be robbed or he did be robbed. 

The use of the passive in a progressive (or 

continued action) tense, as in he was being 

robbed, is a recent development. Until about a 

hundred years ago, the -ing form of a verb could 

be used with either an active or a passive meaning. 

Where we would now say was being prepared, 

George Washington wrote: the entertuinment 

which was preparing. The new, specifically 

passive form with being and the past participle 

became popular around the middle of the nineteenth 

century. It offended conservative people, 

who claimed that it was pedantic, clumsy, unidiomatic, 

and not found in the Bible-all of which 

is undoubtedly true. One gentleman, writing in 

1837. called it “uhiloloaical coxcombrv” and “an 

outrage upon English idiom, to be detested, abhorred, 

execrated and given over to six thousand 

penny-paper editors.” But it was useful and it 

survived. It has spread rapidly since 1900. A 

grammarian writing twenty-five years ago said 

that the passive progressive forms could not be 

used in the completed action or future tenses. He 

claimed that one had to say the house has been 

bailding and the honse will be bnilding rather 

than the honse has been being built or will be 

being built. This is no longer true. Today, very

few people would say the house has been building. 

Some people still object to been being and 

be being, but they have found new ways of 

avoiding the construction. 

In present-day English, forms of the verb lo 

get are often used instead of the corresponding 

form of the verb fo be to make a passive voice, 

as in he got robbed. This is particularly true in 

the progressive tenses. People who object to been 

being or be being are likely to substitute getting 

for being, as in he has been getting robbed and 

he will be getting robbed some day. The verb to 

get can be used as a passive after do, as the verb 

to be cannot, and we therefore say if he does get 

robbed. A passive meaning can also be expresssad 

by the verb become and a past participle, as in 

they became known. These three forms of the 

passive, they became known, they got known, 

they were known, are different in tone or emphasis. 

Become suggests a process; get, the simple 

act; and be, the resulting condition or state. 

This allows us a great deal of variety in our 

passive statements. 

SUBJECT AND OBJECT 

What would be the object of an active verb, 

as in they gave a reward, becomes the subject 

when the verb is in the passive voice, as in n 

reward was given by them. The subject of the 

active verb may be omitted entirely in the passive 

construction or may be introduced by a 

preposition. In current English the preposition is 

usually by. Formerly, of was often used in this 

way, as in this dreaded sight, twice seen of us 

and possessed of the Devil. 

Theoretically, a passive verb cannot have an 

object. But in current English the indirect object 

of an active verb may also be made the subject 

of the passive form and this sometimes 

leaves a passive verb with an object, which is 

called the “retained object” by grammarians. In 

they gave him a reward, the word him is the indirect 

object of gave and the theoretically correct 

passive construction would be a reward was 

given him. But we may also say he was given a 

reward. This construction has been in use for 

several centuries but it is regarded by foreigners, 

and by some grammarians, as a monstrositychiefly 

because it cannot be translated into the 

other European languages. In Great Britain the 

construction is still considered objectionable 

when used with certain verbs, as in he was written 

a letter, was sent a note, was telegraphsed 

an answer, was done an injustice. In the United 

States it is thoroughly acceptable, without restrictions 

of any kind. 

In tlzey took no notice of him, the object of 

rook is notice and him is the object of the preposition 

of. Nevertheless, we can say he was taken 

no notice of. Here the whole compound take-,aonotice-of 

is being treated as if it was a simple 

verb. Similarly, in they hoped for something, 

hoped is an intransitive verb without an object 

and something is the object of for. But we can 

say something wus hoped for. Here again, we 

may say that what we actually have is a compound 

verb hope for, which is transitive. But 

however we explain them, constructions like 

357 passive voice 

these represent an enormous extension of the 

passive voice as found in other European languages. 

In English a great many verbs may also be 

used in a passive sense without being put in the 

passive voice. What is logically the object of a 

transitive verb may sometimes be made the 

grammatical subject without changing the form 

of the verb, as in the pies sold quickly, the car 

drove easily, the fields flooded. These forms are 

called “passivals.” A passive voice, as in the pies 

were sold quickly, the car was driven easily, the 

fields were flooded, always suggests the agent. 

The passivals present the action as an independent 

fact. They are simple and vivid, and are 

generally preferred to a passive form when the 

agent is considered irrelevant. See transitive 

verbs. 

USE AND MISUSE 

The English passive is a powerful verb form. 

It is applied widely to constructions that traditionally 

could not have a passive voice, and it 

has a variety of forms which provide subtle 

shades of meaning. It can be used when one does 

not want to name the agent of an action, either 

because this should be concealed, as in unkind 

things were said, or because it is irrelevant, as in 

the letter was mailed. It can also be used to emphasize, 

or call attention to, the agent. For example, 

a woman drove the car has no special 

emphasis in written English, although it may be 

given an emphasis in speech. But there is a definite 

emphasis on woman in the car wus driven 

by a woman. When the agent is mentioned in a 

passive construction it has more emphasis than 

it would have with an active verb. 

The passive voice is a sophisticated device. It 

is used by educated people much more than it is 

by uneducated people. It is likely to be out of 

place in a narrative but is almost indispensable 

in presenting ideas and generalizations. One of 

the most conspicuous traits of current English 

is the large number of passive verb forms used. 

This increased use of the passive disturbs some 

people, simply because it is new. But a great 

many more find it very satisfactory. The claim 

that a passive construction is inherently “weak” 

or “clumsy” should not be taken too seriously. 

It may be based on nothing more than a love for 

the old ways. 

However, there are three situations in which 

a passive voice may be undesirable. (1) The 

passive is not an effective form to use in a description 

or in narrative. (2) When someone 

wants to know who was responsible for a given 

act, and a passive voice is used to keep this 

information from him, he is naturally annoyed. 

But he should blame the person who is not being 

candid, and not the grammatical form that makes 

this possible. (3) Finally, there is the passive of 

modesty. Some people seem to feel that I said, Z 

think. and so on, are fighting words, and retreat 

into the passive in order not to inflict themselves 

on other people. Some think they know exactly 

how often I can appear per thousand words 

without giving offense. There is not a word of 

truth in any of these theories. Anyone who is

past 358 

only interested in himself is a bore, and he does 

not become less of a bore by using passive verbs. 

Anyone who is interested in the person he is 

speaking or writing to may use the word I as 

often as he likes. No one will ever see anything 

egotistical in I like what you did and I wish you 

would tell me how 1 can pay you for it. 

past. See pass. 

past history; history. Past history is redundant. 

History by itself conveys the idea of knowledge 

dealing with past events or the record of past 

events. 

past master; passed master. The proper form in 

American usage of the term designating an adept, 

one who has ripe experience in any profession 

or art, is past master (He was a past master of 

the art of prevarication). In this sense it is 

always used humorously and in disparaging 

contexts. 

Since this is the settled spelling, it doesn’t 

make much difference whether it means one who 

was formerly the “master” of a lodge or club or 

guild and hence, assumedly, proficient in its 

secrets or one who by demonstrated proficiency 

had “passed” the necessary training or examination 

to qualify as a master-though, certainly, 

there is a difference between a passed Muster of 

Arts and a past master of arts. 

pastor; minister. Pastor, the Latin word for shepherd, 

was applied in the New Testament to Christ 

(John 1O:ll; 1 Peter 2:25) and thence transferred 

to the bishops and other clergy of the 

Christian church. It was applied to a minister or 

clergyman chiefly in reference to the care of his 

flock, as in visiting the sick, and so on. Bishop 

Simpson, in his Lectures on Preaching, made the 

distinction clear: The minister [he wrote] is a 

pastor as well as a preacher. . . . As a preacher 

he speaks to the people collectively; but as a pastor 

he watches over them individually. 

Modern American usage confines both pastor 

and minister to Protestant sects and varies with 

different sects and even with the same sect in 

different localities and social groups. In Chicago, 

for example, pastor is used by Baptists, Congregationalists, 

Lutherans (Evangelical, ImmanueI 

Evangelical, and Norwegian), Methodists, Methodist 

Episcopals, and the Church of Christ; 

pastor or minister is used by Presbyterians; 

minister is used by Evangelicals and the United 

Brethren; and rector is used by Episcopalians 

[reference: The Red Book, Chicago Classified 

Directory, December, 19511. Yet in Evanston, a 

well-to-do suburb adjoining Chicago, there seems 

to be a preference for minister. The Lutherans 

and Baptists there retain pastor, but the Church 

of Christ, Congregationalists, and Methodists 

have changed to minister. And whereas the Presbvterian 

clergymen in Chicago are either pastors 

or ministers,-in Evanston they are all ministers 

Ireference: Classified Section of the Evanston, 

Illinois, Telephone Directory, April, 19.541. See 

also preacher, rector. 

pastoral; pastorale; pastourelle; pastoral; pastorable. 

Pastoral is both an adjective and a noun. 

Its first meaning as an adjective, in point of time, 

is of or pertaining to shepherds (Or sound of 

pastorul reed with onten stops). It can also 

mean used for pasture, as land (The valleys of 

the Lake District are chiefly pastoral: they are 

unsuited io crops). For this sense pastural is an 

obsolete variant. Pnsturable means capable of 

affording pasture (Though the field seemed pasturable, 

the profusion of wild onion made it useless 

for dairy cattle). Pastoral, as an adjective, 

has many other meanings. It can mean having 

the simplicity or charm of pasture lands (The 

landscape of the South Coast is pastoral), pertaining 

to the country or life in the country 

(Ours was a pastoral existence), portraying the 

life of shepherds or of the country, as a work of 

literature, art, or music (Pastoral poetry goes 

back at least as far as the Greek poets Theocritus, 

Bion, and Moschus. The Sixth, or Pastoral, 

symphony was written in 1808). It also 

refers to a minister or clergyman or to his duties 

(Chaucer believed that the good parson would 

devote himself chiefly to pastoral duties, leaving 

the pursuit of sinecures to others). 

As a noun, pastoral describes a poem, play, or 

the like, dealing with the life of shepherds (The 

Bard whom pilfer’d Pastorals renown, / Who 

turns a Persian tale for half-a-crown. Though 

in form a pastoral, The Scholar Gipsy is one of 

the most modern of all nineteenth-century 

poems). It is commonly conventional and artificial 

in manner. It may deal with simple rural 

life generally, and it was this meaning that Keats 

had m mind when he apostrophized the Grecian 

urn as Cold Pastoral! The noun pastoral may 

also stand for a literary work, usually of a hortatory 

nature, directed by a spiritual pastor to his 

people. Or it can mean a pastoral staff or crazier. 

Pnstoraie is a noun. It is taken over from the 

Italian and applies only to music. It describes an 

opera, cantata, or the like, with a pastoral subject, 

or a piece of music suggestive of pastoral 

life. Pastourelle is also a noun. It is taken over 

from the French and applies primarily to dancing. 

It describes the fourth figure in the quadrille, 

a figure resembling the dance of shepherds and 

shepherdesses. 

past tense. English has two basic tense forms. 

One, called the present, refers primarily to a 

period of time that includes the time of speaking. 

The other, called the past, refers primarily to 

a period of time that has passed away, as in the 

Spartnns on the sea-wet rock sat down and 

combed their hnir. The form of the verb which 

excludes the time of speaking is called the past 

tense. 

The simple past tense is the second form 

given in the principal parts of an English verb. 

For most verbs it is made bv adding -ed to the 

present tense form. There -are approximately 

two hundred verbs which do not make the past 

tense in this way. These have all been listed in 

this book. (See the individual words and irregular 

verbs.) However it is made, the simple past 

tense of any verb has only one form. This is 

used in the singular and the plural in all persons. 

The only exception to this is the verb to

e, which has the past singular was and the past 

plural were. 

The simple past tense is used chiefly in s;peaking 

of a particular, individual action in the past, 

as in he walked home. It may be used of actions 

already completed at some time in the past, such 

as finished in alter he finished the work he 

walked home. As a rule, we express habitual or 

customary action in the past by used followed 

by a @infinitive, as in he used to walk home. 

See used to. 

Did (the past tense of to do) followed by the 

simple form of a verb is used in place of a simple 

past tense in questions and in negative statements, 

as in did Scott enjoy the concerts? and 

Lee did not say so. The same form is used to 

make a simple past statement emphatic, as in 

Ken did enjoy them. 

Had (the past tense of to have) followed by 

a past participle is used to show that an action 

occurred or was completed before some time 

which is also in the past, as in he had to/d his 

story and they had walked home. This is called 

the past perfect tense. Certain kinds of actions, 

such as thinking, hoping, believing, normally 

continue once they have begun. When a verb of 

this kind is put in the past perfect tense, as in Z 

had thought, Z had believed, the important thing 

about the statement is that the thinking or believing 

is completely in the past, no longer a 

thing of the present. 

PROGRESSIVE FORMS 

Was or were (the past tense of to be) followed 

by the -ing form of a verb is used in speaking 

of an action as in progress at some time in the 

past, as in he was telling his story and they were 

walking home. This is called the progressive past 

tense. It is also possible to speak of an :action 

that was completed before some time in the past 

as in progress. For this we use the word had 

followed by been (the past participle of 10 be) 

and the -ing form of the significant verb, as in 

they had been walking home. This is called the 

progressive past perfect. The same form can be 

used in speaking of an habitual or repeatlsd action 

in the past, as in he had been getting II/I at 

five. What is seen in progress here is the custom 

of getting up at five. In some contexts it may 

be impossible to say whether it was the act or 

the repetition that the speaker had in mind.. 

Until recently the progressive form was not 

used with verbs that naturally express a continuing 

action. This is no longer true. We may now 

say, for example, Z was believing every word of 

it and Z was trusting him. 

In many European languages the present perfect 

is used as a past tense and the functions of 

the past tense are divided between the present 

perfect and the true past, which is often called 

the imperfect. Some European grammarians 

transfer these distinctions to English and say 

that the English simple past is equivalent to their 

present perfect and the progressive past to their 

imperfect. Statements of this kind often appear 

in foreign language textbooks in this country, It 

is true that the English progressive past can 

359 pathetic fallacy 

never be used to translate their present perfect, 

but otherwise the distinction is misleading. The 

simple past tense is used in speaking of any kind 

of action in the past. It is used in speaking of 

completed action, as in after he wrote the letter, 

and of action that is in progress, as in as he 

walked home. The perfect and progressive tenses 

are merely refinements of the past tense and 

express these ideas without the help of additional 

words such as after and as. They are generally 

preferred to the simple past because they express 

these ideas more efficiently. The progressive 

form is more immediate and more vivid than the 

other forms. It is used to call attention to a 

particular act and has the effect of slowing down 

a narrative. The simple form is used to get on 

with the story. 

Each of the past tense forms that have been 

discussed may also be expressed in the passive 

voice. (See passive voice.) When the principal 

verb in a sentence is in the past tense, the verb 

in a subordinate clause must usually be shifted 

to the simple past or past perfect. See tense 

shifts. 

PAST SUBJUNCTIVE 

The simple past tense can be used in conditional 

statements to refer indefinitely to the 

present or the future, as in if he walked in tomorrow. 

When a past tense is used with this 

meaning it is a past subjunctive and not a past 

indicative. (See subjunctive mode.) For all verbs 

except to be the past subjunctive and the past 

indicative have the same form and differ only 

in meaning. In the past subjunctive of the verb 

to be, the form were may be used as a plural or 

as a singular, as in if Z were you. See was; 

were. 

In a conditional clause the subjunctive was 

or were followed by a to-infinitive refers indefinitely 

to the present or the future, as in if he 

were to walk in. When not followed by a toinfinitive 

it refers to the present only, as in if 

he were here. A statement about the actual 

present that must be expressed conditionally is 

obviously contrary to the facts and the subjunctive 

forms were and had are often used to show 

this. That what is being spoken about is an 

imaginary condition and not an existing state of 

affairs can be shown without using the word if, 

by placing were or had before the subject, as in 

were Z you and had Z the wings of a dove. See 

also can; could and shall; should. 

A past tense verb may be used in an if clause 

and still refer to the past, as in if he came yesterday. 

This is a simple indicative statement about 

a past fact. The if merely shows that the speaker 

does not know what the fact was. If we want to 

show that we are setting up a purely imaginary 

condition we use the past perfect, as in if he had 

come. Anything that is purely imaginary about 

the past is, of course, contrary to the facts and 

clauses of this kind are usually called “contraryto-fact” 

conditions. 

patent. See apparent. 

pathetic fallacy. The pathetic fallacy is a phrase 

coined by John Ruskin to describe the tendency

pathos 360 

of writers, especially poets, to attribute feelings 

to things. Pnthetic in the phrase is used in its 

original meaning of pertaining to emotion, not 

in the modern attenuated meaning of exciting 

pity or sadness. 

The ascription of human feelings to inanimate 

objects had been overdone in the poetry of the 

eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Mountains 

mourned, winds sighed, fields smiled and 

trees rejoiced. Hawthorne says of a stream, in 

The OId Manse, that “it slumbers between broad 

prairies, kissing the long meadow grass, and 

bathes the overhanging boughs.” 

Ruskin, in deploring the use, reflected the 

new objectivity, greatly influenced by scientific 

thought, toward inanimate objects. He stressed 

the importance of seeing a thing as it is and 

rejected emotional attributions to nature of false 

appearances “unconnected with any real power 

or character in the object.” 

The present attitude of competent poets and 

critics is opposed to such attribution. As Professor 

George Boas says, in Philosophy and 

Poetry, ‘I. . . our trees do not dance in the wind, 

our sunbeams do not smile. We struggle to avoid 

the pathetic fallacy.” 

However, most twentieth century versifiers 

disregard Ruskin and Boas and strive to emulate 

Joyce Kilmer, whose “Trees,” one of the hymns 

of pantheism, mingles mixed metaphors and the 

pathetic fallacy in equal proportions. The tree, 

mouth on earth, robins in hair and snow on 

bosom. “lifts her leafy arms to pray.” As Oscar 

Wilde said of the death of Little Nell, one has to 

have a heart of stone not to laugh. 

pathos. See bathos. 

patience; endurance; fortitude; resignation; stoicism. 

All of these words imply calmness and 

courage under trying circumstances. Patience 

may be active or passive. In enduring suffering 

with calm or, indeed, enduring anything with 

quiet acceptance and uncomplaining waiting 

(He had not the patience to wait until it was 

given to him: he had to spoil it all by asking for 

it. Sad patience, too near neighbor to despair), 

it is a passive virtue. But it can be an active one 

in the sense of endless assiduity with no indication 

of discontent (With what patience the spider 

mended her web, day after day. It takes patience 

to learn anything so intricate us that). Endm-unce 

denotes the ability to bear exertion or labor or 

pain or disgrace, without any implication concerning 

the moral qualities involved (A winter 

campaign requires great endurance. There must 

be an endurance of evil, but one need not condone 

it. Endurance in quiet desperation is the 

lot of millions). Fortitade is endurance of which 

we approve, patience coupled with noble courage 

(The Duchess of Queensbury bears her 

calamity with great fortitude. Indifference, clad 

in Wisdom’s guise,/ All fortitllde of mind supplies/ 

. . . / When we ure lush’d, they kiss the 

rod,/ Resigning to the will of God). As its first 

syllable makes plain, fortitade connotes strength. 

It is one of the cardinal virtues. Resignation implies 

a voluntary submission of the will to the 

purposes of some higher power, a deliberate 

restraining of complaint or reproach in the belief 

that our personal suffering is ordained in some 

obscure way for our own good and that it is 

impious to protest or even to cry out. Stoicism, 

conduct conforming to the precepts of the Stoics, 

who taught the repression of emotion and indifference 

to pleasure or pain, implies a calm fortitude, 

especially in the endurance of pain, without 

any of the usual external indications of suffering 

(The Indians prided themselves upon their stoicism 

and felt the least murmur of anguish to be 

disgracefl:l. Only the stoical and the cynical can 

preserve a meusare of stability; yet stoicism is 

the wisdom of madness and cynicism the mudness 

of wisdom). 

patience of Job. In referring to the calm and uncomplaining 

endurance of the much tried man 

of Uz, the patience of Job (even though the 

Biblical narrative does not itself contain the 

word patience) will always be proper. But a.s a 

simile for the endurance of others, or a term for 

the utmost conceivable calmness in the face of 

provocation, it is hackneyed and to be used 

sparingly. 

patients. See inmates. 

patois. The plural is patois. 

patrol; patrolman; patrol wagon. From its earlier 

sense of the act of going the rounds of a garrison 

or town for the purpose of watching, preventing 

or checking disorder, patrol has acquired certain 

transferred senses. In English and American 

military terminology it describes a detachment 

of troops sent out in advance of the main body 

to reconnoiter (General Allen sent out three 

patrols; none returned). In the American Boy 

Scout organization a patrol consists of eight 

boys; in the English organization it consists of 

six boys. 

In the United States a patrolman is a member 

of a police force patrolling a certain district. 

The English equivalent is called a police constable 

or just a constuble. However the constable 

is a constable at all times; whereas an American 

policeman is thought of as a patrolman only 

while on patrol duty. In both countries the district 

traversed is called the policeman’s beat. The 

vehicle used by American police for the conveyance 

of prisoners is called a patrol wagon (more 

familiarly paddy wagon or Black Maria), that 

used by the English police is called a prison van 

(more familiarly also Black Maria). 

patron; customer. A putron (the word is derived, 

ultimately, from the Latin paler, father) was 

originally a guardian, proprietor, or supporter. 

This meaning remains. Every charitable organization 

enlists the support of at least the names of 

the socially distinguished as patrons. To say The 

Fords have become great patrons of higher education 

is to use the word properly in its original 

sense. 

As a term for a customer, a buyer, or one who 

attends a night club, a movie, or a theater, or 

buys a meal in a restaurant (or, more often, 

these in the plural, collectively) patron may be 

“commercial cant” and certainly is a little pre-

tentious (Notice to our patrons: We are not responsible 

for lost articles), but it is definitely 

established in American usage. It may be base of 

merchants to flatter those who buy from them 

but usage is not concerned with motives: if 

enough people use a word often enough in a 

certain sense, that sense will become established 

and standard. And that is what has happened to 

patron. It is interesting to observe, however, that 

it is used less by shops than by theaters, night 

clubs, racetracks, and restaurants. 

Stores prefer customer, and while this should 

mean one who customarily makes his purchases 

at a certain store (and so did mean in England, 

at least until recently, and in America at some 

of the more exclusive and expensive stores), it 

has come to mean merely a buyer [q. v.] and 

those who were formerly called customers are 

now often called regular customers. 

patronize. Although most British authorities reject 

this usage as pretentious, patronize is aclcepted 

in the United States in its commercial sense of 

trading with or favoring a shop or restaurant, 

etc., with one’s patronage (We believe in patronizing 

our local stores). To treat in a condescending 

way, an accepted standard meaning in 

England also, is in America now a secondary 

meaning (Harvard men are thought to have a 

way of patronizing their less fortunate fellow 

collegians). The least common sense in America 

is the basic sense in England: to act as a patron 

toward, to support (He patronized several philanthropic 

causes). 

pause. See stop. 

pavement; sidewalk. A sidewalk in American terminology 

is a walk, especially a paved one, at 

the side of a street or road (On winter mornings 

he usually had to shovel snow from the sidewalk 

in front of his house). The English term for 

such a paved walk is pavement. In America 

pavement means the paved part of a paved! road, 

what the English call the roadway (After the 

collision there was glass all over the pavement). 

pay. The past tense is paid. The participle i.s also 

paid. Pay may also mean to let out rope (followed 

by out or awny). In this sense it is. quite 

regular and has the past tense and participle 

payed. 

pay (noun). See honorarium. 

peak. See top. 

peanut. American peanut is English monkey nut 

or, more soberly, ground nut, though the: English 

understand and sometimes use the American 

term. The slang terms of peanut for someone 

who is petty or insignificant and peanuts for a 

trifling reward or remuneration (Pauley estimated 

that altogether they involved less than 

%1,000,000-just “pertnuts” in the whole scheme 

of things) are not used in England. 

pearls before swine. Urging someone not to cast 

pearls before swine, as a warning against offering 

art, literature, wit, or whatever it is, to the 

unappreciative, has become a cliche, to be used 

with care. Unless it is received with the same 

lack of thought that it is commonly spoken with, 

it is highly offensive. It is not merely that some- 

361 peer 

one is called a swine. In this age of general 

abusiveness that might easily be forgiven. It is 

that one’s own tastes, artistic productions, witticisms, 

or imp-ulses, are considered as pearls. 

And that, in this democratic age, will not be 

forgiven. 

peculiar. See odd. 

peculiarly should not be used loosely as an intensive, 

in the place of such words as especially, 

particularly, or very. Peculiar derives from a 

Latin word meaning “pertaining to one’s own” 

and it means that which exhibits qualities not 

shared by others or that which mystifies because 

it is so individual that we cannot understand it. 

So a memory, for example, which is peculiarly 

dear is not necessarily very dear; it is dear, 

rather, because it involves something not to be 

found in other memories or so closely pertaining 

to one’s own experiences that a sense of its dearness 

could not easily be communicated to another. 

pedautry is the undue display of learning, the prcsentation 

of material in a didactic fashion, or 

a finicking adherence to rules and technicalities. 

The pedant has been a stock comic character in 

literature because of his pompousness and lack 

of humor, his parade of knowledge without 

sense, and his remoteness from the everyday 

world. 

Pedantic writing is characterized by polysyllabic 

words and circumlocution. It is most likely 

to be found in specialized fields of knowledge 

where the necessary technical words seem to 

attract unnecessarily long and obscure companions. 

Authority and official position also seem 

to stimulate pedantry. 

Grammar is a favorite haunt of the pedant. 

He is equipped with rules, which he is convinced 

came before practice, and effectiveness and lucidity, 

charm, wit, grace and the fine excesses that 

surprise us with delight are nothing to him. His 

sole delight is to pounce upon the violation of 

one of his rules. 

peek; peep; peer. As verbs, peek and peep are 

synonymous, meaning to take a quick look 

through a narrow aperture or small opening, 

usually furtively or pryingly (I can see his pride 

peep through each part of him. You shouldn’t 

peek; you’re expected to keep your eyes shut 

till we tell you to open them). Peek is more often 

associated with children’s games and usually has 

a connotation of childishness about it. It has almost 

been lost in England, where peep is much 

more frequently used. To peer is to look continuously 

and narrowly for some time in order 

to penetrate obscurity. (And I peer into the 

shadows,/ Till they seem to pass away). 

peer, a noun, derives from the Latin par, equal, 

and means a person of the same civil rank or 

standing, an equal before the law, or one who 

ranks with another in respect to endowments or 

other qualifications (He will be tried by a jury 

of his peers. He is the peer of any student in the 

college). The word is frequently misused, however, 

to mean superior (as in He is the equal, if 

not the peer, of anyone here or There may be a

peevish 362 

few others as good, but he never met his peer). 

The error stems from the fact that peer in English 

usage describes a nobleman--a duke, a marquis, 

an earl, a viscount, or a baron. The holders 

of such titles are each other’s peers. When they 

are tried by a jury of their peers, they are tried 

not by a jury of commoners but by the House of 

Lords or, as it is sometimes called, the House of 

Peers, or the Peers. Though they are each other’s 

peers, they are not, legally, on a level with common 

citizens. Very few distinctions are now 

made, though formerly there were many and 

they were important, and it is only natural 

(linguistically) that the word which signified 

equality in the higher rank should signify superiority 

in the lower rank. But it is ironic that the 

error should be so persistent in the country 

which abrogated all distinctions of rank and 

reduced (or exalted) all to a peerage. 

peevish. See petulant. 

pejorative means depreciative, having a disparaging 

force. In grammar it is used of words which 

through certain uses and associations have come 

to have a worse meaning than the one they 

originally had and convey contempt or condemnation 

of that to which they are applied. Thus 

knave once meant a boy, a boor was only a 

farmer, and a villain a serf or peasant. Certain 

suffixes have a pejorative effect; -ster is one of 

these, though it does not invariably suggest 

disparagement. A poetaster is not a true poet 

but a mere versifier or dabbler in rime. In 

punster there is a suggestion of contempt for one 

who is addicted to punning. 

pence; penny. Pence is a peculiarly British term 

to denote the collective plural of penny. The 

distributive plural of penny is pennies; that is, 

the word which describes the number of coins, 

in distinction from the sum indicating value (I 

gave him three pennies to pay my threepence 

fare). Since it is used collectively, pence is treated 

as singular (Fourpence is the usual fee). Pence 

is not used of American sums. Penny and pennies 

are used loosely, for cent and cents, a folk 

memory, perhaps, of the days before and the 

generation or so after the Revolution when the 

penny was a part of our currency. 

penetrate; pervade. To penetrate is to pierce into 

or through, to enter the interior of (Only heavy 

slugs will penetrate the armor. No one seems 

able to penetrate his reserve). To pervade is to 

diffuse throughout, to extend activities and influence 

throughout (Goodwill pervaded the conference). 

If we say, for example, The smell of ether 

penetrated the doctor’s office, we mean that the 

smell reached that far and entered. If we say 

The smell of ether pervaded the doctor’s ofice, 

we mean that it was everywhere throughout the 

office. The difficulty lies in the fact that the two 

effects are not always clearly distinguishable. 

Oils and heat, liniments, and even ideas, can 

penetrate and pervade. This has led to the 

meaning of pervading often being expressed as 

penetrating, and where the two actions are inseparable 

the usage must be acceptable. But 

where they are distinguishable it is well to use 

the proper verb. See also pervade. 

penmanship. Pride in handwriting as expression 

of character is no longer cultivated. In fact, it 

seems to have been replaced by the notion that 

illegibility in itself reflects certain admired traits 

-such as dash, authority and savoir-faire. Perhaps 

our great-grandfathers spent too much time 

on penmanship, as they did on spelling, learning 

more to form attractive, readable characters 

than to express themselves in meaningful language. 

In the late nineteenth century the approved 

style of penmanship was the Spencerian, recognizable 

by its light upstrokes, heavy downstrokes 

and elaborate curlicues. The twentieth century 

saw this superseded by the Palmer method, 

whose watchword was “free arm-movement.” 

The decorative style of the Spencerian method 

was replaced by a simpler, more graceful script 

which sought only to be legible. 

In most moderately progressive schools today, 

cursive writing is not taught until the third grade 

-and typing is usually offered as an elective in 

the eighth grade. It is claimed that small muscles 

are not sufficiently coordinated to make the fine 

movements necessary for handwriting; whereas 

printing is much less demanding. Many children 

continue to print as long as it is acceptable at 

school, or develop a combination of printing 

and cursive styles. If legibility is the aim there 

can be no objection to this, for it serves that end 

very well, and it may be that we have now 

waded so far into illegibility of script that the 

easiest way out is to go ahead with printing. 

Certainly something will have to be done, unless 

we become complete artifacts and have 

typewriters built into us, for most handwritings 

now are almost entirely illegible. Much of everyday 

business still depends on written communications 

and memoranda and these must be legible. 

The Illinois Bell Telephone Company has 

stated that it loses $50,000 a year because 

operators can’t write call tickets plainly, and 

probably every other large business suffers a 

similar loss, a loss which in the aggregate must 

run into many millions. Post offices across the 

country are full of dead letters, most of which 

are dead because they are illegible, illegible even 

to the staff of experts in illegibility which the 

Post Office has to maintain. 

pen name. See nom de plume. 

penniless. See poor. 

penult, penultimate; antepenult, autepenultimate. 

Penult and penultimate are the short and long 

forms of a noun meaning the last syllable but 

one of a word. Of the two, penult is preferable 

(The penult in American is i). Similarly, both 

antepenult and antepenultimate are forms of a 

noun meaning the last syllable but two in a word 

(The antepenult of American is er). Again, the 

shorter form is preferable in the noun. In the 

adjective, penultimute and. antepenultimate are 

preferred. 

penurious. See poor.

people. In current English people is a true plural. 

It means more than one person and can be used 

with a numeral. This use of the word is now 

standard but it was considered unacceptable 

fifty years ago. 

Originally people meant a tribe or nation. The 

word was commonly followed by a plural verb, 

as in a people who have little in common with US. 

The plural form was also people and two nations 

were usually called IWO people. When the word 

is revived for its literary or archaic etl’ect, a 

plural with s, as in two peoples, occurs more 

often. This is seen in Tennyson’s description of 

Armageddon, where he speaks of the standards 

of the peoples plunging thro’ the thunder ,storm. 

By extension, people came to mean any group 

of persons. Here too it was followed by a plural 

verb. But it was still felt to be a group name, 

like family or jury, and could not be used with 

a numeral, which would have meant more than 

one group. A grammarian writing in 176.5 

claimed that one could no more say two or three 

people than one could say two or three cattle or 

two or three company. Company is still a group 

name, but most people today have no difficulty 

at all in saying two or three people or iwo or 

three cattle. In its modern sense, the plural with 

s, as in you peoples, is not standard. 

The use of people with a numeral was condemned 

by many grammarians in the early part 

of this century, but it is now standard E.nglish 

and is generally preferred to the word persons. 

We may now say three people were present or 

three persons were present, as we please. Most 

people prefer the first form, and persons now 

sounds pedantic or bookish. This may be because 

it is sometimes used to mean bodies, in contrast 

to spirits. Or perhaps persons, because of its association 

with personage, offends the popular 

sense of equality. 

In its modern sense of “persons,” people has 

the genitive form people’s, as in the people’s 

opinions. Some publishers omit the apostrophe 

and write the peoples opinions. This is unusual, 

but accepted. If the word is being used in its 

old sense of “nation,” and if more than one 

nation is meant, the form peoples’ might Ibe defended, 

as in two peoples’ borders. But even here 

two people’s borders would be more literary. 

pep (short for pepper), meaning vigor, spirit, energy, 

animation, drive, and so on, is classilied as 

slang by most dictionaries (as in Z put in a new 

set of plugs and she’s had lots of pep since (then). 

But in its use as an attributive adjective, describing 

college rallies and talks designed to 

stimulate enthusiasm before a football game, it 

is surely standard. No terms other than pep talk 

and pep meeting have been employed for thirty 

years and it would be hard to think of any other 

way of saying what these terms say without being 

tedious and pompous. 

perceive. When used in an active form, this verb 

may be followed by an object and the simple 

form of a verb, as in Z perceived them stop; by 

an object and the -ing form of a verb, as in 1 

363 peremptory 

perceived them stopping; or by n clause, as in 

Z perceive they have stopped. When perceive is 

used in a passive form it may be followed by a 

to-infinitive, as in they were perceived to stop, 

or by the -ing form of a verb, as in they were 

perceived stopping. See descry. 

percent; percentage. Percentage means a proportion 

reckoned in terms of one hundred. Thirty 

years ago percent was considered an abbreviation 

for per centum and was written per cenf., 

with a period. It was a prepositional phrase and 

meant “to the hundred.” Today it is usually 

treated as a single word. Some publishers still 

print it as two words, as per cent, but the period 

has been dropped. 

The word now means just what percentage 

means and is used in just the same ways. Perhaps 

percentage will disappear as other unnecessary 

words, such as domestical, have done. 

In the meantime, anyone who likes to make 

distinctions can do so. Some editors use one of 

these words as a noun and the other as an adjective, 

but there is difference of opinion as to 

which is which. The United States Bureau of 

the Census does not distinguish here between 

nouns and adjectives. They use percent in table 

headings and wherever it is important to save 

space. In the text of an article, they prefer percentage 

when the word is used without a nn 

meral, as in the high percentage, and percent 

when it is used with a numeral, as in three percent. 

perceptible; perceptive; perceptual. Perceptible 

means capable of being perceived (Within ten 

minutes of the shifting of the wind there was a 

perceptible coolnes,s in the air). Perceptive means 

capable of perceiving (Any perceptive judge 

would see the difference at once). Perceptual is 

a specialized term meaning pertaining to perception 

(In thinking we tend to move from perceptual 

imnges to concepts). 

perception; apperception. Perception designates 

the action or faculty of perceiving, cognition, 

taking cognizance of some object of which the 

senses can be aware, or an immediate or intuitive 

recognition, as of a moral or aesthetic quality. 

It may also mean the result or product of 

perceiving, as distinguished from the act of 

perceiving. In its specialized psychological sense, 

perception refers to a single unified meaning 

obtained from sensory processes while a stimulus 

is present. Apperception is used exclusively 

in a specialized psychological sense. It means 

conscious perception, perception clearly conceived, 

a full awareness that we have perceived. 

perdurable, meaning permanent, everlasting, long 

enduring, eternal, was used chiefly in theological 

writings, and fell into disuse, even among the 

learned, about the middle of the seventeenth century. 

It was revived in the nineteenth century 

but remains largely a show word, a little artificial 

and forced. There are half a dozen better known 

synonyms which are to be preferred. 

peremptor:.; precmptory. Peremptory means imperative, 

dictatorial, leaving no opportunity for

perennial 364 

denial or refusal (The peremptory nnture of the 

demand angered the men but cowed them and 

they sullenly complied). In legal terminology 

peremptory means that which precludes or does 

not admit of debate (a peremptory edict). 

Prel?‘mptory, formed from pree’mpt and pre- 

Zmption, is a much rarer word, referring to a 

special privilege to buy land resulting from its 

prior occupancy (Since he had squatted on the 

land for five years, he claimed preEmptory 

rights). 

perennial, adjective, and perennially, adverb, mean 

enduring, lasting for an indefinitely long time. 

They do not mean recurring year after year (as 

in You can perennially expect a cold spell in 

May in these parts). 

perfect; complete. That is complete which has all 

its parts, is fully developed, or carried to its 

fulfillment (The toy ship was complete to the 

smallest detail. The plan has been a complete 

failure). That is perfect which is not only complete 

but is also of high quality and free from 

defects or blemishes. A complete day, for example, 

would be either twenty-four hours or the 

full hours of daylight, depending on how the 

word day was meant. A perfect day would be a 

full day but also a delightful or successful one 

or one that in some way had fulfilled the highest 

expectations. It must have no blemishes. It must 

be unqualified in its excellence. And it is this last 

meaning that is conveyed in what seems a negative 

use of the word, as a perfect fool or a perfect 

stranger. Neither of these terms suggests excellence 

in the person referred to, but the adjective 

is not, strictly, applied to the person but to his 

folly or his strangeness. 

For the use of the comparative and superlative 

forms of these words, see comparison of 

adjectives and adverbs. 

perfectly is better restricted, at least in formal 

speech or writing, to its strict meaning of in a 

perfect manner or degree. In its common use as 

an intensive, to mean entirely or wholly or 

merely (Us perfectly all right to go ahead. It’s 

perfectly horrible of her to net this way), the 

word is overworked. Usually it is a meaningless 

filler and the sentences in which it occurs would 

be more effective without it. 

perfect tenses. Forms of the verb to have followed 

by the past participle of a verb make what are 

called the perfect tenses of that verb. For example, 

the present tense form he has followed 

by the past participle of speak, as in he has 

spoken, makes a present perfect form of the verb 

to speak; and the past tense he had makes the 

past perfect he had spoken. All forms of the 

verb can be given a perfect tense form. There is 

a perfect participle having spoken and a perfect 

infinitive to have spoken. These forms are called 

“perfect” because they refer to an action that is 

completed. 

The forms have developed from the basic 

meaning of hnve, which is to possess. From a 

simple statement in which have is a full verb and 

caught an adjective, such as I have a fish caught 

0~ I have a caught fish, men came to use the 

form I have caught a fish to express the subtle 

notion of a present completed action. These are 

the perfect tenses. They are present tense forms 

if the present tense of have is used and past, if 

the past. 

For a long time these forms with have could 

be used only with transitive verbs, that is, with 

verbs that have an object. With certain other 

verbs the same distinction, of completed action, 

could be expressed by forms of the verb to be. 

In some European languages to be is still used 

in this way and was used in English with verbs 

of motion until a few hundred years ago. These 

constructions can still be heard, as in the hour 

is come and he was recently returned from 

abroad, but they are now archaic or affected. 

For special problems in the use of perfect 

tenses, see past tense, present tense, and intitives. 

performance. See rendition. 

perhaps. See possibly. 

period. The period is used: 

1. To indicate the end of any sentence, except 

one requiring an exclamation point or a question 

mark, as in He went to town yesterdny. But a 

question which is actually a request can take a 

period, as in Will you please return the book by 

next weekend. 

2. To indicate an ellipsis. See ellipsis. 

3. For various typographical purposes: 

a. It is used t-&indicate an abbreviation, as 

in A.B.. Mr.. Mrs. But it is not used with nick- 

I I 

names, such as Al; or with letters representing 

government agencies or some other organizations, 

such as FHA, CIO, YMCA, or compound 

terms, such as mph. 

b. It is used to indicate a decimal point, as 

in $12.35, 2.5 inches. 

c. It is used after identifying numbers or 

letters in a list, as in the numerals introducing 

the items in this article. If the number is enclosed 

in parentheses, the period is not necessary. 

When a sentence ends with a quoted word or 

phrase, the sentence period always comes inside 

the quotation marks, as in He said he would 

come “soon.” 

perish. See die. 

permission; consent; leave; permit. Permission describes 

formal or express allowance or consent 

(Since she was only twenty, she had to get her 

parents’ permission to marry). Consent is a 

fairly restricted term; it refers to a definite decision 

to comply with an expressed request (Silence 

gives consent). A permit is something in 

writing, a written order granting leave to do 

something, an authoritative or official certificate 

of permission, a license (He had to get a building 

permit from the city zoning commission). 

Leave is restricted in modern American usage 

largely to the specific meaning of permission to 

be absent from duty (He was on leave from the 

air base at the time) or the time such permission 

lasts (He got the usual two weeks’ leave before 

going overseas). It used, however, to be the most 

general of all the terms implying license or liberty 

granted to do something and is still under-

stood in this sense (May 1 have leave to speak? 

You have good leave to leave us), but it is 

slightly archaic and hence now seems formal. 

Thus the old phrase By your leave, which not 

too long ago meant no more than “please,” now 

seems stiffly formal and is used chiefly, because 

of this seeming excess of formality, ironically. 

permit as a verb may be followed by an infmitive, 

as in he permitted me to leave. When the permission 

is impersonal, permit may be followed 

by the -ing form of a verb, as in circumstances 

do not permit my leaving, but even here the 

infinitive is more usual, as in circumstances do 

not permit me to leave. See also allow. For 

permit as a noun, see permission. 

perpetrate; commit. Perpetrate is a transitive verb 

which conveys one meaning only: to perform, 

execute or commit something bad (A skillful detective 

writer keeps even his most acute readers 

wondering who has perpetrated the crime). 

Commit is a transitive verb which can be used 

in at least eight senses. Its basic sense is to give 

in trust or charge, to consign (Into thine hand Z 

commit my spirit). In its commonest sense, however, 

it means to do, perform, perpetrate (I 

committed an error in addition. We must find 

the man who committed the crime). In their 

parallel senses, commit and perpetrate can refer 

only to the enactment of crimes or blunders and, 

unless one wants to use melodramatic language, 

commit is to be preferred. Perpetrate is often 

used humorously to imply that something which 

has been done is of the nature of a crime, as in 

perpetrating a joke or a plan. But in this sense 

it has been worn out and should be avoided. 

perpetual. See eternal. 

perpetually. See constantly. 

persecute; prosecute. Persecute, used transitively 

only, means to pursue with harassing or oppressive 

treatment, to harass persistently, to oppress 

with injury or punishment for adherence to 

principles or religious faith (Nero’s evil repntation 

stems largely from the fact that he persecuted 

the early Christians), to annoy by 

persistent attentions, importunities, or th:e like 

(Most Americans have become reconciled to 

being persecuted by representatives of worthy 

causes in their communities). 

Prosecute, used transitively, is chiefly a legal 

term meaning to institute proceedings against a 

person, to seek to enforce or obtain by legal 

process, to conduct criminal proceedings in court 

against (Violators of traffic rules will be prosecuted), 

to follow or go on with something undertaken 

or begun (He was prosecuting a course 

of studies begun nearly a decade ago), to carry 

on or practice. Used intransitively, prosecute has 

the legal sense of instituting and carrying on a 

legal prosecution, of acting as prosecutor (Zj 

you continzle this trespassing, 1’11 prosecute). 

persiflage means, literally, whistle talk. It is light 

banter in which seriousness and frivolity iare SO 

mixed that the speaker may evade responsibility 

for what he wants the listener to infer. Since it 

assumes a superiority in the speaker and relquires 

a skill and adroitness that few have, it usually 

365 personal 

degenerates quickly into sneering and scoflng. 

Except where one does not wish to be drawn 

into a serious conversation or wishes to annoy 

a pompous bore, persiflage is well avoided. It 

can be extremely tedious. 

An unusually dreary form of persiflage is in 

America called dozzbletalk, a process in which 

the speaker deliberately uses confusing nonsense 

in order to triumph at the listener’s bewilderment. 

The victim, after he has been bored and 

insulted, is expected to applaud the speaker’s 

wit. 

persistently. See consistently. 

person. For the use of this word as a grammatical 

term, see personal pronouns and agreement: 

verbs. See also people, individual, and party. 

personage; person; personality. Personage should 

not be used as a synonym for person. It means 

a person of distinction or importance (When 

Lindbergh took off he was just another flyer: 

when he landed at Paris he was a personage). 

The word was formerlv used a great deal in Enrrland 

to designate a member of The Royal Family 

when a use of a proper name would have been 

indiscreet. (A Certain Great Personage has 

lately been mzich seen in Mrs. Langtry’s company). 

In American slang the word has largely 

been replaced in recent years by the military 

term V.I.P. (Very lmportant Person), usually 

employed ironically. 

Personage is also used sometimes to designate 

a character in a story or a play (Othello is a 

personage the nobility of whose character many 

modern critics have questioned). 

Though not yet recognized as standard, personality 

is used widely in the United States today 

as a synonym for personage, especially to describe 

notables of the screen or radio or television. 

So-and-so is said to be a television personality, 

particularly when he is known to the 

public but cannot easily be classified as an actor 

or a newscaster. In this sense it is useful. Personage 

would be better, but the public has fixed 

on personality and shows every sign of adhering 

to it. See also personality. 

persona grata, persona non grata. Except in the 

language of diplomacy, where it is too firmly 

established to be regarded as even a clichC, to 

refer to someone whose company is desirable as 

persona grata or to someone whose company is 

undesirable as persona non grata is pompous. It 

implies that the speaker sees trivial dislikes as 

matters of international protocol and veils the 

obvious in the dead language of dead learning. 

personal; personnel. Personal is an adjective meaning 

of or pertaining to a particular person, individual, 

private (This is a personal matter; Z see 

no need to discuss it with a bunch of reporters). 

It also means in person. A few purists object to 

this, insisting that if one is someplace he is, of 

necessity, there in person. But the moving pictures 

have changed this. An appearance may be 

merely on celluloid. A personal appearance implies 

presence in bodily form. Many film actors 

and actresses appear bodily in front of the 

screens that are to show their images. The public

personal 366 

has to have a nanic for such appearances and 

personal appearance has been chosen. It’s here to 

stay and all the philologists in the world can’t 

change it. 

Personnel (a French word, coined to distinguish 

the human element of the process of manufacture 

from the materiel) first appeared in 

English about a hundred years ago. In this 

sense, it was a mass word and was always 

treated as a singular. One might say a large personnel 

or the personnel has been increased, but 

not many personnel or three personnel have 

been added. 

However, personnel is used today as synonymous 

with employees, and treated as a plural, 

as in all personnel were asked to participate. 

This use of the word as a plural is offensive to 

some people, but it is now established in business, 

sociology, and government and is not likely 

to be dislodged. 

personal friend is an attempt to recover the value 

of friend which has been weakened, in general 

democratic and commercial bonhomie, till it 

means little more than acquaintance. None the 

less, personal friend is a cliche and a redundancy. 

personality; character. Personality has taken the 

place in the twentieth century that character occupied 

in the nineteenth. It is now used chiefly 

to connote distinctive or notable personal character 

(He has more personality than the other 

oficers). It may also mean a person as an 

assemblage of qualities (These capacities constitute 

personality, for they imply consciousness 

and thought). As a psychological term, personality 

means all the constitutional, mental, emotional 

and social characteristics of an individual, 

an organized pattern of all such characteristics, 

or a pattern of characteristics consisting of two 

or more, usually opposing, types of behavior 

(“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is a classic story 

about a split personality). 

Nearer to the basic sense of the term is its 

application to describe the quaIity of being a 

person, personal identity (The age of Homer is 

surrounded with darkness, his very personality 

with doubt). It properly designates the essential 

character of a person as distinguished from a 

thing (Man has personality as a tree has not). 

Personality is often misused for person or 

people (The personalities involved in the struggle 

for control of the company are equally 

unlikeable). Again, it is often used when character 

would be more suitable; for while personality 

describes the combination of outer and 

inner characteristics that determine the impression 

one makes upon others (He has a pleasing 

personality). character describes moral qualities, 

ethical standards, principles. He was a man of 

weak character is not synonymous with He was 

a man of weak personality. Personality may 

similarly be confused with such words as disposition, 

manner, temperament. 

personality; person&y. Though both of these 

words refer to that proper to a person, the former 

describes those qualities which make a person 

what he is, while the latter, a legal term, 

denotes personal estate or property as distinguished 

from real property (His personalty 

consisted of money and goods worth $10,000.00, 

his realty of a house and grounds worth 

$50,000.00). 

personality; pleasiog personality. In common usage 

personality suggests distinctive or notable personal 

character, but there is no implication in the 

word itself of the nature of the distinctiveness. 

Therefore, the word frequently requires modification 

in the interests of clarity (She has a 

friendly personality. He had a disagreeable personality 

). 

personally; myself. Personally is used by many to 

lessen the opprobrium that is commonly felt to 

be attached to the use of I. When a man says I 

personally am of the opinion that.. . , he usually 

means to disavow any intention of speaking for 

mankind, or being universal, oracular, infallible. 

Such modesty is commendable, but the expression 

of an opinion carries certain risks and 

responsibilities that cannot be avoided by a mere 

redundancy. It is better to say I and accept the 

consequences unflinchingly. Some say I myself, 

but that is equally redundant and, to the ears of 

many, doubles the offensiveness of the first person 

singular. 

Personally is justified when one wishes to say 

that so-and-so did something himself that normally 

would have been done by a deputy. Thus 

if one says The president personally acknowledged 

the little girl’s letter, one stresses the fact 

that the acknowledgment was not, as would 

otherwise be assumed, the act of a subordinate 

using the president’s name. If, however, one says, 

The president personally shook hands with twelve 

hundred visitors, the use of personally is redundant 

because he couldn’t have done it any 

other way. 

personal pronouns. When used as a grammatical 

term, person means the distinction between the 

person speaking (first person), the person spoken 

to (second person), and the person or thing 

spoken about (third person). In English there 

are four pronouns (I, me, we, us) which are 

first person, and one (yorr) which is second 

person. The seven pronouns he, him, she, her, 

it, they, and them, are third person, but so are 

all the nouns and all the other pronouns in the 

language. The form of a verb sometimes depends 

upon the person of its subject. For a discussion 

of this, see agreement: verbs. 

The pronouns just mentioned, together with 

their possessive forms (see possessive pronouns), 

are called the personal pronouns. Formerly, 

English also had three other personal pronouns, 

thee, thou, ye, and the possessives thine and thy. 

(See the individual words.) Some personal pronouns 

are singular and some plural, but this 

is determined by the meaning of the word and 

gives no trouble. Some of these, such as I, we, 

they, are required when the word is standing 

before a verb. And some, such as me, us, them, 

cannot be used in this position. These problems 

are discussed under subjective pronouns and 

objective pronouns.

For some of the old uses of the personal pronouns 

that are now considered questionable, 

such as I will build me a house and old Meg she 

was a gipsy. see reflexive pronouns and intensive 

pronouns. 

When words of more than one person are 

used together, it is considered courteous to place 

the first person word last, as in let Sam and me 

know, and the second person you first, as in I 

will let you and Sam know. But this convention 

is not strictly observed. A thoroughly polite 

person might say let me and Sam know or I will 

let Sam and you know. 

personification is the attribution of personal nature 

or character to inanimate objects or abstract 

notions, especially as a rhetorical figure in poetry 

or high-styled prose. It differs from the pathetic 

fallacy (q. v.) in that it is done deliberately with 

no assumption that anyone will take it literally. 

When Carl Sandburg speaks of Chicago as the 

“City of the Big Shoulders” or John Crowe Ransom 

says that death is “a gentleman in a dustcoat 

trying/ To make you hear,” neither expects the 

figure to be accepted as anything but a figure. 

In contemporary poetry there is much less 

personification than in the poetry of earlier 

periods, possibly because the modern poet has 

less confidence in or use for his myth-making 

powers. 

personnel. See personal. 

persons. See people. 

perspective; prospective. Perspective is chiefly used 

as a noun to convey specialized meanings in 

optics, architecture, and painting. It sometimes 

means the art of depicting on a flat surface various 

objects, architecture, landscape, etc., in such 

a way as to express dimensions and spatial relations 

(Rossetti had a fine feeling for color, but 

he never mastered perspective), the relation of 

parts to one another and to the whole, in a mental 

view or prospect (Only after several years 

and much reflection could he regard the event in 

the proper perspective), a visible scene, especially 

one extending to a distance, a vista 

(Berchtesgaden affords a magnificent perspective), 

or the appearance of objects with reference 

to relative position, distance (In perspective, 

railroad tracks seem to converge as they 

disappear in the distance). 

Prospective is chiefly an adjective meaning in 

prospect or expectation, expected, future (I i’iked 

my prospective father-in-law from the moment I 

met him). 

perspicacious; perspicuous. Perspicacious describes 

a quality in a person. It means having keen 

mental perception, being discerning, acute, 

penetrating, quick-witted (Even a perspicacious 

reader may have trouble with Eliot’s poe,!ry). 

Perspicuous describes a quality in the thing or 

person perceived. It means clear to the understanding, 

lucid, unambiguous, clear in expression 

and hence easily understood (The report was 

uniformly perspicuous. So perspicuous a fool 

could only provoke a smile where a more cunning 

rascal might have stirred up anger). Perspicuous 

has been used for perspicacious so long 

367 pervade 

and so often that those who insist it is now 

established as a synonym have considerable justification, 

but the Oxford English Dictionary 

labels the use “improper” and it does seem a loss 

to the language if so important a distinction is 

to be confounded merely because of a similarity 

of sound. The nouns are perspicacity and perspicuify. 

perspire. Our great-grandfathers who sweat more 

than we do and bathed less, never heard of 

dry-cleaning and passed on their thick, heavy 

clothing from generation to generation, regarded 

the word sweat as indelicate and often expressed 

its meaning in euphemisms. Dr. John Armstrong, 

an eighteenth century physician, referred to it 

as roscid baIm. Perspiration and perspire became 

the established terms of the fastidious. 

There was a Victorian joke that Horses sweat, 

men perspire, ladies glow. But sweat, like many 

coarse words, has a dignity and strength lacking 

in genteel substitutes (In the sweat of thy face 

shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the 

ground), and, of course, where one wants to 

emphasize the sweatiness of sweat (Nay, but to 

live/ In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed,/ 

Stew’d in corruption, honeying and making love/ 

Over the nasty sty!), perspiration would be 

ridiculous. It is not always as ridiculous, however, 

as the call-a-spade-a-spade school would 

make it out to be. Even euphemisms gain freehold 

rights through usage and the light sweat of 

fastidious people, a dewy glistening of the brow, 

is now more properly perspiration than sweat. 

Sweat, however, b always the right word in 

reference to animals or to condensation on objects 

(Iced glasses sweat in hot weather). See 

also sweat. 

persuade. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in she persuaded him to go. It is also 

used with the -ing form of a verb introduced by 

the preposition into, as in she persuaded him into 

going, but the infinitive construction is preferred. 

Persuade may also be followed by a 

clause. When the word means prevail on, the 

clause verb must be a subjunctive or a subjunctive 

equivalent, as in size persuaded him he 

should go. When it means merely cause to believe, 

the clause verb may be an indicative, as in 

she persuaded him she was going. 

pert. See impertinent. 

peruse; read. To peruse is to read through, to 

read with great care and thoroughness. One 

reads a billboard in passing. One should peruse 

an insurance policy, a deed, or a will. Peruse is 

often used loosely for read but such use is ostentatious 

and improper. 

pervade; permeate. To pervade is to extend a 

presence, activities, influence, etc., throughout, 

to go everywhere (of a person), to pass or 

spread through (Though he is rarely there, his 

influence pervades the entire department). TO 

permeate is to pass through the substance or 

mass of, to penetrate through the pores or interstices, 

to be diffused throughout, to saturate 

(The spilled ink had permeated the manuscript, 

necessitating its complete retyping). The words

pessimist 368 

are, plainly, closely synonymous and in many 

contexts are interchangeable, but pervade is now 

found chiefly in figurative uses (A vast discontent 

pervcded the populace), whereas permeate 

is found in both concrete and figurative senses 

(The oil had permeated the rug. The idea of 

progress permeates almost all social thinking). 

See also penetrate; pervade. 

pessimist. See optimist. 

pessimistic. See gloomy. 

petit; petite. The English adjective petit is now 

obsolete in the general sense of small or insignificant-though 

there are occasional literary 

echoes of it in such things as Edgar Lee Masters’s 

poem Petit the Poet. In place of petit in 

this general sense we now use petty. In legal 

phrases petit hangs on (petit jury, petit larceny), 

though even here petty is taking over. On the 

other hand petite, the eternal feminine, is doing 

well. The French pronunciation and spelling 

have been preserved. The word means little, 

small, tiny. A petite woman is small and, it is 

implied, dainty. 

pet peeve, a common slangy term for a particular 

aversion, is a dreary cliche kept feebly alive by 

its alliteration. In pet, with its suggestion of an 

aversion that is cherished and fondled, a hatred 

that we love, there was once a penetrating 

thought arrestingly conveyed in paradox. But all 

of this has been worn out by too much use. 

petrol; petroleum. Petrol is the word used in England 

for what in the United States is called 

gasoline. The word was once used in the United 

States to designate what is now called petroleum, 

but this use is obsolete. 

Petroleum is an oily, usually dark-colored, 

liquid which occurs naturally in various parts of 

the world and is obtained by boring. It is often 

called crude oil. It is used in its natural state, or 

after certain treatment, as a fuel, or it is separated 

by distillation into gasoline, naphtha, benzine, 

kerosene, paraffin, etc. 

petty, paltry, trivial all apply to something so 

small as to be unworthy of serious attention. 

Petty connotes a good deal of contempt (A 

petty quarrel. His fall was destined to a foreign 

strand,/ A petty fortress, and a dubious hand). 

Paltry is even stronger. It derives from a word 

meaning a rag and suggests something so mean 

and worthless as to be despicable (What a paltry 

fool, to delay forty people because he was two 

cents short in change). Trivial means slight and 

insignificant. It is used especially to mark the 

incongruity of the trifling when compared with 

the serious and important. It is not as scornful 

a word as the other two (I divert myself with 

these trivial things until I know for sure that I 

will be allowed to work on my great project). 

petulant; peevish; pettish. He is petulant who is 

moved to or shows some sudden, impatient irritation, 

especially over a trifling annoyance (This 

petulant display over so slight and unavoidable 

a delay did his reputation a great deal of harm). 

Peevishness is an expression of a more inveterate 

discontent than petulance. A peevish man’s irritations 

are more ingrained. They manifest them- 

selves consistently (whereas petulance may he 

sporadic) and evince a deep weakness of character. 

Pettish (meaning originally “like a small 

child”) is a word not now much in general use. 

But it is none the less a useful word, suggesting 

one who, like a spoiled child, manifests irritation 

over matters so small as to be beneath the dignity 

of a normal adult’s notice (This pettish 

concern with who is or who is not served first is 

ludicrous). 

phalanx. The plural is phalanxes or phalanges. In 

speaking of military formations or other groups 

of persons, either plural rnay be used. Phalanxes 

is generally preferred. In botany and zoology 

the plural phalanges is preferred and this has a 

new singular phalange which can be used interchangeably 

with phalanx. In zo6logy the plural 

phalanges is used to mean one group, not several 

groups, and the singular phalange means one of 

the units of such a group. 

phantasma. The plural is phantasmas or phantasmata, 

not phantasmae. 

phantasy. See fancy. 

phase; aspect. In an age such as ours which is 

strongly conscious of the difference between appearances 

and reality and sharply aware of the 

limitations of an individual’s perceptions, terms 

such as vision, point of view, and phase have a 

strong appeal and have been greatly overworked. 

All one can say, in caution, is that phase should 

not be used merely as a synonym for appearance 

and that it should at least be alternated, for 

variety, with aspect, especially in contexts where 

ambiguity might arise from confusion with the 

special meaning of phase in science as one of 

the recurring appearances or states of something 

which, like the moon and the planets, continually 

goes through a cycle of regular changes in 

appearance. 

Like aspect, phase is a complement of point 

of view (q. v.), and since point of view can be a 

very vague thing, so can phase and aspect and 

their vagueness is sometimes an attraction to 

those who wish to avoid the effort of being 

precise. 

phase and faze, though pronounced alike, are 

totally different words and should not be confused. 

Phase is a standard noun meaning any of 

the appearances or aspects in which a thing of 

varying modes or conditions manifests itself to 

the eye or mind, a stage of change or development. 

It is synonymous with aspect. To faze in 

American slang means to disturb, discomfit, 

daunt, put out of countenance. Phase is almost 

never misspelled faze, but faze is often misspelled 

phase. 

phasis. The plural is phases, from which etymologically 

the more common singular phase has 

developed. Phasis is now used only in the most 

learned writing, as a synonym for phase. 

phenomena. See phenomenon. 

phenomenal. In its original, strict, philosophical 

sense, phenomenal means that which is cognizable 

by the senses (The wave moves onward, 

but the water of which it is comprised does not. 

The same particle does not rise from the valley

to the ridge. Its unity is only phenomenal- 

Emerson). It was applied, however (as in the 

illustration), to things which seemed so ‘to the 

senses but of the reality of which there was a 

question. From this it came to be used to describe 

something which is perceived but cannot 

be accounted for-and this led to its being used, 

as it now is, to mean prodigious, unusual, remarkable, 

extraordinary, etc. (Her first book 

was a phenomenal success. The rain has been 

phenomenal this season). Fowler foresaw this 

loose extension of the word’s meaning and 

sternly condemned it as “a sin against the English 

language.” But his condemnation, though 

reiterated by a host of lesser authorities, could 

not stay the word’s efflorescence or degradation. 

Its primary meaning now is certainly “extraordinary” 

or “prodigious” (The new models have 

a phenomenal pick-up). Where it will end, nobody 

knows. There are stars that after billions 

of years of stability suddenly explode andl then 

subside. Phenomenal seems to be a similar phenomenon. 

phenomenon. The plural is phenomenons 01’ phenomena. 

Phenomena is also used as a singular with a 

regular plural phenomenas. These forms are offensive 

to some people but are used by too many 

competent writers to be frowned upon. Of the 

three plurals, phenomenons probably rouses less 

antagonism than phenomena or phenomenas. 

phrases. Any group of words that does not contain 

a true verb and its subject (or an imperative) 

is called a phrase. A group of words that 

does contain these specified elements is called 

a clause. (See clauses.) Any part of a sentence 

may be a phrase. In but to see her wcu to 

love her, the verb was has a phrase as its subject 

and a phrase as its complement. In it might have 

been, the verb itself is a phrase. Phrases are 

sometimes named for the function they have 

in a particular sentence, such as an adverbial 

phrase, an adjective phrase. Sometimes they are 

named for the type of word that unites the 

phrase with the rest of the sentence, such as an 

infinitive phrase, a participial phrase, a prepositional 

phrase. The words a prepositional phrase 

always mean a phrase formed with a preposition, 

rather than a phrase functioning as a 

preposition, which is called a compound .preposition. 

phylum. The plural is phyla. 

physical. See corporal. 

physically, mentally, and morally is a cliche of the 

feebly eloquent and the sententiously vapid. 

Uttered usually with oracular gravity and measured 

emphasis, its bombination proceeds not 

from weight but hollowness. 

physics. When this word means the science of 

matter or energy, it is always used with a singular 

verb, as in physics is not what it was fifty 

years ago. When used with a plural verb the 

word will be understood to mean purges, as in 

physics are not wjhat ihey were fifty years ago. 

The only adjective form is physical, and this 

means material. 

physiognomy. See ftlce. 

piazza. See porch. 

pick and choose, as a term for fastidiousness in 

selection, is hackneyed. 

Pickwickian sense. When Mr. Pickwick referred 

to certain of 1Mr. Blotton’s actions as “vile and 

calumnious” and Mr. Blotton referred to Mr. 

Pickwick as “a humbug,” the chairman of the 

distinguished club felt it imperative to demand 

whether these opprobrious terms were to be 

received in their commonly understood senses. 

It appeared that they were not, that the disputants 

held each other in the highest esteem, and 

that the terms were used solely in their “Pickwickian 

sense.” The term has become a clichi 

of the literary and therefore should not be used 

in their company. It is totally meaningless to the 

unliterary and therefore should not be used in 

their hearing either. 

Like all cliches, however, it lends itself to wit 

because it is a cliche. Thus when Mr. Clifton 

Fadiman says of the cool reception that the first 

number of Pickwick received that “The book’s 

reception was successful only in a Pickwickian 

sense,” he is employing a cliche, but wittily, not 

as a cliche. 

picture of health. To say of someone who seems 

in excellent health that he or she is the picture 

of health or the very picture of health is to employ 

a phrase worn smooth by repetition. 

pidgin; pigeon. The proper word for the lingua 

franca composed mainly of debased English 

words following Chinese idiomatic usage is pidgin, 

a Chinese corruption of business. Pigeon is 

a still further corruption-an English pidginization, 

one might say-of pidgin and, though established, 

less common. 

pie; tart. In English usage a pie is usually a meat 

pie (steak and kidney pie, fozu-and-twenty 

hluckbirds baked in a pie). In American usage, 

it may be a meat pie or a sweet pie or even a 

layer cake with a filling of cream. jelly, or the 

like (Boston cream pie) or, if one includes the 

trade name Eskimo Pie, ice cream within a shell 

of chocolate frozen on a stick. 

Sweet pies are and long have been an important 

part of the diet of Americans and figurative 

extensions of the word (as sweet as pie, as 

easy as pie, pie in the sky. The mayor certainly 

cut himself a mighty big piece of pie) are favorable 

even if ironic. 

The American tart is a small, saucer-shaped 

shell of pastry, filled with cooked fruit or other 

sweetened preparation, and having (unlike the 

English tart, which in many ways corresponds to 

the American sweet pie) no top crust. 

It is a minor curiosity of language that sweefie 

pie is a term of vulgar and luscious endearment 

for a woman while turt (borrowed by the Americans 

from the English) is a term of gross 

disparagement. 

pig; hog. Pig in America retains its original meaning 

of a young swine of either sex weighing less 

than one hundred and twenty pounds. In England 

the word is used broadly to mean any swine 

or hog, a secondary meaning in America. In

pigeon 370 

both countries pig is used in a figurative sense 

to designate a person or animal of piggish character 

or habits, that is, gluttonous and filthy (He 

made a pig of himself at the smorgasbord). Hog 

is also so used in America, but it is a stronger, 

coarser word. As a term for one who takes more 

than his share (of most things other than food) 

or pushes in ahead of others, it is used in America 

far more than pig (roadhog; that hog, did 

you see him cut in there? Come on, don’t hog it 

all; leave some for the rest of us). Indeed, pig is 

a mildly humorous word, conveying only a slight 

rebuke. Hog is strongly condemnatory. The English 

use pig as a verb, the Americans hog. 

In metallurgy, a pig is an oblong mass of 

metal that has been run, while still molten, into 

a mold of sand or the like. Hog, too, has its special 

meanings, usually expressed in combination, 

such as sandhog, groundhog, and so on. 

pigeon; dove. Although any bird of the pigeon 

family (Columbidae) is a dove, there are distinctions 

in popular usage between the words 

pigeon and dove. Despite the use of dovecote for 

the structure which houses them, domesticated 

doves are, by and large, called pigeons and wild 

ones are, in America, called doves. The wild 

passenger-pigeon is a marked exception, but its 

name seems to have become fixed and the species 

extinct before the modern distinction (which 

is by no means absolute) became established. 

In poetry and literature dove is a term of innocence, 

gentleness and love. It was formerly 

much applied to women. In contemporary American 

slang pigeon is also applied to women but, 

while still a term of affection, it is slightly 

coarser, conveying more of the amatory nature 

of the dove than its assumed innocence and gentleness. 

In the lingo of the underworld a dead 

pigeon is anyone faced with imminent disaster. 

In sacred literature and art the dove is a symbol 

of the Holy Ghost. So fixed is the word dove 

in this particular application that the use of the 

word pigeon in its place would be blasphemous. 

pile Pelion on Ossa. It was the Titans-so Homer 

tells us-who in their war against the gods 

sought to scale Olympus by piling Mount Ossa 

on Mount Pelion. As a term for heaping one 

difficulty on another until the whole thing becomes 

an outrage, the phrase is now a cliche. 

The Titans and their war are known only to the 

learned. Pelion is now called Zagora and Ossa is 

now called Kissovo. It is, for most people, a 

meaningless phrase. 

pilfer. See steal. 

pillar of the church. To refer to one of conspicuous 

rectitude who is particularly active in his 

support of some church as a pillar of the church 

is to employ a hackneyed phrase. 

pilot in nautical terminology describes one duly 

qualified to steer ships into or out of a harbor 

or through certain difficult waters (The pilot is 

usually taken aboard off Sandy Hook). A less 

common nautical meaning is steersman. In aviation, 

a pilot is one duly qualified to operate an 

airplane, balloon or other aircraft. This is probably 

the sense in which the word pilot is now 

most often understood by the laity (Pilot claims 

runway approaches unsafe). 

In a figurative sense, a pilot is any guide or 

leader (When Guilford good/ Our pilot stood. 

I hope to see my Pilot face to face/ When I have 

crossed the bar). Sky pilot, which to most young 

moderns would seem redundant, was a slang 

term much used a generation or two ago for a 

clergyman or chaplain. 

In machinery, a pilot is a smaller element 

acting in advance of another or principal element 

and causing the latter to come into play 

(Since the pilot on the gas range was out, he had 

to light the burner with a match). A pilot plant, 

an extension of this sense, is a small plant built 

to test out processes of manufacture so that a 

larger plant or plants may thereafter be built and 

operated more efficiently. 

pincers; pinchers. Pincers is the correct term to 

describe a gripping tool consisting of two pivoted 

limbs forming a pair of jaws and a pair of 

handles. The word is frequently replaced in 

America bv pinchers, though this is dialectal, 

nonstandard.‘In recent years both terms have 

been replaced to a large extent by pliers and 

nippers. 

The form pincers refers to one instrument but 

is usually treated as a plural, as in these pincers 

are too small. A singular construction, such as 

here is a pincers, is unusual but acceptable. In 

using a singular verb we more often say here is 

a pair of pincers, and the construction with pair 

must be used after a numeral, as in three pairs 

of pincers. The singular pincer is not used as an 

independent word but is the preferred form for 

the first element of a compound, such as a pincer 

grip. 

pinch-hitter, as a term for a substitute, is a cliche. 

Except when used of baseball, the term is often 

misused. When a manager sends out a pinchhitter, 

he assumes that the pinch-hitter will do 

better than the man at bat. But in other activities, 

when sickness or some other circumstance makes 

it impossible for the principal to appear and a 

substitute or understudy is rushed in to fill the 

place, he is not expected to do better than the 

principal would have done. It is a triumph if he 

or she does what is required in any acceptable 

fashion. 

pins and needles. On pins and needles, as a term 

for being uneasy, impatient with overtones of 

anxiety, is a cliche. 

pint. The British pint and the American pint are 

different quantities. In America the standard 

pint contains 16 U.S. fluid ounces and has a 

capacity of 473.6 cubic centimeters. In England 

the imperial pint contains 20 British fluid ounces 

and has a capacity of 568 cubic centimeters. 

The American pint, therefore, is just a little 

more than 83% of the British pint. 

pious fraud. Originally a translation of the French 

fraude pieuse, referring to a deception practiced 

to serve what the practicer regarded as a good 

end, often for the furtherance of his religion, the 

term has come in common American usage to 

mean a hypocrite. It is applied far more often to

persons than to acts or misrepresentations. In 

either sense, however, it is trite. 

pit (of a theater). See orchestra. 

pitcher, the word to describe a container, usually 

with a handle and spout or lip, for holding or 

pouring liquids (Or ever the silver cord be 

loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the 

pitcher be broken at the fountain . . .), is considered 

noetic or archaic in England but is the 

everyday word in America. The usual English 

equivalent is jug. 

Pitcher has another meaning in American 

sports, where it describes the player in baseball 

who delivers or throws the ball to the batter 

(Few pitchers manage to hold an opposing team 

to no hits in a whole game). 

piteous; pitiable; pitiful. Piteous is now restricted 

to that which exhibits suffering and misery and 

is therefore heart-rending (He could hear the 

piteous cries of the injured children). Pitiable 

means that which is deserving of pity’or excites 

compassion (&‘&I a pitinble pIea could not be 

ignored), but it may also mean lamentable, 

wretched, or paltry (They were in a pitiable condition, 

all ragged and dirty ulith no knowledge 

of the wrong that had been done them). That is 

pitiful which touches our compassion or excites 

us to pity (Tony Lust’s pitiful fate was to spend 

the rest of his life reading Dickens to an insane 

illiterate). But the contempt which is so often 

allied to compassion has colored this word more 

than the others and one of its meanings is contemptible, 

despicable (Your behavior was a pitiful 

exhibition of cowardice). 

place. The noun place is often used in compounds 

with some, any, every, no, instead of the adverb 

where, as in they are living some place in Ohio. 

This is standard Enelish in the United States. 

But many grammarians object to it and hold that 

place must be made part of a prepositional 

phrase, such as in some place or at some place. 

The word place is sometimes used as an adverb 

without one of the four qualifying words 

mentioned above, as in we are going places tonight 

and what place are your going?. This does 

not have the same standing as some place, any 

place, etc., but it is acceptable to many well 

educated Americans. (For place meaning “position,” 

see job.) 

place; put. The essential difference between placing 

and putting is that when something or someone 

is placed, it or he is put in a proper or assigned 

position or order. Something that is put 

on a shelf is simply picked up and set down 

there. Something that is pluced on a shelf is 

something that belongs on that shelf. That is its 

proper place. No hard and fast rules can be laid 

down because no one can decide what is the 

proper place for another’s things. To place 

something is also usually to pr4t it with care and 

precision (He put his car in the parking lot. He 

placed his car next to mine. He put the papers 

on his desk. He placed one sheet carefully on 

top of the other). But the use of place as a 

straight synonym for put is vague and loose. 

Place has some definite idiomatic meanings. 

One can only place a person in one’s memory 

when one recollects where and under what circumstances 

one knew him before. A horse is 

placed or, better, places when it crosses the finishing 

line of a race among the (usually first 

three) leading competitors. 

placeable; placable; placatory. Placeable means 

capable of being placed. Except for a similarity 

of spelling which often leads to confusion, it has 

no connection with placable, which means capable 

of being placated or appeased, forgiving 

(Since Hades was not placable, the Greeks offered 

him no sacrifices). Placatory means tending 

or intended to placate (Even the most 

placatory assurances failed to mollify the 

Queen). 

plague, avoid like the. To say of someone or 

something that he or it is to be avoided (or 

shunned) like the plague is to employ a cliche. 

It may be used, but should be used sparingly. 

That all knowledge of, mention of, or reference 

to the bubonic plague in almost half the 

world is now confined to an outworn phrase is 

such an extraordinary indication of the alleviation 

of human misery that the phrase might 

deserve to be retained as a sort of monument. 

plain as a pikestaff now means obvious, clearly 

visible. It originallly meant unadorned, bare. But 

in whatever sense used, it is now a cliche. Plain 

as the nose on yoltr face is also a cliche, with the 

additional disadvantage of being ambiguous and 

perhaps disparaging. 

plain sailing is probably (Oxford English Dictionary 

informs us) a corruption of plane sailing, 

that is, navigating by a plane chart or the art of 

determining a ship’s position on the assumption 

that the surface of the earth is flat. In its figurative 

uses the term is a cliche. 

plan. The verb plan may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in they plan to come, or by on and the 

-ing form of a verb, as in they plan on coming. 

The noun plan is followed by an infinitive in Z 

was thinking of a plan/ To dye one’s whiskers 

green. This is the standard idiom in the United 

States, but some British grammarians claim that 

of and the -ing form are required here. See 

prepositions. 

planetarium. The plural is planetariums or planetaria. 

plank, basically, means a long, flat piece of timber, 

thicker than a board. More loosely, it means 

something to stand on or cling to for support 

(A floating plank saved him from drowning). In 

a figurative sense, originally and chiefly American, 

a plank is an article of a platform of political 

or other principles (The civil rights plank of 

the party platform was highly controversial). 

This plank, a natural development of the idea 

of a platform as the body of principles upon 

which a party takes its stand to appeal to the 

voters (which, in turn, of course, is a figurative 

extension of the actual platform upon which a 

candidate would stand), has become so separated 

from the idea of an actual physical plank, 

being two metaphors removed, that most Americans 

would see nothing incongruous in being

told that a certain plank has been “watered 

down” to appease a protesting group within the 

party. 

To plnnk, meaning to bake, broil, and serve 

on a board (Planked whitefish our specialty), is 

a special American usage. In the sense of producing 

or putting down (usually money) readily 

(He planked donIn a hundred dollars right then 

and there), plank is slang. 

plate. Certain uses of plafe are exclusively American. 

In American restaurants one may choose a 

plate lunch, a plate dinner, a vegetable plate, 

blue plate special, or any of various other plates, 

meals in which an entire course is on a single 

plate. In journalism, plate matter or boiler plate 

describes a sheet of metal for printing from, 

formed by stereotyping or electrotyping a page 

of type, or metal or plastic formed by molding, 

etching, or photographic development (Many u 

country weekly consists almost entirely of boiler 

plate sent out by a syndicate). In baseball, the 

plate or the home plate is the home base. 

In a sense chiefly British, plate means domestic 

dishes, utensils, etc., of gold or silver (a sultcellar 

of silver , . . one of the neatest pieces of 

plate that ever I saw). See also silver; silverware. 

plateau. The plural is plateaus or plateaux. 

platitude. See commonplace. 

play (as in play the fool). See act. 

play fast and loose with. As a term for breaking 

one’s word, making promises without intending 

to keey. them, and being generally completely 

unscrupulous and unreliable in one’s dealings 

with another, to play fast and loose with is 

hackneyed. 

play the game. As a term for acting honorably, 

play the game is not as worn a clichC in America 

as it is in England. It is known and is used somewhat 

by those who admire the English and their 

ways, but, despite pious public pronouncements 

by coaches, a game is still, to the average American, 

a contest and winning more important than 

displaying good form and delicate consideration. 

An admonition to play the game would, by many 

Americans, be regarded as a request to stop 

bickering about the rules and get on with the 

struggle. 

play with fire. As a term for trifling with something 

dangerous, especially in amatory matters, 

play with fire is worn smooth by repetition. 

plead. The past tense is pleaded or pled. The participle 

is also pleaded or pled. 

Pled may also be spelled plead, following the 

pattern of the past tense of the verb read. In the 

United States pleaded and pled are both acceptable 

for the past tense and for the participle. In 

Great Britain only the form pleaded is used and 

pled is considered an Americanism. 

The -ing form of a verb after pleud guilty requires 

the preposition to, as in he pleaded guilty 

to stealing the watch. When used after guilty 

alone it requires of, as in he was guilty of steuling 

the watch. 

please. When please is used in a full verb form it 

may be followed by an infinitive, as in he will 

be pleased to see you and I do not please to go. 

372 

When it is used merely as a softener it is followed 

by the simple form of the verb, as in 

please come. Come in this construction is an 

imperative and the use of an infinitive, as 

in please to come, is not standard. See also 

kindly. 

pleasure. See happiness. 

plectrum. The plural is plectrums or plectra. 

pled. See plead. 

plenitude, for fullness, abundance, completeness 

(The moon in her plenitude. The plenitude of 

the power of a king), is now chiefly a literary 

word. 

plenteous; plentiful. These words are synonyms 

meaning copious, abundant, existing in great 

plenty. Of the two, plentiful is to be preferred in 

ordinary use. Plenteous is chiefly literary. 

plenty. In standard English plenty is a noun and 

is joined to other nouns by of, as in we have 

plenty of time. It may stand alone without a following 

noun, as in I have plenty. At one time u 

plenty was literary English, but this is now out 

of fashion. Plenty may be used with a singular 

or a plural verb, depending on whether it refers 

to something that is thought of as a unit or to a 

collection of individuals, as in there is plenty of 

sugar and there are plenty of glasses. 

Plenty may be followed by more, with or without 

a noun. We may say there is plenty more or 

there is plenty more sugar. 

Plenty is sometimes used immediately before 

a noun, as if it were an adjective, as in we have 

plenty time and plenty money. This is following 

a Scottish idiom which drops of after vague 

measurements, as in a bit paper, a drap whisky. 

The construction is not thoroughly established 

in the United States, but it is used by Scottish 

writers, such as Robert Louis Stevenson, and is 

acceptable to many well educated people. 

Plenty is also used before adjectives, as in 

plenty long, plenty high. When plenty means 

enough, this construction has the same standing 

as the one just discussed, where plenty is used 

before a noun. But when plenty means extremely, 

as in plenty tired, plenty angry, the construction 


pleonasms. A redundant or unnecessary word that 

merely repeats what has already been said is 

called a pleonasm. In 1589, a grammarian 

wrote: “The first surplusage the Greeks call 

pleonasmus (I call him too full speech) and is 

no great fault.” Since then, some grammarians 

have taken the stand that any unnecessary word 

is a grammatical mistake. Two natural English 

constructions have suffered, perhaps fatally, under 

this attack. See double negatives and hotensive 

pronouns. 

In general, pleonasms are a question of style 

or taste, not grammar. One may say the reason 

or the reason why, gather or gather together. 

Before anyone decides never to use a pleonastic 

word, he should ask himself how many of his 

sentences are necessary. A man who never said 

an unnecessary word would say very little during 

a long life and would not be pleasant company. 

Similarly, inside a sentence the mere 

sound, the mere number of syllables used, is

sometimes more important than the bare meaning 

of the words. In writing, as in conversation, 

an economical use of words is not always what 

we want. See also redundancy. 

plethora is properly a medical term, meaning an 

overfullness of blood. The word was much used 

to describe the condition that required bleeding, 

when bleeding was a common treatment. Today 

it is used to describe a morbid condition due to 

an excess of blood in the body. 

The use of the word to mean any superabundance 

(We have a plethora of wit but very 

little factual information) is a little affected and 

bookish. If so used, it must not mean abundance, 

but a harmful excess over abundance. 

plexus. The plural is plexuses or plexus, not plexi. 

pliers. When referring to the instrument, the word 

means a single instrument but is usually treated 

as a plural, as in these pliers are too large. It 

may also be treated as a singular, as in try a 

diflerent pliers, but the construction try n tfiflerent 

pair of pliers is generally preferred The 

construction with pair must be used after a numeral, 

as in three pairs of pliers. The form pliers 

is used as the first element in a compound, as in 

a pliers case. 

The singular plier means one who plies and is 

never used in referring to the instrument. 

plight. See predicament. 

plight one’s troth. As a term for becoming engaged, 

plighting a trot/l is a stale elegancy of the 

feebler society columns. Neither plight (in this 

sense) nor troth has been in common use for 

well over a hundred years. 

plot thickens. As a serious comment on the increasing 

complexity of the action of a play or 

novel or even of things in general, the plot 

thickens has been a clichk for almost a century. 

As a humorous remark it is now also a clich6. 

plough the sands. As a term for an effort which 

by its very nature is doomed to sterility, plough 

the sands is hackneyed. It is a cliche of the 

learned, one of those pseudo-earthy sayings by 

means of which bookish men attempt to disguise 

themselves as men of practical affairs. 

pluck. See guts. 

plump. See fat. 

plurality. See majority. 

plural nouns 

USES 

A plural noun means more than one of a 

certain kind of thing, as do books, crowds, 

people. In this work a noun is called a true 

plural when it can be used with a numeral or a 

word implying more than one, as three books, 

several crowds, many people. True plurals are 

qualified by these and those, used with plural 

verbs, and referred to by plural pronouns. (For 

words that refer to two things only, see dual 

words.) 

Not every noun that is followed by a plural 

verb is plural. Singular nouns are sometimes 

used with plural meaning and are sometimes 

followed by plural verbs. (See singular nouns, 

group names, generic nouns.) Not every noun 

that ends in s is a plural. Sometimes it is a genitive. 

And sometimes it is impossible to say 

373 plural nouns 

whether it is a genitive or a plural. (See genitive 

case, measures, adverbial genitive.) Some 

nouns ending in s, such as gallows, hydraulics, 

nervs, are treated as if they were singulars. 

Some, such as clothes, dregs, munitions, are 

treated sometimes as singulars and sometimes 

as plurals. See mass nouns. 

Nouns may be made from the -ing form of a 

verb and from adjectives by adding s, as in surroundings, 

flannels, shorts, heroics, economics. 

These words do not have a singular and a plural 

form. Sometimes they are treated entirely as 

singulars but more often they are treated in 

certain respects as plurals. As a rule such words 

are qualified by these or those and not by this 

or that, are used with a plural verb, and referred 

to as they, as in these surroundings are depressing 

but I don’t know how to change them. But 

because they do not have singular forms they 

are not qualified by words implying number. We 

do not speak of several surroundings. Adjective 

nouns that are the names of garments are sometimes 

used with a numeral, as in I have three 

slacks. This is a shortening of three pairs of 

slacks and is acceptable to some people but 

not to others. The names of most branches of 

science, such as physics, optics, economics, are 

also nouns made from adjectives. These words 

are regularly treated as singular when they refer 

to a system of thought, as in his ethics is not 

based on religion. But otherwise they are defective 

plurals like the other adjective nouns in s 

and are used with a plural verb, as in his ethics 

are admirable. 

Some true plural nouns that can be used with 

numerals, such as people, clergy, police, do not 

have a singular. As a rule, these have developed 

from singular group names. Words of this 

kind are listed individually in this dictionary. 

Many singular nouns, such as knowledge and 

mankind, do not have plural forms. This is the 

case as long as we feel that the word means just 

one thing. As soon as someone believes that it 

refers to more than one thing, he coins a plural 

form. For example, astronomers and philosophers 

talk about universes, and social workers 

talk about strengths, although most people use 

these words only in the singular. New plurals of 

this kind are quite legitimate provided the word 

actually has two distinguishable meanings, that 

is, provided it refers to at least two things that 

are definablv different. This is not true. for example, 

of t

FORMATION 

Almost all English plurals are made by adding 

s to the singular form. If the singular ends in y 

following a consonant, the y is changed to ie before 

adding s, as in skies, armies, studies. But 

the y is not changed after a vowel, as in toys, 

nor in a proper name, as in the fortr Marys. If 

the singular ends in ch, sh, s, X, or z, so that an 

extra syllable must be used in pronouncing the 

plural, es is added to the singular and not simply 

s, as in churches, fishes, masses, foxes, buzzes. 

All plural nouns in general use that are not 

formed according to this pattern are listed individually 

in this dictionary. These fall into four 

groups. 

1. There are a few plural forms in modern 

English that are survivals from a time when the 

language had more than one way of making the 

plural. Some of these, such as deer, have the 

same form in the singular and in the plural. 

Some, such as mouse and mice, change the 

vowel. Some, such as leaf and leaves, change an 

f to v. And a few are even more irregular. All 

such nouns have been listed. 

2. A few words that end in o following a 

consonant form the plural by adding es, as in 

tomato and tomatoes. But many more words of 

exactly this kind may have either s or es in the 

plural, as in buffalos or buffaloes. (A plural in 

es is permitted, but not required, for some nouns 

ending in i, as in alkalis or alkalies.) Nouns that 

may have either s or es in the plural are not 

shown in this dictionary, but nouns that are used 

frequently and require es are listed. To use an s 

instead of es in an unfamiliar word that does not 

often appear in print, such as bilbo, bubo, ginkgo, 

is not a serious mistake. 

3. Figures and letters used as words may 

form the plural with an apostrophe and s, as in 

the 1920’s and three N’s, But the apostrophe is 

not necessary. Some publishers prefer the 1920s 

and three Ns. 

4. There are a great many words in English 

that have foreign plural forms, such as alumni 

and alrlmnae. In some cases the foreign plural 

is the only standard form, and it must therefore 

be used. More often, there is also an English 

plural which is equally acceptable, and one may 

use whichever form suits his purpose. Any noun 

in general use that has only an irregular or un- 

English plural can be found in this dictionary. 

Several hundred others which have a regular 

as well as an irregular plural are also listed. 

See foreign plurals. 

COMPOUNDS 

Most compound nouns, whether they are written 

as one word or two. have a regular plural 

formed by adding s to the final element, as in 

forget-me-riots, good-bys, homecomings. In a 

very few, the first element and not the last is 

made plural. There are five kinds of words in 

which this may be the case. 

1. In literary English, agent nouns in er that 

are made from a verb and an adverb add the 

plural s to the er and not to the adverb, as in 

lookers-on and onlookers. Forms such as lookerons 

are heard but are not standard. The same 

374 

rule holds for the -ing form of compound verbs. 

That is, comings-in and goings-out are preferred 

to coming-ins and going-outs in literary English. 

However, nouns made from the simple verb plus 

an adverb have regular plurals, with s added to 

the final element, as in upsets, set-ups, shakedowns. 

2. Compounds made up of a noun, a preposition, 

and a second noun, traditionally form the 

plural by making the first noun, which is the 

principal word, plural, as in sons-in-law and 

coats of mail. This rule is usually observed with 

words that are not often used, or not often used 

in the plural, such as coats of mail and Commanders 

in Chief. But in the United States the 

familiar in-law terms are often given a regular 

plural, as in son-in-laws. This offends many people, 

but it is widely used and is likely to become 

the standard form. The objection, that this 

makes the plural indistinguishable from the genitive, 

is irrelevant since most English plurals are 

indistinguishable from the genitive. When the 

first word in a prepositional compound is an 

adjective and not a noun, the plural is always 

formed regularly, as in good-for-nothings. 

3. In some compounds a noun is followed by 

an adjective, in the French manner. Formerly, 

words of this kind always formed the plural by 

changing the first element, the noun, as in attorneys 

general, courts martial, knights errant. This 

is still the practice in Great Britain. But in the 

United States such words are more often treated 

as a unit and given a regular plural, as in uttorney 

generals, court martials, knight errants. 

4. Compounds with and, such as whiskey and 

soda, brace and bit, form plurals in all the possible 

ways-whiskey and sodas, whiskeys and 

sodas, whiskeys and soda. The regular form, 

whiskey and sodas, is preferred. 

5. Some compounds with man or woman as 

the first element change both elements in the 

plural, as in menservants, men dancers. (See 

man and woman.) For all other words this 

“double plural” is contrary to the traditional 

rules of English. See singolar nouns. 

Questions of whether to write a compound as 

one word or two words or to use a hyphen are 

discussed under compound words. 

P.M., p.m. See A.M., a.m. 

pocketbook; purse. To an Englishman a pocketbook 

is a small book, usually a notebook, to be 

carried in the pocket, or a booklike case for 

papers, bank notes, bills. To an American a 

pocketbook is a small bag or case for papers, 

money, etc., usually carried by a handle or in the 

pocket. In America only is pocketbook used in 

the figurative sense of pecuniary resources (Our 

prices are designed for the light pocketbook). 

Pocketbook to describe a small book was once 

chiefly British, but with the increasing sale in 

recent years of small paper-backed books called 

Pocket Books on newsstands and in bookstores 

in America, the term is well understood to mean 

any small paper-backed book, even though many 

such books would never conform to the dimensions 

implied. 

A purse is a small bag, pouch, or case for

carrying money on the person. The word is more 

used in America than in England in its literal 

sense but serves figuratively in England, as 

pocketbook does in America, to denote money, 

resources, or wealth (During the war many English 

people grew accustomed to living on a very 

slim purse). Purse has the special senses, in both 

countries, of a sum of money collected as a 

present or offered as a prize (A purse was 

quickly raised to pay for the operation. The 

purse for the final race was the largest of the 

afternoon). 

poet; poetess. Poet is the correct word to describe 

one who composes poetry, regardless of sex. 

Poetess, a female poet, emphasizes the sex of the 

writer when the sex is largely irrelevant, unlike 

that of an actress whose femininity is essential 

to her art. Poetess, then, though not incorrect, 

seems unnecessary. Both poet and poetesx are 

used of women who write poetry, but poet is the 

better term. For instance, the writer of the flyleaf 

blurb to Edmund Wilson’s I Thought of 

Daisv (1953) savs. “The hero is in love with 

two women:’ one is the highly emotional and 

unpredictable poetess, Rita . . .“; yet in the text 

(p. 1) Mr. Wilson writes, “Rita Cavanagh, the 

poet, was to be there . . .” and in his Foreword 

he refers to “Rita, the romantic poet.” 

poetic diction may mean the language used in 

verse, or a particular choice of words fashionable 

for the poetry of a given literary period. 

Just as there are certain fashionable words in 

conversation, so there are vogue words in poetry. 

Out of these words each age constructs a poetic 

diction which second-rate poets, conscious1.y or 

unconsciously, adopt. Thus contemporary verse 

is spattered heavily with such words as lonely, 

horrible, uncomplaining and improbable, words 

authorized by the usage of such first-rate poets 

as Yeats. Eliot and Auden. 

Yet while bad poetic diction results from such 

selection of language at random according to 

current fashion, there is also a good poetic 

diction, a selection of language on supportable 

principles and for a reasonable purpose. At least 

since Aristotle composed his Poetics, critics have 

urged poets to employ a dignified, noble vocabulary. 

The history of poetry has been the history of 

the hardening of poetic language into a certain 

sort of diction followed by a revolt which has led 

to a different sort of diction which in its turn 

has hardened and been rejected. 

The last great revolutionary to whom poetry 

in English is indebted was William Wordsworth, 

who, in his Preface to Lyrical B&ads (1800), 

proposed that poetry be written “in a selection 

of language really used by men,” since there was 

no “essential difference between the language of 

prose and metrical composition.” 

Wordsworth was protesting particularly 

against the elegant, archaic, circumlocutory diction 

which had almost frozen the stream of 

poetry in the eighteenth century. It is heard in 

Gray’s Elegy, in such phrases as the lowing herd 

for COWS, the stubborn glebc for fallow land, 

and so on. But it is not offensive there because 

375 poetic diction 

Gray’s genius was great enough to infuse life 

into even such husks of verbiage. To see more 

clearly what Wordsworth was objecting to (and 

Johnson. bv the wav. in the 77th Idler. “Easv 

Writing”), ine has ;o read the now mercifully 

forgotten minor poets of the day, or our own 

society and sport pages, where the tradition 

lingers in unspeakably repulsive moldiness. One 

finds it in those who, moved perhaps by “ambition 

of ornament and luxuriance of imagery,” 

insist on calling bananas elongated yellow 

fruit. 

In a far-off way they are being Miltonic. 

They are living-if people who speak that way 

can be said to live-in the dim afterglow of a 

once-great light. Shakespeare, a notorious barbarian, 

had used such vulgar phrases as the 

blanket of the dark and to grunt and sweat under 

the weary load. But Milton, over-educated, 

aloof, fastidious and, above all, “organ-voiced,” 

had set a new style. To him a telescope was an 

ontic alass and Galileo the Tuscan artist. Hell is 

bbttomless perdition and the denizens thereof 

the Stygian throng. 

This was not entirely a love of resonance and 

circumlocution. The immense vagueness of his 

language served to suggest the indescribable: 

Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime. 

And in many great combinations (such as darkness 

visible and the vast abrupt and horror 

plum’d) Milton did indeed soar above the Aeonian 

mount. 

But one man’s idiom can be another’s idiocy 

and Milton’s mighty harmonies, applied by lesser 

men to lesser themes, produced the stilted 

absurdity of the eighteenth century’s poetic diction, 

the language of whose inebriations elongated 

yellow fruit is a dying hiccup. 

There had been some of it before Milton. 

Spenser had called cows milky mothers and Lyly 

had shown that ten syllables could often do the 

work of one; but there is little doubt that the 

language against which Wordsworth protested 

was, to a considerable extent, a bad imitation 

of Milton. Fish became the finny tribe or the 

fruitful spawn of ocean. Flowers appeared as the 

vernal bloom. When applied externally, water 

was the crystal element and it laved the corporeal 

frame after strenuous exertion to remove that 

roscid balm of which our best friends are reluctant 

to tell us. Furs were Muscovy’s warm 

spoils; bed, th’ enfeebling down. And so on. 

Long forgotten now as a poet but deserving 

some remembrance as the supreme perpetrator 

of this particular kind of polysyllabic poppycock 

is Dr. John Armstrong whose The Art of Preserving 

Health (1744) (which discusses “How 

best the fickle fabric to support/ Of Mortal 

man”) ran through many editions. From this 

treasury of tripe it is hard to make a fitting 

selection; there is such an alluring wealth of bad 

writing in it. One seizes upon a description of 

appetite as the grinding stomach’s hungry rage 

only to desert it for a reference to an egg as 

the sleeping Embryo. Perhaps full justice can 

only be done by quotation from a longer pas-

poetic diction 376 

sage. such as his statement that the air is bad in 

cities and would be fatal were it not, fortunately, 

disinfected by the sulphur in coal smoke. Even 

so, however, it is unhealthy, and he urges his 

readers to Iive in the country: 

Fly the rank city, shun its turbid air: 

Breathe not the chaos of eternal smoke 

And volatile corruption . . . 

. . . and (tho’ the lungs abhor 

To drink the dun fuliginous abyss) 

Did not the acid vigor of the mine, 

Roll’d from so many thundring chimneys, 

tame 

The putrid salts that overswarm the sky; 

This caustic venom would perhaps corrode 

Those tender cells that draw the vital air, 

In vain with all their unctuous rills bedew’d; 

Or by the drunken venous tubes, that yawn 

In countless pores o’er all the pervious skin. 

Imbib’d, would poison the balsamic blood, 

And rouse the heart to every fever’s rage. 

While yet you breathe, away! the rural wilds 

Invite. 

Though Wordsworth’s own verse, in general, 

illustrated his protest, he did not succeed in persuading 

most of the major nineteenth century 

poets who followed him to use the common 

language of common nineteenth century men. 

Coleridge, Rossetti and Morris drew heavily on 

the language of medieval ballads. Keats and 

Tennyson contrived a diction indebted to Spenser, 

Shakespeare and Milton. Landor, Arnold 

and Swinburne drew a great deal from the 

vocabulary of Greek tragedy. 

The Wordsworthian revolution was not really 

carried out until the twentieth century, when the 

Americans, Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot, made 

it clear that any word might be allowable in 

poetry if it were appropriate to the genre, tone 

and aim of a poem. One is surprised no longer 

to find in poetry the “language of men.” Modern 

poets have gone beyond Wordsworth-who felt 

that such language should first be “purified”to 

use slang, profanity and obscenity and even 

foreign words in their work. The last seven lines 

of The Waste Land, for instance, contain words 

in English, Italian, French and Sanskrit and the 

meaning of Ezra Pound’s Cantos-if there is a 

meaning-is hidden in Chinese ideographs. 

Thus while the term poetic diction may be 

(and usually is) a fault-finding one, since it 

tends to be used of the language of derivative 

poets, it need not be so. Poetic diction may describe 

the language really used by real poets, a 

language drawn from the whole range of our 

vocabulary but used more economically, more 

suggestively, more musically than is possible for 

versifiers and other ordinary men. 

poetic license is the liberty taken by a poet in 

deviating from rule, conventional form, logic, or 

fact, in order to produce a desired effect. This 

may involve departure from prose word order 

or the selection of diction, rhyme or pronunciation 

appropriate to the requirements of a chosen 

metrical pattern. 

A bad poet may think he is being poetic when 

he writes such lines as: 

He did adore her eyes divine 

Which seemed to say, “Swain, I am thine 

Because thou art so masculine.” 

Here the license is obvious: the expletive use of 

did in “did adore” for the simple past adored; 

the inversion of order of adjective and noun in 

eyes divine in the interests of rhyme; the use of 

an archaic diction in such words as swain, thine, 

art: the forced mispronunciation of masculine in 

the interest of rhyme. 

Because bad poetry may contain a good deal 

of this sort of thing, one cannot assume that 

good poetry will contain none of it. In the 

achievement of the desired effect any poet is 

free to depart from the norms imposed by prose. 

Thus Frost gains force by an inversion of normal 

word order in the opening line of “Mending 

Wall”: Something there is that doesn’t love a 

wall. 

point, as a noun, may be used in about fifty distinct 

senses. Some of these are peculiar to either 

England or the United States. In relation to 

travel, point is used in the United States as place 

or station would be in England (Milwaukee, 

Mir.neapolis, and points west). In American 

schools, especially in the colleges, point often 

signifies a single credit, usually corresponding to 

an hour’s class work per week for one semester 

(He needs several more points before he can 

be regarded as an upperclassman). Where an 

American says point or pen-point, an Englishman 

says nib. Where an American says exclamation 

point or exclamation mark, an Englishman 

says point of exclamation or mark of exclamation. 

The English use point in railroading to 

describe a tapering movable rail, as in a switch. 

point-blank is a term, now largely outmoded, from 

gunnery. A shot was said to be point-blank when 

the barrel of the gun was aimed directly at its 

object and the ball moved towards the target 

without describing any appreciable curve. Pointblank 

range is the distance a missile will travel, 

from a horizontal barrel, before falling below 

the level from which it is fired. 

The conditions that permitted point-blank firing 

were those that led to the most dreadful 

carnage and the term became a trope for blunt 

and uncompromising rejection or repulse, brutal 

frankness. But point-blank refusal and pointblank 

denial are now cliches, their meaning generally 

forgotten and their force spent. 

point of view. Jeremy Bentham once made a list 

of motives, naming each motive in three cc!umns, 

according as it was approved by the 

speaker, tolerated, or disapproved of. Thus “love 

of the social board” appeared in one column and 

“gluttony” in its opposite. 

This is an interesting exercise for the writer 

because he must be aware of the manner in 

which our values, prejudices and passions reveal 

themselves in our choice of words. He must be 

aware, for example, that the woman whom 

others regard as “skinny” may regard herself

as “slender,” that one who considers himself 

“broad-minded” may be considered “unprincipled” 

by others, that “tact” and “hypocri:.y,” 

“fluency” and “glibness,” and “frankness” and 

“brutality” may describe the same actions to different 

people. It may be that the only difference 

between a man’s having “initiative” and being 

“a trouble maker” is whether or not we happen 

to approve of his ends. The proverb of the ea.rly 

bird is strictly for the birds; it offers no incentive 

for early rising to worms. 

Point of view is inherent in almost every 

statement that passes a judgment and is often 

found in words and phrases that seem, superficially, 

to be purely descriptive. Thus in our references 

to China and Japan as “the East” we 

unconsciously reveal the fact that our worldoutlook 

is European. And, still more striking, 

Japan, in her emblem of the Rising Sun, may 

reveal the same point of view. What an extraordinary 

comment on the insincerity of some of 

our democratic pretensions lies in our use of the 

word “exclusive” as a term of the highest 

commendation! 

The writer must not only “see people as they 

are”-that is, as they seem to him-but he must 

see them as other people see them as they atre! 

And he must accept the fact that under different 

circumstances different points of view can all be 

valid. To Hamlet Polonius is a “wretched, ra.sh, 

intruding fool,” a pompous, subservient dotard 

with weak hams and a weaker wit. To Ophelia 

he is a stern but loving father. To King Claudius 

he is a trusted counselor and to Queen Gertrude 

“the good old man.” So completely does Shakespeare 

lead us to sympathize with Macbeth that 

we are startled, and almost offended, when after 

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are dead Malcolm 

refers to them as “this dead butcher and his 

fiend-like Queen.” We don’t believe in “anthropophagi 

and men whose heads do grow beneath 

their shoulders,” but we are shocked when Iago 

says that Othello won Desdemona’s love “bv 

bragging and telling her fantastical lies.” 

- 

The ability to imagine a whollv different noint 

of view is one of the surest indications of-high 

intelligence and often serves in itself to make a 

book, The secret of H. G. Wells’s The JYar of 

the Worlds is not that he had the power to create, 

in his Martians, something before unconceived, 

but that under disguise of the Martians he presented 

the white man much as he must heave 

seemed to savages on their first disastrous c’ontact 

with him. Virginia Woolf in Flush makes a 

much more successful attempt, one feels, to 

present life as a dog would experience it than 

does, say, Jack London in White Fang or 1% 

Call of the Wild. 

One of the advantages of wit and paradox is 

that by shifting the viewpoint thev force us to 

look at life from unaccustomed points of v:iew 

and so enlarge the boundaries of truth. 

A new point of view always comes as a shock 

to us. We don’t regard our own point of view as 

a point of view at all; rather it seems to us the 

obvious, the only way of looking at the situation. 

We rarely say “This is the way it seems to one 

with my limitations and predilections,” but 

rather “This is the way it is,” “Anyone with an 

ounce of sense can see,” etc. And when someone 

does not see it that way, we are taken aback. 

Ivor Brown says that he once asked an attendant 

at Highgate Cemetery how to find Karl Marx’s 

grave. The attendant gave him the necessary instructions 

and then, to make sure, added, “Look 

for the name of Scrimmage. It’s behind that.” 

point of view; viewpoint; standpoint. While all 

these terms have their legitimate uses, all are 

overworked and abused. Point of view (and, to 

a lesser extent, viewpoint and standpoint-with 

its annoying elaboration from where I stand) is 

often used merely to make a clumsy paraphrase 

of an adverb. Nothing is gained, for example, by 

saying from the political point of view. Politically 

would serve better. What does from the 

point of view of maintenance plastic tile has 

many advantages say that is not said as well in 

such a sentence as plastic tile is easier to maintain 

or more economical to maintain? The 

more abstract the point of view alluded to, the 

further removed from the possibility of a physical 

viewpoint (as in from the point of view of 

regional planning or the point of view of resources 

development), the greater the likelihood 

of ambiguity and confusion. It is not a fault that 

can be remedied by merely substituting one word 

for another. The whole sentence has to be rewritten 

and the thought behind it clarified. Perhaps 

the concept of “vision,” which plays so 

large a part in business jargon and advertising 

rhetoric and spawns angles, outlooks, phases, 

aspects, and other such metaphors of augury and 

prognostication, is at bottom to blame. See view, 

angle. 

poise. See pose. 

poison. See venom. 

police. When this word means the police force, 

and this is the only sense in which the word is 

used in the United States today, it is always 

treated as a plural. It is followed by a plural 

verb, as in the police are looking for him, and 

may be used with a numeral, as in twenty police 

were on the scene. But the word has no singular. 

One member of the force is a policeman. In 

order to speak of the force as a unit it is necessary 

to use the word force (The police force is 

efficient). 

policy and polity derive from the same Latin word 

meaning government. But their meanings are 

now clearly distinguishable. Polity is the more 

reputable and dignified term, for it conveys an 

idea of permanence. It describes a particular 

form of government, civil, ecclesiastical, or 

other. Richard Hooker’s famous defense of the 

Church of England was entitled The Lnws of 

Ecclesiastical Polity. Policy refers not to permanent 

principles but to courses of action. Primarily 

it means a definite course of action 

adopted as expedient or from other considerations 

(Our policy is to give the customer what 

he wants), a course or line of action adopted and 

pursued by a government, ruler, political party,

polish 378 

or the like (Our foreign policy often bears little 

intelligible relation to the national polity), action 

or procedure conforming to, or considered with 

reference to, prudence or expediency (It is a good 

policy for a man with a knife at his throat to 

stand still. Honesty is the best policy). 

There are really two words policy in our language 

that have coalesced. One, as above, derives 

from the Latin word for government. But 

the other derives from a Greek word meaning a 

showing or a setting forth. In both England and 

America a policy may be a document setting 

forth the terms of a contract of insurance (I 

took out my first policy when I was fifteen). In 

the United States only, policy is also a method 

of gambling in which bets are made on numbers 

to be drawn by lottery. 

polish and burnish both mean to make smooth 

and glossy, especially by friction, but in general 

use polish is to be preferred. One may polish 

floors, shoes, furniture, and so on. Burnish is 

used only with reference to metals (His face 

shone like burnished copper). 

polite; courteous; civil; urbane. A civil man is, 

basically, one who fulfills his duties as a citizen, 

especially in the observance of those forms and 

ceremonies which serve to preserve the peace. 

He may be cold and distant, but he abstains from 

rough or abusive language, gives to every man 

his due, and observes all common forms of general 

respect for others. A polite man has a somewhat 

greater measure of kindness in his good 

manners. He is refined and sensitive and observes 

the forms of civility out of a desire to 

please. Courteous, derived originally from the 

conduct one found and practiced in the courts 

of princes, is a slightly stronger word than polite. 

The courteous man is polite and kind, but is also 

graceful, dignified, and complaisant. The word 

formerly had a sense of coldness about it, the 

practice of elaborate manners for their own sake 

as a social ritual, but in contemporary usage it 

connotes more of the warmth of sincere kindness. 

Urbane means cityish and denotes manners 

which are polished to an especial suavity and 

agreeableness, especially in the not giving or taking 

of offense, but are not necessarily moved by 

any great inner kindness or affection. 

politic and expedient are both adjectives meaning 

prudent and sagacious, but expedient (from 

Latin words meaning to free a man who is caught 

by the foot) is more practical in its connotations 

than politic. Expedient is concerned with means, 

politic with ends. Politic means wise and prudent, 

with far-reaching consequences held in a longterm 

view (Pillage and devastation are seldom 

politic, even when they are supposed to be just), 

though it has also a baser meaning of crafty, 

cunning, and artful (Cromwell’s fanaticism 

seems to have been in a measure politic). Expedient, 

emphasizing a tendency to promote some 

proposed or desired object, is often used disparagingly, 

in the sense that it represents a falling 

away from an ideal course of action (It was 

expedient to promise a quick end to the war in 

the interest of a successful cam,vaign). 

politician; statesman. In Elizabethan English a 

politician might be one versed in the science of 

government, but he was more likely to be a sinister 

schemer, a crafty, self-seeking, dangerous 

man (I am whipped and scourged with rods,/ 

Nettled and stung with pismires, when Z hear/ 

Of this vile politician Bolingbroke). In contemporary 

American usage this disparagement lingers, 

but it has been softened a little. A politician 

is considered by many of us to be one who 

resorts to various schemes and devices, who engages 

in petty political maneuvers for purely 

partisan or personal ends (The Governor is 

merely a politician). Among those who accept 

politics as a necessity or a profession, there is no 

such contempt and the term, though freely granting 

many of the implications that make it pejorative 

to idealists and non-politicians, is even used 

in admiration (Say what you want about Truman, 

the man was a consummate politician). 

Statesman in contemporary American usage is 

wholly laudatory. It suggests eminent ability, 

foresight, and unselfish devotion to the interests 

of the country (Mr. Baruch is among the most 

distinguished of our elder statesmen). 

In England politician and statesman are both 

wholly laudatory, but there is a distinction in 

their meanings. Politician is still used in the 

traditional sense of one versed in the science of 

government. The London Daily Mirror, for example, 

on December 15. 1954, named Sir Anthony 

Eden the politician of the year for his 

work at the Geneva Conference and the London 

Conference on German Rearmament. Such a 

term would never have been bestowed in commendation 

in the United States for such distinguished 

service. In England all members of 

Parliament are, by courtesy, termed politicians, 

A statesman in England is an M.P. or a Cabinet 

Minister who has great influence and exercises 

it wisely. The difference between the terms in 

England, then, is not based on virtue but on 

power. 

politicly and politically are not variant spellings 

but adverbs with separate meanings. Politicly 

refers to action characterized by policy, sagacious, 

prudent, expedient, or judicious. Politically 

means pertaining to or dealing with politics or a 

political party. 

politics. Formerly this word was regularly used 

with a plural verb, as in politics have been defined 

as the art of governing mankind by deceiving 

them. Today it is more often used with a 

singular verb, as in politics makes strange bedfellows. 

Either form is acceptable. 

The adjectives politic and political come from 

the same source and once meant pertaining to 

the state. Today politic means prudent, except 

in the expression body politic where it has its 

old sense. Political, which now means having to 

do with politics, has remained closer to the original 

meaning. 

polypus. The plural is polypuses or polypi. 

pommel; pummel. In England pommel is the 

usual spelling for the noun, pummel for the verb. 

In America pommel is the preferred spelling for

oth noun and verb. As a noun, pommel means 

a knob, as on the hilt of a sword, or the protuberant 

part at the front and top of a saddle. 

As a verb, pommel means to strike or beat with 

or as with the pommel or with the fist. 

pond in English usage means an artificial pool. 

In American usage it can also mean a small 

natural lake (The ducks seek these lonely ponds 

and marshes in the breeding season). 

Pony. From its basic meaning of a horse of a 

small type, not over fourteen hands high, pony 

has acquired several specialized meanings in the 

United States. In American slang a pony lmay 

be a translation or other illicit aid used by a 

student to avoid doing his own work. This, in its 

turn, has led to another word, a synonym, .trot. 

The English slang for an illicit translation is 

crib. In U. S. speech pony is used for a small 

glass of liquor (He always downed a pony of 

brandy before he stepped out on the stage’). It 

has also been adopted to describe a book or 

magazine of small size (In 1942 Time began 

publishing a “pony edition,” a miniature m,agazine 

for overseas distribution). 

The British have a curious slang use of pony 

that can have nothing to do with smallness: it 

means twenty-five pounds sterling. Among English 

stockbrokers (says Partridge in his Dictionary 

of Slang and Unconventional English) a 

pony is twenty-five one-thousand-pound shares! 

poor; impecunious; indigent; impoverished; peuniless; 

penurious. Poor is the simple, everyday 

term for the condition of lacking the means to 

obtain the comforts of life (And cold the poor 

man lies at night). Impecunious is formal. It has 

a Micawberish quality to it that gives it a tinge 

of jocosity (The alcoholic richness of the gentleman’s 

breath made it plain that anything given 

to relieve his impecunious state would soon be 

disbursed in the nearest tavern). If used :seriously, 

it is a little over-elegant (The solicitations 

of the impecunious children are profoundly 

moving). Zndigent is also a formal word, but a 

cold one, used in economic reports and the like 

(an almshouse for the reception of the indigent). 

The poor we have with us always; the indi,gent 

we encounter only in learned treatises. Zmpoverished 

usually implies a former state of plenty 

from which one has been reduced (an impoverished 

nobleman, living in fierce isolation). A 

poor soil is a soil lacking in the substances 

necessary for proper plant growth. An impoverished 

soil 1s one that once had such substances 

but has been deprived of them by leaching, 

erosion, windstorms, improper management, and 

so on. 

Penniless can mean destitute (Left penniless 

with three small children, she cast about for 

some means of subsistence), though it is sometimes 

used more lightly to designate a temporary 

lack of funds. Though penury still means poverty 

(as it did in Gray’s Chill penury repre,ssed 

their noble rage) and penurious used to mean 

poverty-stricken (Dives, rich in this world, became 

exceedingly penurious in the other-16 14), 

it now means only niggardly, stingy (Though he 

379 porch 

is rich, he is penurious, begrudging every penny 

spent). 

poor as a church mouse. Some modern churches, 

with their social halls, cafeterias, ladies’ guild 

teas, receptions, box-suppers, father-and-son 

banquets, and the like, may offer opportunities 

for many a mouse to grow sleek and fat. But in 

the bare, unheated churches of our forefathers, 

restricted to exhortation, prayer and meditation, 

and where there fell only crumbs of grace, a 

mouse would have been poor (lean and emaciated, 

sickly and feeble) indeed. The phrase is 

now enfeebled by repetition and devoid of much 

of its meaning. 

poor but honest, used humorously, is a cliche, 

stemming, Partridge believes, from its use in a 

humorous ballad which was popular about 1910. 

It is interesting that in the ballad honest had the 

Elizabethan meaning of chaste. 

poor thing, but mine own. Touchstone did not 

refer to Audrey as a poor thing, but mine own, 

but as a poor virgin, sir, an ill-favour’d [ugly] 

thing, sir, but mine own. The corrupted (and 

weakened) form is now a cliche. 

poppycock is evidence of the power of usage to 

sanction anything. An exclamation of annoyance 

and ridicule at something regarded as pretentious 

nonsense, it parallels a vulgar and unprintable 

expletive. Poppycock is particularly favored, 

as an expression of disgust, by the prim; yet it is 

merely a colloquial Dutch word, taken over by 

Americans, meaning a cake of semi-liquid (paplike) 

dung. 

populace and population refer to a large group 

of people collectively, but the first connotes a 

degree of condescension or contempt and the 

second is an objective, descriptive term. Populace 

means the common people of a community, as 

distinguished from the higher classes. Matthew 

Arnold, in his book Culture and Anarchy, entitled 

a chapter on upper, middle, and lower 

classes “Barbarians, Philistines, Populace.” Population 

means the total number of persons inhabiting 

a country, city, or any district or area 

(The rise in the population is sure to overburden 

the schools). 

populace and populous both refer to people, but 

the first is a noun and the second is an adjective. 

Populace carries a derogatory connotation, for 

it means common people not simply as a class 

label but in the contemptuous sense of the mob, 

the great unwashed. Populous, the adjective, 

means full of people or inhabitants, well populated. 

It conveys no moral comment on the 

people as people but emphasizes their numerical 

size (Belgium is one of the most populous countries 

in the world). 

porch; piazza; veranda. For the open portico or 

gallery, usually roofed and sometimes partly 

enclosed, attached to the exterior of a house, 

porch is now the everyday word. Piazza, borrowed 

apparently from the colonnaded Piazza 

San Marco in Venice, is now distinctly oldfashioned, 

rustic-elegant, and, even so, limited to 

a few localities. Veranda (also verandah) is 

more widely used than piazza, but it too is fad

pore 380 

ing from general use and porch holds sway. 

(When the evening papers were distributed he 

hurried home to sit on the porch before the 

house). 

In British usage porch is primarily an architectural 

term describing an exterior structure 

forming a covered approach to the entrance of a 

building, especially of a church or cathedral. 

pore; pour. Pore is to meditate or ponder intently, 

gaze earnestly or steadily, read or study 

with steady attention or application. To pour is 

to send a liquid or fluid or anything in loose 

particles, flowing or falling, as from a container, 

or into, over, or on something, or to emit or 

discharge in a stream or to send forth words as 

in a stream or flood. Pore is often misspelled 

pour (as in this sentence from one of our leading 

intellectual journals: Attorney General Herbert 

Brownell, Jr., and his deputy, William P. 

Rogers, have spent much of the past two years 

pouring throzrgh the files they inherited, hoping 

to find enough “mess” documentation to bring 

indictments against many a prominent Democrat). 

But such spelling is incorrect. 

pornography. See blasphemy. 

port, harbor and haven all indicate a shelter for 

ships. A haven is usually a natural shelter which 

can be utilized by ships (Milford Haven is well 

named, since its headlands provide natural protection 

against storms. And the stately ships go 

on,/ To their haven under the hill). It is popular 

in a figurative sense to mean any safe place 

(He found the club a haven of refuge from domestic 

confusion). Harbor may describe a natural 

or an artificially constructed or improved 

shelter (When steamships began to replace sailing 

vessels, harbors had to be found or built 

which would accommodate ships of deeper 

draft). A port is a harbor viewed especially in 

its commercial aspect (NEW York does more 

business than any other two American ports). 

port and larboard both mean the left side of a 

ship, facing toward the bow (opposed to starboard). 

Larboard, the more ancient term, has 

been largely replaced by port because it sounds 

too much like starboard in shouted orders. 

portend is now used correctly only in the sense 

of to indicate beforehand, to presage, as an 

omen (Such dark skies portend rain. What does 

this angry introduction portend?). In the sense 

of to signify, as in Bardolph’s assertion that his 

red nose portended choler, portend is obsolete. 

portent retains meanings portend has lost. Basically, 

it means an indication or omen of something 

about to happen, especially something 

momentous (A prodigy of fear and a portent/ 

Of broached mischief to the unborn times). It 

may also mean ominous significance (The dropping 

of the first atom bomb was an event of evil 

nortent) or a prodigv or marvel (The Loch Ness 

‘monste; is a porteii, doubtless), though to this 

last meaning there still clings some of the earlier 

belief that the appearance of monsters and 

prodigies was not an accident but a warning of 

events to come. 

portion. See part. 

portmanteau. The plural is portmanteaus or portmanteaux. 

It was Humpty Dumpty in his exegesis 

of Jabberwocky who applied portmanteau to 

those words in which “there are two meanings 

packed up into one word.” In linguistics it is 

called blending and many words now quite legitimate 

came into existence this way, such as 

dandle which is a blend of dance and handle. 

The tendency, stimulated by some brilliant creations 

in Time (of which cinemactress is an example), 

is popular in contemporary America 

and England and often useful as well. Brunch 

serves a need as a name for an in-between meal, 

partaking of the nature of both breakfast and 

lunch, and is accepted as standard, though the 

ordinary American male would certainly feel a 

little self-conscious in using it. Certainly conscious 

blendings are the work of wits (&ch as 

Mr. Clifton Fadiman’s reference to the hullabalunacy 

of so much of the puffing praise on 

book jackets) and deserve to be admired, but 

our admiration can be given only on the first 

hearing. After that the word must stand (like 

squadrol) on its usefulness or become tedious. 

Portuguese. The singular and the plural are both 

Portuguese. In the seventeenth century this word 

had a plural form, Portugueses. This is now obsolete 

and Portuguese is the only acceptable form 

in the singular and in the plural, as in one Portuguese 

and three Portuguese. A new singular, 

Portuguee, is in use among fishermen and sailors, 

but it has not made its way into standard 

English. 

pose; poise. Pose suggests something fairly temporary, 

an assumed or artificial posture or attitude 

(Please hold that pose while the photographer 

takes one more picture. His heartiness is 

just a pose; actually, he’s timid and frightened). 

Poise suggests something more basic, a state of 

balance or equilibrium, as from equality or 

equal distribution of weight (It takes great poise 

to walk a tightrope. The rock’s poise was such 

that the least push would have moved it in either 

direction). In figurative use it means composure, 

self-possession (One needs poise on a witness 

stand to endure the attack of an unscrupulous 

cross-questioner), steadiness, stability (I could 

tell she had poise from the way she walked onto 

the stage). 

position. See job. 

position of adjectives. 1. The primary position 

for an adjective is before the noun it qualifies, 

as gray in gray goose. An adjective standing in 

this position is called an adherent adjective, or 

sometimes an attributive adjective. 

Any qualifying word that can be used in this 

position is an adjective. When a word that is 

ordinarily classed as an adverb is used immediately 

before a noun it arouses a great deal of 

opposition. This is what is wrong with the there 

in that there house. If the child who is determined 

to use all these words would only say that 

house there the teacher would be satisfied. Very 

few adverbs have been accepted in this position, 

and when one is, it is immediately recognized as 

an adjective, as then in the then king of France,

after in in after years, and down in a down 

stroke. Ten or twenty years ago many editors 

would not accept above as an adjective, as in rhe 

above remarks and insisted on making this the 

remarks above. Above is now established in 

the adjective position. But we cannot today say 

the below remarks. This is a battle that each 

adverb must win for itself. 

One might set up a system of English grammar 

in which an adjective was defined as a qualifying 

word that can stand immediately before 

a noun. One could then go on to discuss other 

positions in which either an adjective or an adverb 

could be used, sometimes with exactly the 

same meaning and sometimes with a difference 

in meaning. In this way the whole problem of 

adjectives and adverbs would be made much 

simpler. But this is not the definition now used 

in dictionaries or in teaching foreign languages, 

and it would be confusing to those who are 

already familiar with the accepted concepts. In 

this book we are, therefore, following the standard 

definition of an adjective. But this involves 

us in a certain amount of hair splitting and 

sometimes presents us with problems that simply 

can’t be solved. 

2. The second position in which an adjective 

may stand is immediately after a linking verb 

or a verb of motion, as in the baby is asleep, 

he came here young and confident. An adjective 

in this position is called a predicate adjective. 

But with any kind of intransitive verb, this is 

also the secondary position for an adverb (see 

sentence adverbs) and if an adjective is used 

predicatively often enough it develops an adverbial 

force. Sometimes it is impossible to say 

whether a certain word, such as slow, is an adjective 

or an adverb when it is used in this position. 

There are a number of adjectives that begin 

witha-, such as asleep, awake, afire, alive, aware, 

which are used in this position but not ordinarily 

before the noun they qualify. For example, we 

say the man is alive but not the alive man. This 

a once meant in and these words were once 

prepositional phrases. They have come to be felt 

as single words but they are still used as a 

phrase would be used. An adjective phrase may 

occasionally precede its noun and these words, 

too, if they are qualified and form part of a 

group, may be used in this position, as in the 

very much alive man. But constructions of this 

kind are always felt to be exceptional and not 

according to the natural order of words. 

These peculiar a- adjectives can be used alone 

in any position that an adjective can be used in, 

except before the noun they qualify. But there 

are a number of adverbs that begin with a-, such 

as away, abroad, astray, and that also can only 

be used in exactly the same positions. It is 

sometimes difficult to say whether a certain 

word, such as adrift, is an adjective or an adverb. 

For this reason some grammarians call all 

these words, including afraid and alive, adverbs. 

Those who recognize some as adjectives and 

some as adverbs have to depend on the meaning 

of the word to establish the difference. If the 

381 position of adjectives 

word names a quality which a thing might possess 

it is an adjective. If it names the time, place, 

or manner of an action it is an adverb. 

Adjectives may be used after linking verbs 

and after verbs of motion. A linking verb is any 

verb that is used to mean be, become, or seem. 

For example, grown means become and is a 

linkinn verb followed bv adiectives in an elderlv 

mother spider grown gaunt and fierce and gray. 

Most linking verbs cannot be qualified by adverbs 

and there is usually no doubt that a following 

adjective really is an adjective and 

qualifies the subject of the verb rather than the 

verb itself, as in the fudge turned hard. See 

linking verbs. 

This is not true of verbs which name motions. 

After a verb of motion, a word that is both an 

adjective and an adverb will usually be felt as 

an adverb qualifying the verb, as in he moved 

slow. But there are many words that are used 

only as adjectives and never as adverbs. These 

may be used after a verb of motion to qualify 

the subject. For example, trembling describes 

the hare and not the limping in the hare limped 

trembling through the frozen grass. Similarly, 

in do not go gentle into that good-night the adjective 

gentle necessarily attaches itself to the 

unexpressed subject you, and the sentence takes 

the meaning “do not be gentle when you go.” 

The verb appear may be followed by an adjective 

because it is being used as a linking verb 

meaning “seem,” as in he appears happy. Or it 

may be followed by adjectives because it is being 

used as a verb of motion meaning “come into 

sight,” as in Mont Blanc appears, still, snowy, 

and serene. 

The verbs to be born and to die are treated in 

English, and in many other languages, as verbs 

of motion. We say he was born lucky and he 

died rich. 

3. An adjective may also stand immediately 

after a noun which is the object of a verb, as 

empty in we found the cage empty and clean in 

she swept the room clean. An adjective standing 

in this position is called a factitive adjective or 

an object complement and has a very different 

function from an adherent adjective. These sentences 

do not mean we found the empty cage or 

she swept the clean room. This adjective is actually 

closely related to the verb, as if we had said 

we found-empty the cage and she swept-clean 

the room, and so approaches the function of an 

adverb. It is perhaps more closely related to the 

verb than an adverb would be. Adverbs too may 

stand in this position. They show when or how 

an action takes place but do not affect the verb 

idea itself. Whether a word in this position is an 

adjective or an adverb always affects the meaning 

of the sentence, but it is sometimes impossible 

to say which function a particular word is 

supposed to have, as wrong and hard in he made 

the clock wrong and she boiled the eggs hard. 

4. Finally, an adjective may stand after the 

noun it qualifies, as in geraniums (red) and delphiniums 

(blue). An adjective in this position is 

called an appositive adjective.

position of adjectives 382 

The adjective follows the noun in certain 

phrases that have been taken over from French 

or Latin, such as heir apparent, attorney general, 

court martial, proof positive, battle royal, devil 

incarnate. Words of this kind that are in common 

use are generally felt as compound nouns 

and are sometimes printed with a hyphen. Those 

that are used less often have a strange flavor, 

even for people who do not know an adjective 

from a noun. 

In current English the -ing form of a verb is 

frequently placed here, as in for the time being, 

no man living, three days running. But with 

other adjectives the construction is likely to 

sound pretentious, or ridiculous, as in a babe 

unborn, a place divine, things mortal, darkness 

visible. Old expressions and old names are allowed 

to keep this order but we do not form new 

ones in this way. We say Pliny the elder and 

Asia Minor, but the elder 1. P. Morgan and 

Greater New York. 

In English a descriptive clause stands immediately 

after the noun it qualifies and adjectives 

are acceptable here when they can be thought of 

as part of a clause, as in a voice perfectly calm, 

a person new to the business, a gentleman turned 

eighty. Here the mind can insert a which is or 

who is. The construction is most suitable for 

long, complex adjective phrases that resemble 

clauses, but it can also be used with a single 

word, provided the word implies a clause, as 

forty in men forty do not say such things. Adverbs 

may also be thought of as fragments of a 

clause and in this position adverbs may qualify 

nouns, as in the people below, the first day out, 

the book there on the table. 

5. Adjectives may be limiting or descriptive. 

That is, they may limit or restrict the meaning 

of the noun or they may simply add a descriptive 

detail. For example, in the industrious 

Japanese will solve this problem the adjective 

industrious is descriptive if the sentence means 

that the Japanese, being industrious, will solve 

the problem. It is limiting if the sentence means 

that only the industrious ones will solve it. 

In English an adjective standing before the 

noun is presumably limiting. An adjective that 

stands after the noun will usually be understood 

as descriptive. The difference can be seen in the 

fighting cocks and the cocks fighting. If the sentence 

about the Japanese had read, the Japanese, 

industrious and frugal, will solve this problem, 

the words would have been accepted as descriptive. 

This is also the intention of the original 

sentence which means those industrious people, 

the Japanese. The adjective limits the understood 

word people and is meant to distinguish 

the Japanese from some others. Because we feel 

this, we understand the sentence when it is read 

in its context. But because an adherent adjective 

is used primarily to limit the meaning of a 

noun, the other interpretation can also occur to 

us. (For the order that is followed when several 

adjectives qualify the same noun, see adjectives.) 

position of adverbs. See adverbs and sentence 

adverbs. 

positive and positively are sometimes used to 

mean downright, out-and-out, thoroughgoing 

(The man’s a positive jackass. He told a positive 

lie to protect his friends. That’s positively 

not so). In this use it is an intensive; therefore 

it is wrongly used to mean sure or certain (Z’m 

positive I saw it) unless one is insisting on the 

certainty. It can be ambiguous when used loosely. 

The context should make it clear whether a 

positive answer is an emphatic answer or an affirmative 

or non-negative answer. Such common 

expressions as he positively won’t come or he 

positively said no are confusing and surely a 

more suitable intensive could be found. 

positively. See absolutely. 

possess one’s soul in patience. As a way of saying 

“be patient,” to tell someone to possess his soul 

in patience is to use a worn-out phrase. The 

expression is a hackneyed misunderstanding of 

Luke 21: 19 which in the Authorized Version 

reads In your patience possess ye your sods. 

Possess here, however, means not merely to 

have but to gain possession of, as is shown by 

the translation in the Revised Standard Version: 

By your endurance you will gain your lives. 

possession; advantage; asset. A possession is something 

possessed, had as a property, belonging to 

one. An advantage is any state or circumstance, 

opportunity, or means especially favorable to 

success, interest, or any desired end. Possessions 

often confer an advantage, but all possessions 

are not advantages and advantage can lie in 

many things other than possession. 

Asset and assets should not be used loosely as 

synonyms of possession and advantage. They are 

specific and limiting terms. Asset means a useful 

thing or quality (Cleanliness is itself an asset). 

Assets, more frequently used than asset, is a 

plural noun used in commerce to describe the 

resources of a person or business consisting of 

such items as real property, machinery, inventory, 

notes, securities, and cash. Assets is also 

used for property in general, as opposed to liabilities 

(His assets did not equal his liabilities 

until after his death). In accounting, assets 

means the detailed listing of property owned by 

a firm and money owing to it. In law, it refers 

to property in the hands of an executor or administrator 

sufficient to pay the debts or legacies 

of the testator or intestate. It is incorrect to say 

Diamonds are a girl’s best asset when one means 

possession or to say Membership in the University 

Club is an asset to an ambitious lawyer 

when advantage is the exact word. 

possessive adjectives. See possessive pronouns. 

possessive case. See genitive case and possessive 

pronouns. 

possessive pronouns and adjectives. The personal 

pronouns and the word who each have three 

forms, such as he, him, his, which in Latin 

grammar would be called the nominative, the 

accusative, and the genitive form of that pronoun. 

Because no other words in English have 

these three forms most grammarians treat these 

as different types of words rather than as forms 

of the same word and speak of the subjective 

pronouns, the objective pronouns, and the pas-

sessive pronouns. Very often, the possessive 

forms that can be used before a noun (my, our, 

your, his, her, its, their, whose) are called possessive 

adjectives, and only the forms that can 

be used without a noun (mine, ours, yours, his, 

hers, its, theirs, whose) are called possessive 

pronouns. In this book the term “possessive pronoun” 

refers to both groups indiscriminately. 

One must be careful not to use an apostrophe 

with the forms that seem to have an added s, 

ours, yours, hers, its, theirs, whose. An apostrophe 

in any of these words is considered 

evidence of illiteracy. This was not always true. 

The most influential grammar book of the eighteenth 

century, published in 1762, required an 

apostrophe in these possessive pronouns. Forms 

such as your’s, her’s, occur in the writings of 

Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. There 

they are not illiteracies. On the contrary, they 

show that the writers knew and carefully observed 

the correct forms. When the “Charge of 

the Light Brigade” is published in anthologies 

today, the famous line is sometimes printeed as 

Their’s not to reason why. This was conservative 

punctuation when the poem was written and 

has not been standard for seventy-five years. 

(For special problems, see the individual pronouns 

and double genitive.) 

possible. That is possible which may or can be, 

exist, happen, or be done (0 that ‘twere possible/ 

After long grief and pain/ To find the arms 

of my true love/ Round me once again!). As 

such, it is an absolute term and may not be 

qualified. An event may be highly probable but 

not highly possible. One may say It is possible 

that it may ruin but not it is very possible. 

Not only is possible not to be qualified, it is 

also not to be used as if it meant necessary or 

unavoidable. It is correct to say We will finish as 

quickly as possible. It is incorrect to get swamped 

in negatives and say We won’t delay any longer 

than possible. 

possibly; perhaps. Possibly means not only “perhaps” 

or “maybe” but also “in a possible manner” 

and “by any possibility.” In writing, one 

should indicate the “perhaps” sense, when there 

is any likelihood of ambiguity, by setting off’ the 

word with commas. Thus He can’t, possibly, 

stand up lo his wife means “perhaps he can’t 

stand up to his wife”; whereas He can’t possibly 

stand up to his wife means that there is no possibility 

of his standing up to his wife. 

possum is still listed as colloquial by the dictionaries 

but opossum, the standard form of the 

word, would seem a little stilted in all but the 

most formal writing. 

To play possum is a colloquial American 

idiom for feigning ignorance or disinterest or 

pretending to be asleep or doing anything that 

in any way suggests the opossum’s habit (shared 

by many other animals) of falling into a cata.leptic 

state when attacked (When the police began 

to look for witnesses, he played possum). 

post. See mail. 

postal card; post card. In the United States a 

posfal card is a card with a printed governmental 

stamp, printed and sold by the government. A 

post curd may describe such a postal card, but it 

more properly describes an unofficial card, often 

pictorial, mailable when bearing an adhesive 

postage stamp. In England post curd is used to 

describe a card used for correspondence whether 

it bears a printed governmental stamp or must 

have a stamp affixed. 

posted in the sense of informed, supplied with upto-date 

facts (When you are on your travels, be 

sure to keep NS posted), is a colloquialism, originallv 

American. 

postpone. This word may be followed by the -ing 

form of a verb, as in he postponed leavinp. It is 

also heard with an infini&ve,‘as in he posiponed 

to leave, but this is not standard English. 

post-prandial is a heavy and strained elegancy for 

after-dinner. 

potato. The plural is potatoes. 

potent; potential. Potent means full of power, 

powerful, mighty. It may describe a person or a 

thing. There are potent reasons, potent drugs, 

potent influences, potent leaders, potent charms, 

and so on. In reference to men it has a special 

meaning of sexual competency. Potential means 

possible as opposed to actual, capable of being 

or becoming, latent (His record as prosecuting 

attorney makes him a potential candidate for the 

governorship). Potent means being powerful; 

potential means capable of being powerful. 

pother, as an equivalent for bother, is a literary 

word. It used to rime with other and brother 

but changed to its present pronunciation, apparently 

to make it resemble bother, in the 

nineteenth century. In the sixteenth and early 

seventeenth centuries it was a stronger word and 

was then pronounced, as it still is in some dialects, 

puddrr (Let the great gods,/ That keep this 

dreadful pudder o’er our heads,/ Find out their 

enemies now). 

potluck, take. To invite a guest home to dinner 

on a sudden impulse, with the phrase take potluck 

with us, is hackneyed. But, like many trite 

expressions, it is useful. To say, “if you are 

willing to eat whatever happens to be prepared 

for supper, knowing that since you are not expected 

it may be plain fare” would be tedious 

and a little pompous. None the less, the triteness 

of take potluck may belie the heartiness with 

which the invitation is usually extended, and 

since the recipient of such invitations usually 

suspects the sincerity of this sudden desire for 

his company (though he has little doubt of the 

plainness of the fare), the clicht works slightly 

against its own intention. This may seem the 

veriest trifle, but nuances of meaning are not in 

themselves trifling. 

potter. See putter. 

poultry. This word now means all the domestic 

fowls in a given lot considered as a group. It 

may be used with a singular verb, as in the poultry 

is selling well, or with a plural verb, as in 

the poulrry are selling well. It may be qualified 

by the singular adjective much, as in much poultry, 

but not by a numeral. 

At one time poultry could be used as a true 

plural with a numeral, as in I have seen them 

bring twenty or thirty poultry to the market. This

pound 384 

construction survives to some extent in the 

United States, where people speak of few poultry 

and many poultry, as well as of much poultry. 

pound (the unit of weight). Only the singular 

form pound can be used to qualify a following 

noun, as in a five-pound baby. We do not say a 

five-pounds buby. In the United States the plural 

form pounds is preferred in any other construction, 

when speaking of more than one. But in 

Great Britain the singular form is always used 

with a number word, as in five pound of tobacco. 

pound of flesh. As a term for the full amount 

of something due, especially in reference to its 

being exacted by the one to whom it is due, a 

pound of fleslz is a cliche. The reference is to 

Shylock’s insistence, in Shakespeare’s The Merchant 

of Venice, on having that pound of Antonio’s 

flesh which had been nominated in their 

bond as a forfeit. 

pour. See pore. 

powers that be. As a term for those in authority 

in a particular situation, the powers that be is a 

cliche. It is an echo of Romans 13 : 1. 

practical; practicable; possible. Practical, when 

applied to persons, means sensible, realistic, 

businesslike. When applied to things, it means 

efficient and workable. It is contrasted to the 

theoretical and the visionary. Practicable means 

capable of being put into practice or of being 

used (He rode north along the river, looking for 

a practicable crossing). Practicable differs from 

possible in that possible indicates something that 

may be performed if the necessary means can 

be obtained; whereas practicable indicates only 

those things that may be performed by the 

means at one’s disposal. 

The confusion in the use of the words is often 

rooted in the situations to which they are applied. 

Something may be both practical and practicable 

or one or the other exclusively. It may, 

for example, be both practical and practicable 

to drive with chains on an icy road; that is, one 

can drive with them and it is sensible to do so. A 

practical foreign policy may be devised by a 

government, however, which is rendered impracticable 

by the sudden emergence of some 

emotional storm or religious fury or patriotic 

excitement in the people of one of the nations 

that must be dealt with. 

practical; virtual. Though some English authorities 

cry out against the use of practical for virtual, 

which has developed on the analogy of the 

accepted synonymity of practically and virtually, 

American usage sanctions it. Thus one may say 

It is a practical certainty and mean a virtual 

certainty. 

practically; virtually; almost; nearly. In the strict 

sense, practically means “in effect, in practice,” 

as opposed to “in theory” (Though the theory 

of pacifism is persuasive, practically, pacifism 

won’t do). Virtually is very close to practically, 

for it means “in effect,” though not actually or 

expressly so (After George III relapsed into 

permanent insanity, the Prince of Wales was 

virtually king). 

It is not in its strict sense, however, that prac- 

tically tends to be used. Rather it is employed 

loosely in place of the more precise nearly or 

almost where, as Sir Alan Herbert has cogently 

remarked, it often means “not practically.” To 

say We are practically there when you mean We 

are nearly there is to abuse the word; you are 

not there in effect until you are there. But you 

can sav that from 1810 on the Prince of Wales 

was p;actically king of England, because, although 

designated Prince Regent, he was, because 

of his father’s incompetence, in practice 

and effect the king. Or (the example is Herbert’s) 

you may say that a family is practically 

extinct when its sole survivor is a childless old 

man who is dying. If it were a childless old 

woman, practically would be even more justified. 

practice (in the sense of habit). See custom. 

practice; practise. In England the noun is spelled 

practice, the verb practise. In America practice 

is preferred for both noun and verb, though 

practise may be used for the verb. 

praise. See panegyric, elegy. 

preacher. When applied to one who preaches in 

specific reference to his preaching, preacher is 

still a word of some dignity in American usage 

(Dr. Peale is one of the great preachers of our 

day. As a preacher Graham combines boyish 

charm with studied eloquence). But as a synonym 

for pastor or minister, it is now slightly 

quaint (Resolved, that . . . all licensed preachers 

. . . [be exempted] from working on public roads 

. . . when on their professional duties) or humorously 

disparaging (A preacher went a-hunting/ 

Upon a Sunday morn). Its use as a part of a 

name is distinctly backwoodsy (Preacher Jones 

was here about the money he says you owe 

him). See also pastor, parson, clergyman. 

precede; proceed. Precede, which is usually transitive, 

means to go before, as in place, order, 

rank, importance, or time (A flash of lightning 

preceded the thunder. The ambassador preceded 

the other guests into the dining hall. A major 

precedes a captain in the military organization). 

Proceed, which is invariably intransitive, means 

to move or go forward or onward, especially 

after stopping (Upon receipt of these orders, you 

will proceed without delay to the nearest port 

of embarkation. Zf you are clear on the work so 

far, let us proceed to the next step). 

precedence and precedent both mean a going before, 

but in different senses. Precedence means 

the act or fact of preceding; priority in order, 

rank, importance (A major has precedence of a 

captain) ; priority in time (Yalta has precedence 

of Potsdum) ; the right to precede others in ceremonies 

or social formalities (The Papal Nuncio 

was accorded the precedence. At state banquets 

the Premier had precedence); the order to be 

observed ceremonially by persons of different 

ranks (As a Washington hostess she had made 

a careful study of precedence). Precedent means 

a preceding instance or case which may serve as 

an example for or a justification in subsequent 

cases (The ambassador established an admirable 

precedent when he sent his children to the local 

school). In law, precedent means a legal decision

or form of proceeding serving as an authoritative 

rule or pattern in future similar or analogous 

cases (In Murbury v. Madison a precedent 

for the Supreme Court’s judicial authority was 

established.. . . They take special care to record 

all the decisions formerly made against common 

justice and the general reason of mankind. 

These, under the name of precedents, they produce 

as authorities, to justify the most iniquitous 

opinions. ..-Jonathan Swift). 

precession; procession. Precession is an astronomical 

term describing a change in the direction 

of the axis of a rotating body (precessl’on 

of the equinoxes; axis of precession). Processz’on 

is the familiar word to describe the proceeding 

or moving along in orderly succession, in a f’orma1 

or ceremonious manner, of a line or body of 

persons, animals, vehicles, or other things (The 

commencement procession moved across #the 

meadow toward the auditorium). 

precipitate and precipitous both derive from a 

Latin word meaning cast headlong, but they fulfill 

separate functions. Precipitate applies to actions 

and means rushing headlong or rapidly 

onward (The Light Brigade engaged in a precipitate 

charge on the heights); acting or done 

or made in sudden haste or without due deliberation, 

overhasty, rash (His precipitate decision 

to abandon rocket research may have cost Hitler 

the war). Precipitous, applied mainly to physical 

objects, means of the nature of a precipice, or 

characterized by precipices (Mont Saint MicAel 

is a precipitous island); extremely or impassably 

steep (There is a trail, scarcely perceptible, that 

winds down the precipitous side of the canyo,n). 

Precipitous is also sometimes used in place of 

precipitate in the senses of that word illustrated 

above. 

precipitately; precipitously. Precipitously refers to 

the steepness and precipitately to the suddenness 

of a descent. If the stairway descends precipitously, 

one may fall down it precipitately; indeed, 

the more precipitous, the more precipitate. 

precisely; actually. Precisely means definitely, eaactly 

(Precisely at tlze first stroke of eight, the 

trap was sprung. It is precisely that objection 

which Z hope to satisfy). Actually means as an 

actual or existing fact, really (Tkere were actually 

three men of that name who applied for the 

position. You do not actually need to be there; 

you can appoint a deputy). One may tell what 

actually happened by describing precisely how it 

happened. 

preciseness; precision. Though synonymous in 

some uses, preciseness and precision are distinguishable 

in others. Where the exactness of 

limitation concerns moral or religious matters, 

punctiliousness, scrupulousness, squeamishness, 

preciseness is employed (Among their preciseness 

was a qualm at baptism; the water was to 

be taken from a basin, arzd zzot from a font. My 

grandmother, in her preciseness, regarded the 

introdztction of the hymnal into clzrtrch services 

as profane and frivolous). It is, perhaps, this association 

that makes preciseness preferred when 

the exactness of the act is a little ostentatious or 

385 prefer 

more than necessary and where the performer 

seems to pride himself on his exactness and wish 

to call attention to his own meticulousness (He 

spoke French with an exaggerated preciseness. 

To say that He spoke French with precision 

would be a more neutral statement, less colored 

by the speaker’s feeling that the other person’s 

French was unnecessarily exact and perfect). A 

tailor who takes measurements with precision is 

one who proceeds with deliberation to have the 

measurements exact; one who takes them with 

preciseness rather makes a show of it or calls 

attention to his exactitude. 

Precision today is almost invariably the word 

for mechanical operations as opposed to human 

acts. Parts are machined with great precision. A 

camera is an instrument of precision. Tools for 

exactingly delicate work are precision tools. 

predicament; dilemma; plight; quandary. A predicament 

is an unpleasant, trying, or dangerous 

situation with an element of the puzzling in it 

(Zf he continues he will find himself in a predicament 

from which it will not be easy to extricate 

himself). Plight originally meant peril or danger 

(Blaming thy treason, the cause of all our plight), 

but it is now a synonym for predicament, except 

that plight is most often used lightly and humorously 

(What plight to be in, three dinner invitations 

for tlze same night!). 

In popular use a dilemma is a situation which 

requires a choice between equally undesirable 

alternatives. The element of puzzlement is somewhat 

stronger in dilenznza than in predicament or 

plight and that of peril less. A man is on the 

horns of a dilemma when he must choose one of 

several possible courses of action, each of which 

may have unfavorable consequences for him. 

Quandary is also the state of perplexity of one 

faced with a difficult situation. One rarely hears 

the word any more except in the phrase to be in 

a quandary. 

predicate. As a grammatical term, the predicate 

of a sentence means the verb, its complements 

and its qualifiers, or everything in the sentence 

that is not part of the subject. The verb is called 

the simple predicate. The complement may include 

an indirect object, a direct object, and an 

object complement, or in the case of a linking 

verb, a predicate nominative. The qualifiers may 

be words, phrases, or clauses. See sentences. 

predicate. The use of predicate to mean to found 

or base a statement or action on something (MY 

plan is predicated on the assunzption that their 

greed will blind them to their danger) is standard 

in the United States, though condemned by some 

authorities in England. Predicate does not, however, 

mean to predict. 

predicate adjectives. See position of adjectives. 

predicate nominative. This is a term used by 

some grammarians for the noun or pronoun 

that a linking verb joins to its subject. A box, 

in the sentence this is a box, would be called 

a medicate nominative. See linking verbs. 

preface. See foreword. 

prefer, This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in Z prefer to read, or by the -ing form of

prefer 386 

a verb, as in Z prefer reading. It may also be followed 

by a that clause with the clause verb a subjunctive 

or a subjunctive equivalent, as in Z prefer 

that he leave, but an infinitive construction, such 

as Z prefer to have him leave, is generally preferred. 

When prefer is used to compare two things, the 

second is traditionally introduced by the preposition 

to, as in Z prefer skating to swimming. This 

would be impossible with two infinitives. We 

cannot say Z prefer to skate to to swim, and a 

than is often used here, as in he preferred to live 

with a native woman rather than to work for a 

living. This construction is condemned by many 

grammarians, but in the United States it is accepted 

and used by well educated people. 

prefer. See favor. 

preferable. This word means more desirable and 

is not compared in present-day English. We say 

that one thing is preferable to another and not 

that it is more preferable. 

preferred. In this dictionary, the word preferred 

indicates only that a particular term is used more 

frequently and by more people than another. It 

is not meant as a statement of what is more 

correct or what ought to be used. 

prefixes are usually joined directly to the following 

word, but are separated by a hyphen in a 

few cases. There is general agreement that a 

hyphen should be used: 

1. When a prefix is joined to a word that begins 

with a capital letter, such as non-European. 

2. When a prefix requires special stress to prevent 

misunderstanding or mispronunciation. For 

example, co-op is not the same as coop, and 

re-creation is not recreation. The prefix ex-, 

meaning “former,” always takes this stress, as 

in ex-president, ex-wife. The prefix co- always 

takes this stress when it refers to a person. Coworker 

and co-author are always hyphenated, 

even by those who write cooperation and coexisting. 

Newly coined words, double prefixes, and 

unusual or difficult forms come under this rule, 

such as pre-preparation, un-un-American, nonnegative 

numbers. This rule also allows a writer 

to stress a prefix when he needs to, as for example 

in contrasting prewar and post-war attitudes. 

3. To avoid doubling a vowel, as in semiindependent, 

except with one-syllable prefixes 

ending in e or o (reenact). Many publishers use 

the hyphen to avoid doubling any vowel except 

after co-, and write pre-election, pro-optic, but 

cooperate; and to avoid any two vowels coming 

together when the prefix is more than one syllable, 

as in semi-educated, extra-official. (But 

everyone writes extraordinary. )A few extremely 

conservative publishers go still further and use 

the hyphen to prevent any two vowels coming 

together, as in co-operate: and to prevent double 

consonants in relatively new words, such as subbasement, 

over-refined. (But everyone writes 

address, ennoble.) Still another method used by 

many publishers to avoid mispronunciation when 

a vowel, especially e or o, is doubled, is to place 

a dieresis over the second vowel, as in prezmp- 

tory, coordinate. The present trend, however, is 

away from the use of either the hyphen or dieresis, 

especially in very common words like cooperate. 

The hyphen is reserved for cases where 

it is considered necessary, not by arbitrary rule, 

but to insure ease of reading and clarity of 

understanding. 

prejudice; partiality. Though in its strictest sense 

prejudice means any preconceived opinion or 

feeling, favorable or unfavorable (The prejudice 

I had conceived in his favor proved to be fully 

justified. These base prejudices so often blind 

their possessors to the evidence that lies before 

them), it is usually now interpreted as an unfavorable 

opinion or feeling formed beforehand 

or without knowledge (The current prejudice 

against rationalism manifests itself in a thousand 

ways). 

Two senses which have grown out of the idea 

of unfavorable opinion are disadvantage resulting 

from such an opinion (Such a decision is to the 

prejudice of the Balkan nationals) and resulting 

injury or detriment (The attack worked to the 

prejudice of his reputation). In these two senses 

prejudice is being overworked. More appropriate 

words, such as disadvantage, damage, and harm 

are being neglected. 

Perhaps the prevailing pejorative use of prejudice 

grows out of a misunderstanding of the legal 

sense of the phrase without prejudice which 

means without dismissing, damaging, or otherwise 

affecting a legal interest or demand. 

Partiality has achieved currency to indicate a 

favorable prejudice (The partiality of parents for 

their own children is often indefensible). Prejudice 

is always either against or in favor of. 

Partiality is always for. 

prelate is sometimes used in America, either carelessly 

or humorously, as if it were synonymous 

with priest or parson. It applies to an ecclesiastic 

of a higher order, as an archbishop, bishop, or 

church dignitary. 

premature. See immature. 

premeditate. See contemplate. 

premise; premises. The singular word premise 

means a statement that is accepted as a basis for 

further reasoning. It has a regular plural and we 

may speak of these three premises. Only the 

plural form premises is used in speaking of a 

building and its grounds. In this sense, the word 

is treated as a plural, as in these premises are 

closed to the public, but it cannot be used with a 

numeral or a word implying number. 

The English sometimes make a distinction in 

the spelling of the noun plural, using premisses 

to describe, in logic, parts of a syllogism, and 

premises to serve other uses. Americans use only 

premises to designate the plural. 

prepared to admit. Such expressions as Z am prepared 

to admit are verbose beyond the call of 

duty or the lure of pleasure. Admit or deny. 

prepositions. A preposition is a word that connects 

a noun or noun equivalent with some other 

word in a sentence by naming a relation between 

the things, qualities, or actions, which these 

words represent. The noun equivalent which is

added to the sentence is called the object of the 

preposition and together with the preposition 

forms a prepositional phrase. (In this dictionary 

other kinds of words have been defined without 

reference to their meaning. To carry out this 

principle, we might define a preposition as a 

word that is not functioning as one of the other 

parts of speech.) In Jeanie with the light brown 

hair, the preposition with forms a phrase with 

the noun hair and qualifies the noun Jeanie. A 

preposition may be a simple, adverb-like word, 

such as before, after, in, on, to, or it may resemble 

a verb form, such as during, past, except. 

Prepositions may be compound words, such as 

into, upon, or they may be phrases, such as 

apart from, in regard to. But in every case the 

preposition has only one form. It is never altered, 

as nouns are to show number, verbs to 

show tense, and some adjectives and adverbs to 

make a comparison. 

According to the formal rules of grammar, a 

subjective pronoun cannot be the object of a 

preposition. This rule is observed in practice 

when the object follows the preposition, as in 

this is for him. The subjective form he cannot 

be used in this position. When the object precedes 

the preposition a subjective form may be 

used, as in who is it for?. (See who; whom.) 

With this exception, any kind of word may be 

used as the object of a preposition provided it 

has the force or the sense of a noun, as in until 

now, from here, in short, at best. (For the toinfinitive 

and the use of prepositions with the 

-ing form of a verb, see verbal nouns.) 

Some words that are used as prepositions may 

also be used as conjunctions. A word of this 

kind is a conjunction whenever it is followed by 

a full statement that contains a true verb, as in 

before the cock crowed, and a preposition when 

it is followed by a noun or noun equivalent 

without a verb, as in before the paling of the 

stars. A personal pronoun following a word of 

this kind is considered the object of a preposition 

if no verb follows, and an objective form 

is used rather than a subjective, as in you were 

here before me. That is, a word of this kind is 

interpreted as a preposition wherever possible. 

(Other words that are trea:ed in the same way, 

such as than, as, and but, are said by some 

grammarians to be conjunctions only and not 

prepositions. This means that a personal pronoun 

following one of these words would have 

to be subjective or objective depending upon its 

function in the sentence. For a discussion of 

this, see conjunctions and the individual words.) 

Some words that are used as prepositions are 

also used as adverbs. A word of this kind is an 

adverb when it stands alone without an object, 

as through in we have come through. When the 

word is followed by an object it may be a preposition, 

as in it came through the window, or it 

may be an adverb forming part of a compound 

verb, as in he read through the letter. The noun 

object of a preposition can never stand immediately 

before the preposition, but the normal 

position for the object of a compound verb is 

387 prepositions 

between the two elements of the compound. 

Therefore, a word of this kind is an adverb if 

it is possible to place the object between it and 

the verb, as in he read the letter through. If the 

object cannot be placed between the verb and 

the word in question, as in it came the window 

through, the word is probably a preposition. 

CHOICE OF PREPOSITION 

Prepositions represent, primarily, spatial or 

temporal relations, which are the only kinds of 

relations that exist between physical things. 

When used for this purpose, the meanings of the 

words are clear enough and it is not hard to 

choose the appropriate one. But as English ceased 

to be an inflected language the old prepositions 

were also used to express logical or conceptual 

relations which were once expressed by case. In 

these senses, it is sometimes difficult to say which 

is the right preposition to use. For example, it is 

easy enough to decide whether we want to say 

the note was with the book or the note wus in the 

book. But whether we should say the man spoke 

with anger or the man spoke in anger is not as 

clear cut. This is partly because the conceptual 

relations themselves are not clear cut, and partly 

because there is a large element of metaphor in 

expressing them in terms of physical relations 

Sometimes we have no choice in the matter 

because custom has already established certain 

words in certain phrases and these must be observed. 

For example, we may say agree to but 

not agree at and decide on but not decide in. 

English is less rigid in this respect than most 

languages. But when one preposition sounds 

more familiar than another in a given combination 

of words, it is probably the best one to use. 

When one sounds no better than another, it is 

time to examine the relation and choose the preposition 

that expresses it best. For help in this, 

see the individual prepositions. 

POSITION OF A PREPOSITION 

Etymologically, the word preposition means 

“placed before.” But to argue from this that a 

preposition must be placed before its object is 

like arguing that a butterfly must be a fly. Even 

in Latin a preposition sometimes follows its object. 

In English there are some constructions in 

which the preposition must precede the object 

and some in which it must follow. And there are 

others in which either word order is acceptable. 

In a normal declarative sentence a preposition 

must stand before its object unless the object is 

a relative pronoun. Most sentences are of this 

kind and most prepositions stand before their 

objects. But we have a different situation when 

(1) the sentence is interrogative, (2) the normal 

word order is disturbed for the sake of emphasis, 

and (3) the object of the preposition is a relative 

pronoun. (When the object of a preposition is 

made the subject of a passive verb the preposition 

remains in its original position, as in Z was 

made a fool of; but this is not ordinarily thought 

of as an object preceding the preposition.) 

1. In a question, a preposition that governs 

the interrogative word may follow its object, as 

in what are you looking for?, or may precede it,

presage 388 

as in for what are you looking? The first is the 

preferred word order. The second is permitted, 

but it is unnatural English and is seldom used by 

a native speaker of the language. 

When children were taught that it was wrong 

to end a sentence with a preposition, they were 

sometimes given where are you staying at? as an 

example of what not to do. This was sleight of 

hand on the part of the textbook writers. The 

sentence is wrong because we do not use at with 

where and at where are you staying? is no improvement. 

On the other hand, what hoteI are 

you staying at? is standard, literary English. 

2. In a declarative sentence, the object of a 

preposition may be placed before the subject of 

the principal verb for the sake of emphasis, as in 

these you must believe in and this I want to hear 

about. The preposition may also be brought forward 

here, as in in these you must believe; but 

when it is, the advantage of the inverted word 

order is greatly reduced. 

3. A relative pronoun is sometimes the object 

of a preposition. If the pronoun is as or that, the 

preposition must follow the verb, as in such 

things us we are sure of and the things that we 

are sure of. When a clause of this kind has no 

relative pronoun, it is treated as if the word that 

had been used and a preposition follows the 

verb, as in the things we are sure of. If the relative 

pronoun is which or some form of who, a 

governing preposition may follow the verb, as in 

the things which we are sure of, or it may precede 

the pronoun, as in the things of which we 

are sure. 

There are certain prepositions which, until recently, 

always preceded their object in literary 

English. These include: (1) prepositions that resemble 

verb forms rather than adverbs, such as 

except, during, concerning; (2) compound prepositions 

involving some other part of speech, 

such as by means of, as to; (3) the word of when 

it represents possession or introduces the whole 

of which something is a part; and (4) prepositions 

used in a purely figurative or literary 

sense. Today these words are often placed after 

their object, as in (1) the report which I wrote to 

you concerning; (2) the report which I wrote to 

you in regard to; (3) the house which he is the 

owner of, the book which I had read some of; 

(4) the dignity which he spoke with. Expressions 

of this kind are heard too often to be called anything 

but standard. But they are offensive to 

many people and do not have the literary standing 

of other “post-placed” prepositions. 

Where both word orders are acceptable, a 

preposition standing before a relative pronoun 

has a decidedly bookish tone. The construction 

may be used in written material for variety. And 

in an involved or inverted sentence it may be 

necessary to place the preposition first in order 

to make the relationship immediately clear. But 

where it is not required and nothing is to be 

gained by it, this word order is unnatural English 


An infinitive followed by a preposition sometimes 

has the force of a relative clause. Here 

too, most prepositions follow the object, as in 

something to think about, someone to talk to. 

The adjective worth and the -ing form of a verb 

followed by a preposition may also be used in 

the same way, as in something worth thinking 

about, someone worth talking to. 

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES 

A prepositional phrase may function as a 

noun. It may be the subject or the object of a 

verb or it may be the object of a preposition, as 

in from behind the tree. In each case, it stands 

wherever a noun performing the same function 

would stand. 

But more often a prepositional phrase has the 

function of an adjective or an adverb. The primary 

position for an adjective phrase is immediately 

after the noun it qualifies, as in a hive for 

the honey bee. But it may also follow a linking 

verb, as in the bird is on the wing. An adverbial 

phrase may show time, place, manner, cause, 

purpose, means, direction, or any other adverbial 

idea. Its primary position is immediately after 

an intransitive verb or immediately after the 

object of a transitive verb, as in he finished 

on time and he finished the work on time. An adverbial 

phrase may also stand before the subject 

of the verb, as in by this time he had finished the 

work. In this position it may be set off by a 

comma, but this is not required if the phrase is 

short. 

These rules of position are very important. 

To disregard them may be disastrous, as in the 

cow fell into a hole on her back and he wrote 

the poem while riding to town on a piece of 

scratch paper. 

presage. The noun means a presentiment or foreboding 

(He had a clear presage that the conference 

would fail). The transitive verb means to 

foreshadow (Those black clouds presage rain). 

The intransitive verb means to have a presentiment 

(I presage that everything will end badly). 

Usage has colored the word slightly towards a 

prophecy of ill rather than of good. 

prescience; presentiment. Prescience means knowledge 

of things before they exist or happen, foreknowledge, 

foresight. It is a neutral term. Presentiment 

means an uneasy anticipation of something 

unpleasant, not exactly foreknowledge but 

a discouraging certainty of trouble to come. God 

has prescience. Men have presentiments. 

prescribe; proscribe. Prescribe, the more innocent 

and familiar term, means to lay down, in writing 

or otherwise, a rule or course to be followed 

(Prescribe not us our duties. I prescribe an 

hour’s conversation in French every day). In 

medicine the word has the special meaning of 

designating a remedy or treatment (The doctor 

prescribed only aspirin for my headaches). In 

law it means to render invalid, to outlaw through 

negative prescription: an action that has been 

prescribed cannot be taken up again. 

To proscribe is to denounce or condemn a 

thing as dangerous, to prohibit (Under Hitler the 

works of Heine were proscribed. We children 

knew that our father’s study was proscribed territory); 

to put out of the protection of the law,

to banish or exile; to announce the name of a 

person as condemned to death and his property 

to confiscation, to doom (The king told Rochester 

to choose any ministers of the Established 

Church, with two exceptions. The proscribed 

persons were Tillotson and Stillingfleet). 

Prescribe has a positive connotation, proscribe 

a negative (The doctor prescribed exercise and 

proscribed smoking). 

prescriptive right is sometimes used as if it meant 

an absolute right, one which cannot be annulled. 

This is a mistake. Prescriptive right is simply a 

right based on established usage or opinion or 

custom (Yon tall Tower,/ Whose cawing OCCUpants 

with joy proclaim / Prescriptive title to the 

shattered pile), a long or immemorial use of 

some right with respect to a thing so as to give a 

right to continue such use (The American Indians 

may have had a prescriptive right to the 

Great Plains, hut the frontiersmen opposed the 

rights of conquest and greater agricultural eficiency). 

Actually a prescriptive right is a dubious 

right. 

present. This adjective may mean now or here, 

depending upon its position in the sentence. 

When it stands before the noun it qualifies it 

means now, as in the present king, the present 

plan. When it follows the noun, or noun equivalent, 

it means here, as in those present and we 

were present. The word is not compared, in 

either sense. 

presentiment; presentment. A presentiment is a 

feeling or impression of something about to happen, 

especially something evil, a foreboding (He 

had a presentiment of disaster). See prescience. 

Presentment is a wholly unrelated word meaning 

the act of presenting (I attended the presentment 

of the new ambassador) ; a representation, 

picture, or likeness (That presentment may be 

faithful, but it is certainly unflattering). In commerce, 

presentment means the presenting of a 

bill, note, or the like, as for acceptance or payment 

(No check, bank draft, or money order 

shall be considered payment of any premium 

unless it is actually paid to the company on presentment). 

In law, it means the written statement 

of an offense by a grand jury, of their own 

knowledge or observation, when no indictment 

has been laid before them. 

presently; currently. Currently means belonging 

to the time actually passing (They are currently 

engaged in stocking the store for the winter’s 

business). Presently used to mean immediately, 

in the present, at the time spoken of (a reward 

to be rendered hereafter, not presently). This 

meaning had been regarded as obsolete since 

the 17th century but has recently been revived 

as a vogue word. Used emphatically in commands 

and assurances of obedience, suggesting 

that the act required or agreed to was to take 

place in the instant of speaking, the word came 

to mean at once, forthwith, without delay (Go 

presently, and take this ring). But power demands 

and subservience promises more alacrity 

than is usually forthcoming and the word has 

become blunted into meaning soon, in a little 

389 present tense 

while, by and by (I can’t come right away; 1’11 

be there presently). See also immediately. 

present tense. English uses the simple form of 

the verb, such as talk or do, for the present tense 

except in the third person singular where a final 

s or es is added, as in he talks, he does. The only 

exceptions to this rule are: (1) the verb to be 

which has the first person singular am, the third 

person singular is, and are in the other forms; 

(2) the verb to have which has the third nerson 

singular has; and (3) a few defective verbs, such 

as will, shall, must, which do not end in s in the 

third person singular. All irregular verbs have 

been listed in this book. 

The form of the present tense just described is 

called the simple present. It indicates that an 

event takes place, or a state of affairs exists, in a 

period of time that includes the time of speaking. 

It puts no other limitations on the period, which 

may be momentary or may extend “from everlasting 

to everlasting.” This tense form is used in 

statements that are essentially timeless, such as 

that is no cozmtry for old men, and to express 

customary or habitual action, which need not be 

actually in process at the time of speaking, as in 

I read, much of the night, and go south in the 

winter. 

Do or does (the present tense of ro do) followed 

by the simple form of a verb is used in 

place of a simple present in questions and in 

negative statements, as in why do you read at 

night? and you do not go south every winter. 

The same form is used to make a simple present 

statement emphatic, as in Z do read and I do go 

south. (See do.) 

To show that an action is a single event taking 

place at the time of speaking, and not merely 

something customary or to be expected, we use 

the progressive present form of the verb, which 

is made up of the appropriate present tense form 

of to be followed by the -ing form of the meaningful 

verb, as in I am old and day is ending. 

The simple present can also be used in speaking 

of an event in progress, as in the darkness 

deepens. But this form is ambiguous and the 

progressive present is preferred. The progressive 

present is sometimes called the definite present. 

Until recently, verbs such as see, hear, believe, 

doubt, which naturally express a continued action, 

were not used in the progressive form. But 

they are occasionally used in this way today. 

Within the last fifty years a progressive form of 

the verb to be has become very popular. It is 

used to limit a general statement to the immediate 

present. For example, you are being unreasonable 

might be used in preference to you are 

unreasonable, because it suggests that the unreasonableness 

is temporary. 

In order to speak of a completed action as a 

present fact, we use have or has (the present 

tense of to have) followed by the past participle 

of the meaningful verb, as in I have sailed the 

seas and come to title holy city of Byzantium. 

This form is called the present perfect tense. In 

Latin, and in many European languages today, 

the present perfect is felt as a past tense form

present tense 390 

and can be used in narrative. This is not true in 

English. The English present perfect is a retrospective 

present. It makes a statement about a 

present situation which is seen as the result of 

past events. We may say I have been to New 

York because we see this as a present fact. We 

cannot say George Washington has been to New 

York because his actions do not extend to the 

present. Similarly, we may say England has had 

able rulers but we cannot say Assyria has had 

able rulers. 

Languages which use the present perfect aa a 

past tense form frequently use the simple present 

to express completed action. In German, for 

example, it is possible to say we are here two 

hours already. This construction is also heard in 

English in the United States but it is not considered 

standard. The English simple present or 

progressive present cannot be used in speaking 

of a period of time that is closed in the present. 

This requires a present perfect form and we 

must say, for example, we have been here two 

hours already. 

The present perfect also has a progressive 

form. Here have or has is followed by been (the 

past participle of to be), which in turn is followed 

by the -ing form of the meaningful verb, 

as in he has been studying for years. This form 

has the same time meaning as the present perfect, 

he has studied for years, but speaks of the 

completed action as continued over a time. It is 

sometimes more vivid than the present perfect 

and suggests more strongly that the action may 

be continuing into the future. This form of the 

verb is often used in speaking of a completed 

action that is repeated or habitual, as in he has 

been going to New York for years. Here what is 

continuing, possibly into the future, is the custom 

of going to New York. When the simple 

present is used to express habitual action, the 

action is treated abstractly, almost as a theoretical 

matter. When the progressive present perfect 

is used, the action is concrete, a solid, established 

fact. 

Each of the forms that have been discussed 

may also be expressed in the passive voice. 

(See passive voice.) In addition, there is a present 

subjunctive form that is like the simple 

present but does not add s in the third person 

singular, (See subjunctive mode.) An idea that 

would normally be expressed by a present tense 

verb is expressed as a past tense in a subordinate 

clause that is dependent on a past tense verb. 

(See tense shifts.) 

The present tenses are often used in speaking 

of the future. With verbs of motion this may be 

the simple present, as in the bout sails tomorrow, 

he arrives Wednesday. With other verbs it is 

more likely to be the progressive form, as in we 

are having guests next Friday and he is speaking 

on the radio tomorrow evening. This use of the 

present tense is standard English and always has 

been. In fact, English has no way of expressing 

the future that is not based on a present tense 

verb. In current English a simple present (or a 

present perfect) verb is required in conditional 

clauses and in clauses of time that are part of a 

statement about the future, as in Z will let you 

know if he comes and I will let you know as soon 

us he comes. See future tense. 

The present tense may be used in speaking 

about the past, but only with a sort of literary 

license. We often treat important contributions 

to knowledge made in the past as timeless and 

belonging to the present, and say Plato teaches 

or Herodotus says. This is always acceptable. 

Occasionally we use a present tense in describing 

a past event in order to make the action 

more vivid. This is called the historical present, 

or the dramatic present. It is acceptable when 

what is being told is really extraordinary, as in 

I opened the bathroom door, and what do I see 

but (I camel! It is not acceptable when used to 

dramatize a conversation that is not dramatic, 

as in He looked at her and he says, “Why not?” 

“Why not, indeed!” says she. As in the examples 

given, the historic present is frequently used in 

sentences that also contain a past tense verb. 

This mixing of tenses is not a characteristic of 

nonstandard speech. It is also found in the works 

of great writers who have used the historic 

present. 

present writer is a mock-modest variation on 1. 

It might be called a symptom of the John-Alden 

syndrome. If one is speaking for himself, he 

should speak for himself. 

preserve in American usage describes a tract of 

public land set apart for any one of a number of 

special purposes. The forest preserves around 

Chicago, for example, are public pleasure 

grounds, with trails for hiking, bridle paths for 

horseback riding, and many picnic grounds and 

camping sites. In England preserve especially 

means a place set apart for the protection and 

propagation of game or fish for sport (There are 

huge game preserves in Kenya). 

president; presidency. A president is a presiding 

officer. He may be elected or appointed. The 

office is the presidency. Hence a man is, properly, 

a candidate for the presidency, not “for 

president.” In the United States the President is 

the chief executive officer of the republic, the 

holder of the highest office in the land and, when 

it refers to him, the word is always capitalized. 

Most American universities designate their 

chief officer president, but there has been a tendency 

among some of these great ones to exalt 

themselves to loftier heights as chancellors and 

regents and to hand down the presidency to their 

next in command. In nothing does the principle 

of Gresham’s Law work more vigorously than 

in titles, as consul, captain, duke, and a host of 

other faded splendors can attest, and we may 

live to see the term president bestowed in our 

universities upon janitors or professors. 

press. When this verb means urge it may be followed 

by an infinitive, as in we pressed him to 

come, but not by the -ing form of a verb or by a 

clause. 

presume. See assume. 

presumption. See assumption. 

presumptive; presumptuous. Presumption is the 

act of presuming, taking for granted. Presumptive 

and presumptuous, formerly synonymous,

now reflect different aspects of presumption. Presumptive, 

restricted today almost exclusively to 

legal terminology, means affording grounds for 

presumption, based on presumption (His title 

was presumptive rafher than conferred), lpresumed, 

or regarded as such by presumption (The 

king’s brother is heir presumptive to the throne 

until the heir apparent is born). Presumptuous 

reflects our attitude towards those whose ,presumptions 

seem to us unwarranted, forw.ard, 

impertinent, pushing. The word is derogatlory, 

meaning brazen, brash (His adoption of the titles 

of the ofice before he was elected was presumptuous, 

to say the least). 

pretend and profess, in their most familiar senses, 

both now carry the connotation of deception-a 

sad reflection on the value of human profess:ions 

and pretensions. 

Pretend, as a transitive verb, now means to 

put forward a false appearance of, to feign (Zf Z 

pretend illness, I won’t have to go to the party); 

to venture or attempt falsely to do something. As 

an intransitive verb, pretend means to make believe 

(He pretended he was Donald Duck); to 

lay claim to (He pretended to the throne); to 

make pretensions (He pretended to great skill as 

a musician, though he hardly knew a piano from 

a drum); to aspire as a suitor or candidate (Don 

Cesare pretended to the Infanta’s hand). In its 

least common sense as a transitive verb, pretend 

may mean to allege or profess, especially insincerely 

or falsely (He pretended deep sorrow at 

the news of his uncle’s death). The idea of feigning, 

apparent here, is now the commonest sense 

of profess, which, as a transitive verb, means to 

lay claim to a feeling, often insincerely, to pretend 

something that one does not feel. Actually, 

one can choose between pretend and profess in 

this sense only on the basis of whether the claim 

is voiced or not. One may pretend sorrow with a 

doleful face, profess it with doleful words. In 

senses clearly distinguishable from those of pretend, 

profess may mean to declare openly, announce 

or affirm, avow or acknowledge (I profess 

myself unworthy of the honor you intend 

me. He never tired of professing allegiance to 

the flag), to declare oneself skilled or expert in, 

or to claim to have knowledge of (The wise professor 

professes only ignorance). 

pretend; affect; purport; claim. Pretend and affect 

are derogatory. Purport and claim are neutral. 

Pretend and affect imply an attempt to create 

a false appearance. Pretend, specifically, means 

to create an imaginary characteristic or to pIay 

a part (He pretended that he came from an old 

Virginia family). Affect means to make a consciously 

artificial show of having qualities which 

one thinks would look well and impress others 

(He affected a Harvard accent after two months 

Army training in Cambridge). 

Purport and claim carry no overtones of insincerity. 

Purport means to profess or claim, as 

by the thought or meaning which runs through 

something (This text purports to be authentic; 

certainly the grammar, the spelling, and the local 

references are what one would expect). To purport 

is to imply, to convey to the mind as the 

391 prevent 

meaning or thing intended (This purports to be 

an official declaration of foreign policy). Claim, 

the less formal word, means to assert or maintain 

as a fact (He claimed that there had been 

violations of election procedure). 

pretender; Pretender. A pretender in current 

usage is definitely one whose pretensions are 

without foundation, a claimant to a throne or 

office who has no just title to support his claim. 

In the application of the term to the son and 

grandson of James II of England, however, the 

term is neutral, and the word is always capitalized. 

The Old Pretender (which title has the further 

unfortunate connotation of long-practiced 

feigning) was James Francis Edward Stuart 

(1688-1766). The Young Pretender (also known 

as the Chevalier and Bonnie Prince Charlie) was 

Charles Edward Stuart (1720-1788). 

preternatural. See unnatural. 

pretty. The adjective pretty has had a great many 

meanings, including deceitful, tricky, cunning, 

clever, skillful, admirable, pleasing. In presentday 

English it means pleasing to the eye. In this 

sense, it has an adverb form prettily, as in the 

child was prettily dressed. 

The form pretty is also used as an adverb 

meaning moderately, in some degree, as in we 

are pretty sure and he gave a pretty full account. 

Pretty does not work successfully as a synonym 

for very. It is not an intensive, but weakens the 

word it qualifies. Pretty sure means not completely 

sure, and pretty well in I’m feeling pretty 

well is equivalent to the old-fashioned tolerable. 

pretty kettle of fish. As an ironical term for some 

irritating situation, some embarrassing predicament, 

pretty kettle of fish is now a cliche. The 

origin of the phrase is uncertain. It came into use 

in the middle of the eighteenth century. Thomas 

Newte in his A tour in England and Scotland in 

1785 (1788) says that it was customary for 

gentlemen who lived near the Tweed “to entertain 

their neighbours and friends with a Fete 

Champetre, which they call giving ‘a kettle of 

fish’ ” in the course of which “a fire is kindled 

and live salmon thrown into boiling kettles.” 

Whether these merrymakings degenerated into 

brawls or whether the figurative application of 

the term derived from the agonized thrashing of 

the salmon in the boiling water is not known. 

prevaricate, which derives from a Latin word 

meaning to walk crookedly, to deviate, is a slightly 

affected term for equivocate. It is often used as 

a euphemism for lie, it being felt, apparently, 

that an elegant word covers up an inelegant act. 

prevent; hinder. To prevent something is to stop 

it by forestalling action and hence rendering it 

impossible (He prevented my escape by taking 

away my clothes). To hinder something is to 

keep it back by delaying or stopping progress of 

an action (The advance of the army was hindered 

by the weather and the condition of the roads). 

Prevent has more the sense of complete stoppage, 

hinder more the sense of a clogging delay. 

Prevent means, etymologically, to go before, 

and the student of English literature will often 

come upon obsolete meanings of the word that 

will puzzle him unless he bears its etymology in

preventive 392 

mind (such as: Prevent us, Lord, in all our ways. 

It will be the study of my life to prevent your 

every wish. He had prevented the hour, because 

we might have the whole dny before us, for our 

business). 

The -ing form of a verb following prevent is 

usually introduced by from, as in he prevented 

me from going, but it may also be used without 

from, as in he prevented me going. 

preventive; preventative; preventitive. Preventative 

has been superseded by the briefer preventive 

which, as an adjective, means warding off disease 

(Preventive medicine is largely responsible for 

the low death rate), serving to prevent or hinder. 

As a noun, preventive is primarily a medical term 

meaning a drug for preventing disease, and, more 

broadly, a preventive agent or measure. Preventitive 

is a misspelling of preventative and cannot 

be justified at all. 

previous. The adjective form previous is used with 

the preposition to to form a compound preposition 

which may introduce an adverbial phrase, 

as in previous to this, he hnd been out of the 

room. Otherwise, previous cannot be used as an 

adverb. We do not say I had heen there previous. 

The adverbial form previously may also be used 

with to, but previous to is preferred to previously 

to. 

The expression 4 little previous (or too previous) 

means “jumping the gun” and is intended 

as humor. When used in any other way, the construction 


prey on one’s mind. To say of something that 

worries someone to the extent of impairing his 

spirits and even his health that it preys on his 

mind is to employ a worn phrase. The figure was 

once a strong one, suggesting the ravening of a 

beast of prey, but overuse has weakened it. 

priceless. See invaluable. 

prick up one’s ears. In its figurative sense of suddenly 

paying attention and listening intently, 

prick up one’s ears, a term taken from a characteristic 

action of horses and dogs, is now hackheyed. 

pride; haughtiness; arrogance; vanity; conceit. 

Although pride in Christian theology is regarded 

as the deadliest of the Seven Deadly Sins, the 

word has, in common usage, a favorable as well 

as an unfavorable connotation. It can mean a 

becoming or dignified sense of what is due to 

oneself or one’s position, self-respect, self-esteem 

of a proper kind (He took great pride in his 

work. Civic pride has made many a town a better 

place to live in. He was his father’s pride, his 

mother’s joy). 

**$n its unfavorable connotation it means a lofty 

and arrogant assumption of superiority in some 

respect (He had too much pride to accept manual 

labor. Pride goeth before destruciion, and an 

hauphtv soirii before a fall). Haughtiness means 

&d&fui pride; supe;ciliousness, and usually 

refers to a manner (From the haughtiness of her 

bearing I concluded that she was at least a marchioness). 

Arrogance consists of an offensive exhibition 

of real or assumed superiority, insolent 

pride (His recent successes increased his arrogance). 

Haughtiness tends to describe someone 

taking advantage of an established position, arrogance 

to characterize one newly arrived at a 

position of authority or power. 

Pride, even in its unfavorable meaning, has 

often a justification in fact, but vanity implies a 

self-admiration and a desire to be admired by 

others that is groundless. The word used to mean 

emptiness, worthlessness, and this meaning lingers 

in moral and religious uses (Vanity of vanities, 

all is vnnity. The vanity of earthly wishes) 

and colors the particular sort of pride that the 

word in its most common use now describes. 

When we say It was vanity which prevented her 

from wearing glasses even when she read, we 

imply that her pride in her appearance was carried, 

in this instance, to the point of folly and 

was a baseless pride. We may hate pride; we 

despise vanity. 

Conceit, which originally meant a fancy, a 

whim, or a fanciful thought, idea or expression 

of a strained and far-fetched nature, when used 

as a synonym of pride, as it now most commonly 

is, is an even more contemptuous word than 

vanity. It implies an exaggerated estimate of very 

slight abilities or attainments, nafvely expressed, 

wholly lacking in dignity (The conceit of that 

whelp in saying to Professor Ellison that one 

man’s opinion was as good as another’s). 

prima facie. See a priori. 

primary; prime; premier: chief; primal. These 

words all mean highly important. In many 

contexts they are synonymous (The primary/ 

prime/ premier/ chief/ first/ primal consideration 

should be the national security). Primary 

means first or highest in rank or importance, 

chief (Domestic policy was of primary importance 

during the Depression). Prime means first 

in importance, excellence, rank (He ordered 

prime ribs of beef). Premier means first in rank, 

chief, leading, earliest (The premier performance 

was held in Miss Bankhend’s native city). Chief 

means highest in rank or authority, most important 

(The chief end of man is to glorify God and 

enjoy him forever). Primal, a word now seldom 

used, means first, original, primeval, of first importance, 

fundamental (We will grieve not, rather 

find/ Strength in what remains behind;/ In 

the primal sympathy/ Which having been must 

ever be. . . ). 

prime of life. To say of someone of mature years 

in vigorous health that he is in the prime of life 

is to employ a phrase that has been weakened 

by overuse. 

primeval; primitive; primordial. Primeval means 

of or pertaining to the first age or ages, especially 

of the world (This is the forest primeval. Miss 

Kilman stood there. . . with the power and taciturnity 

of some prehistoric monster armored for 

primeval warfare). 

Primitive is used much more frequently and in 

a variety of senses. It primarily means being the 

first or earliest of the kind or in existence (Zrl 

South Africa have been discovered primitive 

weapons mnde from the bones of animals). early 

in the history of the world or of mankind (Primitive 

social organization tends to be authoritarian). 

It can also mean characteristic of early ages

or of an early state of human development (African 

urt is relatively primitive), unaffe:cted or 

little affected by civilizing influences, rough (His 

manners were primitive and his morals nonexistent). 

Primitive has special learned senses. In anthropology 

it means of or pertaining to a race:, group, 

etc., having cultural or physical similarities with 

their early ancestors. In biology it means rudimentary, 

primordial, denoting species only slightly 

evolved from early antecedent types. 

Primordial means original, elementary, that 

from which something else derived, that which 

constitutes a beginning (I should infer.. . that 

probably all the organic beings. . . on ea.rth have 

descended from some one primordial form- 

Darwin). 

primrose path. As a trope for a gay but wicked 

course of conduct, especially in sexual matters, 

primrose path is now a cliche. The phrase is an 

echo of two passages in Shakespeare’s plays: the 

primrose path of dalliance which the puff’d and 

reckless libertine treads in Hamlet and the primrose 

way to th’ everlasting bonfire of which the 

porter speaks in Macbeth. 

principal; principle. These words, pronounced 

alike and spelled so nearly alike, are unlikely to 

be confused if one remembers that principal is 

used as an adjective and also as a noun, while 

principle is a noun only. It is over the nouns that 

confusion usually arises, a confusion implied in 

the old joke, “I don’t really hate ihe high school; 

it’s just the principal of the thing.” 

As an adjective principal means first or highest 

in rank, importance, or value, chief, foremost 

(Our principal allies are the British Commonwealth 

and France). As a noun principar’ usually 

means a chief or governing head (The principal 

of the high school handed 4 diploma to each of 

the graduating seniors). 

Principle refers not to a person but tco an accepted 

or professed rule of action or conduct 

(He is a man of high principle), a fundamental, 

primary, or general truth, on which other truths 

depend (The principles of political economy are 

not what they were in Adam Smith’s day), a 

fundamental doctrine or tenet (Pluto’s philosophy 

rests on the principle of dual reality). 

principal parts of the verb. The forms of a verb 

usu~llygiven in a dictionary are: 

1. The infinitive. such as talk or speak. In Ennlish, 

this form is also the imperative, the: present 

subjunctive, and the present indicative, except 

for the third person singular which normally 

adds an s or es, as in he talks, he speaks, and for 

the verb to be which has a completely irregular 

present indicative. 

2. The past tense, such as talked or spoke. 

3. The past participle, such as talked or spoken. 

This form is used with the auxiliary verb be 

to make the passive voice, as in he wasspoken to, 

and with the auxiliary verb have to express completed 

action, as in he had spoken. It may also be 

used as an adjective, as in a well-spoken man was 

he. In a regular English verb the past tense and 

past participle are made by adding -e,d to the 

basic form of the word (the infinitive). Many 

393 product 

dictionaries do not list these forms of the verb 

unless they are made irregularly. 

4. The present participle. This is alwavs made 

by adding -ing to the basic form, and for this 

reason may not be listed. The -ing form is used 

with the auxiliary verb be to express continuing 

action, as in he was speaking. It may also be used 

as an adjective, as in a speaking acqrtaintance, or 

as a noun, as in to study public speaking. A few 

verbs, such as can and ought, do not have an 

-ing form. 

These four forms are not only the “principal” 

parts of an English verb; they are all the parts 

there are except the third person singular in the 

present tense. (Again, the one exception is the 

verb to be.) 

probe. In its historic and literal sense, probe 

means to explore a wound or cavity in the body 

with a surgical instrument (He probed the 

wound until he found the bullet). In America 

probe has come to be used widely, in a figurative 

extension of this sense, to mean to examine thoroughly, 

to question closely. There is also, in 

America, a noun probe, meaning an investigation, 

especially by a legislative committee, of 

suspected illegal activity. Both of these uses are 

now standard, though the verb is often used 

when a milder word, such as question or investigate, 

would be more suitable. Nonetheless, 

where probe is suitable, where the condition 

being searched is morbid, the searching accompanied 

by pain, and the purpose to restore health 

to the body politic, the term is vivid and useful. 

proboscis. The plural is proboscises or probostides, 

not probosces. 

proceed is not to be used as a pretentious synonym 

for go or come. It is stilted to say Let us proceed 

to the fountain for a drink or That information 

proceeds from a most unreliable source. To 

proceed is to move forward, especially after 

stopping (After Q short recess, they proceeded 

with the hearing). Some claim that in military 

language proceed is a recognized synonym for 

go, but this may be challenged. In military 

terminology, proceed does not so much mean 

go as go on; for it is assumed in military service 

that any given assignment will be followed by 

another to which one proceeds (Upon receipt 

of these orders, you will proceed. . .). See also 

precede. 

procession. See precession. 

proclaim. See declare. 

proclaim from the housetops. As a term for making 

something public knowledge, proclaim from 

the housetops is a cliche. It is from Matthew, 

10:27. The Authorized Version has what ye hear 

in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. 

The Revised Standard Version has what you 

hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops. 

prodigal. See lavish. 

product; produce; proceeds. Produce refers especially 

to agricultural or natural products collectively 

(The farmers brought their produce to 

town early each Saturday morning). Product 

tends to mean something resulting from manufacture 

(Our products include textiles, plastics, 

and dyes. Even if you have a good product, you

profanity 394 

still have to find a market for it). Product may 

also be used figuratively to mean effect or result 

(My book is the product of several years of 

research). Proceeds is that which results or accrues, 

especially the sum derived from a sale or 

other transaction (The entire proceeds of the 

bazaar will go to the Fund for Crippled Children). 

profanity. See blasphemy. 

arofess. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he professed to have studied Sanskrit. 

It is sometimes heard with the -ing form of a 

verb, as in he professed having studied Sanskrit, 

but this is not standard English. 

profession; trade. The word profession was formerly 

confined to the vocations of theology, law, 

and medicine, but modern usage has extended it 

to include almost any vocation requiring knowledge 

of some department of learning or science. 

Today we speak of the professions of teaching, 

acting, architecture, and a dozen other activities. 

Indeed, were anyone engaged in any activity that 

plainly was not wholly manual to refer to his 

occupation as my profession, the phrase would 

probably be accepted without any resentment or 

gmusement or sense of incongruity. In part this 

is due to the working of the principle of Gresham’s 

Law in titles and honorifics, b;t in part it is 

also due to the fact that more and more occupations 

today require considerable knowledge and 

preparation. 

A trade still suggests an occupation involving 

manual training and skill (In his youth he had 

learned a good trade; he was a carpenter. The 

building trades . . .). Trade by itself refers to 

the exchange of commodities, for other commodities 

or money. The trade refers collectively 

to those in the same line of business (In the 

trade we call it a gimmick). In trade is an English 

expression equivalent to the American 

engaged in business, though the English phrase 

often has a slight connotation of contempt 

wholly absent from the American expression. 

See also avocation, calling, business, job. 

professor. The commonest meaning of professor 

in current usage is a teacher of the highest rank, 

usually in a particular branch of learning, in a 

university or college. Including associate professors 

and assistant professors (a gradation now 

almost universal in American colleges), more 

than half of any faculty is made up of professors. 

In England the term professor is reserved for a 

very few teachers in colleges and universities who 

hold chairs and are of the highest rank. Formerly 

the term professor was used humorously in 

America to designate piano players in taverns, 

bootblacks, wandering minstrels, and assorted 

mountebanks. More recently it has incurred odium 

from the reproaches of those who regard all 

intellectuals as subversives. And at all times it 

has suffered from the pretentiousness of many 

who have claimed it as their proper title of respect. 

Abashed by all this, most professors prefer 

to be called Mister. 

The title Professor may be abbreviated as 

Prof. when it stands before a full name or a last 

name and initials, as in Prof. Mary CcaJkins, Prof. 

M. W. Calkins. When used immediatelv before a 

last name it is always spelled out, as inProfessor 

Calkins. 

Professor or Prof. is not used with other titles 

or with letters showing academic degrees, such 

as Ph.D., D. Litt., LL.D. 

The word Professor may be used without a 

proper name as a form of address, as in thank 

you, Professor. It may also be used in speaking 

about the person, as in the professor Jives on 

Elm Street. 

proffer, tender and offer all mean to present for 

acceptance or refusal. Offer is the general word, 

the best of the lot, and the one most suitable for 

nearly all contexts. Prooer is now chiefly a literary 

substitute for offer in a figurative sense (He 

proffered his heart in verses of his own composition). 

Tender, no longer used in reference to 

concrete objects, is a ceremonious term for a 

more or less formal or conventional act (He tendered 

his resignation when his party fell from 

power. Both bids were tendered on the same 

day). 

profuse. See lavish; prolific. 

progressive tenses. Forms of the verb which refer 

to an action as in progress are called the progressive 

tenses. They are made by adding the -ing 

form of the verb to the appropriate form of to 

be, as in he is laughing and they had been laughing. 

The action can be presented as in progress 

in the present, the past, or the future. 

Until a little over a hundred years ago the 

progressive forms were not used in the passive 

voice. Instead, they were understood as having 

either an active or a passive meaning, depending 

upon the sense of the statement. That is, 

selling would be understood as passive in the 

books are now selling. A New England grammarian, 

writing in 1855, said that this usage “is 

unquestionably of far better authority, and 

(according to my apprehension) in far better 

taste, than the more complex phraseology which 

some late writers adopt in its stead; as, ‘The 

books are now being sold.“’ Today, we may 

still say the books are selling but we do not feel 

that the progressive passive form is a complex 

phraseology. Some contemporary grammarians 

say that the progressive passive cannot be used 

in the perfect tenses or in the future tense. But 

it is used in these forms and in speech more 

often than in writing. See passive voice and 

future tense. 

Contemporary grammarians also say that the 

progressive forms should not be used in the 

simple tenses for verbs of perception or attitude, 

such as see, hear, believe, doubt, since these 

naturally express a continuing state of affairs. 

But the progressive forms often are used with 

these verbs. We say I am hearing every word 

and he was doubting it. (For other questions 

about the use of these tenses, see past tense and 

present tense.) 

prohibit. See inhibit. 

prolific and profuse both suggest abundance, but 

they are not to be confused. Prolific means

fruitful, producing offspring abundantly (Americans 

were never more prolific than in the last 

half of the nineteenth century. Urban families 

used formerly to be much less prolific than 

rural families), producing much or abundantly 

(Upton Sinclair is among our most prolific 

writers. This act may be prolific of evil consequences). 

Profuse is a passive term mfeaning 

poured forth, extravagant (He was profuse in 

his outlays), made or done freely and abundantly 

(He made profuse apologies f,or his 

tardiness), abundant (Such a profuse rain of 

invective came as a surprise. Profuse strains of 

unpremeditated art). See also lavish. 

promenade. The basic meaning of promenade is 

a walk taken at a leisurely pace for exercise, 

amusement, or display, or as a part of a social 

ceremony (On the day before the bullfights began, 

highborn seiioritas took their promenade in 

the square). By transference, promenade means 

a place for promenading (a leisurely walk along 

the promenade). In the United States only, promenade 

may also be used to describe a ball or 

dance in a school or college. The colloquial and 

commoner term is prom (He desperately wanted 

to go to the Junior Prom, but didn’t have the 

money). Promenade may also, in America, describe 

a march of guests into a ballroom, constituting 

the opening of a formal ball, or a march of 

dancers in folk or square dancing. Promenade 

deck is the name for a space on an upper deck of 

a passenger ship for the use of passengers. 

promote, from a Latin word meaning moved forward, 

advanced, means to further the growth, 

development, or progress of something (The 

welfare of the school was promoted by the P.T.A. 

in a dozen different ways). The word is used a 

great deal in America today as a synonym for 

advertise (The new product was promo,!ed on 

every billboard for forty miles around [a subtle 

form of promotion for advertising]). Of course 

advertising does promote business and there is a 

considerable area in which the two words are 

synonymous. But where it plainly means merely 

to make a public announcement or give information 

to the public concerning something with the 

intention of increasing sales, promote is pompous 

and a little tricky. It suggests that the advertising 

has already accomplished what it hopes to accomplish, 

an idea which advertising men are, of 

course, eager to have their clients believe but 

which the client may resent having palmed off 

on him in this way. 

To promote also means to advance in rank, 

dignity, or position (Within a year he was promoted 

from teller to assistant cashier). In education 

it means to put ahead to the next higher 

stage or grade of a course or series of classes 

(Despite his inability to read, he was promoted 

to the fourth grade). It has a special ‘use in 

reference to the organizing of financial and other 

undertakings (He promoted a dozen oil companies 

and two railroads). 

Promote is always to be used in the sense 

of furthering, making better. It does not mean 

simply to cause. 

395 pronouns 

prompt. See impel. 

prone, supine, and prostrate are all used to describe 

actual physical position as well as figurative 

condition. 

Prone and prostrate mean lying face downwards 

on one’s stomach; they also mean lying 

flat, at full length, without specifying the direction 

faced. Supine means lying face upwards on 

one’s back. 

The commonest meaning of prone is the figurative 

one of having a natural inclination or 

tendency to something, disposed, liable (He is 

prone to these outbursts of temper. Dostoevsky 

was prone to attacks of epilepsy). It is used as 

well, however, in its literal physical senses of 

lying face downwards (One can fire a rifle most 

accurately from a prone position), prostrate, as 

opposed to erect (On the Acropolis is to be found 

many an ancient column, broken and prone), or 

having a downward direction or slope (From 

high Olympus prone her flight she bends). Of 

the hand, it means with the palm downward. 

Prostrate, although describing the same physical 

position of the body as prone, carries with it 

more of the sense of weakness, helplessness, submission. 

One may fall prone on purpose to escape 

a hail of bullets; one falls prostrate under the 

attack of a maddened dog. Figuratively, therefore, 

prostrate means overthrown, overcome, 

helpless (Poland was prostrate before the advancing 

panzer columns). 

Supine is most commonly used in its literal, 

physical sense of lying on the back with the face 

upwards (They buried their dead on their backs, 

or in a supine position). Of the hand, it means 

with the palm upward. In a figurative sense, 

supine means inactive, passive, inert, especially 

from indolence or indifference (Albert0 Moravia’s 

novel The Indifferent Ones is about supine 

Italians under Mussolini). 

In their figurative uses, prone suggests an active 

desire, supine a passive acceptance. Thus 

when William Faulkner speaks of barbers above 

their prone clients (These 13, 1931), he is misusing 

the word literally and figuratively. 

pronominal adjectives. Words such as all, any, 

both, which are used as adjectives and as pronouns, 

are called pronominal adjectives when 

they qualify nouns or noun equivalents. The possessive 

personal pronouns are also regarded as 

pronominal adjectives by many grammarians. As 

a rule, these words stand before other qualifying 

words, as any in any such outrageous, unheard 

of, not-to-be-put-up-with, nonsense. 

pronouns. Pronouns are defined as “words that 

are used in place of nouns.” They are function 

words, or grammatical devices, and are used to 

indicate something that would be named by a 

noun, without naming it. For example, such is 

a pronoun in of such is the kingdom of heaven. 

We do not know what this sentence means until 

we know that such is here being used in place 

of little children. The word which a pronoun is 

used in place of is called its antecedent. The 

antecedent of a pronoun may not be mentioned, 

as is the case with someone in someone told

proof 396 

me; and it may even be unknown, as is the case 

with who in who can say?. See antecedent. 

The difference between a pronoun and a noun 

is not always clear. Some pronouns, such as 

both, were originally adjectives, and most pronouns 

can be used as adjectives to qualify nouns, 

as can most nouns. Most pronouns do not have 

the three forms (singular, plural, and genitive) 

that are characteristic of nouns. But some do 

have a genitive, such as either’s, and a few have 

both a singular and a plural form, such as other 

and others. As a rule, a pronoun cannot be qualified 

by an adjective, but there are exceptions 

even to this. In any case, wherever it is impossible 

to say whether a given word is a pronoun or 

not, it makes no difference what one calls it. 

Pronouns may be singular or plural. Some, 

such as this, are singular; some, such as roe, are 

plural; and some, such as who, may be either 

singular or plural. According to the formal rules 

of grammar, a pronoun always has the same 

number as the word it represents. That is, it 

is sineular if the word is singular and mural if 

the word is plural. But in English, from the earliest 

times, the number of a pronoun has been determined 

by the meaning or intention of the 

speaker rather than by the grammatical form of 

the antecedent. The number of a verb also depends 

upon the intention of the speaker, but not 

as completely as the number of a pronoun. Dr. 

Johnson, for example, said that he knew no instance 

of a nation that has preserved their words 

and phrases from mutability. Here the singular 

noun nation is followed by a singular verb has, 

but is referred to by the plural pronoun their because 

the writer was thinking of a large number 

of people, and not of a political unit. 

A pronoun is also said to “agree with its 

antecedent in person.” In present-day English, 

most of the problems of “person” are taken care 

of under “number.” All that remains of this rule 

is the claim that whenever one of the three 

words who, which, or that, has I, me, or you, 

as an antecedent, it must be used with the same 

form of the verb that would be used with the 

antecedent. (For a fuller discussion of this, see 

agreement: verbs.) 

A few pronouns have case. That is, a few 

pronouns are either subjective or objective. Although 

the number and person of a pronoun are 

determined by its antecedent, the case depends 

upon how the pronoun itself is being used. (See 

subjective pronouns and objective pronouns.) 

Pronouns are classified partly by form, partly 

by meaning, and partly by use. These classes 

overlap to some extent and the same word may 

be found in more than one group. But the traditional 

classification does separate out problems 

that arise in connection with some words and 

not with others. (For a discussion of these 

problems, see personal, possessive, objective, 

subjective, relative, interrogative, reflexive, inteusive, 

and indefinite pronouns.) Two other 

classes of pronouns, demonstrative and reciprocal. 

are defined in this book but present no 

problems. 

proof. See evidence. 

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4d,I ’

propaganda; publicity. Propaganrla is the right 

word for the particular doctrines or principles 

propagated by an organization or concerted 

movement. The term takes its origin from the 

College of Propaganda, a committee of cardinals, 

established in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV: having 

supervision of the foreign missions of the Roman 

Catholic Church and of the training of priests 

for these missions. 

Though in origin and history and in its special 

Roman Catholic sense, propaganda has no unfavorable 

connotations, in popular usage today 

it is a derogatory term. It is used to describe the 

efforts of those whom we regard as enemies to 

make their creed or policy known and accepted 

(Communist propaganda. Thnt’s just pi! lot of 

propaganda). Our own attempts to win acceptance 

for our creed or policy are termed a crusade, 

a campaign of enlightenment, or, more 

simply and more commonly, the truth. 

Publicity, a more neutral term than propagunda 

and a more dignified one than the slang ballyhoo, 

describes the measures, process, or business 

of securing public notice, the state of being 

brought to public notice by announcements 

(aside from advertisements), by mention in the 

press, on radio or television, or any means serving 

to effect the purpose (You can’t even give 

money away today wzthout a publicity campaign 

first). 

propellant; propellent. Propellant is a noun only. 

It means a propelling agent. In military usage it 

designates the charge of explosive used in a cannon 

to make the shell travel to the targef (Gunpowder 

is a propellant). Propellent may be used 

as an adjective or a noun. As an adjective it 

means propelling, driving forward (Gunpowder 

is a propellent force). As a noun propellent 

means, like propellant, a propelling agent. 

proper. When this word means “itself” or ‘“strictly 

so-called,” it stands after the noun it qualifies, as 

in Prussia proper and the fishes proper. When 

the word is used in any other sense it stands before 

its noun, as in tlze proper study of mankind, 

or after a form of the verb to be, either expressed 

or felt, as in do you think it is proper? 

proper nouns. Proper here has its archaic meaning 

of “belonging to oneself.” A proper noun is 

the identifying name of a particular person, 

place, or thing, such as Rice Kemper. Mt. Vernon, 

the Wayside Inn. Other nouns, such :as man, 

farm, barn, esth, are called common nouns. They 

name a class of things and identifv individuals 

only as members of that class. Proper nou!ns, and 

the adjectives made from them, are always capitalized 

in English. When a common noun is used 

as a proper noun, it too may be capitaliized, as 

in I will ask Father. When a word that was originally 

a proper noun is no longer thought of in 

that sense, it loses its capital letter, as in watt, 

ampere, brussels sprouts, paris green. How soon 

this happens varies with different writers. 

Except for its capital letter, a proper noun is 

treated like any other noun. It may be used in 

the plural, as in the four Mmys. But here the 

plural does not mean four individuals who can 

be classified as Mary, in the sense in which that 

proponent 

is what is meant when we speak of the four 

girls. It means four persons, each of whom is 

individually identified as Mary-namely, Mary 

Seaton, Mary Beaton, Mary Carmichael, and 

Mary Hamilton. By extension, and speaking figuratively, 

we may also say a dozerz Shakespeares, 

meaning a dozen men who are equal to Shakespeare. 

A proper noun may be qualified by adjectives. 

We may speak of the younger Pitt. The use of a 

with a proper name may be felt as derogatory 

when applied to a human being, as in a Mr. 

Adams is waiting to see you. The is sometimes 

necessary. It is always necessary when an identifying 

clause is to follow, as in the Paris I am 

talking about is in Kentucky. 

Some proper names cannot be used without 

the. This is always true when some common 

noun, such as river, ocean, building, is part of 

the true name, whether this common noun is 

actually used or merely understood, as in the 

Hudson, the Mediterranean, the Capital. In such 

cases the is qualifying the common noun and 

performing its normal grammatical function. It 

is not a part of the proper name and is not capitalized. 

The (without a capital letter) is also 

required before plural proper names, such as the 

United States, the Indies, the Alps, the Smiths. 

Sometimes the is made part of a title, as in 

The Way of All Flesh and The New York Times. 

When names of this sort are used in a construction 

that does not ordinarily allow the article 

the, the title The is dropped, as in Butler’s Way 

of All Flesh and a New York Times report. 

When such names are used in constructions that 

ordinarily require the article the, only one the 

is used, as in have you seen the New York Times? 

Here the word the is sometimes capitalized and 

sometimes not. It is more logical not to capitalize 

it, on the grounds that the grammatical the has 

driven out the title The, just as Butler’s and a 

did in the examples above. But practice varies. 

At present neither form can be considered 

wrong. 

prophecy and prophesy were formerly merely 

variant : spellings but thev are now fixed as different 

parts of speech. Prophecy (with a c) is a 

noun. It means a foretelling or prediction, originally 

by divine inspiration, of what is to come, 

a revelation, or the action, function, or faculty 

of a prophet (He had the gift of prophecy. And 

is this all your prophecy, that things will get 

either better or worse?). Prophesy (with an s) is 

the verb. As a transitive verb it means to foretell 

or predict (I prophesy that no good will come of 

this), to indicate beforehand, to declare or foretell 

as by divine inspiration. As an intransitive 

verb it means to make predictions (Cassandra 

was one of the most unfortunate women who 

ever prophesied), to speak as a mediator between 

God and man or in God’s stead (In the reign of 

Saul, it was Samuel who prophesied). 

proponent; supporter. Proponent, the opposite of 

opponent, means one who puts forward a proposition 

or proposal (Thomas Ieflerson was the 

chief proponent of the Declaration of lndeperzdence). 

In law a proponeqf is one who argues in

proportion 398 

favor of, especially one who seeks to obtain probate 

of a will. By extension, and by ignorant or 

willful misconstruction of the strict sense of the 

term, proponent has come to mean one who supports 

a cause or doctrine, a supporter. This 

extension is regrettable because it blurs the distinction 

between proponent, an author or prime 

mover, and supporter, one who merely upholds, 

endorses, or allies himself with that which the 

proponent has advanced. 

proportion is a word which seems to invite misuse. 

Strictly speaking, it describes a comparative 

relation between things or magnitudes as to 

size, quantity, number, ratio (His arms were 

long in proportion to the rest of his body. 

Though he has a quarter of the votes, this is 

not a large enough proportion to permit him 

to have things his own way). By an understandable 

extension, proportion in the plural has 

come to mean dimensions (It was a canvas 

of large proportions). The real damage comes 

with the further extension to mean a portion or 

part without indication of its relation to a whole. 

If we say The picnic was attended by a proportion 

of the higher oficers of the company, we 

have really said nothing. Number would have 

been a better word. See also part; portion; share; 

pr$&e; purpose. These verbs, though variant 

forms of the same word, mean distinctly separate 

things. One purposes for oneself; one proposes 

to others. Purpose means to put before oneself 

as something to be done or accomplished (I purpose 

to finish this book within three months). 

Propose means to put forward a matter, subject, 

case for consideration, acceptance, or action (I 

propose that we refer the matter to a committee 

for study and recommended action). 

Propose may be followed by an infinitive, as 

in he proposes to go tomorrow, or by the -ing 

form of a verb, as in he proposes going tomorrow. 

The two forms are equally acceptable. Propose 

may also be followed by a clause, but the 

clause verb must be a subjunctive or a subjunctive 

equivalent, as in he proposes he go at once. 

Purpose may be followed by an infinitive, but 

not by an -ing form or a clause. 

proposition; proposal; plan. Of these three words, 

proposition is the most specific, plan the most 

general. A plan is any method of thinking out 

acts and purposes beforehand (What are your 

plans for Saturday night?). A proposal is a plan, 

a scheme, an offer to be accepted or rejected 

(The proposal of the union, to establish a retirement 

fund to which the company was to contribute 

half, was received coldly by the management. 

The enemy soon made proposals of peace). The 

word has also a special meaning in the sense of 

an offer of marriage. 

A proposition is a proposal in which the terms 

are clearly stated and their advantageous nature 

emphasized. A business proposition is a much 

more specific, immediate, and detailed thing than 

a business proposal. The trouble with proposition 

is that it is overused and often misused. It is 

frequently substituted for the more accurate plan 

or proposal (Zt looks like a paying proposition), 

or for such words as task, affair, or matter (That’s 

a wholly different proposition!). 

In nonstandard American usage a proposition, 

in some contexts, means a suggestion, from a 

man to a woman, of illicit sexual relations. In 

this sense, and in this sense chiefly, the word is 

used as a verb (You proposition a dame like that 

and she’ll throw you out of the house). 

proprietrix is affected and proprietress umtecessary 

unless one wants to insist on the fact that a 

certain proprietor is a woman. 

propriety. See decorum. 

prosaic and prosy are closely related in meaning. 

Indeed, the primary sense of one is the secondary 

sense of the other, and vice versa. 

Prosaic, in its commonest contemporary sense, 

means commonplace or dull, matter-of-fact, unimaginative 

(Life in a small industrial town 

seems very prosaic to the sons and daughters who 

have been away to college). In its now less used 

sense, though this was its original sense, it means 

having the character or spirit of prose as opposed 

to poetry, as verse or writing (Wordsworth’s later 

poetry is often prosaic). Prosy, a word heard nowhere 

near so often, means, in its commonest 

contemporary sense, of the nature of or resembling 

prose (That was a pretty prosy speech for 

so poetic an occasion). In its less often used 

sense, it means prosaic, commonplace, dull or 

wearisome (Daniel Deronda is an amiable monomaniac 

and occasionally a very prosy moralist). 

Some pundits would have prosaic mean commonplace 

and prosy mean tediously commonplace; 

but although the distinction might be valuable, 

usage does not support it. 

proscribe. See prescribe. 

prosecute. See. persecute. 

proselyte; proselytize. The English use proselyte 

as a noun only, meaning one who has come over 

or changed from one opinion, religious belief, 

sect, or the like, to another; a convert, As a verb, 

meaning to induce someone to make such a 

change, the English use proselytize. Americans 

prefer to use proselyte m a verb also (The older 

proselyting worked more slowly, perhaps more 

surely, but never so inclusively -Walter Lippmann). 

prospect, to signify what the English would call 

a prospective customer, must now be accepted as 

standard in American usage (During the Florida 

land boom free buses took prospects about the 

major cities. We start off by sending form letters 

to several thousand prospects). 

prospective. See perspective. 

prospective; putative. Prospective means expected, 

in prospect, future (My prospective mother-inlaw 

arrives tomorrow). Putative means that 

which is supposed, reputed, or commonly regarded 

as such (There are some who insist that 

Thomas Lincoln was only Abraham Lincoln’s 

putative father and that his real father was John 

C. Calhoun). 

prospectus. The plural is prospectuses or prospectus, 

not prospecti. 

prostrate. See prone.

protagonist and antagonist are to be used neither 

as synonyms nor as antonyms. 

Proragonist means the leading character in a 

play (Mio is the protagonist in Maxwell .4nderson’s 

Winterset) or, by extension, any leading 

character or personage (Communist Chi’na appears 

to be the protagonist in Asian politics. 

Amos is the protagonist of the older prophets). 

The important thing to recognize about protagonist 

is that the prefix is proto- (first), not pro- 

(for). A protagonist, by definition, plays the 

leading part in something; it is not implied that 

he is in favor of what he is doing. 

Antagonist means one who is opposed to or 

strives with another in any kind of contest, an 

opponent, an adversary (Antagonists of the superintendent 

soon found that their friends and 

relatives were being dropped from the payroll). 

pro tern. This is an abbreviation of the Latin 

words pro tempore and means temporarily. 

protest. Americans say protest ngainst but they 

also say protest in many contexts where the English 

would say protest against (A committee of 

clergymen called on him to protest his policy on 

vice-Lincoln Steffens). 

Protestant; protestant. The word protestant, one 

who protests, is now almost obsolete; when anyone 

hears the word he assumes it to mean 

Protestant, one who protests specifically against 

Roman Catholicism. And even this meaning 

must be modified, for the idea of protest in 

Protestantism is fading and the word is generally 

understood to mean any Western Christian not 

an adherent of the Roman Catholic Church, 

or an adherent of any of those Christian bodies 

which separated from the Church of Rome at 

the Reformation or of any group descended 

from them. The term seems to have been a.pplied 

at first by their enemies to those German Princes 

who protested against the decision of the Diet 

of Spires, in 1529, which had denounced the 

Reformation. 

prototype means the original or first model after 

which something is formed, the archetype (The 

Iliad is the prototype of all epic poems). A prototype 

is unique. Therefore it is not to be misused 

to mean any predecessor or model (as in 

Auden’s elegy on Yeats has as prototypes Arnold’s 

Thvrsis. Shelley’s Adonais. and Milton’s 

Lycidas).- ’ - 

protozoa. This word is plural and is always used 

as a plural. The singular is protozoiin, or protozoum, 

or protozoan. All three forms are acceptable. 

The plural form protozoans is also 

acceptable, but the double plural protozoae is 

not. 

protrude. See intrude. 

proud parents, as a term for a wedded male and 

female who have begotten and delivered a child, 

is a cliche. 

prove. The past tense is proved. The participle is 

proven or proved. The participle proven is respectable 

literary English. In the United States 

it is used more often than the form proved. In 

Great Britain proved is used more often and 

proven sounds affected to many people. 

399 psychological moment 

Prove may be followed by an adjective describing 

the subject of the verb, as in it proved 

true. It may also be qualified by an adverb describing 

the proving, as in he quickly proved that 

it was true. 

provided; providing. Both of these words may be 

used as conjunctions to introduce a clause, as in 

he will do the work providing you pay him. Some 

people feel that provided is the only correct form, 

but the two words have been used as conjunctions 

for the same length of time and by equally 

good writers. 

Provided and providing can only be used to 

introduce a stipulation or demand which, presumably, 

somebody would like to see met, as in 

the example given above. The conjunction if, on 

the other hand, merely indicates that the following 

clause states a condition; it is immaterial 

whether anyone would like to see the condition 

fulfilled or not, as in my parents will worry if 

they don’t hear from me. Provided or providing 

should not be used loosely in place of if in a 

sentence of this kind. 

provoke. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in do not provoke him to steal. It 

may also be followed by the -ing form of a 

verb with the preposition ro, as in do not provoke 

him to stealing, but the infinitive is generally 

preferred. See also aggravate. 

proximity. Since proximity means nearness in 

place, time, or relation, close proximity is redundant. 

proximo; prox. See instant. 

prudent; prudential. Prudent is the word having 

general currency, as applied to persons or actions. 

He who or that which is prudent is thoughtful, 

sagacious, provident, careful of his own selfinterest, 

worldly wise, discreet, decorous (It is 

not prudent for us to meet thus openly where we 

may be seen. The prudent man looketh well to 

his going. The prudent students used to prepare 

to be teachers because teaching offered a secure 

living). Prudential is a restricted term meaning 

of, pertaining to, or characterized by, prudence. 

It describes motives or considerations leading to 

action rather than the action itself or the person 

performing the action (Prudential considerations 

dictate that I secure a second signature to your 

note). Thus a prudent genius would be a genius 

who exercised prudence in the management of 

his affairs, a prudential genius would be one 

whose genius lay solely in the art of prudence. 

pseudonym. See nom de plume. 

psychological moment. The phrase when first 

coined in a German newspaper in 1870 meant 

the psychological momentum and referred to the 

psychological considerations that impelled or deferred 

the bombardment of the then-besieged 

city of Paris. But the German moment (equivalent 

to English momentum) was mistaken in an 

English translation of the article for the moment 

of time and the phrase, which for some reason 

had a jocular vogue, passed into our language as 

meaning “in the nick of time” or “at the critical 

moment.” Oscar Wilde said that he knew the precise 

psychological moment when to say nothing.

psychology 

The phrase was woolly in its inception, confused 

in its translation, affected in its adoption, 

and misunderstood in its application. It is pompous, 

meaningless, and tedious. 

psychology. In an age which James Joyce has 

described as “jung and easily freudened,” psychology 

is a word thrown about knowingly by 

about everyone capable of articulating a foursyllabled 

word, though not necessarily of spelling 

it. Basically it means the science of mind, or 

of mental states or processes, the science of 

human nature (Burton’s observations, though 

shrewd, remained fruitless for lack of a cob’rdinating 

psychology; he saw human nature clearly, 

but he had no system to which to relate the 

disparate facts he so assiduously collected). More 

generally, it means the science of human and 

animal behavior. 

In common parlance psychology means the 

mental states and processes of a person or of a 

number of persons, especially as determining action 

(To understand Hemingwny’s The Sun Also 

Rises, one must have some understanding of the 

psychology of the postwar expatriate). 

The word is used a great deal in everyday 

American speech to mean shrewdness, cleverness, 

or an understanding of human nature (She 

certainly shows psychology in dealing with those 

children, making them think they want to do 

their lessons. That was real psychology, taking 

out all the dimes and leaving only quarters in the 

saucer). This is often merely an ellipsis for a 

knowledge of psychology, but it is pretentious 

and usually vague. 

psychosis. The plural is psychoses or psychosises. 

publicity. See propaganda. 

publish. Although the commonest contemporary 

meaning of publish is to issue, or to cause to 

be issued, in copies made by printing or other 

processes, for sale or distribution, as a book, 

periodical, or the like, the word has a different, 

or at least a severely restricted meaning in legal 

terminology. In the law of defamation, to publish 

a defamatory statement is to communicate 

it, in some form, to a person or persons other 

than the nerson defamed. A libel is published if 

it is merely repeated or written in-a letter. In 

England, where the laws of libel are very severe, 

librarians are subject to prosecution for libel if 

they even permit a book which has been the 

subject of conviction for obscene libel to be 

consulted. The law has held that the mere showing 

of a book, by one individual to another, 

constitutes publishing. See also allege. 

puerile. See infantile. 

pugnacious. See bellicose. 

pull, in the figurative sense of influence, as with 

persons able to grant favors (You got to have 

pull to get those jobs), is not standard. 

pull chestnuts out of the fire. To say of those who 

take risks from which other men profit that they 

are pulling the chestnuts out of the fire is to em- 

~103 a worn-out metaphor. 

The nhrase derives from an old story of a 

monkey that persuaded a cat to pull a chestnut 

out of the fire for him. The cat got a burned paw 

and the monkey enjoyed the chestnut. From the 

same story comes also the word catspaw as a 

term for one who is used by another to serve his 

purposes. In the older versions of the fable it was 

a puppy that was persuaded to take the fruitless 

risk and this is so much more suitable that it is 

believed that cat is simply a misunderstanding or 

mistranslation of the Latin catellus, puppy. 

pull one’s weight, a term from rowing, is a clich6. 

One hears it more often in the negative, as a 

reproach, than in the positive. It is said of soand-so 

that he is not pulling his weight, that is, 

not doing a fair share of work in return for whatever 

pay or reward he is receiving. 

pull the strings. As a term from puppetry, meaning 

to control affairs by moving others as if they 

were marionettes, pull the strings is now hackneyed. 

Sometimes it was pull the wires, but a wirepuller 

in America today is not so much a master 

behind the scenes, manipulating others, as one 

who uses political influence or the like to win 

an advantage. The original metaphor from puppetry 

may have gotten confused with the idea of 

mechanical bell wires or other wires that transmit 

physical power and control machinery. 

pummel. See pommel. 

pun; paronomasia; assonance. A pun is a play on 

words, the use of a word in two different applications, 

or the use of two different words which 

are pronounced alike, in such a way as to present 

an incongruous idea and excite our sense of the 

ludicrous. A good pun can be very witty. That is, 

under the incongruity there can be a suggestion 

of some deeper truth that usually goes unspoken; 

or that which is absurd by itself may have great 

wisdom, often bitter wisdom, when juxtaposed 

to the original statement. Puns were formerly 

used seriously, often to give a wry touch of bitterness 

or irony. Thus when the mad Lear says 

to the blinded Gloucester, you see how this 

world goes, Gloucester answers I see it feelingly 

and the word play heightens the horror. Mercutio’s 

dying Ask for me tomorrow and you shall 

find me a grave man is in keeping with his character 

and its gaiety intensifies the tragedy of his 

death. With us, however, puns are now used 

solely for humor and hence they are excluded, 

by contemporary taste, from serious expression. 

This is a loss, but custom in such matters must 

be heeded. The witty will always take their 

chances, but they are dangerous chances, for 

there is a widespread vulgar belief that a pun is 

“the lowest form of humor” and the successful 

punster (the very term is pejorative) runs the risk 

of being thought not only inept but laboredly 

dull. 

Paronomasia is used so often as a synonym 

for punning that it must be so accepted. In its 

strictest sense, however, it means the use of 

words that are not quite alike, though very near 

it, in sound. The intention is not humor but emphasis 

(To begirt the almighty throne/ Beseeching 

or besieging) or antithesis. 

Assonance is merely resemblance in sound. 

The careful writer will avoid accidental asso-

nances, since they compel the reader to look for 

a contrast or an antithesis (or call special attention 

where no emphasis is intended) and hence 

distort the thought and annoy the reader,, Thus 

one might say Before delivering his address the 

governor ate a peach. But to say, Before his 

speech he ate a peach is to introduce an unintended 

levity and to mar the passage with an 

unwanted jingle. 

punch in both England and America has the basic 

meaning of a thrusting blow, especially with the 

fist (I’ll give you a punch in the jaw if you don’t 

shut up). In a figurative sense, punch is a. slang 

term, originating in the United States and used 

chiefly here, meaning a vigorous, telling effect 

or force (He speaks well, is informed, lucid, and 

reasonable, but his delivery lacks punch). As a 

transitive verb, punch has the special sense in the 

western United States of to drive cattle (As soon 

4s the ranchers began to string fences, fewer 

cowhands were needed to punch cattle). 

The drink punch is, by the way, a wholly different 

word. 

punctilious. See meticulous. 

punctuation. In a publishing house, a great many 

people work on the same book and some of them 

work on a great many books at the same: time. 

This would not be possible if certain details 

had not been worked out in advance and accepted 

by everybody. Punctuation is one of these 

details. 

Every publisher must have a system of punctuation, 

but no publisher thinks that his system 

is the only right one. He knows, for example, 

that people in the writing trades disagree fiercely 

over the use of the comma in a series. But there 

is no way to compromise. One can’t use half a 

comma. And one can’t have half of the staff putting 

it in and the other half taking it out. So rules 

are laid down. No two publishers lay down exactly 

the same rules. This is partly because different 

rules are applicable to different kinds of 

material, and a style manual is likely to reflect 

the kind of material on hand at the time it was 

set up. The style manual of the Government 

Printing Office, for example, was designed for 

governmentese and would be inapplicable in a 

literary publication. 

The information on punctuation given in this 

dictionary is satisfactory for any type of writing. 

However, in anything that is published, the 

punctuation will certainly be changed in some 

details by the publisher. A writer should nlot feel 

apologetic about this. (For detailed information 

on punctuation, see apostrophe, asterisk, brackets, 

capitalization, colon, commas, dash, ellipsis 

marks, exclamation point, hyphens, parenthesis, 

period, question mark, quotation marks, semicolon. 

) 

pnnctuation at the beginning of a line. Except for 

quotation marks, brackets or parentheslas, no 

mark of punctuation ever appears at the beginning 

of a line. 

pupil; student; scholar. A pupil is one who is 

under the close supervision of a teacher, either 

because of his youth or because of specialization 

401 pure 

in some branch of study. In England pupil is 

used to describe one in school, which means up 

through public schools such as Eton or Harrow, 

or through the secondary schools, equivalent to 

the American high schools. In America pupil is 

now usually restricted to one who is in an elementary 

school. Those called pupils regardless 

of age because of their specialization in some 

branch of study are designated by the subject 

they are studying, as art pupils, music pupils, etc. 

Str&nt describes one attending a higher institution 

of learning (He was a student at Oxford, 

where he was a pupil of Professor David Nichol 

Smith). In America student also describes one 

who devotes much attention to a particular problem 

(I have been a student of Western European 

politics ever since I visited France in 1944). 

Sc1rolar in former times was a synonym of 

pupil (A diller, a dollar, a ten o’clock scholar), 

but it also meant one devoted to learning, a man 

of learning and erudition (He was a scholar, and 

a ripe and good one;/ Exceeding wise, fairspoken, 

and persuading) and this is the word’s 

commonest contemporary meaning. It has also 

the meaning of one who through merit is granted 

money or other aid to pursue his studies (One of 

the scholars always spoke the responses to the 

grace), though this meaning is more often used 

in England than in America, where the word is 

rarely used in this sense unless preceded by a 

particularizing designation, as Rhodes Scholar, 

Lowell Scholar, etc. 

pnppet; marionette. Puppet is the more inclusive 

term. It describes a doll, or an artificial figure 

with jointed limbs moved by wires as on a 

miniature stage, or a person whose actions are 

prompted and controlled by another as a puppet 

is controlled by a showman. A marionette is a 

puppet in the second of these three senses only, 

a puppet moved by strings or the hands, as on a 

mimic stage. 

purchase and buy both mean to obtain or acquire 

property or goods for a price. Buy is the common 

and informal word applying to any such 

transaction (On the way to work he stopped to 

buy a paper at the corner newsstand). Purchase, 

which formerly meant to take by violence, to 

seize by force or bold fraud, to capture, is now 

simply a formal synonym for buy. It may connote 

buying on a larger scale or in a more expensive 

store (He purchased the estate from the 

last member of the old family. I purchase my 

hats in Bond Street). Buy is usual!y the better 

word: purchase as a synonym in most contexts is 

a genteelism. 

pure; mere. In one of its senses, pure means “mere,” 

that is, being that and nothing else (It is pure 

nonsense to talk of compromise under such circumstances). 

However, one has to be careful not 

to introduce an ambiguity by such use. One may 

mean mere politics when he says pure politics, 

but there may also be the interpretation that the 

politics is free of corruption. In such cases, mere 

is the preferable word. 

pure and simple. As a way of saying that something 

is plain and obvious, unadulterated, that

purebred 402 

which it is and clearly nothing else, pure and 

simple is a cliche. 

purebred. See thoroughbred. 

purist. By a purist we mean a person who is more 

concerned about the formal rules of grammar 

than most people are, a person who has an exaggerated 

respect for grammatical niceties. He is 

usually also concerned with the “proper” pronunciation 

of words and holds rather rigidly to 

the conviction that where there are variants one 

is of necessity the best and that to employ any 

of the others is wrong. 

As in moral matters-to which his attitude is 

remarkably akin-there is in the purist who 

seeks (and usually thinks he has found) excellence 

a touch of the pharisaical. He thanks God 

and the lexicographers that he does not speak as 

other men and is continually moved with militant 

zeal to ask others why they do not speak as 

he does. This has led lesser men to use the term 

purist as a reproach. But this is unjustified, for 

the careful craftsman should be admired, whether 

he is formulating grammar-school English or 

building a ship in a bottle. 

To be a purist one must have a thorough understanding 

of English grammar-and it is curious 

that of those who have a thorough knowledge 

of English grammar few if any are purists. Most 

of those who pose as purists have very little 

knowledge of English or any other grammar. 

They seem to think that “pure” English consists 

of avoiding a dozen or so phrases or pronunciations 

which they consider wrong. In other words, 

they are merely opinionated. 

The true purist is informed. He follows general 

principles and is consistent in his criticism. 

If he objects to who are you looking for? he will 

also object to whom shall I say is calling? since 

both sentences violate the Latin rules of case. If 

he objects to a more unique situation, he will not 

accept a more equal distribution, since equal is 

just as much an absolute as unique. 

It would be refreshing to meet a true purist. 

Puritan; puritan. Puritan is an ecclesiastical term 

to describe one of a class of Protestants which 

arose in the sixteenth century within the Church 

of England, demanding further reforms in doctrine 

and worship, and greater strictness in religious 

discipline, and during part of the seventeenth 

century constituting a powerful political 

party (In Cromwell’s day England had to choose 

between Puritan and Cavalier). A puritan is one 

who affects great purity or strictness of life and 

religious principles. In worldly circles it tends to 

be a derogatory term (Zf she weren’t such a puritan 

she would get a lot more fun out of sorority 

life). 

purloin. See steal. 

purport. As a verb purport means to profess or 

claim, as by the tenor (This letter purports to be 

from Edgar), to convey to the mind as the meaning 

or thing intended, to express, or to imply. 

Purport cannot be used in the passive, since its 

significance is already passive--standing for, “is 

supposed, is represented to be.” Also the subject 

of purport may not be a person; it must be a 

thing or a person considered as a phenomenon 

(This invasion purports to be a diversion, but 

there is reason to believe that it may be the real 

thing). 

Either as a verb or a noun, purport in the 

sense of purpose is rare, though the noun is 

used in England, more often than in the United 

States. See also pretend; affect; etc. 

purpose (verb). See propose. 

purse. See pocketbook. 

pushcart. An American pushcart, a light cart to 

be pushed by hand, would be called in England 

a barrow, a word which Americans keep, in common 

use, only in the combination wheelbarrow. 

To the English pushcart means a perambulator 

or baby carriage. 

put. The past tense is put. The participle is also 

put. Put 08 may be followed by the -ing form of 

a verb, as in he put ofl going, but not by an infinitive. 

He put off to go is not standard English. 

put all one’s eggs in one basket. As a warning 

against concentrating all one’s efforts on an uncertain 

hope, or risking all on one venture, the 

adjuration not to put all one’s eggs in one basket 

is threadbare. The expression has been in use for 

almost three centuries and its original homely 

force has been weakened by repetition. Like 

many cliches, however, it provides a solid assurance 

of common knowledge off of which one 

may bounce an epigram or stroke of wit, such 

as Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Put all vour eaes in one 

basket and WATCH THAT BASKET& a slogan 

of many Community Chest drives: Put all 

your begs in one ask it. 

put a spoke in someone’s wheel. As a term for 

thwarting someone, definitely checking his progress, 

to put a spoke in his wheel is now worn 

out. 

The origin of the expression is obscure. Since 

the only known English meaning of spoke that 

is at all relevant is one of the bars, rods, or rungs, 

radiating from the hub or nave of a wheel and 

supporting the rim or felloe, and since this belongs 

in a wheel, the phrase has at least a certain 

ambiguity. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests 

that it is a mistranslation of a Dutch phrase 

in which spaak (a bar or stave) is used. Burton 

Stevenson, in his The Home Book of Proverbs, 

Maxims and Familiar Phrases, quotes two instances 

from nineteenth century books about the 

sea that show that among sailors the phrase 

meant to say something to a man’s advantage, 

almost the opposite of what it meant to a landsman. 

put back the clock. Used figuratively, especially 

of one who would rescind some reform and revert 

to a former practice, to put back the clock is 

now a cliche. 

put one’s foot down. In the figurative sense (presumably) 

of stamping to emphasize a determined 

opposition to someone else’s actions or plans, 

put one’s foot down is hackneyed. 

put one’s shoulder to the wheel. Used figuratively, 

from the strenuous assistance men often formerly 

had to give to a mired vehicle or one unable 

to move up a steep gradient, the term puf

403 queer 

one’s shoulder to the wheel has now become a 

cliche. 

I’m up, yes: hut all I can do is putter around the 

house. He liked to putter around the garden, 

putative. See prospective. 

though he hardly knew a dahlia from a daisy). 

putter and potter both mean to busy or occupy The English use potter and regard putter as dia- 

oneself in an ineffective manner, to move or go lectal. Americans use putter and regard potter as 

about with ineffective action or little energy or literary or elegant. 

purpose, to move or go slowly or aimlessly (Oh, puzzle. See riddle. 

quadroon. See mulatto. 

qnalnt; queer. That is qzzaint which is strange or 

odd in an interesting, pleasing, amusing, or 

picturesque way (It was a quaint place, with 

its main street, no more than a pathway or a 

series of steps, leading down to the sea), or 

having an old-fashioned attractiveness (“God 

keep you!” It was a quaint farewell and moved 

us unexpectedly. . . . then worms shall’ try/ 

That long preserved virginity,/ And your qzcaint 

honor turn to dust,/ And into ashes all my 

lust). That is queer which is odd in a strange 

or singular way, that makes us uneasy, that is 

at least slightly repellent (“Good night. I hope 

we never meet again!” That was a queer thing 

to have said!). 

Quaint should not be used, however, when 

odd alone or amusing alone will suffice. See also 

funny; odd. 

qnallfy. The basic meaning of qualify is to give 

or attribute qualities to. It is used as a grammatical 

term in the sense of to limit the meaning 

of. That is, a qualifying word names a quality 

which must be present before a particular .statement 

is applicable, and so reduces or limits the 

number of things in the universe that the .statement 

applies to. The “meaning” of a word, in 

this sense, is “what the word signifies,” that is, 

all that it can be applied to or all that it names. 

For example, blue limits the meaning of dress 

in a blue dress, since there are more dresses in 

the world than there are blue dresses. Similarly, 

dark limits the meaning of blue in a dark blue 

dress, since there are more blues than there are 

dark blues. And yesterday limits the meaning 

of I thought so in I thought so yesterday. A 

word that qualifies a noun or pronoun is called 

an adjective. A word that qualities any other 

part of speech, such as a verb, an adjective, or 

an adverb, is an adverb. A group of words may 

also function as an adjective or as an adverb 

and so qualify other words. 

The word modify is used by grammarians 

in the same sense as qualify. Some prefer one 

term and some the other. 

In general English, the word qualify may be 

followed by an infinitive, as in the studies qualified 

him to teach, or by the -ing form of a verb 

introduced by the preposition for, as in they 

Q 

qualify him for teaching. The -ing form is 

generally preferred when qztalify is used in an 

active sense, and the infinitive when qualify is 

used as a passive, as in he is qualified to teach. 

quandary. See predicament. 

quantity; number. A quantity of something is a 

particular, indefinite, or considerable amount 

of it (A small quantity of water lay in depressions 

in the rock). A number designates separaable 

units that could be counted (My grandfather 

bought such a quantity of lead and 

powder that even yet a nzzmber of his homemade 

cartridges lie in ozzr attic). Quantity 

applies to bulk, extent, and size; number 

applies to individual units. See also amount. 

quantum. The plural is quanta. 

quarrelsome. See bellicose. 

quarter. The fraction one quarter is treated like 

the regular fraction words. (See fractions.) Unlike 

the word half, the word quarter cannot be 

used without a preceding one or a. We say a 

quarter of the men or one quarter of the men 

but not qztarter of the nzen. The only exception 

is in expressions of time, as in at quarter past 

five. Some grammarians claim that this is not 

permissible and that a quarter must be used 

even here. But in the United States quarter is 

treated like half in expressions of time and the 

form without a is generally acceptable. 

quarters. Only the plural form is used to mean a 

place to live. It is treated as a plural and used 

with a plural verb, as in these qzrarters are 

comfortable, but the word cannot be used in 

this sense with a word implying number. 

quay; key; cay. Quuy designates an artificial landing 

place built along navigable water for vessels 

loading or unloading cargo (See there she 

stands and waves her hand upon the quay,/ 

And every day when I’m away, she’ll wait for 

me.) 

Key or cay designate a low island near the 

coast (Columbus discovered no isle or key so 

lonely as himself ), especially any one of an 

extensive chain of low islands which, starting 

from north of Cape Florida, form an immense 

crescent as far west as the Tortugas, the Florida 

Keys. 

queen; quean. See housewife. 

queer. See odd, funny, quaint.

queer 404 

queer fish. From our anthropocentric point of 

view, fish are queer indeed, and the more one 

thinks of them the queerer they and all other 

things become. But, nonetheless, to call a 

strange or peculiar or puzzling man (I queer 

fish is to employ a cliche. Fish remain queer 

but the phrase does not. 

query; inquiry. A query is a question, but it is a 

specific and limited question (I had a query 

today about those cedar posts). It is sometimes 

synonymous with doubt, but here, again, it is 

a doubt that questions some specific point (It 

seemed plausible, but there remained a query 

in the sheriff’s mind: three shots had been fired 

but there were only two bullets missing from 

the gun). Inquiry or enquiry may also be a 

synonym for question (Address your inquiry to 

the young lady at the desk, please), but it can 

also mean, as query cannot, an extensive investigation 

(The inquiry drugged on for two 

weeks). See also enquiry; inquiry. 

question. See inquire. 

question mark. The main uses of the question 

mark are: 

1. To indicate the end of a direct question, 

as in Do you think it will rain? It is not used 

after an indirect question, as in He wondered 

if it would rain. 

2. To show that a statement is approximate 

or in question, especially with dates, 

ZIS in Robert Southwell 1561?-159.5 or Robert 

Southwell 1561 (?)-1595. 

3. After a request, but only if a formal style 

is desired, as in Will you please let me know 

immediately if this is agreeable to you? If an 

informal style is desired, the request should 

end with a period. 

4. To express more than one question in the 

same sentence, as in Can John make it? or Joe? 

or anyone here? 

5. To show a direct question as part of a 

sentence, as in Are you a man or a mouse? is 

the question. 

6. To show humor or sarcasm, as in The 

report said that the average weight for women 

of that height is 915 (?) pounds. This use should 

be avoided, except when the urge is irresistible. 

A question mark is placed inside or after the 

final quotation mark, depending on whether it 

belongs to the quoted words or to the larger 

sentence, as in He asked, “Which way did they 

PO?” .> and Why do YOU think she said, “Tea is 

more esthetic”. -7 - 

When a question ends with a quoted question, 

only the first question mark is used, as in Why 

did he ask “Why?” 

questions. A question is a sentence that calls for 

a verbal response. The fact that a sentence is 

a question is shown in speech by a special pitch 

pattern and in writing by a question mark. In 

addition, most questions have a characteristic 

word order. 

At one time the fact that a sentence was a 

question and not a statement could be shown 

by placing the verb before the subject, as in 

sow you my horses? But in modern English the 

subject of a verb is distinguished from the com- 

plement principally by its position before the 

verb. We resolve this conflict by keeping the 

subject before the meaningful part of the verb 

and placing an auxiliary verb first, as in can YOU 

see?, would you have seen? For the simple 

tenses, which normally have no auxiliary, we 

create a verb phrase by using some form of do, 

as in did you see? Here the auxiliary do adds 

nothing to the meaning of the sentence. It 

simply allows us to begin a question with a verb 

without placing the subject after the verb. 

The verb to be is not treated in this way. It 

is never used with the auxiliary do and the 

simple tenses stand before the subject in a 

question, as in were you there?, is he ready? 

The verb have may also be used in this way, 

as in have you a match? and had you a match?; 

or with the auxiliary verb do, as in do you have 

a match? and did you have a match? Thirty 

years ago the form without do was considered 

more elegant. Today the two forms are equally 

acceptable in the present tense, and the form 

with do is preferred in the past. The old word 

order is also heard in how goes it? and in 

sentences beginning with how come. (See 

come.) But with these exceptions a simple tense 

form placed before the subject is now archaic 

or artificial. 

In a negative question, the word not usually 

stands before the subject, as in don’t you see?, 

weren’t you there? 

Questions may also be formed by interrogative 

words, such as who, which, what, when, 

where, how. The interrogative word is always 

the first word in the sentence or clause. If it is 

the subject of the verb or if it is an adjective 

qualifying the subject, the subject precedes the 

verb, as in who is there? and what child is this? 

Otherwise, the subject and verb stand in the 

order described above, as in what did he say? 

and where is he now? 

A short question may have the form of a 

declarative sentence, such as you were there?, 

or the form of an imperative, such as go now? 

A question may also be formed by adding an 

interrogative to a declarative sentence, as in 

you were there, weren’t you? and you weren’t 

there, were you? In questions of this kind, the 

declarative clause expresses what the speaker 

believes to be true and the interrogative is 

negative if an affirmative answer is expected 

and affirmative if a negative is expected. When 

both parts of the sentence are affirmative, as in 

you were there, were YOU?, it carries an implication 

of surprise or disbelief. 

When a question is reported indirectly (that 

is, when the substance is given but not the 

exact words) the subject precedes the verb as in 

a declarative sentence, the clause is introduced 

by an interrogative word, and is not followed 

by a question mark, as in I wonder whether 

she will come and I asked him whnt he was 

doing. In current English, statements of this 

kind sometimes use the interrogative word order 

and omit the interrogative word, as in I wonder 

will she come and I asked him what was he 

doing. This construction is not traditional liter-

ary English, but it is acceptable to most people 

today. See clauses. 

An indirect question may also follow verbs 

of saying or knowing, as in he told me when 

he would come and I know what he is doing. 

After verbs of this kind the interrogative word 

order is never used. (For the tense of the verb 

in a subordinate clause, see tense shifts.) 

quick as a flash (of lightning) is a cliche. 

quick; living. Rapid motion and vitality seem inseparable 

in our minds-as evinced by srep 

lively, please; a lively jig, and so on. Quick 

formerly meant living (My quick child thou 

hast stolen, and this dead bairn laid by me) 

and this meaning survives in the archaic phrase 

the quick and the dead and is current to ‘designate 

the tender flesh beneath the nails (He 

pared his nails to the quick) and in the description 

of a hedge composed of live plants as a 

quick hedge. But aside from these vestiges, it 

is now obsolete in its older sense and any 

attempt to revive it is something of an affectation. 

quiet; quiescent. Although quiet and quiescent 

are in most uses synonymous, meaning being in 

a state of rest or inactivity, usage often gives 

quiescent a suggestion of only temporary inactivity 

(Quiescent as he now sat, there was 

something about his nostril, his mouth!, his 

brow, which, to my perceptions, indicated elements 

within either restless, or hard, or eager). 

Then quiet has a number of meanings, such 

as silent, free from bustle, not glaring or showy, 

for which quiescent is not a synonym (sounds 

that break the quiet of the night, a quiet cup 

of tea, quiet draperies and light blue walls). 

quiet; quietness; quietude. Quiet is a state of 

being (The holy time is quiet as a Nun/ Breathless 

with adoration. Quiet is requested for the 

benefit of those who have retired). Quietness 

is the state of being quiet but it is also an exhibited 

quality (the quietness of his manners. 

There was a quietness to the house and the 

whole surrounding valley that endeared it to 

us). Quietude is a habit of quiet; repose, tranquility, 

and rest that have long endured (There 

broods upon this charming hamlet an old-time 

quietude and privacy. The quietude of our 

forefathers’ lives can scarcely be imagined by 

this restless and twitching generation). 

quit. The past tense is quif or quitted. The participle 

is also quit or quitted. 

Quit is the preferred form for the past tense 

and the participle in the United States, where 

the word usually means cease or stop, as .in he 

quit smoking. This meaning of the word, and 

also the form quit, are survivals from older 

English but are no longer heard in Great 

Britain, where they are considered Americanisms. 

In Great Britain quitted is the only form 

used in the past tense or the participle, and the 

word commonly means leave or depart from, 

as in he quitted Paris after a week. 

The verb acquit has the regular form acquitted 

for the past tense and the participle. 

When quit is used to mean acquit, as it sometimes 

is in legal or archaic English (Now, quit 

405 quotation marks 

yourselves like men!), it too is regular and takes 

the past form quitted. See also stop. 

quite means completely, wholly, entirely (She has 

not been quite the same since Andrew died), 

actually, really, or truly (Payment yes, but payment 

in gold, that’s quite another matter). 

The use of quite as a monosyllable of assent 

(You understand the instructions? Quite!) is 

common in England but little used in America 

except in humorous imitation of English speech. 

The addicted would do well to consult Fowler 

and make sure when they mean quite and when 

quite so. 

quite all right. Since quite means wholly or entirely 

and all means the whole of, quite all right 

is redundant. And it is the more absurd when 

we reflect that it is commonly used when things 

are not all right, when we wish to minimize 

something that is wrong. It cannot be too often 

repeated, however, that grammar is not logical. 

Words and expressions are what usage makes 

them and quite all right has become an accepted 

way of saying “Things are really pretty bad 

with me, but I am brave and can endure, and 

will not gratify the malice that shows plainly 

under the veneer of the assumed interest of your 

inquiry as to my welfare, by admitting the 

grievous nature of my plight.” 

qui vive. As a term for being on the alert, on the 

qui vive is a cliche. Though authorities agree 

that the French part of the phrase is a sentry’s 

challenge, and the phrase as a whole means to 

be on the lookout like a watchful sentry, there 

is a difference of opinion as to the exact meaning 

of qui vive. Some think it is a corruption 01 

qui va la? “Who goes there?” Others think it 

is qui vive? “Live who?“-a question to bc 

answered by Vive le roi! or some other assertion 

of loyalty. 

quiz. In American usage to quiz is to question, 

to interrogate. A quiz is an informal examination. 

A quiz section, in American colleges, is a 

small group, usually drawn from a large class, 

that meets with an instructor to discuss the work 

of the class more informally than the lecture 

meetings permit. In English usage to quiz is to 

banter or make fun of by asking ludicrous 

questions or to look inquisitively at. This last 

meaning is retained in quizzical in American 

usage, but lost in quiz itself. A quiz in English 

usage (according to Horwill) is a person given 

to such banter. 

quoits. When referring to the game, the plural 

word quoits takes a singular verb, as in quoits 

is being played. The object thrown is a quoit 

and quoits used with a plural verb means several 

of these, as in the quoits are heavy. 

Only the singular form is used as the first 

element in a compound, as in quoit playing. 

quotation marks are used: 

1. To set off quoted words from any comments 

or additions made by the person who is 

doing the quoting. This is one occasion when a 

writer should pay scrupulous attention to punctuation. 

Material enclosed in quotation marks 

must show precisely what was said and if there 

is any doubt about it, quotation marks should

not be used at all. A misquotation is unfair to 

both the quoted source and the reader. We may 

write: He said, “I will not under any circumstances 

run for ofice!” or He said he would not 

run for o&e. If The quotation runs into several 

paragraphs, the quotation marks should be 

placed at the beginning of each paragraph but 

at the end of only the last paragraph. If the 

quotation is indented and blocked off, or is to 

be put into smaller type, quotation marks can 

be dispensed with. 

2. To indicate in dialogue when one character 

stops speaking and another begins. This may 

be additionally indicated by beginning a new 

indented line with each new speaker, as in 

“What do you think could be the matter?” 

he asked, frowning severely. 

“I don’t know, but it’s probably something 

simple.” 

Sometimes dialogue is written so that each paragraph 

begins with the identifying name of the 

person speaking, usually followed by a dash; in 

these cases, quotation marks are not needed. 

Also, some novelists dislike quotation marks 

and do not use them or any other identifying 

device. 

3. To indicate that a word or phrase is being 

used ironically or with a special meaning, as in 

Then this “ladv” took a uoke at him with her 

umbrella. When the words so-called perform 

this same function, quotation marks should not 

be used. 

4. To set off names of books (except the 

Bible), dramas, operas, statuary, music, paintings, 

which in more formal usage would be set 

off in italics, as in Have you read “Effie Briesi’? 

Quotation marks are not used with names of 

ships, trains, airplanes, homes of famous people, 

or characters in plays or novels, as in Have you 

been to Mount Vernon?. 

There is considerable difference of opinion 

about the ways in which quotation marks should 

be combined with other punctuation marks. But, 

in general: 

1. The period and the comma are placed inside 

the quotation marks, as in He said, “‘I’m 

ready to go now.” and Although he said, “I’m 

ready to go now,” it was not true. 

2. The question mark and exclamation point 

rabbit; rarebit. See Welsh rabbit. 

Rabelaisian. The designation of wild, coarse, satiric 

humor, characterized by an exuberance of 

vocabulary and extravagance of imagery, as 

Rabelaisian is fully justified. But to call any 

piece of indecency Rabelaisian is to utter a critical 

clich6 and display an ignorance of Rabelais. 

Freudian is often similarly misused (by Sinclair 

406 

R 

can come either inside or after the quotation 

marks, depending upon the sense of the sentence, 

as h He exclaimed “There she is!” He 

asked. “Where is she?” What a uitv he said 

“‘No”,; Who are these “liberal friend>‘? 

3. A colon or semicolon after a quotation 

will always be outside the quotation marks, as 

in “The world is too much with us”: This sentiment 

seems to grow truer with the years and 

She said, “Why, of course”; anything they desired 

was immediately theirs. 

4. Introductory words or phrases are usually 

set off from the quotation by a comma, as in 

He said, “Let’s get going.” However, if the 

phrase is short the comma can be dropped, as 

in He said “Let’s get going.” Two commas are 

used if a phrase interrupts the quotation or if 

the quotation is in the middle of a sentence, as 

in “What made me say that,” he explained, “is 

that I never have liked that color” and He said. 

“I never have liked that color,” but everyone 

looked at him blankly. 

5. A quotation within a quotation is mdicated 

by single quotation marks within regular 

double quotation marks, as in Mary cried, “But 

then he said, ‘Why do 2 have to?“’ If a writer 

uses single quotation marks as his regular identifying 

device, he must put his inside quotations 

within double marks. If a further level of quotation 

is introduced into the sentence, the double 

and single marks must alternate. In general, 

sentences of this kind should be avoided. 

6. Quotation marks may be omitted when a 

single word is being used, as in What will you 

do if she says No? and Suddenly a blur whizzed 

by, shouting Hellof as it passed. 

quote. See cite. 

quoth. This one word is all that remains of a 

former verb. It has no past tense, no future 

tense, no -ing form, or anything else that a verb 

requires. It appears only in poetry, or humorous 

speech, and always in the inverted order, as in 

quoth he. It is not included in this dictionary 

because we think that some one might need to 

know these facts but simply in order to make 

the list of irregular verbs now found in English 

complete. 

q.v. This is an abbreviation of the Latin words 

quad vide and means “which see.” 

Lewis, among others) as a sort of intelIectual 

synonym for dirty. Such words are pretentious, 

and if one pretends to be familiar with Rabelais 

or Freud one ought not, in the very use of their 

names, to expose the fact that one has only a 

remote and confused idea of what they have 

written. 

rabid. See frantie.

ack. Sue wrack. 

rack aud ruiu. The rack of rack and ruin is a 

variant of wrack, wreck, and the entire p’hrase 

is a clicM kept feebly alive, as so many cliches 

are, by alliteration. 

rack one’s brains. The rack upon which one 

racks one’s brains in an effort to remember 

something or to find a solution for some pressing 

problem was the old instrument of torture 

which compelled an answer by tearing the victim’s 

limbs from their sockets. Whoever first 

applied this to the agony of desperate thought 

created a powerful image. But its power has 

faded as the rack has been forgotten, and overuse 

has reduced a once vivid figure to pallid 

feebleness. 

racket; racketeer. Racket has acquired two slang 

senses in America. In the first, it means an organized 

illegal activity such as bootlegging o:r the 

extorting of money by threats or violence from 

legitimate businessmen (AI Capone was believed 

to be behind many Chicago rackets). 

The word is also a slang term in America for 

a dishonest scheme or trick (During the war his 

racket was blackmarketeering in butter). It is 

often used jocularly for legitimate business enterprises, 

with however a would-be worldly and 

cynical suggestion that there is an element of 

dishonesty in them (I’ve been in the advertising 

racket for thirty years now). Such a u:re is 

usually tedious and can be offensive. 

A racketeer is one engaged in a racket. The 

implications are sinister, for a racketeer regulates 

competitive business by illegal and violent 

pressures (The trouble with the New York 

waterfront was that racketeers had gained control 

of most of the hiring). Racketeer is always 

strongly derogatory. A man who would jojn in 

the laugh when his business was referred to as 

a racket might yet be strongly offended if he 

himself were referred to as a racketeer. 

Racket in this sense, by the way, derives 

from racket in the sense of a loud noise, especially 

one of a disturbing nature. English pickpockets 

used to make a racket of some kind 

(by the sudden throwing of firecrackers sometimes) 

in order to draw an excited crowd whose 

members, in their curiosity, would be heedless 

of the pickpockets’ activities. The word had 

acquired its slang meaning in England as early 

as 1812 where, however, it seems to have been 

forgotten until reimported from America. 

The agent suffix -er, when spelled -eer, is 

usually pejorative, as in profiteer. 

racket; raquet. The word for a light bat having a 

network of cord or catgut stretched on a more 

or less elliptical frame, used in such games as 

squash and tennis, and for a snowshoe made in 

the manner of such a tennis bat, is racket. The 

plural rackets, construed as singular, describes 

a game of ball, played in a walled court., in 

which such bats are used. Racquet, a variation 

formed after the French word raquette, is unacceptable 

to the British but is accepted as a 

variant by Americans. The word for i&gal 

activity and the word for noise is invariably 

racket. 

407 radius 

racy. Deriving from a word meaning root, racy 

in both England and America means highly individual 

in an attractive way, lively, spirited, piquant, 

pungent (H. L. Mencken’s racy style. . .). 

In America only, it has the additional sense of 

suggestive, risquC (At bachelor dinners he would 

regale them with racy stories). The nearest 

English equivalent is, perhaps, salacious, but 

sulacious carries a connotation of stronger condemnation 

than racy. 

radiantly happy, so happy that one sends out 

happiness from one like glowing heat or the 

splendor of the sun, is threadbare. 

radical; Radical; revolutionary; radicle. Used as 

an adjective, radical (derived from the Latin 

radix, root) means basic, fundamental, going 

to the root or origin (There will have to be 

radical changes in the plan before it will be 

accepted), thoroughgoing or extreme, especially 

in the way of reform (Only radical measures 

are likely to save the nation). It also means 

existing inherently in a thing or person, rooted 

(He had radical persona&v difficulties which 

iea and sympathy’ alone could not eliminate). 

Used as a noun, radical or Radical has spe 

cifically political connotations. It means one who 

advocates fundamental and drastic political reforms, 

one who would make basic changes in 

the social order by direct and uncompromising 

methods. In England the term Radical was applied 

toward the end of the nineteenth century 

to the left wing of the Liberal Party. In the 

early part of that century such Utilitarian Liberals 

as Bentham and James Mill called themselves 

Philosophical Radicals. In America, after 

the Civil War, Radical was the designation of 

that wing of the Republican party which desired 

the complete prostration of the Southern planters 

and their replacement by elements faithful 

to the Republican Party. These radicals were 

what today would be called rightwing conservatives. 

Since World War I, especially, radical 

(seldom capitalized) has been used to designate 

one who advocates political changes intended 

to produce economic equality. From the standpoint 

of an American conservative, a radical is 

a disorderly, if not necessarily subversive, individual. 

He is seldom, or never, referred to as 

a revolutionary (as he would be in other countries), 

for revolution has in America respectable 

and even conservative connotations. The Daughters 

of the American Revolution, for example, 

is a strongly conservative organization and eminently 

respectable. 

Radicle is a specialized word. In botany, it 

means the lower part of the axis of an embryo, 

the primary root. In chemistry, it means an 

atom or group of atoms regarded as an important 

constituent of a molecule, which remains 

unchanged and behaves as a unit in many reactions. 

In anatomy, it means a small rootlike 

part, as the beginning of a nerve fiber. Except 

in these specialized senses, radicle is simply a 

misspelling of radical. And even in these senses, 

radical is replacing radicle as the preferred 

spelling (especially in chemistry). 

radius. The plural is radii or radiuses.

adii 408 

radix. The plural is radixes or radices. 

raft, as a colloquial term for a great quantity or 

a lot, especially of people (There was u raft of 

folks crowding into town for the grand operring), 

is now rustic and a little archaic. 

rail, as short for railroad or railway, is standard 

American usage (Ship by rail, I find it more convenient 

to go by air than by rail). The objection 

of some English authorities to this usage is curious, 

since the English themselves are masters of 

the art of reducing syllables and often hold up 

their tram and lift in triumphant comparison to 

the American streetcar and elevator. 

railroad; railway. In England railroad is seldom 

used. Since the beginning of the twentieth century 

railway has been the usual term there. In 

the United States railroad is the more common 

term, though railway also has its uses. In general, 

ruilroud is the term for a line for heavy 

traffic (The Pennsylvania Railroad), while railway 

describes a rail line with lighter weight 

equipment and roadbed (The elevated railways 

are being replaced by buses and subways). 

As a verb, railroad has certain special American 

senses. It may mean to transport by means 

of a railroad, though this is now rarely heard, 

being replaced almost entirely by ship in relation 

to goods and truvel or go in relation to 

persons. It may also mean to work on a railroad 

(My husband and my two boys railroaded out 

in Kunsns City for three years), though this, 

too, is now rare. Colloquially, to railroad is to 

send or push forward with great or undue speed 

(Jacksonions tried to railroad the Indian bill 

through Congress while Davy Crockett was off 

on a speaking tour). As slang, but slang which 

is so old and so widespread that it might well 

be accepted as standard, railroad is to imprison 

on a false charge in order to be rid of (Many 

people believe that Tom Mooney was ruilrouded). 

raining cats and dogs. Swift listed the phrase 

ruin cuts and dogs as a cliche in 1738 (in his 

A complete collection of genteel and ingenious 

conversations) but it remains in full use among 

those who seek to be original in an unoriginal 

way. Whoever first thought of the expression to 

describe a torrential downpour, with its suggestion 

of snarling and yelping tumult heard in the 

gurgle and drumming rush and splatter of the 

rain, had something so felicitous in its absurdity, 

so consonant in the violence of its own exaggeration 

with the violence it described, that he 

immediately captured all imaginations. But it is 

time to seek a fresher, newer image. 

rain or shine, as a term for in any event, under 

any circumstance, positively, is hackneyed. 

raise. This verb means “cause to rise.” Historically, 

it does not mean rise even in speaking of 

dough, where we say it is raising and set it to 

raise. These are old passive uses of the -ing 

form and the infinitive, comparable to supper 

is cooking and wait for it to cook. Some people 

also say the drawbridge raised, rather than the 

drawbridge rose, because they are conscious of 

the fact that &is is a passive act, something 

that is being done to the drawbridge. This use 

of an active form with passive meaning is frequent 

in English and is seen in such familiar 

sentences as the bout upset, the cup broke, the 

color washes well. See passive voice and transitive 

verbs. 

The same distinction holds between the nouns 

raise and rise. A salary increase is called a pay 

raise by those who feel that someone is responsible 

for the size of their salary. A pay rise carries 

the implication that these things happen of 

themselves, like a rise in the temperature. Pay 

raise is the preferred form in the United States, 

where pay rise was unknown before the 1930%. 

Pay rise is the preferred form in Great Britain. 

(For the difference between raise and rear, see 

rear.) 

raise one’s sights. One of the commonest metaphors 

of college presidents and others in charge 

of large funds or large hopes when they seek to 

arouse those who beg for them to even wilder 

frenzies of solicitation is to say that we must 

raise oar sights. The metaphor, drawn from 

artillery, would be most unfortunate were it not 

that those who analyze metaphors form an inconsiderable 

portion of those upon whom the 

fund-raiser has his eye. Its nai’ve admission that 

the donor is something to be shot down and 

the fund-raiser one who carefully adjusts his 

weapon is so alien to the general tenor of the 

language of solicitation that one assumes it 

would be avoided if it were understood. 

raison d’btre, a French expression meaning the 

reason for being or existence, is an affectation 

when employed in English speech or writing for 

reason and an error when employed for explanation. 

rake-off is an exclusively American slang term to 

describe a share or portion, as of a sum involved 

or of profits. Often the implication is that it is 

a share or amount taken or received illicitly, 

as in connection with a public enterprise (Are 

you a man of business or a philanthropic distributor 

of rake-offs? Some estimate the alderman’s 

rake-off at ten percent). 

rally has the special meaning in America of a 

coming together of persons, as for common 

action, political or religious or-in the colleges 

-sporting, which the British would call a mass 

meeting or a demonstration (When they attended 

Montana political rallies, Mrs. Wheeler 

knitted with calm absorption. There will be a 

football rally for freshmen in the meadow tomorrow 

afternoon at five). 

ran. See run. 

rancor. See malice. 

rang. See ring. 

rank and file. In the strictest sense a rank of 

soldiers is a number drawn up in line abreast. 

(When the ranks are broken you have to fight 

singly) and the file is the number of men constituting 

the depth from front to rear of a 

formation in line. Taken together, the two mean 

the body of an army, apart from officers or 

leaders. Used figuratively for ordinary people, 

the expression is a cliche. 

rap. Formerly a slang term meaning to censure or 

criticize, rap is used so consistently in the head-

lines (Trial Delays Rapped by Judge) that it 

must, however reluctantly, be recognized as an 

established word. The English would say rap 

on the knuckles, the expression from which the 

American rap is derived. Still slang is the use of 

rap as a noun meaning punishment, usually unmerited 

punishment or punishment erroneously 

applied to the wrong person (He carried the 

banner and took the rap for Roosevelt in the 

Senate for many years). 

Rap in the expression Z don’t care a rap iis a 

standard word meaning the least bit. A rap was 

a counterfeit coin, worth about half a farthing, 

which formerly passed current in Ireland for a 

halfpenny. It must have been the most inconsiderable 

counterfeit coin ever made. 

rapt. The adjective rapt derives from a Latin word 

meaning seized, transported, raped, snatclhed 

away. This sense is now obsolete. The word today 

means deeply engrossed or absorbed (He 

was rapt in thought and did not hear my question), 

transported with emotion, enraptured 

(The bride was rapt with happiness), or showing 

or proceeding from rapture (She gave him a 

rapt smile). See also wrapt. 

rare and scarce both characterize that which is 

hard to find, exists in small quantities, or is 

uncommon. A thing is rare which is seldom to 

be met with and is therefore often sought after. 

The word usually implies exceptional quality or 

value (0 rare Ben Jonson! Zf it is really a rare 

book, you can expect a high price for it). Scarce 

is applied to that of which there is an inaufficient 

supply. It usually implies a previous or 

usual condition of greater abundance (During 

the war certain food items were scarce). Scarce 

usually applies to ordinary things. Its occasional 

application to persons (Make yourself scarce. 

After they organized the vigilantes, robbers 

were mighty scarce for a while) is intended as 

humor. Rare is applied to men and things of 

superior quality. 

rare (of meat). Though as recently as the :Cirst 

part of the nineteenth century Englishmen used 

rare in reference to cooked meat in the sense 

that Americans now use it (The same flesh, 

rotten-roasted or rare . . .-Charles Lamb), 

the word is now regarded in England as an 

Americanism, though it may still be heard in 

some English dialects. No more trenchant 

comment could be made on English cooking 

than the fact that their word for what Americans 

call rare meat is underdone. Mrs. Rorer in 

her New Cook Book characterizes the American 

fashion of serving meat rare as “certainly objectionable,” 

though most Americans regard a 

rare steak as a rare delicacy. 

rates to the English mean what Americans would 

describe as local taxes. 

rather. This is the comparative form of rathe, 

a word no longer heard in the positive or 

superlative. It is used with than in a comparison, 

as in this is blue rather than green and 

she felt rather than saw, and alone to mean “in 

a slight degree,” as in rather warm and Z rather 

think so. 

The combination had rather means “would 

409 rationalize 

find more desirable,” as in I had rather be a 

dog and bay the moon, than such a Roman and 

Z had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my 

God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. 

The construction is similar to had better which 

means “would tind more advantageous.” In both 

cases had is used in its original sense of “hold” 

and is a subjunctive meaning “would hold.” 

During the nineteenth century would rather was 

felt to be “purer” English than had rather, 

chiefly because the grammarians did not recognize 

the subjunctive had and so could not parse 

the phrase. Many writers, whose ear required 

had, took refuge in ‘d, as in I’d rather be a 

pagan. Some even said had better in place of 

had rather. But this was a mistake and has not 

survived. Had rather was justified on theoretical 

grounds around 1900. Today both forms, had 

rather and would rather, are standard English. 

Had rather is felt to be the more literary of 

the two. 

In current English these forms are not followed 

by a to-infinitive. They may be followed 

by the simple form of a verb, as in Z would 

rather go, or by a subjunctive clause with a past 

tense verb, as in Z would rather he went. In literary 

English rather is never separated from the 

had or the would by another word. Z would 

rather have gone is preferable to Z would have 

rather gone. This broken construction is never 

heard with had. 

rational; rationale. Rational is an adjective meaning 

agreeable to reason, reasonable, sensible 

(That seems to me a perfectly rational explanation), 

being in or characterized by full possession 

of one’s reason, sane, lucid (After several 

shock treatments he appeared quite rational), 

or endowed with the faculty of reason (Man 

is sometimes defined as a rational animal!). 

Rationale is a noun meaning a statement of 

reasons, a reasoned exposition of principles, the 

fundamental reasons serving to account for 

something (Zt is not dificult to discover the 

rationale for his attack on the President). 

rationalize. A word was needed for the process 

of finding rational-seeming reasons for our 

irrational behavior, socially acceptable explanations 

of actions which have their origins, 

at least in part, in our unconscious urges. 

Coleridge had used the term motive mongering, 

but he &as ahead of his times and it ias not 

until the 1920’s that James Harvev Robinson 

supplied the general public with rationalize. 

The word has been violently attacked, especially 

by many purists in England. But it is a useful 

word and its use by the common man, in that 

it calls his attention to the process it designates 

and makes him aware of it, marks an immense 

step forward in human betterment which must, 

ultimately, depend on man’s knowledge of himself. 

The thing that is wrong with the word is 

that it is used too often. The public is-though 

understandably-too fond of its new psychological 

insight and too pleased with itself for 

having it and we hear the word too much and 

are exasperated by it. 

Rationalize is a dangerous word, too, and

aze 410 

should be used with great circumspection. Its 

use implies that the speaker understands the 

motives of another better than the other himself. 

This, when speaking of a third person, 

may seem only vanity, but to tell someone to 

his face that he is only rationalizing is to accuse 

him of obtusity, of lack of awareness, of being 

the blind instrument of his animal impulses, 

with sundry other smug assumptions, all uncomplimentary. 

Moreover, the speaker, while 

making these insulting assumptions, has exalted 

himself into the chair of omniscience and 

blandly taken upon himself to read the secrets 

of another’s heart. There is no field in which 

angels more fear to tread than the judging of 

motives or into which our friends rush with 

more assurance. To question a man’s professed 

motives is, in his eyes, to call him a liar and 

to elicit a great deal of good, healthy hostility. 

Rationalize should not be discarded, as some 

would have it; but it should be used with great 

care, after considerable meditation upon our 

own motives in using it. 

raze. See destroy. 

re; in re. Re is the ablative of the Latin res, 

thing, matter. It is used in legal documents to 

mean in reference to or in the case of. The layman, 

however, would do well to let the lawyer 

have his ablatives to him reserved and use the 

good English about or concerning or in regard 

to. In re is a hybrid monster, possibly, piling 

ignorance upon presumption, thought to be an 

abbreviation of in regard to. 

reaction; response. Though reaction is unequivocal 

as a technical term in chemistry, biology, 

and mechanics, it needs to be used with some 

care in general contexts. One may define it as 

action in response to some influence or event, 

if one understands that the response is a more 

or less automatic rather than an intellectual and 

reflective one (My reaction to his proposal was 

one of despair). Reaction should not be used, 

however, as it so commonly is, as a technicalsounding 

synonym for the general terms response, 

reply or even opinion (When you have 

had time to think it over, I would be grateful 

for your reaction). It probably came to be so 

abused because it absolves one from the fuller 

responsibility entailed in using opinion. If a 

man states an opinion, he may be called upon 

to support or justify it. A reaction may be more 

easily abandoned as a mere impulse. 

reactionary. Except for its technical scientific 

senses, to which it would be a mercy if it were 

confined, reactionary is a word so emotionally 

charged as to be little more than a term of 

abuse. It refers to one who favors political 

measures that seem to the speaker to react 

against the general good, especially measures 

that would rescind or nullify beneficial social 

legislation. It seems as easy for a liberal to call 

a conservative a reactionary as for a conservative 

to call a liberal a radical, a pink, a fellowtraveler, 

or a red. About the only American 

who calls himself a reactionary is the poet and 

critic Allen Tate (Reactionary Essays, 1936). 

Mr. Tate is not sneering at himself, nor is his 

position one to be sneered at. 

read. The past tense is read. The participle is also 

read. Although this looks like one of those very 

simple verbs, such as cut, cut, cut, the appearance 

is deceptive. The past tense and the participle 

read are pronounced like red. See also 

peruse. 

read between the lines. As a term for perceiving 

a hidden or implied meaning in something said 

or written, reading between the lines is a hackneyed 

expression. 

read the riot act. The Riot Act of 1714 empowered 

a justice, sheriff, mayor, or other 

person in authority to read a proclamation calling 

upon such persons as he deemed to be unlawfully, 

riotously and tumultuously assembled 

to disperse themselves and peaceably to depart 

to their habitations or to their lawful businesses. 

After the reading of the proclamation (or the 

hindering of the reading of the proclamation), 

continued assembly constituted a felony. The 

reading of this proclamation (not the Act itself) 

thus constituted a serious procedure and usually 

served to quell most tumults and disperse most 

unlawful assemblies, for felony was punishable 

by death. The modem expression read the riot 

act means no more than to state emphatically 

that a certain course of action must cease. It 

has become a cliche. It is particularly illogical 

to use it-as it so often is used-when applied 

to one person (He read me the riot act!). 

real; really. Traditionally, the adjective real means 

true and the adverb really means truly, as in 

a real friend and were you really there? Really 

may qualify a verb, an adjective, or an adverb. 

Today the form real is often used as an 

adverb meaning very, as in I will write real 

soon. In this sense it may qualify an adjective 

or an adverb but not a verb. This use of real 

is accepted spoken English in most parts of the 

United States but does not appear in formal, 

or impersonal, writing. The adverb really does 

not have this meaning. I will write really soon 

is neither natural nor literary English. (The use 

of real before a participle, as in I was real 

amazed, is acceptable in some Southern states, 

but not in other parts of the country.) 

When used to qualify a noun, the form real 

refers to facts rooted in nature, actual things 

with objective existence, rather than imaginary. 

Real trouble means actual trouble, not imaginary 

trouble, it does not mean serious trouble. 

Real has definite, useful meanings of its own 

and it would be a loss if the word became a 

mere intensive. 

reality; realty. Reality means the state or fact of 

being real, true to life or fact (The reality of 

the situation is in no way affected by our 

illusions or wishes). It is obsolete in the specialized 

sense of real property or real estate; in this 

sense the correct word is realty (He left a large 

fortune in bonds and realty). 

realize. Though realize describes primarily a 

mental act, a grasping by the mind or an understanding 

(I suddenly realized what he meant),

it may also mean to make real, or to give reality 

to, a hope, a fear, or a plan (In securing a television 

set, the boy realized one of his greatest 

desires), or to bring vividly before the mind. 

In a specialized sense, realize is to convert 

into cash or money (He realized a large sum 

by the sale of the plantation). Loose application 

of this sense has led to such meanings as 

to obtain as a profit or income for oneself by 

trade, labor, or investment (He realized huge 

profits from the Berlin black market), to bring 

as proceeds, as from a sale (The painti.ngs 

realized $15,000. You won’t realize much on 

that old chiffonier). The use of realize in these 

last two senses is condemned by English authorities, 

accepted by American. 

realize; know. Realize may suggest “know th.oroughly.” 

Know basically means to perceive or 

understand as a fact or truth, to apprehend 

with clearness and certainty. Realize means to 

apprehend fully, to understand clearly. Ii: is 

often used for emphasis in a warning when the 

one speaking wishes to allow the one spoken to 

no chance of later pleading ignorance (1’0~ 

realize that if you leave under these circumstances, 

you cannot hope to return? I hope you 

realize the gravity of what you ure doing). 

really. See actually, real. 

really and truly is redundant and hackneyed. 

Like so many expressions that seek a double 

emphasis, it defeats its own purpose :and 

suggests either a childishness that is not wholly 

to be relied on or a suspicious excess of protestation. 

rear. Originally this verb meant cause to stand 

up. It was already in the language when the 

verb raise appeared with exactly the same 

meaning. Through the centuries, raise has 

followed rear from meaning to meaning, gradually 

driving out the older word. Where both are 

used in the same sense, rear is frequently felt 

to be more bookish or more elegant. 

In the fifteenth and sixteenth century rear 

came to mean foster, nourish, bring to maturity. 

It could be used of children, livestock, and 

plants, and one could speak of rearing wheat. 

About two hundred years later raise ialso 

acquired this meaning and could be used. of 

plants or livestock. In the United States reur 

is no longer used in speaking about plants and 

raise is now used of plants, animals, and 

children. Some people believe that it is vulgar 

to talk about raising children and that we 

should always say rear. They claim that the 

verb raise puts the children in a class with the 

hogs. This is not very reasonable. Raise may 

put the children in a class with corn, and 

flowers, but they can’t escape being classed with 

the hogs, since we certainly do use rear as ,well 

as raise in speaking of livestock. More people 

in the United States were raised than were 

reared. To many, reared seems an unnatural 

and pretentious word to use about their childhood. 

If they are afraid that raise will put their 

parents in a bad light, they are likely to shift 

to was brought up or grew up. 

411 reckon 

Rear may still be used in the sense of lift or 

cause to rise. But it is likely to be associated 

with literary words, such as rear an imposing 

structure and rear a monument. In ordinary 

speech, raise is preferred. 

Unlike raise, which always means cause to 

rise, or cause to grow, rear may be used in a 

direct sense, similar to rise, as in the horse 

reared, the baby suddenly reared back, the 

specter reared up before his eyes. 

The noun rear is often used as an adjective 

and has produced a superlative adjective form, 

rearmost, but no comparative form. 

reason. It stands to reason is an exasperating expression 

which no intelligent man uses unless 

he is seeking to goad an antagonist into a selfbetraying 

explosion. Spoken, as it so often is, 

with condescending assurance, it is stupid and 

unfair. Invoking reason’s name, it is usually the 

prelude to an unreasonable dogmatism. If 

something stands to reason, it has only to be 

exposed to the light of examination and the 

processes of reasonable thought and it will 

stand. But to preface its presentation with the 

statement that it does stand to reason compels 

assent by implying that dissent is unreasonable. 

Or, rather, attempts to so compel assent but 

always fails, for reason cannot be compelled. If 

its implications are fully understood, it is an 

arrogant statement. If they are not, it is a stupid 

one. 

reason why. See why. For the reason is because, 

see because. 

reave. The past tense is reft or reaved. The participle 

is also reft or renved. 

recall. See recollect, remember. 

recapitulate. See repeat. 

receipt and recipe both once described a formula 

or prescription for the preparing of a food or 

a medicine, but receipt is now largely understood 

to mean a written acknowledgment of 

having received money, goods, or information 

specified. It is still sometimes used of cookery 

in America, less often in England. Recipe, on 

the other hand, has retained its traditional 

meaning. Primarily, it describes any formula, 

especially one for preparing a dish in cookery. 

But it may also describe a medical prescription 

(though prescription itself has almost entirely 

displaced it in this sense) and a method to 

obtain a desired end (What is your recipe for 

success as a writer?). 

receptacle and recipient both designate a receiver, 

but a receptacle is a thing and a recipient a 

person (The recipient of the letter read it hastily 

and then tossed it into the nearest receptacle, 

an empty nail keg). 

reciprocal. See mutual. 

reciprocal pronouns. Each other and one another 

are sometimes called reciprocal pronouns. 

reckon. This word is supposed to be the Southern 

equivalent of the Yankee guess. Reckon, used 

to mean “suppose,” is in the great literary tradition 

and Southerners have been too modest in 

allowing the word to be classed with calculate, 

which is not used with this meaning outside

e-collect 412 

rural America. By apologizing for it themselves, 

they have brought it into disrepute. A grammarian, 

writing a generation ago in defense of 

reckon, quotes Romans 8: 18, I reckon that the 

suflerings of this present time are not worthy 

lo be compared with the glory which shall be 

revealed in us, and then asks, rhetorically, 

“What hand will change that reckon to any one 

of its supposed equivalents!” In a recent translation 

of the Bible this reckon has been changed 

to consider. 

re-collect; recollect; remember; recall. Re-collect 

(distinguished always by the hyphen) means to 

collect or gather together something which had 

formerly been gathered together but since 

scattered (At the end of the game he recollecred 

the cards and prepared to shufle them 

once more). Recolleci means to recall to mind, 

to recover knowledge of by an act or effort of 

memory (Try hard to recollect what you saw 

jusf before the accident). In the act of recollecting 

there is always a considerable effort. Recall 

also implies an effort, but not a very severe one 

(He recalled rhe words of an old music hall 

song). Remember implies that a thing exists in 

the memory, though not actually present in the 

thoughts at the moment, and that it can be 

called up without effort (I remember, I remember, 

the house where 1 was born. You remember 

John Doe, don’t you?). See also remember. 

recommend; recommendation. Recommend is a 

verb. Its use as a noun to mean recommendafion, 

the act of recommending, a letter or the 

like recommending a person, or a representation 

in favor of a person or thing (aa in Will 

you give me a recommend for a job?), is slang 

in America and inappropriate and incorrect in 

England. 

reconcile. The word may be followed by the -ing 

form of a verb with the preposition to, a.s in 

she reconciled herself Co living there. It is also 

heard with an infinitive, as in she reconciled 

herself lo live there, but the -ing form is 

preferred. 

recondition; renovate. Authorities in England 

will have nothing to do with recondirion. They 

condemn it as etymologically unjustifiable, ugly, 

and unnecessary. Renovate, they affirm, is 

established, adequate, and available. 

In America recondition is a standard word 

to describe the restoring to good or satisfactory 

condition of machines or equipment, and it 

deserves its acceptance because it implies more 

than renovate or any of its synonyms, such as 

refit or reconstruct. It implies a process of 

detailed alterations in the interest of more 

efficient operation. One may renovate a hat; 

but he ought to recondition an old car before 

starting on a transcontinental tour in it. 

recopy; copy. There is little that recopy can do 

that copy can’t do. To copy is to reproduce, 

duplicate, transcribe or imitate an original or 

any copy based on that original. Recopy cannot 

be used as a synonym of reproduce. And 

though it is correct in describing later duplicating 

steps, it is no more explicit than copy. 

About the only time where recopy would be 

justified would be when a copy had been badly 

made and one wished to emphasize that fact in 

requesting that another copy be made. 

recourse, resort, and resource are all nouns that 

suggest help in a situation of dimculty and 

though each has a special meaning they are 

often unintentionally interchanged. 

Perhaps an explanation of their basic senses 

will make their proper use clear. Recourse 

derives from a Latin word meaning a running 

back and it means a turning back to a person 

or thing for help or protection, as when in 

difficulty (The Prodigal Son had no recourse 

but to go rcnfo his father). Resort, which is an 

acceptable but not preferable alternative to 

recourse in many contexts (such as He managed 

to make a halting franslation but only by frequent 

recourse/ resort to the vocabulary in the 

buck of ihe book), derives from a Latin word 

meaning to go out. A pleasure resort or a 

summer resort was a place to which one went 

out. In the common phrase the lust resort it is 

the last place to which one can go in a time of 

necessity or danger. Resource, from a Latin 

word meaning to rise again, means a source of 

supply, support, or aid (My only resource in 

the emergency was a dull sheath knife). Resort 

and resource are often used interchangeably 

and indiscriminately; yet in the last resort emphasizes 

the direction of a final attempt, while 

as a last resource emphasizes the basis of a final 

attempt. The fact that one can say As a lust 

resort he had recourse to his hidden resources 

shows that the words do have different meanings. 

recover; re-cover. The unhyphenated word goes 

back to a Latin word meaning recuperate. It 

means to obtain again what one has lost 

possession of (The Germans recovered from the 

French the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine). 

Re-cover means to cover again or anew (How 

much material is needed to re-cover our sofu?). 

See also retrieve. 

recreation; re-creation. A recreofion is an agreeable 

pastime or diversion which affords relaxation 

and enjoyment. A re-creation is an act of 

creating anew or a thing created anew. 

recriminations; accusations; charges. Recriminations 

denote a more advanced stage in a controversy 

than do accusations or charges, for 

recriminations are countercharges brought 

against an accuser, accusations in return (You 

musf realize Chat if you bring charges against 

him, there will be recriminations). 

recrudescence meant the breaking out again of a 

wound or a disease or a pestilence (Zf the brown 

rut returns, we may expect a recrudescence of 

ihe bubonic plugue). Authorities in England, 

following Fowler who regards any other use aa 

“disgusting,” will admit recrudescence in a 

figurative sense to mean a renewal or return 

only if the renewal is regarded as evil or objectionable 

(After World War I there was a 

recrudescence of Klan activify). In America, 

however, no such limitation prevails. Recrudes-

cence in the United States is taken to describe 

a breaking out afresh or into renewed activity, 

or the revival or reappearance in active existence 

of anything, good or bad. Such a distinction 

of meaning is one of the real pitfalls of 

understanding between Americans and British, 

for the surface meaning is the same although 

the attitude towards the act described might be 

diametrically opposite. Thus if an American 

said During the Second World War there was 

a recrudescence of interest in religion, he might 

regard this renewal of interest as a laudable 

thing but an Englishman, hearing him, would 

assume that he disapproved of it, regarding it 

as some sort of disease or pestilence. 

rector; vicar; curate. In the Church of England 

a rector is a parson or incumbent of a parish 

whose tithes are not impropriate, that is, the 

tithes are held by him rather than a layman. 

A vicar is one who acts in the place of a rector, 

a substitute (cf. the word vicarious). In Ihgland, 

then, whether the incumbent of a parish 

is a vicar or a rector depends chiefly on the 

disposition of tithes. In America, in the Flrotestant 

Episcopal Church, a rector is a clergyman 

in charge of a parish and a vicar is a 

clergyman whose sole or chief charge is a 

chapel dependent on the church of a parish, 

or a bishop’s assistant in charge of a church 

or mission. Curate is chiefly a British term to 

designate a clergyman employed as assistant or 

deputy of a rector or a vicar. In both England 

and America the Roman Catholic Church employs 

rector to designate an ecclesiastic in charge 

of a college, religious house or congregation, 

and vicar to designate an ecclesiastic representing 

a bishop or the Pope. The Roman Catholic 

Church also employs vicar to designate the Pope 

as representative on earth of God. See also 

pastor. 

recumbent, incumbent, superincumbent and decumbent 

all suggest lying or reclining. 

The most familiar, and the one with the most 

varied uses, is incumbent. Though it conveys 

the literal sense of lying, leaning, or pressing on 

something, it more often conveys a figurative 

sense of resting on one as a duty or an obligation, 

obligatory (The welfare of his people is 

incumbent on a good prince, Having sought 

the ofice, it is incumbent upon him to assume 

its responsibilities). Incumbent is also used as 

a noun, in general terms meaning the holder of 

an office (The first incumbent of the presidency 

wus George Washington), and in British use 

only, one who holds an ecclesiastical benefice 

(The incumbent at Upper Tooting held sturtlingly 

advunced theological notions). 

Recumbent means lying down, reclining, 

leaning (The beach wus dotted with recumbent 

forms), inactive, idle. In botany and zoology 

the word describes a part that leans or reposes 

on anything. 

Superincumbent means lying or resting on 

something else (He struggled to extricate himself 

from the superincumbent debris), situated 

above, overhanging (The Aur Gorge is practi- 

413 redundancy 

tally bridged by superincumbent rock formations). 

Figuratively it means exerted from 

above, as pressure, burdensome (He felt acutely 

the superincumbent responsibilities of the 

mission). 

Decumbent may mean recumbent, but its 

chief use is a botanical one, to describe stems, 

branches and so on, lying or trailing on the 

ground with the extremity tending to ascend. 

recurrence. See reoccurrence. 

recurring and frequent are not synonymous. That 

is recurring which occurs again. There is no 

limitation, however, upon the interval between 

occurrences. Frequent, on the other hand, 

means happening or occurring at short intervals 

(During the day he made frequent trips to the 

drinking fountain). 

red rag to a bull. To say of something that particularly 

infuriates a certain person that it is 

to him like u red rug to a bull is to employ a 

hackneyed metaphor based on zoological error, 

for bulls seem to be color-blind. 

reduce. This word may be followed by the -ing 


he was reduced to selling his cur. It is also heard 

with an infinitive, as in he was reduced to beg 

or to starve, but the -ing construction is generally 

preferred. 

reduced. See depleted. 

redundancy; tautology; pleonasm. Redundunt 

means being in excess, exceeding what is usual 

or natural. A redundant humor, in the old 

theory of the four humors, was the one whose 

excess determined the patient’s complexion. In 

grammar redundancy means the use of too 

many words to express an idea, such as combine 

together, audible to the ear, or invisible to the 

eye. A charming example is furnished by Miss 

Julia Moore, “The Sweet Singer of Michigan,” 

in her plea, at the end of her collected poems, 

for leniency from her readers: 

And now, kind friends, whut I have wrote, 

I hope you will puss o’er, 

And not criticise us some have done 

Hitherto herebefore. 

Tautology is a form of redundancy, consisting 

of the needless repetition of an idea, especially 

in other words in the immediate context, 

without imparting additional force or 

clearness. President Coolidge’s statement that 

when more and more people are thrown out of 

work unemployment results is a fine illustration, 

though the prize must be reserved for the enterprising 

Milwaukee optometrist who advertised 

EYES EXAMINED WHILE YOU WAIT. 

Except where the redundancy is hidden in 

technical or obsolete terminology (such as the 

landlubber’s so many knots per hour), tuutology 

is one of the surest marks of militant 

dullness. The editors of a California weekly 

who gave thanks in their first number for being 

blessed with the gratification of seeing the materialization 

of our dreams come to the fulfillment 

of our realization could not hope to enlist 

many literate subscribers. And the New York

edundant 414 

firm which assured television producers, in its 

advertising brochure, that it is impossible to 

produce any type of audience show without an 

audience simply assured the discerning pro 

ducers that they had nothing original to offer. 

The repeating of words (see repetition), so 

strenuously and often absurdly avoided, is not 

a very serious fault; but the repetition of ideas 

in immediate context is fatal. 

Pleonasm is a synonym for redundancy. See 

pleonasm. 

redundant; superfluous; unnecessary. Of these 

words redundant has the most specialized 

meaning, unnecessary the most general. Redundanf 

applies primarily to the use of too 

many words to express ideas in speech or 

writing. Superfluous describes anything over 

and above what is sufficient or required (Your 

acknowledgment is superfluous. It seems superfluous 

for me to add anything to what the 

previous speaker has said). Unnecessary means 

not needed. This is a sweeping term, for it 

includes not only what is beyond that required 

(supertluous) but also qualities the nature of 

the requirement itself. 

reduplication is the immediate repetition of a 

sound, as in the red red robin came bob-bobbobbin’ 

along. It is used in all languages and 

delights children and adults alike. 

It may occur in almost any pattern, but a 

few of these are overwhelmingly more popular 

than all the others. Almost all reduplications 

belong to one of the three following types: 

1. A syllable or word may simply be repeated, 

as in bonbon, can-can, frou-frou, goodygoody, 

girlie-girlie, pompom, beriberi and well! 

well! Renetitions of this kind are often emphatic. 

- 

2. The vowel of the tirst element may be 

changed to form the second element. When this 

happens the first vowel is almost always an i 

sound which is changed to an a or an o. That is, 

the change is from the shrill to the more open 

sound, as in dilly-dally, fiddle-faddle, riff-raff, 

wig-wag, clip-clap, ping-pong, hippity-hoppity. 

In English the sound of a bell is represented by 

ding-dong, in German by bim-barn. Words in 

this class commonly represent indecision, vacillation, 

or something contemptible. 

3. The initial consonant of the first element 

may be changed to form the second element. 

Here, more often than not, the second element 

begins with one of three consonants: ( 1) a 

d, as in fuddy-duddy, handy-dandy, Humpty 

Dumpty, razzle-dazzle, super-duper; (2) a p. 

as in namby-pamby, higgledy-piggledy, hocuspocus, 

Georgie Porgie, roly-poly; or (3) a w, 

as in nit-wit, pow-wow, boogie-woogie, teenyweeny, 

too&v-wootsy. Words in this class are 

usually frivolous or playful. 

reihforce; re-enforce; reinforce. In both England 

and America reinforce is the common and preferred 

word meaning to strengthen with something 

additional (He reinforced the picfure with 

u cardboard backing). The other two forms are 

still often used in America, rarely in England. 

reeve. The past tense is rove or reeved. The participle 

is rove or reeved or roven. This is a 

nautical word, meaning to pass a rope through 

something, and is not heard in general English. 

refer. See allude. 

referendum. The plural is referendums or referenda. 

reflective; reflexive. Both these adjectives basically 

mean reflecting. But reflexive is now used 

only in grammatical senses, as of a verb which 

has identical subject and object (He shook himself), 

or of a pronoun which indicates identity 

of object with subject (as in the same example, 

himself being the reflexive). 

Reflective has retained all the general senses. 

It means that reflects, reflecting (When glass 

becomes warped it is not satisfactorily reflective), 

of or pertaining to reflection, cast by reflection. 

Actually, however, the functions of 

reflective as regards light are being taken over 

by reflecting and reflected (Reflected sunlight 

glimmered on the reflecting surface of the 

indoor pool). In current usage reflective is 

chiefly used to describe not a physical but a 

mental characteristic. It is roughly synonymous 

with meditative (Wordsworth’s Intimations of 

Immortality is a classic example of reflective 

poetry). 

reflexive pronouns. The -self words, myself, himself, 

and so on, are called reflexive pronouns. 

Three of these words, myself, yourself, ourselves, 

are combinations of a possessive pronoun 

and the word self. An objective pronoun 

used here, as in me-self, us-selves, is not 

standard. Two of the words, himself and themselves, 

are combinations of an objective pronoun 

and the word self. A possessive pronoun 

is often heard here, as in hisself and theirselves. 

These were once acceptable forms but they 

have not been standard for more than five 

hundred years. In herself, itself, oneself, it is 

impossible to say whether a possessive or an 

objective pronoun is being used to make the 

combination. 

The reflexive pronouns are used primarily 

when the subject of a verb must be repeated as 

an object, as in she hurt herself, she laughed at 

herself, she made herself a cup of tea. When a 

reflexive pronoun is not standing immediately 

after a verb or a preposition, it simply repeats 

the subject and makes it emphatic, as in she herself 

made a cup of tea and she made a cup of tea 

herself. Some grammarians call the -self words 

reflexive pronouns when they are used as objects 

and intensive pronouns when they are not. In 

literary English an intensive pronoun stands 

immediately after the subject, as in she herself 

made it. In present-day speech it usually stands 

at the end of the sentence, as in she made it 

herself, and is considered additionally emphatic 

when it immediately follows the subject. When 

there is no cause for this added emphasis, the 

reflexive in this position is likely to sound pretentious. 

An intensive pronoun may follow the 

word who, as in a man who himself had seen 

it, but not the word that. In literary English an

intensive pronoun in a that clause is always 

placed at the end, as in a man that had seel? it 

himself. A man that himself had is contrary to 

the literary tradition and contrary to presentday 

speech habits. 

In current English, a reflexive pronoun. is 

often omitted where formerly it would h#ave 

been expressed. In the population doubled and 

the fog lifted a reflexive itself is understood. 

Similafly, a yozzrself is understood in prepare 

fo die and don’t bother. We say the child 

behaved well although a reflexive was required 

here until recently. A reflexive is still required 

after some verbs, including perjure. We must 

say he perjured himself although with the 

present-day meaning of this word he could not 

possibly perjure anyone else. 

At one time the -self words and the personal 

pronouns could be used interchangeably. 

Today, the -self words are preferred in some 

constructions and the personal pronouns in 

others. 

In older English, personal pronouns were 

often used as reflexives, as in let every soldier 

hew him down a bough, I could accuse me of 

such things, and arm you. This is still standLard 

English after prepositions showing direction, a.~ 

in we looked at the stars above us and she drew 

it toward her. There is still a tendency to use 

personal pronouns as reflexives when the word 

is an indirect object, as in I will get me one. 

This construction is condemned by many grammarians 

and seldom appears in print, but it is 

heard frequently in the speech of educated 

people. A personal pronoun may still be used 

reflexively as the object of the verb lay, as in 

I lay me down at night to dream, but in general 

a -self word is required for the true object of 

a verb. We no longer say I will wash me or 

I will dress me. A personal pronoun is still very 

effective when used as an intensive, as in the 

bells they sound so clear. This construction is 

condemned by most grammarians on the 

grounds that the pronoun is redundant, but the 

device is too forceful to be given up, either in 

speech or in line writing. 

Formerly, the -self words were often used 

non-reflexively, that is, in sentences where they 

did not reflect the subject of the verb, as yourself 

in I am inviting yourself and your wife. In 

current English these words have an old 

fashioned tone and the personal pronouns, in 

this case you, are generally preferred. Myself 

is an exception and is still often used in place 

of I or me. See myself. 

reflexive verbs. A verb is said to be reflexive 

when its subject and object represent the same 

thing, usually a person, as feed in the baby can 

feed himself now. See transitive verbs. 

reft. See reave. 

refuse. This word may be followed by an intiitive, 

as in he refused to see me. It is also hleard 

with the -ing form of a verb, as in he refused 

seeing me, but this is not standard. 

refute; confute; deny. To refute is to prove, by 

argument or countervailing evidence, that 

415 register 

something asserted as true is false or erroneous, 

to overcome in argument, to prove to be in 

error, to show that allegations or charges are 

groundless (An insinuation is dificult to refute, 

for it rarely makes a specific charge that can be 

closely examined). To confute is to prove to be 

false, to overthrow by evidence or stronger 

argument (Ten yards of string and a stone were 

suficient to confute the local belief that the 

well was bottomless). Confute is confined to 

arguments, theories, reasoning, sophistries. 

Refute applies to arguments and charges. Both 

words, by the way, convey the suggestion of a 

quick as well as a thorough answer. 

Deny is a much weaker term. It simply means 

that one asserts that an opinion or a charge is 

false or erroneous (He denied the allegation 

and defied the alligator). A denial does not 

necessarily carry any supporting argument or 

evidence; a refutation or a confutation carrks 

overwhelming proof. 

regal. See kingly. 

regard; regards. The singular noun regard is used 

in the compound prepositions with regard to, in 

regard to, in regard of. These all mean “with 

reference to” and they are all standard English, 

although the last is not used as much today as 

formerly. The plural noun regards should never 

be used in these phrases. 

As regards is a verbal phrase meaning “as 

far as it relates to” and the third person singular 

form ending in s, regards, should always be 

used. 

The verb regard cannot be followed by an 

infinitive. We cannot say I regard it to be an 

honor; nor can we use an objective complement 

and say I regard it an honor. Idiom requires 

the use of as here, as in I regard it as an honor. 

The noun regard is properly a mass noun 

and does not have a plural form. The plural 

regards, like the plural noun respects, is used 

only in formal expressions of good will, as in 

give my regards to your mother. 

regarding; respecting; relating; concerning; with 

regard to; etc. Many writers will go to great 

lengths to avoid using the prepositions about 

and on. If all the memoranda beginning Let 

me have your comments regarding/ respecting/ 

relating to/ with regard to . . . were laid end 

to end they would reach to a wastebasket on 

the moon. See also re; in re. 

regimen of a preposition. See object of a preposition. 

register. In its broadest and earliest sense register 

is to enter formally in a register (The spaniel’s 

pedigree was fully registered). Usage has established 

as standard the more specialized sense of 

“record,” that is to indicate by record or to indicate 

as records do. From this it was only a 

step to “show,” to indicate, as on a scale. And 

from this has come the popular figurative 

meaning of showing emotion as by facial expression 

or by action (She registered all 

pleasant emotions by smirking and all unpleasant 

ones by frowning or pouting). This is 

a vague use, which the careful writer will

egret 416 

eschew in favor of a more explicit word, and 

has led to even vaguer uses in which register 

can mean to feel, to notice, or to be aware of 

(as in I couldn’t tell whether he heard me or 

not; he just didn’t seem lo register). These last 

uses are not standard. 

regret. This verb may be followed by an infinitive 

when speaking of the present or the future, as 

in I regret lo say I cannot come. It may be 

followed by the -ing form of a verb when 

referring to something that is past, as in I regret 

saying I could not come. In the United States, 

regret may also be followed by a clause, as in 

Z regret Z did not go. British grammarians condemn 

this and say that a direct object, such as 

il or rhe fact, must be placed between regret and 

a clause, as in I regret it that I did not go, or an 

infinitive construction substituted, as in I regret 

io say I did not go. 

regret; be sorry; deplore; lament. Regret is the 

formal term meaning to feel sorry about (Mr. 

Stuyvesant Silver regrets that he will be unable 

fo accept the kind invitation of Mr. Joab 

lohnson for the sixteenth). It is used as often 

as the informal sorry, which tends to be used in 

set constructions (Sorry! Sorry, to hear ir) and 

has acquired, especially in popular songs, a 

sentimental tinge (Z’m sorry Z mnde you cry). 

Deplore means to regret deeply, and implies 

disapproval (He deplored the conduct of compatriots 

in European cities). It is a favorite 

more-in-sorrow-than-anger word and has acquired 

more than a tinge of condescension and 

hypocrisy in many contexts. Lament means to 

feel or express sorrow or regret for. Unlike 

deplore, lament implies an outward and vocal 

manifestation of sorrow (He paused to lament 

the brave men who were not there to hear him 

speak). Used for merely an inner feeling, as it 

often is (I lament that your conduct has made 

it necessary for me to speak to your father), 

it is stilted. See also repent. 

regretful; regrettable. Regretful means full of 

regret, sorrowful because of what is lost, gone, 

done (And love, grown faint and fretful,/ With 

lips but half regretful/ Sighs, and with eyes forgetful/ 

Weeps that no loves endure). Regrettable 

means admitting of or calling for regret 

(They were sullen and in no way regretful for 

their regrettable performance). It is often used 

as a term of mild condemnation. 

regular. See normal. 

rehearse. See repeat. 

reindeer. The plural is reindeers or reindeer. 

reiterate. See repeat. 

rejoinder. See answer. 

relation; narrative. Narrative is now the general 

term for a story of an event or events told for 

any purpose and with or without much detail. 

Relation, which properly means the act of narrating 

or telling (The relation of these events 

took up the better part of the night), is now 

used as a synonym for narrative, though it has 

a faintly archaic flavor. It is used particularly to 

describe that type of narrative known as an 

account-a factual story of the past told in- 

formally, often for entertainment, with emphasis 

on details of action (I was amused by his relation 

of the exploits of Davy Crockett). 

relation; relative. Both relation and relative are 

used to describe a kinsman. Though there is 

little to choose between them, relative is preferred. 

Relation is slightly rustic, slightly oldfashioned, 

qualities which give it an added force 

of homeliness in certain contexts. 

relatively. See comparatively. 

relative pronouns. The words who, whose, whom, 

which, and that, are relative pronouns when 

they represent a noun or pronoun appearing 

earlier in the sentence and also form part of a 

subordinate clause, as who in those who know 

him speak well of him. See the individual words, 

and also what and as. 

As a rule the relative pronoun is the first 

word in the subordinate clause. There are three 

recognized situations in which a relative may 

be the second or third word in the clause: 

(1) it may follow an -ing form, as in saying 

which; (2) it may follow a preposition, as in 

to whom; (3) or it may be part of an of phrase, 

as in all of whom. Expressions such as these 

may open a relative clause. Most grammarians 

claim that with these exceptions the relative 

must be the opening word. Many great writers, 

including Defoe, Swift, Shelley, have used and 

to introduce a relative clause, as in a man of 

low rank, heavily built, and who kept his face 

mufled, and an excellent house indeed, and 

which I do most seriously recommend. Textbook 

rules of composition call for some word 

such as one before the relative in both of these 

sentences in order to make the relative the first 

word in its clause. Or they require a preceding 

relative clause which the and who or nnd which 

will be parallel to, as in a man who was of low 

rank and heavily built and who kept his face 

mufled, and a house which is excellent indeed, 

and which I do most seriously recommend. 

Dickens often disregards the rules completely, 

as in my father, rhe many reasons for not insulting 

whom you are old enough to understand 

and I might take leave of Mr. Wickfield, my 

old room in whose house I had not yet relinquished. 

These are successful sentences, but 

dangerous to imitate. 

A relative clause follows the word it qualifies. 

When two clauses qualify the same word, the 

second applies to the word as already qualified 

or limited by the first, as in they murdered all 

they met whom they thought gentlemen. This is 

similar to a series of adjectives standing before 

the noun, in that each element qualifies the 

noun as qualified by all the intervening elements. 

See adjectives. 

The number and person of a relative pronoun 

is determined by its antecedent. (See agreement: 

verbs.) The case of a relative pronoun depends 

on its function in the subordinate clause. In 

English, who is the only relative pronoun that 

shows case. See who; whom. 

A relative pronoun that is the subject of a 

verb must usually be expressed, as in the book

tl~~t fell on rhe floor, but once it has been expressed 

it can serve as the subject of more than 

one verb, as in the book that fell on the ,floor 

and wus forgotten. A relative pronoun that is 

the object of a verb or preposition may usually 

be omitted, as in the book I bought yesterday. 

(See that; which and who; whom.) Ordinarily 

a pronoun may function as the object of more 

than one verb or preposition. But a relative pronoun 

that follows a preposition cannot also 

function as the object of another preposition. 

We may say a school which they sent their 

children to and thought highly of. but not a 

school to which they sent their children and 

thought highly of. 

relic; relict. A relic is a surviving memorial of 

something past (The hitching post is a relic of 

horse and buggy days), an object having interest 

by reason of its age or its association with the 

past (The Museum contains a fine collection of 

Indian relics), or a surviving trace of something 

(Funeral processions are a relic of barbarism). 

In ecclesiastical usage, especially in the Roman 

Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches, a relic 

designates the body or part of the body or :some 

personal belonging or memorial of a saint, 

martyr, or other sacred person, preserved as 

worthy of veneration (Chaucer makes it plain 

that, in his opinion, the Pardoner’s relics were 

spurious). The plural, relics, has the special 

additional meaning of the remains of a deceased 

person (By law his relics must be disposed of 

by an undertaker). 

Relict is no longer used as a synonym for 

relic. It now means the surviving member of a 

married pair, a widow or a widower, especially 

a widow, who, when the word is used at all, is 

spoken of usually as the relict of so-and-so 

(He took to wife the virtuous Lady Emma, 

relict of King Ethelred). The word is now 

archaic and rare. 

religiosity. Although the primary meaning of 

religiosity, as given in the dictionaries, is piety, 

devoutness, the quality of being religious, its 

secondary meaning of an affected or excessive 

devotion to religion is, in current usage, its chief 

meaning. Religiosity is a sort of religious, sentimentality, 

great enjoyment of religious feelings 

with very little awareness of any corresponding 

ethical feelings. Religiosity insists that 

there is something called religion wholly apart 

from any specific religion, something that has 

no creed nor dogma, no theology or scriptures, 

something which may be felt and need not be 

understood. There is much of it abroad and a 

name for it is needed. 

remain may be followed by an adjective describing 

the subject of the verb, as in remain silent, 

remain calm. It may also be followed by an 

adverb describing remain, as in remain quietly 

in the corner. 

remainder. See balance. 

remains. This noun has no singular form. It is 

usually treated as a plural, as in the remains of 

the meal are in the refrigerator. But it ma:y also 

be treated as a singular, as in the remains Iof the 

417 remembrance 

meal is in the refrigerator. It cannot be used 

with a word implying number. We do not speak 

of several remains. 

remark; comment; observation. A remark is usually 

a casual and passing expression of thought 

or opinion (Except for a few remarks, she had 

nothing to say about the play). A comment 

expresses a judgment or explains a particular 

point (If I might be permitted to make a comment, 

I would say that the interpretation of 

Lear’s madness is wholly at variance with what 

is made plain in the text). An observation suggests 

a basis of judgment and experience. Like 

comment, it implies a considered statement 

(After five years in Moscow, he was ready to 

set down his observations on the Soviet scene). 

remediable; remedial. Remediable means capable 

of being remedied (The faults in the political 

system are clearly remediable. Not until we 

have corrected our remediable ills dare we upbraid 

Providence). Remedial means affording 

remedy, tending to remedy something (Zf you 

take a remedial reading course, you will soon 

be able to read rapidly and to understand better 

what you have read). 

remember. When speaking of a past event, remember 

may be followed by the -ing form of a 

verb, as in I remember mailing the letter, or, if 

remember itself is in the past, by an infinitive, 

as in I remembered to mail it. When speaking 

of a future event, remember may be followed 

by an infinitive, as in remember to mail it, but 

not by the -ing form. Remember may always be 

followed by a clause, as in remember I will be 

there. 

remember; recollect; recall; reminisce. All of 

these words refer to bringing back before the 

conscious mind things which exist in the memory. 

Remember implies that a thing exists in the 

memory, though not actually present in the 

thoughts at the moment, and that it can be 

called up without effort (I will remember the 

raid as long as I live). Recall, a rather conversational 

word, implies a voluntary effort, but 

not a great one (I recognized his face but 

couldn’t recall his name). Recollect implies an 

earnest voluntary effort to remember some 

definite, desired fact (Try to recollect where you 

were on the night of June 17). Reminisce means 

to indulge in reminiscence, the act of remembering 

one’s past. It often implies a narration of 

what is remembered (When old college classmates 

get together they begin by reminiscing 

over old times). In this sense it is almost a 

vogue word and greatly overused. See also 

re-collect; recollect. 

remembrance; recollection; reminiscence; memory. 

In one of its senses, memory means a mental 

impression retained (My earliest memory 

is of getting lost in a strange town). Remembrance 

is basically synonymous with memory 

in this sense, though it tends to be used only in 

rather solemn references (In remembrance of 

their sacrifice). Recollection implies a deliberate 

effort in bringing back to mind (How dear

emembrance 418 

to my heart are the scenes of my cltildhoodl 

When fond recollection presents them to view). 

Reminiscence, generally plural, means recollections 

narrated or told. Recollections and reminiscences 

are the staple of writers of memoirs 

and autobiography (My Recollections of Lord 

Byron, Men and Memories: Recollections of 

William Rothenstein, Carlyle’s Reminiscences, 

and soon). 

remembrance; reminder. A reminder is some 

thing which causes one to remember, usually 

at some fitting or necessary time (Tie this string 

on your finger as a reminder). A remembrance 

is something which serves to hold something 

or, more often, someone continually in the 

memory, usually with fondness or affection 

(Keep this ring as a remembrance). 

remit; send. In America remit means primarily 

to transmit or send money to a person or place 

(Please remit). This meaning is known in England 

but is not common. This is the only sense 

in which remit means send. In some of its less 

common senses, remit may mean to send back, 

or give back (He remitted the fine) or, in law, 

to send back a case to an inferior court. 

remittance; money. Remittance is a commercial 

term to describe money or its equivalent sent 

from one place to another (Enclosed find my 

remittance in the amount of $25.00). It is not 

to be used as a term for money, however, in 

social, as opposed to business, relations. When 

SO used, it is affected, a sort of euphemism to 

avoid SO coarse a word as money. A remittance 

man (the term is dying out, though not the practice 

upon which it is based) is one living abroad 

who depends for support on money sent from 

home, money which is sent on condition that 

he remain abroad and not come home to disgrace 

by his presence the respectable members 

of his family. 

remove is one of those words that now seem 

slightly pompous, with an archaic flavor, to the 

English but are in everyday use in America 

where Remove your hats or Let us remove your 

garbage and similar public notices strike no one 

as incongruous. 

remuneration is a rather lofty and affected word 

for pay. It is an apologetic word. It implies that 

the money is a base and inadequate recompense 

for the service offered or the loss endured. But 

it is quite unnecessary. Most people today are 

quite willing to accept pay-if there’s enough 

of it. 

Renaissance; renaissance; renascence. As a synonym 

for rebirth, renascence is the correct word 

(The phoenix, the great poetic image of renascence, 

fascinated the old poets). For a revival 

in art or literature, either renaissance or renascence 

will do, although renascence is preferred 

(Theodore Watts-Dunton, Poetry and 

the Renascence of Wonder). The Renaissance 

is the word to describe the activity, spirit, or 

time of the great revival of art, letters, and 

learning in Europe during the fourteenth, fifteenth, 

and sixteenth centuries, marking the 

transition from the medieval to the modern 

world (Walter Pater, The Renaissance), or the 

forms and treatments in art used during this 

period. 

rend. The past tense is rent. The participle is also 

rent. 

render; make. English and American authorities 

do not agree on permissible uses of render. The 

English will not accept render in the sense of 

cause to be (The blow rendered him helpless) 

but this meaning is standard in American usage. 

In the context of making a decision, render is 

felt, in American usage, to be somewhat more 

formal than make; ordinary people make decisions, 

judges render them when they deliver 

them officially as judgments. 

As a synonym for sing or play (Miss Bile 

will now render a charming lullaby of her own 

composition), render is stilted since it means 

more than these-to bring out the meaning of 

by performance, execution, or interpretation. 

Such highfalutin words, by promising much, 

place the performer at a disadvantage. 

render service. See service. 

rendezvous. The plural is rendezvous. 

rendition; performance. Rendition means primarily 

the act of rendering, the action of restoring, 

surrendering, yielding. In America, especially, 

it is used to mean the translation of a text 

(I will not omit mention of Calverley’s complete 

rendition of Theocritus) and performance, 

as of a role or a piece of music (The festivities 

were enlivened by the rendition of a few instrumental 

selections). British usage prefers rendering 

to rendition in the senses of translation and 

performance. 

Unless some unusual interpretation is attempted 

or accomplished, performance is definitely 

the word to be preferred as the term for 

singing or acting. Rendition implies the bringing 

out of a full or special meaning and while a 

good performance does this a bad performance 

does not and in either case the performer suffers 

from great claims being made for him. 

renown. See celebrity. 

rent. See hire; and rend. 

reoccurrence; recurrence. Reoccurrence, a coinage 

of the late nineteenth century and still, happily, 

exceedingly rare, is really no more than a 

blunder for recurrence, an established and useful 

word, euphonious and satisfactory. There is 

no need for the more awkward form and most 

dictionaries do not recognize its existence. 

repairable; reparable. Reparable is the genera1 

term to describe that which is capable of being 

repaired or remedied (The mistake is easily 

reparable). Repairable is preferred by authorities 

in England to describe material objects 

which are reparable (A survey is needed to determine 

to what extent the buildings damaged 

by bombs are repairable). In American usage, 

reparable is preferred in all circumstances. The 

negatives are irreparable and unrepairable. 

repartee. See answer. 

repast; collation; meal; banquet. Repast for meal 

is straining a little to be elegant and sumpruous 

repast and rich repast are journalistic cliches.

If a general term is wanted, meal is best and if 

a specific meal is referred to it is better to call 

it breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Collation is a very 

elegant word, now restricted to a very elegant 

light meal, and usually one served at some 

other time than a regular meal time. In the 

monasteries a collation was an unusually light 

meal permitted on days of general fast. It derives 

its name from the practice in the monasteries 

of reading the Collations, the lives of the 

Church Fathers, during such meals. A banquet 

is a ceremonious public dinner. In former times 

ceremonious public dinners were occasions for 

huge gormandizing and much prestige display 

of vast quantities of food, so that a banquet was 

a feast, far more sumptuous than a mere meal 

such as would be eaten at home. The fare at 

most banquets today, however, is inferior to 

what those who attend them would require of a 

good meal at home and the meaning of the 

word is shifting, emphasizing rather the ceremoniousness, 

the boredom, and the forced attendance. 

repeat; recapitulate; rehearse; reiterate; iterate. 

To repeat is to do or say something over again 

(If you will only repeat the order. He repeated 

the gesture with an air of defiance). It is the 

common, everyday working word. 

Recapitulate is a formal word, designating 

the exact naming of points that have been made 

before, the summing up of the principal heads 

of a previous discussion (When they met, Sir 

William began by recapitulating what had been 

said at the last meeting). 

Though the primary meaning of rehearse is 

now to recite or act a play or a part in private 

by way of practice before a public performance, 

its basic meaning was to repeat, and this meaning 

is still to be met with in literature and, 

occasionally, in speech. When, for example, it 

is said in Judges that the governors of Israel 

shall rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, 

it is plain that the common modern meaning 

could not pertain. 

To reiterate is to do-or especially to saysomething 

repeatedly over and over again (He 

reiteraled his complaints until the company was 

moved from pity to boredom. He reiterated his 

visits to the flagon so often that at length his 

senses were overpowered). Iterate means to 

repeat over and over, but reiterate (which would 

seem a redundancy except that it describes a 

redundancy) has replaced it and iterate is now 

solely literary. 

repeat the same is redundant. Repetition is the 

recurrence of the same thing. To say He repeats 

the same stories over and over is to be doubly 

redundant, though it may be argued that the 

redundance of the complaint merely echoes, for 

effect, the redundance of its provocation. 

repel; repulse. To repel is to drive or force back, 

to excite feelings of distaste or aversion (This 

insolence shall be repelled, and quickly. The 

company, which had come to admire, found 

themselves repelled by the poet’s insuflerable 

egotism). To repulse is to drive back or repel 

4119 repetition 

in a stronger sense, to reject (The artack was 

repulsed with heavy loss of life. She repulsed 

every suitor who proposed marriage). 

Repulse is sometimes used as if it were a 

back formation from repulsive. But this is an 

error. One who feels repulsion is repelled not 

repulsed. 

repellent and repulsive both mean causing aversion. 

Repellent is the milder term. It means distasteful 

(I found his effusiveness repellent). 

Repulsive indicates that a much stronger aversion 

has been caused, that the person or thing 

alluded to is grossly or coarsely offensive to 

one’s taste or feelings and is regarded with the 

strongest aversion and disgust (Burns’s world 

of Scotch drink, Scotch religion, and Scotch 

manners, is often a harsh, a sordid, a repulsive 

world). 

Repellent is sometimes used in America as a 

shortening of water-repellent in the advertising 

of certain outer garments which are not waterproof 

but will withstand a light drizzle. This is 

linguistically sound but psychologically unfortunate 

since it is certain to evoke the more 

common meaning of the word. 

repent and regret are not synonyms. One regrets 

that of which one repents, but one does not 

always repent of that which one regrets. 

That action is regretted which is looked back 

on with sorrow or grief or causes mental distress 

and makes us wish that we had not committed 

it. But bad men often suffer such feelings when 

they have inadvertently done good or have 

neglected an opportunity to do ill. If one repents 

he feels sorrow for some bad action. He feels 

regret but in addition contrition, compunction, 

a desire to amend his ways and to make amends 

to those who may have been injured by his 

action. 

One regrets something. One repents for or oj 

something. See also regret; be sorry. 

repertoire; repertory. Both of these words may be 

used to describe the list of dramas, operas, parts 

or pieces which a company, actor, singer, or the 

like, is prepared to perform (She had a large 

repertoire of folk songs). Repertoire is the preferred 

term. Repertory alone may be used to 

describe a type of theatrical producing organization 

wherein one company prepares several 

plays or operas and produces them alternately 

(Most good young actors learn their profession 

in repertory). It is also the word for a store or 

stock of things available, a storehouse. The 

adjective is repertory (Shakespeare’s wus a repertory 

company). 

repetition. The recurrence of a word or even of 

a sound in a sentence or a paragraph can be 

annoying to the reader and a careful writer will 

avoid this fault where such a recurrence is not 

essential to the expression of his thought or 

where the avoidance of it is not too obvious. 

Of the two faults, the obvious avoidance of 

repetition is probably greater and more wide 

spread than repetition. It accounts for a great 

deal of that sort of writing (of which Mr. 

Charles Morton of the Atlantic Monthly has

made such a delightful and instructive collection) 

which having once mentioned a banana 

refers to it on the next occasion as “an elongated 

yellow fruit.” For some reason-possibly because 

it’s a fault which teachers find easy to 

identify-grade- and high-school pupils are 

taught that repetition is one of the gravest of 

all faults in writing and that no expression can 

be too stilted, pompous, polysyllabic or ludicrous 

so long as it enables one to avoid using 

a word twice in the same sentence. The writing 

of Thomas Wolfe should serve as a pleasant 

corrective to this illusion. 

replace and supplant both refer to putting one 

thing or person in the place of another, but they 

convey different senses. Replace means to take 

the place of, to succeed (John was elected to 

replace Joe on the board when Joe was made 

general director). Replace may also mean to 

restore, to return (Please replace all divots). 

Supplant implies that that which takes the 

other’s place has ousted the former holder, and 

usurped the position or function, especially by 

art or fraud (Jacob supplanted his brother, 

Esau). 

replete means abundantly supplied or provided 

(His lectures were replete with vivid illustrations 

and witty asides), stuffed or gorged with 

food and drink (After such a feast who would 

not be replete?). Replete does not mean complete 

or furnished with, for neither of these 

terms conveys the sense of filled to ovirflowing. 

It would be inaccurate, for example, to describe 

a tool chest as replete with the latest equipment 

unless it was not only adequate and complete 

but also crowded. 

replica; copy. Strictly speaking, a replica is a copy 

or reproduction of a work of art by the maker 

of the original (Some authorities prefer his 

replicas to his originals). A replica differs from 

a copy in that it is held to have the same right 

as the first made to be considered an original 

work. Authorities in England reject, while advanced 

American authorities accept, replica in 

the loose sense of a copy or reproductidn (The 

reulica of Gainsborounh’s Blue BOY. done bv a 

local craftsman in b& of coloreh’ glass, was 

much admired). The careful writer, nonetheless, 

will prefer copy in such contexts. 

reply. See auswer. 

report. When used in an active form, report may 

be followed by a clause, as in he reports he has 

seen her, or by the -ing form of a verb, as in 

he reports seeing her. When report is used in a 

passive form it may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he is reported to have seen her. 

repress. See check. 

reprisal. See retaliation. 

repudiate. See deny. 

repulse. See repel. 

repulsive. See repellent. 

reputation. See character. 

reputed; reported. That is reputed which is accounted 

or commonly supposed to be such, 

so held in general estimation or opinion (The 

reputed owner of the place is a respectable 

suburbanite). That is reported which is communicated. 

But reputed implies an evaluation, 

estimate or opinion; whereas reported is merely 

communicated. The reputed owner may, of 

course, be reported as the owner; but that is 

not the same thing, for an admitted owner 

might also be reported as owner. 

requests. See imperative mode. 

require. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in I require him lo help me, or by a 

that clause with the clause verb a subjunctive or 

a subjunctive equivalent, as in I require that he 

help me. The -ing form of a verb following require 

always has a passive meaning, as in he 

requires helping. See demand. 

required; compulsory; prescribed. In American 

schools and college-s those courses which are 

obligatory are called required courses (One year 

of English composition is required in nearly all 

our colleges). In England the equivalent term is 

compulsory or prescribed (To the amazement of 

his tutor, he finished the prescribed reading for 

the degree in a year). 

requirement; requisite. A requirement is something 

demanded of a person in accordance with 

certain fixed regulations (A knowledge of Latin 

is no longer a requirement for entering the slate 

university) or something demanded by a person 

as essential to the accomplishment of some task 

(His first requirement was a long piece of 

copper wire. The army regards discipline as a 

fundamental requirement). A requisite is something 

required by the nature of the case, some 

factor which is judged necessary under the circumstance-s 

(The knave is handsome, young, 

and hath all those requisites in him that folly 

and green minds look after). (For requisite as 

an adjective, see necessary.) 

re-search; research. Re-search, usable as noun 

and verb, means to search again, explore something 

already explored (I have searched rhe 

attic thoroughly but will re-search i! if you 

insist on it). Research, used chiefly as a noun, 

means diligent and systematic inquiry or investigation 

into a subject in order to discover 

facts or principles (Research into causes of the 

common cold has so far been remarkably unfruitful). 

Research has become very popular in the 

United States since the outbreak of World War 

II. As Henry D. Smyth has observed, the idea 

that the object of research is new knowledge 

does not seem to be widely understood and “a 

schoolboy looking up the meaning of a word 

in the dictionary is now said to be doing 

research.” Indeed, it has been debased even 

further. Research is frequently used to describe 

reading by those to whom reading, apparently. 

is a recherchC activity, and for many a graduate 

student it is a euphemism for wholesale plagiarism. 

The word needs a rest or at least less 

promiscuous handling. 

resent may be followed by the -ing form of a verb, 

as in I resent being told that, but not by an 

infinitive. I resent to be told thai is unacceptable. 

Resent may also be followed by a that

daw, as in I resent that he is here, but the 

-ing construction, as in I resent his being here 

is preferred. 

reside; live; dwell. Live is the word to describe 

the act of occupying a permanent home (There 

was a jolly miller/ And he lived by the Dee). 

Dwell is old-fashioned (the father of such as 

dwell in tents), journalese (Mrs. Merrywea,fher- 

Smythe is dwelling at the country club while 

her Larchwood home is being completely) redecorated), 

or poetic (I dreamt that I dwelt in 

marble hulls). Reside is pretentious, unless it 

describes the act of living in an important or 

pretentious residence (The governor resides at 

Albany) or is used, as of a quality, to mean to 

inhere or to be inherent in (There often resides 

a deep stubbornness in these quiet natures:). 

residence. The house in which one resides is 

legally one’s residence, regardless of its size 

or condition. Otherwise, however, resia’ence 

implies size and elegance of structure and surroundings 

(Blenheim Palace, the residence of 

the dukes of Marlborough). To use it as a 

synonym for house (Ah, here we are, my 

modest residence) is pretentious or forcedly 

humorous. See also house; home. 

residue. See balance. 

residuum. The plural is residua. 

resign may be followed by the -ing form of a 

verb with the preposition to, as in I have resigned 

myself to going, or by an infinitive, as 

in I have resigned myself to go. Both forms are 

acceptable in the United States but the -ing 


resignation. See patience. 

resin; rosin. Resin is the general name to describe 

any of a class of nonvolatile, solid or semisolid 

organic substances, such as copal and mastic, 

obtained directIy from certain plants as exudations 

or derived from various products by 

special processes, and used in such things as 

medicine and varnish. Resin properly describes 

a substance in its natural state. Rosin, on the 

other hand, describes the result of a process. 

It is the hard brittle resin left after distilling off 

the oil of turpentine from the crude oleoresin 

of the pine, used in making varnish, for rubbing 

on violin bows, billiard cue tips, the canvas floor 

of boxing rings, and the like. 

resist may be followed by the -ing form of a 

verb, as in he resisted going. It is also lheard 

with the infinitive, as in he resisted to go, but 

this is not standard. 

resolve. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he resolved to go. If the -ing form of 

a verb is used it must be introduced by the 

preposition on, as in he resolved on going. The 

two forms are equally acceptable and th’ere is 

no difference in meaning between them. See 

decide. 

resolve; resolution. These nouns are distinguishable. 

A resolve is a conclusion, a determination 

made, as to follow some course of action 

(That’s an admirable resolve; I hope you’ll 

stick to it). In certain contexts resolution is used 

in the same sense, as in a New Year’s resolu- 

421 responsible 

iion. Primarily, however, resolution means a 

formal determination or expression of opinion 

of a deliberative assembly or other body of 

persons (Resolutions as used in the practice of 

the Ohio General Assembly are of two kinds: 

House or Senate and Joint Resolution). Resolution 

also means a solution or explanation, as 

of a problem or a doubtful point, and is to be 

preferred to resolve as the word for the mental 

state or quality of being resolved, resolute, and 

firm of purpose. 

resort; resource. See recourse. 

respectable; respectful. Respectable means worthy 

of respect or esteem, estimable, worthy (No 

respectable girl would associate with a man of 

his reputation), of good social standing and 

reputation (Her main consideration in renting 

was to find a respectable neighborhood), pertaining 

to or appropriate to such standing (He 

had a quite respectable command of French). 

It also means of moderate excellence, fairly 

good (Though he was not brilliant, his lecture 

was a respectable performance). Respectful, a 

word with fewer uses, means full of, characterized 

by, or showing respect (His very look drew 

respectful attention from the company). 

respective; respectively. The use of respective 

and respectively can become a habit in speech. 

It is one to be on the lookout for and to check 

in time. 

Respective is an adjective which means pertaining 

individually or severally to each of a 

number of persons or things. Respectively is an 

adverb formed on this adjective. In certain 

situations the words are desirable, even necessary, 

as in Kit and Nick were given a pistol and 

a teddy bear respectively. Here we must be 

informed that it was Kit who got the pistol 

and Nick who got the teddy bear. Without 

“respectively” either one might have received 

either gift or each might have received two 

gifts. There are many circumstances, however, 

under which respective and respectively are unnecessary. 

For instance, respective is not needed 

in the statement He gave each organization its 

respective share of the total collection. It would 

be just as effective to say He gave each organization 

its share of the total collection. If the 

shares were of different amounts and he saw to 

it that each organization received the amount 

it was entitled to (and that is often the sort 

of idea that is intended to be conveyed by 

respective in such contexts), the correct word 

would be proper or due or agreed or something 

like that. Even where respective and respectively 

are used correctly they might be omitted and 

the sentence rewritten more concisely and 

clearly (Kit was given a pistol, Nick a teddy 

bear). 

response. See answer. 

responsible. British authorities insist that responsible 

be restricted to human beings. American 

and English usage alike consider as basic senses 

of responsible: answerable or accountable, as 

for something within one’s power or control or 

management-followed by to or for (The

usiness manager is responsible to the trustees 

for all the financial affairs of the university); 

involving accountability or responsibility (He 

held a responsible position). Only American 

usage permits responsible in the much looser 

sense of the cause of, chargeable with being the 

author of, the cause or occasion of something 

-followed by for (Heavy rains were responsible 

for the deplorable condition of the country 

roads). 

rest. This verb may be followed by an adjective 

describing what rests, as in you must rest 

content. Jt. may also be followed by an adverb 

describing the resting, as in rest quietly. There 

is often no difference in meaning between the 

two constructions. 

rest (in the sense of remainder). See balance. 

rest upon one’s laurels. Whoever first thought 

of a triumphant victor taking off his laurel 

wreath and making a mattress of it had a happy 

figure of speech to describe those who, having 

once accomplished something notable, have 

since given up all exertion and live solely on 

their reputations. But the expression is now 

worn out. 

restive; restless, Restive means impatient of 

control, restraint, or delay, refractory, refusing 

to go forward, as a horse (He became restive 

under the harsh discipline of the lieutenant). 

Yet the word impatient connotes restlessness, 

and perhaps one can only say that restiveness 

is restlessness traceable to certain causes, such 

as restraint. Restless is a general term meaning 

characterized by or showing inability to remain 

at rest. A sick man might be restless with fever. 

He would be restive at the restrictions imposed 

on him by his physician, particularly as he 

grew well and found the restrictions increasingly 

annoying. 

restrain. See check, constrain. 

restrictive clauses. A defining clause that is essential 

to the meaning of a statement, such as Z 

told you about in the man Z told you about is 

here now, is called a restrictive clause. Clauses 

of this kind must not be separated from the 

noun they qualify by a comma or any other 

form of punctuation. (For the use of that or 

which in a defining clause, see that; which.) 

resume; continue. Continue is the more inclusive 

term. It means either to go on with a course of 

action (We will continue with our experiments 

until we find a solution) or to go on after a 

suspension or interruption (Zf you have had 

enough rest, we will continue with the lesson). 

Resume may be substituted for the second of 

these two senses of continue (After a brief stop, 

he resumed his ride). Indeed, because it is 

specific, it is usually preferable to continue in 

this sense. 

resume; r&urn& Resume is a verb, meaning to 

take up or go on with again after an interruption 

(The debate was resumed as soon as 

the guards had ejected the heckler). 

RCsumC is taken from a French noun formed 

on the past participle of rbumer. It means a 

summary, a summing up, that which has been 

422 

taken up again (In his notebooks he wrote 

r&urn& of the various arguments). 

retaliation; reprisal. Both of these words mean 

the return of like for like, the repayment of 

injury in kind, “an eye for an eye and a tooth 

for a tooth,” so that the injury done back 

tallies exactly with that done. 

Reprisal is the more ferocious term. It 

describes the infliction of similar or severer 

injury on the enemy in warfare, in retaliation 

for some injury, as by the punishment or execution 

of hostages or prisoners (Zn reprisal for 

the murder of a German soldier, the Germans 

wiped out one whole French town). Retaliation 

has milder connotations and is used in other 

circumstances (In retaliation for inconsiderate 

treatment by certain English people when he 

was a boy, he was, as an editor, consistently 

anti-British and his infiuence was tremendous). 

reticent; secretive; taciturn; laconic. One is reticent 

who is disposed to be silent, who has an 

inclination to keep his own counsel, is reserved, 

not inclined to speak freely (Like most tightfisted 

men, he was exceedingly reticent about 

his will). It may describe habitual behavior or 

special behavior on a particular occasion (That 

evening he was surprisingly reticent about his 

war experiences). 

Secretive means extremely reticent, having a 

disposition to secrecy. It is a stronger word than 

reticent and carries a slightly pejorative connotation. 

Reticence is often admirable; secrecy 

suggests furtiveness and implies there is something 

improper to be hidden (These secretive 

natures delight in trifling stratagems). 

Taciturn describes one who is habitually 

inclined to silence, reserved in speech, reticent 

in an uncheerful manner (The rural New 

Englander is reputed to be taciturn). Laconic, 

unlike taciturn, is a rather laudatory term. It 

means using few words, expressing much in a 

few words, being concise (His political opponents 

considered Coolidge taciturn; his friends 

praised him for being laconic). Laconic and 

taciturn are often point-of-view words, the 

choice often revealing more about the writer 

or speaker than about the one written or spoken 

about. 

retire is now a little over-elegant and slightly 

affected when used to mean to go to bed. To 

retire is, strictly, to withdraw. And one retires 

from something or to something. The continuance 

of its use in America may have been due 

to prudery, for when legs were referred to as 

“limbs” the word bed was unmentionable. 

Charles Dickens on his first American visit 

had considerable trouble with two Misses 

Smith who were singing in an operetta of his, 

The Village Coquettes. They objected to the 

“immodesty” of certain lines and definitely 

refused to sing one quatrain: 

A winter‘s night has its delight, 

Well-warmed to bed they go: 

A winter’s day we’re blithe and gay, 

Snipe-shooting in the snow.

They were “horrified,” Dickens wrote, “at the 

bare notion of anyone going to bed.” So for 

the objectionable line he substituted: 

Around old stories go. 

But all has changed. In literature, at least, 

the bed is now the most frequently mentioned 

of all articles of furniture and we may go there 

without shame or circumlocution. 

retort. See answer. 

retort courteous. Touchstone in As You Like It 

(V, iv) names for Jaques the “degrees of the 

lie,” the steps by which timid gallants who 

would seem, for honor’s sake, to be quarrelsome 

might bluster and threaten without finally 

reaching the dreadful point at which they would 

have to draw their swords. The degrees werie the 

Retort Courteous, the Quip Modest, the Reply 

Churlish, the Reproof Valiant, the Countercheck 

Quarrelsome, the Lie with Circumstance 

and, finally, the Lie Direct which, if not prefaced 

with a saving “if,” required a man to 

demand satisfaction. It is all very delightful 

and witty, but it is best to let Shakespeare and 

Touchstone have full credit for any part of it. 

Used by itself, the retort courteous is now 

hackneyed. 

retraction; retractation. In America the nsual 

word to describe the withdrawal of a promise, 

statement, or opinion is retraction (It was embarrassing 

to order the retraction of a commitment 

which should never have been made). In 

England the word is retract&ion (There are 

perhaps no contracts or engagements of which 

one can venture to say that there ought to be 

no liberty whatever of retractution). 

retreat; retire; withdraw. Retreat describes especially 

the act of drawing back in military 

operations (They had to retreat all the way 

from Moscow to the Prussian border). filetire 

may mean to draw away, as from battle or 

danger (The Mexicans retired and regrouped 

for a fresh attack), but it is more commonly 

a civilian term to describe withdrawal from 

office, business, or active life (Most men hope 

to be able to afford to retire at sixty-five). Withdraw, 

aside from its literal senses, means lto go 

apart or away, especially after a formal or 

ceremonial visit (He withdrew from the royal 

presence). It is also the term in parliamentary 

procedure for removing a motion or an amendment 

from consideration (I withdraw my 

motion). 

retrieve from its specific hunting sense of to 

search for and fetch wounded game (of dogs), 

has come to mean generally to recover or 

regain, especially to bring back to a farmer 

state of well-being or prosperity (The war gave 

him an opportunity to retrieve the family 

fortunes). Except in this last sense, however, or 

in the rare instances where it avoids ambiguity 

(such as retrieving an umbrella, where recovering 

would be open to another interpretation), 

retrieve is usually just a fancy word for s.aying 

what recover, find, get, or restore might express 

better. 

423 reverence 

retrospection. See hindsight. 

reveal. See disclose. 

revelation; disclosure. A disclosure is a making 

known, a revealing, an exhibition. It is a neutral 

word. The making known may be timely or 

untimely, advantageous or disadvantageous, 

honorable or shameful or neither one nor the 

other (The disclosure of the stores of Greek 

literature had wrought the revolution of the 

Renaissance. An unseasonable disclosure of 

flashes of wit may do a man much harm. His 

reputation did not long survive these disclosures). 

A revelation is a striking disclosure, 

as of something not before realized. It is 

especially applied to the disclosure of great 

truths F{ divine or other supernatural means 

(When God declares any truth to us, this is a 

revelation. ‘Tis Revelation satisfies all doubts/ 

Explains all mysteries except her own,/ And so 

illuminates the path of life). Literally the word 

means an unveiling and its use in such sentences 

as The revelation of her beauty left him speechless 

is not improper, but because of the strong 

theological connotations of revelation it is usually 

better to use disclosure in most contexts. 

Revelation(s). Strictly speaking, the last book of 

the New Testament is Revelation. The Authorized 

or King James Version of the Bible calls 

it The Revelation of St. John the Divine. The 

Revised Standard Version calls it The Revelation 

to John. Revelations, however, is so widely 

used and has been used by so many distinguished 

scholars for so long that it may as 

well be accepted, at least in speech. The 

Revelations (a confusion of the correct The 

Revelation with the colloquial Revelations) is 

unacceptable. 

revenge. See avenge. 

reverence; revere; worship; venerate; adore. 

Reverence, when used as a verb, means to 

manifest a feeling or attitude of deep respect 

tinged with awe (In prayer the soul reverences 

the majesty of God). Venerate connotes a little 

less awe, full respect but less fear (We should 

venerate those who have become old without 

becoming selfish or peevish, who, knowing 

much, still have faith in and respect for their 

fellow men). Revere also suggests less awe than 

reverence (We often laugh in public at what we 

revere in private). 

To worship is to pay homage to a deity by 

outward forms, usually in places established or 

recognized by custom for that sole purpose (A 

man of Ethiopia . . . had come to Jerusalem for 

to worship-Acts). To adore is to pay divine 

honors to, to pay homage to a deity. It is usually 

an internal act or experience, not necessarily 

connected with any specific place or expressed in 

any prescribed form or manner. When applied to 

anything but a god, worship and adore are plainly 

hvuerbolical. _- -though 

even in the Bible worship 

is used to designate extreme deference to men 

(As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him 

and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him 

-Acts 10:25). Worship has been greatly 

weakened by this hyperbolical use, so that it

everend 424 

often means no more than “be fond of” (For 

I loved that cook as a brother, I did,/ And the 

cook he worshipped me) and adore, once one 

of the sublimest words in the language, is, as a 

pale synonym for like, a staple of school-girl 

gabble (Oh, Z adore fudge sundaes!). 

reverend is a title of respect given to clergymen. 

In the seventeenth century it was used as we 

now use doctor and professor. That is, it was 

used without the article the and could stand 

immediately before a surname, as in Reverend 

Calvin. It could also be used with other titles, 

as in Reverend Bishop Hooper. Today in Great 

Britain, Reverend is used as we use Honorable. 

That is. the article the is required and the title 

cannot stand immediately before a surname. 

Either the given name or initials must be used, 

or some title of respect must take their place, 

as in the Reverend Edward Pusey or the 

Reverend Mr. Pusey. 

Both of these forms are standard in the 

United States todav. The older form. in which 

the word is treated like the word professor, is 

preferred in the evangelical churches and 

wherever the New England influence is dominant. 

Where the contemporary British form is 

followed, the article the is sometimes omitted 

when the title is abbreviated, as in Rev. George 

Ellison. 

People who feel that the article the is required 

before Reverend cannot use the title as 

a form of address. But other people do use the 

title with a proper name in speaking to a 

clergyman, as in good morning Reverend 

Ellison. To use the title Reverend without a 

proper name is generally considered undignified. 

But it is so used occasionally by welleducated 

people, as in those who had not 

atained to military honors were either doctors, 

professors, or reverends and we are not so 

meddlesome as you reverends are. 

Reverence, as an ecclesiastical title used in 

mentioning or addressing a clergyman, is preceded 

by your or his (His Reverence will not 

appear today. Your Reverence does me great 

honor in consenting to visit me). Such locutions 

are seldom used in America. 

reverend; reverent. Reverend means deserving 

reverence, worthy to be revered (Reverend 

fathers, the respect due to your age and 

authority . . .). Reverent means feeling, exhibiting, 

or characterized by reverence. Reverend 

is usually applied to the clergy. Reverent 

has more general application (He was a reverent 

student of nature). 

reversal and reversion refer to the act of turning 

something the reverse way. Reversal designates 

the act of reversing or an instance of reversing 

(This was a reversal of his previous position on 

the subject) or the state of being reversed (The 

demotion was a reversal in his career). In law 

a reversal is the revocation of a lower court’s 

decision by an appellate court. 

Reversion is perhaps best known as a legal 

term, to describe the returning of an estate to 

the grantor or his heirs after the interest 

granted expires, or an estate which so returns 

or the right of succeeding to an estate. It is also 

a term in biology to denote the reappearance 

of ancestral characters that have been absent 

in intervening generations, an atavism or return 

to an earlier or primitive type (Evolution ever 

climbing after some ideal good,/ And Reversion 

ever dragging Evolution in the mud- 

Tennyson). Reversion may also be used in such 

general senses as the act of turning something 

the reverse way or the state of being so turned. 

In these senses it is synonymous with reversal, 

though reversal is to be preferred. It has the 

distinctive general sense of the act of reverting, 

the returning to a former practice, belief, condition 

(The acceptance of Fort’s assumptions 

constitutes a reversion to the Dark Ages). 

reverse. See contrary. 

review and revue both derive from a French 

word meaning to see again. 

Of the two, review is used most frequently 

and in a variety of senses. It may describe a 

critical article or report, as in a periodical, on 

some literary work, commonly some work of 

recent appearance (He wrote perceptive reviews 

for a well known periodical); a periodical publication 

containing articles on current events or 

affairs, books, art (The Quarterly Review and 

the Edinburgh Review dictated public opinion 

in early nineteenth century Britain); a viewing 

again, a second or repeated view of something 

(I’d appreciate a review of the last step you 

demonstrated); the process of going over a 

subject again in study or recitation in order to 

fix it in the memory or to summarize the facts, 

or an exercise of this kind (I won’t have much 

time for a review before the examination); an 

inspection, or examination by viewing, especially 

a formal inspection of any military or 

naval force, parade, or the like (At Midshipman 

School there was a review every Saturday 

morning) ; a viewing of the past, contemplation 

or consideration of past events, circumstances, 

or facts (Toynbee has arrived at his philosophy 

of history after a review of historical events); 

a general survey of something, especially in 

words, a report or account of something (He 

gave a review of the experiences which led to 

his decision); a judicial reexamination, as by a 

higher court, of the decision or proceedings in 

a case (His decision in the County Court is, 

of course, subject to review). 

Though review may also describe a form of 

theatrical entertainment in which recent events, 

popular fads, etc., are parodied, or any group 

of skits, dances, and songs, the better word is 

revue (There are always a few revues on Broadway 

which are seen under unfortunate circumstances: 

the curtain is up). 

revolutionist; revolutionary. The English recognize 

only revolutionary and use it both as a 

noun and an adjective. Americans use revolutionary 

largely as an adjective meaning pertaining 

to, characterized by, or of the nature of a

evolution, or complete or marked change (He 

introduced revolutionary techniques irr the 

teaching of languages). It also means subversive 

to established procedure or principles 

(Dostoevsky was arrested on charges of having 

plotted revolutionary activity) and has the still 

further meaning, not often used in common 

speech or writing, of revolving (His eyes 

glittered as they followed the revolutionary 

course of the roulette wheel). 

Though revolutionary may be used in 

America as a noun to describe one who advocates 

or takes part in a revolution, the more 

common term is revolutionist. This term is 

almost always reserved, however, for those 

engaged in or advocating political revolutions 

in other countries (The Mexican revolutifonists 

were soon brought under control by the government 

forces). Those who advocate any such 

changes in America are most commonly 

referred to now as subversives, for any word 

deriving from the word revolution sugge:sts to 

Americans the American Revolutionary War 

and hence creates considerable moral confusion. 

See also radical. 

rhetoric in the United States still means primarily 

the art or science of the specially literary uses 

of language, in prose or verse, or the art of 

prose as opposed to verse. In England it is a 

disparaging term (Rhetoric is the harlot of the 

arts--Stanley Baldwin) meaning the ux of 

exaggeration or display, in an unfavorable 

sense. This meaning is known and employed in 

America, but it is a secondary meaning. 

rhinoceros. The plural is rhinoceroses or rhinoceros 

or rhinocerotes, but not rhinoceri. 

rhyme and rime may both be used as noum and 

verbs to describe agreement in terminal sounds 

of lines or verse, or of words. Of the two, rime 

is the older, but since the seventeenth century 

rhyme has been more common. Rime, however, 

has never dropped out of use (Coleridge, The 

Rime of the Ancient Mariner) and recently it 

has been used in the title of an important discussion 

of modem prosody (Karl Shapiro, An 

Essay on Rime). 

rhyme; rhythm. Rhythm is a pattern of recurrence. 

Rhyme is often an element in the rh,ythm 

of English poetry, but there can be rh,ythm 

without rhyme and there is often rhyme with 

imperfect or no perceptible rhythm. 

Rhyme means agreement in the terminal 

sounds of lines in verse, or of words (In the 

heroic couplet the rhymes are paired: “The 

hungry judges soon the sentence sign,/ And 

wretches hung that jurymen may dine”). It may 

also mean verse or poetry having such correspondence 

in the terminal sounds of the lines 

(Sometimes he expressed his thoughts in prose, 

at other times in rhyme) or a poem or a piece 

of verse having such correspondence I( The 

children were very fond of one particular 

nursery rhyme). 

Rhythm is a much broader term. It may be 

used of more types of literature and may be 

425 riches 

applied to forms of art other than verse. Basically 

it means movement or procedure with 

uniform recurrence of a beat, accent, or the 

like (In the human body there is rhythm in 

breathing, in the pulse, and in other subtler 

vital processes). It can describe any measured 

movement, as in dancing (A highly developed 

sense of rhythm is essential to a tennis player). 

In music, rhythm means the pattern of regular 

or irregular pulses caused by the occurrence of 

strong and weak melodic and harmonic beats 

(It was written in an ordinary 4/4 rhythm). In 

prosody, rhythm means metrical or rhythmical 

form, meter (The basic rhythm in English 

poetry is iambic; that is, an unstressed syllable 

is followed by a stressed syllable). In art. 

rhithm means- a proper relation aid interde: 

pendence of parts with reference to one another 

and to an artistic whole (The paintings of Piero 

della Francesca have rhythm, while the imita- 

tive work of Kenyon Cox does not). 

rich; wealthy; opulent; affluent. All of these 

words indicate abundance in possessions. Rich 

is the general word, a word having many senses 

in addition to the primary one (as a rich tone 

or a rich color or a rich dessert). Often rich 

carries the implication of newly acquired possession 

(Texas is not as full of rich oil men as the 

newsmagazines and television jokes assume). 

Wealthy suggests permanence, stability, and 

appropriate surroundings (The DuPonts are u 

powerful and wealthy family). Both rich and 

wealthy may apply to a person, a family, a 

society, or a nation. Opulent and afluent are 

largely applicable to persons. Opulent suggests 

display of luxuriousness, outward signs of being 

rich (Gatsby was opulent in his lavish villa, his 

yellow car, his pink suits). Afluent, now slightly 

archaic, connotes a handsome income and a 

free expenditure of resources. 

rich as Croesos, as. Croesus, king of Lydia (560 

-c.540 B.C.), was famed among the Greeks 

for almost incredible wealth. His name became 

a proverb for riches, but few who use the 

hackneyed simile have now any knowledge of 

him. 

rich beyond the dreams of avarice. When Dr. 

Johnson, bustling about in his capacity as an 

executor at the sale of Thrale’s brewery in 

1781, said We are not here to sell a parcel of 

boilers and vats, but the potenGaliry of growing 

rich beyond the dreams of avarice, he was quoting 

from The Gamester, a tragedy by Edward 

Moore ( 1753 j. Moore’s uhrase was imaginative 

. I 

and Johnson’s use of it ielicitous. But icis now 

exhausted by repetition and those who use it 

show neither imagination nor felicity. 

Richard Roe. See John Doe. 

riches was originally a singular word ending in 

an s sound, similar to finesse, and meant 

wealth. It is now treated as a plural, as in your 

riches are corrupted and your garments are 

moth-eaten, but there is no singular form a rich 

and 

_. 

the plural form cannot be used with a word 

implying number.

ickets 426 

rickets. This word is plural in form but is regu- 

1arlJi treated as a singular, as in rickets is not 

contagious and it affects the bones. We do not 

say rickets are or refer to the disease as them. 

The medical name for this disease is rachitis 

and a child who has rickets is said to be rachitic. 

The older English adjective rickety, which is 

derived from rickets, is now used chiefly of 

inanimate objects, such as chairs. 

rid. The past tense is rid or ridded. The participle 

is also rid or ridded. In the United States rid 

is the preferred form for the past tense and for 

the participle. In Great Britain ridded is preferred 

when the verb is active, as in we ridded 

the cellar of rats, and rid is preferred when the 

verb is passive, as in we are well rid of them. 

ridden. See ride. 

riddle; enigma; puzzle. These nouns all refer to 

something baffling or confusing which is to be 

solved. A puzzle is a question or problem intricate 

enough to be perplexing to the mind. It is 

sometimes a contrivance made purposely to test 

one’s ingenuity. It tends to refer to non-verbal 

problems. Though a great many of the puzzle 

games have to do with the construction of 

words, they are not much concerned with 

obscure meanings (His whole attitude is a 

puzzle to me. He spent his youth on jigsaw 

puzzles and his manhood on crossword puzzles). 

Possibly because of its close association with 

games, the word puzzle is not often used to 

designate a serious perplexity. An American 

would be more inclined, for example, to say 

that the disposition of radioactive waste materials 

was a problem than to say it was a 

puzzle. 

Riddle, on the other hand, applies to verbal 

problems. A riddle is an intentionally obscure 

statement or question, the meaning of or answer 

to which is to be arrived at only by guessing 

(Oedipus won his throne by solving the riddle 

of the Sphinx). The word has a connotation of 

children’s games that requires some care in its 

use, but it is still capable of carrying great 

weight and solemnity (Although a subtler 

Sphinx renew/ Riddles of death Thebes never 

knew). 

Enigma, originally meaning “riddle,” now 

refers to some baffling problem with connotations 

of mysteriousness (To many sincere 

persons the nature of the will of God is an 

enigma). 

ride. The past tense is rode. The participle is 

ridden. Rid was used as a past tense and as a 

participle in literary English well into the nineteenth 

century, but is no longer considered 

standard. 

Though Englishmen and Americans understand 

ride in roughly the same senses, ride 

seems to be used in more contexts in America 

than in England. For instance, when Americans 

speak of a boat ride, English speak of ercursions 

or outings. In England a trip on a train 

is a railway journey; in America it is a train 

ride. The American underworld has contributed 

the sinister expression to take for a ride to 

describe the process of luring an enemy into a 

car, killing him, and disposing of his remains 

in some unfrequented place. 

ridiculous. See funny. 

right; rightly. The form right may be used as an 

adjective, as in the right answer. Both forms 

may be used as adverbs to qualify a verb, as in 

he answered right. Only the form rightly is 

used in the sense of “properly” or “justifiably,” 

as in he rightly refused to answer; either form 

may be used in the sense of “correctly.” In any 

other sense, only the form right is used. 

Rightly cannot qualify an adjective or adverb. 

Right was used in this way, as in right glad, 

right soon, from the time of Chaucer until the 

close of the nineteenth century. In Great Britain 

this construction is now considered archaic. or 

Biblical, except in titles such as Right Reverind, 

Right Honorable. In the United States it is still 

natural English but has an old-fashioned tone. 

right away. See immediately. 

right of way is most commonly used in America 

to describe a common-law or statutory right to 

proceed ahead of another (If two vehicles are 

approaching an intersection at roughly the same 

time, the one to the right is said to have the 

right of way). In both England and America 

right of way describes a path or route which 

may lawfully be used, or the right of passage, 

as over another’s land (The claim of . the . oeoole . 

at the trailer camp to have a right of way 

through the woodlot infuriated him). A specifically 

American sense is that of the strip of land 

acquired for use by a railroad’s tracks, what 

in England is called the permanent way (Some 

of the most valuable western land was that immediately 

adjacent to a railroad right of way). 

By extension of this sense, right of way 

describes land covered by a public road or land 

over which a power line passes. 

rime. See rhyme. 

ring. The past tense is rang. The participle is 

rung. 

Rung was formerly used as a past tense, as in 

heaven rung with jubilee, but this is no longer 

standard. 

Ring may be followed by an adjective 

describing the sound, as in it rang hollow. It 

may also be followed by an adverb describing 

the ringing, as in it rang loudly. There is usually 

no difference in meaning between the two constructions. 

riot originally meant loose or wasteful living, debauchery 

(The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed 

today). To run riot meant to act without control 

or restraint (They run riot, would not be kept 

in bounds by their leaders). The term died out 

of general use in the nineteenth century except 

for letting one’s imagination run riot, and that 

is now a clich& 

riotous living. The Prodigal Son wasted his substance 

with riotous living. But though the expression 

may in 1611 have still retained some 

of its original vigor, as a description of extravagant 

and dissolute wantonness, it is now a clichC. 

riposte. See answer.

ise. The past tense is rose. The participle is risen. 

Rise may be followed by an adjective describing 

what rises, as in tire sun rose hot and he rose 

victorious. It may also be followed by an aIdverb 

describing me rising, as in he rose wearir’y. 

R&e means “cause to rise.” For the difference 

between these two verbs, see raise. See 

also arise. 

risen. See rise. 

risible. See funny. 

risk life and limb. As a term for being willing 

to take dangerous chances, risk life and hmb is 

a cliche, kept in use, as so many cliches are, 

by its alliteration. 

risky; risqu6. Risky is the general term, meaning 

attended with or involving risk, hazardous 

(Underwater demolition is a risky business). 

Risky may also mean daringly close to indelicacy 

or impropriety, running the risk of being 

indecorous. But risque’ is the preferable term 

for this limited sense (The natural habitat of 

the risque story is the bachelors’ smoker). The 

word has been so often used as a synonym for 

indecent that it has practically come to mean 

that. 

rive. The past tense is rived. The participle is 

riven or rived. Riven is the preferred form for 

the participle and the only form used immediately 

before a noun, as in my riven heart. 

river. The position of the word river in relation 

to the proper name differs in English and 

American usage. In England the word, whether 

capitalized or uncapitalized, precedes the proper 

name (The river Thames is a tidal river. 

William Browne wrote of the river Tavy). In 

America the word follows the proper name and 

is always capitalized (Liza crossed the Ohio 

River, clutching her child and leaping from one 

cake of ice to another, the bloodhounds in 

pursuit). 

roast. Though Hogarth immortalized the Roast 

Beef of Old England and English schoolchildren 

still sing songs in its honor, the term is now 

more current in America than in England where 

a piece of meat intended for roasting is now 

called a joint. In both England and America, 

roast is the verb to describe the proce:ss of 

making flesh or other food ready for eating by 

prolonged exposure to heat at or before a. fire. 

Only in America is roast much used in the 

figurative and slang sense of ridiculing or criticizing 

severely or mercilessly (They roasted 

him in Wyoming because of his Harvard accent). 

rob. See steal. 

rob; tobber; robbery. See thief; robber; burglar 

and steal; purloin; pilfer. 

rob Peter to pay Paul. As a term for incurring 

one debt in order to pay another or take something, 

usually money, that is needed for one 

thing and use it for another, robbing Pet’er to 

pay Paul is hackneyed. The phrase has been in 

use since 1400, but its origin is unknown. 

robe is a word more popular in America than in 

England, or at least there are more compounds 

based on it. For American lap robe the English 

427 

say carriage rug. Both Americans and English 

say dressing gown, but Americans, especially 

less elegant ones, say bathrobe. 

rock. In both England and America, rock means 

primarily a large mass of stone forming an 

eminence, cliff, or the like (The Rock of Gibraltar, 

the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, 

The Rock--Alcatraz). While in Emgland rock 

is taken more loosely to mean a large stone or 

boulder (Come one, come all! this rock shall 

fly/ From its firm base as soon as I!), in America 

it is taken more loosely still (colloquially) to 

mean a stone of any size, especially one used 

as a missile (The boys threw rocks through the 

window and then ran up the alley). 

rode. See ride. 

role. This word to describe the part or character 

which an actor presents in a play is best spelled 

role (without accent or italics). It is permissibly 

written r6le (with accent and italics), though in 

England, at least, this form is obsolescent. 

romance; romantic. Derived from a word describing 

the Romance languages, that is, any of the 

group of languages which have developed out 

of Latin, romance and romantic applied originally 

to popular medieval tales written in these 

languages, as distinct from more sober writings 

which would have been in Latin. These tales 

were full of wonders, crude violence and strong 

passions and romance acquired a permanent 

coloring from that fact. The Romantic Movement 

invited attention to wonder. When applied 

to love affairs, romance and romantic 

suggest a conception of love as involving wonder, 

strong passions, and extravagance. That 

romance is a synonym for love today is not 

without its significance. The use of romance as 

a verb (I wonder who’s romancing her now) is 

not standard. 

roof. The plural is roofs, not rooves. 

rooster; cock. Cock is the proper term for the 

male of any bird, especially of the gallinaceous 

kind. As a designation of the male of the domesticated 

breeds,commonly known as chickens, it 

is time-honored and dignified (My tale is of a 

cock and a hen. Before the cock crow, thou 

shalt deny me thrice. The cock’s shrill clarion, 

or the echoing horn,/ No more shall rouse them 

from their lowly bed). Rooster was substituted 

in America in a period of ridiculous prudery 

and while it is too well established in usage now 

to be dismissed as absurd or infantile, it is not 

a dignified word. The English still say cock. In 

fact, as H. Allen Smith observed, they “get 

slightly apoplectic when we say ‘rooster’ instead 

of ‘cock,’ insisting that a cock is no more giving 

to roosting than a hen.” 

Prudery moves on prurience as a snail in its 

own slime and leaves the trail of this slime over 

all that it touches. The gallant cock and the 

patient ass are forever banished from our speech 

and we have only the nursery equivalents of 

rooster and donkey. 

root of all evil. A reference to money as the root 

of all evil is a threadbare expression based on 

a misquotation of I Timothy, 6:10-The love

of money is the root of all evil. However, since 

money in itself has no value and it is only the 

desire for it that makes it function as a medium 

of exchange, the whole thing may be a quibble. 

rooves. See roof. 

rose. See rise. 

rosin. See resin. 

rostrum. The plural is rostrums or rostra. 

rotten. This is an old form of the participle rotted 

that is used now only as an adjective. We say 

the wood had rotted and was now rotten. There 

is a growing tendency to use rotted as the adjective 

also, in speaking about desirable forms of 

decay, such as rotted leaves, and to reserve 

rotten for what is undesirable, whether it has 

decayed or not, as in rotten eggs and rotten 

politicians. 

roughneck; rowdy. American roughneck equals 

English rowdy. It is a slang term to describe a 

rough, coarse person. It may also suggest a 

tough (Don’t get mixed up with those roughnecks 

down at the poolroom, Jim.) 

round. See around. 

route should be used only in a literal sense, to 

describe a way or road for passage or travel 

(Route 66 is a famous American highway), a 

customary or regular line of passage or travel 

(The route led through the Cumberland Gap). 

Route is not to be used figuratively as a loose 

synonym for method, manner, or procedure 

(as in He uses every available route to achieve 

political power). 

rove; roven. See reeve. 

row, as a word for a noisy dispute or quarrel, was 

for a century or more a slang word, and is only 

just beginning to be accepted by the dictionaries 

as standard. That being so, it certainly should 

not be used in contexts where the seriousness 

of the dispute requires that it be treated with 

dignity. The frequent reference in headlines to 

boundary row or international row often has an 

offensive flippancy about it, though the word 

when so used is probably chosen more for its 

size than its connotations. 

royal. See kingly. 

ruby. See agate. 

rudimentary. See vestigial. 

ruination is derived from ruinate, a verb form in 

common use up until 1700. It describes the act 

of ruining, a state of being ruined, or something 

that ruins (That boy will be the ruination of 

me yet!). But it has a slightly humorous, rustic 

tinge, as though (like botheration) it were a 

facetious lengthening of ruin. It is not, but since 

there are very few non-humorous contexts in 

which ruin will not serve as well or better, it is 

a word to be avoided. 

rule the roost. As a term for being plainly the 

boss, especially at home, rule the roost is a 

clich6. The metaphor would seem to be drawn 

from the dominance of the cock over his hens, 

but there are those among the learned who 

insist that to rule the roost is a corruption of 

to rule the roast and their insistence is supported 

by the spelling roast in many old English 

uses of the expression. But the American form 

has always been roost and the more learned are 

of the opinion that this is the proper form and 

roast is the corruption. 

rumple. See crumble. 

run. The past tense is ran. The participle is run. 

Run was also used as a past tense in literary 

English well into the nineteenth century, but 

this is no longer standard. 

A verb following run that tells the purpose of 

the running may be a to-infinitive, as in he ran 

to open the door, or it may be joined to run with 

an and, as in he ran and opened the door. 

Under certain circumstances run may also be 

followed by the simple form of a verb without 

to or and, as in run help your grandmother and 

you can run get me a spoon. This construction 

is used chiefly in speaking to children. We don’t 

often tell adults to move fast. For this reason 

it is not found in literature as often as the similar 

construction with come and go. It must 

therefore be classed as a colloquialism. But it 

is used freely by the same people who say come 

look at it and go tell her and is standard in the 

United States. (For information on when this 

form may be used and when it may not, see 

come.) 

Run may be followed by an adjective describing 

what runs, as in still waters run deep and 

the course of true love never did run smooth. 


the running, as in run quickly. 

NII one’s head against a stone wall. As a figure 

for attempting the impossible, assailing an impregnable 

position, opposing forces which can 

defeat without effort our utmost effort, to run 

(or often to butt) one’s head against a stone 

wall is a hackneyed expression. 

rung. See ring. 

run-on sentences. Some textbooks on English 

grammar claim ( 1) that when two or more 

independent clauses are joined by a coordinating 

conjunction (and, or, nor, but, or for), a comma 

must be placed before the conjunction, as in 

knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers; and (2) 

that when one independent clause follows another 

without a conjunction, a comma is not 

sufficient punctuation and a semicolon must be 

used, as in I cannot rest from travel; I will drink 

life to the lees. 

Sentences which violate these rules, such as 

(1) I am old and day is ending and the wildering 

night comes on and (2) white in the muon 

the long road lies, the moon stands blank above, 

are called run-on sentences by those who accept 

the rule. 

But our best writers do not observe any such 

rule of thumb. They sometimes use one form 

of punctuation and sometimes another, depending 

upon which suits their purpose best. See 

commas and semicolon. 

NIIS may read, he who. The Lord instructed the 

prophet Habakkuk to Write the vision, and 

make it plain upon tables, that he may run that 

readeth it. Prophetic utterances are notably obscure 

but this would seem to be an injunction 

to record a certain vision so clearly that whoever 

reads and thus learns of it will be moved 

to run. Whether he will run out of fear or out

of zeal to accomplish some end suggested hy the 

vision is not certain. 

What is certain, however, is that the passage 

has been misread and misquoted for centuries 

as that he who runs may read. That is, it is 

commonly assumed that the injunction was to 

write so plainly that even a running man could 

read it. Francis Bacon so interprets it in his 

Advancement of Learning (. . . yet nt some 

time it pleaseth God, for our better establishment 

and the confuting of those which are as 

without God in the world, to write it in such 

text and Capital letters, that, as the Prophet 

saith, He that runneth may read it). And the 

pious Keble made the misreading the basis of 

one of his hymns (There is a boo&, who runs 

may read,/ Which heavenly truth impart.s). 

The corrupted form, used as an adjuration to 

write clearly and effectively, is now a cl&C. 

Sabbath; Sunday. The Sabbath, the day on which 

the Commandment bids us to abstain from 

work, is the seventh day of the Jewish week. 

Sunday, kept as a day of special worship and 

rest from business, is the first day of the week. 

The word Sabbath has been applied to Sunday 

by Protestant religious bodies (My father was 

a stern puritanical clergyman, who considered 

a smile on the Sabbath CO be a sin). This application 

should be restricted to the day as a day 

of religious observance. 

sabotage, though sometimes used in contexts 

where wreck, destroy, or damage would serve 

better, is definitely established as a word to 

describe malicious injury to work, machinery or 

tools, or any underhand interference with production 

or business, by enemy agents during 

wartime or by hostile employees (The continual 

breakdown of the new assembly lines suggested 

sabotage). Sabotage is a new word that has 

come in with the machine to describe a certain 

situation, attitude, and activity peculiar to the 

use of the machine, especially in mass production. 

It carries a suggestion of malevolence and 

secrecy that wreck and destroy do not necessarily 

have and it is nonsense to complain about 

it. Figuratively, sabotage describes any malicious 

attack or undermining of a cause (Certain 

Congressmen were quite successful in sabotaging 

the President’s civil rights program) and 

in figurative uses it is often abused. He ,who 

would use it correctly as a figure should be 

certain that the opposition he is describing is 

malicious and sly and that that which is wrecked 

has in some way the characteristics of a 

machine. 

sacred, sacrosanct. That is sacred which is appropriated 

or dedicated to a deity or to some reli- 

429 safe 

S 

msh. In this century of speed and violent haste, 

rush seems to be the normal verb of motion. 

It is greatly overworked. For instance, it is the 

rather imprecise term frequently used to describe 

carrying or conveying with haste (He was 

rushed CO the hospital), imprecise because rush 

properly implies the exercise of force, an exercise 

which is rarely necessary in getting the sick 

or injured to the hospital. 

In American slang rush means to heap attentions 

on. One rushes a girl by courting her 

favor with numerous and insistent attentions. 

College and high-school secret societies rush 

prospective members; that is, they cultivate 

them assiduously with the view of getting them 

to join their organizations. The slang expression 

the bum’s rush is a proper use of rush, for one 

treated to the bum’s rush is violently propelled 

from one place to another. 

gious purpose, entitled to veneration or religious 

respect because of its association with divinity 

or divine things, pertaining to or connected with 

religion as opposed to the secular and profane 

(He enjoyed both sacred and profane love). 

That is sacred which is reverently dedicated to 

some person or object (Sacred to the memory 

of our mother) or regarded with reverence (The 

sacred memory of George Washington) and 

hence secure against violation (The sacred rights 

embodied in the first Amendments CO the Constitution) 

. 

Sacrosanct means especially or superlatively 

sacred or inviolable. Its use is restricted to those 

things that are rendered particularly inviolable 

by religious sanction. That is, one may refer to 

our sacred political rights or our sacred heritage, 

and so on, but sacrosanct should be applied only 

to such highly sacred religious articles as the 

vessels used at the altar, the relics of a saint, 

or the person of an ecclesiastic. 

sacrilegious is the proper spelling of the adjective 

of sacrilege, the violation or profanation of anything 

held sacred. It is often misspelled sacreligious 

under the mistaken opinion, apparently, 

that the word religious is in it. But there is no 

such word as sacreligious. 

sadder and a wiser man. It was the luckless wedding 

guest in Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient 

Mariner who first rose the morrow morn 

. . . a sadder and a wiser man. The term is now 

a cliche of the jocular. 

safe and sane, especially when applied to a celebration 

of the Fourth of July unmarred by the 

use of dangerous explosives, is a peculiarly 

American term, and now a hackneyed one. 

safe and sound, as a term to describe persons 

(and sometimes, loosely, objects) which having

Sahara 430 

been lost have been found or returned secure 

and uninjured, is a cliche. 

Sahara Desert. It is true that the word desert is 

implicit in Suhara and that, therefore, the term 

Sahara Desert is redundant. But its use is only 

a venial sin. There is a strong tendency to reduplication 

in place names that are known in 

several languages. A hill or a river or a desert 

will be called simply hill, river, or desert in the 

original language. This word will then be taken 

by a new group that speaks another language 

to be the name of the particular hill, river, or 

desert and the new group’s word for hill, river, 

or desert added. In countries which have been 

overrun and settled by different groups each 

with its own language, as England, the process 

may be repeated several times. 

The Sahara is an immense tract of land which 

includes oases, mountains, and vast areas of 

wind-driven sand and desolate rocks. If by the 

term Sahara Desert it is intended to designate 

this last, to the exclusion of the oases and mountains, 

it might be better to say the desert regions 

of the Sahara. On the whole, though, it’s a fine 

distinction and Sahara Desert is no great fault. 

said. See say. 

sailer; sailor. Sailer describes a vessel propelled 

by sail or sails or a vessel with reference to its 

powers or manner of sailing (I can tell by that 

shiv’s lines that she is a fast sailer). A sailor is 

a seaman or mariner (He was a woebegone 

sailor when they haled him into court). As an 

adjective, sailor describes things pertaining to 

a sailor (lanice, wear your sailor hat today). 

Saint James. See Court of St. James and see King 

James Version (of the Bible). 

sake. When a word preceding sake ends in an s 

sound, an additional ‘s is not added to form the 

genitive, as in for conscience sake, for goodness 

sake, for righteousness sake. An apostrophe 

alone may be used, as in for conscience’ sake, 

but it is not required. When the preceding word 

is plural, the plural form sakes may be used. 

That is, we may say for our sake or for our 

sakes. 

The exclamations sakes! and sakes alive! are 

Americanisms and are considered unacceptable 

in Great Britain. But in the United States a generation 

ago, honored and beloved old ladies said 

sakes alive! In this country, therefore, the words 

have a certain charm and are considered oldfashioned 

rather than uneducated. 

salad days. When twitted by Charmian about her 

former love for Julius Caesar, Cleopatra (in 

Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra) excused 

herself by saying that those ardors took place 

in her salad days when she was green in judgment, 

cold in blood and were in no way comparable 

to the passion that she now felt for 

Antony. As a term for youth, especially naive 

and inexperienced youth, green and fresh, salad 

days is now wilted. 

salary. See honorarium. 

salon; saloon. Salon, as used in England and 

America, means pretty much what the same 

word means in French. It describes a drawing 

room or reception room in a large house; an 

assembly of guests in such a room especially 

when such an assembly consists of leaders in 

fashion, art, or politics; or a hall or place used 

for the exhibition of works of art. In America 

the word is used to describe beauty shops 

(Albert’s Beauty Salon). This term is not invariable 

in this use, however; shop, shoppe, and 

studio are more often employed. 

Saloon means a different thing to English and 

Americans. In America saloon designates a 

place for the sale of intoxicating liquors to be 

drunk on the premises. A man who runs such 

a place is a saloonkeeper. Introduced as a euphemism 

for bar or tavern, the word enjoyed 

a brief period of elegance and then, like so many 

euphemisms, sank into semi-disreputability. The 

word was strongly emphasized in temperance 

attacks (The Anti-Saloon League) and became 

so opprobrious that when prohibition was repealed 

in the United States, the liquor dealers, 

chastened and timid, chose to reopen their 

places of business under the older name of 

taverns. Tavern had once also been a disreputable 

name and saloon had been appropriated 

largely to cover tavern’s disrepute, but saloon 

had grown so much more disreputable that 

tavern (which had in the interim acquired a 

certain quaintness) seemed comparatively innocuous. 

In England the word saloon describes that 

part of a public house which has a higher social 

status, though more frequently one hears it 

designated as a saloon-bar. A man who runs 

a public house is a publican (not to be confused, 

as many English schoolchildren do, with 

the publicans referred to in the New Testament, 

who are tax collectors). Saloon retains in England 

some of the elegance it once had in America 

and is used to lend a touch of refinement 

(or to conceal the total lack of it) in billiard 

saloons, boxing saloons, and hairdressing saloons. 

The word is also used in England to 

describe that type of automobile which Americans 

call a sedan (He rode around in a Morris 

saloon). 

salt; salts. A chemist uses these words as a true 

singular and a true plural, respectively. He may 

speak of a salt or of three salts. But in the general 

vocabulary, both forms are mass nouns. 

The singular, salt, means table salt and cannot 

be used-with the article a. In this sense we speak 

of a saltcellar or a salt shaker. The plural, salts, 

means smelling salts or Epsom salts and cannot 

be used with a numeral. In this sense we speak 

of a salts bottle. 

salt of the earth. As a term for those who are 

essentially good, kind, modest and generous, 

the salt of the earth is now a cliche. Taken from 

Matthew 5: 13, where the meek, the poor in 

spirit, the merciful, and those persecuted for 

righteousness’ sake are assured that they are the 

salt of the earth, that which gives life its savor 

and preserves it from corruption, this great 

phrase has simply been exhausted by overuse. 

All it needs is rest. 

salt, take with a grain of. The idea is plain 

enough: salt makes food more palatable and a

grain of it will make some improbability more 

easy to “swallow.” To this extent, the recommendation 

that an account of some unlikely 

event be ruken with CI grain of salt is merely a 

hackneyed metaphor. But those who insist on 

being doubly dull, on being trite in a dead: laoguage, 

and say cum grano salis, have made a 

double exposure of their insufficiencies because 

the proper Latin phrase is uddiro salis gruno. 

And, what’s more, no one knows exactly what 

it means in its original context. Pliny (of all 

people to whom to trace back a metaphor advising 

skepticism!) says that when Pompey 

seized Mithridates’ palace he found the prescription 

for Mithridates’ famous antidote 

against poison, the last line of which read 1’0 be 

taken jading, plus a grain of suit. But these is 

no evidence that Pliny was tipping anyone the 

wink. Pliny never tipped a wink or took a grain 

of salt in his life. 

sahtary. See healthy. 

salvation; salvage. Salvage, the more specialized 

and technical term, describes the act of sa.viog 

a ship or its cargo from the perils of the sea, 

the property so saved, or compensation given to 

those who voluntarily save a ship or its cargo. 

By extension the word is used to describe: the 

saving of anything from fire, danger, etc., the 

property so saved, or the value or proceeds upon 

sale of goods recovered from a tie. (See also 

flotsam.) 

Salvation describes the act of saving or delivering 

(The salvation of troops at Dunkirk wus 

accomplished by the labors of the crews of 

hundreds of small bouts), the state of being 

saved or delivered, or the source, cause, or 

means of deliverance (The military band wus 

the salvation of many a soldier chafing under 

army discipline. The C.C.C. camps were the 

salvation of hundreds of thousands of boys during 

the depression years). Theologically, salvation 

means the delivery from the power and 

penalty of sin, redemption (Wherefore, my beloved, 

as ye have always obeyed, not as in my 

presence only, but now much more in my ubsence, 

work out your own salvation with fear 

and trembling). 

same may be used as an adjective or alone ;a.s a 

noun or pronoun. In present-day English the 

pronoun sume means “exactly similar,” as in 

I paid him five dollars and I will pay you the 

same. Formerly it could be used to mean the 

identical thing mentioned before, as in our munijold 

sins and wickedness . . . that we may 

obtain forgiveness of rhe same. This use of the 

word is now archaic and out of place in everyday 

speech. IO literary English same is always 

preceded by the article the (or by this or that). 

Sentences such as we are sending same today 

are not archaic, but unliterary businessese. 

Same means “identical with” and may refer 

to words that have preceded it or to words lthat 

are to follow. When the words follow and are 

less than a complete clause, that is, when they 

do not contain a true verb, they must be introduced 

by as, as in he gave fhe same answer us 

before. When what follows is a clause, it may 

431 SEUlCtity 

be introduced by rhut, as, when, where, or who, 

as in he gave the same answer that 1 did, the 

same unswer as I did, at rhe same time when I 

was, at the same place where I was, he is the 

same man who was here yesterday. That can be 

used in place of as, when, where, who, as in 

al the sume time that I was, he is the same man 

Ihal was here, and is preferred to these words. 

When it would have any function except subject 

of the verb, that may be omitted, as in at the 

sume rime I was, he is the same man I suw 

yesterday. 

Which is sometimes used to introduce a clause 

which explains the meaning of same, as in it 

has the same effect which good breeding has 

and the same relation to them which the others 

have. This is technically permissible, but it is 

unnatural English. 

sample. See example, section. 

sanatorium. See sanitarium. 

sanatory; sanitary. Sanarory means healing, cooducive 

to health, therapeutic (the sanorory arl, 

Fielding’s voyage to Lisbon was not, alas, the 

sunufory journey his friends had hoped it would 

be). Sanitary means pertaining to health or the 

conditions affecting health, with especial reference 

to cleanliness and precautions against disease 

(An electric dishwasher is more likely to 

leave dishes sanitary than u dishrag). Sanitary 

is often misused for sanutory. 

sanction has acquired a number of popular meaoings 

which are somewhat removed from its original 

meaning. The word is now commonly 

understood to mean authoritative permission, 

countenance or support given to an action, solemn 

ratification (Have you the sanction of rhe 

board of governors for this action? The military 

government refused to give its sanction fo 

fraternization between conquerors and conquered). 

It also means something serving to 

support an action, binding force given, or something 

which gives binding force, as to an oath, 

a rule of conduct (There is sanction for this in 

the Beatitudes). 

Sanction is used more strictly in law and 

international law. 10 law it means a provision of 

a law enacting a penalty for disobedience or a 

reward for obedience, or the penalty or reward 

so enacted. In international law it means action, 

short of war, usually a boycott, by one or more 

states toward another state calculated to force 

it to comply with legal obligations (The English 

and the French jailed fo apply sanctions to rhe 

Germans when they marched into the Rhineland. 

The cruel farce of the sanctions applied 

against Italy when she invaded Ethiopia was 

interpreted by the fascist nutions as an admission 

of weakness). 

sanctity of the home. 10 ancient Rome, where 

every paterfamilias was a priest and performed 

sacrifices within the house, where every house 

had its household gods and where ancestors 

were worshipped, the sanctity of the home was 

a real thing. But in crowded tenements, hotels 

and mass-produced suburbs among a migratory 

population, with the performance of religious 

observances restricted to a special class and

sanctum 43i2 

certain places, the term sanctity of the home 

has little significance. It is true that the right of 

search and entry is limited, in theory at least, 

by definite laws and the home remains in certain 

senses inviolable. But this privilege, certainly 

one of the most valuable that we have, is more 

safely protected in clear and specific terms. 

sanctum; sanctum sanctorum; den. A sanctum is 

properly a sacred or holy place. Sanctum sanctorum, 

“the holy of holies,” is a term of such 

awful reverence that nothing but habitude prevents 

its use from being blasphemous. The use 

of sanctum for a man’s study reflects the idea 

that, as head of the house, he is a god. Sanctum 

sanctorum is journalistic jocosity for the editor’s 

office. Neither term is now used seriously 

and repetition has long since drained the last 

molecule of humor out of both. Den, a more 

recent term for a room in the house presumably 

reserved for the male head and inviolate, reflects 

the thought that he is not a god but a beast. 

The ordinarv head of the house justifies neither 

assumption.- His room is far irom inviolate. 

And both names for it are flaccid clichks. 

sand; grit. As a figurative expression, sand is used 

chiefly in America to convey colloquially the 

idea of pluck or firmness of purpose (There 

don’t seem to be anybody around here that’s got 

the sand to take her away from Mr. Branford), 

an idea for which the equivalent British colloquial 

term is grit. In older American speech, 

still heard in country places, there was a fuller 

expression, to have sand in one’s craw, that 

meant the same thing (When Z got to camp . , . 

there wasn’t much sand in my craw-Huckleberry 

Finn). See also guts. 

sand; sands. These words mean exactly the same 

thing. Sand is grammatically singular and sands 

grammatically plural, but both are mass nouns. 

Sands does not mean any more of the stuff than 

sand does. It is simply a poetic form of the 

word. An hour glass contains sand, if it is used 

for boiling eggs, and children play in the sand, 

but we leave behind us footprints on the snnds 

of time. 

sang. See sing. 

sanguine. See optimistic. 

sanitarium; sanatorium. A sanitarium is an establishment 

for the treatment of invalids. It is 

primarily a hospital but usually has patients 

needing special treatment (He spent some time 

in a tuberculosis sanitarium at Saranac Lake). 

Sanatorium is often used interchangeably with 

sanitarium and this synonymity is recognized 

by most dictionaries. But those who direct and 

inhabit them insist there is a distinction, that a 

sanatorium is less of a hospital and more of a 

health resort, usually located in pleasant surroundings 

and intended more for persons needing 

rest and recuperation than for those needing 

medical treatment. 

The preferred plurals are sanitariums and 

sanatoriums, though sanitaria and sanatoria are 

permissible. 

sank. See sink. 

sarcasm. See humor. 

sarcastic; sardonic. A remark is surcustic that is 

derisive, sneering, bitterly ironic, taunting, gibing 

or cutting, and the adjective may be transferred 

to a look or a smile that is intended to 

convey the meaning of such a remark. Sardonic 

is often used as a synonym and the two words 

overlap in their meanings. Sardonic is more 

often restricted to a laugh or a smile which 

does not proceed from true gaiety but is forced, 

bitter, or derisive (the sardonic grin of a bloody 

rufian). See also humor. 

sarcoma. The plural is sarcomas or sarcomata, 

not sarcomae. 

sarcophagus. The plural is sarcophaguses or sarcophagi. 

sat. See sit. 

sateen; satin. Satin, originally describing a silk 

fabric, now describes a fabric made in a warp 

face satin weave, which produces a glossy surface. 

It is usually of rayon or silk, but sometimes 

cotton or linen. Sateen, a word formed 

on satin by association with velveteen, describes 

a cotton fabric woven in satin weave and resembling 

satin in gloss. 

satellite is properly an astronomical term for a 

small body which revolves around a planet, held 

in its position by the gravitational pull of the 

planet and deriving its light by reflection. The 

application of the word to an attendant upon a 

person of importance is a forced elegancy. Its 

application to the countries contiguous to Russia 

whose governments are merely puppet governments 

carrying out Russian policies is so apt 

and has become so established that it must be 

accepted as standard. 

satire. See humor. 

satiric; satirical; satyric. Satiric and satirical 

mean of, pertaining to, or of the nature of 

satire (He gave the little wealth he had/ To 

build a house for fools and mad;/ To show by 

one satiric touch/ No nation wanted it so much). 

Sutyric is a word used only by the learned 

and literary to describe one who is like a satyr, 

that is half-man and half-goat and lasciviously 

inclined. It is also used to describe a form of 

Greek drama having a burlesque character, the 

chorus representing satyrs. 

satisfied; convinced. He who is satisfied has had 

his desires, expectations, needs, or demands fulfilled 

and is content. He who is convinced has 

been persuaded by argument or proof that something 

which has been alleged is true. There is in 

the word, or in human nature, a suggestion of a 

reluctance to believe overcome. 

He who is convinced is satisfied with the 

validity and sufficiency of the proof or the 

soundness of the argument. But satisfied and 

convinced are not synonymous and there are 

many contexts in which the implications of 

satisfied are ludicrous when convinced is the 

proper word. Thus, reading in the newspaper, 

of a prominent citizen who had been found 

dead, that “Despite the doubts of the police, his 

family was satisfied that he had been murdered,” 

a wit observed “Well, they may have been; but 

convinced would certainly have sounded better.”

saturnalla. This word is a Latin plural and is still 

treated as a plural when speaking of the Roman 

feast, as in the Saturnalia were held on the 

seventeenth and eighteenth of December. When 

used to mean simply unrestrained license the 

word may still be treated as a plural, as in ,fhese 

saturnalia, but in the United States it is more 

often treated as a singular, as in this satur,nalia 

must stop. 

saucy. See impertinent. 

Saul among the prophets. Is Saul also among the 

prophets? is often asked, in humorous amazement, 

of one of dissolute life or reputation when 

he is mentioned in connection with some religious 

or nobly disinterested activity. The quotation 

is correct, but its application usually 

shows a misunderstanding of its meaning. The 

term prophet in the Old Testament includes 

many kinds of men, from the great ethical 

teachers such as Micah and Isaiah to crazed 

and violent figures little better than madmen; 

and prophesying includes actions as diverse as 

foretelling the future and making homicidal 

attacks. Saul, the great leader of Israel, was 

subject. to some form of seizures in the course 

of which he could be extremely violent and 

dangerous. Encountering a wandering company 

of prophets, one of his seizures came upon him 

and he “prophesied among them” (I Samuel 

lO:lO-13). But the context makes it plain that 

the question Is Saul also among the prophets? 

was not spoken so much in admiration of his 

unexpected holiness (as it is now used) as in 

consternation that so great a man should. be 

subject to these seizures. 

save. The word save is sometimes used to mean 

“except.” When this was natural English, save 

was followed by a subjective, not an objective, 

pronoun, as in then were they all slain save I 

and where nothing save the waves and I may 

hear. Today, save in this sense is sometimes followed 

by an objective pronoun, as in whom wilt 

thou find to love ignoble thee save me, save 

only me? But today this use of the word is so 

thoroughly artificial that it is meaningless to 

ask which form of the pronoun is preferred by 

the best writers and speakers. The word in this 

sense is unnatural English in any construction. 

saving grace. A grace is a virtue or excellence of 

divine origin. A saving grace is such a virtue of 

sufficient merit to effect a man’s salvation,, to 

redeem him from otherwise certain damnation. 

The use of the term to describe some minor 

virtue or, more often, charm in an otherwise 

bad or unpleasant person is a clichC. 

savings. When this word means money that has 

been set aside it is always followed by a plural 

verb. We say his savings are small, not is small. 

But it is a mass word and not a true plural. We 

cannot speak of /naily savings or few savings. 

When the word is not followed by a verb, it 

may be treated as a singular and we may speak 

of muck savings or little savings. In this sense 

of the word, savings keeps its s when used as 

the first element in a compound, as in a savitzgs 

hank, a savings account 

433 

saw. The past tense is sawed. The participle is 

sawed or sawn. Sawed is the preferred form for 

the participle in the United States. Sawn is preferred 

in Great Britain, as in he had sawn the 

wood. See also see. 

say. The past tense is said. The participle is also 

said. 

When say is used in a passive form it may be 

followed by an infinitive, as in he is said to leave 

early. When it has an active form it is followed 

by a clause, as in he says he leaves early. When 

what was said was a command, such as hurry 

or tell him to hurry, the clause verb is a subjunctive 

equivalent, as in he said we should 

hurry or he said I should tell you to hurry. 

These constructions are literary English. In the 

United States today an infinitive is often used 

in place of this subjunctive clause, as in he said 

to hurry, he said to tell you to hurry, he said for 

you to hurry. These constructions are condemned 

by some grammarians, especially the 

form using for you. But they can be heard in 

the speech of the best educated people and may 

well become the preferred forms. 

Say may be used in speaking of written material, 

as in the Bible says. This is literary English 

and has been since at least the year 1000. 

But the impersonal construction, such as it says 

in the paper, does not have the same standing. 

It is acceptable spoken English but in writing 

would ordinarily be changed to I read in the 

paper. 

Say is often used in the United States as an 

exclamation or to introduce a question, as in 

say, can this be right? Thirty or forty years ago 

this use of the word was objected to violently, 

on the grounds that “say as a form of address 

is an impertinence.” Since then, the Star Spangled 

Banner with its oh say, can you see has 

been declared the national anthem. The expression 

is now acceptable but is not used as much 

as formerly. It is not often seen in written 

material. In Great Britain Z say is used in much 

the same way. It is thoroughly acceptable in 

speech but is not often used in writing. 

There is a theory in literary English that he 

said is the correct form to use when only the 

substance of what was said is being reported 

but that “when the quotation purports to be 

exact, the order of verb and subject is often 

inverted,” as in said he. In written material an 

exact quotation is put between quotation marks 

but in the United States the form he said is generally 

preferred to said he, though either may 

be used in either situation. Among intelligent 

people, it is only necessary to say once that a 

speech is being reported. The constant repetition 

of said suggests that either the speaker or his 

audience does not have a very long attention 

span, except where it is used for humor, as in 

I’ll work on a new and original plan, said I to 

myself, said 1. The use of says for said, as in 

says I, is not standard. See also state. 

say the least, to. Introduced immediately before 

or after some condemnation (or, more rarely, 

commendation), as a way of saying that one

has been temperate where severity or superlative 

would have been justified, to say the least is a 

clichi. Since there is no virtue in being temperate 

in commendation, the phrase when used 

after some expression of praise is intended as 

a hyperbole, as a way of saying “No matter 

how effusive I have been in my praises I have 

been moderate and restrained compared to what 

might have been said.” 

SC. This is an abbreviation of the Latin word 

scilicet and means namely. 

scab; blackleg. The term for a workman who refuses 

to join or act with a labor union, who 

takes a striker’s place, or the like, is in the 

United States scab, in England blackleg. Both 

scab and blackleg may also be used as intransitive 

verbs, meaning to act as a scab or blackleg. 

scabrous, which properly means rough with minute 

points or projections, is a somewhat affected 

literary word when used to mean bordering on 

the indecent (These scabrous stories keep turning 

up; they’ve been attached to every great 

man for centuries). 

scales. In speaking of an apparatus for weighing, 

the singular scale originally meant one of the 

pans. The instrument itself, requiring two pans, 

was usually thought of as a plural, as in the 

scales are false, or called a pair of scales. Occasionally 

the instrument itself was called a scale, 

as in to tip the scale and long time in even scale 

the battle hung. 

Most scales today do not have pans. The instrument 

may be referred to as a scale (She 

gave me a scale at my shower) or with the 

plural form scales, as in the doctor’s scales are 

more accurate and he tipped the scales at two 

hundred. Instruments of this kind are not usually 

called a pair. The plural form scales may 

be treated as a singular, as in a bathroom scales, 

or may follow directly after a numeral, as in 

the grocer has three scales. 

The singular scale is preferred as the tirst 

element in a compound, such as scale tray and 

scale base. 

swan, in its original sense, meant and means to 

analyze verse as to its prosodic or metrical 

structure, to read or recite so as to test the 

metrical form (When one scans neoclassical 

poetry, he discovers that a great deal of it is 

written in iambic pentameter). The broader 

sense is to examine minutely, to scrutinize (A 

careful scholar will scan his proofs for printer’s 

errors). Though the English will not permit it, 

and more conservative American authorities 

object to it, the use of scan in the sense of to 

glance at or to run through hastily (He scanned 

the daily paper, then turned on his radio) is 

generally acceptable in the United States. As a 

technical television term, scan means to traverse 

a surface with a beam of light or electrons in 

order to reproduce or transmit a picture. 

scandal. See libel. 

scarce; scarcely. The adjective scarce usually 

stands later in the sentence than the noun or 

noun equivalent it qualifies, as in they are scarce 

as hen’s teeth. It may stand before the noun, as 

in a scarce book, but in present-day English 

rare is preferred here. 

Scarce and scarcely can both be used as adverbs. 

As a rule, when we have a pair of 

adverbs like this some people avoid the form 

without -1y under the impression that it is uneducated 

or “ungrammatical.” In this case the 

form without -1y frequently ought to be avoided 

-not because it is ungrammatical, but because 

it is over-refined in some situations. He was 

scarce more than a child is too bookish for a 

straightforward statement of this fact. 

Scarcely is a restrictive, or negative, adverb. 

That is, he had scarcely gone is equivalent to 

he had no more than gone. It therefore forms a 

double negative when used in a sentence that 

has already been made negative, as in there’s 

not a yard of it, scarcely, that hasn’t some 

defect. The double negative can be avoided 

by writing there’s scarcely a yard of it that 

hasn’t. . . . A word is negative if its meaning is 

negative, regardless of its form, and he left 

without scarcely hearing a word also contains 

two negative words, without and scarcely. See 

double negatives. See also hardly. 

scarf. The plural is scarfs or scarves. Scarves is 

a recent formation and is used in Great Britain 

more than it is in the United States. The old 

plural scarfs is the preferred form in this country. 

scatheless, meaning unharmed, is one of the many 

archaic words which Sir Walter Scott brought 

back into literary use. The Oxford English Dictionary 

records no instance of its use between 

1563 and 1818, when Scott used it in The Heart 

of Midlothian. Some modern scholars have been 

much exercised to distinguish between scatheless 

and unscathed, insisting that the distinction 

though fine was clear. But the common writer 

need not strain to follow their explanation; 

scatheless may still be considered archaic or 

dialectal and not used. Unscathed is now the 

word. 

scavenger; scavenge. Scavenger, once both noun 

and verb, is now chiefly used as a noun. It 

describes an organism, object, or person that 

scavenges, especially any of various animals 

feeding on dead organic matter (Vultures are 

among the most repulsive of scavengers). It is 

also a term for a street cleaner (Dick, the 

scavenger, with equal grace,/ Flirts from his 

cart the mud in Walpole’s face). 

The related verb now commonly used is 

scavenge. Transitive, it means to cleanse from 

filth (. . . sea anemones and corals and madrepores, 

who scavenged the water all day long, 

and kept it nice and pure). It has also the technical 

senses of expelling burnt gases from the 

cylinder of an internal-combustion engine or, 

in metallurgy, the cleaning of molten metal by 

the introduction of another substance which 

will combine chemically with the impurities in 

it. Intransitive (the commoner use), scavenge 

means to act as a scavenger (Bears often scav-

cnge around North Woods camps), to bermme 

scavenged of burnt gases, or to search for food. 

schedule. Americans work the word a good deal 

harder than the Britons do. Something in America 

goes according to schedule: in Englaad it 

would go as arranged. A train, plane, or bus 

arrives in America on schedule. In England they 

arrive punctually. An American is scheduled to 

speak. An Englishman is on the program to 

speak. 

schema. The plural is schemata, not schemaa. 

scholar. See pupil. 

scholium. The ulural is scholiums or scholiu. 

science; art. Siience is knowledge and art i.s action. 

Science suggests a systematized knowledge 

(Boy, he’s got that down lo a science!). Art 

suggests a performance with a skill that defies 

analysis. The science of cooking, in modern 

usage, would imply the basic, systematized 

knowledge necessary to cooking. The art of 

cooking would imply a skill, acquired us~dly 

by one with a strong natural ability after long 

practice, that transcends all that can be communicated 

by the science. 

scientitk English. When a scientist is writing for 

specialists in his own field, he naturally uses a 

special vocabulary. Sometimes he uses words 

that are not found in general English. More 

often he uses familiar words in unfamiliar 

senses. This is inevitable, since he is writing 

about concepts that are unknown to the general 

public. If the reader knows nothing about this 

particular science he will find what is written 

unintelligible. But it does not follow that a 

paper is scientific merely because it uses words 

in peculiar senses and is difficult to read. 

For example, Max Born writes: “The state of 

a mechanical system can be represented :by a 

point in the 6N-dimensional phase space, p.q, 

and its motion by a single orbit on a ‘surface’ of 

constant energy in this space.” If the reader has 

had no training in physics he will see at once 

that he cannot understand this sentence. He has 

no idea what a 6N-dimensional space is and 

will not attempt to guess what aspect of it might 

imaginatively be called a “surface.” But he can 

see that this is a straightforward English 

sentence and has no reason to doubt that something 

has been said in the simplest way possible. 

The situation is quite different in sentences 

such as the following: “Because of the complexity 

of the constellation of eye conditions which 

contribute to blindness or severe visual incapacity, 

it became essential for us in formulating 

our program to examine the various sightthreatening 

conditions in terms of their amenability 

to control.” Here the reader finds no unfamiliar 

concepts. He understands thoroughly 

what is being said and sees that it is pathetically 

simple. He sees that the only unfamiliar 

or difficult thing about the statement is its. vocabulary 

and sentence structure, and he quite 

rightly resents having been put to so much 

trouble for so little gain. 

A great deal of bad scientific writing, es- 

435 scotchman 

pecially in the social sciences, is due to the 

notion that ostentation and obscurantism give 

a scientific tone to one’s writing, that they are 

expected of a learned man. But this is not so. 

Mystification belongs to magic, not to science. 

It is the illiterate, not the learned, who love 

long words for their own sake. The man who 

has something important to say should do everything 

in his power to say it clearly. 

scientist. This word was coined by an Englishman 

in 1840, and was not well received. For many 

years it was condemned as “an American vulgarism,” 

and as late as 1885 some people believed 

that scientician was a finer word. 

scissors. The plural form refers to one instrument 

but is usually treated as a plural, as in these 

scissors are sharp. It may also be treated as a 

singular, as in this scissors is sharp. This is acceptable 

English but an unusual construction 

today. In using a singular verb we more often 

say this pair of scissors is sharp. The construction 

with pair must always be used after a 

numeral, as in three pairs of scissors. 

The singular scissor is the preferred form for 

the first element of a compound, such as scissor 

blade, scissor sharpener. But the form scissors 

is also acceptable in compounds, as in scissors 

blade, and is preferred when the word means 

“scissor-like” and does not actually refer to a 

pair of scissors, as in the scissors kick. 

scleroma. The plural is scleromata, not scleromae. 

score. When used without a numeral, the word 

score, meaning twenty, is a noun and has the 

plural scores. These words are followed by of, 

as in a score of yews, scores of men, except 

before such degree words as more, less, too 

many, where the of is dropped, as in a score 

more men, scores more horses. 

When preceded by a numeral, score is treated 

as a cardinal number. That is, it is treated as an 

adjective and used without of, as in threescore 

years and ten and sixscore thousand persons, 

except when referring to part of a specified 

group, as in two score of them. The plural form 

scores is never used with a numeral. 

scorn. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he scorned to beg, or by the -ing form of 

a verb, as in he scorned begging. The infinitive 

is more forceful but both forms are acceptable. 

Scotch; Scottish; Scats. Of these adjectives to 

refer to Scotland and its natives, Scotch is the 

form used in America, in Southern England 

and the English Midlands. In Northern England 

and in Scotland itself the word is Scottish, 

though Scats is enjoying an increase in popularity 

today. When these words are used as 

-nouns to describe the dialect, Scotch is the 

British noun, Scottish the American, and Scats 

the one used in Scotland. 

Scotchman; Scotsman; Scot. The basic name for 

a native of Scotland is Scot. The ancient Gaelic 

people who came from Northern Ireland about 

the 6th century and settled in the northwestern 

part of Great Britain called themselves Scats. 

The country was called Scotland. The proper

scratch pad 436 

title of their most romantic queen is Mary, 

Queen of Scats. Natives of Scotland insist that 

the proper word for one of them is Scotsman, 

and Scotsman is the name of one of their leading 

newspapers. To their disgust and annoyance, 

Americans and Englishmen insist on calling 

them Scotchmen. 

scratch pad is the American term for a pad of 

inexpensive writing paper. In England it is 

called a scribbling-block. 

scream; screech; shriek. All of these words mean 

to cry out in a loud, piercing way. Scream is 

the most general. It may mean to utter a loud, 

piercing cry, especially of pain, fear or anger 

(I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. 

“You can’t arrest me,” he screamed; “my papers 

are in order”), and it may mean to utter a little, 

barely audible, cry by one who is startled. 

Shriek suggests a pitch more intense than that 

of scream, and when due to fear or pain indicates 

more distress (Not louder shrieks to pitying 

heaven are cast/ When husbands or when 

lapdogs breathe their last). Both men and 

women scream; it is mainly women who shriek. 

Screech emphasizes not so much the emotion as 

the disagreeable shrillness and harshness of an 

outcry or a noise. It is used of animals (screech 

owl) and inanimate things (the screech of a 

dry axle, the screech of his chair as he drew it 

along the stone floor). When applied to the 

sound of the human voice there is a connotation 

of lack of dignity (The screech of the old 

woman’s voice could be heard above the babble 

of the children). 

screw up your courage is a shortening of the 

longer admonition to screw your courage to 

the sticking-point which is a misquotation of 

Shakespeare’s But screw your courage to the 

stickin&place,/ And we’ll not fail (Macbeth, I, 

vii. 60-61). Some scholars believe that Lady 

Macbeth’s’metaphor was drawn from the operation 

of an arbalest, wherein the string which 

would launch the missile was made taut by the 

slow action of a ratchet. Others are of the 

opinion that the metaphor was drawn from the 

screwing up of the cords of stringed instruments 

to their proper degree of tension, when the peg 

remains fast in its sticking-place. In either case, 

the phrase is now a clich6. 

script; scrip. Script basically means handwriting, 

or the characters used in handwriting, or, in 

printing, a type imitating handwriting. In America 

script is a sort of general-purpose word 

in the entertainment world. In the theater and 

television it describes the manuscript of a play 

or role. In motion pictures, it describes the 

manuscript of a motion picture containing .a 

synopsis of the plot, the scenario, the cast 

( . . . he took up the first of two scripts that 

were his evening stint, that presently he would 

visualize line by line on the screen . . .). 

Scrip, a variant form of script, is the more 

specialized form. It means a writing, especially 

a receipt or certificate. In finance it means a 

certificate representing a fraction of a share of 

stock, a certificate to represent a dividend not 

paid in cash but a promise to pay at a later date. 

Since such promises are not always kept, scrip 

has a connotation of insecurity and risk. In 

American usage the word also describes paper 

currency, a certificate of indebtedness in place 

of government currency (During the depression 

the unhappy teachers were often paid in scrip. 

The miners were paid in scrip which was redeemable, 

at a discount, at the company store). 

scripture; scriptures. These words are different 

grammatically but have the same meaning. 

Both mean the entire Bible. Scriptures is 

followed by a plural verb and Scripture by a 

singular verb, but Scriptures does not mean 

more than one Scripture. The singular form 

Scripture is not ordinarily used with the or a. 

We say the devil can quote Scripture. (The may 

be used with Scripture only when what is meant 

is a Scripture selection, as in the Scripture for 

today.) The plural form Scriptures requires the 

article the but cannot be used with a numeral 

or a word implying number. We say he has 

studied the Scriptures. 

These words are always capitalized when 

they mean the Bible. They are not capitalized 

when used in speaking of other sacred writings. 

In this second sense, the plural form scriptures 

may be qualified by these or those but not by a 

numeral. 

scruple. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he did not scruple to repeat it. It 

may also be followed by the -ing form of a verb 

with the preposition nt, as in he did not scruple 

at repeating it, but the infinitive construction 


scrupulous. See meticulous. 

scull; skull. Scull, in its narrowest sense, means 

an oar worked from side to side over the stem 

of a boat as a means of propulsion. More 

broadly, it means one of a pair of oars operated, 

one on each side, by one person (. . . two 

men emerged, carrying a shell. They set it in 

the water and a moment later Bland came out, 

with the sculls). Still more broadly, it is a boat 

propelled by a scull or sculls and, in its most 

general sense, a light racing boat propelled by 

one rower with a pair of oars (On a bright 

afternoon the Charles was gay with sculls, 

whisking their sharp prows through the choppy 

water). 

Skull means the bony framework of the head, 

enclosing the brain and supporting the face, the 

skeleton of the head. The word may be used 

figuratively, usually in a disparaging sense, to 

describe the head as the seat of intelligence or 

knowledge (Try to get this into your skull). 

In the United States a meeting of football 

players at which they are lectured to on plays 

and general strategy is known as skull practice. 

Scull was so named from the dishlike shape 

of the spoon-bladed oar. Skull may be derived 

from the same French word (escuelle, dish, 

from Latin scutella). Related words are scullion 

(but not scullery) and skillet. 

scurfy; scurvy. Scurfy means characteristic of, 

marked by, or pertaining to scurf. And scurf is

the name for the scales or small shreds of 

epidermis that are continually exfoliated from 

the skin; or for any scaly matter or incrustation 

on a surface. In England today scurf especially 

means dandruff. 

Scurvy, used as an adjective, means low, 

mean, contemptible. Except in the worn phrases 

a scurvy trick, a scurvy knave, a scurvy remark 

or answer, it is archaic and bookish. 

Of course, a man may be both scurfy and 

ScUrVy. 

The noun scurvy, the disease, is from the 

French scorbut. Its form was assimilated to 

that of the adjective. 

scurrility. See abuse. 

Scylla and Charybdis, between. Scylla, in Homer, 

was a rock opposite the whirlpool Charybdis 

and on this rock dwelt a monster of the same 

name. She had twelve feet and six heads, each 

on a long neck and each equipped with three 

rows of pointed teeth. Odysseus had to pass 

between the monster and the whirlpool and was 

warned that, for all that she would kill some 

of his men, the monster Scylla was the lesser of 

the two perils. 

As a term for being between two equal 

dangers, between Scylla and Charybdis is now 

a cliche. 

s.d. This is an abbreviation of the Latin words 

sine die and means without date. 

seamy side of life. Before dry-cleaning, when 

the glittering state garments of the gallants 

were made to do for many years, their underside, 

the seamy side, must have contrasted strikingly 

with their external splendors. Emilia, in 

Shakespeare’s Othelfo (Act IV, sc. ii, 1. 146), 

said that someone had turned her husband 

Iago’s wit the seamy side without and made 

him suspect her of adultery with the Moor. 

From this remark our present use of the phrase 

appears to have come. But the original thought 

has been forgotten and the term is now simply 

a cliche. 

seasonable; seasonal. Seasonal means pertaining 

to or dependent on the seasons of the year or 

some particular season, periodical (The Grapes 

of Wrath recounts the ordeal of seasonal 

laborers during the Depression, Hay fever is 

a seasonal complaint). Seasonable means suitable 

to the season (They sailed west with the 

seasonable winds. Rain at this time of year is 

seasonable with us), or suitable to the circumstances 

(Zt is not seasonable to call a man a 

traitor that has an army at his heels), or opportune 

(Your arrival was seasonable, for we 

needed help). American usage also permits 

seasonable to mean early (They were stirring 

at a seasonable hour). 

second. See minute. 

second to none. As a way of saying that something 

or someone is one of the best, second to 

none is hackneyed. 

secret languages are essentially devices to bind 

together an in-group and exclude the outsider. 

They are used by children all over the world. 

In this country the best known and the easiest 

437 section 

to learn is Pig, or Hog, Latin. But there are also 

others, such as Tuttin, Arp and Ob. All of them 

depend on adding syllables and shifting initial 

letters. 

Secret languages may also be used by adults 

for prestige purposes. Lucien Levy-Bruhl, in discussing 

“undeveloped” or “savage” societies, 

says : “Frequently, too, the members of the 

secret societies which are so common a feature 

in social groups of a primitive type, are initiated 

into a language spoken and understood by themselves 

alone; their introduction to the society, or 

their promotion to a sufficiently exalted rank 

therein, gives them the privilege of using this 

mystic language. . . . They generally use the 

same words, but so transformed by the interposition 

or addition of other letters, that they 

appear to belong to a different language. Moreover, 

they have some words peculiar to themselves, 

by which they supersede those in general 

use.” 

Traces of this may be found in the language 

of many present-day savants. (See argot.) And 

among those “social groups of a primitive type” 

in our own country who furnish the members 

for high school and college Greek-letter organizations, 

great importance is attached to secret 

words. So secret are these, for the most part, 

that not one brother or sister out of a hundred 

could repeat them ten seconds after they were 

mumbled in his or her ear at the initiation. Yet 

so prestigious is even this fleeting knowledge of 

them felt to be that thousands of families have 

been plunged into gloom and shame because 

their child was permitted to hear one set of 

these words instead of another. 

secrete. See hide. 

secretion; concealment. Secretion is a term to be 

used exclusively to describe a physiological 

phenomenon. It means the process or function 

of an animal body, executed in the glands, by 

which various substances, such as bile or milk, 

are separated and elaborated from the blood 

(The secretion of milk is in some way stimulated 

by changes that take place in the woman’s 

body during pregnancy). Or it may describe the 

product secreted (This secretion is a sticky substance 

of the consistency of mucilage). But 

although the verb to secrete can mean (in addition 

to producing by the process of secretion), 

making secret, hiding, concealing from observation 

or the knowledge of others, secretion is not 

to be used as a loose synonym for concealment 

(as in The secretion of government property in 

personal belongings was one of the commoner 

crimes of the war). This use, though common, 

is objectionable to many people in England 

and America. 

secretive. See reticent. 

section; cross-section; sample. A section of a 

community means a part of that community 

isolated geographically, by age, or by some 

other standard, A cross-section cuts across 

section lines and describes a typical selection. 

a sample showing all representative parts in 

accurate proportion. Thus a section of a com-

munity could be the aged, those who live to 

the north or to the south, and so on. But a 

cross-section of a town made up of five percent 

industrial managers, five percent professional 

men, fifteen percent merchants, fifteen percent 

clerks, and sixty percent manual workers would 

have to include, as a minimum, one manager, 

one professional man, three merchants, three 

clerks, and twenty workers. A sample is simply 

a small part of something intended to represent 

the whole (. . . like the foolish man in the 

Greek story who, wanting to sell his house, 

carried about with him a brick as a sample). 

A sample may be a cross-section if it is accurately 

representative. Yet it will still be a sample 

even if it is not, for there are many things of 

which a cross-section may not be made. 

sector; section. Of these two nouns referring to 

cutting, sector has largely technical uses, while 

section has both general and technical uses. 

In geometry, sector describes a plane figure 

bounded by two radii and the included arc of 

a circle, ellipse, or the like. A sector is also a 

mathematical instrument consisting of two flat 

rulers hinged together at one end and bearing 

various scales. In military phraseology, a sector 

is one of the sections of a forward combat area 

as divided for military operations (Many of 

the American soldiers who were in the Anzio 

sector of the Italian Front still feel resentful). 

Sect&, in general, describes.a part cut off 

or separated from a whole. More specifically, 

it may describe a distinct portion of a book, 

writing, or the like, or a subdivision, as of a 

chapter (I didn’t like those sections devoted to 

his philosophy of life). It may also mean one 

of a number of parts that can be fitted together 

to make a whole (Sections of the vacuum 

cleaner lay scattered over the rug), or a distinct 

part of a country, community, or class (The 

well-to-do live in the northwest section of the 

town. One section of the community was implacably 

opposed to admitting all children to 

the public schools). In most of the United States 

west of Ohio, each township is divided into 

sections, tracts of land each one mile square. 

Section can also mean the act of cutting, separation 

by cutting (The baby was delivered by 

Caesurenn section). In military phraseology a 

section is a small unit which may consist of two 

or more squads. In railroad terminology a 

section may be a division of a division (a 

section hand), or it may be a division of a 

sleeping car containing both an upper and a 

lower berth (You can reserve the whole section 

for little more than the cost of the lower) or 

a train scheduled jointly with another or others 

(The second section was due in ten minutes and 

the brakeman knew that he must flag it down). 

secundus; second. Secundus is a term used in 

England to describe the second male bearing 

the same name in a family (Cohn Monroe, 

secundus, is the nephew of John Monroe). In 

America, second is used instead, though in 

recent years there has been a tendency to write 

it in roman numerals (Henry Mosby Cabot II). 

See also junior. 

secure. This verb may be used to mean procure 

or obtain and has been so used for more than 

two hundred years, as in we took care to secure 

some powder, ball, and a little bread. In most 

cases get would be better than secure, procure, 

or obtain. 

sedan. In England sedan describes the now obsolete 

sedan chair, a closed vehicle to seat one 

person, borne on poles by bearers. In America 

sedan describes a closed automobile body seating 

four or more persons (including the driver) 

on two full-width seats, both in one compartment. 

The English equivalent of sedan in this 

sense is saloon or saloon-car. 

sedulous ape. It was Robert Louis Stevenson (in 

the fourth chapter of his Memories and Portraits, 

1887) who first used the phrase to play 

the sedulous ape. He said that he had played 

the sedulous ape to Hazlitt, to Lamb, to 

Wordsworth, to Sir Thomas Browne, to Defoe, 

to Hawthorne, to Montaigne, to Baudelaire and 

to Obermann. The wry charm of the phrase, 

its attractive paradox, and affectionate selfdepreciation 

made it immediately popular. It 

was “taken up,” overworked, and is already 

worn out. 

Sedulous means diligent in application, persistently 

and carefully maintained, persevering 

in effort. 

see. The past tense is saw. The participle is seen. 

When used in an active form, see may be 

followed by an object and the simple form of 

a verb, as in Z saw him leave, or by an object 

and the -ing form of a verb, as in Z suw him 

leaving. When followed by an object and a toinfinitive, 

the word means “infer” and not 

“perceive with the eyes,” as in Z saw it to be 

impossible. In either sense, it may be followed 

by a clause, as in Z saw he wus leaving and Z 

saw it was impossible. See may also be followed 

by an object and a past participle with passive 

meaning (that is, the be of a passive intinitive 

is usually suppressed), as in Z saw him stopped. 

When see itself is used in a passive form it may 

be followed by a to-infinitive, as in he was seen 

to leave, or by the -ing form of a verb, as in 

he was seen leaving. See also look. 

see; bishopric; diocese. Of these terms, bishopric 

is the broadest, being defined as the see, diocese, 

or office of a bishop. Perhaps it should be used 

mainly to describe the office or rank belonging 

to a bishop, for fee is the more specific ecclesiastical 

term to describe the seat, center of 

authority, or the chair that symbolizes a 

bishop’s authority over a particular diocese. 

Diocese is to be preferred to bishopric as the 

word to describe the district, with its population, 

falling under the pastoral care of a bishop 

(Since Bishop Proudie came to this diocese Z 

have exerted myself here a good deal). 

see eye to eye. As a term for harmony, agreement, 

unanimity or, in the negative, the lack 

of such harmony, especially in regard to a

course of action to be pursued, to see eye to 

eye is a hackneyed expression. It is one of 

several phrases in common use drawn from the 

Bible but distorted in the process. It is taken 

from Isaiah 52:8 where, however (according to 

the Westminster Commentaries and the notes 

to the Cambridge Bible) it means to see (each 

other) face to face. 

see how the land lies. In its figurative sense, 

meaning to make a preliminary investigation, 

to find out whether or not those with whom we 

must deal are favorably inclined or not, fo see 

how the land lies is a cliche. 

see with half an eye. To say of something obvious, 

particularly approaching trouble, that you 

can see it with half an eye is to employ a cliche. 

seek. The past tense is sought. The participle is 

also sought. A verb following seek is always 

an infinitive, as in he sought to persuade me. 

seek; search. Seek is an old-fashioned word which 

survives in such expressions as the game hideand-seek 

and the Biblical Seek and ye shall find. 

Search or search for or, more colloquially, look 

for are better familiar usage. 

As a synonym for attempt, however, where 

there is a suggestion that the attempt has included 

a search for the ideal or proper way or 

a searching among alternatives, seek is still 

standard (Those who seek to prove . . .). 

seem. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he seemed to laugh at us. It may also be 

followed by the -ing form of a verb, as in the 

old man seemed gradually blending into the 

chair. It could once be followed by a clause as 

in she seemed she would speak. This is no 

longer natural English unless the subject of 

seem is it or the clause is introduced by tzs if 

or as though. 

Like other verbs, seem may be combined 

with the regular auxiliary verbs, as in it would 

seem, he might seem. But I can’t seem to do 

this, meaning “I seem to be unable to do it,” 

is an Americanism. It is acceptable in the 

United States but is not often heard in Engl.and, 

where I don’t seem able to is the usual way of 

expressing this idea. 

Seem is always used as a linking verb. It lmay 

therefore be followed by an adjective but not 

by an adverb, as in it seemed good, it seemed 

different, he seemed happy. See linking verbs. 

seen. See see. 

select (adjective). See exclusive. 

self. The regular plural is selves. A new plural 

serfs is sometimes used in philosophic writing. 

-self words. See reflexive pronouns. 

sell. The past tense is sold. The participle is also 

sold. (See also dispose of.) 

sell like hot cakes. Hot cakes, if they are to sell 

at all, must obviously sell fast. But just why 

they, of all comestibles, became proverbial is 

uncertain. The phrase is now drained by overuse. 

of its once homely humor and flavor. 

selvedge; selvage. Though selvedge is etymologitally 

closer to the late Middle English word on 

which it is based (self edge), selvage, a cor- 

439 semantics 

ruption, is the form now commonly used to 

describe the edge of woven fabric finished to 

prevent raveling, often in a narrow tape effect, 

different from the body of the fabric, or any 

similar strip or part of surplus material, as at 

the side of wallpaper (The trees have ample 

room to expand on the water side, and each 

sends forth its most vigorous branch in that 

direction. There Nature has woven a natural 

selvage) . 

selves. See self. 

semantics. In grammar semantics means the study 

of the meanings of words, in contrast to syntax 

which deals with the ways in which words may 

be combined to express more complicated 

thoughts. Since 1900 the grammarian’s term 

semantics has been taken over and given new 

meanings, first by the philosophers and later by 

the general public. 

In philosophy semantics meant, first, the study 

of the relation of signs (including words) to 

the objects they stand for and the conditions 

under which signs may be significant. It was an 

attempt to apply mathematical methods to philosophical 

problems and was stimulated by the 

publication in 1910 of Whitehead and Russell’s 

Principia Mathematics. It can easily be shown 

that some of our intellectual, or scientific, problems 

grow out of the nature of the real world, 

the world of experience, and are to be solved by 

investigation, and that others are created by the 

structure of language, by the ways in which we 

must report our experience-and that it is often 

difficult to see which kind of uroblem we are 

dealing with. The mathematical philosophers 

were interested in clearing away “verbal” problems 

so that they could come to grips with “real” 

ones. 

From this beginning, semantics has developed 

in a number of different ways. The word came 

into general English from the writings of Count 

Alfred Korzybski, who believed that language 

problems were the cause of most of our mental 

and social ills and developed a therapy which he 

claimed would “help any individual to solve his 

problem by himself, to his own and others’ 

satisfaction.” This position has a great deal in 

common with the work of the early Greek 

Sophists who also believed that language was 

significant in itself, independently of what it 

referred to. 

To certain thinkers of a less hopeful cast than 

Korzybski, men so unstrung that they are not 

certain that any problem will ever be solved by 

anyone to his own and others’ satisfaction, the 

claims of the semanticists are more touching 

than convincing. If we are to go to extremes, we 

might follow Swift’s suggestion and abandon 

words altogether, each man carrying on his back 

the actual objects to which he wishes to refer. 

Though there is a happier middle ground, where 

most intelligent men meet, on which it is agreed 

that a more careful and precise use of language 

would avoid a great deal of confusion. 

To the unphilosophical such claims as Kor-

semicolon 440 

zybski’s are ludicrous, if not immoral, and the 

word semanticist has suffered the same fate that 

the word sophist did. Harry Truman uses the 

word in its currently accepted sense in his description 

of an imaginary Cabinet: “I have 

appointed a Secretary of Semantics-a most 

important post. He is to furnish me $50 words, 

and tell me how to say yes and no in the same 

sentence without a contradiction. He is to tell 

me the combination of words that will put me 

against inflation in San Francisco and for it in 

New York.” 

semicolon. The semicolon is used principally in 

formal writing. Its uses are: 

1. To separate statements too closely related 

for a period to intervene, but not closely enough 

related for a comma to serve the purpose, as in 

the powerful are always right; the weak, always 

wrong. This can be a powerful device to show a 

relation in the meaning of apparently independent 

statements. 

2. To separate phrases which contain 

commas, either for clarity or for emphasis, as 

in these are my favorite flowers: violets, for 

their sentimentality; roses, for their color: and 

buttercups, for their cheerfulness. 

3. To separate lengthy statements following 

a colon, as in the requirements might be as 

follows: (1) the applicant must be an American 

citizen; (2) he must have a bachelor’s degree or 

its equivalent; (3) he must have had ut least two 

years experience in working in this. or related 

fields. 

If a writer wishes to use an informal narrative 

style he should avoid semicolons as much 

as possible. Semicolons denote a longer break 

in the sentence than commas and they may slow 

down the reader unnecessarily. 

seminar; seminary. Seminar applies to a group, 

seminary to an institution. A seminar is a small 

group of students, as in a university, engaged in 

advanced study and original research under a 

member of the faculty or the gathering place 

for such a group (To be accepted as a member 

of Kittredge’s seminar was a coveted honor. 

Graduate English students will meet in Seminar 

8). The word is also used lo designate a course 

or subject of study for advanced graduate 

students (Candidates for the Ph.D. degree in 

English are required to participate in three 

seminars). 

Seminary describes a school, especially one 

of higher grade. (In England it means broadly 

any place of secondary education.) It also 

means (and this is the sense in which it is most 

frequently understood in America) a school 

for the education of men for the priesthood or 

ministry (I took my meals in Cambridge at the 

Episcopal Theological Seminary). Formerly, 

more so than now although the meaning persists, 

it was used a great deal to designate a 

school of secondary or higher level for young 

women. Seminary may also mean a seminar, 

though seminar is to be preferred since it is 

unequivocal. 

Semite. See Hebrew. 

semi-yearly; semiannual; half-yearly. Semi-yearly 

is not acceptable in England. In America it is 

acceptable but semiannual is preferred as the 

adjective meaning occurring every half year 

(I pay my insurance in semiannual premiums) 

or lasting for half a year (That plant is a semiannual). 

In England half-yearly is used as the 

less favored alternative to semiannual. See also 

biannual; biennial. 

sempstress; seamstress; needlewoman. In America 

seamstress is preferred to sempstress to describe 

a woman whose occupation is sewing. The 

English regard sempstress as obsolescent and 

prefer the downright needlewoman to seamstress. 

send. The past tense is sent. The participle is also 

sent. See also remit. 

send about his business. To say of someone who 

was dismissed with humiliating curtness that he 

was sent about his business is to employ a worn 

and stilted phrase. 

senile; senescent. See old. 

sensational, a word of fairly recent (late nineteenth 

century) coinage, meant originally that 

which could be perceived through the senses 

(With sensational pleasures and pains there go, 

in the infant, little else but vague feelings of 

delight and anger and fear). However, it soon 

came to mean that which excites intense interest 

and emotion, that which startles or provokes a 

thrilling response. And since in addition to the 

many truly startling events of our time, attempts 

at startling and thrilling people in order to gain 

attention for commercial purposes have become 

an immense industry, it is not astonishing that 

the word sensational has become one of the 

most overworked in our vocabularies. It needs 

a rest and we need a rest (which we are not 

likely to get) from it and the forces that exploit 

it and the facts that seek to justify it. 

sense; feel. Sense as a verb is relatively young. 

It first appeared in the seventeenth century, 

meaning then to perceive by or as by one of 

the senses. Less than a century ago it was 

broadened to mean feel, to become aware of 

(As soon as he saw her he sensed that something 

had happened). American usage has taken 

up sense in still looser terms as a colloquialism 

meaning to comprehend or understand (You 

can sense what great changes the new organizational 

plan will make in our objectives). Philosophically, 

this is an almost complete reversal 

of meaning from the original idea of sense 

perception, but language is not logical or consistent 

and many such reversals have become 

accepted as standard through usage. 

sensibility. See sensitiveness. 

sensible; sensitive. Though sensible could once be 

used as a synonym for sensitive (the French 

sensible means sensitive), it is rarely and inadvisably 

so used today. Sensible now means 

having, using, or showing good sense or sound 

judgment (He can usually be relied on for 

sensible advice). In more specialized senses

it means cognizant, keenly aware (usually 

followed bv of, as in He was sensible of his 

intellectual* lit&ations) ; appreciable, considerable 

(There has been a sensible increase in ,the 

warmth of our winters in the past thirty years 

or There has been a quite sensible reduction in 

the price of coffee during the past six months). 

It can also mean capable of being perceived by 

the senses (Plato regarded the sensible universe 

as an imperfect imitation of the real universe) 

or perceptible to the mind; conscious; or capable 

of feeling or perceiving, as organs or parts 

of the body (though for this meaning the negative, 

insensible, is more often used since, in 

many contexts-such as The stomach is a sensible 

orgon-there might be a ludicrous ambiguity 

) . 

Sensitive means endowed with sensation 

(Despite the local anaesthetic, his jaw was still 

sensitive); readily affected by external agencies 

or influences (Most politicians are sensitive Co 

public opinion); having acute mental or emotional 

sensibility, easily affected, pained or 

annoyed (A favorite theme of the modern novel 

is the education of the sensitive young man); 

pertaining to or connected with the senses or 

sensation. The word also has certain specialized 

scientific meanings. In physiology it means 

having a low threshold of sensation, responding 

easily to stimulation (Some plants are highly 

sensitive; their leaves draw back when touche#d). 

In chemistry and biochemistry it means highly 

susceptible to certain agents (Photographic 

films and plates are sensitive to light). In 

physics and mechanical matters it means constructed 

to indicate, measure, or be affected by, 

small amounts or changes, as a balance or 

thermometer. In radio it means easily affected 

by external influences, especially radio waves. 

sensible; sensitive; susceptible. Sensible of e:xpresses 

emotional consciousness (I am sensible 

of the suffering you are undergoing. I am 

sensible of the many kindnesses that you have 

shown me). Sensitive to expresses acute feeling 

(His pallid skin was sensitive to the glaring sunlight). 

Susceptible to or of expresses quick 

reaction to stimulus (In his weakened condition 

he was very susceptible to colds). Used by itself 

and of a young man susceptible usually means 

easily affected by female charms. In this sense 

it is almost a clicht. 

sensitiveness; sensitivity; sensibility. Sensitiveness 

is the general term to describe the state Ior 

quality of being sensitive in both physiological 

and psychological contexts, having a capacity 

of sensation and of responding to external 

stimuli (Parts of the body which lose all sensitiveness 

are likely to be seriously injured). 

Sensitivity is the especially physiological version 

of sensitiveness. It describes the ability of an 

organism or part of an organism to react to 

stimuli; degree of susceptibility to stimulation 

(If the sensitivity of women were really, as so 

often claimed, superior to that of men, they 

would be universally employed as piano-tuners, 

441 sentence adverbs 

tea-tasters, and wool-sorters). Sensitivity is 

often used where sensitiveness would be more 

appropriate (as in It was generally felt that his 

sensitivity over the scandal was excessive). 

Sensibility does not refer to being sensible 

but to being sensitive, in a special way. It 

now means the capacity to respond to aesthetic 

or emotional stimuli, delicacy of emotional or 

intellectual perception. William Elton (A guide 

to the New Criticism, Chicago, 1953, p. 39) 

limits the word to define “an innate sensitivity 

of the poet which permits him to absorb the 

appropriate experience, and to create, out of 

that experience, the substance and feeling of 

art.” 

sensual; sensuous; sensory. Sensory means pertaining 

to sensation; noting a structure that 

conveys an impulse that results or tends to 

result in sensation, as a nerve. The word 

sensory is easily distinguishable from sensual 

and sensuous which are sometimes confused. 

Sensuous means of or pertaining to the 

senses, as opposed to the intellect. It was apparently 

invented by Milton who wanted to 

avoid certain connotations of sensual. He referred 

to poetry as being simple, sensuous, and 

passionate. Coleridge picked the word up in 

1814, attributing it correctly to Milton but 

adding vaguely that it had also been used “by 

many other of our elder writers.” Thus sensuous 

refers favorably to what is experienced through 

the senses. Sensual, meanwhile, has rather 

strengthened the taint that Milton wished to 

avoid and now refers entirely to those enjoyments 

derived from the senses with a connotation 

of grossness or lewdness (sensual excesses, 

the sensual pleasures of the glutton). 

sent. See send. 

sentence adverbs. An adverb may qualify one 

word in a sentence or it may qualify the entire 

statement. When it qualifies a single word it 

normally stands immediately before that word. 

(See adverbs.) When it qualifies the entire statement 

it may stand in any of several positions, 

but as a rule there is very little choice as to 

which of these it must occupy. A misplaced 

adverb simply does not say what the speaker 

intended it to. 

1. In a declarative sentence, that is, in a 

sentence that makes an assertion, the primary 

position for a sentence adverb is immediately 

before or actually inside the verb form. In a 

simple tense where there is no auxiliary verb, 

the adverb stands between the subject and the 

verb, as in he soon forgot. (Simple tenses of 

the verb to be are an exception and are discussed 

below under the second position for 

sentence adverbs.) In the other tenses the 

adverb normally follows the first auxiliary, as 

in he will never forget and he has never been 

forgotten. 

If an adverb is placed between the subject 

and the first auxiliary verb, it puts a heavy 

stress on the auxiliary. This is sometimes appropriate 

in an emphatic or contradictory state.-

sentence adverbs 442 

ment, such as he soon did forget and he already 

has been forgoften. But the adverb cannot be 

used in this front position without having just 

this effect. Dickens’s Mrs. Micawber often says, 

I never will desert Mr. Micawber. By placing 

the adverb first, she makes what was intended 

to be a reassuring statement seem like part of 

an undecided argument. 

When an adverb is placed later, after the last 

auxiliary and before the meaningful verb, it 

qualifies the verb itself and not the sentence. 

For example, we place heartily after be in they 

must be heartily congratulated. But we could 

not use surely in this position. We would have 

to say they must surely be congratulated. The 

difference is that heartily qualifies congratulate 

and surely qualities the sentence as a whole. 

H. W. Fowler sums this up by saying that an 

adverb may stand after the last auxiliary whenever 

the adverb and verb suggest a familiar 

adjective and noun combination, such as hearty 

congratulations, but not otherwise. We do not 

at present say sure congratulations. 

As a rule, if an adverb has two forms, one 

resembling an adjective and the other ending 

in -1~. such as slow and slowly, the form that 

resembles the adjective cannot be used in the 

primary adverb position. This is not because 

it is not a true adverb. There is no question but 

that hard refers to the action, not the subject, 

and is therefore an adverb, in he struck hard. 

Moreover, the adverb hardly has an entirely 

different meaning and hard is in no way a 

“corrupt” form of hardly. But hard is also an 

adjective, as in a hard blow. Therefore we 

cannot say he hard struck or he will hard strike. 

We may use hardly in this position and say he 

hardly struck, but the word still means 

“scarcely” and not “hard-like.” 

In current English we form a question either 

by using a special interrogative word or by 

taking the first auxiliary verb out of its normal 

position in an assertion and placing it before 

the subject. (See questions.) The other words in 

the sentence keep the order they would have in 

an assertion. For example, he has always known 

this becomes has he always known this? and 

he once did forget becomes did he once forget? 

In a command, the adverb normally follows 

the verb, a.~ in go now, run quickly. But it may 

be placed first for emphasis, as in now go. The 

words always and never usually have this front 

position, as in always remember, never forget. 

Exclamations sometimes have the word order 

of an assertion and sometimes the word order 

of a question, as in he never did it! and how 

could he ever do it! 

The adverb not can never stand before the 

first element of a verb. We cannot say he not 

goes. In current English not cannot stand after 

the principal element of a verb, except a form 

of the verb to be, or occasionally a form of 

ro have. We may say he is not but we no longer 

say he goes not. This was once a standard construction 

but it is now archaic. Today we introduce 

some form of the verb do, when no other 

auxiliary is required, in order to place not 

before the principal verb without placing it 

before the entire verb, as in he does not go. 

When a negative sentence is given the form of 

a question, the auxiliary verb frequently carries 

the not forward with it, as in didn’t he go?, 

can’t you say?. 

2. The second position for a sentence adverb 

is after the full verbal idea has been expressed. 

In the case of a transitive verb, this means after 

the object. We may say he slowly ate the food 

or he ate the food slowly. The second position 

calls attention to the adverb and makes it emphatic. 

It should not be used when the word 

does not justify this extra attention, as in he 

told me the story soon. On the other hand, a 

word that has special significance should not be 

left in the primary position, as in I yesterday 

told him. 

An adverb should not be placed between a 

verb and its object, as in the children ate 

slowly the food. In English the fact that a word 

or group of words is the object of a verb is 

shown by their position immediately after the 

verb. To insert anything except an indirect 

object between these two parts of a sentence is 

always undesirable, and is sometimes fatal to 

the sense. (See object of a verb.) Conceivably, 

in some very intricate sentence the object itself 

may be so involved and require so many words 

that the adverb cannot be held over till the end. 

But sentences of this kind are very rare in 

modern speech. 

This question does not arise with an intransitive 

verb, which has no object. Here the adverb 

may stand immediately after the verb. We may 

say he slowly walked home or he walked slowly 

home. We may also say he walked home slowly. 

In these sentences we do not have an object 

but two adverbs, home an adverb of place, and 

slowly an adverb of manner. 

When several adverbs or adverbial phrases 

follow a verb, adverbs of manner usually stand 

first, adverbs of place second, and adverbs of 

time last, as in she met him clandestinely in the 

garden every evening. But this rule is not rigid 

and is set aside for the sake of emphasis. With 

both transitive and intransitive verbs, the 

further the adverb is removed from the verb, 

the more emphatic it becomes. 

A verb that is used to mean “be,” “seem,” or 

“become,” is called a linking verb and the words 

which immediately follow it are called its 

“complement.” My friend and cheerful are 

complements in he has always been my friend 

and he quickly became cheerful. (See linking 

verbs.) Verbs of this kind are classed as intransitives 

but a complement is treated like the 

object of a transitive verb. An adverb used with 

any linking verb except a simple tense of the 

verb to be, may stand in the primary position, 

as in the examples given, or it may follow the 

complement, asin hi has been my friend always 

and he became cheerful auickly. But it should 

not stand between theverb and the complement, 

as in he has been always my friend and he

ecame quickly cheerful. In the last examlple, 

quickly ceases to be a sentence adverb and 

qualities the isolated word cheerful. This would 

be the proper place for the word if that was 

what was intended, as in he became obnoxiously 

cheerful. 

An adverb may stand between a simple tense 

of the verb ro be and its complement, as in he 

was always my friend, he is always cheerful. 

Perhaps these words are used so often as first 

auxiliaries that they are always felt as at&iaries. 

In any case, the adverb usually follows 

am, is, are, was, and were, whether the word is 

being used as an auxiliary or as the principal 

verb. An adverb placed before one of these 

forms gives the verb the same extra emphasis 

that it gives to a first auxiliary, as in it was 

certainly a mermaid and it certainly was a 

mermaid. 

Adverbs that have the same form as adjectives 

may stand in this secondary position. 

But adjectives too may stand after the objiect 

of a transitive verb and after certain intransitive 

verbs. In these positions it is sometimes impossible 

to say which function a particular word 

is supposed to have. Sometimes it makes no 

difference how we interpret it. (See position of 

adjectives.) 

3. A sentence adverb may also stand before 

the subject of the verb, as in slowly he ate the 

food. This is a normal position for certain kinds 

of adverbs, which are discussed below. But for 

most adverbs, such as slowly, this position is 

extremely emphatic and should not be used 

unless the circumstances justify it. It is appropriate 

in statements that are charged with 

emotion, as in always, night and day, Z hear 

lake water lapping. And it can be used to 

express excitement, as in away went Gilpin, 

away went hat and wig. But it should not be 

used merely for variety. 

An interrogative word always stands first in 

a sentence or clause. We therefore have no 

choice about the word order in when will he 

come?, how will he do it?. This is also true for 

a relative adverb, such as when in call me when 

he comes. In a negative statement an adverb 

that follows the negative qualifies the verb only 

and not the entire sentence, as twice in you did 

not call me twice. In order to qualify the 

sentence as a whole it must stand earlier, as in 

twice you did not call me. It may stand here 

or immediately after the subject, as in you 

twice did not. The position before the subjlect 

is more usual. 

Negative adverbs normally stand in the 

primary position. If they come after the verb 

they are weakened, but they may be placed 

earlier for emphasis, as in little he’ll reck,, if 

they let him sleep on. When they stand before 

the subject they usually, but not always, bring 

the first element of the verb forward with them, 

as in scarcely had he spoken, least of all could 

he believe, and never blows so red the rose. A 

word that is negative in meaning cannot be used 

as a sentence adverb except in the first or third 

443 sentences 

position. If it follows the verb form, as in the 

second position, it qualifies the following word 

or words and not the statement as a whole. The 

difference can be seen in Z have never told him 

to go and Z have told him never to go. 

A few adverbs, such as therefore, nevertheless, 

moreover, still, then, and a great many 

adverbial phrases such as in the first place, on 

the other hand, are used as connectives between 

sentences. They show the relation between what 

is to follow and what has gone before; for 

example, that it is a conclusion (therefore), or 

a contradiction (nevertheless), or more of the 

same (moreover). Some grammarians consider 

these words conjunctions and some do not. 

They are handled like adverbs and not like 

conjunctions. 

A word of this kind, or a phrase with a similar 

but more subtle meaning, can stand in any 

position that an adverb can. But the sooner it 

occurs, the more effective it is. It is not true 

that these words must be buried inside the sentence. 

They should stand first unless some other 

part of the sentence needs special emphasis, or 

unless they are being used so often that the sentence 

pattern has become monotonous. When 

they are placed inside the sentence they are 

usually set off by commas, but this is not necessary 

for a single word or a short phrase. If they 

are placed too late in the sentence they lose their 

value and have the effect of an afterthought. 

sentences. A sentence may be defined as “a meaningful 

group of words that is grammatically 

independent, that is, that is not part of any 

larger grammatical construction.” 

A sentence which calls for a verbal response 

is called a question, or an interrogative. A sentence 

which calls for action is called an imperative. 

A sentence which primarily expresses an 

emotion is called an exclamation. A sentence 

which primarily conveys information is called 

a declarative. In speech, questions, exclamations, 

and declarative sentences are distinguished by 

characteristic pitch patterns. In writing, this is 

indicated by a question mark, an exclamation 

point, or a period at the end of the sentence. 

An imperative is also followed by a period. It 

is distinguished from a declarative sentence by 

a special stress on the verb and, in most cases, 

by the fact that the verb has no subject. Any 

type of sentence may be either negative or affirmative. 

See questions, exclamations, imperative 

mode, and not. 

The definition of a sentence given above includes 

such expressions as Dear me!, Please 

don’t, Where?. Sentences of this kind are very 

common in speech. In written English, however, 

most sentences have a more complex structure 

and can be divided into a subject and a predicate. 

The subject may be defined roughly as the 

group of words that shows what is being spoken 

about; and the predicate, as the rest of the sentence, 

or the words that “predicate” something 

about the subject. The subject is always a noun 

or noun equivalent and its qualifiers. The predicate 

is a verb with its objects and qualifiers.

sentinel 444 

In the best written English more than ninety 

percent of the sentences have the word order: 

subject, verb, objects. If more than one noun 

equivalent follows the verb, the order is indirect 

object, direct object, objective complement. (For 

a more detailed discussion of these points, see 

subject of a verb, indirect object, object of a 

verb.) Adverbial qualifiers may stand in any 

of several positions. (See sentence adverbs.) 

Any part of a sentence may be a single word 

or a group of words. (See phrases.) When a 

group of words contains a true verb and its 

subject (or an imperative) it is called a clause. 

Any part of a sentence, except the verb itself, 

may be a clause. In when Z was one-and-twenty 

Z heard a wise man say, “Give crowns and 

pounds and guineas but not your heart away,” 

the words inside the quotation marks form a 

clause that is functioning as a noun and the 

object of the verb say; and the words when Z 

was one-and-twenty form a clause that functions 

as an adverb of time. (See clauses and 

conjunctions.) 

A sentence that does not contain a dependent 

or subordinate clause and that contains only 

one independent clause is called a simple sentence. 

A simple sentence is not necessarily short 

and ideas expressed in it are not necessarily 

simple. For example, the cliffs of England stand, 

glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay is 

a simple sentence. A sentence that contains a 

clause as one of its subordinate elements is 

called a complex sentence, such as Z think we 

are in rats’ alley where the dead men lost their 

bones. A sentence that contains two or more 

independent clauses but no subordinate clause is 

said to be compound, as in Don John’s hunting 

and his hounds have bayed. A compound sentence 

that also contains one or more subordinate 

clauses is said to be compound-complex, as in 

she liked whate’er she looked on, and her looks 

went everywhere. Some grammarians like to 

make distinctions of this kind, but they have 

very little practical value. 

sentinel; sentry. Sentry, derived from an obsolete 

variant of sentinel, is now the more usual term, 

in England and America, to describe a soldier 

or other military person stationed at a place to 

keep guard and prevent the passage of unauthorized 

persons, etc. (The sentry cocked his 

gun and demanded the password). Sentinel may 

describe such a person, or anyone or that which 

watches, or stands as if watching (Mont St. 

Michel stands like a sentinel above the tidal 

flats of Normandy and Brittany. And thesentinel 

stars set their watch in the sky). Sentinel is used 

largely in metaphorical and literary contexts. 

It is sometimes, sentry never, used as a verb 

(All the powers/ That sentinel just thrones 

double their guards/ About your sacred excellence) 

. 

separate; divide. To separate is to disunite, to remove 

from each other, with a space or body 

intervening, things that had previously been 

joined or associated (In the darkness the two 

platoons became separated). To divide is to split 

or break up carefully, according to measure 

ment, rule, or plan (The property was divided 

equally between the two sons. The gold was 

divided into six unequal piles, each separated 

from the other by about a foofs distance). 

sequence of tenses. See tense shifts. 

seraglio. The plural is seraglios or seragli. 

seraph. The plural is seraphs or seraphim or seraphims. 

Seraphs are mentioned only twice in 

the Bible, each time in the plural. The form used 

in the King James Version is seraphims, but 

most modern scholars prefer the correct Hebrew 

plural seraphim. The singular form seraph was 

apparently created by Milton. This in turn produced 

the natural English plural seraphs. All 

three plural forms are acceptable today and 

there is no difference in meaning between them. 

So far as the Biblical record goes, all that can 

be said about seraphs is that they have six wings 

and continually praise the Lord. Later tradition 

identified them as angels of the highest rank, 

who excel in love. In Paradise Lost, Satan is 

represented as a fallen seraph. 

sere and yellow leaf. As a poetical figure for advancing 

years, especially for old age, the sere 

and yellow leaf is a clicht. It is taken from a 

speech of Macbeth’s (Macbeth, V, iii, 23) and 

like many cliches is slightly distorted in both 

form and meaning. When Macbeth, despondent, 

says that his way Is fall% into the sere, the yellow 

leaf, the text makes it plain that he does not 

thereby mean old age but middle age, not the 

winter of life but its autumn. For the things 

“which should accompany old age” he “must 

not look to have” but in their stead only servility 

and hatred. 

sergeant; serjeant. In America, sergeant is the 

only term used as a military, police, or courtroom 

title. A sergeant is a noncommissioned 

army or marine corps officer of the rank immediately 

above that of corporal; or a police officer 

of rank higher than a common policeman or 

constable; or an officer of a court who is charged 

with the arrest of offenders, the summoning of 

defendants, and the enforcement of the decrees 

of the court or of its presiding official. A sergeant 

at arms, an executive officer of a legislative 

or other body, whose duty it is to enforce 

the commands of the body, preserve order, etc., 

is also often called a sergeant. 

In England today the word sergeant means 

what it does in the United States. There was formerly, 

however, a special order of barristers, 

abolished in 1880, called serjeants, from which 

the common law judges were chosen. More 

explicitly, these barristers were called Serjeants 

at law. They are encountered today only in literature 

(A Serjeant of the Law, wary and wise- 

Chaucer. Mr. Serjeant Buzfuz, who was counsel 

for the opposite party . . . -Dickens). 

series. The plural is series. 

serum. The plural is serums or sera. 

servant. See help. 

serve my turn. As an expression for something 

that will do, though usually with a suggestion 

that it is not quite what is wanted or needed,

to say that it will serve my turn is to employ a 

cliche. 

service; duty. Service, an act of helpful activity, 

is one of the great cant words of the twentieth 

century (Why don? you stop in at our gentswear 

department and let us be of service to 

you). Duty is that which one is bound to do by 

moral or legal obligation (To do my duty in 

that state of life unto which it shall please (God 

to call me). It was a cant word of our grandfather’s 

generation, and whereas service, when 

abused, is often simply fatuous, the greed showing 

innocently through the thin plating of altruism, 

duty, when abused, was often simster, 

masking cruelties and tyrannies of the most 

dreadful kind. 

Though it properly describes work or duty 

performed in the interest of another, obviously 

much service in its general usage is either duty 

without altruistic intent or self-regarding action 

hypocritically advertised as something else. 

Service with a Smile may mean cheerful robbrY. 

service; render service; serve. Though some authorities 

in England are reluctant to accept it, 

service as a transitive verb is well established in 

American usage. It means to give such service 

to as is necessary to maintain in working order, 

to make fit for service, to restore to condition 

for service, and is usually used with reference to 

mechanical things (Let us service your automobile, 

television set, refrigerator, etc.). In colloquial 

usage it has also pretty well ousted serve 

and render service (Three transportation lines 

will service the Fair). 

A service man is one who comes to a house 

to service the various mechanical devices that 

need expert repair or maintenance. He is in no 

sense a servant, but one whose services must be 

sought with solicitude, who must be treated with 

obsequious respect, and whose shortcomings, 

even in his professed skills, must be delicately 

ignored. (A serviceman is a member of the 

army or navy.) 

serviette; napkin. When Americans say napkin, 

they mean a rectangular piece of paper or linen 

or cotton cloth used at table to wipe the lips 

and hands and to protect the clothes (Fold 

your napkins, children; don’t leave them wadded 

in heaps on the table that way!). In England, 

however, where diapers (once a euphemism) 

have come widely to be called napkins, napkins, 

to avoid the unsavory connotation, are 

often called serviettes. The word serviette is also 

employed in America, but not very widely .and 

more as a touch of elegance than of modesty, 

though with the increasing use of napkin in 

“feminine hygiene” serviette may gain wider 

currency in the United States. At the momlsnt, 

however, napkin, both the word and the thing, 

is in itself sufficiently elegant for the millions 

to need no substitute. 

An interesting illustration of the importance 

of connotation in meaning is supplied, in connection 

with the word napkin, by the airlines. 

Some of the lines have been attempting to per- 

445 set 

suade their passengers to tuck their napkins, at 

mealtimes, in their collars so that they will protect 

the whole front instead of merely, as when 

more elegantly placed across the knees, the lap. 

On an airliner this is sensible and if followed 

would prevent a great deal of annoyance and 

complaint. The difficulty is that this generation 

of Americans, particularly those of the social 

groups from which a large portion of airline 

passengers is drawn, has been taught that tucking 

the napkin into the neck instead of laying 

it across the lap is, if not downright bad manners, 

at least rustic and inelegant. Some genius 

in the service of the airlines has, therefore, 

struck upon the happy idea of putting the instructions 

in French, the language above all 

languages of prandial elegance, and upon each 

tray is placed a small card suggesting serviette 

au cou. A simple drawing, above the inscription, 

of a clean and happy gourmand with his 

napkin in the proper place removes all possible 

doubt and, at the same time, leaves the passenger 

with the flattering realization that he can 

read French. 

session. See cession. 

set. The past tense is set. The participle is also set. 

Originally this verb meant “cause to sit” and, 

by extension, “put.” Unlike the verb sit, which 

could not be used with an object, set implied 

an object that was acted upon as well as an 

agent. But both object and agent did not have 

to be mentioned every time the verb appeared. 

There were two constructions in which set was 

used apparently without an object. 

1. When the object was the agent’s own body, 

as in set yourself down, the pronoun was sometimes 

omitted, as in set down and rest your 

bones. This construction is still heard but is not 

now accepted as standard. It was condemned by 

grammarians, who claimed that sit was required 

in sentences of this kind that did not have an 

expressed object. For generations, school children 

were told not to use set without an object. 

It seems that they finally learned not to use set 

at all in the sense of “cause to sit.” As set down 

became unacceptable, people began to say sit 

the baby down. This must have distressed the 

purists even more than set down, but apparently 

no one had the heart to struggle against it. Sit 

is now acceptable English for “cause to sit.” Set 

may also be used in this sense, provided the object 

is mentioned. But most people today avoid 

set unless it is quite clear that they do not mean 

“sit.” They say set the baby on his feet but sit 

him in the chair. 

2. When the verb in a sentence is passive, the 

thing acted on, the logical object, becomes the 

grammatical subject and is always mentioned, 

but the agent may be ignored. In many English 

verbs, the active form may be used with a passive 

sense, as in the bout upset, tile washes well, 

the car drives easily. (See passive voice and 

transitive verbs.) This was true for the verb sef. 

People said the jar sets on the shelf and the hen 

is setting, just as we say apples cook quickly 

and dinner is cooking. This use of set was also

set 446 

attacked by the people who objected to ser 

down, but not with the same success. Generations 

of school teachers tried to turn a setting 

hen into a sitting hen and failed. A setting hen 

is still the preferred form. Perhaps rural people 

are naturally conservative. And perhaps they 

had other things to think about. The farmer is 

supposed to have said: “I don’t care whether 

she’s setting or sitting. I want to know when 

she cackle-s whether she’s laying or lying.” The 

teachers also tried to substitute sit for set in 

sentences such as the jar sets on rhe shelf. They 

partly succeeded. This use of set is now felt to 

be questionable English, although it can be justified 

historically. The solution seems to be to 

avoid the problem entirely and say skznd, which 

can be used with or without an object, as in 

I stood it on the shelf and there it stands. A 

garment may either set or sit, as in the coat sets 

well and it sits well. Tailors usually prefer set. 

Set is also used without an object when it 

means “descend,” as in the setting sun, the sun 

sets in the west; and in many derived senses that 

no longer suggest “seated” or “put,” as in the 

plaster set, the blossoms set. 

When used before another verb, set calls attention 

to the beginning of an activity rather 

than the activity itself, as in she set to work in 

contrast to she worked. The second verb may be 

an infinitive, she set him to work, or the -ing 

form introduced by to, as in she set him io chopping 

wood. Set out, in this construction, suggests 

that the action had barely begun and probably 

did not continue, as in she set out to walk. Set in 

suggests that the action that is beginning is ge 

ing to continue for a long time, as in ir set in lo 

rain and she set in to talk. 

set (a social group). See clique. 

set by the ears, a term from the causing of dogs 

to fight, is, when used metaphorically as a term 

for inciting a quarrel among persons or stirring 

up contentiousness in a group, hackneyed. 

set one’s face against. As a term for being determinedly 

opposed to some person or measure, 

especially some proposed but not yet executed 

plan, to set one’s face uguinst it is a cliche. 

set one’s hand to the plow. As an expression for 

having undertaken some project, usually of high 

purpose and importance, with the firm resolve 

of not wavering but carrying it through to a 

successful conclusion, to set one’s hand to the 

plow is a worn-out expression. It is a slight misquotation 

of Luke 9:62: And Jesus said unto 

him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, 

and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. 

No impiety is commonly intended in the use of 

the phrase. It simply has the touch, felt in so 

many agrarian metaphors in our mechanical, 

urban civilization, of old-fashioned, earthy simplicity 

and, hence, sincerity. 

set one’s heart on. As a term for establishing a 

fixed determination to have something or to do 

something, set one’s heart on it is a clichk. A 

point can be made, of course, that such expressions, 

in use for at least five hundred years, 

should be accepted as though they were single 

words, but they are hackneyed and there are 

usually single words that could be used in their 

pIaCeS. 

set one’s teeth on edge. In its metaphorical sense 

of occasioning disgust or strong distaste, the 

phrase it sets my teeth on edge is a clichk. The 

exact meaning of the phrase is obscure. Ezekiel 

18:2, whence it is taken, says The fathers have 

eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are 

set on edge. The sensation to which it alludes is 

known to everyone but it is hard to attach any 

known meaning of edge to a description of it. 

The Vulgate has obstupescere, to be benumbed. 

The earlier expression (says the Oxford English 

Dictionary) was to edge the teeth and this, 

if it meant putting a (sense of) sharpness on 

the teeth, or making them feel as if their edges 

were grating together, conveys a more wmprehensible 

meaning. 

The expression, by the way, is described in 

Ezekiel ( 18 : 3 ) as a uroverb and. at least in the 

Revised standard Version, God commands that 

its use be discontinued. 

set the world on fire. As a way of saying that 

someone is not likely to do anything startlingly 

brilliant in life, to say that he won’t set the 

world on fire is a clich6. This is the American 

version. In England they say that he won’t set 

the Thames on fire and other nations use other 

rivers. In these days of atomic fission and fusion 

the phrase has lost some of its assurance; there’s 

no telling what a violently inclined lad, especially 

if he has a bent for physics, might not do. 

seventh heaven (of delight). As an expression of 

extreme pleasure, ecstasy, the seventh heaven, 

especially the seventh heaven of delight, is a 

clich6. The term is taken from the Babylonian, 

later Jewish, and Mohammedan belief that there 

were seven heavens, the seventh being God’s 

own dwelling. 

several may be used as an adjective or alone as 

if it were a noun or pronoun, as in several men 

agreed with him and several left early. The word 

is always plural and requires a plural verb. 

When used in a series of adjectives it is treated 

as a numeral and placed before descriptive adjectives, 

as in several large brown dogs. See few. 

sew. The past tense is sewed. The participle is 

sewed or sewn. Sewed is the preferred form for 

the participle. Sewn is heard in Great Britain 

more than it is in the United States, and is said 

to be used by women more than by men. 

sewage; sewerage. Sewage is the word for the 

waste matter or refuse that passes through a 

sewer. Sewerage is the word for the removal of 

waste water and refuse by means of sewers. It 

is also the word for a system of sewers (The 

sewerage of rainwater in heavy downpours is a 

serious problem in the lower parts of the city. 

The removal of sewage through the sewerage). 

Usage permits also the use of sewerage as a 

substitute term for sewage. But of the two, 

sewage is preferable since it is unequivocal. 

sewn. See sew. 

sex. See gender. 

shad. The plural is shad, occasionally shads.

shade; window blind. What Americans sometimes 

call a shade (We’ll be needing new shades 

in the kitchen soon. The old ones are worn out 

and the afternoon sunlight is unbearable), the 

English, in correct and general speech, call only 

a window blind. 

shade and shadow both designate a partial darkness, 

an area in which the brightness and heat 

of the sun or some other source of light dsoes 

not fall. Shade differs from shadow in that it 

implies no definite form or limit (Within the 

forest there was a cool and refreshing shade. 

In the shade of the old apple tree); while 

shadow represents in form, though often distorted, 

the object which has intercepted the 

light (He would quarrel with a man for stepping 

on the shadow of his dog). Although 

shadow is often used in literature as a loose 

synonym for shade (In the deep shadows of the 

narrow courts), it usually has a sinister or eerie 

connotation, suggesting that the darkness is projected 

by objects or living things, even though 

imperfectly apprehended. Shade is almost always 

a word of pleasing connotations. Shadow 

can be, and used to be more so than now (the 

shadow of a great rock in a weary land), but 

it is becoming increasingly suggestive of something 

threatening or mysterious. 

As a synonym for ghost, shade is gently poetic 

(Nor e’er was to the bowers of bliss conveyed/ 

A fairer spirit or more welcome shade). 

shadow of one’s former self. To say of someone 

wasted by sickness or fallen from greatness or 

faded in reputation that he is but a shadow of 

his former self is to employ a cliche. 

shake. The past tense is shook. The participle is 

shaken. 

Stand once had the same pattern as shake, 

with a past tense stood and a participle stuna’en, 

as in I have stunden here an hour. New participles, 

stood and shook, as in I have shook his 

hand, appeared in the language about the same 

time but have had very different histories. Stood 

has succeeded in driving out standen and! is 

now the only form of the participle used. H,ave 

shook, on the other hand, was still a competing 

literary form in the nineteenth century but is 

now definitely considered incorrect. Words l.ike 

these show us how completely grammar depends 

on usage and how unwise it would be to generalize 

or legislate about what “ought” to be 


shake off the dust from one’s feet. As a way of 

expressing one’s determination to leave a place 

for which one has a fixed dislike, with a firm 

resolution not to return, and to make, in le.aving, 

a clear gesture of aversion, to shake ofl the 

dust from one’s feet is now hackneyed. It is 

from the Bible, from Christ’s instructions to his 

disciples regarding their behavior when men 

shall not receive them nor hear their words.. In 

Luke 9:5 it is shake off the very dust from your 

feet. In Mark 6: 11 it is shake ofl the dust under 

your feet. And in Matthew 10: 14, shake ofl the 

dust of your feet. Partridge says that this last 

was the original form. 

447 shall 

shall; should. In American English shall is always 

a present subjunctive, and should a past subjunctive, 

auxiliary. 

These words are forms of a verb which originally 

meant “owe.” There is no corresponding 

infinitive, no imperative, no -ing form, and no 

past participle. Shall is a present tense form but 

it does not have the characteristic final s in the 

third person singular. This is because it is an 

old past tense that has wme to be felt as a 

present tense. Should is a newer past tense created 

for it, but it too is now used in speaking 

about the present and the future. In the United 

States should is not felt as a past tense form of 

shall, but as an independent verb similar to must 

and ought. 

Since shall and should are both grammatically 

past tense forms, just as the word went 

is, neither of these words can follow (that is, 

be dependent on) another verb. We can no 

more say can shall or did should than we can 

say can went or did went. Since we cannot use 

auxiliaries, such as do, be, have, we form negative 

statements and ask questions in the old 


as in he shall not and why shouldn’t he?. 

Shall and should are themselves auxiliaries 

and require another verb to complete their 

meaning. They are followed by the simple form 

of the verb, as in he shall leave, he should 

leave, or by have and the past participle to 

express completed action, as in he shall have 

left, he should have left. The complementary 

verb must be actually stated or easily supplied 

from the context, as in shall we sturt? and do 

you think we should?. 

In American English shall always implies 

compulsion. It is used chiefly in questions where 

it asks about the wishes or commands of the 

person spoken to, as in shall I wait?, shall we 

dunce?. Shall is not used in negative questions 

and it is not used in second person questions. 

To most Americans shall you? sounds like a 

ridiculous affectation. 

When used in a statement, shall in the second 

or third person, as in you shall listen to me and 

he shall stay in bed, implies that the speaker has 

the power to compel. It is used in the negative 

more often than in the affirmative and to children 

more often than to adults. The English 

negative form shan’t is understood but is seldom 

used. Many Americans believe that it is an illiteracy. 

Must, have to, have got to, also express 

necessity but do not attribute it to the speaker’s 

will. It is therefore considered more polite to 

say you must listen or you have got to listen 

than to say you shall listen. Forms of the verb 

to be followed by a to-infinitive express a milder 

and vaguer form of compulsion and are considered 

even more polite, as in you are to stay 

in bed. 

Shall is sometimes heard in a tirst person 

statement, as in I shall be there. Here the speaker 

may be using the word in the English manner, 

but most Americans will hear it as an expression 

of determination, a self-imposed coercion.

shall 448 

I will be there is heard as a simple statement 

about the future. Z shall be there is heard as a 

promise or a reassurance. When this is inappropriate, 

as in Z shall be late, it is heard as “an 

un-American way of talking.” (For the British 

use of shall and should as simple future tense 

auxiliaries, see shall; will.) 

In the United States should usually carries 

the meaning of “ought to.” It is used in this 

sense in all persons and in all types of sentences. 

Like “ought to,” it may express what is morally 

binding, what is expedient, or what is merely 

expected, as in he should return the money, a 

liar should have a good memory, they should 

be here any minute. In these senses should may 

be followed by have and the past participle of 

the meaningful verb and refer to a past event, 

as in he should have started earlier. 

Should is not used in America as a past tense 

form of shall. The statement he shall not go 

repeated in a past tense form would be Z said 

he could not go or Z said he wasn’t to go, and 

not Z said he should not go. 

Should is sometimes used simply as a sign of 

the present subjunctive, without any meaning of 

its own. This is particularly true when a speaker 

wants to suggest uncertainty or soften a state 

ment in a construction that no longer requires 

the subjunctive, as in I’m sorry it should be this 

way and It’s strange that they should be so 

powerful. Here a statement about matters of 

fact calling for is or are has been softened by 

should into a statement about opinions. In who 

should Z see but Mr. Jones?, should has the 

effect of making the question equivalent to who 

do you think Z saw?. 

In England should is used after verbs of requiring, 

suggesting, desiring, where Americans 

still use a present subjunctive. That is, an 

Englishman would say it is necessary that he 

should come to the ofice where an American 

would be more likely to say it is necessary that 

he come to the ofice. Should is used in place 

of a present subjunctive in hypothetical clauses 

in both England and America, as in if he should 

come, Z will tell you. Should used in a conditional 

clause is treated as a present subjunctive 

and does not require a past tense subjunctive 

auxiliary in the conclusion. It can be placed 

before its subject to indicate a condition without 

the use of the word if, as in should he come. 

See subjunctive mode. 

&all; will. The two verbs shall and will are used 

to express three ideas. Will expresses volition 

or willingness. Shall expresses obligation or 

compulsion. In these primary senses both verbs 

refer to the future. But we often want to speak 

about a future event without saying whether it 

is to come to pass by or against anyone’s wilf 

To do this, one of these verbs must be accepted 

as a mere sign of futurity. When it is so 

accepted, it loses its original meaning of volition 

or obligation. 

An American grammarian writing in 1784 

said: “Will, as an auxiliary term, is a mere sign 

of futurity . . . shall, even as an auxiiiarysign, 

always denotes something more than mere fu- 

turity, and constantly implies either obligation, 

possibility, contingency, or something conditional, 

and very often several of these together.” 

This is the way will and shall were used in Old 

English. And it is the way they are used in 

American English today. In this country will 

is the empty auxiliary that can be used to indicate 

mere futurity, in all persons and in all 

types of sentences. 

There was a period in English literature when 

this was not true. During the sixteenth century 

and earlier, in literary English at least, shall 

indicated simple futurity and will kept its meaning 

of volition. In the King James Bible shall 

is used as we would now use will, as in the Lord 

shall preserve thee from all evil and goodness 

and mercy shall follow me all the days of my 

life. Similarly, Macbeth is using should as we 

now use would when he says of his wife she 

should have died hereafter. 

Some, but not all, of these sixteenth century 

shall’s and should’s are used by educated 

Englishmen today. According to the Oxford 

English Dictionary, “since the middle of the 

seventeenth century the general rule (subject 

to various exceptions) has been that mere 

futurity is expressed in the first person by shall, 

in the second and third bv will. In indirectlv 

reported speech, usage permits either the retention 

of the auxiliary used by the original speaker 

or the substitution of that which is appropriate 

to the point of view of the person reporting.” 

The “various exceptions” are important and 

numerous. Nothing is said here about the forms 

used in a question. Anyone who wants to know 

more about this should consult The King’s English 

by H. W. and F. G. Fowler. In this delightful 

book fifty pages are devoted to the problems of 

verbs and twenty of these are taken up with the 

difference between shall and will. 

No American should attempt to use the 

British shall and should until he has studied 

the subject thoroughly. If he does. he will certainly 

misuse them and speak an’English that 

is offensive on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Americans should, however, remember that an 

Englishman is likely to say Z should or we 

should where an American would use would. 

For example, an Englishman sees nothing outrageous 

in the sentence, the doctor thought Z 

should die. Again, the Englishman who wrote: 

never in our hours of temptation should we 

sacrifice to the mere need for logical consistency 

our interest, our passion, our vanity, did not 

mean that we ought not to be guided by reason 

but simply that, in a crisis, we wouldn’t be. 

In the United States a few people use the 

British shall and will. A few more consider Z 

shall a decorative expression but do not use 

we shall or should as an Englishman does. But 

for most Americans, shall always means an 

order and should usually means an obligation. 

In this country will is used as the future auxiliary 

in all persons and in all types of sentences. 

The British I shall is recognized as something 

unfamiliar and “foreign.” The British Z should is 

simply misunderstood. No American sees any-

thing ridiculous in such sentences as: will you 

be late?, I’m afraid I will, will we regret it?, 

would you be able to recognize lzim?, I will not 

be able to finish it today. (To understand how 

these sentences sound to an Englishman, an 

American should substitute the appropriate 

form of “be willing to” for will or would.) 

An American grammarian writing in 1868, 

who must have spent more time reading his 

Bible than he spent talking with his neighbors, 

considered the American use of these auxiliaries 

a sin and a menace to the public safety. “‘To 

disregard obligation in the laying out of fut.ure 

action,” he cried, “making arbitrary resolve the 

sole guide, is a lesson which the community 

ought not to learn from any section or class, 

in language any more than in political iand 

social conduct.” But this warning seems to have 

made no impression on his countrymen. In 

current American speech will occurs 217 times 

for every shall; and would occurs nine times 

for every slzould. Etymologically speaking, we 

are a very willful people. (See also shall; should 

and will; would and future tense.) 

shambles were originally benches or stalls in the 

market, especially those benches or stalls on 

which butchers exposed their meat for sale 

(Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat). 

Where the market was large and the stalls fixed, 

the shambles came to indicate the section of 

the market reserved for the butchers (The 

shambles remain one of the most picturesque 

parts of the old town of York). This meaning 

is still retained in some parts of England. 

More broadly, shambles is used to describe 

any place of carnage that in its bloody horror 

would suggest the butchers’ stalls (The afterdeck 

of the PC 565 was a shambles; thirteen 

dead men lay under fight navy blankets). Today 

shambles is used even more loosely, especially 

by journalists in search of the more lurid word, 

to describe a scene of material wreckage, though 

there may have been no loss of life or blood 

(The robber, in his haste to find the money 

and get away before Delancey returned, had 

turned the place into a shambles). This meaning 

is not yet standard, however, and the careful 

writer will avoid it-as he will all excessi.ve 

terms. 

share. See part; portion. 

shares. See stock. 

shark, as a word for a person who preys greedily 

on others (Since his expenses exceeded kis 

income, he soon fell into the hands of the loan 

sharks), is a standard word in English and 

American usage. It would seem, at first thought, 

to be a figurative use of shark, the ferocious, 

elasmobranch fish; but there is more likelihood 

that the fish was named after the man than that 

the man was named after the fish. In America 

shark has the additional slang meaning of one 

who has unusual ability in a particular field 

(He was a shark at mathematics). The English 

slang equivalent is whale, in the sense of being 

a big fish among little ones. 

shave. The past tense is shaved. The participle is 

shaved or shaven. Shaved is the preferred form 

449 shibboleth 

for the participle. One may still say he has 

already shaverz, but this is now rare. Shaven is 

preferred to shaved when used as an adjective, 

as in a well shaven face. 

she. See subjective pronouns. 

sheaf. The plural is sheaves. 

shear. The past tense is sheared. The participle is 

sheared or shorn. Only the old form of the participle, 

shorn, can be used when speaking of a 

tonsure. Otherwise, in the United States the 

participle slzeared is preferred when the word 

is meant literally, as in the sheep have been 

sheared of their fieece, and the participle shorn 

when the word is meant figuratively, as in the 

men have been shorn of their power. In Great 

Britain shorn is still used in a literal sense and 

one may say the sheep have been shorn. 

shears. The plural form refers to one instrument 

but is usually treated as a plural, as in these 

shears are sharp. It may also be treated as a 

singular, especially after a qualifying word, as 

in here is a pruning shears. But the form here 

is a pair of shears is more usual. The construction 

with pair must be used after a numeral, as 

three pairs of shears. The singular form shear 

is preferred as the first element in a compound, 

such as shear handles and shear manufacturers. 

sheaves. This is the plural of sheaf. 

shed. The past tense is shed. The participle is also 

shed. 

sheep. The plural is sheep. 

sheer. One of the meanings of sheer is “unqualified” 

(A conviction of inward defilement so 

sheer took possession of me that death seemed 

better than life). In this sense the word is 

greatly overworked, especially in such semicliches 

as sheer folly, sheer ignorance, sheer 

physical exhaustion, and sheer nonsense. The 

word need not be avoided, but it should be used 

sparingly. There are many good substitutes, 

some of them more effective in some contexts. 

Among these may be listed: utter, absolute, 

downright, unmixed, simple, mere, bare, and 

unqualified. 

shelf. The plural is shelves. 

shell game; thimblerig. Shell game is the American 

term for a swindling game in which a small 

object, such as a pea or a pebble, is concealed 

under one of a number of walnut shells in such 

a way as to make it seem to have been placed 

under another and the unwary persuaded to bet 

on what they believe to be the evidence of their 

senses. The English term is thimblerig, their 

swindlers employing small thimblelike cups 

instead of shells. In both America and England 

the verb to rig means to manipulate fraudulently 

(Small investors certainly believe the 

market is rigged). 

shelves. This is the plural of shelf. 

shibboleth is sometimes used as if it meant slogan. 

It does not. It means a peculiarity of pronunciation, 

or a habit, or a mode of dress, or something 

of that sort, which distinguishes a particular 

class or set of persons. It is a Hebrew 

word meaning (it is generally believed) a 

stream in flood. Jephthah’s men used it (Judges, 

12:4-6) as a test word to distinguish the flee-

shine 450 

ing Ephraimites (who could not “frame to 

pronounce” the sound sh but pronounced it s 

instead) from their own men, many of the 

Ephraimites claiming to be Gileadites. 

shine. The past tense is shone. The participle is 

also shone. 

The verb meaning “cause to shine” is formed 

regularly with the past tense and participle 

shined, as in he shined the light on the water 

and he shined his shoes. This is literary English. 

In current speech the form shone is often used 

in the sense of “make a light shine,” as in he 

shone the light on the water. This is condemned 

by some grammarians but is acceptable to many 

educated people. Only the form shined is used 

in the sense of “make shiny,” as in he shined 

his shoes. 

Shine may be followed by an adjective describing 

what shines, as in the light shone red. 


the shining, as in the light shone redly. 

There is usually no difference in meaning between 

the two forms. 

shingle. The basic sense of shingle, in America 

and England, is a thin piece of wood (or asbestos 

or asphalt-impregnated paper made to 

resemble wood shingles), usually oblong and 

with one end thicker than the other, used in 

overlapping rows to cover the roofs and sides 

of houses (The wind ripped off most of the 

shingles on the north side). It also described a 

type of hair cut (a shingle-bob) in which the 

hair being cut short and unevenly gave the back 

of the head the appearance of having been 

covered with shingles. It was popular in the 

1920’s. 

The word has other meanings connected with 

this basic meaning. In America shingle is also 

a colloquial term to describe a small signboard, 

especially that of a professional man (Soon 

after he passed his state bar examination, 

Johnson hung oat his shingle in the town of 

Waterman). To hang out one’s shingle is often 

used figuratively for commencing one’s professional 

career. In England shingle (perhaps 

onomatopoeic and not connected with shingle 

except by coincidence of sound) is used a great 

deal to describe small, waterwom stones or 

pebbles lying in loose sheets or beds on the 

seashore, or an extent of such stones or pebbles 

(The sea of faith . . . Retreating . . . down the 

vast edges dreur/ And nuked shingles of the 

world). 

Shingle, usually plural shingles, the disease 

herpes poster, is a wholly different word. 

When shingle means a wedge-shaped piece 

of wood, it is a true singular and has a plural 

in s, as in one shingle and three shingles. 

When shingles means a disease, it has no 

singular form shingle. But the plural form shingles 

may be treated as a plural or as a singular. 

We may say shingles are serious; how long has 

he had them? or shingles is serious; how long 

has he had it? 

Either shingle or shingles may be used in 

speaking of the pebbles covering a beach. Both 

forms mean exactly the same thing. Both are 

mass nouns. Shingles does not mean any more 

of the stuff than shingle does. Shingles in this 

sense cannot be used with a numeral and shingle 

cannot be used with the article u. 

ship as a verb means in England to put or take 

on board a ship or the like, for transportation. 

In America ship means this and in addition may 

mean to send or transport by rail, road, or air 

(I shipped my trunk to New York by rail; so 

it was at the pier when I embarked). 

ship; boat; vessel. Vessel is the general term to 

describe a craft for traveling on water, now 

especially any craft larger than an ordinary 

rowboat. Bout is the term for a small craft, 

propelled by oars, sails, or other means, which 

is not seagoing. Byron, experienced in these 

matters, made the proper distinction more than 

a century ago: My boat is on the shore,/ And 

my bark is on the sea. Boat also describes a 

small craft carried for use on the deck of a 

large vessel (lifeboat, whaleboat) and is retained 

in a number of combinations (such as 

ferryboat, gunbout, and Cross-Channel boar). 

Then there are some boats with long cruising 

radiuses, such as the German WWII E-boats 

and Allied motor torpedo bouts. But with such 

exceptions, it is a mark of ignorance to call any 

ship a bout. A ship is a large vessel or an 

airplane. 

Ship of State. One of the most hackneyed of 

metaphors, the Ship of State has now for over 

twenty-five hundred years weathered storms, 

remained on an even keel, been threatened with 

shipwreck, been becalmed, kept on her course, 

been clogged with and cleared of barnacles, impeded 

by the remora, shivered her timbers, been 

brought or not brought to her desire-d haven in 

safety, and otherwise figuratively driven by the 

winds of rhetoric. She is the Flying Dutchman 

of political oratory and has had more bilge 

pumped out of her than all the actual vessels 

afloat. But as a trope she is now waterlogged 

and should be scuttled. 

shipment. See freight. 

ships that pass in the night. As a term for people 

who meet by chance, find each other interesting 

or attractive, but are compelled to part 

and go their ways and are not likely to meet 

again, ships that pass in the night (taken from 

Longfellow) is a good thing overworked. 

shirk. This verb may be followed by the -ing 

form of a verb, as in she shirks washing the 

dishes, but not by an infinitive or by a clause. 

shoe. The past tense is shod. The participle is also 

shod. A new past tense and participle shoed is 

sometimes heard but it is still rare. 

shoe. See hoot. 

shone. See shine. 

shook. See shake. 

shoot. The past tense is shot. The participle is also 

shot. 

shoot one’s bolt. A bolt is an arrow, especially 

a short, thick arrow, usually called a quarrel, 

shot from a crossbow. The crossbow was more 

deadly than the lougbow but it took longer-

particularly in the arbalest, where the ejecting 

string was wound up with a ratchet-to prepare 

a quarrel for shooting than it did to adjust the 

older type of arrow and draw back the bowstring. 

A crossbowman was more to be feared 

in battle than a longbowman-until he had shot 

his bolt. And then he was less to be feared and, 

indeed, until he had reloaded his crossbow, 

quite vulnerable. He had, therefore, to hold his 

bolt until it could be used most effectively and, 

above all, he had to resist excited urges to shoot 

the bolt before it would be most effective. 

Hence there was a proverb, A fooPs bolt is 

soon shot. 

Swift listed You have shot your bolt as a 

hackneyed phrase in 1738. 

shop; store. Etymologically, a shop is a place in 

which things are made or shaped, a store is a 

place in which they are stored. Both words are 

used in England and America, but often with 

different applications. 

As a noun, shop is preferred to store in 

England to describe a place for selling goods. 

In America store (in modern times usually the 

more accurate word) is preferred to shop, 

though exclusive and high-priced stores, especially 

those that restrict their sales to some 

specialty, tend to call themselves shops, perhaps 

to exploit the prestige often associated with 

British merchandise. Many of the great department 

stores maintain special departments 

known as The College Shop or The Misses’ 

Shop or some such thing. 

Shop is retained in America in its older sense 

of the place where things are shaped or made 

in such phrases as machine shop or rail.road 

shops. We speak of a shoe repair shop, a barber 

shop, a cabinet shop, and so on. In America a 

shopman is a worker in a workshop. In England 

a shopman is one who sells things over the 

counter. In America a closed shop is a shop in 

which union membership is a condition of 

hiring as well as of employment, or one in 

which the employer must call on the union to 

furnish employees. An open shop is a nonu:nion 

shop which may or may not employ union 

members together with nonmembers, but which 

does not recognize or deal with a union as the 

representative of the employees; or, an antiunion 

shop in which union members are not 

knowingly employed; or, a shop in which a 

union, because chosen by a majority of the 

employees, acts as representative of all the employees 

in making agreements with the employer, 

but in which union membership is not 

a condition of employment. See also store. 

shop, as a verb, has a somewhat looser definition 

in America than in England. Though in both 

countries as an intransitive verb it means to 

visit shops for the purpose of purchasing or 

examining goods, in America shop (especially 

among American women) often means little 

more than to go on a tour of inspection with 

no thought of buying at present. Hence the 

expression window shop. The English are as 

great shoppers in this sense as Americans but 

451 showdown 

they put the matter more obliquely, in expressions 

such as go around the shops. 

shorn. See shear. 

short; shortly. Short may be used as an adjective, 

as in a short distance. Either form may be used 

as an adverb, as in he stopped short and they 

will be here shortly. Either form may mean 

“curtly”; otherwise, the form shortly means 

“in a short time,” and the form short is used 

for all the other senses of the word. See also 

brief. 

short and sweet, as a term for something brief 

but enjoyable, is hackneyed. So is a short life 

but a merry one for a gay, adventurous career 

that may be cut short. It is far more often 

spoken of lives that may be short than of those 

that actually are or were. 

short shrift, give. Though shrift originally meant 

penance, especially a penance prescribed in 

writing it came to mean auricular confession 

and the sacrament of penance. Criminals, when 

execution often followed almost immediately 

upon judgment, were usually allowed a brief 

interval for confession, so that their souls would 

not suffer. Hence short shrift came to mean a 

brief respite and to give short shrift to make 

short work of, usually, as of a summary dismissal, 

in dealing unfavorably with someone 

in one’s power. Shrift is now an archaic or 

historical word and the phrase to give short 

shrift a cliche. 

shot. When shot means the ammunition, it has 

the plural shot, as in piles of shot and shells. 

It may be treated as a mass word and used with 

a singular verb, as in much shot was wasted, or 

as a true plural, as in two shot have fallen to the 

leeward. 

In all other senses the word has a regular 

plural shots, as in I’ve taken three shots at it 

and they were both good shots. See shoot. 

should. See shall. 

show. The past tense is showed. The participle is 

shown or showed. Shown is used more often 

than showed as a participle, as in I have shown 

you how to do it. 

show a clean pair of heels. Why the heels displayed 

by those who depart suddenly in fear 

or escape should be clean is not clear. Perhaps 

it simply means disencumbered. It used to be 

a fair pair of heels and a light pair of heels. 

Perhaps in the humorous suggestion of not 

waiting for shoes or stockings there is a suggestion 

that the naked heels would look white and 

clean. But whatever it may mean or have meant, 

the phrase is now exhausted. 

show the white feather. As a figure of speech for 

manifesting cowardice, 10 show the white feuther, 

a metaphor drawn from gamecocks, a white 

feather in whose tails (it is said) is a mark of 

inferior breeding, is a cliche. 

showdown is drawn from the game of poker. It 

describes the laying down of one’s cards, face 

up, as a player declares his hand. More generally, 

it means any forced disclosure of actual 

resources or power. It is now used colloquially 

to mean any trial of strength or even a personal

shower 452 

quarrel. When it comes to a showdown is a 

pretty hackneyed phrase. 

shower. As a verb, shower has different idiomatic 

uses in England and America. In America one 

showers a person with objects or words; in 

England one showers objects or words on a 

person. 

As a noun, shower has the special meaning 

in America of a social gathering in which the 

guests (almost always women) bestow presents 

on a prospective bride or mother. 

showy. See loud. 

shrank. See shrink. 

shred. The past tense is shredded or shred. The 

participle is also shredded or shred. Shredded 

is generally preferred for the past tense and for 

the participle, but both forms are acceptable. 

shriek. See scream. 

shrink. The past tense is shrank or shrunk. The 

participle is shrunk or shrunken. In Great 

Britain the past tense shrunk is no longer used 

and the participle shrunken is seldom heard 

except as an adjective. In the United States we 

may still say it shrunk and it has shrunken. 

shrive. The past tense is shrived or shrove. The 

participle is shriven or shrived. 

shrunk. See shrink. 

shuffle off thii mortal coil. As a term for dying, 

commonly used with an arch jocosity, shufle ofJ 

rhis mortal coil is a clicht. A punishment to fit 

the crime of using it would be to require the 

user to explain exactly what it means. The 

habitual offender should be compelled to read 

all of the explanations of its meanings offered 

by the various commentators. That mortal coil 

means the turmoil of this mortal life is generally 

agreed, though there are those who insist that 

it means noise and others who think it may 

mean something which coils about us. To shufle 

ofl may mean to go with clumsy steps or a 

shambling gait, but the best opinion is that in 

this context it means to get rid of evasively, to 

dispose of in a perfunctory and unsatisfactory 

manner. 

shut. The past tense is shut. The participle is also 

shur. In the United States we say that the door 

swung, blew, banged, etc., shut. This is a 

Scottish idiom not used in England, where they 

say the door swung, blew, banged, etc., to. 

shut; close. These verbs both mean to cause 

something not to be open. Close is somewhat 

more refined than shut and more suitable in 

figurative contexts (The library is closed on 

weekends). Shuf is the informal word referring 

especially to blocking or barring openings intended 

for literal or figurative ingress and 

egress. It is less refined than close but more 

vigorous and where vigor and vernacular 

strength are wanted, more effective (2’11 show 

him he can’t shut the door in my face!). See 

also close. 

shut up, as a suggestion to someone that he stop 

talking, though rude, is not ungrammatical. It 

is an idiom long in use and did not always have 

the ill nature and hostility now generally associated 

with it. King Duncan in Macbeth, going 

to bed in Macbeth’s castle, sent gifts and greetings 

to his most kind hostess and then, having 

said his gracious goodnight, shut up in measureless 

content. 

Even where the worst construction may be 

put on the phrase, it is often suitable and almost 

always effective. Its terseness avoids the imputation 

of the very fault it seeks to check and 

often, with the gabby, two words, and they 

edgewise, are all an unwilling auditor can get 

in. And it fulfills the highest purposes of language 

in that it conveys to the one spoken to, 

with unequivocal clarity and irreducible brevity, 

the speaker’s meaning, mood, and attitude 

towards him. 

shy. See modest. 

sic is a Latin word meaning thus. It is not an 

abbreviation and is not followed by a period. 

sick. See ill. 

sickness; illness; disease; malady; ailment; indisposition. 

Sickness is the common, everyday 

word (Such a sickness leaves you weak for 

months afterwards. We’ve had a lot of sickness 

this winter). Illness is a more formal word 

and is often attached to more serious sicknesses 

(He’s never been the same since that long illness. 

The President’s illness made it necessary 

to postpone the Cabinet meeting). Though in its 

origin, disease meant any deviation from a state 

of ease (Alexander Pope spoke of this long 

disease, my life), it now designates an organic 

deviation involving structural change, serious, 

active, prolonged and deep-rooted (Tuberculosis, 

one of the most dreaded of human 

diseases . . .). A malady is a lingering, chronic 

disease, usually painful and often fatal (Sleeping 

sickness, a malady which ravaged the entire 

region and made it almost uninhabitable . . . 

There’s no cure for the malady of age). Ailment 

is often used lightly to describe some 

minor affliction, but it may also be used of 

something more serious, especially when the 

exact nature of the sickness is not known to the 

speaker (He had some ailment, I don’t know 

what; but it seemed to keep him away from 

work a great deal). Indisposition is a rather 

ponderous euphemism for sickness. It is often 

preceded by slight and is never used of a serious 

sickness. 

side may be used with or without of in phrases 

that begin with on and indicate a place, as in 

on this side the grave and on both sides the 

river. The construction without of is not used 

today as much as formerly but is still acceptable 

English. 

In its literal sense side is clear enough. But 

its figurative and compound uses need some 

discussion. The English, for instance, use side 

to mean pretentious airs, or pretension itself. If 

a person is unpretentious in a praiseworthy 

sense, they say he has “No swank, no side.” 

Americans call one who puts on side “a stuffed 

shirt” or else get downright abusive. The American 

expression on the side is roughly equivalent 

to such English terms as “an extra,” “by the 

way,” or “into the bargain” (He worked for

the Post Obce as a mail carrier and drove u 

dry cleaning truck on the side). 

In American cities side is used to deslzribe 

regions with reference to a central space. New 

Y&k, for example, has its East Side, Chicago its 

Near North Side. West Side. South Side. and 

so on. This practice is not “niGersal and unvarying, 

however, though in many smaller towns, 

until quite recently, the railroad tracks served 

as a line of social demarcation and to come 

from the wrong side of the tracks meant to 

have had an unfortunate and undesirable social 

background. In London, end is the equiv,alent 

term; the West End refers to the fashionable 

section, the East End to a working-class area. 

Sideburns, a name for a special arrangement 

of the whiskers worn with an unbearded 

chin, is an exclusively American term. The 

fashion was named after General Ambrose. 

Bumside, a Union general in the Civil War. The 

English word for whiskers so worn is dundrearies, 

named after a comic character, :Lord 

Dundreary, in Tom Taylor’s Our American 

Cousin. In American equestrian circles, a sidecheck 

is what the English call a bearing-rein, 

a checkrein carried at the side of a horse’s 

head. Both English and Americans use the term 

side-step meaning to step, or avoid by stepping, 

to one side. In England the term is most often 

used in accounts of Rugby football. In America 

the term is most often used figuratively, meaning 

to evade, as decisions, problems (Each 

party sidestepped certain issues in the interest 

of unity). Sideswipe is an American term mleaning 

to strike with a sweeping stroke or blow 

with or along the side. In its commonest use it 

describes a malpractice of reckless motorists. 

American sidewalk designates a walk, especially 

a paved one, at the side of a street or road. 

The equivalent English term is pavement. 

American side-wheeler, describing a vessel with 

a uaddle wheel on each side. is in England a 

paddle-boat. 

side of the angels. It was Disraeli, in a speech 

at the Oxford Diocesan Conference in 1864. 

who first announced that he was on the side oi 

the angels. By this he meant, as he said, that 

in the controversy then raging over organic 

evolution he was with those who believed that 

man was not related to the apes but to the 

angels. The phrase became immediately and 

immensely popular and passed into use as a 

way of saying that one took a spiritual ,view 

of matters. In modem use it frequently means 

nothing more than that the person spoken of 

is on our side in some controversy. 

sideways; sidewise. These forms are equally 

acceptable. 

sight; spectacle. A spectacle is, in its basic scmes, 

anything presented to the sight or view, especially 

something of striking kind; a public 

show or display, especially on a large scale (The 

fireworks provided a magnificent spectacle). A 

sight may be anything seen or to be se-en. It is 

often derogatory, in a light humorous way 

(That child was a sight! You never saw so much 

signature 

mud on a human being! She was a sight in 

that new hut). Where spectacle is used in this 

sense, there is a subtle difference; one who is a 

sight, is usually ludicrous and to be pitied; one 

who is a spectacle or, more often, makes a 

spectacle of himself, is obnoxiously showy and 

to be resented. When one sees the sights of a 

town he may be seeing spectacles, but more 

often he is only seeing the most interesting 

things that particular town can present to his 

sight. 

sight for sore eyes. As a hearty hyperbole of 

delight at seeing someone, the assurance that 

they are a sight for sore eyes is a clich6, forgiveable, 

however, in its homely exuberance and 

genuine good nature. The meaning is “the sight 

of you is so pleasant that it would heal sore 

eyes.” 

sight unseen is used in America and in some 

English dialects of things which are bought 

without previous inspection, without, indeed, 

even being seen (Many people lost money in 

the Florida boom because they bought lots sight 

unseen and found that they had to remain 

unseen because they were under several feet of 

brackish water). 

signal; single. These words sound nearly alike, 

and sometimes seem to mean the same thing; 

yet they must be differentiated. One singles 

someone out of a group when one pays or 

wishes to pay him some special attention, an 

attention due to this one, single person. It is 

conceivable that one could signal someone out 

of a group by making signals to him that would 

induce him to leave the group, but this use of 

signal is very rare and would almost have to be 

contrived. The confusion caused by the similarity 

of the two words’ sound is heightened by 

the fact that signal as an adjective can mean 

conspicuous or notable, and one singled out 

is almost always conspicuous and if singled out 

by the right person under the right circumstances 

can be notable. 

signature; autograph. A signature is a person’s 

name, or a mark representing it, as signed or 

written by himself or deputy, as in subscribing 

a letter or other document (An illegible signature 

seems the mark of a great executive). A 

man’s signature may be written by himself or 

may be reproduced by engraving or by a mechanical 

device that makes it possible for him 

in writing his signature once to affix it at the 

same time to many similar documents, checks, 

or the like. An autograph is a person’s own 

signature in his own handwriting, but with the 

growing custom of seeking the autographs of 

celebrities, the growth of fan clubs, press agents, 

autograph books, and so on, the word is coming 

to mean chiefly the signature of someone of 

distinction (or someone thought to be of distinction 

or who hopes to be of distinction or 

was of distinction) for an admirer. And among 

those who write autographs there is a distinction 

between an uutograph and a signature. 

Many of those who are asked for autographs 

are known to the public by a professional name,

signed 

wholly different from their actual name. These 

people invariably write their professional names 

as an autograph and their actual names as a 

signature. And most of those who appear 

before the public under their actual names have, 

as a protective measure, a way of writing their 

name for “autographs” distinct from what they 

would consider their signature. 

signed, sealed, and delivered. As an expression 

for something’s being brought to a full and 

satisfactory conclusion, signed, sealed, and delivered, 

a jocular echo of legal terminology, is 

a cliche. 

silent partner; sleeping partner. To describe a 

partner who takes no active part in the conduct 

of a business, or is not openly announced as a 

partner, Americans usually say silent partner, 

sometimes sleeping partner. The English always 

say sleeping partner. 

silver; silverware; plate. Silver and silverware 

seem to be used interchangeably in America to 

describe table utensils, whether made of solid 

silver or merely plated (The thieves took a fur 

coat and a set of silverware. If you’re going on 

a vacation, you’d better put the silver in your 

safe-deposit vault). Utensils of solid silver are 

a little more likely, especially among the upper 

middle classes, to be called silver and the silver. 

Domestic dishes, utensils, etc., of gold or silver 

are in England often referred to coilectively as 

plate (His lordship’s plate alone was valued at 

five thousand pounds). The term is not used in 

this sense in America. 

silver Lining. As a term for a bright aspect of an 

otherwise dark situation, an element of hope 

where things seem hopeless, an assurance that 

things cannot be as bad as they appear to be at 

the moment, a reference to the silver lining is 

hackneyed. It is drawn from the proverb Every 

cloud has a silver lining which is based on the 

common phenomenon of a bright ring encircling 

or partly encircling a storm cloud. The 

actual phrase is highly poetical and would be 

splendid had it not been tarnished by overuse. 

It seems to have originated from Milton’s lines 

in Comus (Was I deceiv’d, or did a sable cloud/ 

Turn forth her silver lining on the night?). 

similaq analogous. Similar means having likeness 

or resemblance, especially in a general way (His 

war experiences were similar to mine). Analogous 

means having analogy-that is, having a 

partial similarity, corresponding in some particular 

(He regarded the resurrection of man as 

analogous to the resurrection of nature in the 

spring. The effect of historical reading is analogous, 

in many respects, to that produced by 

foreign travel). In geometry, figures that are 

similar have the same shape: their corresponding 

sides are proportional and their corresponding 

angles are equal. In biology, analogous 

means corresponding in function but not 

evolved from corresponding organs, as the 

wings of a bee and those of a bird. 

&mile; metaphor. A simile is a direct comparison 

of things, proclaiming itself as such by as or 

454 

like, often introduced for its own sake and 

usually elaborated to display many resemblances 

in its comparison: 

Falstaff frets like gummed velvet 

As when the potent rod 

Of Amram’s son in Egypt’s evil day 

Wav’d round the Coast, up call’d a pitchy 

cloud 

Of Locusts, warping on the Eastern Wind, 

That o’er the Realm of impious Pharaoh hung 

Like Night, and darken’d all the Land of Nile: 

So numberless were those bad Angels seen 

Hovering on wing under the Cope of Hell 

‘Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding Fires; 

Like some bold seer in a trance, 

Seeing all his own mischance- 

With a glassy countenance 

Did she look to Camelot. 

A metaphor is an implied comparison, expressed 

often in a single word, introduced 

usually in order to make a meaning clearer. 

It almost always confines itself to the one 

principal resemblance of the comparison it 

establishes: 

. . . but I tell you, my lord fool, out of this 

nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety 

The hounds of Spring are on Winter’s traces 

The wind came down from heaven 

And smoked in the fields 

In every metaphor there is latent a simile. Every 

metaphor could be expanded into a simile and 

almost every simile could be compressed into a 

metaphor. 

simple sentence. A sentence which contains only 

one clause is called a simple sentence. That is, 

a sentence is grammatically simple if it is impossible 

to lift a second sentence out of it. The 

idea expressed in a simple sentence is not necessarily 

simple. For example, all the king’s horses 

and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty 

Dumpty together again is a simple sentence. 

See sentences. 

simple verb form. The expression “the simple 

form of the verb” is used in this dictionary to 

mean the uninflected form, such as talk. In 

English this form is the infinitive, the imperative, 

the present subjunctive, and the present 

indicative except for the third person singular 

(which normally has an additional s, as in he 

talks); the verb to be is the only exception. 

Here the simple form be is the infinitive, the 

imperative, and the present subjunctive, but not 

the present indicative, which has the three forms 

am, is, are. 

These various forms do not make a reasonable 

group and the expression “the simple form 

of the verb” is sometimes extremely awkward. 

In most cases it is used to avoid the word 

infinitive. More people Seem to have heard of

“the split infinitive” than ever heard of an infinitive 

and to use the term infinitive for something 

obviously unsplittable is to run the risk of 

making oneself incomprehensible. For this :reason, 

in the discussion of specific words, where 

the reader is not expected to have any theo’retical 

understanding of grammar, the infinitive 

with io is called simply an infinitive. It is called 

a to-infinitive when it is being contrasted to the 

simple infinitive, which in turn is called the 

simple form of the verb. 

A few verbs, such as ought, can, must, do not 

have an infinitive or an imperative. These verbs 

are easily recognized by the fact that the third 

person singular in the present tense does not end 

in s. For example, we say they must and also 

he must, they can and also he can. Verbs for 

which this is true are considered not to have a 

“simple form” and are not included in any 

statements made about “the simple form of the 

verb.” 

simply conveys several ideas and needs to be used 

carefully to avoid ambiguity. Basically it means 

in a simple manner (He spoke simply, yet his 

ideas were not superficial), plainly, unaffectedly 

(With such restricted means, he was forced fo 

live simply), artlessly (Others had presented 

these thoughts simply; Pope presented them art- 

fully). 

Three further uses need to be handled with 

care. Simply may mean merely, only (I was 

simply trying fo keep you out of trouble), but 

it may also mean unwisely, foolishly (Simple 

Simon has become a symbol of men who behave 

simply). This last use is now obsolete.. Or 

simply can, and in colloquial use as a vague 

intensive all too often does, mean absolutely 

(She looked simply lovely). This is one of those 

terms which may seem trivial in writing but 

which, its meaning indicated by the proper emphasis, 

can be quite meaningful. 

simulacrum. The plural is simulacru. 

simulate. See dissimulate. 

simultaneous. See synchronous. 

siu. See crime. 

since may be used alone as an adverb, as :in Z 

haven’t seen him since, or it may be used as a 

preposition with a simple object, as in Z haven’t 

seen him since yesterday, or as a conjunction 

introducing a clause, as in Z haven’t seen him 

since he left. In these cases since indicates a 

period of time beginning at the point mentioned 

and extending to and including the time. of 

speaking. In a positive statement the word trver 

may be added to make since more emphatic. 

Since is also used to introduce a clause showing 

cause or reason, as in he must have taken 

it, since it isn’t here. This is standard, literary 

English. The conjunction because always indicates 

a cause, as in ir isn’t here because he took 

it. But since, like the conjunction for, may also 

be used to indicate a result from which one may 

deduce the cause, as in the example given. 

In current English, when since introduces a 

temporal clause, the clause verb must be in the 

455 singular nouns 

simple past tense, and the principal verb in the 

statement must be in the present perfect or past 

perfect tense, as in we have (or had) seen him 

since he left. If a simple past tense is used in 

the principal statement the conjunction after is 

required, as in we saw him after he left. When 

since introduces a statement of cause or reason, 

either verb may have any tense form, but the 

present perfect and past perfect are generally 

avoided in the principal clause. 

sincerely; truly; faithfully. American and English 

practice with regard to the complimentary close 

in letters differ notably. The American business 

letter usually ends Yours truly, Yours very 

truly, or Very truly yours. Formal personal letters 

end Sincerely yours, Yours sincerely, Cordially 

yours, Yours very truly, or Yours truly. 

Intimate personal letters end Yours or with 

various expressions of sentiment. In England 

Yours faithfully or Faithfully yours is used at 

the close of all but intimate personal correspondence. 

It has pretty well ousted Yours truly, 

which was long used in informal communications. 

In personal communications Yours sincerely 

is the conventional term. For some reason 

the English are perturbed at the custom of many 

Americans of using the single word sincerely at 

the close of an informal letter. They seem to 

feel that Yours sincerely is an accepted formula 

that conveys no specific meaning other than a 

courteous leave-taking but that sincerely alone 

is insincere. Sometimes, apparently, the English 

slip and use Yours sincerely when they should 

use the more formal Yours faithfully. Collins 

warns his readers against this, telling them, in 

accents redolent of the Victorian moralists 

Smiles and Tupper, “When one is in doubt it 

is safer to be ‘faithful’ than ‘sincere.“’ 

sine qua non. As a term for something essential, 

an indispensable condition, sine qua non (or 

a sine qua non or the sine qua non), a Latin 

phrase meaning “without which nothing,” is a 

clichC. 

sing. The past tense is sung or sung. The participle 

is sung. Sang is heard more often than sung 

for the past tense today. But seventy-five years 

ago sung was the preferred form. Both forms 

are acceptable in the United States. 

single blessedness. Once a serious expression, 

meaning (according to the Oxford English Dictionary), 

“divine blessing accorded to a life of 

celibacy,” single blessedness, as a term for the 

unmarried state, is now a jocular clicht. 

singular. See unique. 

singular nouns. The singular is the simple, basic 

form of the noun. When it is used to represent 

just one object, a singular noun is qualified by 

singular adjectives, such as one, this, that, much, 

each; is referred to by singular pronouns, such 

as it, he, her; and followed by a singular verb. 

But the singular form of the noun is also used 

in other ways. 

1. Traditionally, the singular form is required 

for the first element in a compound, such 

as tooth ache, child laborers, parcel posl, brain

sink 456 

trust, a five-dollar bill. But in current English, 

especially in the United States, a good many 

plural forms are appearing in this construction, 

as in communicable diseases control, welfare 

services funds, correctional institutions specialist. 

These expressions are poor English for many 

reasons, but the plural first element offends very 

few people when it is used in heavy, unfamiliar 

compounds made up of abstract ideas. In familiar 

names for physical things, a plural first 

element is still not considered standard, as in 

teeth ache, geese feathers, a five-dollars bill. 

(Compounds involving man or woman are not 

formed exactly like other compounds; see man 

and woman.) 

The same question is involved in the choice 

between a two-week vacation and a two-weeks 

vacation, but here the form with s has a different 

status. See measures. 

2. A singular noun may name a group or a 

class of individuals. Singulars used in this way 

cannot be qualified by plural adjectives, such as 

many and few, but in some cases they may be 

followed by a plural verb, as in the sea-otter 

have disappeared and the jury were unable to 

agree. See generic nouns, group names, and 


3. Many singulars, such as butter, mud, childhood, 

do not have a plural form. Words of this 

type are called mass nouns. They name a formless, 

undifferentiated whole rather than a kind 

of individual thing. In standard English such 

words are not made plural merely because we 

have several instances of the thing, all of which 

are essentially alike. That is, we say Z have three 

packages of butter, not Z have three butters. 

Similarly, we say our reason tells us, not our 

reasons tell us, and they were together in their 

childhood, not in their childhoods. When it is 

felt that two instances of a certain thing are 

essentially different, a plural form may be used. 

This is often the case with rife and death. In 

certain states of mind the death of any one man 

seems to be a unique thing, and we might say 

three men met their deaths. In a more philosophic 

temper the difference between one man’s 

death and another’s seems unimportant and the 

singular form is used, as in sad stories of the 

death of kings. Meaningless plurals should be 

avoided. But if there is a real justification for 

the plural-either intellectual or emotionalit 

can always be used. The choice of a singular 

or a plural, with its implication of diversity or 

identity, can be a powerful device in the hands 

of a skillful writer, as it is in the lines: we 

mutually pledge to each other our lives, our 

fortunes, and our sacred honor. See mass nouns. 

4. Some words which usually refer to specific 

individual things may be treated as mass nouns 

and used in the singular, as for example, allusion 

in speeches full of classical allusion and 

detail in great attention to detail. But this is 

only a literary mannerism. Here the difference 

between the singular and the plural does not 

have any particular force. Classical allusions 

and attention to details would mean exactly the 

same thing. Either form can be used, and nothing 

depends on the choice. 

5. A true singular, which is not being used as 

a mass noun but names a well defined individual 

thing, may also be used when more than one of 

these things is meant. This is the case, for example, 

with face in we are simple creatures and 

yearn to be loved for our face, and mouth in 

children put things in their mouth. Here we are 

talking about a number of people and a number 

of things which each person has just one of. 

The same situation is seen in singular nouns 

that have a plural form. During the nineteenth 

century the use of a plural noun, such as faces, 

mouths, forms, in this construction was considered 

unliterary. But in the United States today, 

many people prefer to say children pur things 

in their mouths. This plural form is also used in 

the King James Bible, as in kings shall shut their 

mouths. The singular form is still heard more 

often than the plural, but either construction is 

acceptable today. There is no difference, in 

meaning or in tone, between them. 

6. The singular form is also used with plural 

meaning after adjectives joined by and, as in 

the eighteenth and nineteenth century and the 

OId and New Testament. When the adjectives 

are in the superlative, as in the oldest and 

youngest child and the largest and smallest box. 

the singular form is required--The oldest and 

youngest children, the largest and smallest 

boxes, would mean something quite differen:. 

When the adjectives are not in the superlative, 

the plural form of the noun may be used in 

current English, as in the eighteenth and nineteenth 

centuries and the Old and New Testaments. 

This is acceptable, but the singular form 

is usually considered more elegant. 

It is possible for a word to change its number 

over a period of time. This is particularly true 

of singular group names which sometimes become 

true plurals, as has happened with people 

and cattle. (See group names.) Sometimes a 

true singular ending in s comes to be accepted 

as a plural. This has happened with alms, eaves, 

riches. As a rule, these words do not become 

true plurals. They do not develop new singular 

forms and cannot be used with qualifiers implying 

more than one, such as several, many, few. 

Occasionally a plural noun ending in s comes 

to be accepted as a singular. This has happened 

with the United States, news, hydraulics, and 

so on. Such words usually keep the plural form 

when used in a compound, such as news letter, 

hydraulics engineer. 

sink. The past tense is sank or sunk. The participle 

is sunk or sunken. In Great Britain the participle 

sunken is not used except as an adjective, 

as in the sunken cathedral. In the United States 

sunk is the preferred form for the participle but 

sunken is still used, as in it has sunken to the 

bottom. 

sink or swim. The earliest known use of sink or 

swim, in the metaphorical sense of succeed or 

fail, is 1538, where, however, it is preceded by 

“as hyt is commonly sayd.” So the phrase was

hackneyed four hundred years ago. And it has 

not grown fresher since. 

sinus. The plural is sinuses or sinus, not sini. 

Sioux. The singular and plural are both Sioux. 

Originally this word was plural, but it may now 

be used also as a singular, as in one Sioux or 

three Sioux. 

sir; sire. Both of these words are now obsolete to 

describe a lord (as in Sir Gawain and the Green 

Knight or The Sire de Maletroit’s Door). Sir 

today is a respectful or formal term of address 

to a man. Though formerly in almost universal 

use in the United States, it was being discontinued 

until World Wars I and II gave it renewed 

life. Sir was a mandatory term of address for 

all enlisted men to commissioned officers and 

for commissioned officers to their superior oflicers 

and the habit carried over, at least for 

some years, into civilian life. 

In England Sir, capitalized, is still used as the 

title of a knight or a baronet (Sir Winsron 

Churchill, Sir John Falstaff). Where the holder 

of this title is also a military man, the military 

title precedes the Sir and the honorific initials 

of any order the man may belong to succeed 

the full name (General Sir Reginald Pinney, 

K.C.B.). In America, as in England, sir is sometimes 

used as an ironic or humorous title of 

respect (Sir Oracle, Sir critic). The single word 

Sir is the most formal salutation in a letter addressed 

to one man. 

Sir is sometimes used colloquially in America 

as nothing more than an intensive adverb, to 

make Yes or No more emphatic (Yes sir, she’s 

my baby. No sir! You don’t catch me volunteering). 

For further emphasis, it is sometimes 

enlarged to sirree (No sirree, I’m not going 

around there tonight!). 

Sire is now restricted chiefly to the male parent 

of a quadruped (Man of War was the sire 

of several famous race horses). In poetic usage, 

it means a father or a forefather (The sire his 

sword bequeathing to his son. Our sires died 

that we might live in freedom). As a respectful 

term of address it is more restricted than sir, 

for it is now used only to a sovereign, and since 

sovereigns and opportunities of addressing them 

are rare, it is confined to poetry (“You’re 

urounded!” “Nay,” the soldier’s pride/ Touched 

to the quick, he said:/ “I’m killed, Sire!“) and 

jokes (Sire, a lady waits without). 

s&en. This is an old plural of sister. formed like 

brethren and children. It is now. obsolete or 

dialectal. 

sit. The past tense is sat. The participle is also sat. 

This verb does not necessarily mean assume 

a sitting posture. It may be used for inanimate 

and abstract things that do not have legs, as in 

one of the low on whom assurance sits as a’ silk 

hat on a Bradford millionaire. It may be used 

with an object, as in he sits his horse well and 

he sat the meeting out. It may also be used to 

mean cause to sit, as in sit the baby up. At one 

time set would have been preferred in this sentence, 

but in current English set has come to 

mean place rather than cause to sit. See set. 

457 skeptic 

situate; situated. Situate as an adjective is archaic 

except in a legal sense (The house is situate 

immediately adjacent to Christ Church). In all 

general uses situated is the right word for located 

or placed (Knoxville is situated downstream 

from the confluence of the Holston and 

French Broad rivers). It may also mean fixed 

(He is well situated financially). 

situation. See job. 

six of one and half a dozen of the other, as a way 

of saying that there is little to choose between 

alternatives because they are so evenly matched, 

is a clicht. 

skate on thin ice. Up until a generation ago when 

play became supervised, every boy who lived 

near a pond or a river knew the excitement and 

the voluptuous sensation of skating on thin ice 

and knew, as Emerson had said, that in such 

skating safety lay in speed. The experience was 

common and the metaphor drawn from it was 

immediately and universally understood. But it 

has been overworked and must now be classed 

as worn and weakened. 

skeleton at the feast. It was Herodotus, in the 

fifth century B.C., who told us that the Egyptians 

used to produce “the image of a corpse” 

at their feasts to remind the feasters of their 

mortality. The gruesomeness of the procedure 

has fascinated the world for twenty-five hundred 

years and there are many references to 

the custom. It survives today chiefly as a humorous 

term for one who by his presence dampens 

the general gaiety, and as such it is hackneyed. 

skeleton in the closet. As a term for a hidden 

shame, known to the members of a family but 

concealed from the outer world, a skeleton in 

the closet (the English say cupboard) is a 

clich6. The expression seems to have been invented 

by Thackeray. 

skeptic; skeptical; sceptic; sceptical. For the adjective 

the English use SC-, the Americans sk-. 

The pronunciation is skin both spellings. Skeptical 

and sceptical are preferred to skeptic and 

sceptic. 

The adjective means inclined to skepticism, 

having doubt (Many people were skeptical nbout 

the long-range value of the project), showing 

doubt (That sudden, skeptical glance shook her 

confidence in her ability to carry 08 the story), 

questioning the tenets of religion (Many late 

Victorians were skeptical about the doctrine of 

special creation), or of or pertaining to skeptics 

or skepticism (He wus instinctive/y drawn to a 

skeptical world view). 

skeptic; sceptic; disbeliever. American skeptic 

(English sceptic) is not to be confused with 

disbeliever. Actually a skeptic is one who questions 

the validity or authenticity of something 

purporting to be knowledge, one who maintains 

a doubting attitude (There are some surly skeptics 

who don’t think the new vaccine has yet 

justified the popular faith in it). As applied to 

religion, a skeptic is one who doubts the truth 

of the Christian religion or of important elements 

of it. He does not deny absolutely the 

truth of Christianity, as does the disbeliever. In

ski 458 

philosophy, the Skeptic (capitalized) is one who 

doubts or questions the possibility of real 

knowledge of any kind. See also agnostic. 

ski. The plural is skis or ski. 

sLin of one’s teeth. It was with the skin of his 

teeth that Job (chapter 19, verse 20) escaped, 

that is, with nothing at all. Or at least he so 

escaped up until the Revised Standard Version 

which accepts the common change, which has 

become a cliche, by the skin of my teeth. 

skitttes takes a singular verb, as in skittles was 

played. Skittles and ninepins are two names for 

the same game and both words have been in 

the language for several hundred years. Ninepins 

is the word used most often in the United 

States today and skittles is seldom heard except 

in the expression beer and skittles. 

skull. See scull. 

sky and skies can be used interchangeably. 

The word sky once meant a cloud. This is no 

longer true but it has resulted in our being able 

to use either the singular or the plural form in 

speaking of the vault above us-whether it 

contains clouds or not. Both forms may also be 

used figuratively for the regions of the blest, 

as in the eternal mansions of the sky and he 

raised a mortal to the skies, she drew an angel 

down. 

sky light; skylight. Sky light is the light or color 

of the sky. A skylight is an opening in the roof 

or ceiling, fitted with glass, for admitting daylight, 

or the frame set with glass fitted to such 

an opening. 

slack; slake. Slack is primarily an adjective meaning 

not tense or taut (The hawsers hung slack) ; 

indolent, negligent (He was slack about his 

duties); lacking in activity, not brisk (Business 

is always slack right after Christmas); sluggish, 

as of the water, tide, or wind; slow in tacking, 

as of a sailing vessel. As a noun slack means a 

slack condition, interval, or part; part of a rope, 

sail or the like that hangs loose without strain 

upon it (Pull the cable in there. Take up the 

slack); a decrease in activity, as in business or 

work; or the state of the tide when there is no 

horizontal motion. As a verb slack may be used 

to mean to be remiss in some respect in some 

matter; to make or to allow to become less 

active, vigorous; to make loose or less tense; 

in nautical terminology, to ease off. 

Slake is used exclusively as a verb. It may 

mean to make less active, vigorous, intense 

(like slack), yet slacken is a better verb than 

either one. Slake means primarily to allay thirst, 

desire, wrath, by satisfying (They slaked their 

thirst in the muddy water); to cool or refresh. 

It may also mean to disintegrate or treat lime 

with water or moist air, causing it to change 

into calcium hydroxide (We used to slake lime 

with which to line the tennis courts). 

shah See day. 

slander. See libel. 

slang is language regarded as unsuitable for 

standard, cultivated speech and especially for 

formal writing. In slang the creative forces that 

shape language are often exceedingly active and 

much slang is vivid and clever and forceful. 

Much more of it, however, is merely faddish 

and infantile and its consistent use does not 

display the fullness of expression that the user 

thinks it does but rather a triteness and a staleness 

that the user is apparently unaware of. 

Slang ages quickly and nothing so stamps a 

total lack of force or originality upon a man 

or woman as the steady use of outmoded slang. 

Slang is not as bold as many of its users believe 

it to be; it shares the taboos of ordinary speech 

and is rich in euphemisms. It often defiantly 

substitutes violence for elegance and the gruesome 

for the dainty, and sometimes this is a 

good corrective, but it is no more bold than 

standard speech. Kick the bucket may be a 

scornful jibe at the evasion of pass away but 

die maintains a cold dignity that neither dare 

approach. The vitality of slang, the manner in 

which it gives renewed expression to old 

thoughts that have become dimmed through 

usage and lost, as it were, in the very words 

that once expressed them, is shown in the fact 

that much slang merely repeats unknowingly 

the basic meaning of a standard word or phrase. 

Thus what is know-how but savoire faire? And 

why shouldn’t it be in English? Even such a 

forced absurdity as 08 his rocker has its parallel 

in delirious, which means, etymologically, “out 

of his furrow.” And there are hundreds more. 

slant, as a noun, means literally a slanting or 

oblique direction, slope (There was a steep 

slant from the back door down to the barn). 

In America the word is also used figuratively Co 

mean a mental tendency or leaning, a bias, or 

a point of view (From his reading and travels 

he got a new slant on his native society). 

slash means literally to cut with a violent sweep 

or by striking violently and at random. In 

America it also means figuratively to reduce or 

to cut down. In this sense it is greatly overworked 

in newspaper advertisements announcing 

a reduction in prices (Prices slashed!). 

Used as a noun, usually in the plural, slashes 

in the United States describes a tract of wet or 

swampy ground overgrown by bushes and trees. 

slate in America is used figuratively to describe 

a tentative list of candidates, officers for acceptance 

by a nominating convention or the like. 

The actual list of candidates nominated or put 

forward by a political party or faction to be 

voted for is called a ticket. 

slattern. See sloven. 

slaughter. See massacre. 

slay. The past tense is slew. The participle is slain. 

T’he form slayed is not standard English and 

is heard only in humorous exaggeration, as in 

it slayed me! 

Though in England slay is a poetical or 

rhetorical word only (. . . in thy book record 

their groans/ Who were thy sheep and in their 

ancient fold/ Slain by the bloody Piedmontese), 

it is a standard everyday word in America, used 

as an alternative to kill, especially to kill by 

violent means (Socially prominent couple slain 

in love nest. Slayer to get the chair). It is a 

great favorite of newspapermen with impor 

erished vocabularies.

sled; sledge; sleigh. These nouns all describe a 

vehicle that is drawn by runners on snow or !ice. 

Sledge is the usual term in England (The Muscovites 

make use of sledges, made very low) 

though sleigh is becoming more common. 

Sleigh is the American word to describe a light, 

usually open vehicle on runners, generally 

horse-drawn, used for pleasure driving (Oh 

what fun it is to ride/ In a one-horse open 

sleigh). In England sleigh is a military term 

to describe a sledge used for the transport of 

artillery. 

Sled is used in America in two ways. It may 

describe a vehicle mounted on runners for conveying 

loads over snow, ice, or rough ground. 

That is, it suggests a freight vehicle as sleigh 

suggests a passenger vehicle (In heavy winter 

weather my father used a bob-sled and horses 

lo get through the drifts that lay between

slothfLl1 460 

may be made acceptable by a slogan heard 

often enough (Votes for Women!). 

Although the high priests of the advertising 

world insist on “the positive approach,” negative 

slogans have been used against opposing 

groups with devastating success (Let ‘em eat 

cake. Turn the rascals out. Kind regards to 

Mrs. Fisher). Sometimes a phrase may be 

meaningless in itself and yet by its associations 

take on the character of a slogan (Martin, 

Barton and Fish). And every once in a while 

a slogan is turned back on its subject with 

ironic implication: Back to normalcy, A 

chicken in every pot, We planned it that way. 

It seems to be a sign of the times that advertising 

slogans are not as long-lived as they used 

to be. Many slogans used to be almost institutional 

(He won’t be happy till he gets it. Eventually-why 

not Now? 99.44% Pure) but few 

products retain such slogans any more. Most of 

them change from season to season. Perhaps 

they pall more quickly with the greater repetition 

they now get. Perhaps copy writers must 

live. Or perhaps the public is more sophisticated. 

Slogans used to assume something of the 

character of pronouncements and people were 

expected to believe them; nowadays they are 

more generally accepted as simply devices for 

gaining attention. 

slothful. See lazy. 

slough of despond. As a term for a state of dejection 

or despondency, the or a slough of 

despond, taken from the dismal bog into which 

Christian, the hero of Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s 

Progress, falls, is now hackneyed. 

sloven and slattern are closely related in their 

meanings. A sloven may be either male or 

female. It is one who is habitually negligent of 

neatness or cleanliness, one who is through 

negligence dirty and untidy (General Patton, 

something of a dandy himself, tolerated no 

slovens in his army). The word also means one 

who works, or does anything, in a negligent, 

slipshod manner (What damned sloven left the 

mop lying there on the stairs, to break a body’s 

neck!). Slattern is narrower in reference. It 

means a slovenly, untidy woman or girl (Her 

mother was a partial, ill-judging parent, a 

dawdle, a slattern . . . whose house was the 

scene of mismanagement and discomfort from 

beginning lo end. Come Back Little Sheba 

is a moving treatment of a slattern). See also 

slut. 

slow; slowly. The form slow may be used as an 

adjective, as in a slow train. Either form may be 

used as an adverb. 

The form slow has been used to qualify a 

verb, as in how slow this old moon wanes, for 

at least four hundred years. Even if this were 

not the case, road signs everywhere reading 

drive slow indicate that the word slow is 

standard English in this construction. This is 

because “standard English” means the English 

spoken by the responsible people in the community 

or nation. No other standard can be 

set up for a language. Drive slowly may also be 

used, but anyone who claims that this is “better 

grammar” misunderstands the nature of language. 

And in this particular case, he is also 

unfamiliar with English literature over the past 

four hundred years. 

slug is used in more senses in the United States 

than in England. In both countries it designates 

the shell-less, snail-like creature or anything 

that moves sluggishly, or a piece of lead or 

other metal for firing from a gun. As a noun 

slug was used in America, colloquially, to 

designate a coin. At the time of the California 

gold rush (1859) a slug was a $50 gold coin 

and these coins, with the same popular name, 

were made again in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific 

Exposition. In recent contemporary American 

usage, the most common meaning of the noun 

slug was a piece of metal shaped like a nickel 

used in place of a nickel in public telephones 

and mechanical vending devices. Since Congress 

outlawed the use of these slugs in 1944, however, 

the word in this sense has fallen into 

disuse. 

Slug may also mean a drink or dram of 

liquor. This sense has died out in England, but 

it is common in America (He always took a 

slug of whiskey just before he went onstage). 

In the vocabulary of printers, in America and 

England, slug means a thick strip of type metal 

less than type-high, such a strip containing a 

type-high number, etc. for temporary use, or a 

line of type in one piece, as produced by a 

linotype machine. 

Americans also use slug colloquially as a 

verb meaning to strike heavily, to hit hard, 

especially with a heavy club or blunt instrument 

(Somebody slugged him from behind just as he 

went to turn on the light). The verb may have 

derived from hitting with a slug, a piece of lead, 

but this etymology is conjectural. The English 

prefer slog, a variant of slug, to convey this 

idea. Both English and Americans use slog to 

mean to walk or plod heavily, as with burdened 

feet through mire. 

slumber is not simply an elegant variation of 

sleep. It characterizes the sleep as light or fitful 

(Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither 

slumber nor sleep. From carelessness it shall 

fall into slumber, and from a slumber it shall 

settle into a deep and long sleep). By extension, 

slumber may describe a state of inactivity, 

quiescence (Most German consciences lay in u 

slumber from 1933 until 1945). 

slung. See sling. 

slunk. See slink. 

slur, as a verb, means to pass over lightly, or 

without due mention or consideration. In this 

use it is often followed by over (He slurred over 

his own responsibility for the failure of the 

venture). It also means to pronounce a syllable 

or a word indistinctly, as in hurried or careless 

utterance (They slur their consonants so! It’s 

just a slack-mouthed drooling of pale vowels!). 

In music, to slur is to sing to a single syllable, 

without a break, two tones of different pitch, 

or to mark with a slur. In the United States slur

is also still used, in a sense archaic in England, 

to mean calumniate, disparage, or depreci,ate 

(Like many great man, he has been slurred by 

the very people he helped). The American 

idiomatic expression, to cast or throw slurs at, is 

the equivalent of the English to put a slur on. 

slut is a dirty, slovenly woman. It is a much 

stronger and more offensive word than slattern 

(q.v.). Though in its ordinary use conveying 

the strongest disapprobation, it is-or more 

often was--like many terms of derogation, 

sometimes employed affectionately (Our little 

girl Susan is a most admirable slut, and plea.ses 

us mightily). In America in the nineteenth 

century, when dogs were much in evidence but 

the word bitch considered unspeakable in mixed 

company, the term was applied to the female 

dog. Dog was the word for the male and slut 

for the female (The dog-pup and the slut-pup. 

The dog was of a dingy red color and the slut 

was black). This usage was adopted in England 

but never became as fixed there as in the United 

States. And it may be this association that gives 

the word slut today a more derogatory sense in 

America than in England. In England it is 

simply a strong term for a slattern. In American 

use it means now primarily a woman of loose 

character, being almost as condemnatory as 

whore. 

sly. American and English spelling differ in regard 

to the comparative and superlative forms of sly. 

American usage prefers slyer and slyest but 

permits slier and sliest. English usage permits 

slyer and slyest only. 

small. See limited. 

small fry. Fry are properly seed or offspring, 

especially with reference to human beings. The 

murderer in Macbeth calls MacdutI’s son a 

young fry of treachery as he stabs him. The 

word is usually employed in a collective sense 

to designate a swarm, as of children or any 

small animals, especially now of fish. In this 

sense it is plural (What a fry of fools are here). 

It is heard today chiefly in the expression small 

fry, which means young or small fish or unimportant 

objects or young and unimportant 

persons. For the most part this is plural, as in 

Steig’s cartoons, so named, which depict the 

doings of young persons collectively. However, 

especially humorously in direct address, it is 

used in the singular; and with such precedent 

as the quotation from Shakespeare given above 

(if it applies solely to the one child, for several 

others were killed) it cannot be very severely 

condemned. 

smallpox. This word has a plural form. The 

singular would be pock. But today it is regularly 

treated as a singular. We say it is contagious, 

not they are contagious. The use of the article, 

as in the smallpox, is countrified or oldfashioned. 

The form smallpox is used as the 

first element in a compound, as in a smallpox 

vaccine. 

It is a grim reminder of the former ravages 

of syphilis, the pox or great pox, that this dread 

disease was only the small pox. 

461 smelt 

smart is a word more often used, and used in more 

ways, by Americans than by the English. It has 

been long established in American usage in the 

sense of shrewd or sharp, as of a person dealing 

with others, with a distinct connotation of admiration 

for such shrewdness (He’s a mighty 

smart business man, Henry is!). As a synonym 

for sensible it has become a vogue word (The 

smart thing would be to take the ferry; you 

can’t rely on the planes in this weather) that the 

discriminating will eschew. 

Both English and Americans use smart to 

mean dashingly or effectively neat or trim in 

appearance, as persons in their dress, or to 

mean the socially elegant or fashionable (That’s 

really smart, worn that way! All the smart set 

left the city for the summer). Americans more 

often than English use smart to mean impudent 

(Don’t get smart with me, young man, or I’ll 

slap your face), especially in speaking to 

children. Smart aleck, an American term for an 

obnoxiously conceited and impudent person, 

especially in situations where his conceitedness 

(for the term is applied almost exclusively to 

males) leads him to make unwelcome amatory 

overtures, is now a little old-fashioned. It is 

replaced by the humorous, less disparaging, 

slang term smarty pants which is applied to 

young people of either sex. 

smell. The past tense is smelled or smelt. The participle 

is also smelled or smelt. In the United 

States smelled is the preferred form for the past 

tense and the participle. In Great Britain smelt 

is preferred. 

Smell may be followed by an adjective describing 

the source of the smell, as in it smelt 

so faint and it smelt so sweet and in supper 

smells good. When used in this way smell is not 

followed by the adverb well. We do not say it 

smells well. But it is frequently used with other 

adverbs, as in it smelled faintly, it smelled 

sweetly. Many people find these constructions 

objectionable but others, equally well educated, 

do not. When used with a personal subject, 

smell may be qualified by any adverb, as in I can 

smell it well. 

smell; stink. Stink, the good old-fashioned, established 

word for a foul, disgusting, or offensive 

smell, has, apparently, absorbed something of 

the quality it describes and is no longer considered 

a polite word. The euphemism (for 

stinks remain whether stink is polite or not) is 

smell, formerly a neutral word. But smell, like 

most euphemisms, has suffered contagion and 

unless qualified by a favorable adjective definitely 

means an unpleasant smell, though not so 

unpleasant a smell as a stink. The facetious 

figurative use of stink to mean a row or a 

protest, especially one following on the disclosure 

of something disgraceful that has been 

hidden, is not standard. See also odor. 

smell a rat. As a term for suspecting something 

to be wrong, especially something dangerous or 

disgraceful that has been concealed, to smell a 

rat is somewhat musty. 

smelt. See smell.

mite. The past tense is smote. The participle is 

smitten. A past tense smit and a participle 

smiled were once literary English but are now 

archaic or dialectal. 

smooch, a facetious term in the brighter young 

set for kissing, is not the slang term they probably 

think it is but a good old English word, 

much used by the brighter young Elizabethans 

(I had rather than a bend of leather/ 

She and Z might smouch together-1600). 

Philip Stubbes, in his Anatomy of Abuses 

(1583), condemned dancing around the maypole 

as merely offering opportunities for clipping 

. . . culling . . . kissing . . . smouching and 

slabbering of one another . . . filthy groping 

and unclean handling. . . . 

smote. See smite. 

make in the grass. As a term for a treacherous 

person, especially a treacherous or ungrateful 

friend, a snake in the grass, even though used 

chiefly in humor, is a cliche. 

snarl. In the sense of bringing into a tangled 

condition, the verb snarl, which survives in 

England only in dialect, is current in America. 

Literally it means to get something all tangled 

up, as thread or hair, Figuratively, it means to 

render complicated or confused (He had his 

instructions all snarled up). Unsnarled is more 

commonly heard than snarled. As a noun, snarl 

means a tangle or, figuratively, a confused condition 

(There was a bad trafic snarl at Randolph 

and Michigan). Both verb and noun are 

used so much in relation to bad tralhc conditions 

that they may become specialized in that 

sense. 

snicker; snigger. Americans use snicker to mean 

to laugh in a half-suppressed, often indecorous 

or disrespectful manner (A few students 

snickered as he stumbled on the step). The 

English regard snicker as obsolescent and in its 

stead use the variant snigger. Both words may 

be used also as nouns to describe a halfsuppressed 

laugh. 

smut. See nozzle. 

annffer. The object used for snuffing out candles 

was once called a snuffer and treated as a 

singular. But today it is usually spoken of in 

the plural, as in these snuffers are very old. TO 


of more than one of these things, we say this 

pair of snuffers is very old or several pairs of 

snuflers. The singular form is still preferred as 

the first element in a compound, as in a snuffer 

fray. 

so may be used as an adverb or as a conjunction. 

When used to qualify a verb, so may mean 

“in the manner described,” as in so Z did, love, 

soldo. 

It may be used to qualify the positive form 

of an adverb or of an adjective that does not 

stand before a noun. It was once possible to say 

the so heavy burden thou bearest, but in current 

English the adjective must stand alone or be 

separated from the noun by the word a, as in 

the message was so insulting and so insulting a 

message. 

When qualifying an adjective or an adverb, 

the primary meaning of so is “to this extent,” 

as in it wasn’t so cold yesterday. With this 

meaning the word can only be used in a 

question or in a negative statement. When used 

in an affirmative statement it becomes a mere 

intensive and means “to an unusually high 

degree,” as in it was so cold yesterday. It may 

also have this meaning when it qualifies a verb, 

as in Z love you so. 

So may be used with as in making a comparison, 

as in it is not so large as mine. Here 

again, so is restricted to questions and negative 

statements. We cannot say it is so large as mine. 

The words as . . . as, on the other hand, have 

no such limitation. Most writers prefer as . . . as 

to so . . . as even in a negative statement and 

use JW in a comparison only when they want to 

stress the idea of a very high degree. See aa. 

So may be followed by that introducing a 

clause of purpose or result, as in they hurried 

so that they would be on time and they were so 

close that Z heard every word. In the United 

States the that may be omitted from a sentence 

of this kind, as in they hurried so they would be 

on time and they were so close Z heard every 

word. Formerly as could be used in place of 

that, as in they had guards so posted as they 

were not to be surprised, and many came unto 

them from diverse parts of England, so as they 

grew a great congregation, but this construction 

is no longer considered standard. In current 

English an infinitive must be used with so . . . 

as in order to express purpose or result, as in 

they hurried so as to be on time and be so kind 

as to shut the door. 

Formerly so could be used in the sense of 

“if only” or “provided that,” as in we forgive 

much ill treatment, so it is secret. This use of 

so is now considered affected. The similar use 

of so as or so that is considered unacceptable, 

as in Z don’t care, so as you get them o# and 

she did not care what she did so that it made 

some changes in her life. Today the proprieties 

demand so long as in these sentences. 

So is often used to introduce a conclusion 

and then has the force of “therefore,” as in 

you advised me to go, and so I went. This is 

standard English. It may also be used to indicate 

mere sequence in time, as in and so to bed. 

This use of the word as a loose connective is 

now rare among educated people. 

so to speak. Unless one has employed some extraordinary 

figure or some justified but startling 

periphrasis or in some way deviated to such a 

degree from the accepted modes of expression 

that an apology or at least an expression of one’s 

awareness of what one has done is felt to be 

desirable, so to speak should not be used. It is a 

hackneyed and usually pompous interjection. 

If a figure is employed, it should be so apt and 

comprehensible that no apology is needed, especially 

since the sole purpose of using a figure 

is to make the meaning clearer. If an expression 

is so obscure and confusing that it will require 

an apology, it is better not to use it.

soak in certain figurative senses is peculiar to 

American slang. It may mean to beat hard, to 

punish (Don’t you let any of ‘em give you any 

lip. If they do, soak ‘em), though this is being 

generally replaced by sock. Its commonest use is 

as a slang word meaning to charge exorbitantly 

(Thirty cents for a cup of coffee? Boy, they 

really soak you in that joint!). Soak used also 

to mean to put in pawn (I’ve often soaked my 

wutch when Z was hard up), but this is now 

obsolescent even as slang. 

sober as a judge. A judge should certainly be a 

pattern of sobriety, certainly in the literal Isense 

and probably in the extended meaning of being 

grave and of solemn mien, but the phrase sober 

as a judge is a hackneyed comparison. 

sobriquet. See uickuame. 

sociable; social. As adjectives these words agree 

in being concerned with the mutual relations 

of mankind living in an organized society. 

Social is the general word, meaning pertaining 

to, devoted to, or characterized by friendly 

companionship or relations (There is (I danger 

of interpreting the social life of animals in too 

human terms. Because he worked hard he had 

little time for social life. Does the scienti,st, as 

a scientist, have any social obligations?). Social 

seldom applies to persons, but sociable usually 

does. It means fond of company and society, 

companionable, genial, and affable (He couldn’t 

be sociable until he’d had a couple of drinks). 

A social evening is one spent enjoyably in the 

company of others at a more or less formal 

event; a sociable evening is one spent companionably 

with perhaps only one person or a 

few. A social obligation is something the individual 

owes to society as a whole. A sociable 

obligation would be something due to sociabsility. 

As nouns social and sociable both designate 

an informal social gathering, especially one 

held under the auspices of a church (a church 

social, a church sociable). Of the two worda 

sociable, in this meaning, is now obsolarcent, 

being replaced by social. 

social butterfly, as a term for a gay young 

creature (usually a young lady) who flutters 

excitedly without much serious thought from 

one party to another, is a cliche. As much a 

cliche a~ social whirl for the collective parties 

of a season, a place, or a set. 

social position and language. Languages are made 

by groups of people, not by isolated individuals, 

and so it is inevitable that the language we ;speak 

and the way we speak will show what sort of 

people we habitually associate with. 

The great differences in language are, of 

course, geographical. The people in FranIce do 

not speak like the people in Germany and 

the people in Maine do not speak libe the 

people in Louisiana. Inside a particular area 

there are also speech differences which reflect 

different social or economic groups. The speech 

of the most admired group is ordinarily called 

“standard.” 

Social groups may differ in their pronunciation. 

This is true in England where the ch.ildren 

463 society 

of the upper classes do not go to the same 

schools that other children go to, and so learn 

to speak very differently. For example, upperclass 

Englishmen slur their speech more than 

the lower classes do. They elide or drop many 

vowels which the lower classes pronounce. In 

the speech of the English upper classes secretary, 

for instance, has three syllables and not four, 

and medicine and venison have two syllables 

and not three. 

In the United States, where children from all 

kids of homes go to the same schools, pronunciation 

is almost entirely a matter of geographical 

difference; though it is probably true that 

these differences are more marked in the speech 

of the uneducated than in the speech of the 

educated. 

In the United States there are certain forms 

of speech-certain grammatical constructions, 

such as he don’t and we ain’t and yous-that 

are used only by the uneducated. Such constructions 

are called “mistakes” or “unacceptable” 

English or (by linguists) “substandard” or “nonstandard.” 

(See Standard English.) There are 

not as many of these, however, as most people 

imagine. Charles Fries, certainly one of the 

greatest students of American English, has made 

a scientific study of this problem (American 

English Grammar: The grammatical structure 

of present-day American English with especial 

reference to social differences or class dialects). 

He says: “. . . the differences between the language 

of the educated and that of those with 

little education did not lie primarily in the fact 

that the former used one set of forms and the 

latter an entirely different set. . . . The most 

striking difference between the language of the 

two groups lay in the fact that the Vulgar English 

seems essentially poverty stricken. It uses 

less of the resources of the language, and a few 

forms are used very frequently. Get, for example, 

in its many senses appears in both the 

Standard English and the Vulgar English materials, 

but it is employed ten times as frequently 

[by the uneducated as by the educated]. . . . In 

vocabulary and in grammar the mark of the 

language of the uneducated is its poverty.” 

society; Society. The general word is society. It 

means a body of individuals living as members 

of a community; the body of human beings 

generally associated or viewed as members of 

a community; human beings collectively regarded 

as a body divided into classes according 

to worldly status (He came from the middle 

class of society in a small town); the condition 

of those living in companionship with others, 

or in a community, rather than in isolation 

(Thomas Henry Huxley believed that society 

was man’s gallant protest against nature). 

Capitalized, Society is a restricted term. It 

commonly suggests the social relations, activities, 

or life of the polite or fashionable world; 

the body of those associated in the polite or 

fashionable world; the rich upper class (Edith 

Wharton and Thorstein Veblcn agree that Society 

is a conspicuous display of wealth). The

Socratic irony 

capitalized form of the word may also appear 

as part of the name of an organization or 

persons associated together for religious, benevolent, 

literary, scientific, political, patriotic, or 

other purposes (The Royal Society was formed 

for the purpose of encouraging the advancement 

of scientific learning). 

Socratic irony is the assumption of ignorance for 

the purpose of leading (or misleading) another 

into an untenable, absurd or embarrassing position 

in discussion. This kind of disingenuousness 

was practiced by Socrates in his arguments 

with the Sophists. The irony lies in the discrepancy 

between the stated ignorance and the 

true knowledge. 

By assuming ignorance, Socrates was able to 

unmask pretentiousness in others and to indulge 

his own sense of humor while doing so. 

Socratic irony is a device often employed in 

satire for the opportunity it provides of disarming 

an adversary and then ambushing him. 

From Chaucer to Aldous Huxley, it has been 

a favorite device of the English satirists. 

There is no such term as Socratic luck, but 

there ought to be. For whereas his victims 

always gave him the exact answer that enabled 

him to proceed to the next step in his course of 

reasoning, anyone who has ever tried the Socratic 

method in the classroom knows that this 

rarely happens. If one feigns ignorance, the 

student eagerly and sincerely agrees. When his 

contradictions are pointed out to him, he is 

unable to perceive them. Most teachers soon 

abandon all attempts at such subtle teaching. 

soft; softly. Softly is always used as an adverb, 

as in I will lead on softly. Soft is ordinarily 

used as an adjective, as in a soft answer turneth 

away wrath. But soft may also be used as an 

adverb if placed before the subject of the verb. 

Soft has both functions in soft went the music 

the soft air along. 

soft place in one’s heart. As a way of saying 

that one is inclined favorably towards someone, 

with overtones of affection, to say one has a 

soft place in one’s heart for him is to employ 

a clich6. 

sold. See sell. 

solecism. A solecism is a violation of grammatical 

structure or idiom, the intrusion of an unaccepted 

form into standard speech. 

solicitor in England is one properly qualified and 

formally admitted to practice as a law-agent. 

His services consist of advising clients, representing 

them before the lower courts, and preparing 

cases for barristers to try in the higher 

courts. The American equivalent for solicitor 

in this sense is lawyer. In America a solicitor 

is one who solicits trade or personal attention. 

The term may be applied loosely to a salesman, 

a peddler, canvasser, or beggar. It is so used to 

some extent in England also. In some American 

towns the officer who has charge of the town’s 

legal business is called the solicitor. See also 

attorney. 

solid; stolid. Solid means having three dimensions, 

with the interior completely filled up (a 

solid ivory ball), without openings or breaks 

(The walls were solid, not a crack to be seen), 

uniform in tone or shade (The car was painted 

a solid black). Figuratively, when applied to 

persons, solid may mean sober-minded, sensible 

(a solid citizen) ; when applied to groups, unanimous, 

united in opinion (General Eisenhower 

was the first Republican to crack the solid 

South). In American slang solid may mean “on 

a friendly, favorable, or advantageous footing,” 

especially in the phrase in solid (To win the 

daughter, he got in solid with the mother). 

Applied to the playing of jazz music, as a slang 

word, solid means vigorous, exciting, harddriving, 

fast. 

Stolid has only one sense. It means not easily 

moved or stirred mentally; impassive, as from 

dullness or stupidity. 

solidarity; solidity. Solidarity is primarily a social 

term. It means union or fellowship arising from 

common responsibilities and interests, as between 

members of a class or body of persons, or 

between classes (The war reconciled all factions 

and gave us as a nation a solidarity we had not 

had during the depression). Solidity is primarily 

a physical term, meaning the state, property, or 

quality of being solid, of possessing substantialness. 

In geometry it means the amount of space 

occupied by a solid body, or volume. In a figurative 

sense, applied to persons, it means strength 

of mind, character, or finances. 

soliloquy. See dialogue. 

solo. The plural is solos or soli. 

some. This word is used in order to speak of particular 

quantities, persons, or things, without 

specifying what ones. It may be used as an adjective 

before a singular or a plural noun, as in 

some man, some butter, some books. When used 

before a number word it means “approximately,” 

as in some six or seven men, it was 

some thirty years ago. It may also be used alone 

as a pronoun, as in I have some here and some 

say. The pronoun may refer indefinitely to 

human beings. When not used in this way it 

must represent a word mentioned previously. 

It may be treated as a singular when it represents 

a mass noun, as in “Where is the butter?” 

“There is some in the kitchen”; otherwise, the 

pronoun is always plural. The phrase some of 

us requires the pronoun our and not their, as in 

some of us lost our heads; and the phrase some 

of you requires your. 

Some may be used as an adverb of extent 

to qualify a verb, as in “Do you play golf?” 

“Some.” This use of the word is standard in the 

United States but not in Great Britain. Some 

used with the same meaning before the comparative 

form of an adjective, as in he is some 

better today, is a Scottish idiom, and the word 

somewhat is preferred in this country and in 

England. Some used merely to indicate approval, 

as in my dog is some dog! and that’s going 

some!, is slang. It has never been standard in 

the United States but is acceuted in Great Britain 

as an interesting Americanism. See also few; 

part.

somebody; someone. These words are always 

treated as singulars and used with a singular 

verb, as in somebody is coming. When it isn’t 

known whether “somebody” is a man or a 

woman, forms of the pronoun they can be used 

instead of forms of he in referring to this individual, 

as in somebody left their umbrella. 

This device is used less often with someone, but 

is also acceptable with this word. 

somehow; somehows. The only acceptable form 

is somehow. Somehows is unacceptable. 

someone. See somebody. 

someplace. The use of someplace as a substitute 

for somewhere, as in I left it someplace, is condemned 

by many grammarians because the 







somersault; somerset. Somersault is the best word 

to describe an acrobatic movement of the body 

in which it describes a complete revolution, 

heels over head, or, figuratively, a complete 

overturn or reversal, as of opinion. As an intransitive 

verb, somersault means to perform a 

somersault. Somerset is an obsolescent and dialectal 

British variant. Summersault is a variant 

American spelling, as is summerset. 

something; somewhat. Originally these words 

meant the same thing and could be used interchangeably. 

Either could be used as an indefinite 

pronoun or as an adverb of degree. 

Either form may still be used in a statement 

implying a comparison, as in he is something 

(or somewhat) like his father and the house 

was built something (or somewhat) more than 

a century ago. Either form may be used before 

of a, as in it was something (or somewhat) of 

an adventure. 

In any other construction the form somewhat 

is required for an adverb of degree. Thalt is, 

something is now obsolete or dialectal when 

used to qualify a verb, as in it something surprises 

me, or as a purely descriptive adjective, 

as in it sounded something awful. On the other 

hand, something is the required form for the 

indefinite pronoun, and somewhat is now obsolete 

or dialectal when used in this way, as in 

you can do somewhat (or some’at) for m!e. 

something in the wind. As a way of saying that 

preparations, usually of a menacing kind, are 

being made, even though one is uncertain about 

their nature or purpose, there is something in 

the wind is a cliche. It is drawn from observation 

of an animal scenting danger. 

something rotten in the state of Denmark. Hamlet’s 

suspicion that something was rotten in the 

state of Denmark proved to be well founded: 

the king murdered, the queen seduced, the heir 

cheated, the courtiers drunk, the councillor senile, 

invasion threatened, spies planted, ghosts 

abroad, and even the visiting actors a little: uncertain 

of their lines-rotten indeed! But the 

quotation itself (slightly misquoted usually- 

465 sorry 

the original is Something is rotten in the state 

of Denmark not There’s something rotten in the 

state of Denmark) is now stale, flat, and unprofitable 

and gives off a faint odor of decay all 

its own. 

sometime; sometimes. In current English the form 

sometimes is felt as a plural and is used to meal] 

“at times” or “now and then,” as in he comes 

here sometimes. The form sometime, on the 

other hand, is felt as a singular and is used to 

refer to one unspecified time, as in he will come 

sometime. 

Historically, these words are adverbs and do 

not have a singular or a plural form, any more 

than the word soon does. The final s in sometimes 

was simply an adverbial sign similar to 

the s in backwards and endways. The form 

sometime once meant “formerly” and in this 

sense could be used before a noun, as in our 

sometime sister, now our queen. This use of the 

word survives in England, but only in a few set 

phrases, such as sometime fellow. In current 

English one-time is preferred in this sense. 

someway; someways; somewise. In the United 

States someway is used as the equivalent of 

somehow, a.s in I will get one someway. This is 

standard English in this country. Someways is 

not heard SO often and does not have the same 

standing. In England both forms are considered 

uneducated and somehow is required. (When 

ways is part of a prepositional phrase, such as 

in some ways he is a fool, it is not being used 

as the equivalent of somehow and is standard 

everywhere.) Somewise is acceptable English, 

but it is not often heard in the United States. 

somewhat. See something. 

somewhen, though unusual, is acceptable. It has 

been in use since at least 1297. 

somewhere; somewheres. Somewhere is the only 

acceptable form in written English. In the 

United States somewheres is often heard in the 

speech of well educated people, but it does not 

appear in print. 

Somewhere is sometimes used with an unnecessary 

that, as in somewhere that I have been. 

This is not as well established as the similar 

use of anywhere, but it is acceptable to many 

educated people in the United States. 

sonata. The plural is sonatas, not sonatae. 

soon. See early. 

sop to Cerberus. Cerberus was the three-headed 

dog that guarded the entrance to the infernal 

regions in Greek mythology. In Vereil’s Aeneid 

he was put to sleep by being flung “a morsel 

drowsy with honey and drugged meal” which 

he caught “in his triple throat in ravenous hunger.” 

As a term for appeasing someone formidable, 

giving him a bribe or a promise as a 

means of persuading him to relax his vigilance 

and hostility, to keep him quiet if onlv for a 

moment, giving a sip to Cerberus is a clichC, 

sustained for centuries by its alliteration. 

soprano. The plural is sopranos or soprani. 

sorry; afraid; fear; regret. I’m afraid and I fear 

are often used as elegant expressions of regret. 

When a man says I’m afraid I’ll have to go now,

sort of 466 

he does not intend to imply any element or even 

pretense of fear. If he is vain he may be saying, 

in an elliptical fashion, “I am afraid you will 

be disappointed when I tell you that I must 

leave.” If he is realistic, he may be saying “I am 

afraid you will not be disappointed when I tell 

you that I must leave.” The unambiguous statement, 

I’m sorry that I must go or I regret that I 

must go is better. If that seems too hypocritical, 

I must go will do. 

sort of. This expression is exactly equivalent to 

kind of. It is used in exactly the same ways and 

open to the same objections. We may say this 

sort of tree is or these sort of trees are or, if we 

are speaking of more than one sort, these sorts 

of trees are or these sorts of tree are. Sort of a 

is frequently condemned but is used by some 

our best writers, including Henry Adams. Sort 

of before an adjective or a verb, as in it is sort 

of chilly and he sort of stumbled, is condemned 

even more strongly than sort of a, but can be 

heard in the speech of the most highly educated 

people. For a fuller treatment see kind of. 

sot. See drunkard and set. 

sotto vote is a pretty highfalutin term for “in a 

low tone of voice.” It is an Italian expression 

meaning literally “under voice,” that is, under 

the normal voice level. It is better to express 

the meaning in English. 

sought. See seek. 

soul of honor. To describe a just, honest, or 

honorable man as the soul of honor or the very 

sort1 of honor is to employ a hackneyed phrase. 

sound. This verb, meaning to make a sound, may 

be followed by an adjective describing what it is 

that sounds, as in it sounds good. It may also be 

followed by an adverb, as in it sounds well. 

Often there is no difference in meaning between 

these two constructions, but many people feel 

that the adjective, good, stresses the it and that 

the adverb, well, stresses sounds. This is certainly 

the case with other adverbs, such as 

nicely, faintly, sweetly, and so on. 

Out is acceptable but unnecessary in the 

phrase sound out since to sound here means 

measure or try the depth of, to examine or 

investigate, to seek to fathom (They sounded 

the Governor’s views on the matter), to seek to 

elicit the views or sentiments of a person by 

indirect inquiries or suggestive allusions. (For 

sleep sound, see sleep.) 

sour grapes, applied to someone who is belittling 

something which he once wanted but was unable 

to obtain, is hackneyed. The phrase is 

drawn from Aesop’s fable of the fox which, 

unable to reach some grapes, said he did not 

want them anyway because they were sour. 

source; cause. A source is a cause, but all causes 

are not sources, for source means origin, first 

cause (Pride, ill-nature, and want of good sense 

are the three great sources of bad manners). 

south; southern. The comparative form is more 

southern. The superlative form is southmost or 

southernmost. 

mw. The past tense is sowed. The participle is 

sowed or sown. 

SOW one’s wild oats. As a term for youthful dissipation 

(usually with a suggestion that there 

will be or was a later reform) sowing one’s wild 

oats, in use for at least four hundred years, is 

now a cliche. 

sax is a variant spelling of socks. It is not the 

standard form in England OS in the United 

States. 

spa derives from Spa, or Spaa, a resort town in 

East Belgium, southeast of Liege, which has 

famous mineral springs. Hence spa means a 

mineral spring or a locality in which such springs 

exist, especially when sanatoriums and resort 

hotels have been built in the vicinity (Tunbridge 

Wells was a fashionable spa. Mr. Dombey 

and the Major visited Leamington Spa). 

The name is widely used in England and has 

been adopted to some extent in the United States 

where it is, as in England, sometimes incorporated 

into a place name (At Ballsfon Spa in 

upstate New York atomic power has fust provided 

the first electricity for domestic uses). 

Usually, however, a mineral spring is called 

simply a spring in the United States and this, 

too, is incorporated into some place names 

(Warm Springs, Georgia; White Sulphur Springs). 

In New England, spa may designate a drug store 

or other place where soft drinks are served. 

spake. See speak. 

span. See spin. 

Spaniards; Spanish. Perhaps because of England’s 

long struggle with Spain, the standard name for 

these people, a Spaniard or the Spaniards, has 

the derogatory formation seen in coward, sluggard, 

drunkard, and so on. This formation is no 

longer active in English and no derogatory tone 

is now felt in Spaniard or Spaniards. These are 

the only terms used in speaking of one or more 

individuals. But in speaking of the people of 

Spain as a whole, the Spanish seems to be replacing 

the Spaniards. At present both forms 


spare no pains. As a phrase urging unstinted effort, 

or as an assurance that something has been 

carefully executed, spare no pains and no pains 

have been spared are cliches. 

spark plug. The device inserted in the cylinder 

of an internal-combustion engine, containing 

the two terminals between which passes the electric 

spark for igniting the explosive gases, is 

called in the United States a stark plus. in Ennland 

a sparking-plug. Spark ‘plug’is ilso used 

colloquially in America in a figurative sense to 

mean one who leads the activities or maintains 

the morale of a group (Every ball team needs a 

spark plug or two to play its best bull). Spark 

plug in this sense is also sometimes used as a 

verb, and abbreviated to spark (There always 

has to be some one energetic man to spark 

these drives). 

spat. See spit. 

spate, originally a Scotch word, is, strictly, a sudden 

flood or freshet, as in a river after heavy 

rains (The Avon, in spate with heavy rains, was 

a muddy yellow. Whole spawning beds are 

swept away by spates). In this, its literal sense,

the word is more in use in England than in 

America. But in a figurative sense, of something 

excessive-and usually undesirablhthat has 

come in a rush, sweeping ail before it, the word 

has become a vogue word in America in the 

past few years and is often used where rush 

would be more suitable or even so mild a term 

as many or several. In such a phrase as a spate 

of vituperation, the idea of a suddenly overwhelming 

flood, as of muddy water, furiously 

sweeping all before it, is good. But in It [“White 

Christmas”] includes a spate of Zrving Berlin 

tunes, number would have been more accurate 

and more appropriate. 

speak. The past tense is spoke. The participle is 

spoken. An old form of the past tense, spake, is 

now archaic and found only in poetry. 

speak of the Devil! The English say talk of the 

Devil. As an exclamation, usually uttered in 

boisterous jocularity, to hail the sudden appearance 

of someone who has just been the topic of 

talk, speak (or talk) of the Devil is a cliche. 

It is a fragment of the old proverb, speak of the 

Devil and he’s sure to appear. In some versions 

it was speak of the wolf and he’s sure to appear. 

speaking terns. Whether used positively to indicate 

a slight acquaintance or negatively to indicate 

a coldness so extreme as to prevent the 

exchange of even simple civilities, on speaking 

terms is hackneyed. 

special; especial; specially; especially. The adverbs 

specially and especially are equally acceptable 

today. Specially is the better word 

when what is meant is “specifically, particularly” 

and especially when what is meant is 

“chiefly, outstandingly.” But this distinction is 

not followed strictly. There is the same difference 

in meaning between special and especial, 

but in the United States special is natural English 

in both meanings and especial is rarely 

heard. 

special; particular; speci6c. That is special which 

receives, or which in someone’s estimation ought 

to receive, unusual attention or treatment because 

it is uncommon (He is a special friend of 

mine). That is particular which has been selected 

from others of its kind for attention (b4ay 

Z show you the particular paragraph to which Z 

object?). When we say of someone, however, 

that he is “not particular,” we do not mean that 

he is unworthy of attention but that he does not 

single out details or small points as objects of 

concern or criticism. Specific implies the clear, 

unambiguous indication of a particular instance 

or example (In the charge of disloyalty it ‘was 

specifically alleged that on July 21, 1944, he 

had passed a confidential document to the agent 

of a foreign power). 

special delivery. That form of delivering mail 

which in the United States is called special delivery 

is in England called express delivery. 

speciality; specialty. As the word to describe a 

special or particular character, or a special or 

distinctive quality or characteristic, a peculiarity, 

a special point or item, or a special subject 

of study, special line of work, or the like, the 

467 specious 

English prefer speciality, the Americans specialty 

(Elegance was not then a specialty of 

pugilists but Gentleman Jim was suave. We 

make a specialty of hard-to-clean garments. 

Although Samuel Johnson was his speciahy, he 

found himself teaching Chaucer). 

specie; species. Specie is a collective noun meaning 

coin or coined money (The earliest coinage 

of specie is attributed to the Lydians. Checks 

and paper money were not accepted; payment 

had to be made in specie). The word has no 

plural and cannot be used with the definite article, 

a or a numeral. If in some strange context 

it should be necessary to refer to the different 

specie of different countries, or to use a plural 

in some other way, the form would still be 

specie. 

Species, which is also the form for both singular 

and plural, means a class of individuals having 

some common characteristics or qualities. It 

is the basic category of biological classification, 

intended to designate a single kind of animal or 

plant, any variations existing among the individuals 

being regarded as not affecting the essential 

sameness which distinguishes them from all 

other organisms (College professors, on the 

whole, form a pretty poor species of speaker. 

The most important scientific publication of the 

nineteenth century was Darwin’s great work on 

the origin of species). 

These words are often confused and the confusion 

is increased by the fact that in the eighteenth 

century species was used for specie 

(Necker afirmed that . . . there was coined at 

the mint of France, in the species of gold and 

silver . . .-Burke. Species . . . is of easier conveyance-Garrick) 

and the fact that there is a 

Latin phrase, in specie, meaning “in kind,” 

sometimes used by English writers (You must 

pay him in specie, Madam; give him love for 

his wit. These things must be exactly proportioned, 

as well in specie as in degree). 

specimen. See example. 

specious originally meant fair, beautiful, pleasing 

to the sight, resplendent (There is thy Savior. . . 

looking like a specious bridegroom-1675) and 

this meaning, now obsolete, persisted down into 

the nineteenth century. A modification of this 

meaning-that is, having a fair appearance but 

actually being devoid of the qualities apparently 

possessed-which arose in the seventeenth century 

gained currency and displaced the earlier 

meaning. And this is now the meaning of the 

word. A specious appearance is something fairseeming 

but in reality not at all what it appears 

to be. A specious statement is plausible and 

pleasant, but insincere. A specious argument 

sounds convincing, but it is in reality sophistical 

or fallacious. A specious person is one whose 

conduct, words, and actions all seem good but 

are not. 

The cynicism or sad experience that led to 

this change continues its work and the word is 

often used now as if it meant evil or wicked or 

wrong. It is rarely applied to physical appearances 

any more but almost always to words,

spectacle 468 

intentions, moral matters, etc. But this usage 

(which would completely reverse the older 

meaning) is, at the present stage of the word’s 

development, erroneous. It has to designate 

something that at least seems convincing, desirable, 

good in some way. It cannot mean patently 

false, obviously evil, plainly insincere or dishonest. 

spectacle. See sight. 

spectacles. When this word means eyeglasses, the 

plural form refers to one object but is always 

treated as a plural, as in these specfucfes are 

weak. In order to use the word with a singular 

verb or to speak of more than one of them, it is 

necessary to say this pair of spectacles is weak 

or several pairs of spectacles. At one time the 

singular spectacle was used in speaking of the 

pair, as in he wore a spectacle. This is now obsolete, 

but the singular is still the preferred form 

for the first element of a compound, as in a 

spectacle case. 

Nancy Mitford tells us that in England the 

use of spectacles is a distinct shibboleth of 

upper-class speech. This is not so in the United 

States. 

spectrum. The plural is spectrums or spectra. 

speed. The past tense is sped or speeded. The participle 

is also sped or speeded. In older English 

sped and speeded were used interchangeably. 

Today there is a tendency to use speeded when 

we mean “caused to speed.” That is, we say her 

glance sped from face to face, the bullet sped 

across the field, but the work was speeded up. 

If we hear that a man sped through the town we 

only know that he passed through quickly. But if 

we are told that he speeded through, we assume 

that he was not traveling under his own power 

but was driving a car and that he was driving it 

faster than the law allowed. 

speed the parting guest. The phrase lo speed the 

parting guest meant originally to wish him Godspeed 

on his journey, to express the wish that 

God would watch over him on his journey and 

bring him speedily to his desired destination. 

The modern use of the phrase to mean to hasten 

the (de)parting (of the) guest is an amusing 

distortio&--and a clichC. 

suell. The east tense is spelled or spelt. The par- 

- ticiple is- also spelled -or spelt. in the Udited 

States spelled is the preferred form for the past 

tense and the participle. In Great Britain spelt 

is preferred. 

We may say the word is spelled wrong or it 

is spelled right. An -1y form is sometimes heard 

here, as in it is spelled wrongly, it is spelled 

rightly. This is considered unacceptable by some 

people. The form without -1y is generally preferred. 

spell has several colloquial uses in the sense of 

“period.” It means a continuous course or period 

of work or other activity (When seas were 

heavy he used to take a spell at the wheel); a 

turn, bout, fit, or period of anything experienced 

or occurring (Just before he was to speak he 

had a sneezing spell); a period of weather of a 

specified kind (We can expect a spell of hot 

weather in early August); an interval or space 

of time, usually indefinite and short (&J&d 

you’ve rested a spell, we’ll continue the climb), 

Spell is peculiarly American in a sense of a 

fit of some personal ailment, disturbance of the 

temper, or the like (Addie has spells, you know. 

When she’s having a bad spell, all you can do 

is to keep quiet). Spell is also used, chiefly in 

the United States, as a transitive verb meaning 

to take the place of or to relieve a person for a 

time (They spelled one another ofl through the 

nigh& one steering while the other got what 

sleep he could). 

spelt. See spell. 

spend. The past tense is spent. The participle is 

also spent. 

spend money like water. As a description of 

prodigal recklessness, to spend money like water 

is a worn-out comparison. So is to let money 

run through your fingers. So also is the saying, 

of one who is eager to spend his money, that it 

burns a hole in his pocket. 

spent. See spend. 

sperm. The plural is sperm or sperms. Before 1900 

sperm was used only as a singular mass noun, 

as in when sperm is developed. An individual 

cell was called a spermatozoiin and several of 

them, spermatozoa. Today sperm may also be 

used in speaking of an individual cell, as in 

every sperm counts, and, in samples, is counted, 

and as a true plural, as in more than two million 

sperm were produced. The plural sperms is also 

acceptable. 

spermatozoa. This is a plural word and is always 

treated as a plural, as in a hundred thousand 

spermatozoa. The double plural spermatozoae 

is wrong. The learned singular is spermatozodn, 

but the singular spermatozoan is also acceptable, 

as is its English plural spermatozoans. 

sphinx. The plural is sphinxes or sphinges. 

spick and span, as a way of saying “neat and 

clean,” is hackneyed. Until very recently the 

expression was spick and span new and spick 

and span, when used, was only a shortening of 

the longer expression which, in its turn, was an 

enlargement of a very old expression spun-new. 

Span in this phrase meant chip, and the expression 

meant “as new as a chip of wood.” It is 

cognate with spoon, for spoons were originally 

chips of wood, or, more likely, chips of wood 

were used for spoons and the name transferred. 

Spick (the same word as spike) meant a splinter. 

It was added to the expression span-new late in 

the sixteenth century, for no better reason, apparently, 

than alliteration. However, in matters 

of language formation that is one of the most 

compelling reasons there is. 

spike someone’s guns. A spike driven into the 

touchhole of a cannon, in the days when cannon 

were fired by being ignited at the touchholc, 

rendered it harmless and removed its threat. In 

its modern, figurative sense of depriving someone 

of his power or of blocking his way or of 

rendering his plans ineffectual, to spike someone’s 

gut& is a cliche. 

suill. The uast tense is suilled or soilt. The par- 

- ticiple ii also spilled br spilt. in the United 

States spilled is preferred for the past tense and

the participle. In Great Britain spilt is preferred. 

spin. The past tense is spun. The participle is also 

spun. An old past tense form sparz, known in 

the famous couplet when Adam delved and Eve 

span, who was then the gentleman? is no longer 

heard but was retained in common use in England 

as late as the nineteenth century. 

spiritual and spirituous, though derived from a 

common source, mean different things. Spiritual 

means of, pertaining to, consisting of spirit or 

incorporeal being; of or pertaining to the spirit 

or soul as distinguished from the physical nature 

(His agony was spiritual, not physical); characterized 

by or suggesting predominance of the 

spirit (His was a highly spiritual nature); or 

ecclesiastical (He was spiritual adviser to a 

large congregation). Spirituous means containing, 

of the nature of, or pertaining to, alcohol; 

alcoholic (At the reception spirituous beverages 

were served). In reference to liquors, it means 

distilled as opposed to fermented. 

spit. The past tense is spit or spat. The participle 

is also spit or spat. In the United States spit is 

the preferred form for the past tense and the 

participle, but spat is being used increasingly. 

In Great Britain spat is the only form heard. 

The verb meaning “pierce with a spit” is quite 

regular and has the past tense and participle 

spitted. 

spit and image. The common expression for one 

who closely resembles another is variously given 

as spit and image, spitting image, spit ‘n image 

or spitten image. Many origins have been suggested. 

Some believe it to be a slurring of spirit 

and image. Some point out that there was formerly 

an expression “to be as much like someone 

as the spit out of his mouth.” But the bsest 

explanation seems to be that it is the old word 

spit, meaning a likeness, usually a family likeness 

(You’re a queer fellow-the very spit of 

your father) with “and image” added in America 

sometime in the nineteenth century. The 

term is a clicht. 

splendid; excellent. Splendid ought to suggest 

splendor, magnificence, sumptuousness. Its use 

in the sense of excellent or very good (A quiet 

little place, no show, no fuss, but a splendid 

meal!) is regarded by most authorities as acceptable 

but overused. 

split. The past tense is split. The participle is also 

split. 

split infinitives. The notion that it is a grammatical 

mistake to place a word between to and the 

simple form of a verb, as in to quietly walk 

away, is responsible for a great deal of bad 

writing by people who are trying to write well. 

Actually the rule against “splitting an infinitive” 

contradicts the principles of English grammar 

and the practice of our best writers. The construction 

is a relatively new one, but it is found 

in the writings of Sir Philip Sidney, Sir Thomas 

Browne, Donne, Pepys, Defoe, Samuel Johnson, 

Bums, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Lamb, Byron, 

De Quincey, Macaulay, Holmes, Whittier, 

George Eliot, Carlyle, Browning, Arnold, Pater, 

Ruskin, Henry James, Hardy, Meredith, 

469 split infinitives 

Galsworthy, Conan Doyle, Kipling, Shaw-and 

Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Theudore 

Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Herbert 

Hoover. 

The to-infinitive is actually the preposition fo 

with the simple form of the verb as its object, 

as in a need to investigate the matter. Grammatically 

it is comparable to a preposition with 

an -ing form of the verb as object, as in a need 

for investigating the matter. (See infinitives.) 

In the case of the -ing form a qualifying word 

preferably stands between the preposition and 

the -ing, as in a need for secretly investigating 

the matter. When we have a composite 

verbal phrase the normal position for a qualifying 

word is between the first auxiliary and the 

meaningful form, as in he decided he would 

secretly investigate the matter. In either case, 

the qualifying word may be placed after the 

complete verbal statement, as in for investigating 

the matter secretly and he would investigate 

the matter secretly. But when it is placed 

late, it acquires a special emphasis. It would 

follow that the normal position for a word qualifying 

an infinitive would be before the verb 

form but after any auxiliary element, as in he 

decided to secretly investigate the matter. 

The notion that the to-infinitive was an exception 

to the general rules of word order and 

could not be handled in this way dates from the 

latter part of the nineteenth century-the period 

when the split infinitive first came into general 

use. The construction can be found as early as 

the fourteenth century but it is rare before 1850. 

This is because the type of sentence in which 

one would have any occasion to split an infinitive 

was rare before that time. One of the outstanding 

characteristics of current English is 

the enormous increase in the use of the infinitive 

where previously an -ing form or a clause was 

preferred. That is, formerly men said he decided 

that he would investigate where today we 

would be more likely to say he decided to investigate. 

In the clause construction we may qualify 

the verb and say he decided that he would secretly 

investigate. If the infinitive is to be used 

in place of the clause it must be capable of expressing 

the same distinctions. This requires the 

freedom to place a qualifying word or phrase 

immediately before the verb form. In he decided 

to secretly investigate, the word secretly qualifies 

the word investigate. If secretly is placed 

before he or before decided it qualifies decided. 

If it is placed before to, as in he decided secretly 

to investigate, it is ambiguous. It probably applies 

to decided, although it may apply to investigate. 

If it is placed later than investigate it 

becomes emphatic. Therefore, if we cannot 

place secretly between to and investigate we 

cannot use the infinitive to say what is said in 

the clause. 

In English the negative adverbs, such as not 

and never, and the restrictive adverbs, such as 

only and scarcely, are characteristically moved 

forward in a sentence. Words of this kind may 

therefore stand before the to and still qualify

splutter 470 

the infinitive, as in he decided never to investigate. 

The writer who is determined never to split 

an infinitive must remember that, with the exception 

of negative or restrictive adverbs, the 

qualifying word cannot be placed earlier than 

the to or it will qualify the principal verb instead 

of the infinitive; and, if it is placed later than 

the infinitive, it acquires a special emphasis 

which may not be intended. Frequently the only 

way to avoid a split infinitive and still write 

good English is to avoid the infinitive-and, 

with the increasing use of the infinitive, avoiding 

the infinitive may lead to wordy periphrases 

that are not good English. 

Those who have no objection to splitting 

an infinitive should remember two things. (1) 

In a composite infinitive involving the auxiliary 

be or have and a participle, the normal position 

for the adverb is after the auxiliary and not 

before it. That is, to have always thought is the 

normal word order and to always have thought 

is a variation that adds special emphasis. (See 

sentence adverbs.) (2) Any number of words 

may stand between to and the verb form. 

Browning wrote: a scheme to quietly next day 

at crow of cock cut my own throat. This is 

exactly comparable to placing a large number 

of words between a preposition and its noun 

object, as Macaulay does in principles independent 

of, and indeed almost incompatible 

with, the sentiment of devoted loyalty. Such 

constructions may be used occasionally but 

are decidedly tiresome when they become a 

mannerism. 

splutter; sputter. These words mean pretty much 

the same thing, except that sputter suggests 

more immediately the idea of spitting. The word 

means to emit particles of anything in an explosive 

manner; to eject particles of saliva or 

food from the mouth in an explosive manner. 

Splutter suggests most immediately to talk 

hastily and confusedly or incoherently, as in 

excitement or embarrassment (He had turned 

purple in the face when McDonald’s thumping 

on his buck finally produced a great sputtering 

roar. The old colonel spluttered with rage us 

the soldiers drugged him from the room). This 

distinction, however, is not hard and fast. 

spoil. The past tense is spoiled or spoilt. The participle 

is also spoiled or spoilt. In the United 

States the form spoiled is preferred for the past 

tense and the participle. In Great Britain spoiled 

is also the preferred form in written English. 

spoilage; spoliation; spoilation. Spoilage is the 

act of spoiling or that which is spoiled (Failure 

to ice the refrigerator cars resulted in heavy 

spoilage). In printing spoilage has the special 

meaning of paper spoiled or wasted in presswork. 

Spoilation is not listed in most dictionaries, 

though it would seem to be a natural formation. 

Spoliution is the act of spoiling, but properly 

and strictly of despoiling-that is of plundering, 

pillaging (This pillaging and spoliution of their 

ships and goods was furiously resented). In law 

it means the intentional destruction of or 

tampering with a document in such a way as to 

impair its value as evidence. William Allen 

White’s use of spoilution (An era of gorgeous 

spoilution, a time when bombast concealed 

larceny) would seem, plainly, to be an erroneous 

substitution for spoliution. But since the 

acts to which he is referring took place under 

the system known as The Spoils System and 

since spoliution is not in the common reader’s 

vocabulary and spoils, in this sense, is well 

known, it would be pedantic to say that he was 

not justified. 

spoilt. See spoil. 

spoke; spoken. See speak. 

sport; sports. Both forms of this word are used in 

speaking of sport in general, and both forms 

are used as the first element in a compound, as 

in u sport shirt and u sports shirt. The form 

with a final s is required in a word referring to 

human beings, such as sportsman, sports writer, 

and is generally preferred in other compounds, 

such as sportscar. 

sports English. Many terms drawn from sports 

have entered into our speech and become so 

common that one is not always aware of their 

origin. From cockfighting come well-heeled, 

crestfallen, yellow-streak and show the white 

feather. From archery, to hit the bull’s eye, 

second string, and many other terms. From 

billiards. behind the eipht bull. From boxinn. 

to throw in the towel, -hitting below the beE; 

and so on. From horseracing, to have the whip 

hand, the inside truck, neck and neck, dark 

horse, and so on. From baseball, to throw a 

curve, to catch off base, windup, two strikes 

against him, etc. Thousands of words have come 

into the language from sports, and where they 

have come naturally and filled a need, they have 

enriched our speech. 

The language of sports writers, however, is 

another matter. Their daily effusions are peculiarly 

circumscribed, much more so than the 

language of almost any other specialized field. 

In the arts, in the social sciences, in business, 

in science and in everyday relationships, there 

is a constant growth and change in language 

because of the development of new concepts, 

new methods and new associations. But in sports 

there are basically only two things to talk about 

-contests and records. Interest in sports is one 

of the lower common denominators among 

various groups throughout our society. Desirable 

as this may be from a democratic viewpoint, 

it compels sports writers to use simple 

words and a limited vocabulary. 

Because it deals with struggle, sports writing 

is required to be vigorous, and because it scorns 

formality it must be slangy and colloquial. But 

slang is particularly unfitted for frequent repetition 

and sports writing is, above any other type 

of contemporary writing, repetitious, laden with 

clichts. The wretched sports writer, with slight 

material and often (one suspects) even slighter 

interest, is compelled to assume concern he does 

not feel and to conceal his yawns under forced 

shouts of simulated excitement. A tyrannical

convention of his dreary craft prevents him 

from repeating his verbs; yet there are only a 

certain number of synonyms for win and lose. 

He has done what he can with win, top, upset, 

pace, defeat, trounce, decision (verb), crush, 

sock, blitz, spunk, clobber, whip, wallop, down, 

spill, and the like, but the demand far exceeds 

the capacity of the language. No one ap,parently, 

using only the normal resources of the 

richest language known, can make sports interesting. 

The strained variation is interspersed with 

the strained periphrasis. An injured thumb is 

the dislocated digit and the backfield is a bevy 

of backs. Alliteration is freely employed. Not 

since Widsith has its artful aid been so assiduously 

sought. 

A legend has grown up that the sports pages 

have produced an immense number of wniters 

who have gone on to literary triumphs. But as 

Nunnally Johnson asked, after Lardner, Broun, 

Kieran, Pegler, Gallico, Reynolds and Considine, 

who is there? Johnson’s characterization 

of sports writing is not flattering: “Bad writing, 

grammar-school humor, foolish styles, thrleadbare 

phrases, spurious enthusiasm and he,avyfooted 

comedy . . . nauseating sentimentality 

and agonized slang . . . [and] above all, breeziness, 

breeziness, breeziness!” 

spouse is now a literary word. It has special. religious 

and legal uses but in everyday speech it 

is an affectation either of elegance or of jocularity 

aping elegance. Christopher Morlley’s 

statement that the plural of spouse is spice deserves 

to be recorded. 

sprain and strain imply a wrenching, twisting 

and stretching of the muscles and tendons. 

Strain is the more comprehensive term. It can 

mean merely to stretch to the utmost, to exert 

strenuously, with no implication of injury 

(Strain to the utmost, to win the goal). But it 

also means to stretch beyond measure, to exert 

beyond the proper limit, so that injury results 

(I strained my shoulder and it hurts. He 

strained his eyes reading the fine print). In this 

sense it is also used figuratively (He strained 

his credit to buy the property). To strain a point 

is to stretch a principle beyond its limit so that 

there is a deformity. 

Sprain is limited to excessive strains of 

certain parts of the human body. It means to 

strain excessively but without dislocation, by a 

sudden twist or wrench, the tendons and 

muscles connected with a joint, especially those 

of the ankle or wrist (He sprained his ankle 

when he slipped on the loose gravel). 

sprang. See spring. 

spread. The past tense is spread. The participle is 

also spread. 

spring. The past tense is sprung or sprung. ‘The 

participle is sprung. 

sprint; spurt. Both of these verbs convey the idea 

of going at great speed for a short distance, 

Sprint, the newer term, is now the usual one 

to describe racing at full speed for a short 

distance, as in running or rowing (the harassed 

commuter, sprinting for the train, brief case and 

topcoat flying). Spurt suggests a quickening of 

pace, or a sudden gushing or issuing as in a 

stream. It is more often used figuratively than 

sprint (He’ll dawdle until three o’clock and then 

spurt ahead and try to get done in time to leave 

early. Blood spurted from the wound in his 

shoulder). 

sprung. See spring. 

spun. See spin. 

spurious. See synthetic. 

square in American slang has generally meant 

fair, upright, honest, open, just, and so on. 

The term seems to have originated from the 

carpenter’s square-something that “drew a 

hard and fast line,” made you go straight, had 

nothing crooked about it. One of the earliest 

slang phrases, now obsolete, to incorporate the 

idea was to run on the square. A square shooter 

was one who shot fairly, presumably in selfdefense 

only, and gave his opponent a fair 

warning and chance. A square deal was a plain, 

open, and honest dealing of the cards. All of 

these expressions are, however, now a trifle 

musty. In the cynical terminology of bebop, 

sqttare-perhaps in defiance of the older morality-is 

a word of contempt. A square, to the 

zoot-suit cognoscenti, is one who is not hep. He 

is stupid, out of fashion, not in the groove. But 

definitely. 

square (division of a city). See block. 

square meal. A square meal would seem, taken 

literally, to be uncomfortable and undesirable. 

It must originally have had a figurative meaning-perhaps 

such a meal as one who was 

treated squarely or got a square deal would be 

fed. It suggests a hearty meal, more substantial 

if less wholesome than a well-rounded meal. It 

is now fading from use a little. There’s a suggestion 

of rusticity in it, a small-townishness. 

square peg in a round bole. As a term for a 

misfit, for one (usually a man of abilities) in a 

position unsuited to him, a square peg in a 

round hole is hackneyed. 

Attempts to trace the origin of this expression 

have not been successful. Punch attributed it 

to Bishop Berkeley, and even furnished a quotation, 

but no one else has ever found the quotation 

in his works. Sydney Smith stated the idea 

in some detail in his Sketches of Moral Philosophy 

(1806) and has the best claim to be considered 

its originator. 

squeamish. See fastidious. 

stab in the back, as a term for an act of treachery, 

is a cliche. 

staff. The plural is stafls or staves. When this 

word means a stick or pole, the modem plural 

stuffs is preferred. The old plural staves has 

produced another singular stave, which now 

means one of the pieces of wood that form the 

sides of a vessel. The lines and spaces on which 

music is written is usually called (I stuff and a 

verse or stanza is usually called a stave, but 

either form can be used for either meaning. 

St& may also mean a body of assistants. In 

this sense it is a group noun and the plural stafls

stti 472 

means several such groups. The singular form 

may be used with a singular verb or with a 

plural verb, depending on whether the staff is 

thought of as a unit or as individuals, as in 

:he staff was well trained or the staff were well 

trained. In either case, it is the whole body of 

assistants that is referred to. Sometimes the 

word staff is used as if it were a true plural 

meaning more than one staff member, as in 

a few staff were invited. This is not at present 


staff of life. The description of bread as the staff 

of life goes back to the early seventeenth 

century where it came into use as an adaptation 

or echo of several passages in the Bible in which 

bread is called the stay and stafl and the cutting 

off of the food supply is described poetically 

as breaking the staff of bread. The phrase is 

now, in general use, hackneyed and stilted. 

stag. See hart. 

stage; arrange; perform. From its basic sense as 

a transitive verb, to put, represent, or exhibit on 

or as on a stage, stage has come rather loosely 

to mean arrange or, even more loosely, 

perform. In military usage it is quite proper to 

refer to the High Command as having staged 

the Normandy invasion, for the underlying 

meaning here seems to be “to erect a stage for” 

or “to travel by stages.” It is not advisable, however, 

to say that a country is staging an economic 

comeback (unless it is meant that the 

country is coming back by stages) when accomplishing, 

performing, or making would be more 

accurate. 

stage whisper. For a whisper on the stage, as a 

necessary part of the action of the play, loud 

enough for the entire audience to hear and yet, 

by dramatic convention, accepted as unheard 

by such members of the cast on the stage as 

are not supposed to have heard it, a stage 

whisper is the established term. But aunlied to 

any whisper elsewhere that is loud enough to 

be heard by all present, it is a clicht. 

stagger. The use of stagger to mean to arrange in 

some other order or manner than the regular 

or uniform or usual one, especially at such 

intervals that there is a continuous overlapping 

(By staggering ofice hours for employees, 

managers of large downtown concerns help 

solve morning and evening trafic problems. 

Divorce seems to be a form of staggered polygamy) 

is now standard American usage and 

is becoming accepted in England. 

This meaning would appear to be a figurative 

extension of a special use of the verb to stagger 

by wheelwrights, who staggered spokes into the 

hub when they set them alternately inside and 

outside (or more or less to one side of) a line 

drawn round the hub. A wheel made in this 

manner (for increased strength) was said to be 

a staggered wheel. 

staggers. This word, meaning a disease of certain 

animals, is always treated as a singular, as in 

staggers is hard to treat. 

staid. See stay. 

stai; stairs. In Scotland a flight of steps is called 

a stair and treated as a singular, as in a winding 

stair and the stair was dark. In England a flight 

of steps is treated as a plural, ELS in the stairs 

were dark, or called a flight of stairs, or sometimes 

a pair of stairs. Both constructions are 

familiar in the United States and are equally 

acceptable. 

In England one of the steps in a Right is 

called a stair and three stairs means three steps. 

This usage is rare in the United States. Here 

three stairs will usually be understood in the 

Scottish sense, as three flights. 

When used as the first element in a compound, 

the singular form stair is preferred, as 

in stair door, stair well, stair carpet. This does 

not apply to the two words upstairs and downstairs. 

Here the form with s is always used, as 

in an upstairs room. 

stalactite; stalagmite. These geological terms confuse 

the layman. He can never keep in mind 

which hangs down like an icicle and which rises 

up from the floor. Both are deposits of calcium 

carbonate formed by the dripping of percolating 

calcareous water in caves and sometimes 

they meet to form a column. The one that hangs 

down is a stalactite. The one that builds up 

from the floor is a stalagmite. Perhaps it would 

help if icicle were fixed in the mind and it was 

remembered that the one that resembles an 

icicle is the one that contains a c. 

stall, in the sense of bringing to a standstill, checking 

the motion of, is obsolete or dialectal in 

England but is standard and common in 

America (Korean truce talks were stalled over 

the issue of prisoner exchanges). In the sense of 

acting evasively or deceptively and in its use 

as a noun to designate anything used as a pretext, 

pretense, or trick, stall is slang. 

stalls. See orchestra. 

stamen. The plural is stamens or stamina. Either 

plural may be used in botany. In general 

English the form stamina is also used to mean 

vigor or endurance. In this sense the word is 

always treated as a singular, as in his stamina 

is amazing, and does not have a plural. 

stanch; staunch. Though both forms are acceptable 

as adjectives and verbs, stanch is the usual 

verb, staunch the usual adjective. The verbal 

sense is to stop the flow of a liquid, especially 

blood (He stanched the bleeding with a cold 

compress). The adjectival sense is steadfast or 

firm in principle, adherence, or loyalty (He had 

only a few friends, but they were staunch ones 

and could be relied on). 

stand. The past tense is stood. The participle is 

also stood. 

Stand, meaning “endure,” may be followed 

by an infinitive, as in I cannot stand to hear it, 

or by the -ing form of a verb, as in I cannot 

stand hearing it, Stand may also be followed by 

a clause, with the clause verb a subjunctive 

equivalent, as in I cannot stand that he should 

hear it, but an infinitive construction, such as 

I cannot stand to have him hear it, is generally 

preferred. Stand for is frequently used in the 

United States when determination rather than 

endurance is being expressed, as in I will not 

stand for such treatment.

Stand may be used in literary English to 

mean “remain” as in the milk had stood too 

long and still itunds Thine ancient sacrifice, an 

humble and a contrite heart. But this is permissible 

only when there is no possibility of a 

literal interpretation of the word. In speech 

centering around New York City, stand is used 

with this meaning-unacceptably-in contexts 

that are not sufficiently abstract. This usage has 

passed into sophisticated speech as a joke, especially 

in I should’ve stood in bed. 

In legal language stand is often used as a 

mere form of the passive, equivalent to some 

form of the verb to be, as in he stands condemned. 

Stund may be followed by an adjective describing 

the subject of the verb, as in he stands 

firm. It may also be followed by an adverb 

describing the standing, as in he stands firmly. 

Very often there is no difference in meaning 

between the two constructions. 

Stand has several special meanings in America 

that are not accepted in England and at 

least one in England that is not in general use 

in America. In English usage a man stands for 

office when he is a candidate. In American 

usage stand in the sense of tolerate or endure 

is standard (I can’t stand people who give 

lectures on Europe after a week in Paris), but 

the British can’t stand this use of the word. In 

American slang stand also means to bear the 

expense of (Come on, 171 stand all of you to 

a drink). 

AS a noun stand has certain uses peculiar to 

the United States. In America the place where 

a witness sits or stands to testify in court is 

called a stand or witness stand (As the witness 

took the stand a hum of excitement arose in 

fhe courtroom). In England it is called the 

witness-box (Sir John Aylesbury njas now placed 

in the witness-box). In America an open framework 

of pine wood to support cases of type is 

called a stand, in England a frame. A booth, 

table, or the like where articles are displayed 

for sale or some business is carried on in America 

is called a stand (if you’ve got to follow the 

rodeos, why don’t you get n stand and sell peanuts?). 

In England it is called a srull. 

standard English is the English used by educated 

people when they are speaking in public or 

writing to strangers. It is not very different from 

the English such people use in speaking or 

writing to their friends. It is also the English 

found in our best literary works. 

The difference between spoken and written 

English is not as great as some people think it 

is, and it is not as-great today as-it was twentyfive 

or fifty years ago. Spoken English relies on 

gestures and intonation to fill out the meaning 

and therefore uses many loose sentences that 

might not be intelligible in print. But there are 

very few grammatical constructions that are 

acceptable in educated speech that are not also 

acceptable in literature and public addresses. 

Standard English is not a set of rules learned 

in school and conscientiously applied througbout 

life. It is rather a set of language habits 

473 standard English 

formed by reading English literature and talking 

chiefly with people who also read a great 

deal. It is an unconscious summing up of English 

usage over the past two or three hundred 

years, as modified and adapted to present-day 

needs. It is constantly changing, and it varies 

slightly from one locality to another. 

At one time these local variations were what 

made up dialectal English. A grammarian writing 

in 1589 had no difficulty in saying what he 

meant by “good English.” It was “that of London 

and the shires lying about London within 

LX miles, and not much above.” But today we 

live in a much larger world, thanks to printing. 

radio, and travel, and we cannot be so-precise. 

Regional differences should be recoenized for 

what they are, but there is no need, a&d no way, 

to decide that the speech in one area is “better” 

than the speech in another. 

For example, the sentence she stayed home 

all evening is standard English in the United 

States but not in Great Britain where an at is 

required, as in she stayed at home all evening. 

On the other hand, English people say she is in 

hospital. American usage requires a the here, 

as in she is in the hospital, although it allows 

ill fail, in school, and so on. There are also differences 

inside the United States. For example, 

they think like I do is standard in the South but 

not in New England. Expressions of this kind 

show where a person comes from. But so long 

as one is not ashamed of being an American or 

an Englishman, or of coming from Boston or 

Charleston or San Francisco, there is no reason 

to change a speech form that is standard in one’s 

own area. 

This does not mean that any expression is 

standard if it is used by a great many people. 

Besides the literary tradition in English there 

is also an aural tradition, passed down from 

generation to generation among people who read 

very little and do not mingle with people who 

read. This is what is properly meant by “nonstandard” 

English. It has developed constructions 

that are not found in literary English, such 

as you and me must wait, and it contains many 

old forms that were once standard but that have 

not been used by educated people for many generations, 

such as was you ever in Baltimore? 

Speech of this kind shows that one’s friends 

aren’t bookish people. One may, or may not, 

want to conceal that fact. 

But there is another kind of English that no 

one wants to be guilty of. These are the pretentious 

errors, the mistakes people make who are 

trying to speak according to the rules without 

understanding the rules. Anyone who wants to 

speak “better” English than most people use 

must be very sure of what he is doing. For example, 

whom do you want? is not idiomatic 

English. It suggests that the speaker has learned 

the language from a textbook and not from 

association with educated people. But it is technically 

correct. Whom is it?, on the other hand, 

is incorrect as well as unidiomatic. It suggests 

that the speaker has tried to learn English from 

a textbook and failed. The natural spoken Eng-

lish of educated people is always correct. English 

according to the textbooks may sometimes be 

inappropriate but it too is always correct, provided 

the rules are properly applied. But to 

reject natural English and misapply the rules is 

fatal. Mistakes of this kind will always be taken 

as evidence of “vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps 

itself and falls.” 

In this book, examples of how words may 

be used are often taken from poetry. This is 

because the poet is a master of language. He 

understands language better than most people 

do and he uses it to express ideas that are too 

vital to be put into a mathematical formula. 

Anyone who wants to use language more skillfully 

and more powerfully can learn from the 

poets. Sometimes a grammarian dismisses a 

great poet’s use of words by saying “he did it 

for the sake of rhyme.” This is a sad commentary 

on the grammarian. He is confusing a poet 

with a man who writes mottoes. Poets do frequently 

use archaic or unusual forms of speech, 

when they think this serves their purpose. But 

the poet is less likely than any other man to 

abuse language or to sacrifice its vital qualities 

for any reason whatever. See also grammar and 

the Preface to this book. 

stand on one’s owu (two) feet. To say of someone 

who manifests independence that he can stand 

on his own feet, or, more often, for added 

emphasis, on his own two feet is to employ a 

clichC. The expression was formerly much employed 

by fathers in hortatory addresses to their 

sons. 

standpoint. See point of view, angle. 

stank. See stink. 

stanza. See verse. 

starlight; starlit. Starlight is chiefly a noun. It 

means the light proceeding from the stars or 

the time when the stars shine. It may also be 

used as an adjective, meaning of or pertaining 

to starlight, as in Gerard Manley Hopkins’s 

poem The Starlight Night. But starlit is preferable 

as an adjective because it is used as an 

adjective only (Michael walked down rhe spitcovered 

steps of the PX onto the worn soil of 

New Jersey, under the calm, starlit summer 

sky). 

start. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he started lo read, or by the -ing form of 

a verb, as in he started reading. The two constructions 

are equally acceptable. See begin. 

startle. See amaze. 

state, in a colloquial sense common to England 

and the United States, may mean an excited 

condition (He wus in quite a state by the rime 

it came his turn to speak). 

state; say. Stale should not be used loosely as an 

alternative to say. It means to declare definitely 

or specifically (I should like to stale ihe assumptions 

upon which my argument rests), to set 

forth formally in speech or writing (In his 

funeral oration Mark Antony stared the claims 

that Caesar had on the Remans). 

st&d as an adjective may mean tixed or settled 

(He worked for a stated fee); explicitly .%t 

forth (These were ihe stated terms); declared 

as a fact (Zt is stared in the village that the bank 

cannot reopen); recognized or official (This is 

the staled policy). All of these meanings are 

current in the United States but archaic and 

little used in England any more. 

The word had another, peculiarly American, 

meaning in the nineteenth century: when applied 

to a minister or preacher, it meant one 

settled or established in a particular pastorate 

(There were neither churches nor stated preachers 

in town). There were also men called Stated 

Supplies who were employed to perform the 

duties of a pastor but were not inducted, in any 

formal way, into the pastoral office. Both of 

these meanings are now obsolete. 

statesman. See politician. 

station. See depot. 

stationary; stationery. Starionary is an adjective 

meaning standing still, not moving, having a 

tixed position, not movable (a stationary engine). 

Stationery is a noun meaning writing 

materials, such as pens and pencils and, especially, 

paper (Oh, I’m oui of stationery, and Z 

did so want to get that letter ofl!). In America 

a place where such things are sold is called a 

stationery store. In England it is usually called 

a stationer’s. 

The two words are, actually, one and the 

same and stationery is the older spelling. Certain 

stands or stalls set up near St. Paul’s Cathedral 

in London were granted permanent licenses 

and hence were stationary (as we now spell it) 

and those who occupied them were stationers, 

as opposed to itinerant peddlers who set up temporary 

booths and stands. These men, dependent 

upon the goodwill and business of the 

cathedral clergy as well as on that of the printers 

whose business was also established near the 

cathedral (a sensible-indeed necessary-location 

when the clergy made up a large portion of 

the literate), came to specialize in writing materials 

and in time were licensed to sell books. 

statistics. Except when it means a course of study, 

this word is treated as a plural, as in these staristics 

are impressive. The word now means an 

arrangement of numerical data. Historically it 

is a plural word only in the sense in which the 

word poliGcs is a plural. But a singular form of 

the word, a statistic, is now in use in the United 

States. This means to a statistician one of the 

elements in a statistical arrangement. It apparently 

means to the general public any piece of 

information involving numbers. The only adjective 

form in use in the United States is slutisfical. 

status. The plural is statuses or status, not stuti. 

status quo. As a term for preserving the present 

state of things, especially of the economic order, 

maintaining the status quo is a clich6. The 

phrase means literally “the state which,” or the 

existing state of affairs. 

statute; statue; statutary; statuesque; statutory; 

statutable. A statue is a representation of a person 

or of an animal, carved in stone or wood, 

molded in a plastic material, or cast in bronze 

or the like, especially one of some size, in the

ound (The Statue of Liberty beckons the oppressed 

from the Old World). A statute, in legal 

terms, is an enactment made by a legislature 

and expressed in a formal document (. . . When 

the statute gleans the refuse of the sword). A 

statute is also the document in which such an 

enactment is expressed. In international law, a 

statute is an instrument annexed to or subsidiary 

to an international agreement, as a treaty. 

Statuary may be an adjective meaning of, 

pertaining to, or suitable for statues (statuary 

drapery, this great quarry of statuary marble). 

Statuesque means like or suggesting a statue, as 

in formal dignity, grace, or beauty (His statuesque 

poses were sometimes assumed to conceal 

the indignity of his lameness). The adjective 

meaning of or pertaining to a statute, prescribed 

or authorized by statute (a statutory offense), 

or legally punishable, is statutory. Statutuble 

also means prescribed, authorized, or permitted 

by statute. Of an offense, it means recognized 

by statute, legally punishable. But it has the 

special meaning, not shared by statutory, of 

conformed or conforming to statutes. 

stave. The past tense is staved or stove. The participle 

is also staved or stove. Staved is the usual 

form for the past tense and the participle in 

general English, and stove is pretty much confined 

to nautical matters. That is, we say the 

boat was stove in but a bad cold was staved off. 

staves. See staff. 

stay. The past tense is stayed or staid. The participle 

is also stayed or staid. These are merely 

alternate spellings for the same form. 

Stay may be followed by an adjective describing 

the subject of the verb, as in stay calm. It 


the staying, as in stay quietly. There is often no 

ditTerence in meaning between the two forms. 

steady improvement, as a term for consistent and 

regular improvement, is hackneyed. There’s 

nothing wrong with the phrase. It’s really quite 

a good way of putting it. It simply is that the 

two words have been coupled so long and so 

remorselessly that the reader no longer recognizes 

them as individual words with meaning. 

Overuse has effaced them beyond recognition. 

steal. The past tense is stole. The participle is 

stolen. 

A participle stole, as in had stole, was once 

literary English but is no longer considered 

standard. 

steal; purloin; pilfer; filch; thieve; rob; hold up. 

Steal is the general word meaning to take or 

take away dishonestly or wrongfully, especially 

secretly (Who stole my heart away? The second-hand 

yards lose thousands every month 

from stealing). It has also the acquired meaning 

of moving softly and unobtrusively, as a thief. 

Sometimes a connotation of evil-doing lingers 

in the word (This stealing away doesn’t look 

like innocence to me), but it is often completely 

divorced from any such suggestion (Steal away, 

steal away to Jesus. . . . Shall fold their tents, 

like the Arabs,/ And as silently steal away). 

To purloin was originally merely to remove 

475 steal 

far off, to set to one side. In the York Plays 

there is mention of one who having received 

good moral precepts pertly purloined them, that 

is, disregarded them, set them to one side. 

Apparently things taken far off offered a temptation 

to theft and the word has come to be 

associated with theft. It has a connotation of 

subtlety and is now large!y a literary word (The 

Purloined Letter. A certain document of the last 

importance has been purloined from the royal 

apartments). 

To pilfer is to steal in small quantities, to 

practice petty theft (This pilfering cannot be 

taken lightly: it adds up in a year’s time to (I 

considerable sum). Dampier said that he found 

the Malayans honest, not addicted to robbery, 

but only the pilfering, poorer sort. Pilfer carries 

a considerable connotation of contempt (The 

Bard whom pilfered pastorals renown,/ Who 

turns 4 Persian tale for half-a-crown). 

To filch is to steal small things in a sly way. 

As with steal, the slyness often predominates in 

its meaning. Iago’s Who steals my purse, steals 

trash . . ./ But he that filches from me my good 

name/ Robs me of that which not enriches 

him,/ And leaves me poor indeed plainly cannot 

intend filch to mean the stealing of a trifle, but, 

rather, the ruining of a reputation by sly insinuation. 

Thieve is usually intransitive. It means to act 

as a thief, to commit theft. It is stronger than 

filch or purloin and much stronger than pilfer, 

but not as strong as steal or rob. Thievery is 

often preceded by petty. 

Rob is a strong word. It carries a suggestion 

of violence and the theft of things of value. 

Robbers are dangerous men (The First National 

Bank was robbed today by two masked gunmen. 

The police pursued the robbers, exchanging 

more than 4 dozen shots, several of which, 

they are sure, found their mark). Rob takes as 

its object the person or institution from whom 

stolen. Steul takes as its object the thing stolen. 

Something is stolen; one is robbed of it. In 

America the armed robbery of persons is more 

and more being called a hold-up and the perpetrators 

hold-up men, robbers being restricted 

more to those who steal goods. The distinction 

is not yet definitely established as standard, however. 

See also thief; robber; burglar. 

steal a march on. Derived from the military expression 

for moving troops, usually under cover 

of night, without the enemy’s knowledge, to 

steal 4 march on in the figurative sense of 

secretly gaining an advantage is worn out with 

overuse. 

steal someone’s thunder. To say of someone who 

-has used someone else’s own methods of accomplishments 

in such a way as to deprive the 

originator of his due credit or authority that 

he has stolen his thunder is to employ a clichC. 

The phrase was first uttered by the irascible 

critic and playwright John Dennis (1657-1734) 

when the “thunder” which he had devised (shaking 

a sheet of tin) for his play Appius and 

Virginia (1709), which failed, was used a few

steer 476 

nights later in a production of Macbeth. Since 

the origin of so many phrases is quickly lost and 

since it is rare to have an accurate account of 

the origin of a phrase, it is worth quoting a 

paragraph from the Biogruphia Britannica: 

Our author, for the advantage of this play 

[Appius and Virginia], had invented a new 

species of thunder, . . . the very sort that at 

present is used in the theatre. The tragedy 

itself was coldly received, notwithstanding 

such assistance, and was acted but a short 

time. Some nights after, Mr. Dennis, being 

in the pit at the representation of Macbeth, 

heard his own thunder made use of; upon 

which he rose in a violent passion and exclaimed, 

See how the rascals use me! They 

will not let my play run, and yet they steal 

my thunder. 

steer clear of. Used figuratively, the nautical expression 

to steer clear of is hackneyed. 

stem. Where Americans say that something stems 

from this or that (His talkativeness stems from 

an embarrassed self-consciousness), the English 

say springs from or originates in. 

stem-winder. Americans used to call a watch which 

is wound by turning a knob at the stem a stemwinder. 

The English call it a keyless watch. The 

tendency of the English to define negatively, to 

identify new things by saying what they are not, 

a reflection probably of their conservatism, of 

their facing of their great and successful past, is 

gradually changing. Wireless is the traditional 

form, but the American radio is making headway; 

though as H. Allen Smith, that keen observer 

of language and folkways, has remarked 

(Smith’s London Journal, 1952, p. 77), a radio 

tube is still known in England as a wireless 

valve. 

The use of stem-winder as a slang term of 

approbation, applied to one who has energy, 

ability, and initiative, is something of an affectation. 

It implies that the speaker is so venerable 

or comes from some place so quaintly oldfashioned 

that a stem-winding watch constitutes 

an admirable novelty. It may once have been a 

genuine expression but, like cooking with gas, 

it now sounds artificial and forced, an affectation 

of rustic simplicity. 

step iu the right direction. To say of some act 

that conduces to the achievement of a desired 

end, especially an initial act and above all of 

one that marks a change of course, that it is a 

step in the right direction is to employ a cliche. 

step up; increase. Step up, an American engineering 

term applied to the process of gradually 

increasing the electric power applied by a switch 

with graduated steps, is now used in America 

and England to mean to raise or increase something 

that can in some figurative way be considered 

as being a form of power. Thus one 

would not say that he stepped up the amount of 

sugar in his coffee if he added some, but he 

might well say that he stepped up the dosage of 

a drug or medicine, especially if the increase 

was regarded as permanent. 

Some authors insist that unless step up is 

clearly understood to mean to make greater by 

stages, it is merely a substitute for increase and 

hence a superfluous addition to the language. 

But even as a mere synonym for increasewhich 

it is not exactly, because it has connotations 

that increase lacks-it is a dynamic, wn- 

Crete locution. 

stereotyped. See commonplace. 

sterling worth, as a term of approbation for one 

of admirable qualities, is a cliche. 

stern reality, as a term for the facts of a situation, 

especially when unfavorable, is worn out. So 

also is hard facts or the grim facts. 

stew in one’s own juice, as a term for allowing 

someone to suffer the consequences of his own 

actions, especially with a slightly spiteful or 

vindictive satisfaction. is a cliche. 

stick. The past tense is stack. The participle is 

also stuck. 

stick in one’s craw. To say of something that one 

is loath to accept but must that it sticks in one’s 

craw (or gizzard) is to employ a phrase worn 

out by overuse. 

stick to one’s guns, as a term for tenacity, for a 

refusal to give up, and especially for a refusal 

to cede a point in an argument, is stale and 

worn. 

sticker; stickler. A sticker is a person who (or 

sometimes a thing or animal that) is persistent. 

A stickler is a person who insists on something 

unyieldingly. The word is followed by for if 

mention is made of that upon which the insistence 

is laid (He is u stickler for propriety). 

Sticker is generally a term of approval, while 

stickler is generally a term of disapproval, especially 

if the one using the term is not himself 

inclined to admire niceties or regards that on 

which the stickler insists as unworthy of insistence. 

stigma; stigmata. Stigma derives from a Greek 

word meaning mark. In common usage it is 

used figuratively to mean a mark of disgrace or 

infamy, a stain or reproach, as on one’s reputation 

(There should be no stigma attached to his 

failure to get through college; the financial difficulties 

were simply too great). In its literal 

sense, stigma means a characteristic mark or 

sign of defect, degeneration, or disease. It may 

mean a birthmark or a naevus. In pathology a 

stigma is a spot or mark on the skin, especially 

a place or point on the skin which bleeds, or is 

alleged to bleed, during certain mental states, as 

in hysteria. In zoology it means a small mark, 

spot, pore, or the like, on an animal or organ. 

In botany it means that part of a pistil which 

receives the pollen. In the Roman Catholic 

Church stigmata (the plural of stigma in all 

except the figurative sense of disgrace, when the 

plural is stigmas) means marks said to have 

been supernaturally impressed upon certain persons 

in the semblance of the wounds on the 

crucified body of Christ. 

The distinction between stigmas and stigmata 

is less than fifty years old. The verb stigmatize 

still carries both meanings. 

still; stilly. The form still may be used as an adjective 

meaning quiet, as in over the still stream,

and it may be used in other ways. The form 

stilly has only the one meaning of quietness and 

is now artificial English. It could once be used 

as an adjective, as in oft in the stilly night, or as 

an adverb. as in stillv she glides in. Today. still 

is preferred as the adjective and quietly as the 

adverb in this sense. 

Still may also be used as an adverb. When it 

qualifies the comparative form of an adjective 

or adverb, it means “to a high degree” or “increasingly,” 

as in louder still and still more loud. 

Otherwise it indicates that something remains 

unchanged up to a given moment, usually the 

time of speaking, as in still is the story told. 

Here the meaning of the word requires a continuing 

action. It cannot be used with a perfect 

tense verb form or with a simple past, present, 

or future tense unless the action is understood 

as continuing or habitual. In a negative statement 

it is better to place still before the meaningful 

element of the verb rather than after, as 

in he is not still working. See also yet; already. 

Still may also be used as a connective meaning 

notwithstanding or nevertheless, as in still, 

you must admit. With this meaning, it may be 

used with a verb in any tense. 

In many parts of the United States people use 

the expression still and all, meaning “just the 

same.” This is undoubtedly derived from the 

Scottish phrase still and on, which in turn comes 

from the older English phrase still and anonboth 

of which mean nevertheless. 

still small voice. The uronhet Eliiah, lodainp: in 

a cave on Mount Hoieb, heard a voice that Told 

him to go forth and stand upon the mount before 

the Lord. And, behold, it says in I Kings 

19: 11-13, the Lord passed by, and a great and 

strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in 

pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord 

was not in the wind: and after the wind an 

earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 

And after the earthquake a fire; but the 

Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still 

small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard 

it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and 

went out, and stood in the entering in of the 

cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, 

and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? 

The use of the phrase still small voice from 

this great passage as a term for the conscience, 

the voice of God speaking quietly within us, 

was finely conceived and it is a pity that overuse 

has deadened it. 

stimulant; stimulus. Stimulus is the general word 

meaning something that incites to action or 

exertion, or quickens actions, feeling, or thought, 

or serves as a goad or an incentive. In ordinary 

usage stimulus is taken to be commendable, 

something which arouses to useful or desirable 

activity (The love of fame is a powerful stimulus 

in high-minded young people. The infinitely 

complex organizations of commerce have 

grown up under the stimulus of certain desires 

existing in each of us). The plural is stimuluses 

or stimuli. 

Stimulant is a more restricted term. It is used 

to describe something which temporarily quick- 

477 stone 

ens some vital process or the functional activity 

of some organ or part (Alcohol, nicotine, and 

cofJee are all stimulants, and are all harmful if 

taken in excess). Stimulant sometimes tends to 

be a deprecatory term. 

sting. The past tense is stung. The participle is 

also stung. 

stingy. See economical. 

stink. The past tense is stank or stunk. The participle 

is stunk. 

stink (noun). See smell. 

stitch in time, as a term for some act or provision 

which will prevent the need for much greater 

action later or which, if omitted, would involve 

disastrous consequences, is a cliche. 

stock. Take stock of and take stock in convey different 

ideas. To take stock of means to take an 

inventory of, to make an appraisal of (As soon 

as they took stock of their situation, they saw 

that things were not so bad as they had feared). 

To take stock in literally means to purchase 

shares of stock in a corporation, but its figurative, 

colloquial use means to take an interest 

in, attach importance to, or repose confidence 

in (I don’t take much stock in the patriotism of 

such bodies, however loudly they protest it). 

stocl; shares. Stock is the normal term in American 

finance to describe the shares of a particular 

company or corporation. The English say 

shares, though an American will speak of so 

many shares of stock. The American terms 

common stock and preferred stock are paralleled 

by the English ordinary stock, ordinary 

shares, and preference stock, preference shares. 

An American stockholder is the equivalent of 

an English share-holder. 

stoic and stoical both mean resembling the school 

of philosophy founded by Zeno, who taught 

that men should be free from passion, unmoved 

by joy or grief, and should submit without complaint 

to unavoidable necessity. Stoic is the word 

most commonly used to describe one who maintains 

or affects the mental attitude required by 

the Stoics (The stoic detachment is more to be 

admired than attained). Stoical is used more 

loosely (and more frequently) to describe one 

who is impassive, characterized by a calm or 

austere fortitude, whether that fortitude has a 

philosophical basis or not (Many who would 

not have thought they could have endured the 

terror of them learned to be stoical about the 

bombings and slept soundly between raids). 

stoicism. See patience. 

stole; stolen. See steal. 

stolid. See solid. 

stomach. See belly. 

stone is a British term for a measure of weight. 

Their imperial standard stone is fourteen pounds 

avoirdupois. There were formerly many different 

stones-that of meat or fish was eight 

pounds, that of cheese sixteen pounds, that of 

hemp thirty-two pounds, that of glass five 

pounds, that of lead twelve pounds, and so on. 

The term is now largely restricted to giving the 

weight of a man, where stone means fourteen 

pounds avoirdupois (He was a small man, of 

not over ten stone or ten stone five at the mosr) .

StQd 478 

This unit of weight is not used in America, 

though the word is known to most educated 

Americans and was, apparently, formerly used, 

at least in New England (He wus not a ghosf, 

my visitor, but solid flesh and bone;/ He wore 

0: Palo Alto hut, his weight was twenty stone- 

Oliver Wendell Holmes). 

In discussing the term as a unit, the plural is 

stones (The many stones formerly in use in 

England were a cause of great confusion), but 

the plural as the term of measurement of a 

man’s weight is stone (fourteen stone, stripped). 

stood. See stand. 

stoop, as an architectural term, is a word to be 

found only in New World English. Derived 

from the Dutch stoep, it means a raised entrance 

platform with steps leading up to it, or a small 

verandah or porch to a house (They sat out on 

the stoop in the cool of the evening, fanning 

themselves with palm-lenf funs and chatting 

with friends who chanced to stroll by). 

stooped. As an adjective describing a posture in 

which the head and shoulders are bent, or the 

body generally is bent, forward and downward 

from an erect position, Americans use the past 

participle stooped where the English use the 

present participle stooping (She wus startled to 

fznd him so stooped and gray). 

stop. This verb may be followed by the -ing form 

of a verb, as in he stopped reading. An infinitive 

following stop does not show what was stopped 

but only the purpose of the stopping, as in he 

stopped to read. 

Stop may be used to mean “stay for a short 

time,” as in we stopped there for three days. It 

has been used in this way in literary English 

for several centuries. 

stop; cease; pause; quit. Stop is the everyday working 

word, pertaining to actions or to objects in 

motion (The car ahead stopped suddenly. Oh, 

do stop talking that wayf). Cerise is more literary 

and formal and suggests the coming to an 

end of something that has been going on for a 

while (Cease this way of life and turn to better 

things. Cease and desist, in the name of the 

law). Stop also, perhaps merely because of the 

abruptness of its sound, suggests a more abrupt 

cessation. If a violinist, for example, at a formal 

concert concluded a long and difficult piece, it 

might be said that he ceased playing. If there 

were some sudden interruption that compelled 

him to discontinue, it would most likely be said 

that he stopped playing. 

Pause implies that the action or motion will 

continue after an interval. The pause that refreshes 

implies that the pauser, refreshed, will 

resume his activities with renewed vigor. 

Quit in the sense of stop or discontinue is now 

standard usage in America though not used in 

England. It formerly meant to set free, to release 

(Let’s call it quits, that is, let us release 

each other from our obligations and agreement), 

and in its sense of stop there is often a suggestion 

of release. A man quits a job he doesn’t 

like; he would probably leave a position he 

lied. See also end. 

store has different implications and uses in Amurica 

and England. In the United States a store 

is a place where goods are kept for sale, what 

in England is called a shop. As J. B. Greenough 

and G. L. Kittredge explain in Words and their 

Ways (1901, p. 134), “This is not mere provincial 

grandiloquence, as is often supposed, 

but results from the fact that, when the use 

grew up, the places in question were really 

storehouses, as every ‘shop’ in a new country 

must necessarily be.” The English reserve the 

word store largely for a storehouse or warehouse, 

though there are cooperative stores in 

England and a large shop divided into several 

departments, which Americans would call a department 

store, is in England called rhe stores 

(James Ramsey, sitting on the floor cutting out 

pictures from the illustrated catalogue of the 

Army and Navy Stores, endowed the picture 

of a refrigerator . . . with heavenly bliss- 

Virginia Woolf). 

In America one says drugstore, in England 

chemist’s shop, or simply chemist’s American 

chain stores are English multiple stores. An 

American storekeeper is an English shopkeeper. 

When the English use storekeeper, they refer 

to an officer or official in charge of naval or 

military stores; in America such a term may be 

used of a naval petty officer or warrant officer 

whose duties involve stores. In America store 

is often used colloquially in combination with 

other words to suggest that the object referred 

to was bought at a store instead of being made 

at home. Thus store clothes are clothes that 

have been bought, that are not homemade. Store 

teeth is a humorous (and hackneyed) term for 

false teeth (You must have paid plenty for those 

store teeth, Pop). Since it has now been several 

generations since any large number of Americans 

have been awe-struck at the superiority and 

splendor of “boughten” things, this use of store 

is now either an affectation of rusticity or a 

dreary whimsy. See also shop. 

storey; story. Where Americans use only story, 

the English may use either story or storey to 

describe a complete horizontal section of a 

building, having one continuous or approximately 

continuous floor; the set of rooms on 

the same floor or level of a building; each of 

the stages, separated by floors, one above the 

other, of which a building consists (a twentystory 

skyscraper. He lived on the fifth story). 

Story may mean, in England and America, a 

narrative, either true or fictitious, in prose or 

verse, designed to interest or amuse the hearer 

or reader; a tale (Tell me the old, old story). 

In colloquial usage, cynicism has made the word 

synonymous for a lie (That’s a story, and you 

know it; Z wasn’t there at all). It is used in this 

sense chiefly by children-or was so used; it’s 

now a little archaic-as a euphemism for lie. 

In American journalism story has the loose 

sense of an account of some event or situation, 

especially as it appears in the paper (The Philadelphia 

Story. It was when we were in New 

Orleans, working on the Mardi Gras story. The

sfory broke in the afternoon editions). The 

common journalistic phrase fhe story broke does 

not mean that the narrative collapsed but, on 

the contrary, that the news became public in a 

sensational manner. 

storm brewing. Even when used of an impending 

meteorological disturbance, there’s a storm 

brewing is a clich6. It is as much one, and more, 

when used figuratively of some trouble that is 

working itself up. 

stout. See fat. 

stove. See stave. 

straight; straightly. The form straight may be 

used as an adjective, as in keep a straight face, 

or as an adverb, as in come straight home. Very 

often it is impossible to say whether the word is 

an adjective or an adverb (and unnecessary to 

say), as in stand straight. The form straightly 

is always an adverb, as in of stature tall and 

straightly fashioned. It is seldom used in the 


straight; strait. Straight, a commonly used term 

meaning unswerving, direct, is not to be confused 

with the archaic word strait which means 

narrow, affording little room, strict in requirements 

or principles. The expression to describe 

one (usually a woman) who is excessively strict 

in conduct or morality is strait-laced, not 

straight-laced. Strait-laced is archaic in the literal 

sense of being tightly laced or wearing 

tightly laced garments. 

straight and narrow path. As a term for the path 

of virtue, now generally employed with a tedious 

jocularity, the straight and narrow path is 

a clichb. It is a shortening and a corruption of 

Matthew 7:14, strait is the gate and narrow is 

the way, which leadeth unto life, in which strait 

means narrow, not straight. 

straight as a die. The die that is the standard of 

straightness in the hackneyed comparison is that 

which is known best in its plural, dice. Dice, of 

course, had to be made with utmost precision if 

their falling was to be wholly a matter of 

chance and their smoothness and exactness 

formed the basis of several comparisons-us 

smooth as a die, as true as a die, as straight as 

a die. All are now clichCs. 

straight from the horse’s mouth is a colloquial 

jocularity as an assurance that something stated 

is on good authority. It is doubly hackneyed. 

It derives from estimating the age of a horse by 

examining its teeth. No matter what the horse 

trader declared the animal’s age to be, the condition 

of its teeth furnished an accurate guide 

for the knowing. 

straight from the shoulder. As a way of saying 

that some comment (usually of an unpleasant 

nature) was blunt, to say that it came straight 

from the shoulder (He let him have it straight 

from the shoulder) is a clichb. The expression 

is drawr from pugilism and shares the brutality 

of its origin. It is usually uttered with smug satisfaction, 

the utterer feeling that this particular 

manner of delivering his advice or criticism was 

admirable and would be wholesome for the one 

to whom it was delivered. 

479 

straightway; straightaway. See immediately. 

strain. See sprain. 

strain at a gnat. As a term for those who make 

a difficulty of accepting or “swallowing” some 

trifle (usually in the matter of opinion, or unlikely 

assertion, or relation of an unusual happening) 

when they have already accepted a 

much greater improbability without scruple, fo 

strain at a gnat and swallow a camel is worn 

out bv overuse. 

Thi expression is often used with the assumption 

that “strain at” in this context means to 

make a great effort to swallow, to choke over, 

as it were, to retch or to vomit with revulsion 

and effort. Actually, however, it is another 

meaning of the word to strain: to filter. The 

expression comes from Matthew 23:23-24, 

which in the King James version reads: Woe 

unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites1 for 

ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and 

have omitted the weightier mutters of the law, 

judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to 

have done, and not to leave the other undone. 

Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and 

swallow a camel. This reading is not, as has 

been claimed, a mistranslation but it adopted a 

rendering already current which even then had 

proved misleading. The passage means “which 

strain the liquor if they find a gnat in it.” The 

Revised Standard Version gives the proper 

meaning by having it read which strain out a 

gnat. 

straiu every nerve. The older meaning of nerve 

was sinew or tendon (Awake, my soul, stretch 

every nerve,/ And press with vigor on-1755). 

In modem usage, however, the use of the adjuration 

to strain every nerve to mean to make 

the utmost physical effort is a clicht. 

straits. The word strait means narrow or tight, as 

in strait is the gate, a strait jacket, in straitened 

circumstances. The plural form straits may be 

used in speaking of a narrow water way or, 

figuratively, of a difficult situation, as in the 

Straits of Gibraltar, the Straits of Magellan, and 

what brought you to these straits? Before the 

sixteenth century the singular form strait was 

used more often than the plural in both these 

senses. This is now obsolete in England where 

only the plural form has survived. In the United 

States the singular strait is still standard and 

both forms are acceptable. Maps made in America 

usually show the Strait of Gibraltar, the 

Strait of Magellan, and people sometimes say 

Z was never in such a strait before. In this last 

sense, the word is often misspelled straight. 

strange. See funny, odd. 

stratagem. See trick. 

strategy; tactics. Primarily these words refer to 

military operations. Strategy refers to the planning 

and directing of projects which involve the 

movements of forces, etc., and tactics refers to 

the actual processes of moving or handling 

forces (The generals work out the strategy, but 

it is often up to regimental oficers to handle 

tactics. That Cromwell was a great tactical 

commander is beyond question, but the wisdom

stratum 480 

of his strategy is a matter of dispute). More 

loosely, strategy describes skillful management 

in getting the better of an adversary or attaining 

a large end. It describes the method of 

conducting operations, especially by the aid 

of maneuvering or stratagem. Tactics, more 

loosely, is pretty close to the loose sense of 

strategy, though tactics is perhaps better for 

maneuvers themselves and strategy for the planning 

of those maneuvers. 

The United States Air Force maintains a 

Strategic Air Command and a Tactical Air 

Command. The strategic forces are in time of 

war applied directly against the enemy nation 

itself as distinct from its deployed military 

forces. Tactical forces are concentrated against 

those elements of the enemy’s military forces 

which constitute the greatest menace to the successful 

accomplishment of the theater mission. 

stratum. The plural is stratums or strata. Strata 

is also used as a singular, with a regular plural 

stratus. These forms are objected to by many 

people but are used by competent writers. 

stress; emphasize. In England stress means chiefly 

severe pressure, force or anguished concern. 

This meaning is known in America (Men Under 

Stress. The stress of the past few weeks has 

been almost unendurable), but the more common 

meaning of the word in the United States 

today is to lay emphasis on, to emphasize (I 

want to stress three things). British authorities 

discourage the use of stress in this sense, insisting 

that emphasize is more correct; but the 

usage is standard in America. 

strew. The past tense is strewed. The participle is 

strewed or strewn. Strewed is preferred tostrewn 

in purely verbal uses, and strewn is preferred 

as an adjective. But both forms may be used in 

either way. 

stria. The plural is striae. 

stricken. See strike. 

stride. The past tense is strode. The participle is 

stridden, strid, strided, or strode. Stridden is the 

usual form of the participle in literary English. 

But Robert Louis Stevenson uses strode, as in 

the captain who had so often strode along the 

beach, and this form is acceptable in many 

parts of the United States. Strid is not heard in 

the United States but is a recognized form in 

Great Britain, where strided is also used and 

accepted. 

strike. The past tense is struck. The participle is 

struck or stricken. Stricken is not used in Great 

Britain except as an adjective, but may still be 

heard in verb forms in the United States, as in 

the clause was stricken out. 

When used as an adjective, stricken is more 

old-fashioned and bookish than struck. It occurs 

most often in set phrases such as stricken with 

a disease, stricken in years, the stricken deer. 

Only the form struck can be used when the 

word is meant in its literal sense, as in struck 

with a cane, and even when used in a figurative 

sense, struck is generally preferred to 

stricken, as in struck with terror, moon-struck, 

and so on. 

strike while the iron is hot, as an adjuration to 

seize the propitious moment, to act while circumstances 

are favorable, is now a clich6. 

string. The past tense is strung. The participle is 

also strung. A form stringed is used as a pure 

adjective with no verbal force. That is, we 

speak of a well strung bow but of a stringed instrument. 

stripe is used figuratively in America to designate 

a distinctive style, variety, sort, or kind (No 

Democrat of the Bryan-Hearst stripe could 

make headway in such an enterprise). The 

equivalent English term is kidney. (See also ilk.) 

strive. The past tense is strove or strived. The 

participle is striven or strived. Strived is no 

longer heard in Great Britain but is still acceptable 

in the United States for the past tense and 

the participle. 

Strive may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

with steps that strove to be, and were not, fast. 

It cannot be followed by the -ing form of a 

verb. See endeavor. 

strode. See stride. 

strong as a horse. This simile is worn out and 

outworn. Even its appositeness may be questioned. 

Oxen, mules, donkeys, goats, and many 

other mammals are, pound for pound. stronger 

than horses, and the insects have strength, for 

their weight, which no vertebrate can remotely 

match. As strong as an ant-there’s a real 

simile! 

strong, silent man. The strong, silent man was a 

highly popular character, especially in novels 

by and for women, around the beginning of the 

twentieth century. By the 1920’s he had been 

taken over as a figure of fun by the wits. But 

by now the term is utterly worn out, no longer 

appealing or amusing. 

strong verbs. In Old English there were about 

four hundred verbs that changed the vowel in 

forming the past tense, as in speak and spoke. 

These are called strong verbs, in contrast to the 

weak verbs that formed the past tense by simply 

adding ed, as in talk and talked. Most of the old 

strong verbs have dropped out of the language 

or have developed regular (weak) forms. On 

the other hand, some verbs that were originally 

weak have developed irregular forms. 

In present-day English, all verbs that form 

the past tense. and participle by adding ed to 

the present tense form are called regular verbs 

and all that do not, are called irregular, regardless 

of the history of the word. See irregular 

verbs. 

strove. See strive. 

struck. See strike. 

strong. See string. 

stuck. See stick. 

student. See pupil. 

studio; study. Among its many meanings as a 

noun, study means a room, in a house or other 

building, set apart for private study, reading, 

writing, or the like (A scholar should have a 

study and a writer must have one). Studio has 

as its basic meaning the workroom or atelier of 

an artist, as a painter or sculptor. More loosely

used, it describes a room or place in which 

some form of art is pursued (The music studio 

is on the fifth floor). Since motion pictures, 

radio and television, studio has come to describe 

a room or a set of rooms or a building especially 

equipped for the characteristic activities of 

those enterprises. In common American usage 

studio has come to designate just about any 

service establishment: beauty shops are called 

harr-do studios, perfume shops cosmetic studios, 

dancing schools studios of the dance. A photographer’s 

place of business is almost always just 

a plain studio. 

stuff. See matter; material. 

stung. See sting. 

stung to the quick. Quick in this phrase means 

the living, sensitive tissue (as in He pared his 

nails to the quick). As a figurative expression 

for being suddenly and deeply hurt, as by an 

unkind remark or an insult, especially with the 

sort of smarting, burning pain that, like the 

pain of a sting, often stimulates a flash of 

aggressive anger, the metaphor was once a good 

one. For unexpected slights and insults do give 

sudden and intense pain, just like stings, and, 

like stings, they inflame and ache for a long 

time after and breed caution and resentment. 

Furthermore the metaphor has the satisfying 

implication that the inflicter of the pain is a 

subhuman, poisonous creature. But the aptness 

of the expression has led to its being overworked. 

stunk. See stink. 

stunt; stint. These words are confusingly close as 

nouns and as verbs. As a verb stint means to 

limit to a certain amount, number, share, or 

allowance, often unduly (Because he had stinted 

on provisions, the hunting party soon had to 

forage for food). Stunt, as a transitive verb, 

means to check the growth or development of 

(All boys used to be told that smoking cigarettes 

would stunt their growth). As an intransitive 

verb it means to display, often recklessly, 

strength and skill (The Air Force does not encourage 

cadets to stunt). As a noun it may 

mean a creature or plant hindered from attaining 

its proper growth, but this meaning is now 

so rare as to be obsolete. The commonest, 

almost the only meaning attached to the word 

as a noun in America today is a performance, 

usually one of no great significance, which 

serves to display strength or skill of a superficial 

kind (He used to do stunts on the roof top 

just to impress the kids). Stint, as a noun, means 

a limitation or restriction, especially as to 

amount (He gave without stint to the campaign); 

a limited or prescribed quantity, share, 

rate (He did only his stint in the common enterprise); 

an allotted amount or piece of work 

(Interviewing students was a part of his daily 

rtint). 

stylish. See high-toned. 

stylus. The plural is styluses or styli. 

subconscious. See unconscious. 

subject of a verb. In a given sentence the subject 

of the verb is the word or group of words that 

481 subject 

answers the question who (or what) followed 

by the verb in the form used in the sentence. 

It may be a single word or it may be a group 

of words. In he came yesterday, the subject is 

he; in reading such books frightens me, it is 

reading such books; in what you say has been 

said before, it is what you say. The subject is 

always a noun or noun equivalent together with 

its qualifiers. 

If the verb is in the active voice, as it is in 

the first two examples given above, the subject 

names the agent of the action. If the verb is in 

the passive voice, that is, if it is a form of the 

verb to be followed by the past participle of 

the meaningful verb, as it is in the third example, 

the subject names the person or thing 

affected by the action. A linking verb does not 

name an action and so its subject is neither an 

agent nor a person or thing affected. These verbs 

present special problems which are discussed 

below. 

In a Latin sentence the subject of the verb 

is a noun in the nominative case, together with 

its qualifiers. In contemporary English, word 

order has taken over many of the functions of 

case and the subject of the verb is recognized 

by its position in the sentence. The rules for 

position are slightly different in declarative and 

in non-declarative sentences. 

In questions that do not have an interrogative 

word for subject, and in wishes, the subject 

stands immediately after the element of the verb 

that shows tense, as in did you see it? and may 

you never regret it. A simple past or present 

tense form of the verb to be, or of the verb 

to have, may stand before the subject in a 

question, as in were you there? and have you 

a match?. With these exceptions, a question 

requires a verbal phrase, as does a wish, and the 

subject stands after the auxiliary and before the 

meaningful verb. A verbal phrase can also be 

used with have, as in do you have a match?. 

See questions and subjunctive mode. 

In an imperative sentence the subject is 

usually omitted. Formerly, if it was expressed 

it followed the verb, as in go ye into all the 

world. Today, if it is used at all it precedes the 

verb, as in you go first. In an exclamation the 

subject normally precedes the verb, but sentences 

of this kind may also have the form of 

a question. See exclamations and imperative 

mode. 

In a declarative sentence the subject normally 

precedes the verb and can be separated from it 

only by an adverb. In the best modern prose 

more than ninety percent of the sentences have 

the word order: subject, verb, object. The object 

may be placed first without disturbing the order 

of subject, verb. This order-subject, verb-is 

therefore a basic characteristic of English sentences. 

There are exceptions to the rule, and 

when the exceptions are listed there seem to be 

a great many of them. But this is deceptive. The 

exceptions are either limited to a few individual 

words or are rare constructions not often found 

in natural speech or writing.

subjective pronouns 482 

1. The word there can be used without any 

real meaning in order to place the subject after 

the verb, as in there is a pleasure in the pathless 

woods. Today this construction is archaic except 

with the verb to be and a few other linking 

verbs such as come, seem, appear; but it was 

once used freely with verbs of any kind, as in 

there lived a wife at Usher’s well. (See there.) 

The word it is also used in order to place a true 

subject later in the sentence. But if is a pronoun, 

or substitute subject, and sentences of this kind 

therefore still have the normal word order of 

subject, verb. (See it.) 

2. In a clause introduced by nor an auxiliary 

verb must precede the subject, as in you do not 

know, nor do 1. This is also true for the word 

neither when it is used in place of nor, as in 

they toil not, neither do they spin. 

3. Ordinarily the word so does not affect the 

order of subject and verb; but it can be used in 

the sense of also with to be or an auxiliary verb 

standing alone, and in that case the verb must 

precede the subject, as in the final statement in: 

He can tell you. So he can. But so can you. 

4. When a negative adverb, or an adverb that 

is restrictive, is placed before the subject for 

emphasis, it usually brings the verb forward 

with it, as in never will I forget, scarcely had he 

spoken, only now do I realize. 

5. The words here and there, used with their 

full meaning, when placed before the subject 

may bring the verb forward too, as in here are 

the letters, there goes an umbulance. This wnstruction 

is not obligatory even when the subject 

is a noun and is never used with the pronouns 

he, she, it, they. We say here they are and there 

it goes. 

6. Verbs such as say, reply, think, when interpolated 

into a narrative may stand before 

their subject, as in said he, thought 1. There 

is a theory that the normal word order, he said, 

should be used when only the substance of what 

was said is being reported and that the inverted 

order, said he, indicates that the exact words 

have been repeated. This distinction is not observed 

in the United States, where the normal 

order, he said, I thought, and so on, is generally 

preferred. 

7. The words had, were, could, and should, 

may be placed before the subject in a conditional 

clause in order to avoid using the word 

if, as in had he known, were I you. This construction 

is extremely bookish. In ordinary 

speech we are more likely to use if and the 

normal word order of subject, verb. 

8. In Old English the normal position for 

the verb in a declarative sentence was immediately 

after the first significant element, rather 

than immediately after the subject. This meant 

that the object of the verb, or any adverb, standing 

in the first position might bring the verb 

ahead of the subject. The old word order, as 

seen in the boar’s head in hand bear I and up 

jumped the swagman, is still understood by US. 

But except in the seven cases listed above, it is 

no longer normal English. It is used in poetry 

and in stylized prose but is uncommon in matter- 

of-fact speech. If one wants the old-fashioned 

quality of a yarn one might say in 1603 died 

good Queen Bess but a serious historian would 

be more likely to say in 1603 Queen Elizabeth 

died. 

9. In Old English the verb was sometimes 

made the first element in a declarative sentence 

in order to emphasize the action and add a 

sense of speed to the narrative. Chaucer uses 

this device in ran cow and calf and eek the 

verray hogges, but the construction was archaic 

even in his time. Today it is no longer archaic; 

it is simply unnatural English. And when it is 

used where no sense of speed is intended, as 

in came the dawn, it is ridiculous. 

10. The verb to be is more likely to be 

brought ahead of its subject than other verbs 

are and when it is standing between its complement 

and its subject, as in a strange bird is the 

owl, it is sometimes difficult to say which is 

which. Logically,the subject is the less inclusive 

of the two terms. That is, a statement of this 

kind says that the subject belongs in the class 

of things named in the complement, and this 

must therefore be the larger class. Owl is a less 

inclusive term than strange bird and it is therefore 

the subject of the verb is in the sentence 

just given. But today there is a strong tendency 

to treat any noun or noun equivalent standing 

before a verb as the subject of the verb. We say 

his greatest worry is taxes and taxes are his 

greatest worry. Obviously, in these sentences we 

are treating whatever precedes the verb as the 

subject, without going into the question of 

which class of things includes the other. Some 

grammarians believe that this tendency is decisive 

in contemporary English and define the 

subject of a verb as any noun or noun equivalent 

standing in the subject position. 

However it is defined, the subject determines 

the form of a present tense verb. For example, 

worry requires the singular is, and taxes the 

plural are. (See agreement: verbs.) An objective 

pronoun cannot be used in a subject position. 

(See objective pronouns and subjective pronouns.) 

The subject of the verb includes the 

noun or noun equivalent and all its qualifiers. 

As a rule, these have the order: adjective qualifiers, 

noun or noun equivalent, qualifying phrase 

or clause. (See adjectives, position of adjectives, 

phrases, and clauses.) 

subjective pronouns. There are six subjective pronouns, 

I, we, he, she, they, and who. 

The formal rules of grammar require these 

subjective forms (and not their objective counterparts) 

whenever the word is: 

(1) The subject of a verb. (He was there.) 

(2) Joined to the subject by a linking verb. 

(That is he.) 

(3) Joined to the subject by and, or, nor, but, 

than, or as. (I work harder than he.) 

(4) In an independent or “absolute” construction. 

(He having no coot. we gave 

him one.) 

These rules do not represent standard English 

practice. In the speech of well educated people,

each of the above points is modified in one way 

or another. 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

The subjective pronouns are always used 

when the word is standing in a position 

appropriate to the subject of a verb. Him 

and me were there is accordingly unacceptable. 

But in unusual constructions, 

where the subject is out of its natural 

place, an objective form is acceptable, 

as him in damn’d be him that first cries 

Hold, enough! and in there will only be 

him left. 

Standard English uses a subjective pronoun 

after a linking verb in a simple 

identity, such as I am I, and before the 

-self words, as in it was she herself I saw. 

The obiective form is acceptable in all 

other constructions, such as that is him. 

In more complex sentences, such as the 

first person he recognized was me and 

is it us they are talking about?, a subjective 

pronoun is never used, except in 

the most artificial prose. See linking 

verbs. 

Standard English uses a subjective pronoun 

when the word is joined to the 

subject of a verb by and, or, or nor. 

After but, than, or as, a subjective pronoun 

is not often used unless it also 

stands before a verb, as in I work harder 

than he does. (See the individual words.) 

The “absolute” construction with a subjective 

pronoun is rare in current 

English. It is usually replaced by a 

clause, such as since he had no coat, we 

gave him one. See participles. 

To sum up, standard English requires the 

subjective form of the pronoun whenever the 

word is standing in a subject position. In most 

other situations, the objective form is preferred. 

In current English an objective pronoun can 

orten be used where the rules would require a 

subjective form. But, with two exceptions, a 

subjective pronoun that is not required by the 

formal rules of grammar, such as the I in life is 

hard for a girl like I, is also contrary to good 

usage. 

The subjective pronoun who is one exception. 

When the word whom precedes the verb, as in 

whom are you looking for?, the form who is 

generally preferred. In this case, therefore, 

either form is acceptable and the speaker may 

follow his own taste. See who; whom. 

The other exception is the form of the pronoun 

used after let’s or let us. When the word 

let is used alone, without the ‘s or us, an objective 

pronoun is required, as in let him first 

cast a stone. For this reason, I should be me 

in let Dick and I do it because what is meant is 

let Dick do zt and let me do it. By the same 

reasoning, 1 should be me in let’s you and I 

wait here. It must be me according to the formal 

rules of grammar, and a great many people, 

including most grammarians, always use an objective 

pronoun after let’s. But a great many 

other equally well educated people prefer a 

483 

subjunctive 

subjective pronoun. Both constructions must 

therefore be recognized as acceptable today. 

With these exceptions, a subjective pronoun 

that is not required by the rules is a mistake. 

Sometimes it is a pretentious mistake. That is, 

the speaker realizes that he is not speaking 

natural English but believes that what is unnatural 

must be superior. An honest confusion 

about which form of the pronoun to use occurs 

most often after the word and, as in they invited 

father and I. People who would not make this 

mistake in a simple statement sometimes do 

when the same situation occurs in a more complicated 

sentence. In any kind of sentence, a 

pronoun following and should have the same 

form that it would have if it stood in place of 

the word it is joined to. For example, she should 

be her in I would have both you and she know 

the truth because we would say I would have 

her know. Similarly, Z should be me in there is 

nothing for it but for you and I to go alone 

because we would say for me to go alone. 

Using a subjective pronoun where au objective 

form is required is the most conspicuous 

grammatical mistake in American speech today. 

Textbook writers and school teachers are undoubtedly 

responsible for this. In their attack 

on such expressions as it is me they have been 

inconsistent and unreasonable. They have condemned 

this use of the objective pronoun in 

half a dozen sentences and overlooked it in a 

hundred others. (See linking verbs.) And they 

have said that a construction which runs through 

English literature, and which is used by respectable 

people everywhere, is nevertheless reprehensible. 

Under the circumstances, it is not 

surprising that some children lose all feeling for 

case. What could an over-conscientious child do 

but avoid the offending words entirely? 

No one who has had a high-school education 

is likely to misuse an objective pronoun. But 

the very people who are most anxious to speak 

“correctly” often use subjective pronouns in the 

wrong place. If there is any doubt at all about 

which form is right, it is safer to use the objective. 

subject to; addicted to. Subject to is the more inclusive 

term. It may mean open or exposed to 

(If we live very long we are subject to all kinds 

of temptation) or under domination, control, or 

influence; liable to (The severe headaches to 

which he was subject gradually abated after his 

fiftieth year. Subject to change without notice). 

Addicted to is the more limiting term. One 

may be subject to temptation yet not yield to it, 

but when one is addicted to a particular habit 

he is devoted or given up to it (A man may be 

a heavy drinker and yet not be addicted to 

alcohol). Addicted to carries an implication of 

moral disapproval. Addiction is the term to describe 

the state of being given up to some habit, 

practice or pursuit, especially to the taking of 

narcotics. 

subjunctive mode. Many languages have special 

forms of the verb, called subjunctive forms, 

which must be used when one is speaking about 

what is conceivable rather than about what

subjunctive 484 

actually is or has been, about ideas rather than 

about events. The forms of the verb used in 

speaking about actual facts are called indicatives. 

English frequently uses an indicative where 

other languages would use a subjunctive. But 

the indicative cannot be used everywhere, even 

in English. Under certain circumstances, we 

must use a subjunctive form of the verb or else 

one of the auxiliary verbs that have a subjunctive 

meaning. 

FORMS 

The English verb has three forms that are 

used in a subjunctive sense. These are illustrated 

below. The first, called the present subjunctive, 

merely shows that what is being talked 

about is an idea and not a fact. The second, 

called the past subjunctive, stresses the uncertainty 

or improbability of a statement. The 

names present subjunctive and past subjunctive 

are misleading, because in modem English there 

is no time difference between these forms. Instead, 

they express different degrees of certainty. 

Both refer indefinitely to the present or the 

future. The third form, the past perfect, refers 

to the past. 

1. The present subjunctive uses only the simple 

form of the verb, no matter what its subject 

may be. This means that the verb be is used 

instead of am, is, are. In other verbs, the present 

subjunctive is like the present indicative 

except that the third person singular does not 

have the characteristic s ending, as in he say, 

he stop. We have a present subjunctive whenever 

the word be is used directly with a subject, 

as in we asked that the meeting be postponed. 

We also have a present subjunctive whenever 

the third person singular does not have its s, as 

he stop in the doctor insisted that he stop smoking. 

In every case, the present subjunctive form 

shows that we are talking about an idea which 

someone has and not an actual event. 

2. Except for the verb to be, the past subjunctive 

is exactly like the past indicative. The difference 

between the two modes does not lie in 

the form of the word but in its meaning. Whenever 

a past tense form is used in speaking of a 

present or future event, as in if he walked in 

here tomorrow, it has subjunctive force and 

shows that the event is thought of as unlikely. 

The past subjunctive of the verb to be is were. 

This is used for the singular as well as for the 

plural, as in were he to go. In most cases, the 

indicative singular was may also be used as a 

past subjunctive. (For a full discussion of this, 

see was; were.) 

3. The past perfect is the tense formed by the 

word had and the past participle of a verb? such 

as had known, had gone. This is ordinarily an 

indicative tense. But when it is used in a conditional 

statement it implies that the condition is 

actually contrary to the facts. To show that a 

statement is conditional we either use a special 

word, such as if, though, unless, as in if he had 

known, or we place the auxiliary verb before 

the subject, as in had he known. 

4. In addition to these subjunctive forms, 

English has a number of auxiliary verbs, such 

as ought, must, may, which have subjunctive 

meaning; that is, they express what is desirable 

or conceivable rather than what actually is. 

These verbs do not have the s ending in the 

third person singular because they are old past 

subjunctive forms with a present or future tense 

meaning. Will and can are now used as present 

indicatives. May and must are always used as 

present subjunctives, and so is shall m American 

English. Would and could are sometimes used 

as the past indicatives of will and can, and sometimes 

as past subjunctives. Ought and might, 

and in the United States should, are always past 

subjunctives. 

These auxiliary verbs have certain obvious 

advantages over the regular subjunctive forms. 

In the first place, each verb has its own special 

meaning and this allows us to make our subjunctive 

statements clearer and more precise. In 

the second place, these verbs can keep their subjunctive 

tense meanings and still refer to events 

in the past. We can say he may have met her 

here meaning “it may be true that he met her 

here,” or he might have met her here, meaning 

“it might be true that he met her here.” (The 

use of these auxiliaries in speaking of what did 

not occur, as you might have let us know you 

were coming!, is discussed below.) 

The verbs be and have also have subjunctive 

force when they are followed by an infinitive, 

as in he was to come this afternoon and he has 

20 leave early. The verb have can be used in 

this way in all tenses. 

USES OF THE SIMPLE FORMS 

The subjunctive is used in current English for 

two purposes: (1) to express a requirement, 

suggestion, or desire, and (2) to state a supposition, 

condition, or concession. 

1. Statements of requiring or suggesting cannot 

be followed by a simple indicative verb 

form. We cannot say I suggest that he goes now. 

In the United States the present subjunctive is 

almost always used here, as in Z suggested he 

take it with him, we insisted that she get to work 

on time, it is imperative that he know the truth. 

In Great Britain this use of the present subjunctive 

is considered “pedantic.” Englishmen prefer 

to use the auxiliary should, as in I suggested he 

should take it with him. In the United States the 

simple subjunctive is the form used most often 

in natural speech. The construction with should 

appears too, but is felt to be “bookish” or 

“British.” 

A request or suggestion expressed in the main 

verb in a sentence is an imperative, as in go at 

once and look at it again, why don’t you. A 

future tense can also be used to make what is 

clearly a command more courteous, as in you 

will go at once. A past subjunctive auxiliary 

softens a statement of this kind still further until 

it is little more than a comment, as in you 

should go at once. 

The verb wish is followed by the past tense 

form of a verb, implying (whether sincerely or 

not) that the speaker does not expect to see the 

wish realized, as in I wish you liked me and 

I wish you could come. To express a wish which

we expect to see realized we use the vecb hope, 

which may be followed by a present indicative, 

as in I hope you like it and I hope you can come. 

(It may also be followed by a past indicative 

referring to a past event, as in I hope you liked 

it.) Other verbs of wishing or desiring may be 

followed by a clause containing a subjunctive or 

subjunctive auxiliary verb, or by an infinitive, 

as in I long to have him come and I want him 

to go. The infinitive construction is preferred. 

Formerly a wish could be expressed in the 

main verb of a sentence by means of a present 

subjunctive. As this is identical in form with 

the imperative, these old expressions of wish are 

now felt as imperatives, however unreasonable 

that may be, as in heaven forbid, perish the 

thought, long live America. In present-day English 

the subjunctive auxiliary may is used to 

distinguish a wish from a command. It must 

stand immediately before the grammatical subject, 

as in long may it wave and may she live to 

be a hundred. The auxiliary would introduces a 

wish that seems to the speaker unlikely to be 

fulfilled, as in would I knew what fo do. This 

construction is now archaic except in the combination 

would to God. 

2. From the earliest times English has had 

three ways of making a hypothetical statement, 

indicating varying degrees of confidence in what 

is said. In addition, we may also show that what 

we are saying is known to be contrary to the 

facts. In what follows, everything that is said 

applies equally to suppositions, concessions, and 

conditions. Each of the examples given might 

equally well have begun with suppose (a supposition), 

though (a concession), or if (a condition). 

If an event is thought of as probable, we may 

treat it as a fact and speak of it in the indicative, 

as in suppose it is true and suppose he 

comes tontorrow. These indicative statements 

may also appear in the past tense when that is 

appropriate, as in I suppose it was true and I 

suppose he came yesterday. 

In the United States up to thirty or forty 

years ago, an event that was not thought of as 

a probable fact, but as an idea or theory, was 

expressed by a present subjunctive, as in even 

though it be true and even though he come tomorrow. 

This use of the subjunctive can still 

be heard but it is no longer as popular as it used 

to be. Today we are more likely to express this 

idea by means of should, as in even though it 

should be true and even though he should come 

tomorrow. 

If an event is thought of as unlikely or doubtful, 

we use a past tense form, which is here a 

past subjunctive since it does not refer to a past 

event but to something vaguely in the present 

or the future, as in even though they were right 

and even though he came tomorrow. 

In making a hypothetical statement abolt the 

past w&h we know to be conuary LO me racts, 

we may use the auxiliary had or could have, as 

in ij he had come yesterday and if he could 

have come yesterday. Any other statement about 

the past, such as if he was here yesterday, is now 

subjunctive 

felt to be a statement about the facts, about 

what happened yesterday, and an indicative 

form of the verb is therefore required. That we 

do not know what the facts are, is beside the 

point. The subjunctive were should not be used 

in speaking about a past event, as it is in if he 

were here yesterday. If we do not know what 

actually happened, the indicative was is required. 

If we know that he was not here, the 

past perfect form, if he had been here yesterday, 

is preferred. 

A conditional statement is usually accompanied 

by another statement, called the conclusion, 

which tells what will happen if the 

condition is fulfilled or what would have happened 

if the condition had been fulfilled. If an 

indicative form of the verb is used in stating the 

condition, any form may be used in stating the 

conclusion, as in if this is true, I might see him 

and if he was home yesterday, I will hear about 

it. Similarly, if a present subjunctive is used in 

the condition, any form may be used in the conclusion, 

as in though he slay me, yet will I 

trust in him. But if a past subjunctive is used in 

the condition, a past subjunctive auxiliary is required 

in the conclusion, as in if he came tomorrow, 

I might see him. And if a past perfect 

tense or could have is used in the condition, one 

of these auxiliaries followed by have is required 

in the conclusion, as in if he had come yesterday, 

I would have seen him. 

In literary English the fact that a statement 

is a conditional clause can sometimes be shown 

without a conjunction by simply placing the first 

element of the verb before the subject. For a 

simple condition, this is possible with the auxiliary 

verbs could and should and with were 

followed by a to-infinitive, as in could I see him, 

I would . . .; should he go, I would . . .; and 

were I to go, I would. . . . For a contrary to fact 

condition, this is possible with the auxiliary 

could have, the word had used in any manner, 

and were when it is not followed by an infinitive, 

as in had I gone, I would have . . .; could Z 

have gone, I would have . . .; and were I going, 

I would. . . . 

3. The subjunctive once had many other uses 

which are now expressed by the indicative, but 

which are similar to the uses of the subjunctive 

in some of the other European languages. Verbs 

of dreading and fearing still require a subjunctive 

when they are used with lest, a~ in each 

fearing lest the other suspect it. But this is now 

extremely literary. In ordinary speech we use 

that and an indicative, as in each fearing that 

the other suspects it. Formerly, the subjunctive 

was used to-express result, as die in he that 

smiteth a man so that he die. And well into this 

century a few Americans used the subjunctive 

in expressions of time, as fall in the tree will 

wither before it fall and send in I will wait till 

he send for me. Just before World War I, these 

forms had crossed the Atlantic and were appearing 

in British newspapers, to the great distress 

of educated Englishmen. They are now 

obsolete in this country as well as in England. 

But a form of the temporal subjunctive is still

sublime 486 

coming to us in British mystery stories, which 

are fond of such quaint expressions as two 

weeks come Michaelmas. 

USES OF THE AUXILIARIES 

The subjunctive auxiliaries are used to express 

obligation, uncertainty, unreality, and purpose. 

They are our only means of expressing 

obligation or of expressing uncertainty in the 

principal clause in a statement, as in I may be 

late. These uses depend entirely on the meaning 

of the individual words and give no trouble 

grammatically. 

Certain other uses of the auxiliaries have 

already been discussed. To summarize: (1) 

Should is sometimes used in place of a present 

subjunctive. This is heard in England 

more often than in the United States. (2) Could 

and would may be used in conditional clauses 

as past-tense forms of can and will. (3) One of 

the past-tense auxiliaries must be used in the 

conclusion when a past subjunctive form has 

been used in a conditional clause; and one of 

these same auxiliaries followed by have is required 

when a past perfect tense is used in the 

condition. 

In the United States until very recently, a 

present subjunctive was used in subordinate 

clauses expressing doubt or uncertainty, as in 

I wonder whether it be wise and however hard 

he work. Previously, this subjunctive had included 

everything one was not absolutely certain 

about, as in I think the king be stirring. Today, 

we use an indicative unless we want to emphasize 

the doubt. And if we want to emphasize 

it, we use one of the auxiliaries, such as may be. 

The words could, would, and might, are often 

used with have to speak about what did not 

occur, as in you might have let us know. This 

is probably related to the use of these forms 

after a contrary-to-fact condition. That is, the 

form probably implies a conditional clause such 

as “if you had wanted to.” Could may be used 

with have in a conditional clause that is contrary 

to fact, as in if I could have found him, I would 

have told him. This construction cannot be used 

with any word except could. The similarity between 

if I could have found him, I would have 

. . . and if I had found him, I would have . . . 

leads some people to use have after had, a.s in 

if I had ‘ve seen him. This is generally condemned. 

In literary English the auxiliary had is 

never followed by have. One also hears would 

have in a contrary-to-fact condition, as in if you 

would have told me, I could have helped you. 

This too is generally condemned and the simple 

auxiliary had should be used, as in if you had 

told me. . . . 

Sometimes a verbal phrase of the kind just 

discussed is followed by an infinitive containing 

a second have, as in it would have been wiser 

to have left us and Rousseau would have been 

churmed to have seen me so occupied. These 

sentences could have read wiser to leave us and 

charmed to see me, and some grammarians 

claim that the second have is redundant and 

therefore improper. But this particular construc- 

tion containmg two have’s has been used by all 

the great writers of English from Malory to 

Chesterton. It is the standard, literary idiom 

whenever the phrase following to have can be 

replaced by a contrary-to-fact clause, such as 

if you had left us, if he had seen me. This is 

possible in the examples just given. It is not 

possible in Z would have been willing to have 

gone back, and sentences of this kind do not 

have the same standing. They are heard frequently 

and there is nothing wrong with them 

beyond being too wordy, but I would have been 

willing to go back is more literary. 

The present-tense auxiliaries will, may, can, 

and the past-tense forms would, might, could, 

are used in clauses of purpose. A present-tense 

auxiliary is required after a present-tense verb, 

and a past-tense auxiliary after a past-tense 

verb, as in he is saving his money so he can buy 

a car and he saved his money so he could buy 

a car. In the United Stata an infinitive construction 

is preferred to either of these clauses, 

as in he is saving (or saved) his money to buy 

a car. 

sublime; sublimated; subliminal. Sublime has general 

applications. Sublimated and subliminal 

have scientific applications only. Sublime means 

elevated or lofty in thought, language (If any 

poem deserves to be called sublime, it is Paradise 

Lost); impressing the mind with a sense 

of grandeur or power, inspiring awe or veneration 

(Mont St. Michel is a sublime sight). 

It may also mean supreme or perfect (For a 

sublime moment, just before Diestl fired, Noah 

was happy ) . 

Sublimated, the past participle of sublimate, 

is a psychological term. It means to deflect 

sexual and other biological energies into nonphysical 

or more acceptable channels (Much of 

his passion was sublimated into a desire to help 

the unfortunate). Subliminal is another psychological 

term. It means below the threshold of 

consciousness (. . . the subliminal ego doubtless 

deals the cards, as the throng of sleeping images, 

at this call or that, move toward the light). 

submit may be followed by the -ing form of a 

verb with the preposition to, as in he will not 

submit to being separated from her, or by an 

infinitive, as in people will not submit to have 

their throats cut. The -ing form is generally 

preferred. 

Although authorities in England consider 

such use obsolete, it is standard American usage 

to employ submit to mean to subject, especially 

oneself, to conditions imposed, to accept treatment 

(You must submit to the regime of the 

hospital. He submitted himself to the policeman’s 

suspicious scrutiny). 

subnormal. See abnormal. 

subordinate clauses. See clauses. 

subpoena. The plural is subpoenas, not subpoenae. 

sub rosa. Whether in Latin sub rosa or English 

under the rose, as a term for strict confidence, 

absolute privacy, complete secrecy, the expre.ssion 

is stale and a little forced. 

There are a number of explanations of its ori-

gin, of which the most widely accepted is that 

Cupid bribed Harpocrates (the god of silence) 

not to divulge the goings-on of Venus by giving 

him a rose, the first ever created. A rose was 

sometimes carved in the ceiling of medieval dining 

halls as a hint that that which was said under 

the influence of good cheer should not be repeated. 

aubsmiption. See superscription. 

subsequent and consequent bear a confusing relationship 

to one another. A subsequent event is 

not necessarily a consequent event, but a wnsequent 

event is always a subsequent event. 

Subsequent means simply coming later or after 

(Subsequent to his release from the Air Force 

he got a job with a commercial air line). ‘Consequent 

means following as an effect or resuIt, 

resulting (Consequent on his great reputation as 

a fZyer of military transport, he easily got a job 

as a pilot for a commercial freight air line). 

subsequent; subsequently. The form subsequent 

is an adjective and is used to qualify a noun, as 

in a subsequent investigation. The form subsequently 

is an adverb and is used to qualify 

any other part of speech, as in an investigation 

made subsequently. Eut subsequent to ma.y be 

used to introduce an adverbial phrase, as in 

subsequent to this, an investigation was made. 

subsist; exist. Though both of these words describe 

being, exist is the broader term. It means 

to have actual being, to be (Zt is hard to conceive 

of a time when the world did not exist). 

Subsist applies almost always to persons now, 

though it was formerly applied to other things. 

It means to continue alive (He subsisted on 

bread and water for three months). 

substautial; substantive. As adjectives these words 

are synonymous in the senses of belonging to 

the real nature or essential part of a thing, being 

real or actual, as opposed to the transitory or 

apparent. Each has, in addition, some exclusive 

senses. As a noun substantive may mean a noun 

or any other word functioning as a noun. Or as 

an adjective it may mean independent, not to 

be inferred but itself explicitly and formally 

expressed (The Queen, by a substantive enactment, 

declared her governorship of the Church). 

Substantial, as an adjective, has the exclusive 

meanings of strong, stout, or solid (Zt was a 

good substantial rope and could be relied on), 

moderately wealthy or well-to-do (Substantial 

citizens did not look with favor upon these suggestions 

since they would necessarily mean an 

increase in taxes), real or true in the main, or 

of considerable amount (He found substantial 

happiness in work. There is a substantial profit 

to be made in these transactions but only if they 

are well managed), or vital, important (A substantial 

objection to the measure proposed is 

that it will offend the local clergy). 

substantially. See essentially. 

substantive. This term is used by some grammarians 

to mean any word or group of words used 

as a noun. 

substitute and replace are not to be confused. Substitute 

means to put in the place of another. 

487 succinti 

Replace (aside from its meaning of putting back 

into a place formerly occupied) means to take 

the place of another (Jacob substituted Leah 

for Rachel. Rachel was replaced by Leah). 

subterfuge. See trick. 

subtract and deduct both express diminution, taking 

away in sum or quantity. Subtract applies 

primarily to numbers and means to withdraw 

or take away (After he subtracted fifty dollars 

for his room rent, he found that his pay would 

barely carry him through the month). To deduct 

is to take away an amount or quantity 

from an aggregate or total (Ten percent is 

deducted if one pays cash). 

subway. In the United States a subway is an electric 

railroad beneath the surface of the streets 

in a city (Every morning he took the subway 

from Columbus Circle to Times Square). In 

England the subway is called an underground 

railway or, more often, the underground, or, 

colloquially, the tube. Subway in England designates 

what Americans would call an underpass, 

an artificial underground way for pedestrians or 

vehicle traffic. See also underground. 

succeed may be followed by the -ing form of a 

verb with the preposition in, as in he succeeded 

in finishing the work. It cannot be followed by 

an infinitive. 

succeed; follow. Although follow and succeed 

(in those of its meanings that are similar to the 

meanings of follow) both imply coming after 

something else in a natural sequence, they are 

not synonyms and cannot be used interchangeably. 

Follow is a more general term, meaning 

to move behind in the same direction (The sheep 

all followed the bellwether out of the pasture) 

or to come after in order of time (The sound 

of the explosion followed the flash of light 

almost immediately) or to wme after as a 

result or consequence (And it must follow, as 

the night the day,/ Thou canst not then be false 

to any man). Succeed may mean to follow or 

replace another by descent, election, or appointment 

(He succeeded his father to the baronetcy. 

President Eisenhower succeeded President Truman) 

or to come next after in an order or series 

and, having so come, to take the place of (He 

succeeded his father, the fifth earl). 

successfully; successively. Successfully means in 

the manner desired, attended with success (He 

landed his plane successfully in a pasture). Successively 

means following in order or in an 

uninterrupted course (Infuriated, he fought successively 

the ten biggest men in his company). 

successive. See consecutive. 

succinct; concise. Both of these words suggest 

brevity in statement or expression. Succinct 

means, literally, held up as by a girdle or band, 

hence compressed (A strict and succinct style 

is that where you can take away nothing without 

loss, and that loss to be manifest-Ben Jonson). 

A succinct manner of speaking, then, is 

one in which a great deal is conveyed in a few 

words. Concise refers to style, while succinct 

usually refers to matter. We speak of a succinct 

narrative and a concise phrase. Concise means

succor 488 

the expression of much in a few words. Its 

original meaning was to cut off or to cut short. 

A concise style, as Ben Jonson said, is one which 

expresses not enough “but leaves something to 

be understood.” Thus a succinct style is one in 

which a great deal is pressed into a statement, a 

concise style is one in which everything except 

what is absolutely necessary has been eliminated. 

See also compendious; reticent. 

succor. See help. 

succubus. See incubus. 

such. Some grammarians list such as a demonstrative 

pronoun or adjective. Like the words 

this and that, its meaning ordinarily depends on 

something that has just been said or is about to 

be said. When this is not the case it is used as a 

blank, to represent some specific word or phrase 

that is not being provided, as in the record 

shows that on such a date he left early. 

The adjective such may qualify a mass noun, 

as in such knowledge, or a plural, as in such 

men. To qualify a true singular we use the 

phrase such a, as in such a man. The fact that 

such regularly stands before a rather than after 

it has led some grammarians to class such as an 

adverb. But it is better to consider this simply 

an idiom. It has been in use for more than seven 

hundred years and has now completely replaced 

the normal form seen in to lead such dire attack. 

But this does not apply following the word no. 

No such thing, for example, is standard English 

and no such a thing is questionable. 

Such or such a may be used as a pure intensive, 

as in such beautiful weather, such a terrible 

storm. Some grammarians object to this on the 

grounds that such is here being treated as an 

adverb. But a great many adjective forms are 

used as intensives and this use of such is established 

in literature and accepted by well educated 

people today. See adjectives as adverbs. 

Such is used as a pronoun, or without a following 

noun, in literary English. But in speech 

there is a strong tendency to replace such with 

one, or it, or some other word. One would probably 

be substituted for such in he is a friend 

and I treat him as such; and it in the grounds for 

such being established; this in such was not the 

decision; and those who in such as need our 

help. Such a one seems to be acceptable when 

there is a preceding noun to which it can refer, 

as in I have had good teachers, but never such 

a one as you describe. When used without a preceding 

noun and referring to a human being, it 

is usually replaced by some one. 

Such can always be followed by as introducing 

an explanatory or defining clause, as in 

such as know what they want. Formerly it could 

be followed by as introducing a clause of result, 

as in with such violence and speed as nothing 

was able to sustain its force. This construction 

is no longer standard. In current English that is 

required before a clause of this kind, and an 

infinitive must be used after such as to express 

result, as in don’t be such a fool as to refuse. 

A cardinal number precedes the word such, a~ 

in of two such lessons When not qualifying a 

noun, such may be preceded by none, as in none 

such can have been made for hundreds of years. 

The phrase none such has the force of “none 

like that” or “none of that kind,” and is literary 

English. The form no such is now used only as 

an adjective before a noun, as in no such nonsense. 

such stuff as dreams are made on is the correct 

form of the quotation (We are such stuff/ As 

dreams are made on, and our little life/ Is 

rounded with a sleep-The Tempest, Act IV, 

Scene 1 ), but since on here means of, it is 

pedantic to correct those who speak it in the 

modern version-we are such stuf7 as dreams 

are made of. Detached from the full quotation, 

the phrase by itself is a cliche. 

suds may be treated as a singular or as a plural. 

We may say this suds is better than that or these 

suds are better than those. But it is a mass word 

and not a true plural. We may say much suds or 

a great deal of suds but not many suds or several 

suds. There is no singular form a sud. 

suffer. When this word means “allow” it may be 

followed by an infinitive, as in suffer the little 

children to come unto me, but not by the -ing 

form of a verb. When the word means “experience 

pain” it may be followed by the -ing form 

with the preposition from, as in I suffer from 

knowing it, or by an infinitive, as in I suffer to 

think of it. See also sustain. 

suffer fools gladly. Usually employed in any one 

of several negative forms (not lo suffer fools 

gladly, one who doesn’t suffer fools gladly, etc.) 

as an expression to describe one who is markedly 

impatient with the stupid, the phrase (a 

quotation from II Corinthians 11: 19) is now 

hackneyed. 

suffering; sufferance. Suflering is the act of one 

who suffers or a particular instance of that act. 

Sufferance now means tolerance of a person 

or thing, a tacit allowance but no more. It is 

most commonly used in the phrase on suflerante 

(He stayed in college only on sufferance 

of the dean). It conveys the sense of passive 

permission, permission in default of strong 

objection. 

sufficient; enough. Either of these adjectives can 

be used in most contexts, but not both. Suficient 

enough is redundant. Both mean adequate 

for the want or need, though enough is more 

commonly used. Suficient is often felt to be a 

little more elegant. See also ample. 

sufficiently may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

suficiently large to satisfy us. It is sometimes 

used with a clause, as in su#iciently large that we 

were satisfied, but this is not standard English. 

suffixes are usually joined to the preceding word 

without a hyphen, as clockwise, manhood, stainless, 

spoonful. But there are a few exceptions. 

1. Elect, odd, wide, when used as suffixes, are 

usually hyphenated, as in president-elect, fortyodd, 

nation-wide. 

2. Fold is joined without a hyphen to words 

of one syllable; otherwise it is written as a separate 

word, as in tenfold, twenty fold. (Some 

publishers join fold to any single word and print 

it separately with compound numbers, as in 

twentyfold and twenty-fwo fold.)

3. Like is joined directly to one syllable words 

that do not end in 1: otherwise it is hyphenated, 

as in childlike, eel-like, business-like. (Some 

publishers use a hyphen only to prevent a triple 

1, and write: eellike, businesslike, but bell-like.) 

suRragette; suffragist. Sugragetfe is a colloquialism 

to describe a female supporter, usually Imiltant, 

of a vote for women. A suflrugist is one 

who advocates the grant or extension of political 

suffrage, especially to women. Since women 

have been granted the suffrage in most Englishspeaking 

countries, both words have fallen into 

disuse and suffragette has become definitel!y a 

historical term. Those who today advocate the 

granting of further rights or privileges to women 

are usually called feminists. 

suggested; suggestive. Suggested is a neutral word, 

meaning placed or brought to mind for consideration 

or possible action (The sugge,sted 

topic involved work in the local library). !iuggestive 

primarily means that suggests or tends 

to suggest thoughts or ideas (He made a number 

of suggestive comments on the essay I had 

summarized). In common parlance suggestive 

is usually employed in its secondary mean.mg: 

such as to suggest something improper or indecent 

(He was the sort of man who could 

make “Hello” sound suggestive). 

suit and suite have a common French derivation. 

Suit is used in most senses. It may mean a. set 

of garments intended to be worn together; the 

act or process of suing in a court of law; in 

cards, one of the four sets or classes into which 

playing cards are divided; the wooing or courting 

of a woman, a solicitation in marriage; a 

petition, as to an exalted person (Your majesty, 

hear my suit). 

Suite means a company of followers or attendants, 

a retinue; a connected series of rooms 

to be used together by one person or a number 

of persons (The General had a suite at the 

Waldorf Towers). In music suite means an ordered 

series of instrumental dances, in the same 

or related keys, commonly preceded by a prelude 

(Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite was one of his 

favorite musical compositions). When it means 

a set of furniture, suite is often pronounced the 

same as suit. Of late there has been a marked 

and sensible tendency to use the word sei instead. 

suitable. See adapted. 

sulfureous, sulfuric, and sulfurous all refer to sulfur 

in somewhat distinct terms. Sulfureous 

means consisting of, containing, pertaining to, 

or resembling sulfur. Sulfuric is a more specialized 

term. It means of, pertaining to or containing 

sulfur, especially in the hexavalent stage. 

Sulfurous has also specialized meanings. It 

means relating to sulfur, but it also means Ihaving 

the yellow color of sulfur or containing 

tetravalent sulfur. 

solphor and molasses; brimstone and treacle. The 

medicinal dose sulphur and molasses (also 

spelled sulfur and molasses) which was forced 

down our retching grandfathers in their youth 

as a spring tonic is known in England as brimstone 

and treacle or brimstone and mola,wes. 

Dickens uses both forms in Oliver Twist. The 

term lingers on (“Bilious.” they said and dosed 

him wit% sulphur and molasses . . .-Maude 

Hutchins, The Memoirs of Maisie, 1955) but 

it is confined to social history and to those who 

wish to seem unusually old-fashioned and rustic. 

rmmmary. See outline. 

summit. See top. 

summon; summons. Summon is the verb. It means 

to call as with authority to some duty (He was 

summoned by the President for consultation on 

trade agreements), to call together (The legislature 

was summoned on the second Tuesday of 

the month), to call into action or arouse (He 

summoned his courage, leaped out of his foxhole, 

and sprinted for the bridge). Either summon 

or summons may be used as the verb meaning 

to serve with a legal summons. 

Summons is the noun form. It is singular and 

is always used with a singular verb, as in the 

summons was delivered. It has a regular plural 

summonses. Summons may mean an authoritative 

command or a call to do something. In law 

it may mean a call or citation by authority to 

appear before a court or a judicial officer or the 

writ by which such a call is made (The summons 

was served by a grinning bailiff). It may 

also mean an authoritative call or notice to 

appear at a specified place, as for a particular 

purpose or duty, or a call issued for the meeting 

of parliament or an assembly. 

sumptuous; sumptuary. Sumptuous means costly 

and hence splendid and magnificent (This sumptuous 

way of living made him greatly admired 

and envied for a short while but soon brought 

him to ruin). The expression sumptuous repast 

for an excellent or unusually costly meal is a 

clicht. 

Sumptuary, a related but less common word, 

means pertaining to or dealing with expenses 

and especially the regulation of expenditure. In 

former times when differences in social position 

were not only recognized in law but regarded as 

the very basis of a wholesome commonweal, 

most countries had laws governing the style and 

quality of clothing proper for each estate and 

these laws were known as sumptuary laws 

(Elizabethan sumptuary laws forbade the use 

of velvet, save as mere trimming, to women of 

less than noble rank, and the use of silk altogether 

to men and women of no higher status 

than middle class. The Romans regulated the 

dress of each class and each age with the utmost 

precision by the enforcement of the strictest 

sumptuary laws). 

sums is a colloquial British term for school arithmetic 

(They haven’t reached sums yet, ma’am. 

They don’t start them till standard two. Have 

you done your sums today, Harry? They’re very 

hard). It was formerly used in America, in and 

out of school, for an arithmetical problem to be 

solved, or such a problem worked out and having 

the various steps shown, but has fallen 

largely into disuse. 

Sunday. See Sabbath. 

sondry. See few. 

sung. see sing.

sunk 490 

mmk; sunken. See sink. 

sonlight; sunshine. Sunlight means simply the 

light of the sun (They have sunlight there only 

half the year). Sunshine is used in a number of 

senses. It may describe the shining of the sun, 

its direct light, or a place where its direct rays 

fall (They lie in the sunshine for hours, getting 

a tan). Sunshine is also used figuratively to 

describe brightness or radiance, cheerfulness, 

happiness (the sunshine of your smile) or a 

source of cheer or happiness (You are my sunshine). 

sunshade. See parasol. 

super-. It is an interesting reflection on our democratic 

and mass-produced times that the prefix 

super-, especially in America, should be so unreservedly 

a term of commendation. Anything 

which is above the ordinary or is excessive is, 

apparently, admirable. We have supermarkets 

and superhighways and superservice stations 

and, colloquially and among college humorists, 

the prefix itself, unprefixed to anything (Boy, 

that was super!), is the height of praise. It was 

not always so. Time was that men disliked the 

excessive. In many older words (supercilious, 

supererogate, superannuated) the prefix suggests 

something unpleasant and undesirable. The 

furious Kent when upbraiding the contemptible 

Oswald (King Lear, Act II, Scene ii, line 19) 

can think of nothing more despicable to call 

him than superserviceable. Oswald would be 

rather pleased today. 

superfluous. See redundant. 

superhuman effort. As a hyperbole for an extraordinary 

exertion, a superhuman effort is a 

clich6. 

superincumbent. See recumbent. 

superlative degree. See comparison of adjectives 

and adverbs. 

superlative; excellent. Superlative means of the 

highest kind or order, surpassing all others, 

supreme. It should refer to qualities (He played 

tennis with superlative skill), while excellent, 

which means possessing excellent or superior 

merit, remarkably good, should refer to persons 

and things (He is an excellent tennis player and 

is justified in insisting on excellent equipment). 

supernatural. See unnatural. 

supernormal. See abnormal. 

superscription; subscription; signature. A superscription 

is the act of superscribing (writing 

above or on top of something) or that which is 

superscribed, such as an address on a letter, or 

the like. Authorities in England say that superscription 

applies only to a heading of a letter, 

but American authorities will also allow it as 

the address on the envelope. Subscription (writing 

under) means the writing of one’s name 

under a document or statement as an indication 

that the sentiments expressed have the writer’s 

approval or that he agrees to be bound by terms 

set forth. By extension subscription has come 

to mean a sum of money, the payment of which 

is guaranteed by signing one’s name under a 

statement or agreement. Subscription is often 

used as a synonym for signature, though sig- 

nature is the better word in this sense, since It is 

unequivocal. Subscription also means assent, 

agreement, or approval, expressed by, or as by, 

signing one’s name. See also signature; autograph. 

supersede; surpass. These words are not interchangeable. 

Supersede means to replace, in 

power, authority, effectiveness, acceptance, or 

use (The electric refrigerator has superseded 

the icebox). Surpass means to go beyond in 

excellence or achievement, to outdo (His work 

surpassed that of all his rivals). 

supine (noun). Some grammarians call an infmitive 

with to, such as to tulk, a supine. In this 

book an infinitive with to is called simply an 

infinitive, and a true infinitive, such as walk, is 

called the simple form of the verb. See simple 

verb form. 

supine (adjective). See prone. 

supplant. See replace. 

supple and subtle are not to be confused. A supple 

mind is an agile mind, a mind which readily 

adapts itself. A subtle mind is one characterized 

by acuteness or penetration, or one which is 

skillful, clever, or ingenious, especially in perceiving 

fine but significant distinctions. 

supplement and complement both indicate an addition 

to something. To complement is to provide 

something felt to be lacking or needed. It is 

often applied to putting together two things, 

each of which supplies what is lacking in the 

other, to make a complete whole (They complement 

one another as doubles players: Joe is 

excellent at the net, Tom on the base line). 

Things that so fit together, each supplying a lack 

in the other, are called complements and are 

said to be complementary or complementary to 

each other. Supplement means to add to. No 

lack or deficiency is necessarily implied, nor is 

there an idea of a definite relation (In season 

he supplemented his diet with fresh fruit but 

otherwise mode little change in his austere 

regime). 

rmpplementary; complementary; additional. These 

words all imply increase in number or quantity. 

Complementary suggests an essential increase 

required to make something complete (His writing 

was complementary to his teaching; his 

articles on education gained him an enviable 

reputation nnd his reputation procured him a 

professorship). Supplemen:ary emphasizes not 

so much essential increase as the addition of 

something which was previously lacking (The 

money earned from his writings was supplementary 

to his salary as a teacher; it enabled him to 

enjoy many comforts and luxuries which he 

otherwise would not have been able to afford) 

Additional means simply added (Every month. 

every day indeed, produces its own novelties, 

with the additional zest that they ure novelties), 

It is the least restrictive of the three adjectives. 

supplied. See issued. 

supporter. See proponent. 

suppose may be followed by an infinitive, as in 

he supposed me to know all about it, or by a 

clause, as in he supposed I knew all about il.

The clause is generally preferred. See imagine; 

think wspect. 

wpposedly and presumably carry different meanings. 

Supposedly means assumed as true, yet 

perhaps erroneously so (He is supposedly in 

London, but then you know how unrer’iable 

these rumors are). Presumably means probably, 

capable of being taken for granted (Presumably 

he knows what he’s talking about. He’s regarded 

as the best guide in these parts). 

suppositional; suppositious; supposititious. Suppositional 

has practically crowded out supposirious 

to convey the idea of supposed, hypothetical, 

conjectural (Men and angels have a 

certain knowledge of future things; but it is not 

absolute, but only suppositional). Supposititious 

means put by artifice in the place of another, 

counterfeit, spurious. A supposililious child 

(Queen Philippa . . . upon her deathbed . . . 

told Wickham that John of Gaunt was not the 

lawful issue of King Edward, but a suppositifious 

son) is not an illegitimate child, or at 

least not merely an illegitimate child, but one 

by artifice put in the place of or assuming the 

character of another. Thus when the notorious 

impostor Arthur Orton convinced Hetietta, 

Lady Tichborne, that he was really her son 

Roger, supposedly lost at sea off Rio de Janeiro, 

he became her supposititious son but certainly 

not her illegitimate son. 

srrpranatural. See unnatural. 

surcease, meaning, as verb and noun, stop, end, is 

archaic (If the assassination/ Could trammel up 

the consequence, and catch/ With his surcease 

success-Macbeth, Act I, Scene 7). It survives 

only in poetry. Its use in prose or everyday 

speech would seem bookish and affected. 

mre; surely. In current English sure is used as an 

adjective to qualify a noun, as in this is a sure 

sign, and surely as an adverb to qualify any 

other kind of word, as in this is surely a sign. 

Formerly sure could also be used as an adverb, 

as in he is sure a prince of royal courage. In 

‘The Raven,” Poe uses both forms as adverbs. 

He fust writes: “Surely,” said I, “surely that is 

something al my window” and then a little later: 

“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” 

I said, “art sure no craven.” Since then, everybody 

who ever went to school has learned that 

sure is an adjective and not an adverb, and to 

use it as an adverb now is to be lacking in a 

decent respect for the opinions of mankind. 

There is one exception. Sure may still be used 

as an adverb in the phrase sure enough, ZLS in 

and sure enough, the palms are there. Sure good 

is not in a class with real good or even right 

good. It is, in fact, in a class with this here man. 

When sure is followed by of and the -ing 

form of a verb, it means that the person spoken 

about feels sure, as in he is sure of winning. 

When it is followed by an infinitive, it means 

that everybody else can feel sure, as in he is 

sure to win. 

surmise. See guess; suspect. 

surplice; surplus. A surplice is a garment. A surplus 

is an amount. Surplice describes a Ioose- 

491 suspect 

fitting, broadsleeved, white vestment, properly 

of linen, worn over the cassock by clergymen 

and choristers; a garment in which the fronts 

cross each other diagonally. Surplus, in accounting 

terms, is the excess of assets over liabilities 

accumulated throughout the existence of a business, 

excepting assets against which stock certificates 

have been issued; or an amount of assets 

in excess of what is requisite to meet liabilities. 

In general, common usage, surplus designates 

anything which remains above what is used or 

needed. 

surprise. See amaze. 

surrender; capitulate. Surrender is the general 

word. It means to yield or give up and may be 

used transitively or intransitively. It may describe 

the end of physical resistance, as in 

military combat, or it may be applied more generally. 

One surrenders an insurance policy for a 

consideration, the amount receivable (surrender 

value) depending on the number of years 

elapsed from the commencement of the risk. 

One surrenders an office or a privilege. One 

surrenders hope, comfort, or other pleasurable 

emotions. 

To cap&late was, originally, to draw up a 

writing under chapter headings or articles; 

hence to draw up the terms of an agreement. 

The haughty Coriolanus, in Shakespeare’s play, 

could not bring himself to capitulate “with 

Rome’s mechanics;” that is, he could not bring 

himself, as a candidate for office, to discuss 

under specific headings, his qualifications and 

obligations with common working men. The detailed 

items considered in a capitulation today 

are the terms of a military surrender, but they 

formerly could have been terms of federation 

(The archbishou’s Grace of York, Dounlas. 

&orlimer,/ Capitulate against us-l- HenryIV; 

Act III, Scene 2). Today the word means to 

surrender, sometimes on stipulated terms but 

more often unconditionally (I am ashamed fo 

think how easily we capitulate to badges and 

names, to large societies and dead institutions. 

On learning that enemy reinforcements were approaching, 

the garrison capitulated. I must be 

conquered; I will not capitulate). 

surroundings. In speaking of what physically surrounds 

something, the plural form surroundings 

is used, and is treated as a plural, as in the surroundings 

are pleasant. A singular form surrounding 

is sometimes used in speaking of 

human beings, as in a surrounding of friends, 

but this construction is rare. The word cannot 

be used with a numeral in either sense. 

susceptible. See sensitive. 

suspect. This verb may be followed by an in&itive, 

as in I suspect him to have done it, or by 

a clause, as in I suspect he did it. The clause is 


suspect; surmise; suppr’se; suspicion. All of these 

verbs apply to assumptions. Suspect has a derogatory 

sense. It means to imagine to be guilty, 

false, counterfeit, undesirable, defective, bad, 

with insufficient proof or no proof at all (They 

suspected him of cheating at cards, but there

suspenders 492 

was nothing to justify an open accusation). 

Surmise has no such sinister overtones. It simply 

means to think or infer without certain or strong 

evidence, to conjecture or guess (I surmised that 

you were his son from your striking resemblance 

to him. Or perhaps we are only surmising/ 

Just like all other love-dreamers do). Though 

suspect may mean surmise, the latter, since it is 

unambiguous, is preferable where there is no 

derogation intended. 

Suppose means to assume, without reference 

to its being true or false, for the sake of argument 

or for the purpose of tracing the consequences 

(All right, suppose we do give him the 

money? What will happen then?), to infer hypothetically. 

To suppose is not merely to imagine, 

for many things may be supposed (in mathematics 

and abstract thought) which cannot be 

imagined. Imagining is the mere imaging forth; 

supposing is setting up a proposition in order to 

trace its consequences. 

The use of suspicion as a verb (as in I suspicioned 

he wasn’t a real doctor from the very 

beginning) is not standard and is often regarded 

as an indication of illiteracy. 

aospenders. A suspender is one of a pair of straps 

used to hold up the trousers. Unlike most words 

that refer to one object that has two parts, such 

as breeches and scissors, suspenders is a regular 

English plural, and means more than one suspender. 

The singular form suspender is always 


a suspender buckle. 

The American dialectal word for suspenders 

is galluses. The English call them braces. What 

the English call suspenders, attachments to the 

top of stockings or socks to hold them in place, 

Americans call garters. A garter in this sense in 

English usage, when used at all, means strictly 

a band that passes around the leg. When capitalized, 

in England, it means the Order of the 

Garter, the highest order of knighthood. 

suspension; suspense. Both of these words derive 

from a Latin word which means to hang up 

between two points. 

Suspension may be used literally with reference 

to physics where it may describe the state 

of something hanging from two points or the 

state in which particles of a solid are mixed with 

a fluid but undissolved. In physical chemistry 

it means a system consisting of small particles 

kept dispersed by agitation (in mechanical suspension) 

or by the molecular motion in the 

surrounding medium (in colloidal suspension). 

In automobiles it means the arrangement of 

springs, shock absorbers, hangers, etc., in automobiles 

and railroad cars, connecting the wheel 

suspension units or axles to the chassis frame. 

In electricity it means a wire or filament by 

which the moving part of an instrument or 

device is suspended; and in music, the prolongation 

of a tone in one chord into the following 

chord, usually producing a temporary dissonance. 

The most common uses of suspension, however, 

are figurative, with reference to the mind, 

to describe a state of being suspended in judgment, 

or held in equipoise between conclusions 

and certainties, being held in doubt (Until we 

have conclusive evidence, suspension of judgment 

is the only honorable course). Suspension 

may also mean interruption, cessation or stopping 

for a time (a suspension of further payments 

pending the investigation). 

Suspense is used exclusively in figurative 

senses. It means a state of mental uncertainty, 

as in awaiting a decision or outcome, usually 

with more or less apprehension or anxiety (Between 

the sound of the air raid siren and the 

explosion of the first bomb we waited in suspense. 

This suspense is killing me. I wish they’d 

do one thing or the other!); a state of mental 

indecision (He was in suspense as to the right 

course to follow) ; or undecided or doubtful condition, 

as of affairs (For a few hours after the 

landing matters were in suspense). 

sustain; suffer. Sustain means to hold or bear up 

from beneath, to be the support of (Doric columns 

sustained the roof), to hold suspended or 

to keep from sinking into despair (The rope 

sustained a greater weight than one would have 

thought it capable of bearing. These hopes sustain 

us), to maintain, keep up, nourish (This is 

insuficient to sustain life in so cold a climate. 

Foraging sustained the army throughout the 

summer). It also means to bear, to endure without 

giving way or yielding (He cannot hope to 

sustain the comparison which he has invited. 

To sustain one’s dignity in the face of scorn is 

difficult). 

Sustain has been taken up by journalists, especially 

in reference to injury, loss, or other 

unpleasant experiences (The injury to his arm 

which Ruth sustained.. . The army sustained 

a heavy defeat). In such contexts suffer is more 

precise. Indeed, it is insisted on by English grammarians, 

recommended by American grammarians. 

swallow a camel. See strain at a goat. 

swam. See swim. 

swan song is a hackneyed term for a last outburst 

of energy, especially when it expresses itself in 

rhetoric or poetry and produces something better 

than anything the individual has done before. 

It is based on the ancient-and fabulous- belief 

that just before its death the swan, unable 

all its life to sing, utters one melodious song. 

swang. See swing. 

swear. The past tense is swore. The participle is 

sworn. A past tense sware was once literary 

English but is no longer heard. A participle 

swore, as in he has swore, is heard but is considered 

illiterate. 

swearing. See blasphemy. 

swear like a trooper. The soldier, the fourth of 

Shakespeare’s seven ages of man, is “Full of 

strange oaths and bearded like the pard” (As 

You Like It, Act II, Scene 7). Soldiers seem at 

all times to have been proverbial for their prcr 

fanity, but they are not alone: one who swears 

excessively or with unusual vigor or imaginative 

blasphemy has been said, at different times, to

swear like a tinker, a ruffian, an abbot, a gentleman, 

and a lord. In the eighteenth century the 

English milord was so famed throughout 

Europe for his profanity that he was known as 

n goddam. There must have been more to it, 

however, than this one expletive. “A footman,” 

Swift said, “may swear, but he cannot swear 

like a lord. He may swear as often, but can he 

swear with equal delicacy, propriety and judgment?” 

A trooper’s swearing was, presumably, 

more marked by vigor than by delicacy, propriety, 

or judgment. The phrase to swear like 

a trooper is now a cliche. 

sweat. The past tense is sweat or sweated. The 

participle is also sweat or sweated. In the United 

States sweat is the preferred form for the past 

tense and the participle, as in he sweat during 

the night and he has sweat a great deal. This 

is no longer heard in Great Britain, where they 

would say he sweated during the night. In ‘both 

Great Britain and the United States, sweated 

is the required form when the verb means 

“caused to sweat,” as in the doctor sweated him 

and sweated labor. Sweated is also the preferred 

form for the past tense or participle in the expression 

sweat it out, meaning “pass through a 

period of anxiety.” 

Some people feel that sweat is not a delicate 

word to use in its literal sense when speaking 

of people, but they have no objection to its 

being used figuratively of people or literally of 

things. That is, ladies who insist that human 

beings merely “perspire,” do not hesitate to say 

they made him sweat for it and the walls are 

sweating. See also perspire. 

sweat of one’s brow. Those who speak of earning 

(or, better still, of others earning) their 

bread by the sweat of their brow usually speak 

the phrase with a solemnity that implies they 

are under the impression that they are quoting 

Holy Writ. They are misquoting it. Genesis 3 : 19 

reads: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat 

bread. 

sweep. The past tense is swept. The participle is 

also swept. 

sweeping statement. As a term, with connotations 

of mild disapproval, for an unjustified generalization, 

a sweeping statement is hackneyed. A 

sweeping statement differs from a glittering 

generality in that it is more dogmatic and 

aggressive and argumentative, less rhetorical. 

sweepstakes has a singular form sweepstake but 

it is seldom used in the United States. Instead, 

the plural sweepstakes is used as both a singular 

and a plural, as in he won a sweepstakes and 

he won three sweepstakes. But the singular form 

is still preferred as the first element in a compound, 

as in a sweepstake ticket. 

sweets. See candy. 

swell. The past tense is swelled. The participle is 

swelled or swollen. In the United States swelled 

is preferred to swollen when used in a verb 

form, as in the wood had swelled, but the wood 

had swollen is also acceptable. In Great Britain 

swollen is used in this way more often than it 

is in the United States. In both countries swollen 

493 switch 

is the preferred form after a form of the verb 

be or immediately before a noun, as in rhe wood 

was swollen and a swollen river. 

swept. See sweep. 

swerve. See deviate. 

swift; swiftly. The form swift may be used as an 

adjective, as in his terrible swift sword. Either 

form may be used as an adverb, as in Nor half 

so swift the trembling doves can fly . . . Not 

half so swiftly the fierce eagle moves. 

swim. The past tense is swum. The participle is 

swum. A past tense swum, as in he swum the 

river, and a participle swam, as in he had swam 

it before were both literary English a few generations 

ago, but they are no longer standard. 

As a rule, the causative form of an irregular 

verb, meaning “make to do,” is regular, as is 

the case with shone and shined, sped and 

speeded. But this is not true here. We say he 

swam his horse across the river, and not he 

swimmed it. 

swine. The plural is swine. This is a purely literary 

word. We may speak of a fewel in a swine’s 

snout or of casting pearls before swine, but the 

animals in the barnyard are hogs. Swine is used 

in England, both as a singular and a plural, as 

a term of strong contempt and moral disappre 

bation. It is much stronger than the American 

hog. See also pig; hog. 

swing. The past tense is swung. The participle is 

also swung. A past tense swang, as in they 

swang their partners, was once literary English 

but is now archaic or dialectal. 

Swiss. The singular and the plural are both Swiss. 

This word once had a distinct plural, as seen 

in those Swisses fight on any side for pay. 

This became obsolete about 1800 and Swiss is 

now the standard form for both singular and 

plural, as in one Swiss and three Swiss. But 

many people feel that Swiss is plural only. 

They hesitate to say a Swiss and prefer (I 

Switzer. Both forms are acceptable. In England 

Switzer is considered archaic, but it is in general 

use and thoroughly established in the 


switch is a word which serves more purposes in 

America than in England. In railroad terminology, 

the movable rails which shift cars and 

trains from one track to another, known in 

America as switches, are known in England as 

points. As a verb, switch, in American railroad 

usage, means to shift or transfer a train or car, 

especially in a yard or terminal, or to drop or 

add cars or to make up a train. The equivalent 

English verb is shunt. Compounds referring to 

railroading are similarly differentiated. American 

switchman is English pointsman. An American 

switchtower is an English signal-box. An 

American switchyard or marshalling-yard is ZUI 

English shunting-yard. 

As an instrument of chastisement, a slender, 

flexible shoot or rod, used especially in whipping, 

an American switch finds its nearest 

eouivalent in the English cane. though they are 

not exactly synonym&s since a switch is usually 

cut fresh from a tree and is more limber and

swollen 

lashing than a cane. The old-fashioned English 

term birch would be a closer equivalent. Both 

switch and cane may be used as noun and verb. 

The American rustic exclamation, I’ll be 

switched, has no equivalent in England, unless 

one accepts I’ll be damned which is used in both 

countries but is somewhat stronger than 1’11 be 

switched. 

Switch is used colloquially in the United 

States to mean a change of sides in controversy, 

especially in political opinions or allegiances 

(Many on whom Taft had counted for support 

switched to Roosevelt and his Bull Moose Party. 

Shivers’ switch to the Republican camp was a 

blow to Stevenson’s hopes). Switch has the 

further colloquial meaning in America of an 

interchanging or the making of a reciprocal 

exchange (In the scuffle, Hamlet and Laertes 

switch rapiers). In slang, especially in theatrical, 

movie, radio and television parlance, a 

switch is a reversal of an established, expected 

or stereotyped situation or action (But here’s 

the switch: it’s the detective who goes to jail.‘). 

In gayer moments this is also known as the 

switcheroo. 

Though both Britons and Americans use 

switchback to describe a mountain railroad or 

highway having many hairpin curves, only the 

English also use switchback to describe what 

Americans call a roller coaster. 

swollen. See swell. 

swore; sworn. See swear. 

bwum. See swim. 

mung. See swing. 

syllabus. The plural is syllabuses or syllabi. 

syllepsis; zeugma. Syllepsis is a term in rhetoric 

and grammar. It describes a figure of speech by 

which a word is used in the same passage to 

fulfill two syntactical functions, applying 

properly to one person or thing and improperly 

to another (as in He fought with fury and a big 

blackjack or In his lectures he leaned heavily 

upon his desk and stale jokes). Zeugma, which 

is really a form of syllepsis, is commonly used 

as the word for both figures. Zeugma is a figure 

in which a verb is associated with two subjects 

or objects, or an adjective with two nouns, 

although appropriate to but one of the two, yet 

suggests another verb or adjective suitable to 

the other noun. Although commonly merely a 

fault, zeugma may, once in a great while, be 

used intentionally by a skillful writer. One of 

the best-known examples is Pope’s comment 

on Hampton Court: 

Here thou, great ANNA! whom three realms 

obey, 

Dost sometimes counsel take-and sometimes 

Tea. 

The last line, however, is no blunder but one 

of the felicities of English poetry, not only because 

of the perfection of its humorous skill, 

but because of its touching suggestion that 

Queen Anne herself was a living zeugma, two 

unequal things yoked together: by the Grace 

of God, Defender of the Faith, Queen of 

England, Ireland, and Scotland and, at the same 

time, a pathetic, dumpy, dull, lonely, little 

woman, sad with her dead babies, bored with 

her stupid husband, and far more at home at 

the tea than at the council table. 

symposium. The plural is symposiums or symposia. 

syucluonous; simultaneous; coincident. All of 

these adjectives mean existing, living, or occurring 

at the same time. Coincident means happening 

at the same time (The attack on Pearl Harbor 

was coincident with the call of the Japanese 

envoys on the Secretary of State). Synchronous 

means going on at the same rate and exactly 

together, recurring together (The timers in the 

gun turrets and in the fire control room were 

synchronous). Simultaneous means operating 

at the same time or in agreement in the same 

point or instant of time (The salvoes from the 

two main turrets were simultaneous). 

Contemporary and contemporaneous, which 

also mean existing at the same time, differ from 

synchronous and simultaneous and coincident 

in that the time regarding which simultaneity 

or azreement is imnlied is indefinite. With 

regard to human beings, it may be a lifetime; 

with regard to events, it may be an age or an 

era. See also contemporary; contemporaneous; 

coeval. 

synecdoche is a term in rhetoric for a figure of 

speech in which a part is named for the whole, 

as “sail” for “ship” in a fleet of fifty sail or 

“wheel” for “bicycle” in he borrowed his wheel 

for a spin out to Zfley. It may name the special 

for the general or vice versa, or the whole for 

the part. When Robert Frost. the poet, called 

himself a “synecdochist,” he meant that in himself 

as an individual was figured the common 

experience of the race and vice versa. 

synouym. A synonym is a word which has the 

same or nearly the same meaning as another 

word in the language (such as happy and glad) 

or a word or expression accepted as another 

name for something, as Utopian for ideal. 

It is a great mistake, however, to assume 

that because words are synonymous at one 

point in their meaning they are synonymous 

at all points. In addition to their central or 

basic meaning, words acquire connotations, or 

secondary implied or associated meanings, and 

unless they agree in all of these-and few words 

d-they are not completely synonymous. Thus 

house and home are synonymous in indicating 

a dwelling, but their associations differ. House 

is the less emotionally weighted of the two 

words, suggesting usually no more than a 

structure, though it is sometimes used as an 

abbreviation of house of ill fame, or, in the 

combination big house, for a prison, in which 

usages it is strongly opposed to the commonest 

meaning of home. Home has commonly the 

associations of “a heap o’ living” to make it a 

much warmer word than house, but used, as it 

often is, as a euphemism for a workhouse or 

old folks’ home (They put her in a home in 

Milwaukee), it has sad and dismal connotation.%

So with thousands of other synonyms. 

Canine, dogged, and currish, for example, are 

all synonymous in the sense of pertaining to or 

resembling a dog, but have little else in 

common. Synonyms must be chosen with care. 

synopsis. The plural is synopsises or synop,ses. 

See outline. 

synthesis. The plural is syntheses. 

synthetic; artiticial; imitation; ersatz; spurious. 

All of these adjectives describe something which 

is not natural in origin. 

Synthetic is a chemical term to describe 

compounds formed by chemical reaction in a 

laboratory, as opposed to those of natural 

origin (When the rubber plantations fell to the 

Japanese, America began seriously to manufacture 

synthetic rubber). Though many synthetic 

products are superior to the natural substance 

in some ways, it was at first assumed 

that they were inferior and in extensions of the 

word it has a pejorative connotation, suggesting 

something manufactured which should have 

been natural (The synthetic laughter at the 

boss’s jokes was distressingly shrill). 

Artificial means made in imitation of, not 

genuine, whether its substance is synthetic or 

organic. It is to be used in describing something 

with a practical purpose (In a remarkably short 

time after the operation, he was fitted with un 

artificial limb). Though neutral in many technical 

applications, and becoming increasingly 

so as artificial products become equal or superior 

to those they are made in imitation of, 

in its figurative uses the word is still disparaging 

(Her manners are so artificial, so awkward. 

These are artificial compliments, my friend. 

They creak). See also art; arti6ce. 

Imitation means made to imitate a genuine 

or superior article, or the act of so imitating, 

usually an article having aesthetic rather than 

practical value (She wore imitation pearls on 

her long, slender neck). In almost all uses the 

word is disparaging, though not as much so as 

it used to be. 

Ersatz is a word taken over from the German. 

tab. In general a tab is a small flap, strap, loop or 

similar appendage, as on a garment- a tag or 

label. In England a red tab is a staff officer. so 

called because of the red tab on his uniform, a 

Tab is a Cantab. or a Cantabrigian, a Cambridge 

University man. 

In America tab is used in a number of colloquial 

and idiomatic expressions. As a noun tub 

may mean an account or check or memorandum 

of what is owed, especially a dinner check or the 

bill at a restaurant (I got the tab for our party of 

495 table 

T 

It means serving as a substitute (English 

sausages in 1943 were an ersatz delicacy, consisting 

largely of flour and potatoes). The word 

was taken over from the Germans because in 

the period between World War I and World 

War II, faced with many scarcities, the Germans 

proved ingenious in manufacturing substitutes 

and their law required all ersatz products to be 

plainly so marked, so that the word ersatz was 

seen in every shop window and became a joke 

with them, half bitter and half proud. 

Spurious means false, not genuine, counterfeited 

(These spurious claims of heroism were 

soon exposed as a fraud). It is a word of strong 

condemnation. A woman would know and, at 

least among her friends, freely admit that her 

pearls were artificial or imitation. They would 

not be called spurious unless she or someone 

else had stated that they were genuine and it 

had been shown that they were not. She would 

be humiliated and offended at the term. 

systematic; systemic. Systematic is the general 

word; systemic has exclusively physiological 

implications. 

Systematic means having, showing, or involving 

a system, method, or plan (He drew up 

a systematic plan to teach himself French in 

three months); characterized by system or 

method (A systematic worker usually gets a 

great deal done, even though he is slow); 

arranged in or comprising an ordered system 

(systematic philosophy). 

Systemic is a physiological and pathological 

term. It means pertaining to or affecting the 

entire bodily system, or the body as a whole 

(The systemic effects of shell shock are numerous 

and complicated) ; pertaining to a particular 

system of parts or organs of the body. 

systemize; systematize. Systemize is a variant, 

though one little used, in England or America, 

of the verb systematize, which means to arrange 

in or according to a system, reduce to a system, 

make systematic (Darwin systematized the biological 

discoveries and insights of many researchers 

who had preceded him). 

eight) and, by extension of this meaninn. to trick 

up the tab means to bear the expense (@ho’s going 

to pick up the tab when the government is 

on relief?-Chicago Sun-Times, Jan. 24, 1950, p. 

27). Keeping tab on means keeping account of 

or a check on (They were keeping tab on Clara’s 

age, too, and began to think she would land on 

the Bargain Counter-George Ade). 

table (verb). To table a motion means, to an 

American, to stop talking about it, or at least to 

put it on the table of an assembly for future

table 496 

discussion, a procedure often used as a method 

of postponing or shelving it. To ruble a motion, 

to lay it on the table means, to an Englishman, 

to put it on the agenda. Sir Winston Churchill 

records that this confusion in meaning was the 

cause of a great deal of annoyance among the 

Allied leaders in World War II. 

table d’hhte. This is a French term and the French 

plural is tables d’hofe. But the plural table 

d’/&es is heard more often in the United States. 

tableau. The plural is tableaus or tableaux. 

taciturn. See reticent. 

tactics. See strategy. 

tactile; tactoal. The precise writer will use. tactile 

to mean endowed with the sense of touch and 

will apply it to organs and qualities (The cut’s 

whiskers are tactile and probably serve better 

than its eyes to guide the head through slender 

mazes). Tactual is the more general word, meaning 

of or pertaining to touch (Tactual tests still 

have great value in diagnosis). 

tat@. See toffee. 

tag as a noun is used to describe a piece or strip 

of strong paper, leather, or the like, for attaching 

by one end to something as a mark or label. 

The English use label. Tag is also the American 

name for a game in which one player chases the 

others until he touches one of them. To pluy tug 

may be used figuratively to mean to touch upon, 

or come close to (Thoroughly charged with special 

significance us it is, the drama plays tug with 

boredom none the less). As a verb in this sense, 

tag means to touch in or as in the game of tag. 

By extension tag means in baseball to touch a 

base runner with the ball and thus put him out 

(The pitcher whirled and threw to first base. The 

runner was taking too long a lead and was tugged 

out). 

American tug day, a day on which contributions 

to a fund are solicited, each contributor 

receiving a tag, is the equivalent of English flag 

day. 

tag lines hold the same relation to wit that cliches 

do to style. To the innocent and the ignorant 

they seem to indicate one who is in the know. 

To the intelligent they indicate that the speaker 

is a poor, bleating thing, “a fellow of no mark or 

likelihood.” 

Tag lines may have been clever or pointed in 

their original application, but they become tag 

lines when used as a ready-made means of participating 

in conversation, especially when the 

speaker, who by their use demonstrates that he 

has no humorous invention of his own, intends 

them to show that he is bright and up to date. 

The tag line is related to slang in that it is a 

novelty that secures immediate popularity. Its 

novelty, of course, fades as quickly as it bloomed, 

though the stale expressions often linger on and 

settle down among the trite phrases the language 

is heir to. The meaning-even the applicability 

-of a tag line may be lost before it has gained 

its full currency. And yet it will go on being repeated 

ten million times a day to the accompaniment 

of the idiot Iaughter of those who repeat 

it without the faintest idea of its meaning. The 

extreme example of this was the phrase which 

shook the nation at the turn of the centuryprobably 

the most popular of al1 tag lines: 

Twenty-three’s your number! At the very height 

of its raging popularity all attempts to discover 

its origin or meaning were futile. Unfortunates 

whose street address or office numbers happened 

to be 23, or who had arrived at the age of 23, 

were overwhelmed with gales of laughter whenever 

it was necessary for them to make the fact 

known in public. Yet no one knew why. 

The tag line with the lowest common denominator 

is likely to have the greatest survival value, 

since its very lack of meaning makes it applicable 

to almost any situation. Thus So what? and I 

know what yo11 mean are still with us, while 

Applesauce and So is your old man have lost the 

fascination they once had. 

Tag lines most often originate in popular entertainment. 

Sometimes it is a line from a show 

or a recurring expression that is identified with 

a character or comedian: Zzzat so? You can? 

hardly get that kind no more. Here we go again! 

Toujours gai! Sometimes it’s a song title: Life is 

just a bowl of cherries-or an advertising slogan: 

Eventually, why no? now? 

To the feeble-minded they have their uses. 

They signify that the speaker is present and 

uavina attention (You fell ‘em! Well. whaddyu 

know? How abom that? That’s for sure!). Thky 

permit him to make sage observations on the 

state of affairs (That’s a fact! Fifty million 

Frenchmen can’t be wrong!), to summarize the 

bitter wisdom of a full life (I’ve had it!), and to 

check the presumptuous with a devastating and 

unanswerable retort (Ger Iost! Drop dead!). 

The wise find them useful too. There is no 

stronger incentive to humility than remembering 

our youthful pride in our wit and savoir-faire 

as we repeated Yes, we have no bananas and 

Wanna buy a duck? 

take. The past tense is took. The participle is 

taken. 

Took as a participle, as in he had took it, was 

literary English well into the nineteenth century 

but is not considered standard now. 

Take may be followed by the -ing form of a 

verb with the preposition to, as in he took to 

gambling, but not by an infinitive when used in 

this sense. We cannot say he took to gamble. The 

sentence he took to drink is not an exception 

because drink is here a noun, and not a verb, and 

the sentence is comparable to he took to curds. 

When take means “understand” or “infer” it mav 

be followed by an object and to be, as in I take 

you to be an honest man, or by a clause following 

the pronoun it, as in I take it you are on 

honest man. 

Take is sometimes used to mean “caught,” especially 

with the names of specific diseases, as in 

he took pneumonia and died. This now has an 

old-fashioned or countrified tone. But if the 

disease spoken about is something more general. . 

this is still standard usage, as in he took cold

and I take everything that comes along. The expression 

take sick is not used in Great Britain, 

where it is considered an Americanism, but it is 

acceptable spoken English in the United States. 

See bring. 

take a leaf out of someone’s book. As a term for 

imitating someone or following his example, to 

take a leaf out of his book is a clich6. 

take by storm. As a term for overcoming resistance 

rapidly, making a favorable impression in 

an overwhelming manner, sweeping all hesitations 

and doubts aside, to take by storm is hackneyed. 

It is a metaphor based on a metaphor, 

since it is drawn from military action which, in 

turn, is named from the meteorological term. 

take one’s life in one’s hands. To say of one who 

is starting on a dangerous enterprise that he is 

taking his life in his hands is to employ a clichC. 

It is no less a clicht if used humorously. 

take the bit in one’s teeth. As a term for obstinacy, 

for a rash determination to ignore all guiding 

control and proceed, usually with headlong violence, 

on one’s own course, fo take the bit in 

one’s teeth is worn out. The expression seems to 

have been a proverb when Aeschylus employed 

it in Prometheus Bound (about 470 B.C.) A 

horse is guided by the pressure of the bit against 

the sensitive edges of its mouth. If it gets the bit 

in its teeth, as a young or intractable horse will 

do before it is fully broken in, the rider or driver 

no longer controls it and it usually runs away. 

take the bread out of his mouth. As a way of 

saying that someone or something has destroyed 

a man’s livelihood, to say that it has taken the 

bread out of his mouth is to employ a clichC. 

take the bull by the horns. As a term for meeting 

a dangerous situation with courage, or a 

powerful person with resolution, especially when 

the one in danger advances to meet the danger, 

to tuke the bull by the horns is a clichC. 

take the wind out of someone’s sails. To come 

between an enemy’s vessel and the wind, so that 

your ship was still maneuverable while his was 

suddenly becalmed and helpless, was one of the 

great objects of naval maneuvering in the days 

of sailing vessels. Used figuratively, to mean to 

nonplus someone, to abash him and by his sudden 

discomfiture to have him at a disadvantage, 

to rake the wind out of his sails is stale and a little 

forced. 

take the words out of one’s mouth. As an expression 

for anticipating what someone else was 

about to say, to take the words out of his mouth 

or to take the words right out of his mouth or to 

take the very words out of his mouth, etc., is 

hackneyed. 

take time by the forelock, as an expression for 

seizing an opportunity while it is favorable, is a 

clichC. 

Several Greek fabulists represented opportunity 

or (the favorable) time as a man with a 

forelock which could be seized as he approached 

but bald behind, so that once he had passed nothing 

could be done. The figure of the old man 

with an hourglass and scythe, by which cartoon- 

497 tall 

ists represent time today, usually has an elongated 

forelock. 

take to one’s heels, as a term for running away, 

is hackneyed. Several other such expressions 

(such as show a clean pair of heels) that have 

to do with running away emphasize the heels, 

though the running is done on the sole or ball of 

the foot. Perhaps the heels are conspicuous to 

the one following or the one from whom the 

other runs away, the one who would be more 

likely to employ such phrases, all of which are 

good-humoredly contemptuous. 

taken. See take. 

talent. For talent in its meaning of a high order 

of natural ability, see genius. 

In movie, radio, and television circles talent 

has the rather special group meaning of actors 

and performers of all kinds as distinguished 

from technicians or administrators (The rule of 

no smoking on the set does not apply to talent 

during the course of a show). There is no suggestion 

whatever in the use of the word that the 

talent are talented. There just has to be some 

word to mark the distinction and talent is it. 

In the term talent scout, one who makes a business 

of searching out those possessed with talent 

in order that they may be tested on the stage or 

screen, there is something of the same meaning 

of tu!ent but there is a shade more of expectation 

that the talent will be talented. These terms are 

both so thoroughly established that they must be 

accepted as standard. 

talisman; talesman. Talisman (plural talismans) 

means a stone, ring, or other object, engraved 

with figures or characters under certain superstitious 

observances of the heavens, which is supposed 

to possess occult powers, and is worn as an 

amulet or charm (Books are not seldom talismans 

and spells/ By which the magic art of 

shrewder wits/ Holds an unthinking multitude 

enthralled. By that dear tulisman, a mother’s 

name). 

Talesman (plural talesmen) means a person 

summoned as one of the tales, persons chosen 

from among the bystanders or those present in 

court to serve on the jury when the original panel 

has become deficient in number. It is a rare word, 

certainly very little used in contemporary America. 

talk (as a noun). See dialogue. 

talking through one’s hat. As a term for talking 

nonsense, usually of a pompous sort, with a suggestion 

that the speaker knows that what he is 

saying is nonsense, talking through one’s hat is a 

clicht. Although the expression seems to have 

originated in the early twentieth century, its origin 

is uncertain. 

tall; high; lofty. High is a general term, and denotes 

either extension upward or position at a 

considerable height. It also carries a suggestion 

of bigness. A mountain is high and so is a wall 

(though the latter may be so because it sounds 

better to say high wall than tall wall). An airplane 

is spotted high in the sky. If it is directly 

above, especially above another plane, it is

tantalize 

twelve o’clock high. High is the word applied to 

moral and intellectual matters (a man of high 

courage). In this sense, lofty is often used as a 

synonym. Lofty implies an impressive height (a 

lofty room, lofty trees). By itself, in figurative 

use, it is slightly disparaging, implying a cold 

aloofness or an assumption of unmerited superiority 

(These lofty pretensions have very little 

support. She was very lofty this morning). 

Tall is a more limiting term than high: it is 

applied either to that whiih is high in proportion 

to its breadth (I remember, I remember.. . the 

fir trees, tall and high. Those are very tall 

glasses) or to anything higher than the average 

of its kind (A tall man with u high hat and whiskers 

on his chin/ Will soon be knocking at your 

door. London has few tall buildings). Tall is 

used idiomatically and colloquially in America 

to mean extravagant, hard-to-believe (He was 

full of tall tales about his life as a commando); 

high-flown or grandiloquent (That was mighty 

tall talk, but you notice that little came of it). 

Tall timber to describe woods with high trees, is 

an American expression. So is the colloquial tall 

drink, a sort of pun on highball, another American 

term. Highboy, which in America describes 

a tall chest of drawers supported on legs, is generally 

in England a tallboy. 

In its literal sense, tall seems confined by usage 

to that which lives and grows. Otherwise it is 

usually figurative. In general use, if one is in 

doubt which word to apply, use high. 

tantalize; harass; irritate. Tantalize derives from 

Tantalus, a mythical Greek king who was punished 

by the gods by being stood up to his chin 

in water which receded as he stooped to drink, 

and placed under branches of fruit which always 

evaded his grasp. Thus to tantalize is to torment 

with, or as with, the sight of something desired 

but out of reach, to tease by arousing expectations 

that are repeatedly disappointed (She knew 

how to tantalize men). To be tantalized is to be 

irritated, to be excited to impatience or anger, 

but it is to be irritated in a particular way and 

the distinction of this particularity should be 

preserved. The verbs are not synonymous. Harass, 

a stronger word than irritate, describes torturing 

or tormenting by persistent disturbance or 

cares. To harass is to tire out by disturbing, to 

trouble with repeated attacks. It is often used in 

a military context (German planes hnrassed the 

troops on the beach at Dunkirk) or in the context 

of daily work (He was harassed by the continual 

demands upon his time of trivial things 

that could not be dismissed but had to be dealt 

with even though they prevented him from accomplishing 

the important and urgent task that 

had been assigned to him). Continually harass 

is redundant. 

tantamount. See paramount. 

tap. See faucet. 

taps in America is the word to describe a signal 

on a drum, bugle, or trumpet at which all lights 

in soldiers’ or sailors’ quarters must be extinguished 

(They lay in the darkness.. . listening to 

Taps weep out over the public-address system, 

enormous and sorrowful over the herded shabby 

acres of men who were no longer civilians and 

not yet soldiers). The English term is lights out. 

The signal is usually played at solemn military 

funerals and the word is used, figuratively and 

colloquially, to mean the end (Taps for Private 

Tussie. It’ll be taps for you, brother, if the boss 

catches you fooling around here in his ofice). 

tardy in America today means, primarily, late or 

behindhand (He was tardy to school only once 

in his entire four years). In England the principal 

meaning of tardy is moving or acting slowly, 

slow, sluggish, dilatory (The finest timber is of 

tardy growth). This sense in America is secondary 

and seldom used. 

target; objective. Though a target is a form of 

objective, target and objective are not synonymous. 

Literally target designates a device, usually 

marked with concentric circles, to be aimed at in 

shooting practice or contests, or any object used 

for this purpose, or anything fired at (An airplane 

at ten thousand feet is a very small target). 

The extension of target to mean any goal or objective 

to be reached-a practice in which the 

English indulge even more than the Americans 

-has its dangers, particularly if the objective is 

one expressible in numerical terms, for no idea 

of numbers is implied in the basic meaning. If, 

for example, one is told that a fund drive has 

gone beyond the target one is being informed 

not that there has been a failure, as one would 

have to suppose if one kept the metaphor in 

mind, but that the drive has been more successful 

than anticipated. 

tarred with the same brush. As a way of saying 

that someone shares, though perhaps to a lesser 

degree, the faults or sins of another, is defiled in 

the same way, tarred with the same brush is 

trite and worn. 

The origin of the expression is disputed. Some 

think it has to do with tarring and feathering, 

once a legal punishment. Others connect it with 

the tarring of sheep, for identification and protection 

against ticks. In early American usage 

the phrase (along with a touch of the tar brush) 

was used to mean that the person spoken of had 

some Negro blood. 

tart. See pie. 

Tartar; Tatar. Tatar, the original term, is now 

used chiefly in an ethnological sense. The Tatar 

Republic is an autonomous republic in the Eastern 

Soviet Union in Europe, with a capital at 

Kazan. 

Tartar (formed on Tatar by association with 

Tartarus, Hell, because to the Christians of Eurooe 

the Tatars seemed like fiends from Hell) is 

nb;r usually the term to describe a member’ of 

any of a mingled host of Mongolian, Turkish, 

and other tribes who, under the leadership of 

Genghis Khan, overran Eastern Europe during 

the Middle Ages. It is also applied to a member 

of the descendants of this people, variously intermingled 

with other races and tribes, now inhabiting 

parts of the European and west and central 

Asiatic Soviet Union. Tartar may also describe 

any of several Turkic languages of west central

Asia, particularly Uzbeg. The uncapitalized form 

iarrar, based on observed or imagined characteristics 

of Tartars, means a shrew or vixen, a 

savage, intractable person. 

Catch a tartar, as an expression for getting 

hold of something you can’t control, especially 

something which was ardently desired but which 

when obtained is found to be extremely unpleasant, 

is a cliche. The origin of the term is uncertain, 

though its meaning is fairly clear. There 

is what seems like a reference to the saying in 

Samuel Butler’s Hudibrus (1663), but the first 

clear statement of it occurs in Dryden’s The 

Kind Keeper ( 1678). Francis Grose in his Classical 

Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785) attributes 

the origin to an Irishman who in a battle 

against the Turks called out excitedly that he had 

“caught a Tartar.” When those on his side called 

back “Bring him here,” he shouted “1 can’t; he 

won’t let me.” Whether historically true or not, 

the story certainly explains the idea of the expression. 

taste. This verb may be followed by an adjective 

describing the source of the taste, as in it tastes 

sour and it tastes good. The use of an adverb 

here, as in it tastes well, is not technically correct 

and is considered unacceptable by many people. 

When taste is used with a personal subject it may 

be qualified by an adverb, as in he tasted it 

quickly. 

tasteful(ly); tasts; tastily. Tasteful is the correct 

word for having, displaying, or being in accordance 

with good taste. Tasty is permitted in America 

but frowned on in England when used in this 

sense. In its sense of pleasing to the taste, savory, 

appetizing (Freshly baked apple pie makes a 

rusry dessert), the word is acceptable in speech. 

As tasteful is to be preferred to tasty, so the 

adverb tastefully is to be preferred to tastily. 

To say, especially of flowers on a table, that 

they are tastefully arranged is to employ a worn 

commendation. 

taught. See teach. 

tautology. See redundancy. 

taxed to its utmost capacity as a way of saying 

that something can hold or do or stand no more, 

is trite. 

teach. The past tense is taught. The participle is 

also taught. This verb may be followed by an 

infinitive, as in teach your grandson to shoot a 

rifle, or by a that clause, as in they teach that 

the world is round. Teach may be followed by 

a great many words ending in -ing, such as 

reading, writing, swimming, but only when these 

words are felt to be names of recognized courses 

of study. Teach cannot be followed by the -ing 

form of a verb in any other sense. That is, we 

may say he taught me to struggle harder but 

not he taught me struggling harder. See also 

leam. 

teamwork; team spirit; the team; on our team; 

etc. The flippant, the scornful, the skeptical and 

the irreverent are always being reminded that 

their jokes may be offensive to those who do not 

share their disrespect of many established CUStoms 

and values. Similarly however, and far less 

499 

frequently, the solemn, the solid, and the conventional 

need to be reminded that the whole world 

does not share their outlook and that some of 

their expressions may have different connotations 

for some of their listeners than they have for 

them. Among these must be listed-not invariably, 

but more often than they have any idea 

of-unctuous cliches regarding tenmwork, the 

team, team spirit, our team, and the like, especially 

in figurative extensions. One does not have 

to be. too cynical to have at least some reservations 

about the educational, social, or even moral 

value of a great deal of organized athletics. Much 

of it is commercial and much is tainted with 

downright dishonesty and association with highly 

undesirable people. And teamwork is the keynote 

of its hucksters, barkers, and shills-a keynote 

which some do not find wholly inspiring. 

tear. The past tense is tore. The participle is torn. 

A participle tore, as in had tore, is heard but is 

not acceptable. 

technic; technics; technique; technology. Technic 

and technics are seldom used. They would seem 

mispronunciations or affectations to the ordinary 

educated man. 

As an adjective, technic is obsolescent for 

technical. As a noun, it has been largely replaced 

by technique. Technics, a noun, has been replaced 

by technique or, when it means the study 

or science of an art or of arts in general, especially 

of the mechanical or industrial arts, by 

technology. Technique is familiar as the description 

of method of performance, especially in 

artistic work. It is also used slangily in America 

to signify social adroitness, “smoothness” (Your 

chin is weak,/ You lack technique,/ So what 

have you got/ That gets me?). Technology is the 

branch of knowledge that deals with the industrial 

arts; the sciences of the industrial arts (He 

studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology). 

It may also describe the terminology 

of an art or science, technical nomenclature. 

teeming with; rich in. There are in English three 

verbs to teem. One means to produce, to bring 

forth, to bear (“What’s the newest grief?” ‘Each 

minute teems a new one”), or, intransitively, to 

be or become pregnant, to conceive, bear (Zf she 

must teem,/ Create her child of spleen, that it 

may live/ And be a thwart disnatur’d torment to 

her) or to be full, as a pregnant woman, or to 

be prolific, stocked to overflowing, abundantly 

fertile. Another, a rare meaning, is to be fit for, 

to be becoming, to think fit for. The third meaning, 

an entirely different word, is to pour, to 

empty and, intransitively, to come down in torrents. 

And it may be that the meaning of the 

third verb has colored the meaning of the tirst. 

Teeming with is not so general as rich in. A 

stream may be teeming with, that is fertile with 

or prolific with or stocked to overflowing with, 

salmon and therefore be rich in salmon. Whereas 

a museum may be rich in Old Masters but not 

teeming with them. 

teeth. See tooth. 

telecast, televise. When these two words are used 

as verbs, telecast is the more limited in meaning.

tell 500 

It means to broadcast by television. Televise, on 

the other hand, means to record by means of 

television apparatus and to broadcast what is so 

recorded (It was found that films could be telecast 

just as well as live shows. The news was 

televised on the spot). 

tell. The past tense is told. The participle is also 

told. 

When tell means ask it may be followed by an 

infinitive, as in tell her to come. When it does 

not mean ask it may be followed by a clause, as 

in tell her I have gone. 

tell; inform; advise; acquaint; apprise. Tell is the 

general word meaning to make known by speech 

or writing. Znform is a somewhat more formal 

word, meaning to impart knowledge of a fact or 

circumstance (No Sir, a man has not a right to 

think as he pleases; he should inform himself 

and think justly). In official circles to inform is 

not merel; to &part a piece of knowlehge but 

to put the recipient of the information on notice 

that he has been told (Were you not informed of 

these things?). If someone has been informed of 

something, we regard that something as more 

authoritative than if he had been informally told. 

Informed sources (though the term is often no 

more than a journalistic euphemism for rumor 

or gossip) are thought to be more reliable than 

someone who has simply been told something. In 

ordinary commercial correspondence inform is 

often pretentious (as in We will inform you when 

your order is ready). 

Advise properly means to give counsel to, 

not merely to give information to (I advise you 

to drive carefully over the holiday weekend). 

To advise someone that an order has been 

shipped is preposterous, though one might advise 

him to have a care in dealing with those 

who used words with so little knowledge of 

their meaning. See advice; advise. 

Acquaint in the sense of furnish with knowledge 

or inform is considered archaic in England 

but is standard in America (I hope you will acquaint 

the public with what we have been doing). 

Apprise is a seldom used, formal word meaning 

to give notice to, inform (He had not been 

apprised of the shift in foreign policy. Apprise 

my parents, make them rescue me). It is often 

followed by of. 

telling effect, with. To say of something that was 

forcible or vigorous that it was done or spoken or 

received or delivered, and so on, with telling 

eflect is to employ a hackneyed term. 

tell tales out of school. To say of someone who 

(often inadvertently) reveals information that 

may be hurtful to another that he is telling tales 

out of school is to employ a clicht. In addition to 

being tedious, it labors to be arch. 

temperature. See fever. 

tempers the wind to the shorn Iamb, the Lord. As 

a pseudo-philosophic (and not wholly justified) 

comment on the fact that the tender and the 

helpless and the innocent are spared too severe 

aflliction, the observation that the Lord tempers 

the wind to the shorn lamb is a cliche. Many who 

utter it are of the opinion that it is a quotation 

from the Bible. It is from Laurence Sterne’s A 

Sentimental Journey (1768) where it is a translation 

of a sentence in Les Prhmices (1594) of 

Henri Estienne. Estienne refers to it as a proverb. 

tempest in a teapot. As a term for making a 

great fuss over a trifle, a tempest in a teapot is 

now a clichC. The phrase has been traced back, 

in various forms, to 400 B.C. Cicero referred to 

one who “stirred up waves in a wine ladle” and 

added “as the saying goes.” 

tempo. The plural is tempos or tempi. 

temporal; temporary. Though both of these adjectives 

refer to time, they do so in different 

senses. Temporal is opposed to spiritual, temporary 

to permanent. Temporal means of or concerned 

with the present life of this world, with 

things subject to the sway of time, worldly (The 

king was the temporal authority, the Pope the 

spiritual authority). Hence temporal is sometimes 

used in opposition to ecclesiastical, clerical, 

and sacred. Temporary means “for the time 

being.” It implies an arrangement established 

with no thought of continuance but with the 

idea of being changed soon (Joe got a temporary 

job driving a cab while he waited for his commission 

to come through). 

temporary compounds. A true compound word 

that is hyphenated, such as secretary-treasurer 

or self-respect, keeps its hyphen no matter where 

it appears in the sentence. (See compound 

words.) But there are other word combinations 

that are hyphenated under certain circumstances 

and not under others. Absolute consistency in 

the use of these hyphens cannot be maintained 

and it is questionable whether a ninety percent 

consistency is worth the time and trouble it 

requires. The following discussion is not offered 

as a guide to what ought to be done but merely 

as an explanation of the various hyphens one is 

likely to see in print. 

1. Oil-bearing shale. These words mean “shale 

that is bearing oil.” Inverted phrases of this kind, 

in which a present participle is preceded by its 

object and both qualify a following noun, are 

usually hyphenated, as in habit-forming drugs, 

money-making ideas, life-giving water. But the 

hyphen is not used when expressions of this kind 

follow the noun, as in the drug became habit 

forming, the idea was money making. (Present 

participle combinations do not come under this 

rule when the first word is not the object of the 

participle, as in a slow moving train, a long suffering 

friend.) 

2. A face-to-face encounter: under-water 

rocks. Prepositional phrases are almost always 

hyphenated when they stand before the noun 

they qualify but not otherwise, as in it was u 

face-to-face encounter, he met him face to face 

and there were under-water rocks, the rocks 

were under water. (This rule does not apply to 

Latin phrases. We write ante helium days, per 

diem employees, an ex oficio member.) 

3. A light-yellow scarf; a rich-brown cake. 

Occasionally a double adjective standing before 

a noun can be. read in more than one way. A 

light yellow scarf might be a scarf that was light 

yellow or it might be a yellow scarf that didn’t 

weigh much. A rich brown cake might be a cake

that was rich brown, or it might be a brown cake 

that was very fattening. The ambiguity depends 

on the fact that light and rich both have more 

than one meaning. There is no such difficulty 

with a dark yellow scarf or a pale brown cake. 

English has a great many punable words of this 

kind and usually there is nothing to do about it. 

But in a case of this kind the hyphen can be used, 

and should be used, to link the first two words 

when that is what is intended. 

4. The man next door’s radio. Sometimes 

word combinations are hyphenated because the 

whole expression is a genitive. This is not necessary 

and a hyphen here is usually a mistake. We 

write John Brown’s body, the King of Spain’s 

daughter, and we should write the man next 

door’s radio. 

5. A two story house. Hyphens are helpful in 

some of the cases discussed above because the 

words themselves are being used in an unusual 

way and may therefore be ambiguous. Words 

are never ambiguous when they are standing in 

their proper position in a sentence, unless there 

is the possibility of a pun. A two story house, 

a dark green dress, nineteenth century literature, 

are all normal English and do not need hyphens 

in order to be understood. 

Hyphens are often used in expressions of this 

kind, not for the sake of readability, but in order 

to avoid what some textbooks claim is a grammatical 

error. In the examples just given, the 

second word before the noun is qualifying the 

first word before the noun and not the noun 

itself. It is therefore functioning as an adverb. 

But these first words are all familiar as adjectives. 

Some people have the mistaken idea that if 

a word can be used as an adjective it cannot also 

lawfully be used as an adverb. Therefore, they 

argue, a construction of this kind must be wrong, 

although so far as sound goes it is obviously 

standard English. A hyphen is supposed to offer 

a way out of the difficulty by creating a new and 

respectable adjective form known as a “unit 

modifier.” This is an artificial and rather silly 

device. No printer’s mark that is not reflected in 

the spoken language can have any bearing on 

whether or not a construction is standard English. 

6. First-, second-, and third-grade children. 

When more than one term is theoretically joined 

to the same word, each one may be given a 

hyphen, as in the example. But some editors prefer 

to omit the hyphens entirely in a seriei of 

this kind. Thev write a third-prude child but first. 

second, and third grade children. Either form is 

acceptable, but they should not be combined. 

That is, if the hyphen is dropped after first and 

second, it should also be dropped after third. 

7. New Jersey potatoes. Proper nouns are 

never hyphenated merely because they are being 

used as adjectives. We write New Jersey potatoes 

and New England clam chowder. Actually, expressions 

of this kind are spoken with a comma 

break, but custom requires a hyphen and not a 

comma here. 

8. The New York-Pennsylvania highways; the 

Boy Scouts-Bears picnic. New York-Pennsyl- 

501 tenpins 

vania highways means highways running through 

New York and Pennsylvania; the Boy Scouts- 

Bears picnic means a picnic arranged by some 

Boy Scouts and another group who call themselves 

Bears. No one who didn’t already know 

what these terms meant would ever guess it from 

the punctuation. Some sensitive editors believe 

that they can relieve the situation by using a 

small dash instead of a hyphen. But since few 

people except printers can see the difference 

between a small dash and a hyphen, this solution 

doesn’t accomplish much. Less sensitive editors 

sometimes ask a writer to recast the sentencethat 

is, to say something else that they know 

how to punctuate. 

temporize; extemporize. Temporize applies primarily 

to actions, extemporize to words. To 

temporize means to act indecisively or evasively 

to gain time or delay matters; to comply with 

the time or occasion; to yield temporarily or 

ostensibly to the current of opinion or circumstances 

(Queen Elizabeth was chiefly remarkable 

for her ability to temporize). To 

extemporize is to speak extempore, without 

notes. It also means to sing or play on an instrument, 

composing the music as one proceeds, to 

improvise. See also extemporaneous. 

tend may be followed by an infinitive, as in it tends 

to bring them together. It is also heard with the 

-ing form of a verb and the preposition to, as in 

it tends to bringing them together. The infinitive 


tend; attend. Tend as a shortened form of attend 

in the sense of pay attention to is now dialectal 

(Why don’t you tend to your own business?). 

Tend still means to attend to by work or services 

(Ab used to tend bar over at the Dutchman’s 

place) or to watch over (Tending sheep is monotonous 

work). 

tend; trend. As verbs tend and trend are interchangeable 

in the sense of to be disposed or inclined 

to take a particular direction, to extend 

in some direction indicated (The coast from 

there trends northeast). Although trend in the 

sense of to have a general tendency is regarded 

as obsolescent in England, it is still acceptable in 

the United States. Tend, a verb only, is standard 

in the United States but regarded as poetic and 

old-fashioned in England. Trend is more used 

as a noun than as a verb. It means the general 

course, drift, or tendency (The trend over the 

last one hundred years has been towards collectivism). 

tender (verb). Aside from its legal and commercial 

uses, tender, especially in the stereotyped 

phrases tender condolences, tender regrets, tender 

sympathy, tender congratulations, and the 

like, is slightly affected, over-elegant, a little 

pompous. It has been so, apparently, for centuries 

and must have been an elegant vogue 

word in Elizabethan times, if we may judge from 

Polonius’s impatience at Ophelia’s use of it 

(Hamlet, Act I, Scene 3). 

tenpins; ninepins; ten-strike. Tenpins is a game, 

chiefly American, played with ten wooden pins 

at which a ball is bowled to knock them down. 

The word is also applied to the pins used in such

a game. Ninepins is a game, chiefly English, 

played with nine wooden pins. Dickens, in his 

American Notes, described tenpins as “a game 

of mingled chance and skill, invented when the 

legislature passed an act forbidding Nine-pins.” 

But although the high-mindedness and fervor 

with which the American people have passed 

laws governing moral conduct has been surpassed 

only by the ingenuity and celerity with 

which they have circumvented them, Dickens 

was wrong. Loggets, nine-holes, or ten pinnes 

are mentioned in an anonymous English pamphlet 

entitled The Letting of humorous blood in the 

head vein, published in 1600 and probably written 

by Samuel Rowlands. 

A ten-strike is a stroke in tenpins which knocks 

down all the pins (the usual word is strike). By 

figurative extension, tenstrike is used in common 

speech to mean any stroke or act which is completely 

successful. 

tense is the property of a verb, or the form of a 

verb, which shows the time at which an action 

occurred or a situation existed relative to the 

time of speaking. In a verbal phrase the tense 

is expressed by the first auxiliary, such as has 

in Stanley has been living in Italy and was in 

Sam was expecting to see him. See verbs, past 

tense, and present tense. 

tense shifts. In literary English, when a verb in 

the past tense or past perfect tense has a clause 

as its object and the clause is in the indicative 

mode, the natural tense of the clause verb is 

shifted. A simple present tense, or a present 

tense auxiliary, is put in the past and a past 

tense form is put in the past perfect. Present 

tense forms are shifted to the past in the second 

of each of these examples: he believes men are 

immortal, he believed men were immortal; he 

knows I will be there, he knew I would be 

there; he says he has seen you, he said he had 

seen you. Past tense forms are shifted to the 

past perfect in: this proves he was mistaken, this 

proved he had been mistaken. 

This sequence of tenses is observed in literary 

English, if only because it always has been observed 

and a violation of the rule makes a clause 

conspicuous, even to people who have never 

heard of the rule. It is also possible that the real 

purpose of the shift is to keep a subordinate verb 

from being more vivid, or more important, than 

the principal verb in the sentence. In any case, 

the shift has nothing to do with “real time.” The 

subordinate verb is not put in the past tense 

because it represents a past event at the time of 

speaking. We say how did you know I was here? 

and what did you say your name was? when we 

are obviously speaking about the present. Tenses 

are shifted in timeless or universal statements, 

such as it was a saying of his that no man was 

sure of his supper till he had eaten it. This applies 

also to more solemn truths such as Man . . . who 

trusted God was love indeed and love Creation’s 

final law. 

The tense shift can always be disregarded 

when one wants to make a subordinate clause 

conspicuous. This may happen when the only 

502 

significant statement in the sentence is in the subordinate 

clause, as in he told me the train leaves 

at three. Or one may feel that a particular statement 

is too solemn to be subordinated under 

any circumstances, as in he taught that God is 

love. Neither of these reasons justify the use of 

the present tense in Columbus believed the world 

is round, where the significant statement is that 

Columbus believed this now commonplace truth. 

Sentences like this are written under the impression 

that what is still a fact should not be 

expressed in the past tense. Frequently the writer 

has been taught this in school. But that is regrettable, 

since the device sometimes spoils otherwise 

good writing by distorting the emphasis and 

putting trivia in a spotlight. 

The rules just given for shifting tenses do not 

apply to subjunctive verbs. Where a present subjunctive 

form is required after a present tense 

verb it is also required after a past tense, as in 

we insist that she get to work on time and we 

insisted that she get to work on time. A past 

subjunctive does not become past perfect but 

keeps its original form. That is, Z wish I was 

dead becomes I wished I was dead and not I 

wished I had been dead. Where either a present 

subjunctive or a past subjunctive may be used, 

the only difference being the degree of uncertainty, 

a shift may be made but it is not necessary. 

(For the rules governing tense in subjunctive 

clauses and in clauses of purpose, see 

subjunctive mode.) 

tenterhooks were hooks from which cloth was 

suspended to be stretched free of wrinkles. The 

word was also applied to the hooks from which 

meat was suspended in front of butcher shops 

and it is likely that it was from this ghastly but 

common spectacle that the thought of tenterhooks 

as stretching instruments of painful torture 

was derived. Tent also meant the probing 

of a wound. To be on tenterhooks, to be in 

a state of painful suspense, is now a clicht, to 

be used sparingly. 

terminai; terminus. These words are used differently 

in England and America. In England terminals 

(always the plural) is used to describe 

charges made by a railroad company for the use 

of a terminus or other station and for services 

rendered in loading and unloading goods. In 

America terminal means an originating or terminating 

point for trains, usually where important 

stations, yards, and shop facilities are located 

(The cuts in rail service showed in lessened 

crowds at the Central, Union, LaSalle and Dearborn 

stations, which are terminals for the struck 

roads). It is also used for a station or city at 

a terminus. For terminal in this sense, either 

end of a line, the English would use terminus. 

Americans may use either terminal or terminus, 

though terminus tends to mean a place, terminal 

a building. The plural of terminus is terminuses 

or termini. 

terminate. See end, expire. 

terra tirma, as a term for solid earth, is affected 

if used seriously, dreary if used facetiously. 

terrestrial. See earthen.

terrible; territic. See horrible. 

test (noun). See frlal. 

testimony. See evidence. 

tetchy; techy; fouchy. Tetchy and techy survive 

more vigorously in England than in America, 

but they are far less common in both countries, 

as adjectives meaning apt to take offense on 

slight provocation, irritable, than touchy. Touchy 

may also be used in senses not proper to techy 

and tetchy: precarious, risky, or ticklish (It’s a 

touchy business and must be handled with great 

tact) or sensitive to touch (Don’t be so touchy; 

I’ve got to massage your side). 

than is used in making comparisons of inequality, 

or comparisons between things that are said to 

be. dissimilar. It is used only in combination with 

the comparative form of an adjective or adverb 

or with one of the four words, other, rather, 

different, else. Other and rather are actually 

comparative forms and diflerent is apparently 

felt as a comparative. (See these individual 

words.) Else than is still literary English but 

in current speech it is usually replaced by but 

or except. 

In we had no sooner finished our mufins than 

she said . . ., the word than is standard English 

because it accompanies the comparative word 

sooner. In scarcely had the reverberations died 

away than there came the sound of footsteps 

there is no comparative form and than is being 

misused. Literary English requires when here. 

However, if a comparative form is used, than is 

required to complete the comparison and the 

word when is unliterary, as it is in we had no 

sooner finished our mufins when she said. . . . 

Than is usually classed as a coordinating conjunction, 

which means that the words it joins 

in a comparison have the same function in 

the sentence. What are compared may be things, 

as in the flesh will grieve on other bones than 

ours soon: or actions, as in he would have cut 

his hand off sooner than sign it. But than is 

sometimes used in Sentences where this interpretation 

is impossible, as in he went no further 

than Philadelphia. This sentence is standard 

English. But here than has a simple object, 

Philadelphia, and is therefore functioning as a 

preposition. When than stands before the relative 

pronoun who, the objective form whom is 

always used, as in Mary Case, than whom there 

never was a wiser woman. (See who; whom.) 

Here again one might say that than is functioning 

as a preposition, or one might say that this 

use of whom is an established but irregular 

idiom in English. 

If than can be used as a preposition it would 

follow that a personal pronoun following than, 

that was not itself the subject of a following 

verb, would have an objective form. Most grammarians 

however claim that, with the exception 

of the two cases mentioned above, than must 

always be treated as a conjunction. This means 

that a personal pronoun following than must 

have a subjective or an objective form depending 

upon its function in the sentence, or depending 

upon the function of the word it is compared 

503 thanks 

with. For example, according to these rules the 

subjective form I is required, and the objective 

form me must not be used, in he understands 

this better than I, because here the word is linked 

with he and is functioning as the subject of the 

verb understand. In current English we usually 

evade the problem by placing a dummy verb 

after the subjective pronoun, as in better than 2 

do. On the other hand, the objective form him 

is required, and not the subjective form he, in 

I have known better men than him to lie, because 

here the word is linked with men and is 

functioning as the object,of the verb know. That 

is, we use the objective form in this comparison 

because we would use the objective form in the 

simple statement I have known him. (Some 

grammarians claim that than is a subordinating 

conjunction in sentences of this kind, on the 

grounds that it is qualifying the word better 

rather than linking two independent elements.) 

Textbooks sometimes say that a subjective 

pronoun should be used after than whenever it is 

possible to read a suppressed verb into the sentence, 

as in I have known better men than he 

(is) to lie. This is a mistake. It sometimes leads 

to ambiguous sentences, such as Z have known 

richer men than he (is), where the hearer may 

suppose that the suppressed verb is has. And 

even where it is not ambiguous, this use of the 

subjective pronoun is contrary to the literary tradition 

and the practice of educated people, and is 

usually heard as a grammatical mistake. 

When than is used after a form of the verb 

to be we have a different problem. Here it is a 

question of which form of the pronoun is to be 

used after a linking verb. If one says it is me, 

one would also say is she taller than me?. But if 

one says it is I, he should also say is she taller 

than I?. The objective form is generally preferred. 

See linking verbs. 

thank. When thank is used as a polite word for 

ask it may be followed by an infinitive, as in I’ll 

thank you to hnnd me the salt. The simple form 

of the verb here instead of the to-infinitive, as in 

I’ll thank you hand me the salt, is considered an 

illiteracy in Great Britain. This form without to 

is not heard in the United States. When used in 

its ordinary sense of “express gratitude,” thank 

is not followed by an infinitive but by for and 

the -ing form of a verb, as in Z thank you for 

handing me the salt. 

thanking you in advance. The quality of gratitude 

like that of mercy cannot be strained. TO 

ask a favor and in the very act of asking it to 

state blandly that the person from whom the 

favor is begged need expect no thanks after it is 

done is so ludicrous that if it were not common, 

one would not believe that it had ever been done. 

There’s a condescension in thanking you in advance 

that utterly denies any true sense of obligation. 

Some people object to the phrase because 

it is ungrammatical and illogical, but these are 

only minor faults: it is insolent. 

thanks. Although the singular form a thank is no 

longer in use, thanks is a true plural. We say 

many thanks, u thousand thanks, and these

thanks so4 

thanks are not deserved. Thanks is used in 

Hamlet as a mass word in for this relief much 

thanks. This obsolete construction seems to catch 

the eye of teen-agers who continue to use the 

expression, facetiously, long after they have forgotten 

the origin of the joke. 

Both forms, thank and thanks, are used as the 

first element in a compound, as in thank-offerings 

and thanksgivings. 

thanks; thank you; I thank you. Thanks is the 

usual common elliptical expression used in America 

in acknowledging a favor, service, courtesy, 

or the like. Thank you is somewhat more formal 

and is insisted on by most English grammarians. 

I thank you is stiff and archaic, though it is sometimes 

used by orators in their perorations: My 

friends, Z thank you. 

As H. Allen Smith has observed, Thank you 

is an expression which the English can make go 

a long way, especially in the clipped form, 

“Kvuh.” As he says. “Thev smile and even 

laugh when they hear.us say,.‘You’re welcome.’ 

This response to ‘Thanks’ or ‘Kyuh’ is never 

heard here and when a character in an American 

film says ‘You’re welcome,’ the English 

audience laughs. The British response to ‘Kyuh 

is ‘Kyuh,’ the second ‘Kyuh’ being uttered in a 

higher tone than the first, and I assume it could 

go on forever” (Smith’s London Journal, N. Y., 

1952, p. 77). See also oblige; obligate. 

Thanksgiving; Thanksgiving Day. Although 

Thanksgiving Day is the correct, formal name 

for the peculiarly American annual festival in 

acknowledgment of divine favor, usually held 

on the last Thursdav of November, Thanksaivine 

(when capitalized)-is sanctioned by usage TThe; 

used to come over every Thanksgiving and bring 

the children). 

thank-you-ma’am is an exclusively American expression 

which began to disappear with the construction 

of modern highways. It was a hollow 

or ridge in a road, usually diagonal and especially 

on a hillside, to deflect water. These ridges 

or hollows were so called because when one 

drove over them the resulting bump made one’s 

head bob and one’s body seem to curtsy as if in 

the act of formally thanking a lady for some 

favor. 

that. This word may be used as a demonstrative 

adjective, a demonstrative pronoun, a relative 

pronoun, or a conjunction. 

When that qualifies a following noun, as in 

that very small dog, it is a demonstrative adjective. 

When it is used in place of a particular 

word or group of words (and does not introduce 

a qualifying clause), as in I like that and that is 

what he said, it is a demonstrative pronoun. The 

demonstrative that has the plural form those 

and is similar to the word this. See this; that. 

When that stands for a word in the principal 

clause of a sentence and at the same time is an 

essential element in a qualifying, subordinate 

ChUSC, as in where is the dog that was here?, 

it is called a relative pronoun. There is no difference 

in meaning between the demonstrative 

and the relative pronoun. But as a relative, that 

is used in a more complicated construction, and 

in a way in which the other demonstrative pronouns 

cannot be used. As a relative pronoun, 

that competes with which and who. (For the 

use of that as a relative, see that; which.) 

The word that is also used as a conjunction, as 

in Z know that the dog was here. When it is used 

as a conjunction it does not represent any other 

word or refer to anything, and it is not grammatically 

a part of the clause that follows. It is 

merely a sign that the following clause is not an 

independent statement but a subordinate element 

in a larger sentence. This use of that has grown 

out of its use as a demonstrative pronoun. One 

may think of the conjunction that as the pronoun 

functioning as some element in a sentence and 

immediately followed by the clause that gives it 

meaning. In the example given, that functions as 

the object of the verb know and so makes the 

following clause the object of the verb. The relative 

pronoun ihaf also introduces a clause but, 

unlike the conjunction, the pronoun represents a 

word appearing earlier and is itself a part of the 

subordinate clause. In speech, the conjunction 

that does not have the full vowel sound of the 

pronoun or the adjective. The difference can be 

heard in Z know that that is true, where the first 

that is the conjunction and the second, the demonstrative 

pronoun. 

A clause introduced by the conjunction that 

may be the object of a verb, as in the example 

given above, or it may be the subject of a verb, 

as in that he denies it surprises me. A clause 

represented by the dummy subject it is very 

often introduced by that, as in it is true that he 

denies it. (See it.) That is also used to introduce 

a purely adverbial clause of purpose or result, as 

in I sent you to school that you might learn and 

what have I done that you should treat me so? 

Clauses of this kind require a subjunctive auxiliary 

verb. The conjunction Zhatsometimes occurs 

in exclamations where it introduces the object of 

an understood “I wish” or “I pray,” as in 0 that 

Zshmael might live forever! 

That may also be used after an adverb or a 

noun functioning as an adverb to show that the 

following clause is attached to, or is equivalent 

to, the preceding word, as in tve can start to work 

now that you are here and Z knew it the first 

time that Z saw him. It is debatable whether thot 

should be called a conjunction or a relative pronoun 

or adverb in a construction of this kind. If 

the word that is omitted from the sentence the 

adverb or noun itself becomes a conjunction introducing 

a clause. In current English we do not 

use that after a word that is thoroughly familiar 

as a conjunction, although this was once customary. 

as in he could not live after that he was 

fallen. 

When there is no doubt that the clause following 

that is a subordinate element in the sentence, 

it is not necessary to use the conjunction. As a 

rule there is no doubt and the word that can be 

omitted. The conjunction is required when the 

clause stands before the principal verb, either as 

subject, as in that he says so surprises me, or as

object, as in that he said so I doubt. Sentences of 

this kind are uncommon in current English, but 

if the construction is used, the conjunction must 

not be dropped. The conjunction is also required 

before a clause of purpose or result, but in current 

English an infinitive is generally preferred 

to a full clause here, as in I sent you to school to 

learn and what have Z done to have you treat me 

so?. The conjunction that is sometimes needed 

after a coordinating conjunction (and, or, nor, 

but), as in he wished he had gone and that he 

had taken Mary. It is a convenience whenever 

there may be doubt about where a subordinate 

clause begins. For example, in he said yesterday 

he had finished the work, the word yesterday may 

belong with he said or with he had finished. The 

sentence would be clearer if a that was placed 

either before or after yesterday. In other cases, 

the word that can usually be omitted. 

To omit unnecessary that’s is not careless or 

slovenly writing. It makes for better prose, for 

smoother and more natural English, to omit 

them than to use them when they are not necessary. 

Too many thnt conjunctions create an impression 

of laboring the obvious. This stylistic 

mistake is seen most often in technical writing, 

where the author is over-anxious to make his 

points clear. More confidence in the reader 

would ease the burden for both writer and 

reader. 

that; which. The word that is primarily a demonstrative 

pronoun or adjective, but it is also used 

as a relative pronoun and as a conjunction. (For 

the use of that as a demonstrative, see this; that; 

for its use as a conjunction, see that.) It is a 

relative pronoun when it forms part of a subordinate 

clause and at the same time represents 

a noun or pronoun appearing in the principal 

clause of the same sentence. Which is primarily 

an interrogative pronoun or adjective, but it too 

can be used as a relative. It is more adaptable 

to Latin constructions than the word that and 

was first used as a relative in translations from 

Latin. From this it passed into general English 

and now competes with the relative that. (For 

all uses of which except as a relative pronoun, 

see which.) 

That is the oldest and the most useful of the 

relatives. It may be used in speaking of persons, 

animals, or inanimate things, as in 

This is the cock that crew in the morn, 

Unto the farmer sowing his corn, 

That met the priest with his pen and ink-horn, 

That married the man so tattered and torn, 

. . , and so on, to the house that Jack built. 

During the sixteenth century which was us& 

interchangeably with that as a relative. In the 

King James Bible (1611), Matthew 22:21 

reads: Render therefore unto Caesar the things 

which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things 

that are God’s. The same verse occurs in Mark 

and Luke. In Mark that appears in both statements, 

and in Luke which appears in both. At 

that time which, like that, was used in speaking 

of persons as well as of thirgs, and in this trans- 

505 that 

lation of the Bible we find Our Father which 

ort in heaven. During the seventeenth century 

that almost disappeared from literary English 

and who replaced which as a relative referring 

to persons. (See who; whom.) But by 1700 that 

was Corning into favor again. At first many educated 

people considered it a vulgar innovation. 

The Soectator of Mav 30. 1711. Dublished a 

“Humble Petition of W?zo a&d Which against the 

upstart Jack Sprat That,” in which Who and 

Which say: “We are descended of ancient Families, 

and kept up our Dignity and Honor many 

Years till the Jacksprat That supplanted us.” 

Actually, they were the intruders and eventually 

that regained its old position. In the Authorized 

Revision of the Bible (nublished in 18851 we 

find Our Father that art‘,& heaven, the for& that 

had been used in the Wycliffe translation of 1389. 

Today we make a distinction between lvho and 

which, and use who in speaking of persons and 

which in speaking of anything subhuman. That is 

generally preferred to which where both words 

are possible, but many people prefer who to that 

when the reference is to a person. Twentieth 

century translations of the Bible are likely to 

read, Our Father who art in heaven. 

It is sometimes claimed that the relative pronoun 

that must be used in a defining clause that 

is essential to the meaning of a statement, as in 

we use margarine that contains vitamin A and he 

was a bold man that first ate an oyster; and that 

who or which is required in a clause that is merely 

descriptive, as in we use butter, which contains 

vitamin A and he was a strange man, who cared 

for nothing. Clauses of the first kind are called 

defining, restrictive, or explanatory. Clauses of 

the second kind are called descriptive, additive, 

or resumptive. 

The distinction between restrictive that and 

descriptive which or who is an invention of the 

grammarians and a very recent one. Fowler, who 

recommends it, says, “it would be idle to pretend 

that it is the practice either of most or of the best 

writers.” What is not the practice of most, or of 

the best, is not part of our common language. In 

actual practice, which is not often used in a defining 

clause today, but it may be. In the King 

James Bible, the woman who lost a silver piece 

and then found it, says: I have found the piece 

which Z had lost. Twentieth century translators 

altered this sentence but felt no need to change 

the defining which to that, and wrote I have 

found the coin which I had lost. The relative 

who, on the other hand, is frequently used in 

defining clauses. No one today would see anything 

awkward in the sentence he was a bold 

man who first ate an oyster. The relative that, 

now as always, is used freely in descriptive 

clauses (as well as in defining ones), as in those 

are Grecian ghosts, that in burr/e were slain and 

the last was Fear, that is akin to Death. Very 

often that and which are used in the same sentence 

with identically the same function, as in u 

circumstance that occurred, or which Shelley 

supposed did occur. 

Anyone who likes to do so may limit his own

the 

that’s to defining clauses. But he must not read 

this distinction into other men’s writing, and he 

must not expect his readers to recognize it in his 

own. It is sometimes necessary to show that a 

clause is purely descriptive and not defining, but 

this cannot be accomplished by using the word 

who or which. In order to make this fact clear, 

the descriptive clause must be set off by a pair 

of commas, which have the effect of parenthesis 

marks, or the sentence must be recast. 

In current English which is used in place of 

that chiefly for variety. The essential difference 

between these words today is described by a 

grammarian writing fifty years ago, who said: 

“In all ages of the English tongue thnt has been 

the standard relative of the body of the people, 

and to this day which is stiff and formal, suggestive 

of the student’s lamp or the pedagogue’s 

birch.” 

When the conjunction fhat is followed by the 

demonstrative pronoun that, there is a noticeable 

difference in the way the two words are pronounced, 

as can be heard in I believe that that is 

true. When a demonstrative that is followed by 

a relative that the two words are pronounced 

alike, as in I have that that you gave me. As a 

rule, which is preferred to that in this construction 

and we say that which you gave me or what 

you gave me. On the other hand, that is the only 

relative used after who. We say who that has any 

pride and not who who or who wl~ich. That is 

generally preferred to who or which following 

the word same, as in it is the sume man that wns 

here yesterday. The relative that cannot be preceded 

by a preposition, as which can. We say the 

box that I spoke about and not the box about 

that I spoke. Sometimes this determines which 

word is used. But with these exceptions, the 

words are pretty much interchangeable. 

That and which are both singular or plural 

depending on the word they represent. Theoretically 

that may be first, second, or third person, 

but as a rule it is treated as a third person 

pronoun. (For special problems of person and 

number, see agreement: verbs and one.) In literary 

English whose is the possessive form for 

both thut and which, as in the house whose foundations 

are being laid, stars whose light has not 

yet reuched US. Thirty years ago the avoidance 

of whose in favor of of which was considered 

characteristic of the writing of people who had 

had very little education. Today it is seen too 

often in scientific work to be called anything but 

standard, but it is still un-literary. 

In natural English a relative clause always follows 

the word it qualifies. It is sometimes said 

that a that clause must follow immediately and 

that which is required when there are intervening 

words. The lines quoted above from the House 

that Juck Built show that this is not true. Either 

pronoun is likely to attach itself to the nearest 

available word, which may not be the word that 

was intended, as in the package on the table 

which Z just wrapped up. A comma before the 

relative pronoun will prevent its being attached 

to the immediatelv urecedinn word. 

A clause that is distinctly descriptive and capable 

of being set off from the rest of the sentence 

by commas must be self-contained, and 

therefore must have its relative pronoun. In a 

defining clause, on the other hand, the relative 

pronoun can usually be omitted, as in the people 

I stayed with. A clause of this kind that does not 

have a relative pronoun is called a contact clause. 

The construction is as acceptable in written English 

as it is in speech, and is used frequently by 

Shakespeare, Swift, Fielding, Goldsmith, Sterne, 

Burke, Byron, Shelley, Carlyle, Dickens, Thackeray, 

Tennyson, Ruskin, R. L. Stevenson, and by 

all writers whose style is easy and natural. 

Formerly the relative pronoun could be omitted 

even when it was clearly the subject of the 

following verb, as in wilt thou ascribe that to 

merit now, wus mere fortune and there arose a 

clutter might wake the dead. This is no longer 

acceptable and a sentence of this kind is now 

either archaic or dialectal. But, except when 

used in a comparison, the relative may be omitted 

from any position in which the speech instinct 

calls for an objective rather than a 

subjective pronoun. It may be omitted when it 

is the object of a verb, as in the songs we used 

to sing; or the object of a preposition, as in the 

boy we gave the apples to; or the complement 

of some form of the verb to be, as in he is not 

the man his father was, or technically the subject 

of the verb to be but standing in the complement 

position, as in we gave him all there 

was. See subjective pronouns. 

the. This word is a weakened form of that and its 

principal function is to distinguish one thing 

from others of the same kind. 

In principle, the is not used before any word 

whose meaning is sufficiently definite without it, 

such as a proper name. Nor is it used in speaking 

of classes of things that have no individuality, 

where there is no need to distinguish one specimen 

from another, as in sugar is sweet. But no 

clear-cut rules are possible here. We may need to 

distinguish a proper name, as in the John Adams 

I am talking about; and we may need to speak of 

some particular lot of sugar, as in the sugar is on 

the table. 

Because the individualizes one out of a class 

of things, it may be used to mark something 

non-human as unique or individual, even when 

it does not belong to a class of things, such as 

the universe, the moon, the Creation. Here the 

competes with the function of a proper name 

and we have such variation as the Bible and 

Genesis, the Bronx and Manhattan. (For the 

question of capitalizing the before a proper 

name, see proper nouns.) 

When not used in speaking of a unique thing, 

the means “that particular one out of the lot of 

them.” We may know what particular one is 

meant by what has been said before, or the 

identifying clause may follow immediately. The 

man who lives next door might be the opening 

words of some statement, but the man said to me 

requires something before it to give it meaning. 

When the does not refer back and is not followed

y a defining clause, it indicates a typical specimen 

of the class, as in the rat is larger than the 

mouse. Here the use of the approaches the use 

of o, which means “any.” The words man and 

woman are never used with the to indicate the 

type, but any other word may be, as in she was 

the perfect lady and he is always the artist. 

Formerly the was used with the names of diseases. 

Today we are likely to keep this the before 

names that we associate with the past, such as 

the cholera, the grippe, and to omit it before 

words that are current today, such as rheumatism 

and asthma. In the case of children’s 

diseases we are more tolerant and may say 

either the mumps, the measles or simply mumps 

and measles. 

The is dropped from certain prepositional 

phrases, such as at church, on campus, in jail. 

The rule is that the the is retained when one is 

thinking about the actual place, object, or institution, 

and omitted when what is uppermost in 

the mind is the thing’s purpose or function. If so, 

Englishmen must be more function-minded than 

Americans, because they drop a great many the’s 

that we keep. They say she is in hospital, we were 

at table, he looked out of window. The last example 

particularly interested Mark Twain, who 

claimed that out of the window was one of the 

distinguishing marks of the American language. 

The is primarily an adjective and qualifies a 

noun. But it may also be used to qualify the 

comparative form of an adjective or adverb, as 

in I like him the better for it. Here the is an 

adverb of extent and is equivalent to “that 

much.” (See comparison of adjectives and adverbs.) 

The use of the before a measure term, 

as in six dollars the bushel, is an idiom borrowed 

from French. The natural, and preferred, 

form in English is with the word a, as in six 

dollars a bushel. (See nouns as adverbs.) 

thee; thou. These words are no longer natural 

English, but they were once in everyday use as 

the singular of you. At that time thee was the 

objective pronoun and thou the subjective. The 

difference in the use of these two words can be 

seen in the lines: Shall I compare thee to a 

summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more 

temperate. By the end of the sixteenth century 

thee was often used in place of thou, very much 

as me is used in place of I. This can be seen in 

such phrases as I would not be thee and not so 

blessed as thee. But soon after this, the plural 

you replaced the singular altogether in natural 

speech and later poets have used thee and thou 

pretty much as they pleased. See also you; ye. 

When thou was standard English, it had a distinctive 

verb form ending in st, as in thou takest, 

thou hast, thou hadst, thou wast. The s was 

omitted in the four words art, wert, wilt, shalt. 

Anyone wanting to write archaic English must 

recognize the difference between these forms, 

used with thou, and the old forms used with the 

third person singular, that is, used in speaking 

about a person or thing rather than to someone. 

The old third person ending was th and it was 

used just as we now use the ending s, as in he 

theirselves 

tuketh, he bath, he doeth. It was not used in the 

past tense. One did not say he hadeth, he didet!?. 

Neither the st nor the th ending was used in a 

subjunctive verb form. That is, one said though 

thou fall and though he fall. (The form is has 

been preferred to beeth since before the time of 

Shakespeare.) 

When thee and thou were becoming obsolete, 

the Society of Friends refused to accept the polite 

or flattering you and kept the old singulars, 

on the grounds that to use a plural word in 

speaking to one person was unnatural, unreasonable, 

and undemocratic. For a time the Friends 

used the words thee and thou conventionally. 

That is, thou was always the subject of a verb 

and thee the object; thou was followed by the 

old verb form ending in st, and was used only in 

speaking to one person, not in speaking to several 

people. But just as objective you drove out 

subjective ye in general English, objective thee 

drove out subjective thou in Quaker speech. 

Eventually thee, like you, was used as both the 

subjective and the objective pronoun. Unlike you, 

it was always used with a singular verb. For the 

last hundred years or so, it has been used with 

the form of the verb that normally follows he or 

she, as in thee is a good woman, Dorothy. It is 

now the only form of address and is used in 

speaking to any number of people. 

their; theirs. The form their is used to qualify a 

following noun, as in their home, their good 

friends. The form theirs is used in any other construction, 

as in friends of theirs, all theirs. Theirs 

is also the form used in a double possessive 

where it is separated from its following noun by 

and, as in theirs and your affectionate friend. 

Today this construction is generally avoided and 

their friend and yours or their own and your 

friend is used instead. Neither word order shows 

clearly whether we are talking about one thing 

or two, but the old-fashioned form, theirs and 

your friend, suggests one thing possessed in common 

more strongly than the forms which use 

their. 

The word their means “belonging to them.” 

It must be distinguished from they’re, which 

means “they are,” and from there, which sometimes 

indicates a place and sometimes is simply 

a functional word with no meaning at all. These 

three words have the same sound, but they are 

written differently. 

In current English, the word theirs is never 

written with an apostrophe. It must not be confused 

with there’s which means “there is.” See 

possessive pronouns. For the use of their in 

speaking of a single person, see they. 

thelrn is in use today but it has never been standard 

English, although it is formed on the pattern 

of hisn, hern, ourn, yourn, all of which were 

once standard. The only acceptable form is theirs. 

tbeirselves. This word is not standard. The only 

acceptable form is themselves. 

Theirselves is made with the possessive pronoun 

in the same way that yourselves and ourselves 

are. An older form, theirself, was once 

literary English but it dropped out of the stand-

theism 

ard language at least five hundred years ago. A 

grammarian writing in 1762 thought that themselves 

was a corruption and theirselves the logically 

correct form. But themselves was the acceptable 

form in 1762 and is the acceptable form today. 

However, the possessive form their, and not 

the objective form them, is required when another 

word stands between the pronoun and the 

word selves, as in their very selves. 

theism. See deism. 

them. The word them should not be used as an 

adjective. That is, it should not be used to 

qualify a noun, as in them melons, them friends 

of yours. Actually, it is used in this way and 

has been for about four hundred years, but the 

construction has always been considered uneducated 

usage. Even when standing alone, them 

cannot be used to point out anything inanimate, 

but only to refer back to something that has 

already been mentioned. In a grocery store we 

cannot say I will take two of them melons. Nor 

can we look hard at the melons and say I will 

take two of them. In both cases we must say 

either these or those. However, if the grocer says 

these are very fine melons we can then say I will 

take two of them, because at this point them 

refers to something already mentioned and is 

not being used as a demonstrative pronoun. This 

distinction does not apply when speaking about 

human beings. We can say wait on them first 

without anything having been said about “them” 

before. And the rule does not apply to they. 

This word is never used before a noun, but it 

can be used to point out something. We can 

look hard at another box of melons and say 

they look nicer to me. (For the use of them in 

speaking of a single person, see they. For when 

to use them rather than they, see objective pronouns. 

) 

themself; themselves. Originally, the word self 

could be used as a singular or as a plural and, 

until about 1540. themself was the only form in 

use. Since then, the form.themselves has driven 

themself from standard English. Themself is 

now archaic. (For the ways in which themselves 

may be used, see reflexive pronouns.) 

then is primarily an adverb but it may also be 

used as an adjective before a noun, as in the 

then president, the then Prince of Wales. It has 

been used in this way for at least three hundred 

years. 

there may be a demonstrative adverb meaning “in 

that place,” as in there nothing is wrong; or it 

may be a function word without any meaning of 

its own, as in there is nothing wrong. The demonstrative 

adverb always has a heavy stress 

and the function word is always pronounced 

lightly. One may use both in the same sentence 

without seeming to have used the same word 

twice, as in there there is nothing wrong. 

The only interesting thing about the demonstrative 

adverb is that it cannot stand before a 

noun. That man there is my friend is a dignified 

sentence. But that there man is my friend is at 

present unspeakable! Someone has said that that 

there is now ‘&the most illiterate noise one can 

make.” The expression is not wrong because 

there repeats the demonstrative that. We have no 

objection at all to repeating an elemental notion, 

as in the self-same song. What we object to is the 

adverb standing before the noun, and when there 

follows man, all is well. The expression is grammatically 

comparable to the above remarks, his 

then residence, but it has been made a scapegoat, 

and a wise man will not associate with a scapegoat 

unnecessarily. 

The second there (the function word) is much 

more interesting. It always stands where we expect 

to find the subject of a verb, and in this 

resembles the expletive it. (See it.) But the 

there type of sentence is different from the it 

type of sentence in structure and in meaning. 

It may be used as a “dummy” subject with any 

verb, as in it astonishes me that. . . . In current 

English the empty there can only be used with a 

purely linking verb, principally be, come, seem, 

appear. The verb following it is always singular, 

even when the subject represented by it is plural, 

as in it was his friends who told him. The verb 

following there may be singular or plural. According 

to the rules, it is plural if the meaningful 

subject of the sentence is plural, and singular if it 

is not, as in there were friends who told him and 

there was one in particular. There is a strong 

tendency today to use only a singular verb after 

there, even with a plural subject. This is now 

acceptable English when the word closest to the 

verb is singular, as in there was a man and two 

women. A singular verb is often heard before a 

plural word, as in there was two women, but this 

offends many people and is condemned by most 

grammarians. 

The subject represented by it may be a noun 

or pronoun but more often it is a that clause or 

an infinitive. The meaningful subject of a there 

sentence is never a clause or an infinitive. 

The expletive it is used simply to fill the subject 

position, so that we may place the true subject 

somewhere else, either to make it emphatic 

or because it is too long to handle efficiently 

before the verb. If we replace it with the words 

it represents the sentence loses emphasis or becomes 

unwieldy. The there construction on the 

other hand makes a vague or indefinite statement. 

It is used chiefly with indefinite qualifying 

words such as a, no, some, any, few, many, as in 

there are some who say, there is a man who says. 

When particularizing words such as the, this, 

that, my, are used, the individual in most cases 

is being offered as a type or an example, as in 

there is the man who says and there is the child 

next door, for example. The principal statement 

in a there sentence is “this exists,” or “this seems 

to be,” and the meaningful statement is subordinated 

to this. The there construction detaches 

the statement from the speaker and makes it impersonal. 

If such a sentence is recast it does not 

lose emphasis but becomes more immediate, 

more concrete and more vivid. 

thereabout; thereabouts. These words are used 

interchangeably today, and have been for several 

centuries. Some grammarians claim that there-

abouts ought to be the preferred form, because 

the word is used to qualify a verb and s is a 

formal adverbial ending. But there is no evidence 

that it actually is preferred. Both forms 

may be used figuratively, as thereabouts in 5000 

inhabitants or thereabouts. 

there’s the rob; ay, there’s the rob. For those who 

choose to vary tedium with monotony the clich6 

there’s the rub may at times be replaced by its 

fuller form ay, there’s the rub. Rub, in this famous 

phrase (Hamlet, Act III, Scene l), means 

an obstacle, impediment, or hindrance, of a nonmaterial 

nature. It is derived from a term used 

in the game of bowls, where a rub is some obstacle 

or impediment by which a bowl is hindered 

or diverted from its intended course. 

thesaurus. The plural is thesauruses or thesauri. 

these. See this; that. 

thesis. The plural is thesises or theses. 

they. The words they, them, their, are used in 

speaking of more than one Ldividual. They may 

also be used in speaking of a single individual 

whose sex is unknown. For example, only the 

word his would be used in every soldier carried 

his O)Y~ pack, but most people would say their 

rather than his in everybody brought their own 

lunch. And it would be a violation of English 

idiom to say was he? in nobody was killed, were 

they? The use of they in speaking of a single 

individual is not a modern deviation from classical 

English. It is found in the works of many 

great writers, including Malory, Shakespeare, 

Swift, Defoe, Shelley, Austen, Scott, Kingsley, 

Dickens, Ruskin, George Eliot. 

They may be used generally or with a vague 

reference, as in they say, what have they done 

to you?, and they had strikes even then. This 

construction may be out of place when something 

more specific than they is wanted. But 

grammatically, this USC of they is in a class with 

the similar use of people or men and is equally 

acceptable. 

They may be used before a numeral, as in 

they two will wed the morrow morn. This is 

literary English, but archaic. To many people 

it sounds like the unacceptable use of them 

before a noun, as in them books, and the forms 

these two, those two, the two, are generally 

preferred. Traditionally, they and them may 

stand before a qualifying phrase or clause, as 

in blessed are they that mourn and the third 

and fourth generation of them that hate me, but 

in current English the words rhose or these are 

generally preferred in this position. (For when 

to use they rather than them, see subjective pronouns.) 

thick as thieves. As a humorous simile for a 

close, and slightly conspiratorial, intimacy, as 

thick as thieves, although it seems to be a creation 

of the twentieth century, is already a clichC. 

For those who want to avoid it but still feel a 

need for some such comparison, there are many 

established metaphors waiting: as thick as hail, 

as thick as hops, as thick as huckleberries, for 

those who wish to emphasize profusion; as thick 

as porridge, for those who have specific density 

509 think 

in mind; and for chumminess, a fine old Scotch 

simile, as thick as three in a bed. 

thief. The plural is thieves. 

thief; robber; burglar; bandit; gangster. A thief is 

one who takes another’s property by stealth, without 

the other’s knowledge. It is a word of contempt 

(Now does he feel his title/ Hang loose 

about him, like a giant’s robe/ Upon a dwarfish 

thief). A robber trespasses upon the house, 

property, or person of another, and makes away 

with things of value, even using violence (The 

robbers seem to have made their escape through 

the trap door and over the roofs. Three masked 

robbers held up the First National Bank shortly 

after noon today). Where the robbery is committed 

in the open, with the threat or use of a 

knife or gun, or with felonious assault, the more 

common term in America today is hold-up man 

or men and the robbery itself is termed a holdup. 

Masked robbers or robbers whose depradations 

are accompanied by some dash or bravado 

are usually called, in the papers at least, bandits. 

It is a journalistic clicht, however, being little 

employed in ordinary speech or writing unless 

one is referring to Mexican outlaws. Gangster, 

a far-too-common word, is applied to members 

or assumed members of armed gangs, especially 

to those thought to be members of closely knit 

organizations controlled by some criminal mastermind, 

or to robbers or murderers whose violence 

is akin to that employed by the gangsters 

in their feuds or brushes with the law. Burglar 

is now a slightly old-fashioned term. It describes 

a felonious housebreaker, especially one who 

commits robbery by breaking into a house at 

night. See also steal; purloin; pilfer; etc. 

thieve. See steal. 

thieves. This is the plural of thief. 

thimblerig. See shell game. 

thine. See thy; tbine and my; mine. 

thing. In present-day English thing ordinarily 

means a material and inanimate thing, but the 

word is not limited to this meaning. Whatever 

can be talked about may be called a thing, as in 

men who were engineers and business managers 

and (I dozen other things. Under some circumstances 

even a quality may be called a thing, as 

in she was good, kind, honest, and everything a 

woman should be. 

think. The past tense is thought. The participle is 

also thought. 

If think is used in a passive form it may be 

followed by an infinitive, as in he is thought to 

have left. When it is used in an active form it 

may be followed by a clause, as in I think he has 

left. If the -ing form of a verb is used it must be 

introduced by of, as in he did not think of 

leaving. Think, in an active form, is sometimes 

followed by an infinitive, as in I did not think to 

tell him. If in this sentence the word think means 

plan or expect, the construction is archaic. If it 

means remember, the construction is condemned 

by some grammarians, but is standard usage in 

the United States today. 

Think for is the standard English idiom in 

comparisons with than or as, as in more than

think 510 

you think for and as much as he thought for. 

Today this for is often dropped, as in more than 

you think, perhaps out of fear of “ending a sentence 

with a preposition.” This usage is so widespread 

that it cannot be called anything but 

standard, but it strikes the ears of anyone familiar 

with literary English as a clipped phrase 

that has been stopped before it was finished. 

An old verb meaning “it seems” or “it appears” 

has become merged with the verb think. It is 

seen in such statements as I think it’s going to 

rain. When used in this sense, the long form of 

the present tense with thinking, as in you’re a 

good woman, I’m thinking, is a Scottish or Irish 

idiom and not standard English. In most cases it 

is impossible to say which verb the speaker intended. 

I am thinking it is going to rain may 

mean that he is turning this thought over in his 

mind, in which case the construction is thoroughly 

acceptable. In the United States, guess. 

reckon, and sometimes calculate, are used for 

this sense of the verb think. 

The same old verb survives in thinks I. This 

is not in a class with says I, partly because it has 

a literary background but chiefly because it is 

not heard so constantly in the speech of uneducated 

people. Methinks is the same verb in its 

purest form, but this is now obsolete. It is used 

today only by people who believe they can create 

a Walter Scott atmosphere with half a dozen 

words. 

think; deem; judge; suppose. Think is the general 

word for forming or having a thought or 

opinion (I think; therefore I am. I think that I 

shall never see/ A poem lovely as a tree). Judge 

suggests a careful balance of reason and evidence 

and a judicial detachment in arriving at a 

conclusion (Do not judge me by my appearante). 

It is used a little pompously as a synonym 

for think by those who believe, or would like 

to suggest, that their slightest opinions are 

reached in judicial detachment only after weighing 

evidence and consulting reason (I judge it’ll 

take us about half an hour to get these potatoes 

peeled). Deem meant originally to pronounce 

judgment or to sit in judgment (As ye deme, ye 

shall be demed). It is cognate with doom and 

is the base of the family name Dempster. In 

modern use it is a formal synonym of judge, 

with a fine antique flavor suitable for commencement 

exercises, political orations, elegies, 

editorials, and other places and pronounceme s 

where clarity and ease are to be avoided 7I 

deem it an honor to be asked to speak before 

so distinguished a group. We deem that in these 

troubled times . . .). To suppose is to have an 

opinion that seems justified (I suppose he knows 

what he’s doing) but which we are not willing 

to back up as a definite conviction. See also 

calculate, consider, feel. 

third person singular. This is the form of the verb 

used whenever the subject is singular and is not 

either of the pronouns you or I. In the usual 

analysis of verb forms, the third person singular 

seems to be only one out of six forms. But in 

actual practice this is the form of the verb used 

most often. In a typical page of written material 

more than half the verbs are in the third person 

singular. 

this; that. These words may be used as demonstrative 

adjectives which qualify a following 

noun, as in this young child, or without a following 

noun as demonstrative pronouns, as in 

that tastes good. In general, this indicates what 

is close, and that what is distant in relation to 

the sneaker. This is always singular and has the 

plural form these. When used as a demonstrative, 

that too is always singular and has the 

plural form those. (For the use of that as a 

conjunction, see that; for its use as a relative 

pronoun, see that; which.) 

All four words are used, primarily, in speaking 

about something that can be seen or pointed at, 

as in this is my brother and is that you? They are 

also used to represent something that has just 

been said. This may be a single word or it may 

be an idea that required several sentences to express. 

The word that is preferred when an exact 

repetition of what has just been said is intended, 

as in I’ll repent, and that suddenly. The word this 

is preferred when the reference is less specific. 

It is often used as a summarizing word and 

means “all that has just been said.” 

This and these are also used to represent 

words that are to follow. In this construction 

the reference is usually specific, as in this above 

all, to thine own self be true and we hold these 

truths to be self-evident: That all men are created 

equal; that. . . . That and those may be 

used in speaking of something that is not immediately 

present and has not been mentioned before, 

but the reference is usually vague. As a 

rule, explanatory words follow immediately, as 

in that which is hardest to bear and those who 

say such things. That followed by a relative pronoun 

is frequently replaced by what. (See what.) 

In current English those is preferred to they 

or them when used with a defining word or 

phrase, as in those present, those in the basket, 

those he sent. The adjective those may also be 

used generically to indicate an entire class of 

things, as in those large police dogs are very 

intelligent. 

The words this and that may be used in identifying 

a human being, as in do you see that 

woman crossing the street and that child looks 

sick. When there is no need, or no intention, of 

identifying, the words are derogatory, as in that 

woman!, this son of yours. That seems to be 

stronger than this as an expression of contempt; 

those can occasionally be used in this way, as in 

those Joneses!, but these never is. 

This and that are sometimes used to show 

“how much.” It is unquestionably standard English 

to use this or that before much or many 

when these words are standing alone, as in I 

know this much and I did not think there were 

that many. Here much and many are interpreted 

as nouns and this and that as adjectives. But 

when much or many is used before a noun it becomes 

an adjective and this and that, in turn, 

adverbs of degree, as in to whom he owed this

much courtesy and to have that much science. 

Some grammarians claim that this and that 

should not be used to qualify an adjective and 

that these constructions are therefore wrong, In 

practice, this use of the words is acceptable English 

so long as the meaning of this or that is defined. 

It may be defined in speech by a gesture 

of the hands, as in the box was this wide. Or it 

may be defined by what has just been said, as in 

Can you come at six? I can’t get there that early 

and so long as men continue to live in this competitive 

society . . . that long will the scab continue 

to exist. When the word is not actually 

defined, as in we have never been this rich 

before, it is questionable. When the word is used 

purely as an intensive, as in I was that pleased! 

and I am that sleepy!, the construction is slang 

or dialectal. 

this world’s goods. There may have been originally, 

in some deeply religious minds, a sincere 

distinction between the goods of this world and 

those of some other world, or the hereafter. But 

in most mouths the term was a canting phrase 

and is now a cliche, especially in the expression 

rich in this world’s goods. The modem attitude 

is expressed in the hackneyed assurance that 

“You can’t take it with you.” 

thoroughbred; purebred. With reference to animals, 

these words are synonymous, but thoroughbred 

is preferred, especially in relation to horses, 

there being a tendency among many farmers 

and breeders to restrict thoroughbred to horses 

and to use purebred in relation to other animals. 

Both words, whether used as nouns or adjectives, 

mean of pure or unmixed breed, stock, or race. 

In reference to dogs, cats, cattle, and often swine, 

there is an increasing tendency in America to use 

the word pedigreed instead of either thoroughbred 

or purebred and pedigreed has the further 

meaning that the animal is not only purebred 

but that a valid document exists or can be procured 

to attest this fact. 

There is a special’breed of horses called the 

Thoroughbred, an English breed of racehorses 

developed by crossing domestic and Middle Eastern 

strains. Only thoroughbred may be applied 

to persons and only figuratively. That is, the 

reference must be not to genetics but to qualities 

of behavior or character. In this it is parallel to 

breeding. A thoroughbred is a well-bred person, 

well-trained, polite (She traveled with the thoroughbreds, 

and was always Among Those Present-George 

Ade). The word was a vogue word 

among the realists at the turn of the century 

(“By Jove,” he cried, “You are a thoroughbred” 

-Frank Norris) but it has fortunately fallen 

into disuse and would seem a little tiected and 

absurd today. 

thoroughfare retains its original meaning in the 

negative injunction: No Thoroughfare. It means 

literally a passage through, hence a street open 

at both ends, hence a main road or highway. It 

also means various passages of other sorts, as a 

strait, river or the like, allowing passage through. 

those. See this; that. 

thou. See thee; thou. 

511 thrash 

though: although. Though may be used as a simple 

adverb meaning nevertheless. When used in 

this way it must stand at the end of its clause, as 

in I believe him though. 

Either word may be used as a conjunction to 

introduce a clause that concedes a point. Zf may 

be used in the same way, but it always suggests 

that what is conceded is doubtful. Though and 

although make light of the concession. They indicate 

that what follows may be true but that it 

has no bearing on the point at issue, as in though 

he slay me, yet will I trust him. There is very 

little difference between even if and even though, 

and none at all between as if and as though. 

Although always stands first in its clause. 

The conjunction though usually does. It always 

stands before the subject and verb but may 

sometimes stand after a word describing the 

subject, as in young though he is. The verb in 

a though clause may be in the subjunctive or in 

the indicative mode. See subjunctive mode. 

thought. See think. 

thousand. This word was originally a noun and 

was followed by of, as in a thousand of sensible 

men. Today the singular form thousand is treated 

as a cardinal number. That is, it is an adjective 

and used without of, as in twenty thousand Cornish 

bold and a thousand thousand slimy things, 

except when it refers to part of a specified group, 

as in two thousand of these men. An expression 

involving thousand is usually treated as a plural, 

as in three thousand cars were sold, but it may 

also be treated as a singular, especially when referring 

to money, as in three thousand dollars 

was set aside. 

The plural form thousands cannot be qualified 



in thousands of men; the of is omitted only before 

a degree word such as more, less, too many, 

as in thousands more men. 


as in a few thousand men; many usually takes 

the noun construction, as in many thousands of 

men. But either form may be used with either 

word. 

thrash and thresh are, originally, two spellings of 

the same word. Today thresh is generally preferred 

when the beating has some value, as in 

thresh grain or thresh out a problem, and thrash 

is reserved for a simple flogging, as in thrash the 

boy. Thrash is also the preferred word at sea, as 

in the ships thrashed to windward. 

thrash, beat, beat up all refer to the giving of a 

blow or blows. Beat implies the giving of repeated 

blows (How we boys used to hate the business 

of hanging the carpets on the clothesline 

and beating them). The use of beat to describe 

brutal attacks by hold-up men (An unconscious 

man, apparently the victim of a hold-up who 

had resisted and been beaten, was found in an 

alley early this morning) has given the word a 

more sinister and more violent meaning in 

America than it has in England where such 

felonious assaults seem to be fewer. 

Thrash imulies inflicting reneated blows as

threadbare 512 

punishment, to show superior strength (Dr. 

Keate’s admirers boasted that he had thrashed 

half the b&hops, generals, and cabinet ministers 

of England). By one of those associations of 

words that get fixed in languages, bullies always 

seem to get thrashed. The English apply thrush 

more than the Americans do to the infliction of 

punishment on children. In America whip and 

spank are the more common words and both 

(though whip only in that context) suggest 

lighter and less violent treatment than thrush. 

Though some English authorities regard the 

zcp of beat up as unnecessary, it does mean something 

when one understands beat up to mean, as 

it does mean to most Americans, not merely to 

beat but to beat until the one beaten is in a state 

of physical collapse (The hitchhikers beat up the 

driver and went ofl with his car). In slang usage 

beat up, as an adjective, means battered, showing 

signs of excessive wear (He wore a wonderful 

old beat-up hat, sloppy corduroy pants and dirty 

sneakers) or utterly tired out. One who is beaten 

up is one who has sustained a severe beating. 

One who is beat up is tired, exhausted. 

threadbare excuse is a threadbare phrase for an 

excuse made so often (usually by the same person) 

that it can no longer be accepted with even 

the pretense of credence. 

threaten. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in he threatened to resign. It is also 

heard with the -ing form of a verb, as in he 

threatened resigning, but the infinitive construction 

is preferred. 

thresh. See thrash. 

threw. See throw. 

thrifty. See economical. 

thrilled. See bored to death. 

thrive. The past tense is thrived or throve. The 

participle is thrived or thriven. 

In the United States thrived is now preferred 

for the past tense and the participle. In Great 

Britain the preferred forms are the older throve 

and thriven (He that would thrive must rise at 

five;/ He that has thriven may lie till seven). 

through thick and thin. The “thick” of thick and 

thin is a thicket, that is, a dense growth of shrubs, 

undergrowth, and small trees, a brake. To go 

through thick and thin (thicket had been 

shortened to thick in this expression even by 

Chaucer’s time) was to go relentlessly ahead, 

through thicket and open spaces. Hence to push 

on through everything in the way, disregarding 

all obstacles and impediments, or to adhere to 

some party or course under all circumstances, 

come what may. The phrase is now hackneyed 

and lacks specific meaning. 

throve. See thrive. 

throw. The past tense. is threw. The participle is 

thrown. 

Throwed was once literary English but is no 

longer standard, except in the nursery where 

throwed up is sometimes used as an idiot euphemism 

for vomited. 

throw; cast. These two verbs mean to hurl or 

tling. Cast is the more formal, throw the one 

which serves everyday uses. 

Cost is chiefly used in idiomatic expressions. 

There are Biblical uses: Cnst noz your pea& 

before swine. Let him first cast a stone at her. 

There are everyday uses: cast a vote, cast lots, 

cast nets, cast a fishing line, cast off the bow line, 

castaways, cast-off clothing, and so on. Deer cast 

their antlers, snakes their skins. Men cast ofi evil 

habits and bad companions, the doing of which 

is felt to be noble, but throw of prosaic things 

like colds or headaches. We cast aspersions, cast 

an eye over a manuscript or an audience, cast 

aside scruples, caution, fear (Cast a cold eye/ 

On life, on death,/ Horseman, pass by!). 

Throw, in addition to its literal and prosaic 

uses, also has idiomatic senses. We throw off disguises 

or illnesses. We throw a veil over a discreditable 

incident. In American slang we throw 

a party when we give one that we hope will be 

distinguished by unusual gaiety and verve. We 

throw a game when we deliberately, for a bribe 

or some other base motive, permit the opponent 

to win. To throw the book at someone is to make 

him suffer the severest penalties. The term is a 

cliche. To throw a scene is to put on an exhibition 

of temperament. To throw up, to vomit, is 

standard in America in relation to children. In 

England it is obsolescent. In speaking of adults, 

it is better to use vomit. 

throw down the glove. It has been many centuries 

since any knight threw down his glove or gauntlet 

to another in defiance. As a term for challenging 

someone, lo throw down the glove to 

him is now stilted and worn. 

throw off the scent. Used figuratively to mean to 

divert attention, and especially to divert suspicion, 

to throw off the scent is a cliche. 

thrown. See throw. 

thrust. The past tense is thrust. The participle is 

also thrzzst. 

thumbtack; drawing pin. American thumbtack, a 

tack with a large, flat head, designed to be thrust 

in by the thumb, is equivalent to English druwing 

pin. 

thusly seems to have originated in the Boston 

lortrnal in 1889. Whether it was the product of 

illiteracy or exuberance is not known, but it is 

hard to see what purpose it serves. Thus is an 

adverb and nothing is gained by attaching the 

regular adverbial suffix -1y to it (as in For many 

months, motivated thusly by his curiosity . . . 

etc.). 

thy; thine. These words are no longer natural 

English. When they are used, they follow exactly 

the pattern of my and mine. See my; 

mine. 

ticket has a number of special senses in America. 

As a noun it can mean the list of candidates for 

election nominated or put forward by a political 

party. (See also slate.) To vote a straight ticket 

is to vote for all of the candidates nominated 

by one party. As a verb ticket in the United 

States can mean to furnish with a ticket or to 

issue a ticket to (The little girl was ticketed 

through to Cincinnati). 

tickle means primarily to touch or stroke lightly 

with the fingers, a feather, etc., so as to excite 

a tingling or itching sensation in, to titillate 

(Nothing tickles that does not pinch. Some chil-

dren when tickled lose aII control of themselves). 

In America an older meaning of fickle, though 

merely a figurative extension of its primary 

meaning, is to gratify, to excite agreeably. This 

is still standard, often intensified by the addition 

of to death or pink (Nellie wns tickled to death 

with thaf dress you sent her!). This meaning 

used to be common in English usage (But, lord 

Christ! when that it remembreth me/ Upon my 

youth, and on my jollity,/ It tickleth me about 

mine heart’s root./ Unto this day it doth my 

heart boot/ That I have had my world as in my 

time-Chaucer) but is now little used in England. 

Tickle may also mean to excite amusement 

in (That kid’s comic; it tickles me every time I 

see him). 

tidbit; titbit; delicacy; dainty. Tidbit only is used 

in America. The English prefer titbit but allow 

tidbit. The primary sense in both countries is 

that of a delicate bit of food, and the secondary 

sense is that of a choice or pleasing bit of anything, 

especially news. The secondary sense is 

becoming the more common in America, with 

the suggestion that the choice bit of news is 

slightly scandalous. 

In the primary sense, a tidbit is a particularly 

choice or delicious morsel of food, a small 

amount taken from a larger amount on account 

of its excellence. A delicacy is something choice 

(His table wus always furnished with delicacies). 

Overuse has weakened the word and it is usually 

strengthened, in common use, by rare. Dainty, as 

a noun, is a stronger word than delicacy. It is a 

rare delicacy and likely to be slightly curious 

and exotic. 

tidy in standard usage means neat, trim, orderly. 

But it has different colloquial uses in England 

and America. In England, especially among the 

lower class (according to Partridge), it may 

mean moderately satisfactory (He managed to 

become a tidy fisherman) or good of its kind (A 

tidy shot that, I Patter myself). In America, 

especially, it means considerable (He made a 

tidy fortune in cigarcts when he was stationed in 

Berlin). The English know this meaning but do 

not employ it as much as the Americans do. 

tied to his mother’s apron strings. To say of a 

child who is deeply attached to his mother or of 

a grown man who remains under his mother’s 

dominance that he is tied to his mother’s apron 

strings is to employ a hackneyed term. 

tighten one’s belt. As an expression for practicing 

economy, bracing oneself to meet adversity, especially 

want, to tighten one’s belt is a clicht. 

tilde is the name of the diacritical mark (-) 

placed over a letter, as over the letter n in Spanish, 

to indicate a palatal nasal sound. Thus Spanish 

&ion is pronounced like English canyon. 

tllI; until. These words mean the same thing and 

can be used interchangeably. Till is the older of 

the two forms and should not be written as ‘til. 

Both words are used in speaking of an interval 

of time and are equivalent in meaning to the 

more general word to. Either may be used as a 

preposition with a simple object, as in wait till 

tomorrow, or as a conjunction introducing a full 

clause, as in a son’s u son fill he tukcs Q wife. 

513 

timber 

They cannot be used without an object and so 

are not adverbs, but they are like the adverbial 

conjunctions before, after, since, rather than the 

pure conjunctions, such as if, unless, because. 

The words following till or until show the time 

up to which an action or state of affairs continues. 

The verb in the principal clause may have 

any tense. In the subordinate or time clause, a 

present or present perfect tense verb is used in 

speaking of the future, as in wait till the ruin 

stops or wait till the rain has stopped. In speaking 

of a past event a past perfect or a simple past 

tense may be used without any difference in 

meaning, as in he waited till the rain stopped 

and he waited till the rain had stopped. 

Till (or until) may be used to qualify a negative 

statement, as in he did not learn of it till the 

next day. Here we may say that what continues 

is the negative condition, namely that “he did 

not learn.” This explanation is not nossible with 

a sentence such as it was not long till we realized. 

Here the principal clause it wns not long makes a 

statement which cannot be thought of as continuing. 

The same is true of he wasn’t in the 

room five minutes till I realized. . . . This loose 

use of the word till (or until) is acceptable in the 

United States but not in Great Britain, where the 

word before or when is required. 

tilt at windmills. As an expression, usually mildly 

contemptuous, for attacking imaginary foes and 

warding off nonexistent dangers,-to tilt at windmills 

is a cliche. It is taken from Don Quixote’s 

attack on a windmill which he thought to be a 

giant. 

timber; timbre. Though these words are pronounced 

alike, their meanings and derivations 

are quite different. In America timher retains an 

older English meaning of the wood of growing 

trees suitable for structural uses, or the growing 

trees themselves, or wooded land (There wns 

some fine timber in his woods. The company had 

over two hundred thousand acres of good timber). 

The cry of Timber! is American lumberjacks’ 

warning that a tree which is being felled 

is about to fall. A timber, in England and America, 

is a single beam or piece of wood fomring 

or capable of forming part of a structure (They 

support not only these sides, but also another 

timber which upholds the roof. Though her timbers 

still held together, she was no longer a ship). 

Figuratively, especially in England, timber me& 

personal character or quality, the stuff of which 

a person is made (Men of that timber are not 

satisfied with promises). In English law timber 

has, or formerly had, some special and curious 

limitations. It means the trees growing upon 

land and forming part of the freehold inheritance, 

but is commonly restricted to the oak, ash, 

and elm, of the age of twenty years or more. In 

some districts, by custom, other trees are included, 

such as birch in Yorkshire and beech 

in Buckinghamshire. Such timber could not be 

taken by a tenant-for-life. 

Timbre is an acoustical and phonetic expression, 

common to England and America, meaning 

that characteristic quality of a sound, independent 

of pitch and loudness, from which its source

time 514 

or manner of production can be inferred. The 

trombone and the trumpet have different timbres 

and so do the vowels of gare and gout. In music, 

timbre is regarded as the characteristic quality of 

sound produced by a particular instrument or 

voice, its tone color. 

time; times. When time means a period in the 

world’s history, either the singular or the plural 

form may be used without any difference in 

meaning, as in peace in our time and in these 

modern times. When it means a point in time, 

the singular form means one point and the plural 

more than one, as in at that time and at different 

times. Time may also mean any one of the occasions 

on which something occurs, and in this 

sense too there is a difference between the singular 

and plural forms, as in he came one time and 

he come several times. 

When the word time means occasion, it can be 

used as an adverb without a preposition, as in 

he will come this time. When it means a point 

in time, it is ordinarily introduced by a preposition, 

as in I expect him at this time. In the 

United States, time is used in this second sense 

without a preposition when it is combined with 

some, any, or what, as in I will see him sometime, 

come anytime, what time ure you leaving? 

This use of sometime is standard, literary English. 

Anytime is not used this way in England but 

is standard in the United States. What time is a 

more recent development. It is acceptable to 

most Americans, but not to all. (It is generally 

condemned by grammarians.) No time used in 

this way still requires the preposition, as in at 

no time. Every time always refers to occasions, 

and to speak of points of time in this way, we 

must say ut all times. 

The phrase all the time is sometimes used to 

mean at all times or always, as in he complains 

all the time. This is acceptable in the United 

States but is condemned by some British grammarians 

as “slang.” 

When the word time is used with the genitive 

of some word that represents an interval of time, 

as in a year’s time, an hour’s time, it has a softening 

effect and makes the statement vague. In an 

hour’s time is not as definite as in an hour. 

The article the may be omitted before last 

time and next time, but not before first time. WC 

may say he said so lust time he was here and do 

it next time you come, but tell him the first time 

you see him. 

The word times may be used in comparing a 

large thing with a small one, as in it is three 

times as large and it is three times larger. The 

first form is perfectly clear but the second is 

ambiguous. It means to some people three times 

as large and to others four times as large. For 

this reason, it should be avoided. When a small 

thing is compared with a large one the word 

times should not be used. The small thing is onethird 

us large us or two-thirds smaller than the 

other. 

Time as a noun has many senses besides its primary 

one. In England, for example, there is the 

famous phrase Hurry up, please, ifs time which 

marks the closing of the pubs. In America, in 

athletics, time may mean the end of the game 

or time out, that is, time not to be counted 

among the limited moments allowed in a football 

game (In the lust minute of play Northwestern’s 

captain called time). On time in England simply 

means punctually; in America it means punctually 

but it also means by time or by installment 

payments (They bought a car and a refrigerator 

and u television set, all on time). An American 

has a time when he experiences difficulties (I 

had quite a time with that washer. It got stuck 

somehow). To make time is American slang 

meaning to ingratiate oneself with, usually spoken 

of a man in relation to a woman with the 

understanding that the ingratiation has sexual 

intimacy as its object. Two-time, a verb, is American 

slang for betraying, using duplicity in a 

relationship, especially in matters of love. TO 

do time is to serve a sentence in jail. 

time and time again is verbose for repeatedly. 

time immemorial and time out of mind are hackneyed 

expressions for a period of time beyond 

human memory. 

time was ripe. As a way of saying that circumstances 

were propitious, especially the circumstance 

of a project’s being advanced to the proper 

point or public opinion being prepared for the 

unfolding of a plan or the statement of an idea 

or principle, the time was ripe is a cliche. 

time words. Names for intervals of time, such as 

minute, day, week, year, are often used with a 

final s that would not be used in measures of 

distance. That is, we say a three mile drive but 

we might say a three hours delay. Historically, 

this is an old genitive ending which survives in 

a few adverbs, such as always and backwards, 

and in certain measures of time. See adverbial 

genitive, measures, and nouns as adverbs. 

Time nouns often serve as conjunctions, or 

relative adverbs, and introduce a subordinate 

clause, as minute in I remembered it the minute 

I suw him. See conjunctions. 

The article the is omitted before words or 

phrases used adverbially to show time “at which,” 

as in I saw him day before yesterduy and 1’11 do 

it week after next. In the United States the article 

the is also omitted after all in expressions that 

show time “during which,” as in all summer, 

all week. all veur. This is standard English in the 

1.Tnited States. In Greal uritain this theis omttted 

from all day and all night but is required with 

all other words, such as summer, week, year. 

timid. See cowardly. 

tirade. See harangue. 

tired; fatigued; exhausted. These words all suggest 

a depletion of physical energy, in the order 

of severity in which they are arranged. Tired, 

unless strengthened by some adverb, does not 

suggest a very serious condition (I’m tired for 

some reason this morning. 1’11 just sit down and 

rest my feet awhile). In American usage it also 

means impatient, disgusted, annoyed (You make 

me tired with all that big talk. I tell you frankly, 

the people in this town are tired of these street 

brawls and ure going to do something about

It). Fatigued suggests a degree of tiredness so 

great that, at least for the moment, continued 

exertion seems impossible (Lydia was too much 

fatigued to utter more than an occasional exclamation 

of “Lord, how tired I am!” accompanied 

by a violent yawn). One who is exhausted 

is fatigued to the point of having no strength or 

energy at all left. Hyperbole has weakened the 

word, in relation to the physical condition of 

persons, by using it when fatigued or even tired 

would have been more suitable. But used in its 

proper meaning, it is a strong word (The exhausted 

horse had abandoned the struggle and 

lay half-buried in the mire, its flanks quivering 

and its belly heaving pitifully in great, intermittent, 

sobbing breaths). Fatigued and tired 

can be applied only to human beings and animals. 

Exhausted, meaning utterly emptied or 

completely used up, may be applied to almost 

anything (By January the food supply was exhausted. 

After three hours of discussion the 

topic was exhausted; there was nothing more 

to be said). See also wearied; weary. 

title (for book). See volume. 

tizzy. There was an English slang word for sixpence, 

a tizzy, but the current American slang 

term for a state of excited confusion must have 

some other origin. Perhaps in some obscure way 

it is connected with phthisis, a wasting away. Or 

perhaps it is a portmanteau combination of terror 

and dizzy. Or perhaps it is connected with the 

tizwin home brew that the Southwestern Indians 

crazed themselves with (When oficers learned 

that the Apaches were indulging in a “tizwin 

drunk” they knew that mischief wus afoot). But 

whatever its origin, it is certainly established in 

current informal use and shows signs of becoming 

accepted in formal usage. As a noun it means 

a state of trembling excitement and fear (Word 

that the Germans were preparing to attack threw 

the captain info a tizzy). Quite recently the word 

has appeared as an intransitive verb in a serious 

article in a highly respectable publication (In 

some respects, Americans of middle-class mentality 

have repeated the pattern of their counterparts 

in these European countries. They have 

shown the same quick readiness to tizzy, the 

jealous sense of property and statu&. . . . -Eric 

Goldman, The Reporter, September 14, 1954). 

It is interesting that this extension of tizzy was 

made not by a journalist but by a college professor. 

to. The basic, physical meaning of this preposition 

is “in the direction of.” Where it approaches 

the uses of at or in, it always carries the implication 

of motion or change, as in he went ro the 

ofice, he had been to New York, but he was at 

the ofice, he wus in New York. 

To is used to indicate that a following verb 

form is an infinitive, as in he wants to go. (See 

int%tives.) It may be used to represent an 

infinitive that is not expressed, as in he wants to, 

This way of speaking began in the midle of the 

nineteenth century. At that time it was distressing 

to some people, who considered it improper. The 

claim that the simple word to should not be used 

515 together 

to represent the full infinitive sometimes appears 

in textbooks today, but it is no longer true. This 

use of the word has now become standard English. 

To is also used to represent the relation of 

indirect object. (See indirect object.) As an extension 

of this, it is often used after nouns or 

adjectives to indicate the person or thing affected, 

as in an injury to, injurious to, pleasing 

to. 

An apparently unnecessary to is added to 

many verbs meaning “assert,” as in admit to, 

attest to, certify to, testify to, swear to. Here it 

has the effect of weakening the sense of the verb 

slightly, almost as if the verb meaning were 

being qualified by the basic meaning of to, “in 

the direction of.” 

toe the mark. As an expression for making someone 

live up rigorously to some prescribed course 

of conduct, to make him toe the mark is hackneyed. 

toffee; totfy; taffy. Taffy, the oldest of these synonyms, 

is not now used in England, but it persists 

in the pronunciation of Northern England 

and is standard in Scotland and in the United 

States. It means a candy made of sugar or molasses 

boiled down, often with butter or nuts 

added. In the last two or three decades of the 

nineteenth century t&y was a widely used slang 

word in America, meaning crude flattery, blarney, 

soft soap. Giving taffy meant flattering, 

especially in love-making (Taffy, just a little bit 

of taffy/ . . . You are giving t&y too). The 

English use the word toffee (the spelling of 

which may have been affected by coffee) and, 

less often, tofly. The word has with them become 

a part of several vulgar expressions, such 

as not for toffee which means “not under any 

circumstances” and not to be able to do a thing 

for toffee which means to be incompetent at it. 

In the United States toflee is used to describe 

imported English toffee or a form of taffy in 

which cream is used instead of butter. Taffy 

has a homely, rustic connotation, toflee the elegance 

of an importation. A taffy pull is a social 

gathering in which taffy is made and the making 

involves a drawing out of the substance as it is 

cooling. A toffee pull would be a linguistic and 

social monstrosity. 

together. This word is often used where, theoretically, 

it is not needed, as in we gather together 

to ask the Lord’s blessing, we will meet together 

this evening, and they consulted together. Usually, 

as in the examples given, it replaces a reflexive 

or reciprocal pronoun such as ourselves or one 

another. The verbs in these examples are all 

transitive verbs that normally require an object 

but are here used intransitively. The speech 

instinct apparently requires some word in the 

object position. Although together does not actually 

repeat the subject as one another would, it 

recalls the subject and rules out the possibility 

of any other object following the verb. The verb 

join normally requires a double object, as in 

join this to that. Here too together is often used 

in place of the second element and means “to

token 516 

one another,” as in those whom God hath joined 

together. This use of together is condemned by 

some grammarians as redundant. But the construction 

is standard literary English and the 

feeling for it is very strong. The word can always 

be omitted, and this may make for more precise 

English. But if it is omitted, many hearers or 

readers will have the uncomfortable feeling that 

they ought to ask gather what?, consulted whom? 

token of esteem. To designate a gift a token of 

esteem, even when it is a token of esteem, is to 

employ a clicht. True esteem will find something, 

or should find something, more suited to the 

particular occasion than a hackneyed and pompous 

phrase that has been drained of meaning 

by endless repetition. 

told. See tell. 

tomato. The plural is tomatoes. 

tome. See volume. 

ton. Only the singular form ton can be used as an 

adjective to qualify a following noun, as in a 

five ton truck. We do not say a five tons truck. 

In the United States the nlural form tons is ureferred 

in any other con&ruction, when speaking 

of more than one. But the singular form 

may be used in other constructions after a number 

word, as in several ton of coal and he 

ordered several ton. This is the usual practice in 

Great Britain and is acceptable in the United 

States. 

The context in which the word ton is used 

must be clearly understood before its sense is 

clear. It is first of all a unit of weight, now usually 

20 hundredweight, commonly equivalent to 

2,000 pounds avoirdupois (short ton) in the 

United States, and 2,240 pounds avoirdupois 

(long ton) in Great Britain. It is also a unit of 

volume for freight, varying with the different 

kinds, as 40 cubic feet of oak timber, 20 bushels 

of wheat, etc. (freight ton) ; a metric ton (1,000 

kilograms); a unit of displacement of ships, 

equal to 35 cubic feet of salt water (displacement 

ton); a unit of volume used in transporting by 

sea, commonly 40 cubic feet (shipping ton); a 

unit of internal capacity of ships, equal to 100 

cubic feet. In all of these additional senses English 

and American use is the same. 

Ton is also used in a loose sense to mean a 

great amount (There are tons of pickles-everybody 

brought pickles. Her father’s got tons of 

money). A ton of bricks as a metaphor for something 

that comes down with a smashing roar (He 

caught him sneaking out half an hour early again 

and came down on him like a ton of bricks) is 

hackneyed. 

tone; tune. Tune is a variant spelling of tone and 

originally had the same meaning. Tone retains 

the meaning of any sound considered with reference 

to its quality, pitch, strength, source; quality 

or character of sound; vocal sound. In reference 

to the human voice it often means an implication 

meaning which a particular intonation 

may suggest even though the literal meaning of 

the words spoken suggests something wholly different 

(I know he said he didn’t mind, but I 

didn’t like the tone of his voice). Tune now 

primarily means a succession of musical sounds, 

a series of tones, forming an air or melody, 

with or without the harmony accompanying it. 

In a figurative sense, tone means style, distinction, 

elegance (That hotel certainly has tone. 

There’s a quiet distinction about it). Tony, an 

adjective based on this meaning, is, however, 

slang (He’s a real tony guy, always in style). 

Tune may also be used figuratively to mean 

accord (In Tune With the Infinite. The world 

is too much with us; late and soon,/ Getting 

and spending, we lay waste our powers:/ . . . / 

For this, for everything, we are out of tune). 

tongs. The plural form refers to one instrument 

but is most often treated as a plural, as in these 

tongs are hot. In Scotland it is commonly treated 

as a singular. This is acceotable in the United 

States, especially when used with a qualifying 

word, as in a fire tongs, a sugar tongs, but a pair 

of tongs is more usual. The construction with 

pair must be used after a numeral, as in three 

pairs of tongs. The form tongs is preferred as 

the first element in a compound, such as u tongs 

maker, a tongs man. 

tongue in cheek. To say of someone who is insincere 

or who has affirmed something with 

unspoken reservations, whose words belie his 

intent and go contrary to his true meaning, that 

he is speaking with his tongue in his cheek is 

to employ a hackneyed expression. The term is 

fairly recent, the first recorded instance being in 

The Zngold.sby Legends (1842). It would seem 

to refer to some gesture which, like a wink, informed 

the knowing that the statement was not 

to be taken at its seeming value. But although 

some people, guided chiefly by the phrase, do 

stick their tongues in their cheeks as such a 

humorous warning, it is certainly not a widespread 

custom nor, so far as is known, has it 

ever been. 

too. When this word is used as a sentence adverb 

it means “also.” It has the same meaning when it 

qualifies a preceding adjective or adverb, as in 

he is young too. When it qualifies a following 

adjective or adverb it means “beyond what is desirable 

or allowable,” as in he is too young. In 

either case, it cannot be used with a comparative 

or superlative form. From meaning “in excess,” 

too has come to be used as an intensive in combination 

with only, as in only too anxious to 

leave. Used as an intensive without only, as in it 

was too wonderful!, it has a false ring and suggests 

that the speaker is trying to conceal a lack 

of interest by overstatement. 

When too means “in excess” it cannot qualify 

a verb. Participles, such as discouraged and discouraging, 

are verbs and adjectives at the same 

time and it is debatable whether or not one can 

say he was too discouraged to go on. Actually, 

this is acceptable English everywhere in the 

United States, but some grammarians claim that 

it ought not to be acceptable. The same arguments 

apply to the use of very before a participle. 

(For a fuller discussion of this question, 

see very.) 

took. See take. 

tooth. The plural is teeth. Traditionally, only the 

singular tooth can be used as the first element in

a compound, as in toothbrushes and tooth marks. 

In some parts of the country people are said to 

complain of the teethache. This is painfully vivid, 

but it is not standard English. On the other 

hand, dentists sometimes speak of the teeth roots. 

This cannot be classed with teethache. Since it 

occurs in technical material it must be considered 

a new or unestablished form rather than an 

illiterate one. 

tooth and nail, as a term for the utmost exertion, 

especially in contention or conflict, is a clich6. 

top; summit; peak; apex. All these words describe 

the highest point of something. Top is the everyday, 

working word (the top of a tree, the top of 

the house). Summit literally describes the highest 

point, as of a hill (Two members of the expedition 

reached the summit of Mt. Everest). Peak 

is the pointed top of a mountain, a mountain 

with a pointed summit (Most of all they enjoyed 

the ascent of Pike’s Peak. The peaks were bathed 

in a rosy light). Apex is primarily understood in 

its mathematical sense as the vertex of a triangle 

or cone; more broadly, the tip or highest point of 

something. 

Each of these words also has its figurative 

uses. We say that a boy finished at the top of his 

class or that a certain goal was the summit of 

his aspiration. The highest-level political talks, in 

the summer of 1955, were called talks at the 

summit. Peak may be used to suggest a maximum 

in relation to other quantities during a 

specified time (Peak trafic on the Drive was 

from 8:30 to 9:00 in the morning and 5:00 to 

5:30 in the afternoon). Used figuratively, apex 

means climax, acme (That sixty-yard run was 

the apex of his college career). 

Top is used as an adjective more freely than 

the other three words. It has developed a superlative 

adjective form topmost, but no comparative 

form. 

topnotch; top-hole; tip-top. Topnotch is an American 

slang term for first-rate, excellent (He relegraphed 

lasi night for four ropnofch people to 

join us. He did a topnotch job on fhat assignment). 

Top-hole and tip-top are British slang 

equivalents. 

tore; torn. See tear. 

tornado. See cyclone. 

torpedo. The plural is torpedoes. 

tortuous; torturous; tortious. Tortuous means full 

of twists, turns, or bends: twisting; winding; 

crooked (The driver must be alert as he drives 

along the tortuous road on the Tennessee-North 

Carolina border). In figurative senses tortuous 

means not direct or straightforward, as in a 

course of procedure, thought, speech, writing; 

deceitfully indirect or morally crooked (The inevitable 

result of this fortuous policy was rhe 

complete loss of the public’s confidence). Torturous 

means inflicting excruciating pain, especially 

from sheer cruelty or in hatred, revenge, or the 

like. Torrious is a legal term, meaning of the nature 

of or pertaining to a tort, a civil wrong (If a civil 

oficer . . . have process against one individual 

and through mistake arrest another, this arrest 

is wholly tortious). 

towering 

tortures of the damned, suffer. If you believe in 

the damned and their tortures, the expression to 

suffer rhe tortures of rhe damned will seem, when 

applied to any discomforts of our earthly state, 

an impious exaggeration. If you don’t believe in 

the damned and their tortures, the phrase is just 

mocking verbiage. In either case, it is hackneyed. 

total. See complete. 

tote is an American colloquialism, largely Southem, 

meaning to carry or bear, as on the back or 

in the arms, as a burden or load (He lored a fiftypound 

pack all over the state of Georgia). The 

best-known use of the word today, in the song 

“Old Man River” (“Tote dat barge”/ “Lift dat 

bale”/ Get a little drunk,/ And you land in jail), 

seems to be a misuse. 

Tote can also mean to wear or carry about one 

(led always toted a pistol) or to haul in a vehicle 

(The manure in the feed lots is scraped up by 

a bulldozer and toted away to the field in a 

spreader), though this, too, may be an attempt to 

convey a rustic flavor without too clear a knowledge 

of the term. In New England logging roads 

are sometimes called tote roads. 

touch and go. As a term for a narrow escape, 

for a precarious situation in which the outcome 

was for a moment delicately poised between success 

and failure, touch and go is hackneyed. 

The expression seems to have been borrowed 

from pilotage where “touch and go” was said to 

be “good pilotage,” but to take a ship through 

so narrow a channel or so close to the rocks that 

you felt her touch and yet go on must have been 

precarious. There was also a boys’ game called 

touch and go which, from Austin Dobson’s description 

of it, must have been something like 

hide and seek. 

touch it with a ten-foot pole, I wouldn’t. Although 

many clichCs are pompous and stilted, there are 

slang cliches as well, for one can be just as stale 

informally as formally. To say of something one 

wants no part of or doesn’t want to meddle in 

that one wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole 

is to employ a clichC. The English equivalent is 

Z wouldn’t touch it with a pair of tongs or Z 

wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole. 

touchy. See tetchy. 

tough, as an adjective, applied to people, conveys 

different meanings in England and America. In 

England it means stubborn, persistent. In America 

it carries the more sinister meaning of hardened, 

incorrigible, disorderly, rowdyish (He got 

into a very tough gang). In America tough may 

also mean hard to bear or endure (He’s had a 

tough time of it, what with the drouth one year 

and the hoof and mouth disease the next). As a 

noun, tough in America means a ruffian, a rowdy. 

The English equivalent is rough. 

toward; towards. These forms are both standard 

English. In Great Britain the form towards is 

heard more often and toward is considered archaic 

or Biblical. In the United States toward is 

the preferred form. 

towering passion or rage is now a clichC. The 

adjective, in a now-forgotten meaning of mounting, 

is taken from falconry (A falcon, tow’ring 

in her pride of place,/ Was by a mousing owl

tower 518 

hawk’d at and kill’d). It was originally a good 

adjective because it suggested that the mounting 

anger would be followed by a sudden, precipitous, 

murderous strike upon the victim, but this 

meaning is now unknown and the phrase empty. 

tower of strength. To refer to someone upon 

whom others can rely in time of need as a rower 

of srrength is to employ a worn and stale expression. 

Every city used to have its fortified tower 

(as The Tower of London) to which the besieged 

&rld resort for a last desperate stand if their 

walls were scaled or breached. Such a tower 

sometimes held out for months after the city 

itself had been taken and was the rallying point 

from which the invaders were sometimes driven 

out. So that so long as the tower was not taken, 

the city was not truly captured. 

town. See city. 

trace; vestige. A truce is a mark, token, or evidence 

of the former presence, existence, or action 

of something (On the worn features of the 

weariest face/ Some youthful memory leaves its 

hidden truce). Truce is the more general word. 

It may mean a last faint mark or sign, or it may 

mean a small amount of anything (There was 

barely a trace of sugar in the tea), or it may 

stand for the clue or track by which pursuit may 

be made (They came on the trace of game in the 

late afternoon). Vestige is more limited. It refers 

to some slight, though actual, remains of something 

that no longer exists (. . . the stickpin, the 

malacca cane, and other vestiges of his former 

wealth . . . Scarce any trace remaining, vestige 

gray,/ Or nodding column on the desert shore,/ 

To point where Corinth, or where Athens stood). 

track is used more often and in more ways in 

America than in England. In America track or 

trucks describe a structure consisting of a pair of 

parallel lines or rails with their cross ties, to provide 

a road for railroad trains. The English say 

the line or the rails. Tracks in America is the 

word to describe footprints or other marks left 

by an animal or person; the English tend to use 

truce. American trains jump the track or leave 

the track; English trains run off the line. American 

race track is English racecourse. Trackman 

and trackwalker are exclusively American terms 

to describe a man who inspects, installs, or maintains 

railroad tracks. Track when used as a verb 

in America may mean to make a track of footprints 

on a floor (They’re always tracking mud 

into the kitchen). Track is used in American 

sports to describe collectively those sports performed 

on a track. A track meet is a series of 

athletic contests such as running, jumping, vaulting. 

There are several idiomatic expressions in 

America such as make tracks (leave hurriedly), 

lose track (lose contact with), right side of 

the tracks (the more socially acceptable part of 

town). 

trade, in trade, the trade. See profession. 

trademarks. A trademark is the name, symbd, 

figure, letter, word or mark adopted and used by 

a manufacturer or merchant in order to designate 

the goods he manufactures or sells and to 

distinguish them from those manufactured or 

sold by others. 

Trademarks are interesting in themselves and 

because they sometimes enter into general use as 

generic terms or catchwords. 

There have been a number of patterns of trademarking. 

For instance, after the Spanish-American 

war the Spanish -0 appeared in the names of 

many products, such as Perfect0 cigars and Eterno 

lead pencils. In the 1920’s there was an extension 

of such suffixes as -teria (cafeteria, 

cattleteria), -burger (hamburger, cheeseburger, 

nutburger), -mat (Automat) and -matic. Use of 

the medial connective -a- or -o- has been common 

more recently (Stack-a-Door, Perma-lift, 

Ford-o-matic, Expand-o Sock). Another favorite 

suffix is -tex, perhaps with an echo of texture: 

Playtex, Plastex, Kotex. One of the most popular 

devices is word-welding, as in Nabisco and 

Quink. Another is the substitution of k for c: 

Kake Kover, Bread Kabinet. Still another is 

manipulated spelling: Ayds (a reducing candy), 

Styl-Eez (shoes). Some trademarks rely on puns: 

Taylor-Made shoes, Enna Jettick shoes, Vermont 

Maid syrup. 

Because of inadequate laws, many words which 

began as trademarks, words like cellophane, escalator, 

linoleum and aspirin, have fallen into 

the public domain and ended in the dictionaries 

as generic terms. The Lanham Act of 1946 has 

helped to insure more effective protective measures, 

but some very popular trademarks still 

tend, in popular consciousness, to be regarded as 

generic. Kodak, for example, is often employed 

as a general term, and so too are Vaseline, Coke, 

Frigidaire, Jell-o and Victrola. 

trade with. See patronize. 

traffic in American usage has a special pejorative 

connotation in such phrases as The Opium truffit, 

The White Slave trafic. This embodies an 

older use of the word traffic, meaning trade or 

business, especially a trade or business that required 

considerable going to and fro (The pussage 

and traffic of merchants was forbidden). 

The word early acquired sinister connotations 

(They make a traffic of honor. You make the 

most shameless traffic and barter of yourselves), 

but since World War II many activities that had 

formerly been labeled trafics have become Black 

Markets. Trafic remains fixed, however, in the 

White Slave traffic, perhaps because a White 

Slave Black Market would sound ludicrous. 

tragedy; disaster. Tragedy applies first of all to 

art: disaster to life. In its primary sense tragedy 

means a dramatic composition of a serious or 

somber character, with an unhappy ending. There 

must be a sense of greatness in the person to 

whom the tragedy befalls and the unhappy ending 

must, at least in part, be the consequence of 

some fault-even though that fault be an excess 

of virtue-in the person. The use of tragedy to 

describe some lamentable, dreadful, or fatal 

event, a common journalistic practice, is loose. 

Disaster or calamity is the right word when the 

event is of such magnitude as to involve many 

people, misfortune when it involves a single 

person. 

tragic; tragical. Tragic is the only adjective current 

in America meaning characteristic or sug-

gestive of tragedy; mournful; melancholy or 

pathetic in the extreme (His was a tragic plight); 

dreadful, calamitous, disastrous, or fatal (The 

decision to attack was a tragic error) ; pertaining 

to or having the nature of tragedy (He made a 

careful study of the Elizabethan tragic drama) ; 

acting in or composiug tragedy (Shakespeare 

may have been a minor tragic actor, bat he was 

a major tragic playwright). Tragical is a seldom 

used alternative that has an archaic flavor (“The 

Tragical History of Dr. Faustus” has some furcicul 

scenes). In England tragic is the general word 

but some English grammarians argue that the 

meanings “sad” and “gloomy” should be conveyed 

by tragical, and only “of or pertaining to 

tragedy” by tragic. 

train. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in tltey trained him to recognize rhese things. 

It is sometimes followed by the -ing form of a 

verb and the preposition for, as in they trained 

him for recognizing these things. The infinitive 

construction is very much preferred, except 

when the -ing word is felt to be the name of 

something some one would study, as in they 

trained her for nursing, they trained him for 

flying. 

transcendent; transcendental. Trunscendent is to 

be preferred as the term meaning surpassing, superior, 

or supreme (The conference is of trunscendent 

importance, since vital issues must be 

discussed now). In theology (used of God), it 

means transcending the material universe, as opposed 

to immanent, residing in the material universe. 

Transcendental, except as a term in metaphysics, 

means outside ordinary experience, thought 

or belief; extraordinary, supernatural; abstract, 

idealistic, lofty (Such speculations are too transcendental 

for me). 

franaitive verbs. A verb that requires an object 

to complete its meaning is called a transitive 

verb. The action named by the verb is said to 

“pass over” to the object. (See object of a verb.) 

A verb that does not require an object, because 

its meaning is complete in itself, is called intransitive. 

The verbs are intransitive in a lonely 

cub horse steams and stumps. They are transitive 

in they bite their threads and shake their 

heads and gnaw my name like u bone. Some 

verbs, such as shall, may, must, require another 

verb to complete their meaning. These may be 

thought of as a special kind of transitive verb 

or as being in a class by themselves. (See auxiliary 

verbs.) 

A verb that is essentially transitive may sometimes 

be used intransitively, as in I hoed and 

trenched and weeded. Some grammarians say 

that in such cases the verb is a transitive “used 

absolutely,” because they claim that an object, 

here garden or farm, is understood. Others consider 

any verb intransitive when the sentence 

does not contain an object. This is a question of 

terminology and makes no difference in practice. 

Sometimes the object of a transitive verb is a 

pronoun referring back to the subject or agent. 

For example, people could once say I will wash 

me and dress me and fix me up hne. Today, the 

519 transitory 

-self words (myself, himself, and so on) may be 

used in this way, but they are omitted more often 

than not. We usually say he shaved and dressed 

rather than he shaved himself and dressed himself. 

In many cases, such as he overute, he 

overslept, the population doubled, the reflexive 

pronoun is no longer thought of. In others, such 

as he hid, he behaved well, don’t bother, it may 

be used or omitted. In still others, such as he 

prided himself on, he conducted himself well, it 

is required. Practically all grammarians consider 

verbs of this kind transitive when the pronoun is 

used, and intransitive when it is not. 

Verbs such as tear, split, sell, cook, are essentially 

transitive, but they are used intransitively 

in the cloth tore, the wood split easily, the pies 

sold, the apples cooked quickly. What is meant 

here is that somebody or something tore the 

cloth, split the wood, sold the pies, cooked the 

apples. What is logically the object of the verb 

has not been dropped but has been made its 

grammatical subject. This happens also when a 

verb is put in the passive voice and some grammarians 

call these forms “passivals.” The verb 

is intransitive in form but passive in meaning. 

The construction is used widelydust brushes 

off, foods spoil, boats upset, doors slam, hearts 

break, and the value of the dollar depreciates. A 

true passive, such as the dust was brushed ofl, rhe 

boat was upset, always suggests an agent. A passival, 

on the other hand, presents the action 

itself, as if it occurred spontaneously. They are 

simpler than the passive forms and are preferred 

whenever the fact that there was an agent is felt 

to be irrelevant. 

This use of the transitive verbs lay and set has 

been severely attacked during the last hundred 

years. As a result of not being allowed to use 

these verbs naturally, many people are now 

afraid to use them at all. (See lay and set.) 

More recently, it has been claimed that graduate 

used as a passival, as in he graduated lust June, 

is ungrammatical. In the case of lay and set, 

there were intransitive verbs lie and sit which the 

grammarians thought they were protecting. But 

in the case of graduate, it is hard to see why 

someone chose this word to attack rather than 

any of a thousand others. 

transitory; transient; transitional. All of these adjectives 

suggest shortness of duration. Transient 

and transitory both mean passing away, not lasting, 

momentary, short-lived, ephemeral, temporary, 

impermanent. However, trunsient tends to 

be used with people, transitory with things (Transient 

guests at the hotel were more likely to tip 

freely than the permanent dwellers in its musty 

corridors. One can hardly be expected io sacrifice 

solid advantages for these transitory delights). 

Transient more frequently emphasizes 

the fact of brief duration, transitory the quality 

of brief duration. 

Trunsitionul means going from one thing to 

another (We are living in a transitional period 

of history. Every period, however original and 

creative, has a transitional aspect in its relation 

to the years before and after). 

Transient may also be used as a noun, mean-

transmit 520 

ing one who is transient, a transient guest, 

boarder, or the like. Transient is a bookish term 

in England but in common use, both as a noun 

and an adjective, in the United States. 

transmit. See forward. 

transom means basically a crosspiece separating a 

door or the like from a window or fanlight above 

it. In America transom is also used to describe 

a window above such a crosspiece. In the famous 

ballad Frankie rind Johnnie, Frankie looked over 

the transom, though looked through the transom 

would certainly be understood and perhaps more 

commonly used today. In England the window 

above the crosspiece is called a transom window. 

Publishers in America humorously refer to unsolicited 

manuscripts as coming in over the 

transom. 

More broadly, a transom is a crossbar, as of 

wood or stone, dividing a window horizontally. 

In shipbuilding, a transom is a crossbeam in the 

frame of a ship, or any of several transverse 

beams or timbers fixed across the sternpost of a 

ship, to strengthen and give shape to the after 

part. 

transpire; happen. Transpire originally meant to 

breathe out through the surface or to exhale 

(The leaves transpire more fluid than the stem 

can take up. This, that, and ev’ry thicket doth 

transpire/ More sweet than storax from the hallowed 

fire). Then it meant to pass out, as an 

exhalation. The brilliant Elizabethan eccentric, 

Sir John Harington, believed that “his thoughts 

transpired from him and took the shape of flies 

or bees.” From such uses of the word it was 

natural for it to mean to escape from secrecy to 

notice, to become known where it was intended 

to keep secret (This letter goes fo you in confidence. 

You will not ler one syllable of it transpire). 

Dr. Johnson (in 1755) condemned this 

meaning as “lately innovated from France without 

necessity.” Nonetheless, this was until fairly 

recently the word’s standard meaning. 

Its commonest meaning now is to happen, occur, 

take place. Perhaps this change arose from 

a misunderstanding of such sentences as has 

anything transpired in my absence? where the 

coming to light of some secret knowledge and 

the taking action might be closely related. However 

this may be, there is no doubt that transpire 

now has the meaning of “happen” for many people. 

But there is also no doubt that a great many 

other people regard this usage as wrong. Indeed, 

with some it has become a shibboleth, a touchstone 

of literacy and refinement; anyone who 

uses transpire to mean “happen” is, in their estimation, 

vulgar, illiterate, and contemptible. Yet 

many of the best grammarians recognize this 

meaning of the word. 

Under these circumstances, what is the ordinary 

man to do? If he is timid, he can avoid 

using the word altogether: there are other ways 

of saying that something has escaped from secrecy 

to notice than saying it has transpired, and 

happen is always understood and acceptable. Or 

if the ordinary man is bold and self-confident he 

may defy the purists and use transpire to mean 

“happen,” stoutly insisting that what was good 

enough for the Adamses of Boston is good 

enough for him. But that won’t save him from 

being regarded as a vulgar illiterate by the purists, 

and if he is in a position where their so 

regarding him will be harmful to him, he must 

expect to suffer. 

Among the mass of people the use of trunspire 

for “happen” will pass unnoticed. Among 

linguists it will be accepted as a word that has 

acquired a new meaning through usage, however 

erroneous that meaning may have been when 

first acquired. Among quite a few who regard 

themselves as linguists, however, its use in this 

way will arouse contempt. So that when one is 

among such people and does not want, or cannot 

afford, to arouse their contempt, and has 

not the opportunity, time, or ability to enlighten 

them, it is better to avoid using the word in this 

sense. 

transportation; ticket. In one of its less prominent 

senses, transportation is used in the United 

States to mean the means by which transportation 

is obtained, that is, tickets or permits (I got 

transportation on the Super Chief). 

trauma. The plural is traumas or traumata, not 

traumae. 

travel; travail. Travel was originally merely a 

variant form of ~ra~~ail, labor, toil, strenuous 

exertion so severe as to cause suffering. The connection 

of the two words is at once a good, simple 

lesson in etymology and in social history, for 

it suggests what an arduous undertaking it once 

was to go from one place to another. Travail, 

which once meant to suffer in strenuous labor, 

has now narrowed to mean to suffer the pangs 

of childbirth, has become specialized, that is, in 

reference to one kind of labor. To travel is now 

simply to go from one place to another and 

would on the whole (especially by those who 

have not traveled much) be classified as a pleasure. 

In the United States to travel also means, in 

slang, to move with speed (By the time he 

reaching the city limits he was really traveling). 

travesty. See burlesque. 

treachery; treacherous; treason. Both treachery 

and treason imply betrayal of trust. Treachery 

may designate secret disloyalty to a friend, especially 

when the disloyalty is concealed beneath 

a seemingly friendly and loyal attitude (He was 

a timid enemy and a treacherous friend). In 

its personal application, treachery is a word of 

strong condemnation and contempt. Treachery 

may also apply to traitorous conduct towards 

one’s country. Treason is, definitely and solely, 

wishing to harm one’s country or government 

and performing overt, open acts to help its enemies 

(The gradual steps by which Arnold progressed 

from loyalty to treason mark a path of 

personal resentment). Treason, perhaps because 

of the enormity of the crime it designates, is a 

more dignified word than treachery. Every man 

has felt the treachery of friends and smarts at 

the recollection the word evokes. We suffer in 

common from the effects of treason and agree in 

universal detestation of it but it is too far re-

moved from our immediate knowledge or experience 

to be viewed with much personal rancor. 

tread. The past tense is trod. The participle is 

trodden or trod. When tread is used in the idiom 

tread water it is a regular verb and has the past 

tense and participle treaded. 

treasonable and treasonous both mean involving 

treason, traitorous (It was u treasonable/ treu- 

SO~OUS libel). In the extended sense of “of the 

nature of treason, perfidious,” treasonable is 

preferred. Indeed, treasonable is now generally 

preferred to freasonous in all possible senses. 

treble. See triple. 

trek is not to be used loosely as a synonym for 

travel (as in Now is the time to trek to the 

Wisconsin Dells). It means to migrate, and refers 

specifically to the migrations of the Boers in 

South Africa (Thus the early Cape Beers adopted 

the nomad hnbi: of trekking, which simply meant 

enlarging the range of their occupation of new 

land and a further advance into the interior). If 

it is to be applied to travel, it is properly applied, 

even humorously, only to the movement of 

masses of people and, presumably, a permanent 

removal (The trek of retired Zowa farmers to 

California continues unabated). 

tremblor; temblor; tremor. Tremblor is a misspelling 

of the American word temblor, probably 

by association with tremor. Temblor is an 

American word (from the Spanish ternblur, 

tremble) for a tremor, an earthquake. A tremor 

is any tremulous or vibratory movement, a vibration 

(Modern research has shown a typical 

earthquake to consist of a series of small tremors 

succeeded by a shock, or series of shocks). The 

English call a light disturbance similar to an 

earthquake an earth tremor. 

tremendous. See horrible. 

trend. See tend. 

trepan; trephine. Trrpnn is the older term and 

the one still largely in use by laymen. As a noun 

it means a boring tool for sinking shafts or, in 

surgery, an obsolete form of the trephine. resembling 

a carpenter’s bit and brace. As a verb 

it means to operate with a trepan. Trephine is the 

term for a surgical instrument resembling a 

small circular saw with a center pin mounted on 

a strong hollow metal shaft to which is attached 

a transverse handle and which is used to remove 

circular discs of bone from the skull. As a verb 

it means to operate upon with a trephine. 

trial; experiment; test. All of these nouns imply 

an attempt to find out something or to find out 

about something. Trial is the general word for 

a trying of anything (Two Weeks Free Trial! 

Knowing as little as we do, there is no course 

open to us but trial and error. A trial run). Experiment 

looks to the future, and is a trial conducted 

to prove or illustrate the truth or validity 

of an assumption, or an attempt to discover 

something new (As an experiment he and a companion 

lived on nothing but meat for more than 

a year). Test is a stronger and more specific 

word, referring to a trial under approved and 

fixed conditions, or a final and decisive trial as 

a conclusion of past experiments (After months 

521 

of experiment and trial, he was ready for the 

final test). 

trick; maneuver; stratagem; subterfuge. All of 

these words imply gaining one’s ends by creating 

a false impression. Trick is always a pejorative 

term, in this sense, meaning to cheat (Jacob 

tricked Esau out of their father’s blessing) or, as 

a noun, an underhanded act (That was a dirty 

trick to play on a friend!). Maneuver is also both 

a verb and a noun. It is primarily a military 

term. As a noun it means a planned and regulated 

movement or evolution of troops; an adroit 

move; an artful procedure (It was only u muneuver 

to get defensive patrol vessels out of the 

wny before the commandos landed). As a verb, 

maneuver means to manipulate with skill or 

adroitness. The English spell the word manoeuvre. 

Stmtagem, in distinction to maneuver, means 

a plan, scheme, or trick for deceiving the enemy. 

It is the plan of action, literally, rather than the 

action itself. Subterfuge, like trick, is a pejorative 

term. It describes an artifice or expedient 

employed to escape the force of an argument or 

to evade unfavorable consequences (His disguise 

as an expectant mother was a brazen subterfuge 

to insure 4 place in one of the lifeboats). 

trillion; billion. A trillion is, in America and 

France, a cardinal number represented by one 

(1) followed by 12 zeros ( 1,000,000,000,000). 

In England and Germany a trillion is a cardinal 

number represented by one ( 1) followed by 18 

zeros (l,OOO,OOO,OOO,OOO,OOO,OOO). A billion in 

America is equal to a thousand millions (l,OOO,- 

OOO,OOO), in England to a million millions 

(l,OOO,OOO,OOO,OOO). Thus the American trillion 

is equal to the English billion. See also million. 

trim his sails. The sailor who trims his sails, who 

adjusts them, that is, with reference to the direction 

of the wind and the course of the ship, so as 

to obtain the greatest advantage, is a good seaman 

and from the point of view of seamanship 

admirable. But in its figurative uses, the expression 

is disparaging, because the emphasis, in the 

figure, shifts from the skill in management to 

the purposes of management. One who trims his 

sails metaphorically shifts with shifting winds and 

has no fixed principle beyond the achievement of 

his own advantage. That he pursues his own advantage 

skillfully is not, in common estimation, 

grounds for admiration. 

tri-monthly; quarterly. Quarterly means, quite 

unambiguously, once in a quarter of a year. Trimonthly, 

in its conventional use, is a synonym of 

quarterly, since it means taking place once each 

three months. Yet tri-monthly is ambiguous, 

since it can mean, and is sometimes used to 

mean, three times a month. It would be useful 

to the language if it were fixed in this meaning 

and quarterly reserved to mean once in three 

months. 

trip; voyage; journey; flight. These words all describe 

a course of travel made to a particular 

place, usually for some specific purpose. In England 

trip means a short journey or voyage. An 

English tripper is the equivalent of an American

excursionist; he’s on a short outing, of a few days 

or a week or two at the most. In America trip is 

the general word, indicating going any distance 

and returning, by walking or any means of locomotion, 

for either business or pleasure and in 

either a hurried or a leisurely manner (We don’t 

go to the end of the line this trip, lady. A trip to 

the moon is now thought an at-least-remote possibility 

). A voyage is travel by air or water, USUally 

for a long distance, and for business or 

pleasure. In reference to travel by air, fright is 

replacing all other words; although if one announced 

that he was making a trip to New York, 

he would not feel it inappropriate if someone 

asked if he were going by air. Making a trip, by 

the way, in American contemporary usage, suggests 

that it is a business trip or undertaken of 

necessity; taking a trip is more likely to suggest 

that it is a pleasure trip. If the journey is to be 

by water, voyage has a connotation of leisureliness, 

lacking from trip or journey (For their 

honeymoon they took a voyage around the 

world). Because of the emphasis on luxury in air 

travel, especially in the advertisements, and because 

it is still for most people a new, exciting, 

and slightly dangerous way of traveling, flight, 

in this context, is a glamorous word. 

A journey is a trip of considerable length, 

wholly or mainly by land, for business or pleasure, 

and is now applied to travel which is more 

leisurely or more fatiguing than a trip. A return 

is not necessarily implied (It was a sentimental 

journey into the past when he set out for the 

little village on the Mississippi in which he had 

spent his boyhood). 

triple and treble both convey the sense of threefold, 

but they may be distinguished. Except for 

its special musical sense of soprano, treble is 

pretty close in meaning to triple, though it is 

more often used as a verb and a noun, at least 

in England, and triple as an adjective and in 

combinations. 

As a verb treble means to make or become 

three times as much or many (You can treble 

your income if you buy the right stocks). As a 

verb triple conveys roughly the same idea and is 

more often used in America than treble. Indeed, 

treble is now rarely used in the United States, 

triple being preferred in almost every sense. As 

an adjective treble means threefold, three times 

as much, as in: There was a treble veneer on the 

table. Triple may mean this too, but it may also 

mean a veneer of three kinds or anything else of 

three kinds (The poem has triple implicationsesthetic, 

ethical, and metaphysical). Triple has 

certain peculiarly American uses when applied 

to baseball. As a noun, a triple is a three-base 

hit. As a verb, to triple is to hit a three-base hit. 

As an adjective, triple, in the expression triple 

play, means a play in which three “outs” are 

achieved, three men are retired, before the balI 

is again put into play. 

Triple is used in many combinations; e.g., 

triple-action, triple-time, triple-decker (sandwithes) 

, etc. 

trite. See commonplace. 

522 

triumphal; triumphant. These adjectives both pertain 

to a triumph, but triumphal is the narrower 

term. It means pertaining to a triumph; cele 

brating or commemorating a triumph or victory 

(A triumphal arch opens on the Champs 

Elyse’es). Triumphal cannot be applied to persons, 

but only to objects and activities, such as 

processions or celebrations. Triumphant means 

chiefly having achieved victory or success, and 

may be applied to the successful person or the 

success itself (The triumphant runner was carried 

out of the amphitheater on the shoulders of 

admiring freshmen. He would have done well 

to have suppressed that triumphant laugh. The 

administration of the polio vaccine was hardly 

triumphant). 

Mvial. See petty. 

triviality. See commonplace. 

trod; trodden. See tread. 

troop; troops; trooper; troupe: trouper. These 

words all stem from a Late Latin word meaning 

flock. Thus a troop means an assemblage of persons 

or things, a company or band (A troop of 

Oxford hunters going home,/ As in old days, 

jovial and talking, ride!); a great number or multitude 

(. . . as honor, love, obedience, troops of 

friends). In American military terminology a 

troop is an armored cavalry or cavalry unit consisting 

of two or more platoons and a headquarters 

group. In English military terminology, a 

troop is “that subdivision of cavalry which corresponds 

to a company of infantry and a battery 

of artillery” (Partridge). In the American Boy 

Scout organization, a troop is a unit of thirtytwo 

scouts, equal to four patrols. In the English 

Boy Scout organization, a troop is simply a company 

of boy scouts. Troops (plural) describes a 

body of soldiers or police (The troops were 

brought up during the night and the prison surrounded). 

Troop is used as a verb in England in 

such an expression as to troop the colour or 

colours (to perform that portion of the ceremonial 

known as mounting guard in which the 

color, or flag, is received). A trooper is a horse 

cavalry soldier (An obscure trooper who called 

himself Silas Tomkyn Comberback was actually 

Samuel Taylor Coleridge); a mounted policeman; 

a horse ridden by a trooper: or, chiefly in 

England, a troopship (The trooper lay at the 

dockside, grim with the significance of her camouflage). 

In a number of American states the 

state police are officially called troopers. 

The singular troop means a body of men and 

the plural troops means several bodies of men. 

However, when the word is used with an improbably 

large number, such as two thousand 

troops, it is understood to mean two thousand 

individual men. But two men in uniform could 

not be called two troops, or even two of our 

troops. We would have to say two men from our 

troops. Only the singular form troop is used as 

the first element in a compound, as in troop 

movements. 

Troupe and trouper are very limiting terms. 

Troupe means a troop, company, or band, especially 

of players, singers or the like, or, as a

verb, to travel as a member of a theatrical company, 

to barnstorm. Trouper means an actor in 

a theatrical company, especially a veteran actor. 

It is often used figuratively of one who, having 

experienced many vicissitudes and known many 

hardships, can be relied on to play his part with 

professional competence. 

trope. See figure of speech. 

troabled; troublesome; troublous. Troubled means 

worried or disturbed. It may apply to persons, 

atmosphere-as sea, sky-or to moods, thoughts, 

feelings (His troubled look frightened her. They 

love to fish in troubled waters). In the sense of 

disturbed, it may have social rather than physical 

implications. Irwin Shaw’s book. The Troubled 

Ai; (N.Y., 1951), dealt with the problem of loyalty 

among radio artists. Troublesome means 

causing trouble, vexatious (He preferred a troublesome 

cough to a troublesome doctor). Troublous 

is an archaic word meaning characterized 

by trouble; disturbed; unsettled (The Reconstruction 

Era was a troublous time). Its use now 

would seem a little affected. 

trouser; trousers. Trousers, a plural substantive, 

is the usual form to describe a loose fitting outer 

garment for men, covering the lower part of the 

trunk and each leg separately, and extending to 

the ankles; or a shorter garment of this kind, 

reaching to the knees, especially as worn by boys. 

In America trousers in this second sense is customarily 

qualified (He wore short trousers until 

he was eleven). It would be felt as a little stilted 

or, perhaps, a euphemism, the common term for 

boys’ short trousers being pants or short pants 

(My Mama done tol’ me/ When I was in knee 

pants. . . ) and for men’s short trousers, shorts. 

A pair of trousers is the correct singular form. 

The English have a slang verb to trouser, meaning 

to put money into the trouser pocket, to 

pocket. Both Americans and English use the 

figurative idiom she wears the trousers in that 

house to mean that she (the wife) is the dominant 

person. Most Americans, however, say she 

wears the pants. 

A singular form trouser is preferred as the first 

element in a compound, as in trouser pockets, 

but the form trousers pockets may also be used. 

trousseau. The plural is trousseaus or trousseaux. 

truck; truckle. Truck in the phrase to have no 

truck with is derived from the French troquer, 

to barter. The phrase is now a clichC, devoid of 

any specific meaning to most of those who use it. 

To truckle, in the sense of yielding obsequiously, 

is derived from sleeping on a truckle bed, 

a pallet on casters or truckles which was rolled 

under the regular bed. Servants used to sleep on 

truckle beds, sometimes directly under their masters 

in the old, high-raised four-posters with 

their canopies (Zf he that in the field is slain/ 

Be on the bed of honor lain,/ He that’s beaten 

may be said/ To lie in honor’s truckle bed). Why 

of all the miseries and indignities which servants 

formerly had to endure this particular one was 

singled out as a symbol of servility is not c:lear. 

Housewives who wonder why it is so hard to get 

“help” might profit from setting down a list of 

523 trustee 

words in English drawn from the living conditions 

of servants which express contempt for the 

servants on the part of the masters. It would be 

a long and instructive list. 

truculent does not mean base, mercenary, though 

a truculent man may very well be base and mercenary. 

It means fierce and cruel; brutally harsh, 

savagely threatening or bullying (One of my 

superiors was a truculent fellow who would have 

loved being a storm trooper under Hitler). 

true blue, as a term for one who is staunchly 

loyal, unshakable in admirable principles, is a 

clicht. It is a very old term, based on the fact 

that among the early dyes blue was one of the 

best, least likely to fade. The term today has the 

further disadvantage of suggesting high-minded 

schoolgirlish enthusiasm, the sort of term that 

the head of a summer camp might use in a pep 

talk. 

true verb. In this dictionary, the term u true verb 

means any verb form that has tense, that is, that 

refers to either the past, the present, or the future. 

The infinitive, the -ing form, and the past 

participle, do not have tense when they are used 

as nouns or adjectives. Some grammarians call 

these forms that do not have tense verbals, verbids, 

or nonfinite verb forms. 

truism. See commonplace. 

truly. See faithfully. 

trunk. English and American usage of trunk differ 

in some of its meanings. What the English 

call the main line of a railroad is in America 

often called a trunk line, trunk road, or simply 

trunk (Chicago in 1871 served as the junction 

point for thirteen trunk-line railroads). In the 

terminology of the telephone companies, trunk 

means a telephone line or channel between two 

central offices or switching devices, which is used 

in providing telephone connections between subscribers 

generally. The trunk call of the English 

system is the long distance call of the American. 

The English colloquially say trunk, the Americans 

long distance. 

Trunks (plural) is used, especially in England, 

to describe short, tight-fitting breeches, as 

worn over tights in theatrical use. In the United 

States only, trunks may also mean short drawers 

worn by athletes such as runners, boxers, swimmers, 

basketball players. In this sense, trunks is 

always treated as a plural, as in these trunks are 

new. In order to use the word with a singular 

verb or to speak of more than one such garment, 

it is necessary to say this pair of trunks is new 

or several pairs of trunks. The form trunks is 


the trunks pocket. 

trust. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in trust her to tell him about it. It is also heard 

with the -ing form of a verb, especially in an exclamation 

that is meant to be condemning, as in 

trust her telling hinl about it, but this is not 


trustee; trusty. A trustee is a person, usually one 

of a body of persons, appointed to administer the 

affairs of a company or institution (He became 

a trustee of his college ten years after gradu-

tru6tworthy 524 

uting); a person who holds the title to property 

for the benefit of another. Trusty is a specifically 

American term to describe a well-behaved and 

trustworthy convict to whom special privileges 

have been granted. Many trusties have been recruited 

from the second sort of trustee. 

trustworthy; trusty. Both of these adjectives mean 

worthy of trust or confidence, reliable. Trustworthy 

is more often used, especially in reference 

to persons. Trusty is now slightly archaic 

(I shot him with my trusty flintlock. And here’s 

a hand, my trusty fiere,/ And gie’s a hand o’ 

thine). 

truth. See veracity. 

truthful; true. See veracious. 

truth is stranger than fiction. It seems to have 

been Byron who first observed that truth was 

stranger than fiction and the observation when 

first made, by whomever made, was an original 

and arresting comment on the incredibleness of 

reality and the feebleness of the human imagination. 

And the first million or so wits who repeated 

the observation earned thereby a reputation for 

profundity. But it is now exhausted, worn out, 

flat and banal. 

Like many banalities, however, it can serve as 

the basis for a stroke of wit, as when Mark Twain 

observed drily that truth certainly seemed stranger 

than fiction to many people but, as for himself, 

he was quite familiar with it. 

try. In literary English, the -ing form of a verb 

following try, as in he tried shouting, does not 

mean the same thing as the infinitive following 

try, as in he tried to shout. The infinitive names 

what he is attempting to do. The -ing form names 

something he is using as a means for whatever 

it is he is attempting to do. 

Try and is standard English for fry fo, as in 

try and come early. The construction is used in 

Great Britain more often than it is in the United 

States but it is standard in both countries. It 

can be used only with the form try, and not 

with tries, tried, or trying. We do not say he 

tried and came or he tries and comes. See also 

endeavor. 

try; try out; test; test out; tryout. Try out and tesf 

auf are recent introductions as synonyms of try 

and test. Try out has much greater currency than 

test out. One may, for instance, try or try out a 

new invention. Tryout is an American informal 

expression meaning a trial or test to ascertain 

fitness for some purpose (Sixteen Juniors attended 

the tryout for cheerleader last night). 

tube. What Americans refer to in radio and television 

sets as tubes, the English call valves. The 

English, however, make an exception in this: 

they, like the Americans, call the large glass bulb 

which is the “screen,” the picture tube. 

The English call the tubular tunnel in which 

an underground railroad runs a tube and, colloquially, 

the railroad itself. The American equivalent 

is subway. 

tubercular; tuberculous. These adjectives tend to 

be used interchangeably as meaning affected with 

tuberculosis. Actually, tubercular should be used 

to mean pertaining to or having the nature of a 

tubercule or tubcrcules or characterized by tu- 

bercules. But it is used so much to mean of or 

pertaining to the disease of tuberculosis (which is 

characterized by tubercules) that its use in this 

sense must be accepted as standard in the United 

States. Indeed, in popular usage, tubercular seems 

to be preferred to tuberculous in all contexts. 

Tuberculous is the pathological and medical 

term (X-rays disclosed a tuberculous growth in 

the lower lobe of the left lung) and, in strict 

usage, is the proper adjective to use when one 

means of or pertaining to the disease of tuberculosis. 

tummy. See belly. 

tune. As a phrase to introduce a sum of money 

owed or necessary to the accomplishment of 

some end, to the tune of (You can do it, yes, 

but to the tune of five million!), even though 

used only as slang, is a clichC. Perhaps it derived 

from the idea of “paying the piper.” See tone. 

torn, when used in the sense of “become,” may be 

followed by an adjective describing what turns, 

as in it turned white, it turned sour. Even in this 

sense, it may also be qualified by an advert describing 

the turning, as in it quickly turned sour. 

The word turn occurs in a great many clich6s: 

give someone a turn or quite a turn for to frighten 

them; turn a deaf ear for a refusal to hear a 

plea or a request; not to turn a hair for remaining 

calm and unruffled; turn an honest penny, 

now chiefly jocular, for earning some money; 

turn in one’s grave, usually it’s enough to make 

so-and-so turn in his grave, spoken when something 

is said or done that would have startled 

so-and-so or left him aghast; turn over a new 

leaf, for starting anew with good intentions; turn 

tail for retreating; turn the other cheek, to accept 

insults or injuries meekly, especially when the 

phrase is used jocularly; turn the tables on someone, 

for reversing a position in relation to one 

who up to that time had an advantage; turn up 

like a bad penny, for some undesirable person 

who makes an appearance when he is not expected 

and not wanted; turn up one’s nose at, to 

scorn, especially when the scorn does not seem 

warranted to the speaker or at least when he 

feels that the person to whom he applies the 

phrase is not warranted in being disdainful. 

turpitude is a stilted and literary word, the common 

equivalents being indecency and depravity. 

It is perhaps this pompous nature of the word 

that makes the legal term moral turpitude seem 

slightly ridiculous. 

tweezers. The plural form refers to one instrument 

but is regularly treated as a plural, as in 

these tweezers are too small. In order to use the 

word with a singular verb or to speak of more 

than one of these instruments, it is necessary to 

say this pair of tweezers is too small or three 

pairs of tweezers. A singular form tweezer is preferred 

in compounds, such as a tweezer case. 

twelve good men and true. A reference to a jury 

by the old phrase by which juries were formerly 

described in writs and other legal documents, 

twelve good men and true is now a piece of 

ponderous jocularity. 

twice; twicet. Twicet is formed on the same pattern 

as against, amidst, amongst, but it has never

een standard English. Twice is the only acceptable 

form. 

twice over. Some authorities consider twice over 

as redundant, insisting that twice conveys the 

identical meaning. But twice over has acquired 

the suggestion that the repetition is immediate; 

whereas that which happens twice simply happens 

again, any time after the first time. Browning’s 

wise thrush that sings each song twice 

over,/ Lest you should think he never could recapture/ 

The first jine careless rapture hardly 

expects the listener to stand around all day waiting 

for the demonstration of his virtuosity. 

twinkling of an eye, in the. In addition to its present 

meaning of scintillating, twinkling used to 

mean nictitation or the act of winking. Philemon 

Holland, in his translation of Pliny (1601), 

speaks of an ague accompanied “with head-ache 

and much twinkling or inordinate palpitation of 

the eyes.” The 1609 Douay Version of Isaiah 

3: 16 speaks of the daughters of Sion walking 

with “stretched out neck. . . and twinglings of 

eyes.” The King James Version has “wanton 

eyes” and the Revised Standard Version has 

“glancing wantonly with their eyes.” But, except 

for its lack of dignity, the informal “batting 

their eyes” wouid have been better. 

At any rate, this meaning of twinkling is obsolete 

and the phrase in the twinkling of an eye is 

now a clichC. 

twins. See pair of twins. 

twist around one’s little finger. To say of one 

who seems to have complete domination lover 

another that he can twist him around his Little 

jinger is to employ a hackneyed expression. 

tycoon is the transliteration into English of a 

Chinese term meaning “great prince.” The term 

was employed in Japan, from 1603 to 1867, as a 

title to describe the shogun of Japan to foreigners. 

Shogun was a Japanese term, originating in 

the eighth century, describing the commander in 

chief in their wars against the Ainu. In later 

Japanese history tycoon was applied to a member 

of a quasi-dynasty, holding the real power 

though parallel to the imperial dynasty, which 

was theoretically and ceremonially supreme. 

In the twentieth century, largely due to its use 

in the Lute publications, tycoon has become an 

American term (meant to be gay and informal) to 

describe a businessman having great wealth and 

525 

U 

power, an industrial magnate (One tycoon on 

Robinson Street had paved the thoroughfare in 

front of his house with blocks of marble. There 

was something indecent about this new pose. It 

was a little too much like the tycoon who spends 

the first part of his life sucking and crushing and 

the last part giving away dimes and Benjamin 

Franklin’s advice). 

type of. The singular form type of and the plural 

form fypes of may each be followed by either a 

singular or a plural noun. Bertrand Russell, for 

example, speaks of a type of relation, u type of 

relations, the types of relation, and the types of 

relations. Type is always followed by a singular 

verb, and types by a plural verb, regardless of 

the form of the noun used. In this respect type of 

does not follow the pattern of kind of and sort 

of. 

In the United States type is sometimes used 

immediately before a noun, in the sense of type 

of, as in this type car, that type person. This 

construction does not appear in written English 

but is too widespread in speech to be called anything 

but standard. See nouns as adjectives. 

typesetter; compositor. Typesetter is an exclusively 

American term to describe one who sets or 

composes type. The American alternative term, 

less common than typesetter, is compositor, 

which is the term used in England. 

typhoon. See cyclone. 

typical. See average. 

typist is one who operates a typewriter. In England 

the word typist also carries the older sense 

of one who uses type, a printer, a compositor. 

typographic; typographical. These adjectives are 

synonyms meaning pertaining to typography or 

printing. Typographical is more common (The 

proofreader marked all of the typographical 

errors). In common use they are often substituted 

for stenographic or typewriting (Whenever 

he had been away from his typewriter for a few 

days he noticed that he made an unusual number 

of typographical errors when he began to type 

again). 

tyrannic; tyrannical. Tyrannic is rarely used and 

tyrannical is generally preferred as the adjective 

meaning arbitrary or despotic, despotically cruel 

or harsh, severely oppressive (He liked to blame 

most of the faults and misfortunes of his life on 

a tyrannical father). 

ugly as sin. Though sin is repulsive to the vir- is to employ a badly worn metaphor. The figure 

tuous, she is highly attractive to the wicked. is drawn from Hans Christian Andersen’s story 

But aside from any such argument, ugly ILS sin of the duck that hatched a swan’s egg among her 

is a clichC. own and regarded the cygnet, which eventually 

ugly duckling. To refer to an unattractive or became a beautiful swan, with dislike because it 

seemingly stupid child that turns out to be a was so ugly. The application is a natural one 

handsome or talented adult as an ugly duckling but it has been overdone.

ultimately 526 

The story, by the way, owes a great deal of its 

popularity in the nursery, as does Cinderella, to 

the unconscious appeal it makes to children’s 

egotism and self-pity. 

ultimately. See finally. 

ultimatum. There is no question but that ultimatum 

means the final terms of one of the parties 

in a diplomatic relationship, the rejection of 

which by the other party may involve a rupture 

of relations or lead to a declaration of war. More 

loosely, it is used to mean any final proposal or 

statement of conditions (Her ultimatum was that 

he must get rid of the Great Dane or she would 

leave their trailer home). 

The question is over the form of the plural. 

The conservative Oxford English Dictionary 

holds that ultimata is the plural, but more progressive 

English and American grammarians 

agree in preferring ultimatums. 

titimo; ult. See instant. 

oh-a, used as an adjective meaning going beyond 

what is usual or ordinary, excessive, extreme, is 

obsolescent in England but remains in standard 

use in America (He was an ultra sophisticate. 

The ultra conservative viewpoint has few rational 

adherents. . . ). It is not as much used in the 

United States now as it was in the 1920’s when 

the excessive was in vogue. 

umbrage. As a term for being offended, take 

umbrage is a literary term and would seem a 

little strange or affected in ordinary speech. Yet 

it is a fine phrase, suggesting one shadowed in 

offended pride, retreating into the darkness of 

proud indignation, withdrawing into dark clouds 

of wrath whence will come the lightning of rebuke 

and retribution and a thunderclap of scorn. 

umbrella. See parasol. 

umlaut is a German word accepted in linguistics 

as the term to indicate an internal vowel change, 

usually caused by a following vowel or a semivowel. 

The term is also used to designate the 

diacritical mark ( * ’ ) placed over a vowel in 

German to indicate such a change, to show that 

the letter is to be pronounced with a different 

vowel than it would be pronounced with were 

the umlaut sign not there. 

The principle of the umlaut survives in English 

in a number of what are now considered 

irregular plurals. As the Germans say mann for 

the singular and mh’nner (rhyming with English 

tenor) for the plural of mann, so we have a 

normal umlaut in goose, geese and tooth, teeth 

and a development of what was a normal umlaut 

in mouse, mice and cow, kine, and so on. Umlaut 

also survives in some irregular verb forms: a 

tree falls, but it is felled, and so on. 

unable. See incapable. 

unalloyed pleasure, with its suggestion of “pure 

delight” or “golden hours,” is a cliche. 

unambiguous means not open to various interpretations, 

not having a double meaning, not 

equivocal. Yet even if there is only one meaning, 

one is not justified in equating unambiguous 

with clear or perfectly clear; for even a word or 

statement which has only a single meaning may 

be hard to comprehend. 

unapt. See inapt. 

unaware; unawares. At one time these words 

were used interchangeably. Today, unaware is 

the only form that can be used to qualify a noun 

or pronoun, as in he was unawure of his danger. 

Either form may be used to qualify any other 

part of speech, as in I blessed them unaware and 

he came upon it unawares. The form with s is 


unbeknown; unbeknownst. Neither of these words 

occurs in natural speech today, and one is as 

good as the other if the purpose is to be quaint. 

But a hundred years ago, when the words were 

used to mean “unknown,” the form unbeknown 

was standard English, and unbeknownst was 

condemned. 

unbelievable. See incredible. 

unbend as a transitive verb means to release from 

the strain of effort or close application or to relax 

by laying aside formality. In mechanical things 

it means to release from tension, as a bow in 

archery. It can also mean to straighten from a 

bent position (He unbent the paper clip and used 

it to clenn the stem of his pipe). In nautical 

terminology, to unbend is to loose or untie, as 

a sail or a rope, or to unfasten from spars or 

stays, as sails (As some grave Tyrian trader. . ./ 

. . . held on indignantly/ . . . To where the Atlantic 

raves/ Outside the Western Straits, and 

unbent sails/ There . . .“). The intransitive form 

is more often used, and misused, of persons. It 

means to relax the strictness of formality or ceremony, 

to act in an easy, genial manner (Doesn’t 

he ever unbend? Is he always this stiff and 

formal? Sometimes he would unbend and spend 

a social evening with a few select friends). 

In using the ideas of bending and unbending 

in figures of speech, there is a danger that has to 

be watched for. As applied to physical objects, 

such as bows, bending involves increase in tension 

and unbending relaxation of tension. In 

regard to human beings, however, the situation is 

ambiguous. A state of tension may be conveyed 

by straightness, erectness, stiffness, which is relaxed 

by bending. Yet one may also be under 

tension when bending and relax by straightening 

up-as anyone knows who has ever picked berries 

or worked with a hoe. One has to be certain, 

therefore, when using bending and unbending in 

reference to human beings, especially in figurative 

uses, that one’s meaning is clear. 

uncomparable; incomparable. Uncomparable is 

more limited in meaning than incomparable. It 

means that cannot be compared (Apples and 

automobiles are uncomparable). Incomparable 

means matchless or unequaled, beyond comparison 

by reason of excellence rather than by reason 

of dissimilarity (Venezia’s beauty was incomparable). 

Incomparable is also used to convey the 

sense of uncomparable, far more often indeed, in 

contemporary usage, than uncomparable itself. 

unconscious; subconscious. In popular usage subconscious 

means imperfectly or not wholly conscious 

(Some subconscious thozcght told me not 

to sell, attractive as the offer then seemed). In 

psychological terminology, the subconscious

means those processes of being and awareness 

which exist or operate beneath or beyond consciousness 

(The subconscious self is the subject 

matter of many modern novelists). 

Unconscious in ordinary use means not conscious, 

temporarily without consciousness (He 

was unconscious for five minutes after Johnson 

knocked him out); not aware of something (Mrs. 

Wiggs was apparently zrnconscious of the sensation 

she was causing) ; not known to or perceived 

by oneself (It was an unconscious slip of rhe 

tongue and he was plainly puzzled by the rubdued 

laughter that greeted it) ; unintentional (He 

was the victim of an unconscious slight). As a 

psychoanalytical term, the unconscious means an 

organization of the mind containing all psychic 

material not available in the immediate field of 

awareness. 

uncontrollable. See incontrollable. 

uncorrected. See incorrect. 

uncouth. See exotic. 

unctious; unctuous. Unctious is a common ,misspelling 

and mispronunciation of unctzzousthough 

the misspeller and mispronouncer may 

unctuously insist, if he chooses, that he is merely 

employing an obsolete variant. Unctuous means 

of the nature of or characteristic of an unguent 

or ointment, oily, or greasy. Used figuratively, it 

is a term of disparagement, meaning complacently 

agreeable and self-satisfied, a little more than 

smooth, a little less than greasy. It is applied particularly 

to those who are characterized by religious 

unction or fervor, especially of an affected 

and insincere kind (There was no really good 

unctuous violence to be had except by turning 

chamoion of reli~ion--Sinclair Lewis). Used of 

, I I 

certain minerals, with no suggestion ‘of disparagement, 

it means having an oily or soapy feel. 

The English have a slang word soapy which is 

somewhat stronger than unctuous as a figurative 

term of disparagement, or at least more open in 

its contempt (Bishop Wilberforce, colloquially 

known as “Soapy Sam,” was brought up as the 

heavy artillery to demolish the godless theory of 

evolution once and for all). 

under is primarily an adverb or preposition. When 

combined with a verb it may carry the meaning 

“beneath,” “short of,” or “supporting.” It may 

also be used as an adjective to qualify a noun, as 

in the under portion, the under side. As an adjective 

it has a superlative form, undermost,. but 

no comparative. 

under (in clichts). Under introduces many clich&. 

To be under a cloud is to be temporarily out of 

favor or in disgrace. To be under the aegis of is 

to be under the protection of someone powerful. 

The aegis was the storm-cloud and thunder-cloud 

of Zeus, imagined in Homer as a shield forged 

by Hephaestus, blazing brightly and fringed with 

tassels of gold, and in its center the drea.dfuI 

head of Medusa, the sight of which turned men 

to stone. It was borne not only by Zeus but by his 

daughter, Pallas Athene, and sometimes in battle 

the god or goddess interposed it between a fa.vorite 

and a threatened danger. Under the sun has 

passed almost beyond the stage of being a cllich6 

527 understand 

into being accepted as a phrase-word for anywhere. 

To be under the thumb of someone is to 

be completely controlled by that person, often 

with the suggestion that the controlled one has 

lost the very power of making decisions, or even 

wishes, for himself. To be under the weather is 

to be sick, not violently or desperately sick but 

vaguely unwell, usually with an accompanying 

dejection of spirits. The phrase is a nineteenthcentury 

coinage of uncertain origin. 

All of these expressions are now clichts. Each 

originally had an idea or a figurative application 

of some known fact that made it arresting and 

pungent. But overuse has deadened them. 

under the circumstances. See circumstances. 

under (over) one’s signature. That which is 

written over one’s signature is simply something 

to which one has signed his name. It could be 

a letter, a poem, anything. That which is written 

under one’s signature (as, in the legal phrase, 

under my hand and seal) is by the use of this 

phrase indicated to be authorized, warranted, or 

attested by the signer. See also superscription. 

under separate cover. See enclosed herewith. 

under way. See way; weigh. 

underground. For half a century underground 

has been the English term for underground railroad, 

what Americans call the subway. In United 

States history underground railroad, before the 

abolition of slavery, was the name of an arrangement 

among opponents of slavery for helping 

fugitive slaves to escape into Canada or some 

other place of safety. Underground has also a 

recent sense of a secret organization, fighting the 

established government or occupation forces, 

especially such an organization in the fascistoverrun 

nations of Europe before and during 

World War II. Since World War II underground 

has been applied to organized anti-Communists 

in Communist countries and to organized Communist 

sympathizers in Western countries. 

undershirt; vest. What an American calls an 

undershirt--an inner shirt, worn next to the skin 

-an Englishman calls a vest. What most Americans 

call a vest, an Englishman calls a waistcoat. 

Americans know and use the word waistcoat 

but not so much as formerly. It is interesting 

that Oliver Wendell Holmes, an American, re 

garded vest as a “cockney” term. 

understand. The past tense is understood. The 

participle is also understood. An old form of the 

participle, understanded, is sometimes used today 

for its archaic effect. It has not been normal 

English since about the year 1600. See know. 

understand, 1. So many meanings can be attached 

to the common phrase I understand that it must 

be used with caution if one wishes to be clear. 

It can mean, at one end of its scale, that one is 

not only fully aware of the meaning of something 

that has been said but comprehends all of 

its implications as well (I comprehended all that 

he said, but I failed to understand why he was 

so upset). At the other end of its scale of meanings 

it can mean “I do not understand at all and 

never will be able to.” The English use it in this 

sense more than Americans do, interjecting it

understood 528 

with humorous modesty into technical explanations 

(These things work, 1 understand, on the 

principle of. etc.). What the speaker means is “I 

have been told, but it’s beyond my comprehension.” 

In between these extremes, the expression 

can mean to believe, to suspect, to know, to have 

been informed, or, as Sir Alan Herbert adds, 

“There is a strong rumor at the club.” Certainly 

there is a difference between saying I understand 

that you are not satisfied and saying I know that 

you are not satisfied and all the difference in the 

world in the signification of I understand in Z 

understand that you are not satisfied and I understand 

why you are not satisfied. See also know; 

comprehend; understand. 

understood. See understand. 

undiscriminating; indiscriminating. Undiscriminating 

is the term strongly preferred in England and 

America to mean not discriminating and indiscriminate 

to mean not discriminated. 

undoubtedlv: doubtless: indubitablv. Undoubtedly 

is thyusual word; signifying deyond doubt, 

indisputably. Doubtless is not so strong a word. 

It means without doubt, unquestionably; but it 

also is concessive, suggesting probability or presumption. 

Indubitably is a pretentious substitute 

for either undoubtedly or doubtless. 

undue, meaning not requisite, not necessary, excessive, 

too great, needs to be used with intelligent 

care. For instance, the statement He didn’t 

seem unduly concerned about his grades, that is, 

“He didn’t seem any more concerned than there 

was reason for concern,” is a pretty loose statement 

by itself. One has to know how much 

concern would have been reasonable before the 

statement can convey a clear idea. Even more 

unfortunate is the use of nndue in such a statement 

as There was no undue drunkenness in 

town Saturday night. One wonders how much 

drunkenness was due. Undue, in such a context, 

needs qualification. It has a meaning in: There 

was no undue drunkenness in town, if we remamber 

that this n’us the first liberty the crew had 

had in three months. 

undying, deathless, and immortal all mean not 

liable or subject to death, though they seem to 

express slightly different shades of conviction of 

perpetuity. Undying has often the sense of unceasing 

(the undying worm, the undying buritone 

of the sea), a sense not shared with the 

others. In the common phrase undying affection 

the ideas of unceasing and lasting forever are 

combined. Deathless and immortal are closer together 

in meaning not subject to death or destruction, 

unceasing or perpetual in time (Ne’er 

shall oblivion’s murky cloud/ Obscure his deathless 

praise). While deathless stresses freedom 

from death, immortal emphasizes endurance 

through all time (Unto the King eternal, immortal, 

invisible. the onlv wise God. be honor and 

g&y for ever. Lap- me in soft Lydian airs,/ 

Married to immortal verse). The immortals are 

the classical divinities. The Forty Immortals are 

the members of the French Academy. 

unelastic. See inelastic. 

unestimable; inestimable. Inestimable is the only 

form now used in the United States (His opinion 

was of inestimable value). It is the preferred 

form in England, although unestimable is still 

accepted there in the sense of too great to be 

estimated. 

unexplainable. See inexplicable. 

unfertilized; infertile; unfertile. Unfertilized is the 

correct word meaning unimpregnated (as of animals 

or plants) or unenriched (as of soil). Znfertile 

is the preferred word meaning not fertile, 

unfruitful, unproductive, barren. Unfertile is its 

less used synonym. 

unfrequent; unfrequented; infrequent; infrequency. 

Znfrequent is greatly preferred to Llnfrequent 

to convey the idea of happening or 

occurring at long intervals or not often (These 

infrequent visits to the city became an increasing 

burden); not constant, habitual. or regular (He 

wus an infrequerzt visitor to the city). Unfrequented 

is correct, infrequented incorrect, in the 

sense of not frequented, little resorted to or visited, 

solitary (Kidd was believed to have hidden 

hi.7 gold on un unfrequented island). Infrequency 

is the preferred noun meaning the state of being 

infrequent (Gradually she became accustomed 

to the infrequency of his visits). The American 

alternative, infrequence, and the English alternatives, 

infrequence and unfrequency, are rarely 

used. 

unharmonious. See inharmonious. 

unheard-of. From its primary sense of that which 

was never heard of, unheard-of has come to 

mean such as was never known before, new, 

strange, unprecedented. In this changing meaning 

there is a likelihood of ambiguity that must 

be watched for. If a message, for instance, is 

described as unheard-of, the context must make 

it plain whether this means that the message was 

not received or heard of, or whether it was in 

some way, perhaps in its insolence, unprecedented. 

unhuman; inhuman. Znhuman is the correct adjective 

meaning lacking natural human feeling or 

sympathy for others: brutal (The inhuman treutment 

inflicted on the captives sowed the seeds of 

undying hatred). In America inhuman also has 

the secondary sense of not human, unlike some 

human attribute or function. The English express 

this sense with the word unhumun (It was 

an unhumun voice, more like a crow’s). Americans 

use unhuman as the less desirable alternative 

to both senses of inhuman. 

unimportant. See inconsequent. 

unintelligible. See unthinkable. 

uninterested. See disinterested. 

unique once meant “only,” as in his unique son. 

It can no longer be used in this sense. Today 

unique may mean “in a class by itself,” but it 

more often means “unparalleled” or simply “remarkable.” 

In this, it is following the pattern of 

singular. In all its current senses unique may be 

used with words that imply degrees, such as 

more unique and quite unique. Some people believe 

that there is something about the meaning

of uniqzre that makes expressions of this lkind 

“illogical” or improper, but these expressions are 

used freely by outstanding writers and educators 

today. One grammarian, commenting on the 

much condemned quite unique points out that 

the word here means “unparalleled” and that we 

certainly do say quite unparalleled. He then says 

of the word unique itself: “I don’t see anything 

quite unique in it.” See also comparison of adjectives 

and adverbs. 

unique; singular; exceptional. Unique and singular 

may be used as synonyms, but singular is 

more often used in the sense of extraordinary, 

remarkable (The child has a singular inability to 

comprehend the simplest instruction). Exceptional 

also may be used as a synonym for uniqcte 

in its sense of forming an exception, or forming 

an exceptional or unusual instance. However, it 

is more often used, like singular, to mean simply 

unusual or extraordinary. 

United States. National or geographical names 

that have plural forms are usually treated as 

plurals, as in the Netherlands are in Europe, the 

Hebrides are part of Scotland. But the United 

States is usually treated as a singular in English. 

We say the United States is in North America. 

The plural construction these United States is 

used, but it is felt to be poetic and it is avoided 

before a verb. That is, we might say in these 

United States we believe in elections but we 

would not say these United States are having an 

election. See America. 

unities. The unities are the three principles of 

dramatic plot construction: action, time and 

place. The only really important unity is that of 

action; that is, a logical connection between the 

incidents of a play. Aristotle called attention to 

the essential character of this unity when he defined 

tragedy as “an imitation of an action that 

is complete and whole.” 

The principle of unity of time was an outgrowth 

of Aristotle’s observation that “tragedy 

endeavors, as far as possible, to confine itself to 

a single revolution of the sun, or but slightly to 

exceed this limit.” It remained for sixteenth 

century Italian critics to convert this description 

into dogma. Once the rule was established it was 

interpreted variously: some followed Aristotle in 

judging a day to consist of a single revolution of 

the sun, or twenty-four hours; others limited the 

time to twelve hours (day, as distinguished from 

night); a fastidious few felt that the hours represented 

in the action should not exceed the 

hours actually consumed in the theatrical presentation. 

The principle of unity of place is not Aristotelian 

at all, but is the innovation of Italian 

Renaissance critics. Interpretations of what constituted 

unity of place have been various: some 

critics insist that the action of a whole play must 

be played at a particular spot; others are content 

if it is confined to a given locality, as a city. 

Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist is an English play 

which observes the unities. But good plays that 

do so are rare. From Shakespeare on, play- 

529 university 

wrights in English have generally observed unity 

of action, but unity of action only-though some 

neoclassicals, such as Dryden and Congreve, 

have observed the other unities as well. 

Actually the unities have interested critics 

more often than they have interested dramatists. 

Today the playwright is most concerned with 

unity of impression-which may or may not follow 

from a unified action. 

unity is one of the three basic principles of rhetorical 

structure. The other two are coherence 

and emphasis. Unity means the relation of all the 

parts or elements of a work in such a way as to 

produce a harmonious whole with a single general 

effect. 

A sentence, for example, becomes a sentence 

by virtue of having unity, of completing a 

thought. 

Paragraphs lack unity if they include unrelated 

materials. They are likely to have unity if 

their material is appropriate to fulfilling a definite 

segment of the writer’s larger purpose. A 

good way for the beginner to test his paragraphs 

for unity is for him to see whether or not the 

whole point of the paragraph can be summarized 

in a single sentence. 

A piece of writing as a whole has unity if the 

fundamental interest, the subject, permeates the 

entire composition and makes it one thing. A 

unified piece of writing is the fruit of clear, systematic 

thinking. 

university; college. In the United States a university 

is an institution of learning of the highest 

grade, having a college of liberal arts and a program 

of graduate studies, together with several 

professional schools, as of theology, law, medicine, 

engineering, and authorized to confer degrees. 

In England, the university is the whole 

body of teachers and students pursuing, at a 

particular place, the higher branches of learning. 

In the United States college means an institution 

of higher learning, especially one not divided, 

like a university, into distinct schools and faculties, 

and affording a general or liberal education 

rather than technical or professional training 

(The College of William and Mary is one of our 

oldest institutions of higher learning); a constituent 

unit of a university, furnishing courses 

of instruction in the liberal arts and sciences, 

usually leading to the degree of bachelor (Harvard 

College is the undergraduate unit of Harvard 

University); an institution for special or 

professional instruction as in medicine, pharmacy, 

agriculture, or music, often set up as a 

part of a university (The College of Agriculture 

was some distance from the main university 

buildings). In England, a college is an endowed, 

self-governing association of scholars incorporated 

within a university (Pembroke College 

was in Johnson’s affectionate phrase, “a nest of 

singing birds”); a charitable foundation of the 

collegiate type; or other educational corporations 

which prepare students for the universities 

(Eton College, Winchester College). 

In idiomatic usage, university and college are

UIlhOWIl 530 

differently referred to: one goes to college, one 

goes to Ihe university. 

unkuown; onknownst. Unknown is standard 

English. Unknownst is considered incorrect. 

unlawful. See illegal. 

unless is usually a conjunction. It introduces a 

condition and is equivalent to if not, as in how 

shall I know, unless I go to Cairo and Cathay? 

But it may also be used as a preposition, that is, 

without introducing a full clause. In that case, it 

has the meaning of “except” or “but,” as in nor 

was he ever known to curse, unless against the 

government. 

uumaterial; immaterial. Immaterial is the word 

used in both England and America to mean of 

no essential consequence, unimportant (It’s immaterial 

to me whether you report it or not); not 

material, incorporeal, spiritual (The soul is immaterial, 

unfleshly ). If unmaterial is used, it may 

only be used as a less desirable substitute for 

immaterial in the second sense. 

unmeasurable; immeasurable. The English prefer 

unmeasztrable in the literal sense of incapable of 

being measured (the unmeasurable depths of 

space), whether because of size or insusceptibility 

to measurement In transferred figurative 

senses they prefer immeasurable (immeasurable 

courage, immeasurable gratitude). In the United 

States immeasurable is preferred in all contexts 

and unmeasurable is becoming obsolete as an 

alternative. 

unmindful. See oblivious. 

unmoral. See immoral. 

unnatural; supernatural; supranatural; preternatural. 

Unnatural means not natural, not 

proper to the natural constitution or character; 

having or showing a lack of natural or proper 

instincts or feeling (Her composure at her 

mother’s funeral appeared unnatural to many 

people). It also means contrary to the nature of 

things; at variance with the ordinary course of 

nature, unusual, strange, abnormal; artificial or 

affected, forced or strained (He will even speak 

well of the bishop, though I tell him it is unnatural 

in a beneficed clergyman-George Eliot). 

One of the commonest meanings, a derivation 

from the first meaning, is more than usually 

cruel or evil (No, you unnatural hags,/ I will 

have such revenges on you both. . . .). 

Supernatural means being above or beyond 

what is natural, something not being or done 

through the operation of merely physical laws, 

but by some agency above and separate from 

these (Supernatural beings were taken for 

granted by the ordinary Greek. These supernatural 

explanations which come so readily to 

the uninformed and undisciplined mind entail a 

series of consequences which the same uninformed 

and undisciplined mind would be the 

first to reject if it could understand them). Supernatural 

is also used loosely to mean extraordinary 

or abnormal (It’s just supernatural, the way 

that guy finds things out). Supranatural is a 

synonym of supernatural, used occasionally in 

England but almost never in the United States. 

Preternatural designates something out of the 

ordinary course of nature, abnormal, exceptional, 

unusual. It was formerly used to describe 

something which might have been a work of 

nature, but was not (Dogs have a preternatural 

sense of smell. Bats have a preternatural sense 

of sight, for they can fly in total darkness and 

avoid objects placed in their way), but with the 

extension of our knowledge of the natural- 

“The unnatural,” said Goethe, “that also is natural”-it 

has come to be a slightly humorous 

hyperbole for abnormal, exceptional (Mr. Pickering 

was a widower-a fact which seemed to 

produce in him a sort of preternatural concentrafion 

of parenfal dignity-Henry James), or is 

used as an evasive synonym for supernatural by 

those who like to dabble in the occult but do not 

wish to accept the intellectual consequences of 

full immersion. 

unnecessary. See redundant. 

unorganized; disorganized. That is unorganized 

which is not organized, which lacks organic 

structure (He could take an unorganized group 

of boys and mold them into a team) ; not formed 

into an organized or systematized whole (This is 

not a book but simply an unorganized mass of 

notes). Unorganized has also the specific meaning, 

in contemporary American usage, when applied 

to labor, of not being organized into a 

labor union. Disorganized means having an 

existing organization destroyed or disrupted 

(Enemy infiltration had left the Command Post 

disorganized). 

unpractical. See impracticable. 

unqualified; disqualified. Unqualified means not 

qualified, not fitted, not having the requisite 

qualifications (Many students are unqualified to 

do advanced work). It also means not modified, 

not limited or restricted in any way (He rarely 

gave unqualified approval. He always had doubts 

and reservations and was hesitant to commend). 

Disqualified means deprived of qualification or 

fitness (He was disqualified from running for 

ofice because of a criminal record). 

unreadable. See illegible. 

unreligious; irreligious. In England unreligious is 

taken primarily to mean having no connection 

with or relation to religion. Only rarely does it 

have the secondary meaning of irreligious. In the 

United States, however, the primary meaning of 

unreligious is irreligious, and an ordinary secondary 

meaning is the neutral one of having no 

connection with religion (A minister has many 

duties that may perhaps be called unreligious, 

such as the repair and maintenance of the church 

building, the care of the lawn, and so on). In 

both England and America irreligious is a derogatory 

term, at least from the standpoint of 

the religious. It means not religious, impious, 

ungodly, showing a disregard of or hostility to 

religion. 

unresponsible; irresponsible. The currently used 

word is irresnonsible, meaning not responsible, 

not answerable or accountable, careless, reckless 

and indifferent to consequences (He entrusted

his business to an irresponsible relative and soon 

found himself ruined). It also means not capable 

of responsibility, done without a sense of responsibility 

(A young child is naturally, in many 

respects, irresponsible). Vnresponsible is a synonym 

used seldom in England, almost never in the 


~~~sanitary; insanitary. Some authorities in England 

urge the use of unsanitary in the sense of 

not possessing sanitation-though not posing, 

necessarily, a health problem (The unsanitary 

marshes, with their brackish smell . . .), and 

insanitary to mean injurious to health, unhealthy 

(insanitary slums. Open garbage cans and insanitary 

refuse lying in heaps showed all too 

plainly the city’s indifference to the health of 

those who lived in this neighborhood). In the 

United States, where the menace to human 

health of any non-sanitary condition has, perhaps, 

been more insistently dinned into the general 

consciousness (though that does not mean 

that more has been done about it than in England), 

unsanitary is the term in all senses and 

insanitary is a seldom-used synonym. 

unsatisfied; dissatisfied; disgruntled. Unsatisfied 

and dissatisfied both mean not contented, but dissatisfied 

is the stronger term. Unsatisfied means 

not satisfied in the sense of falling short of satisfaction 

(The one helping of porridge left his 

hunger unsatisfied and, to the consternation of 

Mr. Bumble, he asked for more). Dissatisfied 

means positively discontented, not pleased, offended 

(I was dissatisfied with his manners at the 

party), showing dissatisfaction (He had a dissatisfied 

expression on his face). Dissatisfied is 

often a euphemism for offended, especially when 

spoken to one who has been remiss by one to 

whose satisfaction the other must perform a task. 

Disgruntled is a stronger word than dissatisfied, 

implying a sulky discontent, a feeling of resentment 

at the failure to be satisfied. 

unsavory reputation is a journalistic cliche for a 

bad reputation or a bad name. How fine, by the 

way, the old term bad name sounds in contrast 

to this cumbrous substitute! (Endow a canine 

with an unsavory reputation and you might as 

well immerse him in an aqueous solution until he 

expires). 

unsolvable. See insoluble. 

rmsophistisated; inexperienced; nake; artless. Vnsophisticated 

indicates an unfamiliarity with or 

an inexperience of the ideas, tastes or manners 

of a worldly society (The unsophisticated are 

often charming in their innocence). Znexperienced 

is a more restrictive term. It means not 

experienced, without knowledge or skill gained 

from experience, and is usually applied to a particular 

activity (He was inexperienced at handling 

a large audience and gave way to panic at 

their laughter). Nai’ve means having or showing 

natural simplicity, ingenuous. It tends to be used 

of those whose behavior is so simple as to be 

laughable or at least amusing (One has to be 

pretty nai:ve to believe in the selflessness of the 

senator’s patriotism). Artless may be a neutral 

531 unthinkable 

term, describing one who is free from deceit. 

cunning or craftiness, guileless (The artless manner 

in which the child revealed the secret, without 

being at all aware of what she was doing, 

would have been amusing had not the secret itself 

been so dreadful). It may also be used, in a 

mildly deprecatory manner, to suggest a lack in 

art, knowledge, or skill (The little artless Rosey 

thumped the piano and warbled her ditties. Z can 

take only so much of her artless prattle). See 

also ndif; naive; naive. 

unspeakable and ineffable both mean inexpressible, 

but in their common, everyday uses they 

show how strongly connotation can color a 

meaning. For unspeakable, in its generally accepted 

sense, means that which cannot be expressed 

because it is so vile (His conduct in the 

presence of the ladies was unspeakable. He ought 

to be horsewhipped!) ; while ineffable means that 

which cannot be expressed or uttered because it 

is too wonderful (the ineffable joys of heaven) 

or dare not be uttered because it is too sacred 

(the ineffable name of God). 

unsufferable; insufferable. Insufferable is the usual 

word used to mean not to be endured, intolerable. 

unbearable (The man is an insuflerable 

jackass and Z refuse to go if he will be there). 

Vnsu.#erable is dying out as an alternative, both 

in the United States and in England. 

unthinkable; inconceivable; unintelligible. That is 

unthinkable, in the strictest sense, which cannot 

be thought or made an object of thought (What 

is contradictory is unthinkable). Except for infinity, 

the nature of God, and other metaphysical 

concepts, it is hard to think, indeed almost a 

contradiction in terms to try to think, of anything 

unthinkable. It is most commonly used, 

however, to mean something which will not be 

entertained in the mind or the imagination because 

it is highly improbable or because it is too 

base or degrading (It is unthinkable that he 

should be this late and not cull me, unless he has 

met with an accident. Such a compromise is unthinkable; 

we prefer to accept the consequences 

of refusing to agree to your terms). Unthinkable 

should not be used to mean unlikely or impossible, 

for the mind is well able to think of the 

unlikely and the impossible. 

Inconceivable means that which cannot be 

conceived or realized in the imagination (Zt is 

inconceivable that two straight lines should enclose 

a space). In common usage it means incredible 

or inexplicable (Zt is inconceivable that 

Alda should have taken the money. Z will not 

believe it without absolute proof and her own 

full confession). In this sense it is a close synonym 

for unthinkable, but it does not carry as 

strong a condemnation as unthinkable does. 

Unintelligible is sharply restrictive. It is confined 

almost exclusively to words which convey 

no conception whatever but are, for any reason, 

mere confused sounds or gibberish (I could distinguish 

his voice shouting to me through the 

storm across the arroyo, but the words were unintelligible 

to me).

UIltil 532 

until. See tin. 

untimely end as an expression for an early, particularly 

a premature, death, and especially in 

the phrase to come to an untimely end, is a hackneyed 

expression. 

untold wealth does not mean income feloniously 

concealed from the Collector of Internal Revenue 

but wealth so great that it cannot be 

counted. (An amusing illustration of the ineffectualness 

of euphemisms (which see) is supplied 

by the fact that this unpopular official has 

been renamed the Director of Internal Revenue 

without, so far as can be ascertained, mitigating 

the misery of payment or decreasing its attendant 

resentment one iota.) Told in the expression 

is the past participle of the verb tell in the now 

obsolescent meaning “to count.” The old meaning 

survives in the teller of a bank, telling one’s 

beads, in the phrase all told, and various other 

fossilized forms such as the nursery rime Young 

lambs to sell,/ Young lambs to sell./ If I’d as 

much money as I could tell,/ I never would cry, 

“Young lambs to sell!” The shepherd who was 

telling his tale under the hawthorne in the dale 

was not relating a narrative but counting his 

tally of sheep. Untold wealth is now a clicht. 

untruth. See lie. 

unwanted; unwonted. These words must have 

their meanings carefully distinguished. Unwanted 

means not wanted, not needed, not desired 

(They made little effort to conceal from the 

boy that he was an unwanted child. Unwilling, 

unwieldy, unwanted George). Unwonted means 

unaccustomed, not customary, not habitual, not 

usual (The unwonted exercise soon had the fat 

man pufing heavily). 

unwritten law. In England the expression the 

unwritten law means the general code of decency 

which by common understanding, outside of the 

specific injunction of statutes, governs the conduct 

of reasonable men. This meaning is recognized 

in America, but in common usage the 

unwritten law refers exclusively to the supposed 

principle of the right of the individual to avenge 

wrongs against personal or family honor, especially 

in cases involving relations between the 

sexes. It must be said, however, that except in 

Texas, an appeal to the unwritten law is not 

accepted (though frequently made) as an extenuation,of 

murder. 

up. This word is primarily an adverb meaning 

“toward a higher position,” as in look up; but it 

may also be used as an adjective to qualify a 

noun, as in the up stroke. As an adjective it has 

the comparative form upper and the superlative 

forms upmost and uppermost. Upper is comparative 

only in form. It is felt as a positive, 

descriptive adjective and cannot be used in a 

comparison. Up is occasionally used as a preposition, 

as in up the river, and as a verb meaning 

raise, as in he upped one end of the plank and 

he upped the price. In the nursery it is sometimes 

used to mean vomit. 

The adverb up has a variety of meanings. It 

may hzve its literal sense, as in climb up, sit up, 

get up. The idea of “higher” is easily extended to 

what is superior, increased, or advanced, and up 

may be used with these implications, as in up 

from slavery, heat up, speed up, grow up. It carries 

the sense of “advanced in time” in up to now 

and from his youth up. It is also used in a great 

many ways that are not so obviously connected 

with its basic meaning. Two of these are worth 

noticing. 

Up sometimes carries the idea of “completion,” 

which may have grown out of the idea of 

“advanced in time.” Both ideas can be seen in 

the time is up. In any case, many of the so-called 

meaningless up’s actually have the force of 

“completely,” as in buy up, fill up, hush up, 

hurry up, wake up, and should not be condemned 

as useless verbiage. 

Up is also used to suggest commotion, or increased 

energy, as in their sounds rouse up the 

astonished air, up in arms, and the more homely 

expressions, an up and coming town, he up and 

ran. Speak up asks for more energy than speak. 

And the dialectal he up and died surprises us 

with its note of willfulness; he lay down and 

died seems a more natural way to act. A number 

of verbs can be used with either up or 

down, without any real difference in meaning. 

Often, but not always, down is the reasonable, 

descriptive adverb that one would expect to see 

used and up is substituted for it when a greater 

effort is required. Men drink down their beer but 

children are told to drink LID their milk. We 

write down an address but we-write up a report. 

Slow up is perhaps more abrupt than slow down. 

On the other hand, there is no such difference 

between burn up and burn down, sober up and 

sober down. 

A number of verbs may be used with either 

up or out, but here there is usually a slight difference 

in meaning, as in think up, think out; 

figure up, figure 01/t; clean up, clean out; crop up, 

crop out; act up, act out. The word out always 

adds something of the sense of “from within” or 

“from concealment” that is lacking in the compounds 

with up. 

Up is also used in speaking of geographic 

directions. In Great Britain it may mean inland, 

or away from the coast, or it may mean toward 

a place of greater importance, such as London 

or a nearby city. In the United States we 

are more map-minded and up usually means 

“north,” or toward the top of the map. If a city 

is neither up nor down from us on the map, we 

are likely to go on to it; and although we say 

down on the farm, we usually go out to rural 

areas. 

up in arms, as a term for being aroused, especially 

with indignation, and ready to take 

action in defense or reprisal, is worn and stale. 

up to scratch. This used to be to come up to 

scratch or to come up to the scrutch. The scratch 

was a line drawn formerly across the boxing 

ring, up to which the boxers were brought to 

start a bout. One who came up to (the) scratch 

did what was expected of him, was prepared to

go through with the encounter to which he was 

committed. The expression is used to mean this 

today but is also used loosely to mean up to 

normal, doing as well as could be expected. In 

either sense it is hackneyed. 

up to the hilt. A dagger plunged into someone’s 

body up to the hilt was, plainly, in as deep as it 

could go. But one may be deeply involved in 

many things of such a nature or in such a way 

that the phrase is ludicrous. And, in any event, 

it is a clich6. 

upper; upmost. See up. 

upset t6e applecart. The Romans had a saying 

You’ve upset the cart, meaning “You’ve ruined 

everything.” What genius in the eighteenth century 

thought of making it an applecart will now 

never be known, but it was one of those additions 

to a homely phrase (like Shakespeare’s “son 

and heir of a mongrel bitch”) that surprised 

with a fine excess and caught the popular fancy 

at once. Unfortunately the humorous vigor and 

vividness of the amended expression had too 

wide an appeal. It was soon overworked and is 

now exhausted. 

upward; upwards. Upward is the only form that 

can be used to qualify a following noun, as in 

nn upward movement. Either form may be used 

in any other construction, as in he looked upwards 

and he looked upward. The form upward 

is generally preferred in the United States. 

Both forms, upwards and upward, may be used 

to mean “more than,” as in upwards of five hundred 

people and upward of twenty years. 

urbane.. See polite. 

urge. This verb mav be followed bv an infinitive. 

as in I urged him-to go, or by the-ing form of a 

verb, as in I urged his going. It may also be followed 

by a clause but the clause verb must be a 

subjunctive or a subjunctive equivalent, as in I 

urged that he go. The infinitive construction is 


us. See objective pronouns. 

use; utilize; exploit; work. Use is the everyday 

word for making something serve one’s purposes 

(Use your eyes, child! It’s right there in front of 

you!). When applied to persons, it has a selfish 

and even sinister connotation (He’s only using 

you). It would be more tactful, for example, to 

say, I could use your help this afternoon than to 

say, I could use you this afternoon; though where 

the relationship is friendly the second wording 

would be accepted as a mere shortening of the 

first. The use of used as a commercial euphemism 

for second-hand or worn has given it a 

depreciatory meaning. 

Utilize implies a practical or profitable use 

and, in its stricter sense, making a practical or 

profitable use of something when something else 

more desirable is not available C Well. vou’ll iust 

have to utilize what’s there. Such &s of-the 

tongue are often utilized by unscrupulous men 

when they luck anything definite to charge their 

opponents with). 

To exploit is to turn to practical account, to 

use for profit (He exploited the concession to the 

533 used to 

last penny). It often means-and when applied 

to persons invariably means-to use selfishly for 

one’s own ends (They have exploited that child 

mercilessly). 

To work, as a transitive verb, in its serious 

senses, is to expend labor upon (He worked the 

soil. If the clay is worked in the hands it will 

soon become soft and malleable). In loose speech 

it is often used as a synonym for exploit and 

utilize in their pejorative senses (She’s been 

working him for forty years). 

use; usage. Use is the act of employment or 

putting into service (Have you any use for a 

good set of matched irons?). Usage means either 

a manner of use-often, in a derogatory sense, 

rough and therefore somewhat damaging use 

(These tools have had hard usage, friend: I can’t 

give you much for them), or a habitual practice 

which has served to create a standard, especially 

in matters of language and the meanings of 

words (A Dictionary of Modern English Usage). 

It is in this last sense that the word usage is 

employed in this volume. 

used to. The verb use, meaning to make use of, 

is perfectly regular with a past tense and participle 

used, as in I used it yesterday. It is never 

followed by a verb form and presents no problems. 

The expression used to means something quite 

different. When it is combined with a form of 

the verb be it is followed by the -ing form of a 

verb, as in he was used to sleeping late, and 

means accustomed to or familiar with. In any 

other construction used to is followed by the 

simple form of a verb (or we might say used is 

followed by a to-infinitive), as in he used to sleep 

lute. Here it means “habitually did, at some unspecified 

time in the past.” Would may also be 

used to express habitual action, but with would 

the time at which the action was habitual must 

be specified. We may say I used to get up early, 

but if would is used there must he some specifying 

clause, such as when I was a child I would 

get up early. Would in this construction suggests 

endless repetition more strongly than used to 

does and is a more literary form. When used in 

ordinary speech it gives the impression that the 

speaker is composing his memoirs rather than 

giving a factual account of the past. Would cannot 

be used in this sense with a verb that does 

not imply action. We can say I used to like 

chocolate but not when I was a child I would 

like chocolate. 

In speech the d of used merges with the t of 

to and the two words are always pronounced 

use to. But in the United States the form use to 

never appears in print except after the verb did, 

and there it is required. 

In the United States, questions and negative 

statements involving used to require the word 

did, as in did there use to be owls here?, he didn’t 

use to drink, didn’t you use to like her?. In Great 

Britain, the auxiliary did is never used and 

these American constructions are generally condemned. 

Englishmen say used there to be owls

usual 534 

here?, he usen’t to drink, and use& you to like 

her?. The negative statement he used not to 

drink is acceptable in both countries. 

Used to may follow had, as in where they had 

used to be, but this is an extremely literary 

construction. In everyday speech we say merely 

where they used to be. Used to cannot follow 

a subjunctive auxiliary. Sentences such as Z 

couldn’t used to are sometimes heard but are 

not considered acceptable. 

usual; customary; habitual. That is usual which 

occurs more often than not, which is to be expected, 

is the normal state of affairs (Business as 

usual during alterations. The poor, there as elsewhere, 

live in their usual misery). That is customary 

which occurs in the larger part of all 

cases observed, which is consonant with the custom 

or use or practice of an individual or, 

especially, a community. (Zt was customary 

among country folk then to proportion the blessing 

to the food, and Sunday dinner, the heaviest 

and best meal of the week, was always prefaced 

with an unusually long grace. ‘Tis not alone my 

inky cloak, good mother,/ Nor customary suits 

of solemn black). And as a habit is more deeply 

ingrained than a custom, so habitual goes beyond 

customary (as customary goes beyond 

usual) in indicating a uniform and unbroken 

vacant. See empty. 

vacation; holiday. Although the English recognize 

vacation as a holiday, they no longer use the 

word much in this sense, confining it to those 

periods during which the activities of the law 

courts, universities, and schools are suspended. 

In the United States the word means any freedom 

from release of duty, business, or activity, 

a holiday period (Visitors to Oregon have a wide 

choice of attractions from which to supplement 

sight-seeing and other vacation activities in Oregon’s 

cool, green vacationlands. Z think 1’11 take 

a vacation this weekend; I’m fed up with always 

taking work home from the ofice). In this, as is 

often the case, the American usage is the older 

English usage. 

For vacation the English would say holiday; 

for those on vacation, holiday-makers; and for 

the verb to vacation, to take a holiday (Zt took 

place about ten years ago when Z was vacationing 

at Mackinac Island. Z was taking my holiday 

at Margate when Ethel’s husband died). Holiday, 

in American usage, is pretty much confined 

to some one specific day fixed by law or custom 

on which ordinary business is suspended or to a 

special dav off from school (Washineton’s birth- 

&v has been declared a holiday. *he teachers 

had their annual convention and the kids got a 

adherence to some act, or a response so deeply 

ingrained as to be beyond conscious control and 

a part of the character (The habitual frown that 

darkened his countenance had so come to be 

considered his ordinary expression that this unexpected 

smile, cracked grimace as it was, tended 

more to alarm than to warm the onlookers. The 

habitual tendency of all people to turn on their 

former idols . . .). 

usual; usually. The form usually is required immediately 

before or after a verb, as in he spoke 

more than he usually does, he spoke more than 

he does usually, and immediately before an adjective, 

as in he is usually quiet, he was more 

than usually quiet. In any other position the 

form usual is required, as in he spoke more than 

usual and he was more quiet than usual. The 

form usual may be used to qualify a noun, as in 

his usual reticence. 

utilize. See use. 

utter. In addition to its common, everyday meaning 

of giving audible expression to, the verb to 

utter has several specialized legal meanings that 

sometimes startle the ordinary reader. To utter a 

libel is to publish it, to make it publicly known 

by any means. To utter forged documents or 

counterfeit money is to put them into circulation. 

utter; utmost. See out. 

holiday). In this second meaning, day off would 

probably be more common. 

vacuity; vacuous; vacuousness. Vacuity and vacuousness 

are nouns referring to emptiness. Vacuous 

is the adjective. It means empty, without 

contents. Its connotation of “vacuum” makes it 

a stronger word than empty. Used figuratively, 

and it is commonly used only figuratively, it 

means empty of ideas or intelligence, completely 

empty-as empty as a vacuum is of air; stupidly 

vacant; showing mental vacancy (I could tell 

from the vacuous look on his face that we were 

wasting time asking him questions). Vacuity is 

the usual noun to describe the state of being 

vacuous or empty; absence of contents; emptiness; 

an empty space; a vacuum; absence or 

lack of something specified; vacancy of mind, 

thought; absence of idea or intelligence; inanity 

(The vacuity of these conversations is depressing); 

something inane or senselessly stupid. 

Vacuousness is the noun commonly used to describe 

a face or an expression which is vacuous 

(From the vacuousness of their expressions he 

could tell that he was not in the presence of 

intellectual giants). 

vacuum. The plural is vacuums or vacua. 

valise in England is now used only in a military 

context to describe a soldier’s knapsack; specifi-

tally, a cylindrical cloth or leather case for carrying 

the kit or outfit of a soldier, especially of a 

cavalryman or artilleryman (The officer commanding 

a piquet will decide if patrols are to 

wear valises or not). In the United States the 

word continues to have its old meaning of a 

traveler’s case for holding clothes and toilet articles, 

now especially one of leather, of moderate 

size, for carrying by hand, a traveling bag (I 

usually carry my valise myself and leave the 

heavier suitcases for the porter). 

valuable; valued. Valuable applies to whatever 

has value, but especially to what has considerable 

value either in money or because of its 

usefulness or rarity (He kept a valuable edition 

of Comus locked in his private safe). That is 

valued which is highly regarded or esteemed, 

estimated or appraised, or has had its value specified 

(His was a highly valued opinion. The car 

was valued at not more than fifty dollars). Something 

which is valuable may not be valued, and, 

conversely, something which is valued may not 

be valuable. 

valuable asset seems, on first thought, to be redundant, 

since asset itself, a useful thing or 

quality, a property, is regarded as valuable. Yet 

where there are many assets one may be valuable 

compared to the others or even a single asset 

may have a special value. It’s illogical, but it is 

serviceable and standard usage to refer to a 

valuable asset. (Moore is a valuable asset to the 

department; we wouldn’t want to lose him). 

vanish into tbin air. Since our ancestors knew 

very little about the varying density of air, thin 

air was simply an intensive for air which was 

thin compared to the other substances they knew. 

When Prosper0 in The Tempest said that the 

actors in his pageant were all spirits and/ Are 

Melted into air, into thin air, he was simply 

using (and, what’s more, going back and repeating 

himself in order to do so) what was even 

then a hackneyed phrase, for ghosts invariably 

melted or vanished into thin air. The phrase, 

now not used of ghosts so much as, usually in a 

tone of irritation, lost articles, is hackneyed. 

vanity. See pride. 

vantage and advantage were once interchangeable 

but are now distinct. Advantage means any 

state, circumstance, opportunity, or means specially 

favorable to success, interest, or any desired 

end (He had the advantage of familiarity 

with the terrain); benefit, gain, profit (It is to the 

advantage of any young man to learn to depend 

on himself) : superiority or ascendancy (The fact 

that the one wrestler weighs thirty pounds more 

than the other gives him an unfnir advantage). 

It is an interesting reflection on the highly competitive 

nature of our society that the amenities 

and cultural pleasures of a well-to-do home are 

so frequently referred to as advantages or, often, 

every advantage (The child’s had all the advantages, 

coming from a nice home like that and in 

one of the best suburbs, tool). 

Vantage describes a particular sort of advantage. 

If advantage means opportunity, vantage 

means particular, special opportunity. It applies 

535 

to a position or condition affording superiority, 

as for action (He operated from the vantage of 

the New York publishing centers. Henry Tudor 

at Bosworth Field had the vantage of wind, sun, 

and ground). It may also mean position likely 

to give superiority: literally this may be used 

to describe a man looking over the countryside 

from the vantage of a hill or tower; figuratively, 

it might describe, for example, a poet reading 

new poetry from the vantage of his own knowledge 

of the art. 

vapid; insipid. Vapid means savorless and insipid 

means tasteless. Both words, that is, refer to 

something without or with very little taste, flat, 

without sharpness or distinction in savor. Insipid 

is more often used in the literal sense (Those 

shiny red apples look fine but the taste is insipid). 

In figurative terms, both words mean 

without animation or spirit, dull, uninteresting, 

tedious, as in talk, writing, or persons. Vapid has 

more of the suggestion of stupidity (This vapid, 

meaningless talk. Ninety-nine percent of all that 

appears in newspapers is vapid stuff). Insipid 

simply means without distinction, interest, or 

attractive qualities (The verse in ladies’ magazines 

is usually free from technical faults, but it 

rarely has any passion or even sensuousness and 

avoids any serious ideas. It’s insipid). In America 

insipid is used in all senses far more often 

than vapid. 

varicolored and variegated mean practically the 

same thing in the United States. Varicolored 

means having various colors, variegated in color, 

motley; and, more loosely, varied, assorted. 

Variegated means varied in appearance or color, 

marked with patches or spots of different colors: 

and, more loosely, varied, diversified, diverse. 

The words are used similarly in England, though 

some recent authorities insist that varicolored 

must be used in reference to color and that 

variegated should be. This would leave only 

varied to designate assorted or diversified. 

variety (in writing). See repetition. 

various. See different. 

varlet, for a low fellow or rascal, is now relegated 

to fraternity-house rodomontade. 

varmint; varmit. See vermin. 

vastly means to a great extent or in great proportions, 

especially when part of a comparison 

(He spoke in a vastly larger hall and found it 

disconcerting), but it may also be used to mean 

much, greatly, to a great degree (The Dean was 

vastly annoyed at the committee’s delay). The 

English regard this last use as an affectation. 

Vastly amused is almost a clichC. 

venal and venial look and sound much alike but 

they are quite different. Venal has implications 

of corruption, while venial, a word of mild reproach, 

means excusable. 

Venal, as applied to a person, means ready to 

sell one’s services or influence unscrupulously, 

accessible to bribery, corruptly mercenary (Many 

city politicians are not venal, but honest aldermen 

are in the minority). As applied to a thing, 

it means purchasable like mere merchandise, but 

always with a suggestion that there is something

sordid and improper in the transaction (The 

temple itself is exposed to sale, and the holy 

rites, as well as the beasts of sacrifice, are made 

venal). As applied to conduct, it means characterized 

by venality (They managed to come to a 

venal understanding with the police). 

That is venial which may be forgiven or pardoned, 

which is not seriously wrong (He committed 

the usual venial indiscretions of college 

boys), excusable (Those venial slips of the 

tongue, which are excusable and seem trivial, 

though often amusing in what they reveal, are 

not without considerable significance). In the 

Roman Catholic Church, a venial sin is a voluntary 

transgression of God’s law which, without 

destroying charity or union with God, retards 

man in attaining final union with Him. 

venal; mercenary; hireling. All of these words, 

when applied to persons, mean willing to be 

employed for pay and each carries a different 

degree of derogation, a suggestion of a different 

degree of dishonor involved in the willingness. 

Venal is the strongest in its condemnation. A 

venal man is willing to sell his honor, his individuality. 

He has no principle above “getting 

ahead” and acquiring wealth (Venal and licentious 

scribblers, with just suficient talents to 

clotlie the thoughts of a pander in the style of a 

bellman . . .). Venal, when so applied, also has 

a suggestion that the person referred to has sufficient 

intelligence to be aware of the moral problem 

involved and often has a high degree of 

intelligence and ability. Mercenary stresses the 

greed involved and the activity it incites, the fact 

that the sole motive for action is the desire for 

money (Mercenary troops, perfectly acquainted 

with every part of their profession, irresistible in 

the field, powerful to defend or destroy, but 

defending without love and destroying without 

hatred. These mercenary considerations, at a 

time when the thoughts of the others were moved 

by pity, came as a shock. What should have been 

an art, he has made a mercenary trade). When 

used as a noun, mercenary now refers exclusively 

to soldiers who fight solely for pay, and it 

is to the credit of human nature that the word in 

this sense does not carry quite as much opprobrium 

as it does when, as an adjective, it is 

applied to non-military matters. There may be 

something base about a man’s offering to sell 

his life for money, but there is also something 

pitiful, especially when the money was so little; 

and there is something noble, mitigating the initial 

baseness, in the fact that mercenary soldiers 

so often lived up to their bargain and died for 

their pay. It was the Swiss mercenaries, for example, 

that died defending Louis XVI when the 

mob stormed the Tuileries (August 10, 1792). 

Hireling as a noun, however (even though 

almost everybody today works for hire), is used 

only in contempt or reprobation, possibly because 

it has become fixed in scorn in the famous 

Biblical passage (The hireling fleeth, because he 

is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep). As 

an adjective, hireling stresses servility (A hireling 

host and rufian band/ Affright and desolate 

the land / While peace and liberty lie bleeding). 

It carries strong contempt but its effectiveness is 

weakened by the fact that it is now a literary 

word and if you are out to abuse someone it is 

well to avoid literary words. 

venerate. See reverence. 

venery. There are two venery’s. One means the 

gratification of sexual desire, the other the practice 

or sport of hunting (A monk ther was, a fair 

for the maistrye,/ An outridere that lovede vcnerye). 

The word in both senses is now archaic. 

A famous old English work. The Boke of Venerye 

Ljust to prevent undergraduates from putting 

library staffs to unnecessary trouble], is 

concerned with hunting. 

vengeful. See avenge. 

venom and poison both describe substances that 

injure the health or destroy life when absorbed 

into the system, especially of a higher animal. 

Poison is now the general word. Literally, it 

means any substance which by reason of an inherent 

deleterious property tends to destroy life 

or impair health (Prussic acid is one of the most 

powerful poisons known). Figuratively poison 

means anything harmful, fatal, baneful, or highly 

pernicious, as to character, happiness or wellbeing 

(The poison of totalitarian ideology is in 

almost everybody’s veins). 

Venom is a more limited term, describing the 

poisonous fluid which some animals, as certain 

snakes, spiders, scorpions, bees, secrete (Toad, 

that under cold stone/ Days and nights has 

thirty-one/ Sweltered venom sleeping got.. . ) 

and introduce into the bodies of their victims by 

biting or stinging (The venom of a rattlesnake 

will make a man very sick but will not necessarily 

kill him). Figuratively, venom means something 

resembling or suggesting poison in its effect; 

spite; malice (There was considerable venom in 

his criticism). The word carries the suggestion 

that the one who secretes or discharges the 

venom is reptilian. 

venture; adventure. Both words convey the idea 

of a hazardous or risky undertaking or enterprise. 

Venture is used chiefly to describe a business 

enterprise or proceeding in which loss is 

risked in the hope of profit; a commercial or 

other speculation (Zf the venture succeeds, they 

stand to make well over a million. Zf it fails, they 

will be wiped out, to a man!). 

Adventure means any exciting experience, 

often one in which there is an element of danger 

(In the night’s battle he had enough adventure 

to last a lifetime). When commerce had its real 

physical dangers, adventure could be used of a 

business undertaking. The Merchant Adventurers 

was an incorporated group of London merchants 

(whose Governor, by the way, was Sebastian 

Cabot). Perhaps business has become safer or 

more prosaic or perhaps excitement and glamour 

are now romantically conceived of as lying 

wholly outside of any commercial activity. 

In the phrase at a venture there is now no 

suggestion of danger or risk; it simply means “at 

random.” 

The adjective of adventure is adventurous. 

The adjective of venture is venturesome, with 

venturous leas often preferred.

veracious; truthful; true. True is the general 

word. Truthful means conforming to the truth 

(It was II truthful statement, not misrepresenting 

the event in any way) or habitually telling 

the truth (All through the valley he wus known 

us (I truthful person) or corresponding with 

reality (It was a truthful representation of their 

family life and all of them hung their heads in 

shame to hear it thus publicly stated). Veracious 

is roughly synonymous with truthful, but it is 

rather formal and pretentious and therefore, by 

a subtle suggestion, unsuited to the very quality 

it designates. It is seldom used. 

veracity; truth. Veracity is not a synonym for 

truth. Indeed, it is incorrectly used in the hackneyed 

statement I doubt the veracity of that 

statement. Veracity means not truth but truthfulness 

in speaking; habitual observance of truth 

(He was a man of proven veracity); or Conformity 

to truth or fact. 

veranda; verandah. See porch. 

verbal. See oral. 

verbal adjectives. See participles. 

verbal nouus. The infinitive and the -ing form of 

a verb both express the meaning of the verb 

without any further limitations. That is, they 

refer to the action without giving the specific 

information that is shown by tense, number, 

person, voice, or mode. They can be handled in 

a sentence as if they were nouns and are therefore 

called verbal nouns. 

Both forms can be used as the subject of a 

verb and as the complement of the verb to be, 

as in but to see her was to love her and seeing is 

believing. Both forms can be used in an unattached 

or independent phrase, as in speaking 

frankly, I don’t like it and to be candid with you, 

I don’t like it. And both forms can be used as the 

object of a verb, as in Betty likes to travel and 

Betty likes traveling. But as a rule, bcth forms 

cannot be used with the same verb. We say 

John wants to hear the story or John enjoys 

hearing it, but we cannot say John wants hearing 

the story or John enjoys to hear it. 

When either form can be used, some people 

feel that the infinitive is more concrete, and 

more forceful, than the -ing form. But frequently 

there is no choice. Avoid, postpone, stop, tolerate, 

can be followed by an -ing, but not by an 

infinitive. Agree, ask, desire, expect, can be followed 

by an infinitive, but not by an -ing. There 

is no reason for this. The difference is entirely a 

matter of custom, but it is often obligatory. 

Verbs that give the most trouble in this respect 

have been listed individually in this dictionary. 

The statements in these entries about what kind 

of object is acceptable with a particular verb 

represent American usage, not British. A construction 

that is acceptable in Great Britain is 

usually acceptable in the United States, but it 

may not be the preferred form. On the other 

hand, what is the preferred form in the United 

States may be unacceptable in Great Britain. In 

general, an American uses more infinitives than 

an Englishman does. In a book on language published 

in England recently, the author says in the 

preface that what the book aims at doing is to 

537 verbs 

show that there is no real reason for being discouraged. 

These -ings have a curious, countrified 

tone to most Americans, who are more likely to 

use aim to do and no reason to be. 

verbiage; verbosity. The distinctions between 

these two words are somewhat differently drawn 

in England and the United States. In the United 

States verbiage means an abundance of useless 

words, as in writing or speaking, wordiness (One 

had to cut a swathe through verbiage to get his 

main ideas). The word connotes contempt and 

there is often a suggestion of insincerity (Oh 

that was all verbiage! You didn’t expect a real 

promise to be hidden in that twaddle, did YOU?). 

Verbosity means a quality of being verbose; 

wordiness; superfluity of words, prolixity. It may 

be used of the speaker or writer or of what is 

spoken or written (He was a kind man, but his 

verbosity was exasperating. The verbosity of the 

statement could not conceal its real intent or 

soften the blow it dealt). It is not quite so contemptuous 

a word as verbiage (which may, perhaps, 

have acquired something from the resemblance 

of its sound to garbage). Verbiage describes 

a result and verbosity either a quality or 

a result. 

In England verbiage is applied mainly to 

writing, verbosity to speaking. Also, with the 

English, verbosity may mean wordiness, circumlocution; 

whereas verbiage suggests excessive 

wordiness. 

verbosity is the use of too many words, and it is 

a serious fault. This does not mean that one 

should never use a word that one can get along 

without; the laconic have their own way of being 

tedious. Very often repetitions and extra syllables 

that are not strictly necessary to the sense 

add a great deal to the tone or rhythm of a sentence. 

(See pleonasms.) But when a superfluity 

of words dilutes or drowns out the meaning of a 

sentence, it is a different matter. 

The fault is a common one. We find it among 

all kinds of people, from Shakespeare’s simpleton 

who says: “The young gentleman according 

to fates and destinies, and such odd sayings, the 

sisters three, and such branches of learning, is 

indeed deceased, or as you would say in plain 

terms, gone to heaven” to the twentieth century 

pundit who writes: “As often with history, interesting 

questions may be forever closed to the 

adequate answers because the tattered evidence 

which has been left to us by the rats who have 

gnawed at the documents in the archives, and 

the loss of pertinent documents, and the undeveloped 

state of the social sciences at the time 

when the relevant data were not collected preclude 

us from making significant comparisons 

historically on some points.” 

These are not rich, colorful or luxurious outpourings. 

They are simply “an infinite deal of 

nothing. . . two grains of wheat hid in two bushels 

of chaff; you shall seek all day ere you find 

them, and when you have them, they are not 

worth the search.” 

verbs. In a normal sentence we say something 

about something. Usually we say that there has 

been a change of some kind. that something has

happened, although we can also say that no 

change has taken place. Changes involve the idea 

of before and after, which is what we mean by 

time. Words that are grammatically constructed 

to express time are verbs. Words that refer to 

aspects of reality as if they were independent of 

time are nouns. In the &+tt flushes at eleven 

o’clock, the word flashes is a verb and indicates 

an event or change that takes place in time. In 

the flashes were seen at eleven o’clock, the flashes 

are treated as things, which may change but 

which are not the change itself, and the word is 

therefore a noun. (Sometimes we want to make 

a statement involving time without saying that 

anything has changed. This is the principal function 

of the verb IO be and of the other linking 

verbs. See linking verbs. 

A verb may be defined as “a word that has 

tense.” Most verbs show tense, or relative time, 

by their form, as present or current time is 

shown in I always walk to work, and past time 

in I walked to work today, and future time in I 

will walk today. A few verbs have the same form 

in the present and the past, as put in I always put 

it there and I put it there yesterday, but in any 

given sentence the word refers to either the past 

or the present. It is never indifferent in respect to 

time as the noun rug is. 

In English the verb has two simple tenses, the 

present and the past, as in he walks and he 

walked. We form a future tense by means of a 

compound verbal phrase, such as he is going to 

walk, he will walk. We may also use verbal 

phrases to express distinctions inside the tenses, 

as in it flashed, it was flushing, it had flashed. 

These forms are all past tense but they express 

different aspects of the past. They are sometimes 

called simple action, progressive or continued 

action, and perfect or completed action tenses. 

See past tense, present tense, future tense, and 

tense shifts. 

In addition verbs have mode and voice, which 

also tell us something about the action being reported. 

Mode is the form of the verb that shows 

whether a sentence is to be understood as a 

statement about matters of fact, a supposition, 

or a call for action. The form of the verb used 

in talking about matters of fact is called the indicative 

mode. It is the form we use most often. 

In this dictionary, statements about verbs are 

always about the indicative form of the verb 

unless another form is specifically mentioned. 

(For the other modes, see subjunctive mode 

and imperative mode.) 

Voice is the form of the verb that shows 

whether the thing spoken about (that is, the 

subject of the verb) is the agent or the recipient 

of the action. When the subject is the agent, as in 

he jumped off, the verb is said to be in the active 

voice. When the subject is the recipient, as in he 

wus pushed off, the verb is said to be in the pa.+ 

sive voice. See passive voice. 

Verbs also have person and number. Person 

shows whether the subject of the verb is the 

person speaking, as in I am, I have; the person 

spoken to, as in you are, you have; or some per- 

son or thing spoken about, as in it Is, it has. 

Number shows whether the subject of the verb 

is one person or thing, or more than one, as in 

he is, they are; he has, they have. These differences 

in the verb forms do not affect the meaning 

of the verb itself but are devices for relating it to 

its subject. The verb has the same person and 

number as its subject, and in some languages 

this is the only thing that shows which word in 

the sentence is the subject. In English the relation 

of subject and verb is shown by position, 

and person and number are a nuisance rather 

than a convenience. (For problems of person and 

number in present-day English, see agreement: 

verbs. For archaic forms, such as wert thou and 

he bath, see tbee; thou.) 

Throughout this dictionary, the forms of the 

verb that have tense are called true verb forms 

or true verbs. The infinitive, the -ing form, and 

the past participle do not have tense. They are 

actually nouns or adjectives with the same meaning 

as the verb. They are often used in combination 

with another verb, as in he ought to step 

aside and I hove heard it said. In such cases the 

other verb provides the tense (and also person 

and number) and the whole phrase is a true verb 

form. But these parts of the verb may also be 

used alone, simply as a noun or an adjective, as 

in to step aside is human and heard melodies are 

sweet. It is these uses of the word that are excluded 

when we speak of “a true verb form.” 

See infinitives, participleq -ing. 

Verbs are classified according to what is 

needed to complete their meaning. For example, 

he slept is complete in itself, but he must and he 

made are not. Must requires some other verb, 

such as go or speak, to give it meaning; and made 

requires a noun or noun substitute, such as a 

table or a mistake. (For the different kinds of 

verbs, see transitive verbs, intransitive verbs, 

auxiliary verbs, and linking verbs.) 

If one tries to distinguish a noun from a verb 

by saying that a noun represents a thing and a 

verb an action, one runs into trouble. Is a flash 

of lightning, or a war, or a man’s life, a thing or 

an action? Some philosophers claim that even 

an oak tree is really a long, slow action when 

properly understood. The chances are that the 

difference between a thing and an action is not 

something in the real world that has forced itself 

on language, but a grammatical device that distorts 

the way we think about the real world. It is 

much better, therefore, to recognize that nouns 

and verbs are simply different kinds of words 

and to define nouns as words that have number 

as their distinguishing characteristic, and verbs 

as words that have tense. 

In English we can always form a verb from 

a noun, as in he carpeted the floor, he papered 

the wall, he pocketed the money. We can form 

verbs from adjectives by adding the syllable -en, 

as in he blackened his shoes, he sweetened his 

coffee, or sometimes without adding -en, as in 

he blacked his face. In fact any part of speech 

can be used as a verb if the sense allows, as in 

he upped the price and she oh’d and she ah’d.

On the other hand, the essential meaning of a 

verb can always be expressed as a noun. We can 

always use a relatively empty verb, which does 

little more than show tense, person, and number, 

with a noun that carries the meaning of what we 

want to say, in place of a meaningful verb. This 

practice has become very popular in the last 

thirty or forty years. Many people would rather 

say there wus (I heavy snow full lust nighr than 

it snowed heavily. Some grammarians object to 

this. But in spoken English, constructions such as 

he took a walk, we had a swim, she gave u sigh, 

are heard more often than the direct forms he 

walked, we swum, she sighed. The same preference 

is seen in technical writing where we find 

make an examination and reuch a decision more 

often than examine or decide. Obviously, the 

professional man sitting down to write an article 

and his friends and neighbors in their relaxed 

moments all feel that a noun is more forceful 

and more concrete than a verb. To call the construction 

pompous or stilted in one situation 

and careless or colloquial in another is foolish. 

It is simply a very powerful trend in present-day 

English. If carried through completely, we would 

need only the verb ro 6e and the appropriate 

nouns to express all our verbal ideas. 

For the primary forms of the verb, see principal 

parts of a verb and irregular verbs. 

veritable, for being truly such, genuine, real (Ii 

wus a veritable fairyland, with all the Japanese 

lanterns and the colored lights playing on the 

fountain), is a little affected. The emphasis that 

it hopes to lend is slightly shrill and forced. 

vermin. Originally this word was a singular, as in 

a suvuge vermin in a trap, and had a regular 

plural, as in full of maggots, vermins, and worms. 

The singular could also be used, as all singulars 

can, to typify the class, as in a vermin in our 

pillows which did bite fur worse than fleas. None 

of these constructions are in common use today. 

In these vermin are driving us oat, the singular 

form vermin is being used as a plural. Sixty 

years ago this was condemned as ungrammatical. 

Today it is standard English, and is practically 

the only way in which the word vermin is used. 

Vurmit, or varmint, is a variant form of vermin 

heard in many parts of the United States. 

It has a regular plural vurmits and presents no 

grammatical problems. It is not standard English, 

but it is a much more useful word than 

vermin. 

vernacular; language; dialect; jargon. All of these 

words refer to patterns of vocabulary, syntax, 

and usage characteristic of communities of va,rious 

sizes and types. Language is applied to the 

general pattern of a people or a race (The English 

language is common to the United States and 

the United Kingdom). Dinlect is applied to certain 

forms or varieties of a language, often those 

which provincial communities or special groups 

retain or develop even after a standard has been 

established (The East Tennessee dialect is ulmost 

impossible to imitate accurately). One who 

has been reared to speak a certain dialect almost 

never loses it entirely. Slight variations in pro- 

nunciation, cadence, vocabulary, and so on, will 

mark his speech. Sir Walter Raleigh. thouah an 

accomplished courtier, spoke with a Somersetshire 

accent and Dr. Johnson, though he edited 

the greatest dictionary of his century and was 

the acknowledged dictator of letters in his time, 

kept “a slight Staffordshire burr” in his pronunciation. 

Where a dialect is native, there is nothing 

wrong in this; indeed, it often confers a 

pleasing distinction. But, unfortunately, snobbery 

sometimes attaches opprobrium to some 

dialects (such as the cockney or that of New 

York’s lower East Side). Outside of the community 

where such dialects prevail, even a tincture 

of them may do a man harm. It’s cruel, 

but that is the way of the as-yet-imperfect world. 

A jargon is an artificial pattern used by a 

particular, usually occupational, group within a 

community; or a special pattern created for communication 

in business or trade between members 

of the groups speaking different languages 

(The jargon of sports writers varies from nation 

to nation). Special words, of course, must be 

used in each trade and profession and the use of 

these technical terms to each other by members 

of these trades or professions when engaged in 

their work or when talking about their work 

does not, in the common acceptance of the term, 

constitute jargon. It does not become jargon 

until it is used outside of the special field in contexts 

where standard English words and expressions 

are available and would make their 

meaning clearer to the ordinary man. Thus if a 

doctor says of a patient, after examining him, 

that rest “is indicated,” meaning “is needed,” or 

“is advisable” or “would do him good,” the layman 

is not justified in accusing the physician of 

speaking jargon. Other words might do as well, 

but the members of the medical profession, in 

their inscrutable wisdom and Eleusinian ways, 

have decided on the term for the circumstances 

and they have the privilege of so deciding. But if 

the same physician at the corner filling station 

should, when the rod drawn from his engine 

shows him to be two quarts low, say that two 

quarts “is indicated,” meaning “needed” or “is 

advisable,” he would be guilty of speaking jargon; 

for the common acceptance of the phrase 

would lead the filling station attendant to assume 

that only two quarts were indicated on the 

rod and, therefore, the supply of oil in this particular 

crankcase was dangerously low. Most 

jargon does not mislead in this way, but it remains 

incomprehensible and therefore defeats 

the chief end of speech. 

A vernaculur is the authentic natural pattern 

of speech used by persons indigenous to a certain 

community, large or small (South Boston 

vernacular is not, or at least in a happier age 

was not, the same us Back Bay vernacular). 

versa; stanza. These are terms for metrical groupings 

in poetic composition. Verse is often mistakenly 

used for stunzu (as in Now read the next 

verse, all eight lines, please) but it is properly 

only a single metrical line (“Something there is 

that doesn’t love a wall” is the opening verse of

vertebra 540 

Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall”). A stanza is a 

succession of lines (verses) commonly bound together 

by a rhyme scheme, and usually forming 

one of a series of similar groups which constitute 

a poem (A quatrain is u stanza consisting 

of four verses). 

The term verse is also used of metrical composition 

in general, as opposed to prose (Verse 

that a virgin without blush may read). In 

church music a verse is a passage or movement 

for a single voice or for soloists, as contrasted 

with chorus. Verse as a term for the divisions 

of the books and chapters of the Scriptures has 

a special meaning. 

vertebra. The plural is vertebras or vertebrae. 

vertex. The plural is vertexes or vertices. 

vertigo. The plural is vertigoes or vertigines. 

verve, a word for energy or enthusiasm, especially 

in literary or artistic work; spirit, liveliness or 

vigor, is a French word and slightly affected. 

There are plenty of English synonyms expressing 

many shades of meaning, some one of which 

will usually do better as far as the meaning goes 

and a great deal better as far as not annoying 

the reader or listener goes. 

very was originally an adjective meaning true and 

is still used as an adjective. It may mean actual 

or identical, as in the very man I was looking 

for. It may be a pure intensive, as in the very 

jaws of death. Or it may have the force of 

“even,” as in lo! the very stars are gone. Very 

once had a comparative form verier but this is 

now obsolete. It has a superlative form veriest 

which is used as an intensive, as in the veriest 

rubbish. It also has an adverbial form verily, 

which means “truly,” as in Z verily believe. The 

superlative and the adverbial forms are in use 

today but they are considered either old-fashioned 

or bookish. 

About five hundred years ago very began to be 

used as an adverb before adjectives and adverbs. 

It has now completely replaced full as an intensive, 

as in full high, full many, full well, and is 

preferred to right in this role. It has also replaced 

much before the simple form of an adjective. 

We can no longer say I am much happy, I am 

much sorry, as was once normal English. When 

the past participle of a verb is used as an adjective 

before a noun, as in a disappointed man, 

a worried man, it may be qualified by either very 

or much. Today very is preferred here. Very is 

not used before adjectives or adverbs in the 

comparative form. We cannot say it is very 

greener. It is not used to qualify a verb. We 

cannot say I very prefer or I very appreciate. It 

cannot be used even in a passive verb form, 

which is composed of some form of the verb to 

be and a past participle. We cannot say it was 

very praised or it was very remembered. We can 

say very much in cases like this because much is 

a true adverb that can qualify a verb, and very 

here qualifies the word much and not the verb 

itself. 

About a hundred years ago very began to be 

used with participles following forms of the 

verb fo be, when these compounds were not 

actually felt as passive verbs, as in he was very 

pleased, he was very amused, he was very worried. 

A philologist writing in 1861, and discussing 

the ways in which languages change and develop, 

chose very to illustrate his point. He wrote: 

“There is apparently a very small difference 

between much and very, but you can hardly 

ever put one in the place of the other. You can 

say I am very happy but not I am much happy. 

On the contrary, you can say I am much misunderstood 

but not I am very misunderstood. 

It is by no means impossible, however, that this 

distinction between very, which is now used 

with adjectives only, and much, which precedes 

participles, should disappear in time. But if that 

change takes place, it will not be by the will of 

any individual, nor by the common agreement 

of any large number of men, but rather in spite 

of the exertions of grammarians and academies.” 

Although the distinction between very and 

much has not disappeared, changes have indeed 

taken place in the use of these words. Anyone 

who now says that very cannot be used before a 

participle that follows a form of the verb to be 

is merely repeating what was true seventy-five 

years ago but is not true today. Some careful 

grammarians say that very may be used before 

the participle in a construction of this kind when 

what is being talked about is a mental state, such 

as pleased, amused, worried, but not when what 

is being talked about is a physical condition, as 

in he is very changed, it is very scratched. 

In the United States today very is preferred to 

much before participles that name mental states. 

That is, most people consider he was very 

pleased, he was very amused, more natural English 

than much pleased, much amused. Very is 

also acceptable before participles that name 

physical conditions, such as very changed, very 

scratched, but mlcch is not considered as unnatural 

with words of this kind as it is with the 

others. In all cases, the two words very much 

may be used with everybody’s approval. 

A prepositional phrase, such as on his own, at 

a loss, may be qualified by much but not by very. 

Certain peculiar adjectives that begin with a-, 

such as afraid, aware, alive, were originally 

prepositional phrases and are still treated in some 

respects as phrases. For example, they cannot be 

used before the noun they qualify as other adjectives 

can. Some grammarians claim that they 

cannot be qualified by very. But in the United 

States very afraid, very aware, are as acceptable 

as very amused. 

vespers. This word has a singular form vesper 

which is still in use today, as in a vesper well 

sung, but the plural form vespers is heard more 

often. It is usually followed by a plural verb, as 

in vespers were sung, but may also be followed 

by a singular verb, as in vespers was sung. The 

singular form is preferred as the first element in 

a compound, as in vesper bell and vesper book. 

vessel. See ship. 

vest. See undershirt. 

vestige. See trace.

vestigial; rudimentary. Vestigial means pertaming 

to or of the nature of a vestige, and a vestige 

is a mark or trace or a visible evidence of something 

which once was but no longer is present or 

in existence. It is incorrect to use vestigial as a 

synonym for rudimentary (as in In Transjordan 

there is a council, recently established: but it is 

vestigial, it has no power, though some hope that 

in time if will acquire power), because rudimentary 

means pertaining to or of the nature 

of a rudiment, and a rudiment is a mere beginning, 

the first slight appearance, the undeveloped 

or imperfect form of something. A 

rudiment and a vestige are the very opposites 

of each other. 

veteran. See old. 

veto. The plural is vetoes. 

via, strictly used, means by way of, by a route 

that passes through (She traveled from Boston 

to San Francisco via Chicago). In American 

usage, however, via is often used also to describe 

the means of travel or the agency employed in 

shipping, and while the first of these uses (You 

folks going via car or railroad?) is still informal, 

the United States Post Office has given sanction 

to the second. On the front of the American airletter 

appears the phrase VIA AIR MAIL. The corresponding 

English airletter reads BY AIR MAIL. 

Almost all stickers and envelopes specially 

printed for airmail use in the United States have 

VIAAIRMAIL onthem. 

vicar. See rector. 

vice. See fault. 

vice; vise; visa; vi&. The immoral and evil habit 

or practice is always spelled vice. The device 

with two jaws which may be brought together or 

separated by means of a screw, lever, or the like, 

used to hold an object firmly while work is being 

done upon it, may also be spelled vice but is preferably 

spelled vise. The endorsement made upon 

a passport of one country, testifying that it has 

been examined and found in order for passage 

to a country which so indicates, is called a visa 

but may be spelled vise. 

vicegerent and vice-regent are uncommon words, 

especially the first, but the very fact that they are 

uncommon makes it necessary, if one is going to 

use them at all, to use them correctly. The use of 

a strange word is always accepted by the common 

reader or listener as an assumption of superiority 

on the part of the user-as it generally 

is-and superior people make easy targets. 

Viceperent has much the wider avvlication. It 

descrides an officer deputed by a -ruler or supreme 

head to exercise the powers of the ruler 

or head (These popes claimed that they were 

God’s vicegerents upon earth, and that the kings 

ruled solely as their representatives) or any 

deputy. Vice-regent (which should be spelled 

with the hyphen) means a deputy regent. 

vice-queen; vicereine. These words have some use 

in England but are so little used in the United 

States that they do not even appear in some of 

the most recent authoritative American dictionaries. 

A vicereine is a viceroy’s wife and, less 

usually, a woman ruling as the representative of 

541 Victrola 

a queen. Vice-queen takes this latter meaning 

only. A vice-queen in America would probably 

be assumed to be the head of a syndicate of 

prostitutes. 

vi&age; vicinity; neighborhood. These words all 

may refer to the region near or about some place 

or thing. Vicinage, a holdover from early English 

law, is least used of the three. It is a legal term 

and is not current in American speech or ordinary 

American writing. Vicinity is a familiar 

term. It differs in meaning from neighborhood 

largely in emphasis: vicinity describes a larger, 

neighborhood a compact or smaller area (When 

we began to see driftwood we realized we were 

in the vicinity of land. The nineteenth-century 

Unitarians are said to have believed in the 

fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of Man, 

and the neiahborhood of Boston). Neighborhood 

is sometimes used, as vicinity is not, to mean 

those dwelling in the neighborhood (The whole 

neighborhood was aroused at the crime). Perhaps 

because of its association with neighbor, in 

its sense of friend (Which now of these three, 

thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell 

among the thieves?), and neighborliness, and 

perhaps because of the natural gregariousness 01’ 

the American people, and perhaps because of the 

relentless reiteration of the word neighborhood 

in radio and television commercials, neighborhood 

has connotations of warmth and friendliness 

wholly lacking from vicinity. Your 

neighborhood grocer is a friendly member of the 

community, wholly different from the cold and 

mercenary fellow who merely happens to sell 

groceries in the vicinity. 

vicious. See abandoned. 

vicious and viscous are unrelated, though often 

confused, especially in college freshman themes. 

Vicious means addicted to or characterized by 

vice or immorality; depraved; profligate. Viscous 

means sticky, adhesive, glutinous or ropy. Warm 

tar is viscous. 

vicious circle was originally a term in logic, and 

still is. Vicious in this context means impaired or 

spoiled by a fault. Circle means a mode of reasoning 

wherein a proposition is used to establish 

a conclusion and then this same conclusion used 

to prove the proposition. It is called a circle because 

it has no real starting place-and, one 

might add, because there’s no end to this sort of 

thing. It is one of the most popular of all fallacies, 

the darling of the pompously ignorant. 

The term vicious circle is commonly used to 

describe a situation in which solution of one 

problem creates other problems whose solution 

is incompatible with the original circumstances. 

Or, more loosely, some bad situation that, by its 

nature, seems to get worse and worse. In any use 

but as a term in logic the expression is now a 

cliche. 

victim. See martyr. 

Victrola. In the United States any phonograph is 

often called a victrolu. Properly speaking, the 

word should be capitalized, Victrola, and used 

solely in reference to the phonograph made by 

the Victor Talking Machine Company. That il is

7 

ViCtUdS 542 

not proves the superior wisdom of the Greek admonition 

“Nothing in excess” to the Yankee 

slogan “Nothing succeeds like success.” Like 

Kodak and Frigidaire, Victrola “caught on” so 

successfully that the populace simply adopted it 

as a generic name, thereby completely defeating 

its advertising and identification value. 

victuals, food; viands. Food is the plain, useful, 

everyday word for what is eaten or taken into 

the body for nourishment, at all stages from the 

furrow to ingestion. Like all basic, necessary 

words, it has strength and dignity. Victuals 

(rarely used in the singular and often spelled 

vittles) does not mean simply food but articles 

of food prepared for use. As a verb, especially 

in military contexts (to victual an army. The 

garrison was well victualed and could hold out 

indefinitely), it is standard. The noun use was 

introduced as an elegancy and, like many elegancies, 

has sunk below a vulgarism into a 

quaintness (I shore like my vittles on time. Lan’ 

sakes, the vittles that man eats!) and its use is 

now an affectation not of elegance but of rusticity. 

Wittles was a favorite word of the Wellers. 

Viands is reserved for dishes of food, presumably 

of a choice and delicate kind. It is an 

elegancy, often coupled, with double vulgarity, 

with costly. 

view; viewpoint. View, used figuratively, means 

a particular way of regarding something; a conception, 

notion, or idea of a thing; an opinion or 

theory. View and opinion are often, unfortunately, 

supplanted by more pretentious, longer, 

yet no more precise terms, like viewpoint, point 

of view, and standpoint. For a fuller discussion, 

see point of view and angle. 

The phrase in view of must be followed by a 

noun or noun equivalent, as in in view of what 

you have said. The phrase with a view to may be 

followed by the -ing form of a verb, as in with 

a view to preventing such a catastrophe, or by the 

simple form of a verb, as in with a view to prevent 

such a catastrophe. The construction using 

the -ing form is preferred. Sometimes the preposition 

toward is used with the -ing, as in with a 

view toward increasing our skills, and sometimes 

the preposition of, as in with a view of rousing 

his friends, but IO is generally preferred. 

vigil, strictly speaking, means a keeping awake 

for any purpose during the natural hours of 

sleep, a watch kept by night. There are connotations 

of seriousness of purpose about it; an allnight 

carouse could only be called a vigil in 

humor. More loosely, a vigil means a watch kept 

by nights or at other times (He put his hands in 

his coat pockets and turned back eagerly to his 

scrutiny of the house, as though my presence 

marred the sacredness of his vigil. So I walked 

away and left him standing there in the moonlight-watching 

over nothing). Vigil also means 

a course or period of watchful attention, or a 

period of wakefulness because of inability to 

sleep. It may not be used as if it meant a wait, 

least of all a short wait. 

vinculum. The plural is vinculums or vinculu. 

viudictive. The chief meaning of vindictive in 

America today is disposed or inclined to re- 

venge, vengeful (A vindictive man will often 

regard a position of power as primarily a means 

for “getting his own back”), or proceeding from 

or showing a revengeful spirit (The vindictive 

look she gave him was full warning of what she 

would do if she ever had the opportunity). In 

England, but in England only, vindictive is still 

also used to mean involving retribution, retributive, 

requital according to merits. If an Englishman 

said that a certain attack was solely 

vindictive he might mean something entirely different 

from what an American listener would 

understand him to mean. 

vine. In the United States vine means any plant 

with a long, slender stem that trails or creeps on 

the ground or climbs by winding itself about 

a support or holding fast with tendrils or claspers 

(The mock-cranberry’s red-berried creeping 

vine). In England vine means plants bearing the 

grapes from which ordinary wine is made. Americans 

call these grapevines. 

violin. See fiddle. 

violincello; violoncello. Violincello is an incorrect 

spelling, based on the mistaken assumption that 

the word is related to violin. Actually it is related 

to viol and violone (the bass viol) and the 

correct spelling is violoncello. 

V.I.P. See personage. 

virile. See male. 

virtual. See practical; constructive. 

virtually. See practically. 

virtue of necessity, make a. The phrase properly 

means the doing of what must be done, especially 

when it is something unpleasant or humiliating, 

with such a grace that the doing of it will be a 

virtue. The meaning is often lost or ignored, and 

the expression is used to mean “Well, we’ve got 

to do it, so we might as well do it and get it over 

with.” If so used. it is certainlv a cliche. 

virtuoso. The plural is virtuosos or virtuosi. 

virus. The only plural is viruses. 

visa: vi& Visa is the term ureferred in the United 

States to describe a government endorsement on 

a passport of one country testifying that it has 

been examined and found in order, for passage 

to the country granting the visa. The British 

prefer vise and they italicize both forms. In the 

United States and England the words may be 

used as nouns or verbs. 

v-e. To use visage as a synonym for face is an 

affectation, a pomposity. The visage is the face 

as affected by the state of mind (His visage was 

stern). It is much the same as countenance, but 

it regards the face as seen by an observer. See 

also face; countenance. 

viscera. This word is a plural. The singular, which 

is seldom used, is viscus. 

viston literally means the act of seeing with the 

eye; the power, faculty, or sense of sight (Your 

vision is excellent: you have no need of glasses). 

It also means the act or power of perceiving what 

is not actually present to the eye, whether by 

some supernatural endowment or by natural intellectual 

means, or that which is so perceived 

(your old men shall dream dreams, your young 

men shall see visions). Vision also means an 

imaginative power to see the consequence in the

future of present acts or trends, to look into the 

seeds of time (Where there is no vision, the people 

perish). This solemn term has been debased 

in current usage to refer, in effect, to facile 

optimists or promoters, especially in the hackneyed 

term men of vision. A true man of vision 

might be a very depressing fellow whose sighs 

would precipitate a financial crash. Most men of 

vision in Germany in the 1930’s, who could, 

walked quickly to the nearest exit. 

visit is largely an American term. The English 

say call. unless they mean to designate a stay of 

considerable duration. A very brief visit is informally 

called a char in England. It’s a pity that 

Dr. Johnson’s “dawdle over a dish of tea” didn’t 

catch on. Americans still use visit to describe the 

act of visiting, regardless of duration, or a call 

paid to a person, family, etc. (Oh, do not ask, 

“What is it?” / Let us go and make our visit). 

Yet-such are the ways of language--the small 

card bearing one’s name, used on social occasions, 

is called in America a calling card and in 

England a visiting card. Visiting curd was formerly 

used in America but has been out of 

fashion for well over a generation. 

visit; visitation. Visit&on is a more formal term 

than visit. It means a visit for the purpose of 

making an official inspection or examination. In 

Christian theology the Visitation was the visit of 

the Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth (Luke 

1: 39-56). or a church festival, held on July 2, in 

commemoration of this visit. It may also mean, 

uncapitalized, a visiting with comfort or aid, or 

with affliction or punishment, as by God; a special 

dispensation from heaven, whether of favor 

or of affliction; any experience or event, especially 

an unpleasant one, regarded as occurring 

bv divine dispensation -(He 

reparded his illness 

as a visitation, a plain mark of Divine disapproval 

of his recent utterances). 

vituperation. See abuse. 

viz represents the Latin word videlicet and means 

namely. It need not be followed by a period. 

vocation. See avocation, business, calling, job. 

vocative case. The vocative is a Latin case that 

marks a word used in direct address. In some 

Latin names the vocative is not identical with 

the nominative and the distinction between the 

two cases has some meaning. But this is not true 

in English. All that can be said about the vocative 

in an English grammar is that we do not 

address people in the genitive. We do not say 

Sarah’s, how are you? 

Words of address may appear anywhere in a 

sentence except between the verb and its complement. 

They are always set off by commas, as 

in these, Sarah, are very good and this, my dear, 

Is wonderful. 

voice. The form of the verb which shows what 

relation the subject has to the action expressed 

by the verb is called its voice. The form of the 

verb which shows that the subject is the agent of 

the action, as in he wrote the report, is called the 

active voice. The form which shows that the subject 

is the recipient of the action, as in the report 

WQS written by him, is called the passive voice. 

See passive voice. 

543 vulgarity 

voice; express. Voice as a verb means to give 

voice, utterance, or expression to an emotion, 

opinion or idea. In the United States it is also 

acceptably used as a synonym for express. English 

grammarians insist that voice may not be 

substituted for express except in those circumstances 

where speech is involved. One may, 

therefore, voice an opinion in a letter to the 

New York Times but can only express an opinion 

in a letter to the London Times. 

voice crying In the wilderness. Aside from the 

danger of blasphemy in any reckless or flippant 

use of this phrase, it is to be avoided because it 

is a clichC and, as such, is usually misused. It was 

the voice of John the Baptist that, crying in the 

wilderness, foretold the coming of Jesus Christ. 

The phrase, therefore, has some application to 

any great foretening or, even, perhaps, warning 

But it is often used to indicate that the foretelling 

will go unheeded because it is uttered where 

none can hear or, if hearing, cannot or will not 

understand. This is a distortion of the original 

meaning, affected probably by the general associations 

of wilderness. 

volume; tome; title; book; work. These words all 

refer to a collection of printed sheets bound together. 

A volume is a collection of printed sheets 

bound together and constituting a book, or a 

book forming one of a related set or series 

(He brought out the first volume of his history 

just before the war). Tome is adopted from the 

French and is synonymous with volume in its 

second sense. It may also mean any volume, especially 

a ponderous one. The use of the word, 

however, is confined to the pretentious or the 

feebly witty. Title, though it properly describes 

the distinguishing name of a book, poem, picture, 

or the like, is now used in publishers’ 

jargon as if it meant book (We are bringing out 

six new titles in our paperbacked series). A work 

is a product of exertion, labor, or activity, and 

a book has long been considered such. In the 

singular the word may sound a little pretentious 

(It is a work of singular merit) but the plural 

(His works are the glory of our civilization. 

Collected works. The works of Charles Dickens 

in thirty-five volumes. . .) is commonplace. Book 

is the basic term to describe a written or printed 

work of some length, as a treatise or other literary 

composition, especially on consecutive sheets 

fastened or bound together (Of the making of 

books there is no end. Another damned, big 

thick book! Always scribble, scribble, eh, Mr. 

Gibbon?). 

vortex. The plural is vortexes or vortices. 

vouchsafe does not mean merely to give. It means 

to condescend to give, to grant as a favor, to give 

as an act of grace. The word is a little pretentious, 

but this is often felicitously consonant with 

what it designates. In prayers to the deity it is 

straightforward. In almost all others uses it is 

tinged with irony. 

voyage. See trip. 

vs. is an abbreviation of the Latin word versus 

and means against. 

vulgar. See common. 

vulgarity. See blasphemy.

wad is generally taken to mean a small mass or 

lump of anything soft (He always had a wad 

of grim in his mo&h); a small mass of cotton, 

wool, or other fibrous or soft material, used for 

stuffing, padding, packing; a ball or mass of 

something squeezed together (The throwing of 

paper wads, or shooting them with rubber bands, 

is now an almost sacred tradition of American 

schoolchildren). In American usage a wad is 

also a roll, as of paper money: American wad of 

bills is the equivalent of the English sheaf of 

notes. In American slang a wad is a large amount 

of money (He’s really got a wad, that guy; he 

could buy the whole town if he wanted to). A 

stingy person, called in England tightfisted or 

close-fisted, is in America most commonly called 

a tightwad (There’s no use asking that tightwad 

for any money. He won’t give a cent). 

Wud is also used to describe the plug of cloth, 

tow, paper, or the like, used to hold the powder 

or shot, or both, in place in a gun or cartridge. 

It is probably from this meaning that the slang 

phrase shot his wnd, meaning having done all he 

can, expended his resources, derives. 

wade is used colloquially in the United States to 

mean to make a sharp attack or energetic beginning. 

In this sense it is followed by in or into 

(You waded single-handed into a man almost 

lwice your size). By figurative extension, it may 

also mean to criticize severely (Father [Theodore 

Roosevelt] spoke in Chicago, wading into 

the New York and Indiana machine crowd). In 

both uses it is now slightly outmoded. 

wages. A few centuries ago this word meant 

recompense for services, regardless of the person 

being paid. But later it came to mean only money 

paid to “a workman or servant.” Originally the 

two forms wage and wages were used indiscriminately, 

without any difference in meaning, and 

the plural form was often followed by a singular 

verb, as in their daily wages is so little. 

In the United States today wages has lost most 

of its connotation of low-paid labor. It is always 

used with a plural verb, as in his wages are good. 

This is a mass word and cannot be used with 

many, few, or a numeral. But the singular form 

wage is used with the article a, as in a better 

wage. The singular form is preferred as the first 

element in a compound, as in a wage increase. 

See also honorarium. 

wages of sin. Used jocularly, the wages of sin is 

a clichi5. It is from Romans 6:23 (For the wages 

of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life 

through Jesus Chri.yt our Lord) where wages, 

though plural in form, means a single payment 

and is construed as singular. 

waist, for a garment or a part of a garment covering 

the body from the neck or shoulders to 

the waistline, especially in women’s or children’s 

dress, though occasionally heard, especially in 

relation to children’s dress, is now a!most obsolescent 

(Handsome Flaxon finish, Checked white 

dimity, Desirable for waists-Sears, Roebuck 

and Co., Catalogue No. 135, 1917). Shirtwaist 

is still in use, but blouse is now the preferred 

word and, with the trend towards mannishness 

in women’s styles, shirt has also come to be 

used. A recent advertisement in The New 

Yorker shows a picture of a young woman in a 

woman’s adaptation of a man’s checked shirt. 

That the word is to be applied to a garment intended 

solely for women (though one is never 

certain in these days) is suggested by the text 

of the advertisement: “Notice the way Hathaway 

cuts and shapes their shirts to a girl’s greatest 

advantage. Bosoms are such. Shoulders are 

natural. Waistlines go tiny.” 

Waist is now usually restricted to meaning the 

waistline or the actual, physical waist. Pantywaist, 

a slang and rather affected term for an 

effeminate and over-elegant young man, is borrowed 

from schoolboy derision of a generation 

or so ago for boys whose mothers dressed them 

in what the other boys regarded as feminine 

attire. 

waistcoat. See undershirt. 

wait on hand and foot. As a term for assiduous 

personal service, spoken usually in annoyance 

and resentment, to wait on somebody hand and 

foot is hackneyed. 

waive; wave. Waive, a derivative of waif, meaning 

to make waif or to abandon, means basically 

to forbear to insist on, to relinquish, to forgo 

(He waived the prize money awarded him). In 

law it means to relinquish a known right intentionally 

(He waived diplomatic immunity in order 

to contest the issue). It can also mean to put 

aside for the time, to defer, to put aside or dismiss 

from consideration (He waived these unpleasant 

thoughts from his mind, however, and turned to 

the pleasure at hand). 

Wave always involves motion. As an intransitive 

verb, it means to move with advancing 

swells and depressions of surface (At last the 

American flag waved over Iwo lima) or to move 

the hands in greeting (She waved to us from the 

train). As a transitive verb, it means to cause 

to wave, to move (The boys frantically waved 

their hnnds as we drove awny). 

wake; waken. The past tense is woke, waked, or 

wakened. The participle is waked, wakened, 

woke, or woken. Each of these nine forms may

have the prefix a, as in awake, nwakerr, alvoke, 

and so on, or it may form a compound verb with 

up, as in wake up, woke up, wakened I/P, and so 

on. This gives us twenty-seven forms for the 

principal parts of this verb, where ordinarily two 

forms are enough, as in talk, talked. This is certainly 

more words than we need for such a simple 

act. 

The participles that have the vowel a, as in 

had woke, has awoken, and so on, are not considered 

standard in the United States but are still 

acceptable in Great Britain. Aside from this, all 

the forms are equally acceptable and which one 

is used is entirely a matter of individual taste. 

There is a tendency to prefer the forms with 

en when the verb is used in the passive, as in he 

was wakened. There is also a tendency to prefer 

the forms with the prefix a when the verb is used 

figuratively, as in she awoke to the danger. When 

the verb is both passive and figurative these 

tendencies combine and awakened is the preferred 

form, as in she has been awakened to her 

danger. 

There is a theory that the past tense form 

woke is preferable for an actual waking up when 

the verb does not have an object. as in he woke 

at six, and the form waked when the verb does 

have an object, as in she waked him at six, but 

this is not borne out in practice. 

There is one more form of this verb that has 

not been mentioned yet, making twenty-eight 

forms in all. This is an old participle awake. It is 

now used only as an adjective following a verb, 

as in she is awake. 

wale; weal; wheal. Wale is the best word to 

describe a streak, stripe, or ridge produced on 

the skin by the stroke of a rod or whip, a welt 

(A livid wale across his back testified to the force 

of the blow). Whenl means a small, burning or 

itching swelling on the skin, as from a mosquito 

bite. Because ea was formerly in many words 

pronounced (as it now is in great) to rime with 

say (Where thorn, great Anna, whom three 

realms obey,/ Dost sometimes counsel take, rind 

sometimes tea. Perhaps the plensrrre is as great/ 

In being cheated as to cheat), wheal and wale 

were easily confused. Weal (not the weal of weal 

or woe) in this sense seems to have no justification 

other than as a sort of variant spelling of 

wale or wheal. 

walking encyclopedia, as a term for someone who 

has an astonishing fund of general information, 

is a clich6. 

walking on air. As a way of saying that someone 

is ecstatic, usually with exultation at some good 

fortune, to say that he is walking on air is hackneyed. 

wane; flag. To wane is to decline, to grow less, to 

decrease, in extent, quantity, importance, brilliance, 

splendor, or the like (The long day 

wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep / Moons 

rortnd with mnny voices. His influence in the 

company had, actually, long been waning and his 

displacement was not the sztdden reversal that 

if seemed to those who were unaware of this 

fact). When applied to the moon. wnne is to 

545 want 

decrease in the periodical manner characteristic 

of the second half of the lunar period (A savage 

place! as holy and enchanted/ As e’er beneath a 

waning moon was haunted/ By woman wailing 

for her demon-lover!). 

To flag is to fall off in vigor, energy, or activity, 

to droop (He begun with great bustle and 

e#ort but soon flagged). Flagging differs from 

waning in that an effort that pugs may revive. 

The slackening of exertion or interest may be 

only temporary and may revive to full force, but 

that which wnnes (except for the moon) declines 

or decreases permanently. 

want (noun). See need. 

want. This verb may mean desire or will, or it 

may mean need or lack. It may have either 

meaning in the sentence he wants the proper 

clothes. 

When want means need it may be followed by 

the -ing form of a verb, as in it wanted saying, 

the coat wants mending. In this sense, want may 

be followed by for, as in he u*ants for nothing. 

When want means desire it may be followed 

by an infinitive, as in she wants to mend the coat, 

I want you to come. It cannot be followed by an 

-ing form of a verb or by a clause. I want YOU 

should come is not regarded as acceptable English. 

In this sense, want cannot be followed by 

for. I want for you to cotne is usually condemned. 

At one time it was usual to omit verbs of motion 

after verbs of willing, as in thou shalt to 

prison. This custom survives in Scotland and in 

some parts of the United States, as in I’ll uwa’ 

up the glen and the cat wants out. A similar 

contraction is seen in let me in. After let this old 

usage is standard everywhere. After wnnt it is 

standard in some sections of the United States, 

principally the Middle West and South. In other 

sections it is unusual and is thought to be Pennsylvania 

Dutch. 

Want may also be used as a very weak form 

of ought, as in yort wjant to go slow. This is acceptable 

English, at least in the United States. 

want; wish; desire. Desire is the most formal of 

these three words. It suggests a strong wish 

(The people desire political reforms and will 

make their displeasltre known at the polls). In a 

specialized sense it means to desire in sexual 

intercourse. Wish is the familiar term meaning 

to feel an impulse toward attainment or possession 

of something (I wish you were here). The 

feeling it expresses may be of greater or less 

intensity (I wish you would pay attention; I’ve 

had to ask you twice. I wish I were dead. I wish 

the wind may never cease,/Nor fushes in the 

f?ood,/Till my three sons come home to me,/ln 

earthly flesh and blood!). Wish has connotations 

of desiring the unattainable, or of an impulse but 

weakly connected with any energetic or disciplined 

will to accomplish. Want is the least formal 

of the three words. It suggests a feeling of 

lack or need which imperatively demands fulfillment 

(I want my supper! Mr. Watson, come 

here. I want you). Wish is sometimes misused, 

in vulgar elegance, for want in such demands as

wapiti 

Do you wish some more potatoes? The fault 

here is that the bodily wants (the satisfaction of 

which, presumably, is the sole reason for the 

potatoes being offered) are so basic and fundamental, 

so imperative in their demands, that only 

want will do. The various shades of meaning 

latent in wish are all inapplicable to the situation. 

wapiti. See elk. 

-ward; -wards. Originally, -ward was an adjective 

ending that meant “having the direction of.” 

Words ending in -ward were used to qualify 

nouns, as in the homeward journey. The final s 

in -wards was a genitive ending which made adverbs 

of these adjectives, very much as the ending 

-1y is used today to make adverbs from 

adjectives. The -s forms were used to qualify 

words that were not nouns, as in homewards 

bound. 

Today the -ward forms are still the only ones 

used to qualify a following noun. But either form 

may be used in any other construction. Some 

grammarians claim that either form may be used 

when the word describes direction, as in look 

homeward. Angel, but that the form with s is 

required when the word describes manner, as in 

he does everything backwards. This distinction 

is not observed in the United States, where the 

forms without s are generally preferred for both 

direction and manner. 

Words may be freely coined on this pattern, 

as stationward, dinnerward, usward. 

warden means one charged with the care or 

custody of something, a keeper. In the United 

States it has been specialized to mean the chief 

administrative officer in charge of a prison. (The 

warden told them, over the loudspeaker, that 

they had one hour in which to surrender and 

evacuate the cell block). Though the term is employed, 

or was, in one specialized instance in 

England in the same sense (Warden is the title 

of the man in charge of the Fleet prison), it is 

used today in England, in relation to prisons, to 

designate what in America is called a guard (A 

prison has many advantages over a school. In 

prison, for example, the wardens protect you 

from attack by your fellow prisoners). The 

American warden is the English governor. 

Warden may also mean any of various public 

officials charged with superintendence, as game 

warden, fish warden, fire warden. These are 

chiefly American terms, but fire warden was 

taken over in England during World War II to 

designate those who watched for and attempted 

to control incendiary bombings. In England 

warden is also used as the name for the heads of 

certain colleges (The Warden of All Souls, Dr. 

Pember, was that year Vice-chancellor) and 

other educational and charitable institutions. 

ward heeler is an exclusively American expression 

to describe a minor hanger-on of a political 

machine who canvasses voters and does party 

chores, a man who, like a dog, comes to heel 

when his master, the political boss, the Ward 

Boss, gives commands (He said that the Census 

Bureau is violating the constitutional rights of 

the American people when it “sends 168,000 

546 

political hacks and ward heelers . . . to snoop 

into the people’s finances”). 

Wardour Street English is an expression used in 

England but unknown in America, except to the 

learned, for the affected, and often erroneous, 

use of archaic words. Ye Olde Radio Repaire 

Shoppe would be a good example of Wardour 

Street English. Wardour Street was a street in 

London famed for its fake antiques. 

warm as toast is a hackneyed comparison. In 

former days when houses were cold in winter, 

toast taken directly from before the fire was, 

apparently, strikingly warm, but today one does 

not think of it as particularly warm. In England 

where - by American standards-the toast is 

frigid, the phrase is meaningless. 

warm the cockles of one’s heart. To say of something 

pleasing that it warms, or rejoices, or delights 

the cockles of the heart, is to employ a 

cliche. 

Cockle is the name of bivalve molluscs of the 

genus Cardium. The resemblance in shape between 

the shell of the mollusc and the heart has 

long been recognized and is, indeed, implicit in 

the name of the genus. But the cockles of the 

heart implies some special part or parts of the 

heart, though just what or why is unknown. 

Probably it is no more than an intensive, like in 

my heart of hearts. 

warn may be followed by an infinitive, as in I 

warned him to leave at once, or by a clause, as 

in I warn you I am leaving. If the -ing form of a 

verb follows warn, it must be introduced by the 

preposition against, as in I warned him against 

leaving. 

warp. See woof. 

warrant; warranty; guarantee; guaranty. Warrant 

and guarantee are frequently interchangeable to 

indicate that something is safe or genuine. To 

warrant is to give a pledge or assurance that 

something is what it seems or claims to be (I 

warrant he’s telling the truth). To guarantee is 

to make something sure or certain by binding 

oneself to replace it or refund its price if it is 

not as represented (The watch is guaranteed for 

a year). The word is thrown around recklessly 

in advertisements and only ,the most careful 

reading can ascertain just what is guaranteed, if 

anything. Warrant has the meaning, not shared 

by guarantee, of to justify (This does not warrant 

such expenditures!). 

Warrant and guarantee may also be used as 

nouns. In the specialized sense of an authorization 

for arrest, warrant alone may be used. The 

prevalence of this use, with its unpleasant associations, 

tends to make guarantee the common 

word for all other uses. 

Warranty, a noun only, and guaranty, noun or 

verb, are used in specialized senses. Warranty is 

chiefly a legal term meaning an engagement, 

express or implied, in assurance of some particular 

in connection with a contract, as of sale; or a 

covenant in a deed to land by which the party 

conveying assures the grantee that he will enjoy 

the premises free from interference by any person 

claiming under a superior title. A warranty

deed is a deed containing such a covenant, as 

distinguished from a quitclaim deed, which conveys 

without any assurances only such title as 

the grantor may have. In the law of insurance, a 

warranty is a statement or promise, made by the 

party insured, and included as an essential part 

of the contract, falsity or nonfulfillment of which 

renders the policy void. Warranty may also mean 

a judicial document, as a warrant or writ. Guoranty 

means a warrant, pledge, or promise given 

by way of security. As a verb it means to guarantee. 

Guaranty is used in England in many 

contexts where Americans would use gunruntee 

which, in the United States, is by far the commoner 

of the two forms in all uses. 

was; were. These two words form the past tense 

of the verb be. Was is always singular and cannot 

be used with a plural subject. We cannot say 

we wus, fhey was, or you wus. Were is usually 

plural, but it may also be used, under some circumstances, 

with a singular subject. 

Were is used with the pronoun you, even 

when you refers to only one person, as in were 

you there, Charlie? This has been standard English 

since about 1820. Before that, educated 

people said you were when speaking to more 

than one person and you was when speaking to 

only one, as in you was mistaken, lohn. This 

was a useful distinction that may someday come 

back into the language. At present we have no 

standard way of showing whether you is singular 

or plural and resort to makeshift plural forms 

such as you people, you all, and the unacceptable 

yous. 

The other cases in which were may be used 

with a singular subject are not as clear-cut as 

this. It is not true that the singular were can 

always be used after the word if. Sentences such 

as in my childhood I admired a mun if he were 

rich, where were is wrong and was is required, 

show that the writer is using were self-consciously, 

out of anxiety about his grammar, and not 

out of any feeling for the old literary forms. 

Were is the singular, as well as the plural, in 

the old past subjunctive of be. It is therefore 

permissible to use it with a singular subject wherever 

a past subjunctive is appropriate, principally 

after the verb wish and in hypothetical 

statements that are indefinite as to time, as in 

I wish I were wonderful, suppose it were true, 

and if I were living in a desert. (See subjunctive 

mode.) But, with two exceptions which will be 

discussed later, the singular was may also be 

used in these same constructions, as in I wish Z 

was wonderful, suppose it was true, and if I 

was living in a desert. This is not a recent development. 

Was has been used as a past subjunctive 

in literary English for more than three hundred 

years and is the preferred form today. 

In current English there are two constructions 

in which were is preferred to the subjunctive 

was. One is the simple expression if I were you. 

Wus is also used here, and is not wrong, but were 

is generally preferred. The other is a purely 

literary construction. The idea that is ordinarily 

expressed by an if clause may be expressed with- 

547 wash 

out the if, by placing the verb before the subject, 

as in were I in a desert. Formerly, was might be 

used in this way. Sterne, for example, wrote 

was I in a desert. But this is no longer standard. 

In present-day English were is required in this 

construction and was cannot be used. In any 

other construction where both forms are pcrmissible, 

was is now felt to be more forceful, 

more vivid, than the singular were. 

As a rule, the singular were cannot be used in 

a statement about the past. If we are uncertain 

about the facts, the indicative was is required, 

as in if he was thirty when I met him. Sometimes 

if introduces a statement which we know was 

true and this also calls for the indicative war, as 

in she was sixty if she was u day. If we know 

that what we are saying is contrary to the facts 

and we are speaking about a specific event, the 

past perfect with had is required, as in if he had 

been there. In speaking of the past, the singular 

were is used only in descriptive statements, 

which are relatively timeless, and only when 

these are known to be contrary to the facts, as 

in he looked us grim us if he were made of stone 

and he treated her us tenderly us if he were her 

own mother. Even here, was is permissible and 

hod been is generally preferred. 

To sum up, the singular were is used with the 

pronoun you in the expression if I were you 

and in hypothetical statements with inverted 

word order, such as were he here. It may be 

used, but need not be, to express what is imaginary 

or doubtful, provided the statement refers 

to the future or is indefinite as to time, as in 

if he were given a chance. In current English 

was is heard more often than were in such state 

ments. Some grammarians claim that were is 

required in a contrary-to-fact statement that 

does not refer to a specific past event. But these 

same men also complain that was is now invading 

this “last stronghold” of the singular 

were. The invasion has been under way for 

several centuries and no one should be frightened 

into using were where was seems more natural. 

It is almost impossible for anyone who has a 

high school education to use was where were is 

required. But the writer who gets self-conscious 

about his subjunctives can very easily use were 

where literary English requires was. To be safe, 

one should write as one speaks. 

wash is more frequently used in compounds in 

America than in England. Wushbourd is of 

American origin. American washbowl is English 

washbasin. American washcloth or washrag is 

English face-cloth or face-flannel. American 

washroom (often a synonym for privy) is English 

lavatory, which is often, to an American’s 

annoyance, a mere washroom. American wushday 

is English washing day. Both English and 

Americans say washstand and washtub. Wushhouse, 

an English term for a small separate outbuilding 

used solely for washing clothes and 

containing the coppers (in America called boilers 

or tubs) is unknown in the United States. In both 

England and America the older word to describe 

a woman who washed clothes for hire was

washing 548 

washerwoman. American usage only permits 

washwoman as well. The word is being largely 

replaced by the more elegant laundress and perhaps 

justifiably so, as the heavier, dirtier work 

that used to be a part of the week’s or season’s 

wnshirzg is now sent to the laundry and the dry 

cleaners, leaving only the lighter and finer things 

(which were properly handled by a laundress 

instead of a washerwoman) to be done at home. 

To say washlady is to speak vulgarly in England 

or America. 

In America washout describes a washing out 

of earth by water, as from an embankment or a 

roadway by heavy rain or by a freshet, or the 

hole or break so produced. As a figurative slang 

term, washout in America means a failure or 

fiasco (The whole dramatic production was 4 

washout). In England washout is a special term 

in mining engineering. 

washing. See ablution. 

washing dirty linen in poblic. As a term for those 

who in mutual recriminations reveal matters, 

especially family matters, discreditable to themselves 

and expose to public view things that in 

decency should be kept private, washing their 

dirty linen in public is now a clicht. 

washing one’s hands of something. As a term for 

a public disavowal of all further connection with 

some enterprise or the disowning of all association 

with some person, washing one’s hands of 

the matter or business is a clichC. It is derived, in 

English, from Pilate’s washing his hands in public 

as a sign of his refusal to accept responsibility 

for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ; yet from the 

very manner in which Pilate performed this 

ablution it is apparent that the term and the 

ritualistic nature of the act were established. 

wastage; waste. Wastage is neutral, waste (except 

in a number of technical applications) deprecatory. 

Wastage means loss by use, wear, or decay 

(A certain amount must be allowed for wastage). 

Waste, in common everyday usage, means 

useless consumption or expenditure, or use without 

adequate return (Zt is 4 waste of time to 

listen to him). 

waste your breath. Used commonly in some negative 

adjuration, as an assurance that speech, 

usually of persuasion or admonition, will be 

vain, to waste your breath is hackneyed. 

wastebasket is now standard and almost universal 

in American usage, though the longer form, 

wastepaper basket, still used in England, is 

known and used occasionally in the United 

States. 

watch. This verb may be followed by an object 

and the -ing form of a verb, as in Z watched them 

working, or by an object and the simple form of 

a verb, as in Z watched them work. 

watchword. See slogan. 

water; waters. Water is a mass noun and in everyday 

English does not have a plural form. But 

the plural waters was formerly used, and may 

still be used, in certain limited senses. 

The ulural form is alwavs used in sneaking of 

the seas belonging to a paiticular nation or in a 

particular part of the. globe, as in American 

waters and southern waters. It is also used in 

figurative expressions such as deep waters and 

troubled waters. 

The plural form is still used occasionally in 

speaking of mineral water, as it is in it is long, 

very long, Mr. Pickwick, since you drank the 

waters. It may be used in poetry or dramatic 

prose in speaking of large bodies of flowing water, 

as in like waters shot from some high crag 

and the waters of the Danube. 

Formerly, the plural form was used in speaking 

of a flood as in the waters had risen. This is 

now felt to be artificial or bookish. The amniotic 

fluid was also called the waters. We now speak 

of it as the water, and waters is considered old 

fashioned or dialectal. 

water, of the first. Used figuratively, as a designation 

of the highest worth, the expression of 

the first water, drawn from a now outmoded 

classification of the quality of diamonds, is a 

clichC. 

water under the bridge (and over the dam). As 

a way of saying that much has happened since 

a certain event took place, much water has 

flowed under the bridge since then is a clichC. 

The water seems to be the stream of time or life, 

the bridge, perhaps, the bridge of sighs. It’s all 

very mystical and tedious. Water under the 

bridge, by the way, is not to be confused with 

water over the dam which is a term for something 

that has happened and cannot be recalled. 

It, too, is a cliche. Every now and then some 

luckless orator blends the two. 

watershed; divide. Watershed is chiefly English 

in the sense of the ridge or crest line dividing 

two drainage areas, a water parting. Americans 

usually say divide. In both England and America 

watershed is also used to describe the region or 

area drained by a river, a drainage area (A 

number of government dams have been built in 

the Tennessee River watershed). 

wave. See waive. 

wave of optimism. As a term for an access of 

courage or a widespread renewal of hope, 4 

wave of optimism is hackneyed. It always 

“sweeps through” the group referred to. 

wax. When this is a verb meaning grow or become 

it may be followed by an adjective describing 

the subject, as in it waxed lute, it waxed cool. It 


the waxing, as in it waxed steadily worse. 

way. The noun wny may be used as an adverb to 

show direction or manner, as in step this way 

and do it your own way, Shakespeare uses the 

form ways to show direction in what cursed foot 

wanders this ways tonight?, but this is no longer 


The noun way may also be used as an adverb 

showing distance, as in II long way from home 

and he had come quite 4 way. In the United 

States the form ways is also used in this sense, 

as in a long wnys from home and quite 4 ways 

inland. This construction has not been considered 

standard in England for more than fifty years, 

but it was used by most of the great writers of 

English and is still standard in this country.

The word way is sometimes used without the 

article a to mean “far off ,” as in way down upon 

the Swanee river. This is a Scottish idiom. It is 

acceptable in the United States but not in England, 

where away is required, as in away down 

the river, a hundred miles or more. 

The sutlix -ways (but not the sufTix -way) may 

be added to a noun to show direction, as in edgeways, 

endways, sideways. Both forms, -way and 

-ways, are used in adverbs of manner, as in nnyway 

and anyways. Some grammarians hold that 

words expressing manner should not have the s 

ending, but should be anyway, someway, and so 

on. This restriction is not observed in literary 

English, but the forms without s are generally 

preferred in the United States today. 

wny; weigh. Under way is the correct expression 

to mean in motion, or moving along, as a ship 

that has weighed anchor and is moving on her 

course (We got under way at midnight and by 

sunrise were in position to bombard the coastal 

defenses). Weigh, when applied to an anchor, 

has the highly specialized meaning of to lift or 

raise. Many people use under weigh, being apparently 

of the impression that it has something 

to do with weighing anchor. But while a ship 

cannot be under way until she has weighed 

anchor, she may weigh anchor and yet not get 

under way. The term is no less incorrect when 

used figuratively (as in Now that he had a 

project under weigh his spirits rose). 

we. The word I does not actually have a plural. 

We means “I and others” rather than “more 

than one I.” Who the others are is sometimes 

vague. When necessary we can make it specific 

by adding words, as in we the people or we here 

present. 

We is sometimes used to mean a single individual. 

One form of this is called the modest we. 

Here a person uses a plural form in order not to 

call attention to himself as an individual. This 

device is sometimes silly, but it is very old and 

is found even in classical Latin. 

There is also a royal we. At one period in 

history the Roman empire was governed by two 

or three men who ruled together and issued joint 

proclamations, using a plural form. Later, smaller 

rulers used the same form because they were 

speaking for themselves and a body of advisors. 

In this way the plural became associated with 

the highest authority and was eventually used by 

single, independent rulers as a sign of royalty. 

In English the old form ourselj, and not the 

modern plural form ourselves, is used in referring 

to a royal we, as in we will ourselj take time 

to hear your cause. 

The editorial we is often a true plural. That is, 

a writer often uses we to mean himself and his 

associates or himself and his readers. When he 

does, he will also use the plural form ourselves, 

as in we ourselves believe. When the form ourself 

is used here, as in we oztrselj believe, the 

editorial we slides into the royal we and becomes 

pompous. 

Finally, there is a we that is only used in 

speaking to very young children or adults who 

weasel 

are sick. Here we actually means you, as in how 

are we feeling today? and can’t we operz our 

mouth a little wider? This might be called the 

patronizing we, or the humiliating we. 

For when to use we rather than us, see snbjective 

pronouns. 

weak verbs. See strong verbs. 

weaker sex. To refer to women as the weaker sex 

is to employ a tedious -and questionablebanality. 

weakness. See fault. 

weal. See wale. 

wealthy. See rich. 

wear. The past tense is wore. The participle is 

worn. A participle wore, as in had wore, is heard 

but is standard only as a term in sailing, where 

it means a particular way of bringing a ship 

about. 

Wear may be followed by an adjective describing 

what wears, as in it wore thin. It may 

also be followed by an adverb describing the 

wearing, as in it wore well. 

wear and tear, especially when used as a mere 

intensive for wear, is hackneyed. 

wear one’s heart upon one’s sleeve. As a term 

for making an ingenuous display of one’s feelings 

and hence, one’s affections being known, to 

be vulnerable to slights and scorns, to wear one’s 

heart upon one’s sleeve is a clich& The expression 

is taken from one of Iago’s early speeches 

in Othello when, boasting to the gullible Roderigo, 

he says that he is not what for his own 

purposes he seems to be, For when my outward 

action doth demonstrate/ The native act arzd 

figure of my heart/ In compliment extern, ‘tis 

not long after/ Bzct I will wear my heart upon 

my sleeve/ For daws to peck at. 

wearied; weary; wearisome. Weary is now simply 

a synonym for tired. It is slightly bookish. Wearied 

still retains a little of the older idea of being 

exhausted with exertion, worn out of strength or 

patience. Wearisome has now almost exclusively 

the sense of “tedious.” See also tired. 

weasel. Figurative uses of weasel are apparent11 

an American phenomenon. A weasel is a cunning, 

sneaking fellow who models his behavior 

on the sinuous animal. Weasel words mean intentionally 

ambiguous statements. The image is 

not, as commonly assumed, of words that can 

glide, as a weasel glides, out of their seeming 

meaning. It is a better figure than that. It is 

based on the weasel’s habit of sucking eggs. And 

a weasel word is one which, by equivocal qualification, 

sucks all the real meaning out of the 

word to which the hearer or reader has attached 

significance. The phrase seems to have been 

coined by Stewart Chaplin in an article in 

Century Magazine in 1900 and popularized by 

Theodore Roosevelt in a speech delivered at St. 

Louis in 1916. Roosevelt said, “One of our defects 

as a nation is a tendency to use what have 

been called ‘weasel words.’ When a weasel sucks 

an egg, the meat is sucked out of the egg; and 

if you use a ‘weasel word’ after another there is 

nothing left of the other.” 

Weasel is used colloquially as a verb, mean-

weather 550 

ing to make ambiguous. It is also used colloquially 

(perhaps a portmanteau combination of 

wiggle and greasy, with a suggestion of the 

weasel’s cunning and ferocity) to mean to get 

out of something by shady means (He’ll weasel 

out of his promise; he never kept one yet unless 

it was to his advantage to do so). 

weather, everybody talks about . . . It was 

Charles Dudley Warner, not Mark Twain, who 

first said, Everybody talks about the weather, 

but nobody does anything about it. It was a fine 

drollery on its first utterance, a profound criticism 

of the “let’s-do-something-about-it” school 

of moral zealots with which the country then 

abounded, a pensive reminder that we are not 

omnipotent and that at least some of the troubles 

of our proud and angry dust are from eternity 

and will not fail. As a witticism it merited the 

first five or six hundred million repetitions it received. 

But now that it has been said countless 

billions of times (and always ascribed to the 

wrong man), it deserves a rest. This is something 

we can do something about. 

weather the storm. As a term for surviving some 

period of stress and danger, weathering the 

storm is a clicht? 

weave. The past tense is wove. The participle is 

woven or wove. A past tense and participle 

weaved is heard but is not standard when applied 

to actual weaving. However, this is the preferred 

form when the word means “follow a winding 

course,” as in the drunken man weaved his way 

through the crowd. 

web. See woof. 

wed. The past tense is wed or wedded. The participle 

is also wed or wedded. In the United 

States wed is the preferred form for the past 

tense and the participle. In Great Britain wedded 

is preferred. Wedded is the preferred form in 

both countries when the word is used as an adjective, 

as in (I wedded life and I am not wedded 

to the idea. 

Actually, this verb is seldom used in contemporary 

American speech, except in the expression 

the newly weds. We ordinarily prefer the 

word marry. 

wedded bliss, as a term for ecstatic happiness in 

marriage, is a cliche. It is now used almost entirely 

in heavy jocularity, but it is nonetheless a 

clichC. 

wedding; marriage; nuptials. Marriage is the 

simple and usual term for the ceremony which 

unites couples in wedlock. It has no implication 

BS to circumstances and is without emotional 

connotations (They announced the marriage of 

their daughter. Marriage is a basic social institution). 

Wedding has strong emotional, even 

sentimental, connotations, and suggests the accompanying 

festivities, whether elaborate or 

simple (Will you dance at my wedding?). Marriage 

may be used to describe the union of a 

wedded couple throughout its entire duration; 

wedding is restricted solely to the ceremony of 

union and the immediate social events. Nupfials 

is a formal and lofty word applied to the ceremony 

and attendant social events. It does not 

have emotional connotations but strongly implies 

surroundings characteristic of wealth, rank, 

pomp, and grandeur (Millions of Britons bought 

newspapers to read of the royal nuptials). Nuptials 

is too elegant a word to be applied to the 

ordinary wedding ceremony. 

weep. The past tense is wept. The participle is 

also wept. See cry. 

weft. See woof. 

weighty and heavy both mean weighing a great 

deal, but heavy is the usual term. In figurative 

senses their meanings differ. Weighty means 

burdensome (He had weighty cares of ofice) 

or important (The weighty problems of the 

o&e seemed to find the;r best solutions on the 

golf course). Heavy may also mean burdensome, 

yet the sense is of very great burdens (Heavy 

taxes made the amassing of a competence almost 

impossible). It is sometimes used as a synonym 

for great when the greatness has a figurative 

sense of burdening, pressing down (The whole 

family sustained heavy losses in the stock market 

crash) and is frequently used to mean sorrowful 

(One can only view these ravages with a heavy 

heart). 

welkin. It’s been about five hundred years since 

ordinary people in everyday speech referred to 

the sky as the welkin. The word seemed to have 

a fascination for poets, however, and remained 

in their vocabularies up into the nineteenth century, 

though Shakespeare (Twelfth Night, III, 

1, 65) was apparently amused at it as an elegant 

variation and Mark Twain (Tom Sawyer 

Abroad, Chapter V) had Tom Sawyer use the 

word and justify it as pure ornament, “like the 

ruffles on a shirt.” To make the welkin ring (or 

howl, or crack, or roar), as a hyperbole for some 

clamorous noise, is a venerable clichC. 

well. This word is, first of all, the adverbial 

equivalent of the adjective good and has the 

comparative and superlative forms better and 

best. 

In standard English the word good cannot be 

used to qualify a verb, as in she sings good. But 

the word well may be used after verbs of appearing 

where the formal rules of grammar 

require the adjective good. That is, we may say 

it sounds good or it sounds well and it looks 

good on you or it looks well on you. See linking 

verbs. 

Well sometimes means in good health. Here 

the word has the same comparative form that it 

has when it means “good.” We say Rowan is betfer 

today not Rownn is Weller. But it does not 

have the superlative form best. If a superlative is 

used, it is &lest, as in the wellest of them all, 

but this form is auestionable. In literary English 

we are compelled to say healthiest. In &e U&ed 

States well meaning healthy is thoroughly established 

as an adjective and we speak of a well 

baby. In Great Britain the word still has an 

ambiguous status. It is not used immediately 

before a noun, which is the primary position for 

an adjective, but only after a verb, as in the baby 

is well, in a position where both adjectives and 

adverbs may appear. The comparative form is

not used immediately before a noun even in the 

United States. We do not say a better baby, 

meaning a healthier one. 

well earned rest deserves one. 

well nigh which, as a synonym for almost, Partridge 

lists as an elegancy or vogue word in 

Enrrland. is. in the United States, rustic or comic. 

Welsh Ra6bii; Welsh Rarebit. The proper name 

for the melted cheese dish is Welsh Rabbit. 

Rarebit is a corruption, due to highbrow folketymologizing. 

Any chef is, of course, free to 

call any concoction by any name he chooses. But 

he is not free, among the informed, to overawe 

others with his own ignorance. 

wend one’s way, an archaism revived by Scott, 

is affected. 

went. See go. 

wept. See weep. 

were. See be. 

west; western. The comparative form is more 

western. The superlative form is westernmost. 

wet. The past tense is wet or wetred. The participle 

is also wet or wetted. In the United States 

wet is the preferred form for the past tense and 

the participle, as in he wet his lips, he had wet 

the grass, and wetted is seldom used except when 

speaking of something other than water, as in 

the particles were wetted by the oil. In Great 

Britain wetted is the preferred form in all contexts 

and wet is seldom heard. 

wet to the skin is hackneyed. 

wharf. The usual plural is wharves, but wharfs 

is also acceptable and has been standard English 

for several centuries. 

what is primarily an interrogative pronoun or adjective, 

as in what do yen mean? and what kittens? 

It is also used as a compound relative, 

equivalent to that which, as in he did what he 

could and he spent what money he had. 

The interrogative what differs from the interrogative 

which in two ways. (1) Which asks 

about members of a limited group, as in which 

do you want? and which books did you take?, 

where the questions mean “which of the ones we 

are talking about.” What, like who, is unlimited 

in range. What do you want? and what books 

did you take? ask about anything possible. (2) 

The interrogative which is used in speaking of 

persons as well as things. What on the other 

hand supplements wlro, which is used only as a 

pronoun and only in speaking of persons. As an 

adjective what may be used in speaking of 

human beings, as in what child is this? As a 

pronoun it may ask about a human characteristic, 

function, or o&e, as in what is he?, but 

not about the person himself. The interrogative 

what may be used in exclamations, as in what 

strange men!, what nonsense! When used in an 

exclamation before a singular concrete noun, 

what always precedes the article a, as in what a 

Zalef 

What may also be used as a compound word 

equivalent to the demonstrative pronoun that 

followed by the relative which, as in I heard 

what he said. It does not represent a preceding 

word in the sentence, but can be thought of as 

551 what 

a relative that carries its own antecedent, or as 

a substitute for that which. At one time what 

could be used as a simple relative and represent 

a preceding word, as in I had a horse what 

wouldn’t go, but this is no longer standard. 

The that contained in the compound relative 

what always represents or is explained by a following 

group of words, as in she was still what is 

called young. In order to refer to what has already 

been said we use the word which, as in he 

is a well-known man, which I am not, and, what 

is more, I am poor. In current English what is 

usually preferred to the two words that which 

when the that is defined by the following clause, 

as in believe what he tells you. What cannot be 

used when the contained that represents something 

not defined by the following clause, as in 

it was that which brozrght me here. 

The interrogative what may also be used in a 

subordinate clause, as in Z know what he said. 

In a sentence of this kind the difference between 

the interrogative what and the compound relative 

lies in the intention of the speaker. If what 

is meant is “I know the answer to the question: 

what did he say?” the word is an interrogative. 

If, as in the sentence using the word heard, the 

meaning is “I heard the words which he said,” 

we have the compound relative. Very often the 

distinction is meaningless. 

What should not be used in referring to a 

person. Otherwise, the word is being properly 

used whenever it carries an implied question or 

can be replaced by that which or those which. 

What can be replaced by that which and is therefore 

standard English in an easier yoke than 

what you put on me and Padua affords nothing 

but what is kind. It cannot be replaced by that 

which, and is therefore not standard, in I laughed 

heartier then than what I do now. What is also 

not standard in there’s no one but what says. . . , 

because here it refers to a person. When it does 

not refer to a person, a technically improper 

what after but, as in not but what you’re right 

and who knows but what it’s all true, is acceptable 

English in the United States. But it is condemned 

by some grammarians and avoided in 

formal writing. 

The adjective what may qualify either a singular 

or a plural noun, as in to what green altar? 

and what men or gods are these? The pronoun 

may be followed by either a singular or a plural 

verb, as in what appears to be the important 

points and what appear to be the important 

points. When the words represented by what are 

unknown, as in a true question, it is usually 

treated as a singular, as in what is going on? 

Whatever means “anything, no matter what.” 

It should not be used as an interrogative, as in 

whatever have you done? But otherwise, it may 

be used as a pronoun, as in eat whatever you 

like, or as an adjective, as in for whatever reason. 

The adjective is often placed after a noun qualified 

by any, for additional emphasis, as in if for 

any reason whatever. The word whatsoever is 

now archaic in Great Britain, but is still natural 

English in the United States, especially when

wheal 552 

used to make a negative statement emphatic, as 

in for no reason whatsoever. 

At one time +he word what could be used as 

an indefinite relative equivalent to whatever, as 

in unmoved, I stand what wind may blow. This 

is now archaic except in a few set phrases, such 

as come what will, say what you please. The 

same indefinite what could also be used as an 

adverb or conjunction. This is now obsolete except 

for the set phrase wlznt with, as in what with 

one thing and another. 

wheal. See wale. 

wheels within wheels, as a term for bureaucratic 

complexity or the involvements of administrative 

responsibility in a power hierarchy of some 

kind, is a clichC. It may derive from Ezekiel’s 

vision of a wheel. . . in the midst of a wheel. 

From this also-though more likely from the 

Negro spiritual based on it-may also derive 

the slang term of big wheel or just wheel for a 

man of power in an organization. 

when is primarily an interrogative adverb meaning 

“at what time,” as in when will he come? But 

it is also used in several senses as a conjunction. 

When used to introduce a clause, when may 

still be an interrogative and mean “at what 

time,” as in he didn’t tell me when he would be 

back. But it may mean “at that time,” as in he 

didn’t tell me when he was here. In this case 

when approaches the meaning of while but suggests 

a particular point in time rather than a 

period of time. In speaking of a future event, 

when in this sense is used with a present tense, 

rather than a future tense, verb. We say when 

the end comes, it will come quickly. 

WIlen may mean no more than “considering 

that,” as in who shall decide, when doctors disagree? 

Here the idea of “at that time” has paled 

to a mere logical connection. The word has 

almost the meaning of if, except that it does not 

carry any suggestion of doubt. 

When may also be used to introduce a sharp 

contrast, as in yell rub the sore when you should 

bring the plaster. Here again it approaches the 

meaning of while. But the contrast introduced by 

when is sharper than the contrast introduced by 

while. As a contrasting conjunction, while never 

entirely loses the sense of although, and none of 

this is carried by when. 

These uses of when are all standard English, 

and have been for nine hundred or a thousand 

years. 

When cannot be used to join a clause to a 

noun as children sometimes do in giving a definition, 

as in intoxication is when you’ve had too 

much to drink. There must be two full clauses, 

as in a man is intoxicated when he has had too 

much to drink, or intoxicafion is the condition a 

man is in when, and so on. 

whence is,a bookish word, not very much used iu 

contemporary speech. It means “from what 

place” or “from which place,” as in look unto 

the rock whence ye are hewn. It may also be 

used with the word from, as in too proud to care 

from whence I came. 

whenever is used to introduce a clause and means 

“at any time” or “at whatever time,” as in come 

whenever you like. 

It is sometimes used to mean “as soon as,” 

as in we will start whenever you are ready. This 

is a Scottish and Irish idiom. It is acceptable in 

the United States but not in England. 

In Great Britain whenever is sometimes used 

as an interrogative adverb, as in whenever will 

he come? This is not considered a literary construction 

but it is accepted spoken English. 

Whensoever is an archaic form of whenever, 

where. This word is primarily an interrogative 

adverb meaning “in, at, or to what place,” as in 

I know where to go; but it may also be used without 

the implication of a question and mean 

merely “in, at, or to which,” as in he is in heaven, 

where thou shalt never come. 

At one time the word whither was used to 

indicate “place to which,” and the word whence 

to indicate “place from which.” Both words are 

now archaic and in current English we express 

these ideas by means of where. The word where 

has not absorbed the meaning of whence and we 

have to add the word from to express this idea. 

We cannot say where are you coming? On the 

other hand, where has absorbed the meaning 

of whither and it is possible to say where are 

you going?. But we may emphasize this meaning 

by adding the word to, as in where did it go 

to? Some grammarians claim that this redundant 

to is improper, but it is used by educated people 

throughout the United States and can be found 

in the most formal writing. Where has always 

contained the meaning of “at” and sentences 

such as where are you staying at? are generally 

condemned. But they may become standard in 

time. It is as if the speech instinct argued: It 

was all very well not to say at when that was 

what wkere meant. But now that it means three 

things it should get a specifying word each time. 

Where may be used in place of the phrase 

in which or at which to introduce a clause that 

qualifies a noun, as in teas, where small talk dies 

in ugonies. Formerly it could also be used like 

the word that to introduce a clause that is the 

object of a verb, as in I have heard where many 

of the best respect in Rome have wished that 

noble Brutus had his eyes. This construction can 

still be heard today in the speech of educated 

people, as in I read where a plane was lost, but 

it is condemned by many grammarians and does 

not often appear in print, Where cannot be 

used, as the word what can, to introduce a de& 

nition, a.s in perjury is where a man lies under 

oath. 

whereabout; whereabouts. These words mean the 

same thing and are used in the same ways. The 

form whereabouts is preferred, but whereabout 

is also acceptable. Either form may be used to 

qualify a verb, as in whereabouts is it? and 

whereabout is it? Either form may also be used 

as a noun. Both forms are considered singular 

and are followed by a singular verb, as in her 

whereabouts is unknown.

In current English the form whereabouts is 

sometimes followed by a plural verb, as in her 

whereabouts are unknown. This is heard too 

often to be called anything but standard, but 

it is distressing to some grammarians. Historically, 

the final s in whereabouts is an old adverbial 

ending, similar to the s sound in once, 

twice, endways, towards, and not a noun plural. 

whether was once a pronoun or pronominal adjective 

and was used like the modem which, as in 

whether thing is heavier, water or wine?. Today 

it is always used as a conjunction and introduces 

an alternative. The choice may be between 

more than two alternatives, as in for whether 

beauty, birth, or wealth, or wit, or any of these 

all, or all, or more. Or only one may be mentioned, 

as in I know not whether heaven will 

have it so. Here one can say that the alternative 

or not is understood. Fifty years ago grammarians 

were insisting that this or not had to be 

expressed, on the grounds that if it was omitted 

whether ceased to introduce an alternative and 

became merely an adverb of doubt. But the 

struggle to tidy up the word was short-lived. It 

always had been used in just this way and still 

is. Whether is not used when there is no doubt. 

In literary English one does not say I don’t 

doubt whether you are right. Here the conjunction 

that is required. 

which. The word which is primarily an interrogative 

pronoun, as in which do you like best?, or 

adjective, as in which boys did you send? It may 

also be used as a relative to introduce a qualifying 

clause, as in the books which I brought with 

me. When used as an interrogative, which may be 

singular or plural and may refer to persons, 

animals, or inanimate things. It always asks 

about some out of a definite, known group, in 

contrast to what or who which imply an unde 

fined or unlimited group. That is, which are you 

taking with you? means which of these people or 

things we have been talking about. Who are you 

taking with you and what are you taking with 

you have no such limitation. The group implied 

by which is not necessarily limited to two members 

but may include any number greater than 

one, as in I don’t know which thought of it, 

John, Evelyn, or Sally. 

Theoretically the interrogative pronoun which 

is referred to by a third person pronoun such as 

his or their and we should say which of you 

left his umbrella? and which of us have finished 

their work? In practice we do use the third person 

form after which of us but are more likely 

to say your after which of you. 

The interrogative which is often used in a 

subordinate clause, either as a pronoun, as in 

Z don’t know which he took, or as an adjective, 

as in I don’t know which road he took. When 

used in this way it is sometimes confused with 

the relative which. There are important dif7erences 

between these two uses of the word in 

contemporary English. (1) The relative which 

always represents a noun or pronoun that has 

been mentioned previously. This is called its 

antecedent. The interrogative which asks about 

something unknown and cannot possibly represent 

a word already mentioned. (2) The interrogative 

clause always implies a question, while 

the relative clause gives information. (3) The 

interrogative which may refer to individual, 

adult human beings, but the relative which is no 

longer used in speaking of anything that is felt 

to have personality. (For the regular uses of 

the relative pronoun which, see that; which.) 

Which may be used as a relative adjective, as 

in we came to a cross roads, at which place we 

parted company. Formerly, it might be used 

without an antecedent, as the equivalent of that 

which or what, as in they interpret literally 

which the doctors did write figuratively, but 

this construction is now obsolete. At one time 

the article the could be used before a relative 

which, as in (this world) o’er the which we stride 

so fiercely and the which tokens of homage he 

received graciously, but this is now obsolete, 

Which can sometimes be used as the equivalent 

of this or and this, as in if you had seen 

her, which I doubt. Here which is not a relativo 

because (1) it represents a clause and not a 

noun or pronoun, and (2) it introduces an independent 

or coordinate statement rather than a 

subordinate clause. This use of the word h 

standard English when it refers to something 

preceding. The construction is not standard 

when which is used in place of what to refer to 

something that follows, as in which I wish to 

remark, and my language is plain-the heothrn 

Chinee Is peculiar. 

Whichever is an indefinite pronoun and can 

also be used as an adjective, as in take whichever 

yo11 like and take whichever piece you like. 

It may be singular or plural. It does not refer 

to a preceding word in the sentence and should 

be thought of as a telescoped word containing 

a demonstrative and a relative pronoun, equivalent 

to that (or those) which. It is not an interrogative 

and should not be used in a question, 

as it is in whichever did you take? But it is like 

the interrogative which and unlike the relative 

which in its meaning. That is, it may be used in 

speaking of persons as well as of things, as in 

ask whichever of the boys you see first, and 

differs from whatever and whoever in that it 

implies a limited group. Whichsoever was once 

the preferred form, but this is now archaic. 

while; whilst; whiles. These three words are conjunctions 

and are used to introduce a clause. 

The form whiles is now archaic, but while and 

whilst are both in regular use in Great Britain. 

In the United States while is the preferred form 

and many people consider whilst a would-be 

elegance. 

The form while was originally a noun meaning 

“a space of time.” It may still be used aa a 

noun, either in a prepositional phrase, as in 

once in a while, or alone without a preposition 

to show “an extent of time,“‘as in stay a while 

and I’ve been waiting all th/s while. Wait a

while is grammatically comparable to wait a 

minute, but when used in this way, as an adverb 

of extent, custom allows the two words to be 

written together, as if they were a simple adverb, 

as in wait awhile. But when the same form is 

used after a preposition, as in wait for awhile, 

it is generally considered a mark of il!iteracy. 

There is no justification for this distinction, since 

true adverbs sometimes follow a preposition, as 

in away from here, but many people feel very 

strongly about it. 

When it is used as a conjunction, while may 

mean “at the same time,” as in it ruined while 

Bill was ut the theater. Or it may be used to 

introduce a contrast. Used in this way while 

may have the force of although, as in while 

Dave is good in mathematics, he is not good in 

English; or it may have the force of but, as in 

Mr. Chapman likes classical music while Jim 

likes modern jazz. These three uses of while are 

all literary English and have been for centuries. 

Sometimes while is used where no contrast and 

no reference to time is intended, as in Charlie 

comes from Michigan, Sandy comes from New 

Jersey, while Bill comes from New York. Here 

it has only the force of and. This use of while 

is about a hundred years old and is usually condemned 

as “journalese.” 

whip. The past tense is whipped or whipt. The 

participle is also whipped or whipt. 

whip hand. As a way of saying that one has a 

decided advantage over another, so decided that 

resistance would be useless, to have the whip 

hand over (formerly of) him, or just to have 

the whip hand, is a clicht. 

whipped cream. Although the form skim milk is 

preferred to skimmed milk, the form whipped 

cream is preferred to whip cream. This may be 

because of the sound. Or it may be because 

thirty years ago a study of English usage chose 

whip cream to represent words of this kind and 

found that it was “illiterate.” This may have 

kept students of domestic science from using 

the word. But nothing had been said about skim 

milk and so there they may have felt at liberty 

to do as they pleased. (This same study found 

that it was perfectly all right to speak of 

“driving” a car.) 

whipsaw, literally, is a saw used for cutting curved 

kerfs, consisting essentially of a narrow blade 

stretched in a frame. Americans use the word 

figuratively in colloquial contexts to mean to 

win two bets from a person at one turn or play 

or, more loosely, to defeat or worst in two ways 

at once, or, even more loosely, simply to get 

the better of (They were just hoodwinked and 

whipsawed by Michigan’s slickers). Whipsaw 

may be used figuratively as a noun to describe 

a double defeat, and as an adjective to mean 

violently opposing (The Santa Vittoria reached 

Georges Bunks with its whipsaw currents and 

dangerous shoal waters). 

whtrl; whorl. Though their meanings are related, 

these words are not interchangeable. Whirl is 

both a verb and a noun; whorl is a noun only. 

As an intransitive verb, whirl means to turn 

round, spin, or rotate rapidly (In the ballroom 

the dancers wheeled and whirled); to turn 

about or aside quickly; to move, travel, or be 

carried rapidly along on wheels or otherwise 

(The stagecoach whirled merrily along). As a 

transitive verb, whirl means to send, drive, or 

carry in a circular or curving course (We whirled 

his hat across the room. Whirling a light malacca 

cane, he strolled along the avenue). As a 

noun, whirl means the act of whirling, a rapid 

rotation or gyration, a whirling movement, a 

quick turn or swing (The eddy and whirl of the 

whispering flood waters. He could see the whirl 

of the carousel in the distance). In the United 

States whirl is also used in the slang expression 

give it a whirl meaning “have a try” (I still 

think it won’t hurt to give ‘em a whirl and see). 

This figurative use would seem to be drawn 

from the roulette wheel. To give a girl a whirl 

means to press attentions upon her, to hurry 

her from one pleasure to another, until she is, 

supposedly, giddy with delight. 

Whorl is used only in special connections. In 

botany it means a circular arrangement of 

like parts, as leaves, flowers, round a point on 

an axis; a verticil. In zoology it describes one 

of the turns or volutions of a spiral shell. In 

anatomy it describes one of the turns in the 

cochlea of the ear. In general, it may describe 

anything shaped like a coil. 

whiskers; moustache. Whiskers is not so inclusive 

a term as it once was. If used to describe the 

full beard now, the use is intended to be humorous 

and is confined to Santa Claus, hoboes, 

Russians, and other quaint folk. It is now used 

only dialectally to describe the hair growing on 

the upper lip; the more acceptable alternative 

is moustache. Yet the bristly hairs growing 

about the mouth of certain animals, such as cats 

and rats, are always whiskers. The slang expression 

of admiration, It’s the cat’s whiskers!, 

may simply be an elaboration of “outstanding.” 

Sometimes whiskers describes the beard generally 

(Admiral Blake was very fond of combing 

his whiskers) but usually today the term 

describes the hair growing on the side of a 

man’s face, especially when worn long and with 

the chin clean-shaven. 

When people had more occasion to speak 

about whiskers than they have today, the hair 

on a man’s face might be referred to generally 

as whiskers, or it might be called a pair of 

whiskers, or it might be treated as a singular, 

like the word beard, and called a whisker, as 

in a tall gentleman with a carefully brushed 

whisker. 

white; whitened; whited. That is white which has 

the color of white, whether it has always had 

it or has acquired it some way. That is whitened 

which has become or been made white (His 

hair whitened over night when he used up the 

lust of his dye). Whited has become fixed in 

a specialized pejorative sense by its use in 

Matthew 23~27: Woe unto you, scribes and

Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto 

whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful 

outward, but are within full of dead men’s 

bones, and of all uncleanness. 

white as a sheet is a natural comparison. But to 

characterize pallor as as white as a sheet is to 

use a hackneyed expression. 

white-collar is an American adjective which 

means belonging or pertaining to workers, professional 

men, and others who may wear conventional 

dress at work, especially clerical 

helpers and lesser executives (D. H. Lawrence 

had a strong distaste for white-collar workers, 

men who lived by head rather than by hand). 

The white-collar worker draws a salary rather 

than wages and is, for the most part, not organized 

into labor unions. The equivalent English 

term is black coat. 

white elephant, as a term for a costly but useless 

possession, usually one that requires considerable 

maintenance and cannot be gotten rid of, 

is now a clich6. The term, once apt and simply 

worn out by overuse, is drawn, as is well known, 

from the fact that formerly in Siam immense 

importance was attached to an albino elephant. 

All that were born were the property of the 

King of Siam and none of them could be used 

for work or destroyed without his permission. 

It is said that he would sometimes bestow one 

of these beasts upon some courtier whom he 

disliked, the luckless recipient of this royal 

maleficent munificence being required to keep 

the creature in idleness at ruinous expense. 

who; whom. The word who may be used as an 

interrogative pronoun or as a relative pronoun. 

In either case it may be singular or plumI. 

INTERROGATIVE 

There are three interrogative pronouns, 

which, what, and who. The interrogative which 

asks about something belonging to a limited and 

known group. That is, which do you want? 

means “which, among those we are speaking 

about.” It may refer to persons or to things 

and may be used as a pronoun or as an adjective, 

as in which ones do you want?. (See 

which.) What and who refer to an unlimited 

group. That is, what do you want? and who do 

you want? put no limits on what the answer 

may be. 

Who is used only as a pronoun and only in 

reference to persons. What may be used as a 

pronoun or as an adjective and may refer to 

animals and inanimate things. The adjective 

what can be used in asking about a person’s 

function, status, reputation, as in who is Sylvia? 

what is she? Three hundred years ago it could 

be used in asking about the person himself, as in 

and what are you thar live with Lucifer?, but 

this is no longer customary. Today only the 

word who is used in a question of this kind 

and what suggests something subhuman or 

monstrous. 

RELATIVE 

Who is also used as a relative pronoun. That 

is, it may be used in a subordinate clause that 

qualifies a noun or pronoun which appears 

earlier in the sentence and which is represented 

in the clause by the word who, as in Z know the 

man who told you that. Here who told you that 

qualifies the word man, which in turn is represented 

in the clause by who. The interrogative 

who may also be used in a dependent clause, 

as in I know who told you that, but it is unlike 

the relative in function and in meaning. The 

interrogative who never represents a preceding 

word, and always implies a question. That is, 

the sentence just given could be paraphrased as 

I know the answer to the question: who told 

you that? The relative does not imply a question 

and must refer back to another word. 

As a relative pronoun who competes with 

that and which, and we do not have the clearcut 

distinctions that exist between the interrogative 

pronouns which, what, and who. That 

has been the standard relative pronoun for 

about eight hundred years and can be used in 

speaking of persons, animals, or things. Four 

hundred years ago which became popular as a 

substitute for the relative that and was used for 

persons, animals, and things. Three hundred 

years ago who also became popular as a relative. 

It was used in speaking of persons and 

animals but not of things. 

This left English with more relative pronouns 

than it has any use for. Grammarians first tried 

to get rid of the relative that and failed. More 

recently they have tried to limit that to one 

kind of relative clause but they have not succeeded 

in this either. In the meantime, the 

users of English gradually restricted who until 

now it is used only in speaking of persons. In 

this specialized area it has driven out the relative 

which, and this is now used only in speaking 

of animals or things. Who may in time 

drive out that as a relative referring to persons, 

but it has not yet done so. For the difference 

between that and which, see that; which. 

That may still be used in speaking of a 

person, as in the child that has been subject to 

nagging is in perpetual terror. It is required 

when the antecedent, that is, the word in the 

principal clause which the relative represents, 

is an interrogative pronoun, as in who that has 

seen her can deny . . . and which of us that is 

over thirty would say. . . . We apparently object 

to doubling these wh- words and saying who 

who has or which of us who is. On the other 

hand, the word who is required when the antecedent 

is the proper name of a familiar person, 

as in Nathaniel Hawthorne who was born in 

1804 entered Bowdoin College in 1821. When 

the person is not familiar and is identified by 

the following clause, some grammarians claim 

that the relative that is required, as in the 

Nathaniel Hawthorne that was born in 1776 

was his father. But who is also used here and 

is preferred by many people. 

In current English who is preferred to that 

when the antecedent is a personal pronoun, aa 

in he who, we who. Formerly it was customary

who 556 

to use that after a personal pronoun, as in he 

rhur. we rhar. This is still acceutable English 

but it now has a bookish tone. In speaking about 

more than one person the form those who is 

now preferred to they (or them) who. 

The choice between who and which depends 

on what seems to have personality and what 

does not. We must use which and not who when 

we are speaking about a type, function, or role, 

and not about the actual person, as in if I were 

his wife, which I thank goodness I am not and 

he is exactly the man which such a school would 

turn out. Which must also be used in speaking 

about a group of people considered as a unit, 

M in the family next door, which is large. If we 

are thinking of the individual members of the 

group we use a plural verb and the pronoun 

who, as in the family next door, who stay up 

till all hours. Very young children are often 

spoken of as if they did not have personality. 

We might say they had one child, which died 

in infancy but we would certainly use who in 

they had one child, who went away to college. 

When the relative refers to both a person and 

a thing, the rule is that we should use that. In 

actual fact we consider only the word that 

stands closest to the pronoun. We may say 

unything or anyone who wasn’t familiar to him 

and anyone or anything which had amused him. 

Theoretically a relative pronoun has the same 

person and number as its antecedent and these 

determine the form of the verb when the relative 

is the subject of the subordinate clause. But 

this rule is not strictly observed. (For exceptions, 

see agreement: verbs and one.) 

INDEFINITE 

At one time who could be used as the equivalent 

of a personal pronoun and a relative 

pronoun combined, such as he who or they 

who, as in who was the Thune lives yet. This 

is similar to the way in which we now use 

what, meaning “that which.” The construction 

is no longer natural English when who refers 

to one or more specific individuals, as in the 

quotation just given. It may be used when who 

refers indefinitely to anyone or everyone, as in 

who steuls my purse steals trash, but even here 

the form is archaic and whoever is preferred. 

See whoever. 

WHOM 

If English followed the rules of Latin 

grammar we would use the form whom whenever 

the word was the object of a verb or 

preposition and the form who (or whose) in 

all other situations. But this is not the way these 

words are used in English. The interrogative 

pronoun who is treated as an invariable form, 

similar to whui and which. The relative pronoun 

has the two forms who and whom, but 

whom is used where the Latin rules would call 

for who more often than it is where they would 

call for whom. 

Sentences such as whom are you looking for? 

and whom do you mean? are unnatural English 

and have been for at least five hundred years. 

Eighteenth century grammarians claimed that 

this form ought to be the one used, but Noah 

Webster vigorously opposed this theory. He 

wrote: “Whom did you speak to? was never 

used in speaking, as I can find, and if so, is 

hardly English at all.” He goes on to say that 

this whom must be the invention of Latin 

students who had not given much thought to 

English, and concludes: “At any rate, whom 

did you speak to? is a corruption and all the 

grammars that can be found will not extend 

the use of the phrase beyond the walls of a 

college.” 

The literary tradition was with Webster and 

against the Latinists and this use of whom never 

became standard English. Today the form who 

is preferred when the word stands before a 

verb, as in who did you see? The form whom 

is required when the word follows a preposition, 

as in to whom did you speak?, but this is an 

unnatural interrogative word order. The form 

whom may be used, but is not required, when 

it follows the verb, as in you saw wkom? A 

few people habitually observe the eighteenth 

century rules of grammar, but this is likely to 

be a disadvantage to them. To most of their 

countrymen, the unnatural whom’s sound priggish 

or pretentious. 

In the case of the relative pronoun the situation 

is different and the form whom is required 

in certain constructions. Two of these however 

are purely literary. (1) The indefinite who is 

now archaic but if used, the Latin rules must 

be strictly observed, as in whom the gods love 

die young. (2) The form whom is required 

after than, as in Beelzebub, than whom none 

higher sat and Dumas the Elder, than whom 

there never was u kinder heart. Theoretically 

these sentences call for the subjective form who, 

but this irregular use of whom is so well established 

in our finest literature that all grammarians 

accept it as the standard idiom. 

The form whom is also used as the subject 

of a verb when a parenthetical clause stands 

between the relative pronoun and the verb, such 

as they sny in the lines from Shakespeare, 

Arthur, whom they say is killed tonight, and I 

really think in the sentence by Keats, I have 

met with women whom I really think would 

like to be married to a poem. This construction 

is used frequently in speech, as in we are jeeding 

children whom we know are hungry. Many 

grammarians claim that it is a mistake and that 

who is required here. But this technically incorrect 

form represents the principal use of 

whom in natural English today. In sentences 

such as these either who or whom is acceptable 

to all except purists. 

The form whom is required after a preposition, 

as in the man to whom I spoke. This construction 

can be avoided, as in the man I spoke 

to, but it is used more often, and is more 

acceptable, in a relative clause than it is in a 

question. When the relative is the object of a 

verb, that is generally preferred to whom, as

in a mnn that 2 respect, or a contact clause 

containing no relative is used, as in a man I 

respect. Neither that nor a contact clause can 

be used after a proper name. Here whom is 

preferred to who when the word is the object 

of the verb; but who is also acceptable, as in 

Fanny, who I hope you will see soon. 

whoever; whomever. Whoever is an indefinite 

pronoun and may be used as a singular or a 

plural. It can be thought of as a combined 

personal pronoun and relative pronoun, such as 

he who or they who, and is used in statements 

about everyone who fits the description that 

follows, as whoever comes, whoever likes me. 

It is not an interrogative and should not be 

used where no description can be given, as in 

whoever do you mean? and I can’t imagine 

whoever you are thinking of. Sentences of this 

kind are not standard and nothing is saved by 

writing whoever as two words, as in who ever 

do you mean? However, a question such as who 

ever heard of that? is entirely different. Here 

ever is an adverb attached to heard, and is 

above reproach. 

The form whoever is required whenever the 

word is the subject of a verb, as in whoever 

told you that is mistaken. It is also acceptable 

as the object of a verb or preposition, as in 

ask whoever you see and ask whoever you speak 

to. The form whomever is not required but may 

be used when the word is the object of the verb 

or of a preposition in the subordinate, descriptive 

clause. It should not be used when the word 

is the subject of the subordinate verb. For 

example, whoever is required and whomever 

would be a mistake in he iells whoever comes 

along and he was angry with whoever opposed 

him, because the form of the word is determined 

by the fact that it is the subject of the 

following verb, comes or opposed, and not by 

the fact that it is the object of a preceding verb, 

tells, or a preceding preposition, with. Whomever 

is an extremely literary word and should 

not be used unless it is used in the literary 

manner. 

Whoever (and whomever) came into general 

use a little more than three hundred years ago. 

The King James Bible uses an older form whosoever, 

which is now archaic. A still older form, 

whosomever, was archaic in 1600 and does not 

appear in Biblical English, but it is still heard 

in rural areas in the United States. 

In current English the possessive form of 

whoever is whoever’s, as in whoever’s dog it is. 

But an older form, whosever, is also used, especially 

when no noun follows, as in whosever 

it is. Since whosoever is a purely literary word, 

it has only the old possessive form whosesoever. 

whole. See complete. 

whorl. See whirl. 

whose is a possessive pronoun. When used as tho 

possessive form of an interrogative pronoun, it 

refers only to persons, as in whose it is? When 

used as the possessive form of a relative pronoun, 

it may refer to things as well as to 

557 Wild 

persons or animals, as in a land whose stones 

are iron and out of whose hills thou mayesf dig 

brass. A country whose rainfall is abundant is 

better English than a country, the rainfall of 

which is abundant. 

The form who’s is a contraction of who is 

and should not be used in place of the possessive 

pronoun whose. 

why. This word may be used at the beginnlng of 

a sentence to show surprise, as in Why! This & 

a pleasure! It may be used anywhere in a 

sentence so long as it means “the reason” or 

“for what reason,” as in I know why he didn’t 

stay. 

The word reason is often followed by the 

word why, as in I know the reason why he 

didn’t stay. This use of why is sometimes condemned 

as redundant or pleonastic, but the 

phrase the reason why is a standard English 

idiom, and has been for many centuries. Anyone 

who wants to can always omit words that 

are not strictly necessary to his meaning, but 

if this is done consistently the result ia a stiff, 

unnatural English. As a rule, it is better to be 

natural than to be correct according to theories 

that other people have never heard of. (For 

the reason is because, see because.) 

The use of why in the middle of a sentence, 

as a loose connective with no reference at all 

to a reason, does not have the same standing. 

Sentences such as when I got there, why she 

was waiting for me are heard only in careless or 

uneducated speech. 

wide. See broad. 

-wide. See soilixes. 

wide awake; wide-awake; wideawake. Wide awake 

means fully awake, alert, keenly conscious and 

aware. In England wideawake and wide-awake 

may be used as adjectives meaning fully awake, 

with the eyes wide open (He gave him a wideawake 

stare); alert, keen, or knowing (only a 

wide-awake young man can fill the position). 

As nouns, wideawake and wide-awake were 

used formerly to describe a soft, low-crowned 

felt hat. In the United States only wide-awake 

is now used as an adjective, though wideawake 

(especially in reference to the hat) once was. 

wideness, width. See breadth. 

wide open spaces. Used seriously in reference to 

the unsettled sections of the country, particularly 

the western desert and semi-desert, Ihe 

wide open spaces is a clichC. Used facetiously, 

it is a bore. 

wife. The plural is wives. 

The expression an old wives’ tale contains an 

old form of the genitive and is equivalent to 

an old wife’s tale. This is not an instance of a 

plural noun used as the first element in a compound. 

And wife’s here means “woman’s” not 

necessarily “married wornan’s.” 

wild horses could not drag it from me. As a hyperbolic 

affirmation of secrecy, the assurance that 

wild horses couldn’t drag it from me is a clich& 

The reference is to a form of torture and 

punishment in which each arm and each leg of

the victim was attached to a horse and the 

horses were driven in different directions until 

the victim was dismembered. 

wfll; would. Will is a present tense form. Its past 

tense is would. 

He will does not have the s ending that we 

ordinarily expect in a present tense verb. This 

is because will is an ancient past tense form 

that had come to be felt as a present tense 

before English became a written language. 

Would is a new past tense that was created for 

it. Today would is sometimes used as the past 

tense of will, as in he said he would come, but 

it has also acquired a present tense meaning, 

as in would yore help me with this? Will has a 

negative form won’t which is less emphatic than 

the full form will not. 

This verb has no infinitive, no imperative, no 

-ing form and no past participle. Because the 

words will and would are grammatically past 


follow (that is, they cannot be dependent 

on) another verb. We can no more say might 

will or used to would than we can say might 

went or used to went. 

English also has a regular verb to will which 

has an infinitive, an imperative, an -ing form, 

and a past participle. It has a regular past tense 

willed and final s in the third person singular 

of the present tense, as in what God wills. This 

verb is used chiefly in the progressive (or continuing 

action) forms and is followed by a toinfinitive, 

as in he is willing to go. (When used 

without a following verb,the infinitive to be can 

always be supplied, as in he willed it so.) 

The auxiliary verb will, with its past tense 

would, cannot be followed by a to-infinitive but 

requires the simple form of the verb, as in he 

will go. When followed by have and a past participle 

it expresses completed action, as in he 

will have gone. In present-day English the complementary 

verb must be actually stated or 

easily supplied from the context, as in he won’t 

go and why won’t he? But at one time verbs of 

motion could be omitted after verbs of willing 

and this construction is still heard occasionally, 

as in murder will out. 

The auxiliary verb will originally meant to 

desire, wish, or choose. It is still used in this 

way, as in will you come in? and who will have 

coflee? It is also used to express determination. 

When used in this sense it is spoken with a 

heavy stress, as in he WILL not see us and he 

WILL meddle in things that don’t concern him. 

But the principal use of the word will today is 

to indicate futurity. That is, it is used without 

any meaning of its own, simply to indicate that 

what is being said refers to the future. In a 

verbal phrase of this kind the principal stress 

falls on the meaningful verb and not on the 

auxiliary, as in he will not SEE us and he will 

MEDDLE in everything. In the United States 

will is used as a future auxiliary in all persons 

and in all types of sentences. (See hrtnre tense. 

For the English use of shall and should as 

future auxili&ies, see shall; will.) Will may also 

be used to express what is customary or 

habitual, a timeless state of affairs, as in a nmn 

will tire of carrying a baby before a nurse maid 

will and boys will be boys. 

The past tense form would is used in all the 

ways that the present tense form will is used. 

One of the principal uses of would is to show 

desire or determination. When used in this way 

it is a past subjunctive. (See subjunctive mode.) 

In this sense it does not refer to the past, but 

refers indefinitely to the present or the future, as 

in would you help me? and he would come if 

he could. When used in a conditional clause 

would always expresses volition or willingness, 

as in if he would tell me. To express a simple 

condition without the idea of willingness we 

must use a simple past subjunctive, as in if he 

told me, or the auxiliary should, as in if he 

should tell me. 

Would is often used as a past subjunctive 

form of the simple future auxiliary. Here it 

always refers to the future. For example, the 

verb hope is followed by an indicative form of 

the verb and we say I hope the snow will melt, 

but the verb wish requires a past subjunctive 

form and we therefore say I wish the snow 

would melt. Would is used in place of the future 

will to indicate uncertainty or unreality. It 

usually has this meaning in the conclusion of a 

conditional statement, as in what would you 

think if Z told you . . . . Sometimes this would 

is used apparently in place of a present tense 

verb, as in Z would think and it would seem. 

Expressions of this kind represent the moat 

extreme caution. The thinking or seeming is 

first placed in the future and then made conditional 

or uncertain. It is a very modest way of 

speaking. 

Occasionally would is used in a future tense 

phrase that has been shifted to the past, as 

when Z know he will come is changed to Z knew 

he would come. Here would is a past indicative 

of the future auxiliary will. 

Would is also used to express customary or 

repeated action. It may be used in speaking of 

the past but in that case the time when the 

repeated events occurred must be specified, as 

in every morning he would get up at six. If no 

time is specified would indicates that the action 

is customary or characteristic of the person 

spoken about and does not refer to the past, as 

in what else would he do?, what would you 

expect him to do?, and that is what most men 

would do. 

Would is used with have in a conclusion 

following a contrary-to-fact condition, as in Z 

would have gone if Z had known about it. It 

cannot be used with hove in a conditional 

clause Zf Z would have known is not standard. 

Would may be used in place of had in the expression 

had ruther. (See rather.) It should not 

be used in place of had in the expression had 

better. (See better.) 

Will and would may be contract& to ‘11 and 

‘d, as in he’ll be here soon and he’d have come 

sooner if he couM. These contractions are stand-

ard spoken English and there is no reason why 

they should not be used in print. 

win. The past tense is won. The participle is also 

won. 

win hands down. As a term for winning easily, 

lo win hands down is hackneyed. It is drawn, 

Partridge says, from a jockey’s letting up on the 

reins and allowing his hands to fall when victory 

is certain. 

Wind. The past tense is wound. The participle is 

also wound. 

This verb means twine or twist. Another verb, 

meaning blow a horn, has become confused 

with it. At one time the noun wind, meaning 

a moving current of air, was pronounced with 

the i as in wine, and there was a regular verb, 

wind, winded, meaning more or less “make a 

wind.” One would say he winded his horn. But 

when wind came to be pronounced with the i 

as in win, the old verb seemed to have no connection 

with it and people began to say he 

wound his horn. Since horns of this kind do not 

play much part in our lives today, these words 

are now found chiefly in poetry and it is impossible 

to say which is the preferred form. 

Since then, a new regular verb wind, winded, 

with the i as in win, has been formed from the 

noun wind with its modern pronunciation. This 

may either mean “exhaust the wind of,” as in 

the climb winded him, or “get the wind of,” as in 

the hounds winded the fox. 

windshield; windscreen. American windshield 

equals English windscreen. 

wire. During the nineteenth century wire used as 

a verb meaning to telegraph was considered an 

Americanism and people who used it were said 

to be “striving to debase the language.” It is 

now thoroughly respectable (It’s wise to wire). 

It may be followed by a clause, as in she wired 

she was coming, or by an infinitive, as in she 

wired us to come. The infinitive construction is 

also frequently used with the preposition for, 

as in she wired for us to come. This construction 

is condemned by some grammarians but 

is in respectable use in the United States. 

wish. This verb may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in I wish to see it. It may also be followed by 

a clause, but the clause verb must have a past 

tense form, as in I wish he was here. 

When wish expresses a desire that involves 

only the speaker it can no longer be followed 

by a direct noun object without the preposition 

for, as in eagerly I wished the murrow. This 

construction is now obsolete. But the form is 

still acceptable when the wish is for something 

or someone other than the speaker, as in I wish 

the plan success and I wish them happiness. See 

also want. 

wishful thinking, although introduced only a 

generation ago, is already a cliche. It lent itself 

too facilely to a superficial explanation of other 

people’s opinions. 

wist. See wot. 

wit. See humor. 

with. Originally this word meant “against.” This 

meaning survives in a few compound verbs. 

559 witness 

such as withstand, withhold. But the usual 

meaning of the word today is “accompanying” 

as in fo go with. By extension, it is used to indicate 

means or attendant circumstances, as in 

cut it with the scissors and handle it with care. 

When with, meaning “accompanying,” joins 

something to the singular subject of a verb, the 

rule is that the verb remains singular, as in the 

sheriff with his men was at the door. In practice, 

a plural verb is also acceptable here. See agreement: 

verbs. 

With may be joined to a verb to indicate that 

the action is mutual, as in talk with, agree with. 

But occasionally it retains something of its old 

meaning of “against,” as in fight with, make 

way with, dispense with. 

with a vengeance, which meant originally with 

a curse or malediction thrown in for good 

measure, has been used as an intensive (even, 

formerly, of good things) for more than four 

hundred years. It is now worn out. 

with bated breath, that is, with breathing reduced 

or subdued under the influence of awe or fright, 

is a cliche. Bated, now archaic, except in this 

phrase, is the participle of the verb to bate, to 

lower, reduce (Yet Z argue nor/ Against 

Heaven’s hand or will, nor bare a jot/ Of heart 

or hope), an aphetic form of abate. 

with might and main, usually with cdl one’s might 

and main, is hackneyed. Might is the quality of 

being able and main is sheer brute force or 

violence. 

withdraw. See retreat. 

without may be used as an adverb with no object, 

as in we must go without. Or it may be used as 

a preposition with a simple noun or pronoun 

object, as in without supper, without him. The 

-ing form of a verb is treated as a noun and 

may be used after without, as in they never met 

without quarreling. But in current English without 

cannot be used as a conjunction to introduce 

a full dause. Formerly this use of the word was 

acceptable, as in he may stay him; marry, not 

without the prince be willing. The construction 

is still heard, as in they never met without they 

quarreled, but is no longer considered standard. 

without let or hindrance, to mean unhampered, 

unimpeded, is a cliche. It is pompous and is 

often used as a jocular expression intended to 

ridicule pomposity but pompous in its jocularity. 

Let originally meant hindrance, impediment, 

obstruction. In 1649 it was possible to 

speak of one whose talents recompensed his 

natural let in speech, but the word is now 

archaic except in the phrase let or hindrance. 

Until quite recently, however, it survived in 

other combinations, such as let and disturbance 

of the peace, doing as one pleases without let 

or inquiry, without let or stay. 

without rhyme or reason, unless used literally, 

as it might be in reference to some modern 

poetry, is a cliche. 

withstand. The past tense is withstood. The participle 

is also withstood. 

witness as a verb means to bear witness to, to 

testify to, to give or afford evidence of (The

witness 560 

fossfls, in fheir own way, also witness to the 

glory of the Lord. The prisoner brought several 

persons of good credit to witness to her reputation). 

As a synonym for see (I witnessed un 

amusing incident yesterday) it is now acceptable 

in American usage, but it is stilted and see 

ls to be preferred where it is applicable. Witness 

is to be preferred where one’s presence is formal 

or where one’s seeing is likely to be the basis 

of subsequent testimony. One sees a new model 

automobile; one witnesses an accident. 

witness stand; witness box. The place occupied by 

one giving testimony in court is called the 

witness stand in the United States, the witness 

box in England. These are usually shortened to 

stand and box respectively. The witness takes 

the stand and enters the box. 

wives. See wife. 

woke; woken. See wake. 

wolf. The plural is wolves. 

wolf in sheep’s clothing. As a term for one whose 

inner evil nature or intention is concealed under 

an innocent-seeming exterior, a wolf in sheep’s 

clothing is a clich6. 

wolves. This is the plural of wolf. 

woman. The plural is women. Compounds that 

have woman as a qualifying element have the 

form women in the plural, as in women friends, 

women writers. This is contrary to the usual 

practice in English, according to which the first 

element of a compound remains singular even 

when the whole is made plural, as in lady 

friends, lady writers. 

When the first element of a compound is the 

object of the second element, and not a qualifier, 

only the singular form woman can be used, 

as in woman haters. 

woman; female; lady; gentlewoman. Woman is 

the general term for the adult female of the 

human species (Woman’s place is in the home. 

Her voice was ever soft,/ Gentle and low-an 

excellent thing in woman). It is a word of 

dignity (though the plural women, for some 

reason, does not have quite the same dignity) 

and is always to be preferred when in doubt. 

One of the finest touches in Shakespeare’s delineation 

of Mistress Quickly’s garrulous vulgarity 

is her indignation when, in the course 

of an argument, Falstaff calls her a woman 

(FALSTAFF: Go to, you are a woman, go! 

HOSTESS: Who, I? No; I defy thee! God’s light, 

I was never call’d so in mine own house 

before!). 

Female refers especially to sex. A woman is 

a female human being, and she is a female as 

a man is a male, but since the word is applicable 

to all females in all species in which there is 

a sexual differentiation, from philosophers to 

cockroaches (The female of the species is more 

deadly than the male), its application to a 

woman usually has a contemptuous implication 

(She’s a scheming female, my boy). Female 

used to be used as an elegant euphemism for 

woman or yolmg woman or woman’s or 

women’s (A charming female, egadl Bolton’s 

Female Academy for Accomplished Young 

Ladies. Recommended for All Female Complaints), 

but this usage is obsolescent and no 

longer even funny when used in mockery of its 

pretentiousness. 

In England lady has a social connotation. 

Fowler calls it an “undress substitute” for 

marchioness, countess, viscountess, and baroness. 

It is also a courtesy title for the wife of a 

knight or baronet or the younger daughters of 

an earl. Such uses are unknown in America 

where lady carries implications of gentility (She 

behaved like a lady) but, in the proper democratic 

way, is used for almost any woman of 

whom one wishes to speak with some formality 

(Is the lady of the house in?). Well-meaning 

souls have carried it further until, in its excesses, 

it is almost a joke word (“Who was that 

lady I seen you with?” “That wasn’t no lady; 

that was my wife.” The scrub lady called. 

Tables for ladies and gents). It is sometimes 

used as a formal term in direct address (Lady, 

you dropped your glove. I gave you the right 

change, lady! What are you arguin’ about?) but 

the proper form (and the more effective term 

if one wants to be disagreeable) is madam. 

A gentlewoman is a woman of good family 

or breeding (It has gotten so that you can’t keep 

half a dozen young gentlewomen at their needlework 

but you are accused of running a bawdy 

house!), but the word is now archaic and is 

used chiefly in hackneyed (a decayed gentlewoman) 

or facetious phrases. In America, 

except as a literary affectation, it is not used 

at all. See also female. 

womanly. See female. 

women. See woman. 

won. See win. 

wondrous is a bookish word, whether used as an 

adjective or an adverb. As an adjective it means 

wonderful, marvelous (Some of serpent kind/ 

Wondrous in length and corpulence. When I 

survey the wondrous cross/ On which the 

Prince of glory died,/ My richest gain I count 

but loss,/ And pour contempt on all my pride), 

though this use is archaic, surviving chiefly in 

humorous passages (A saloon near a newspaper 

ofice is always a lovely institution, filling the 

nights with wondrous sights and sounds). As an 

adverb it is archaic for wondrously, which is 

also a bookish term. As such, it means in a 

wonderful or surprising degree, remarkably 

(There was a man in our town/ And he was 

wondrous wise./ He jumped into a bramble 

bush/ And scratched out both his eyes). 

wont. This is a present tense form. The verb does 

not have an infinitive or an imperative. The past 

tense is wonted. The participle is wonted or 

wont. 

There was once a verb won, meaning “stay” 

or “be used to.” It gradually disappeared from 

the language leaving only its two participles, 

wonted and wont, which came to be used as 

adjectives meaning “usual.” This old construction 

survives today in such expressions as his

wonted energy and he is wont io act with 

energy, where wonted is used only before a 

noun and wont only after a form of the verb 

to be and before an infinitive. 

Out of this limited use of two words, some 

new verb forms have developed. There is a 

present tense, singular and plural, as in he wonis 

to act wifh energy and they wont to act with 

energy, and a past tense form, in those days 

he wonted to act with energy. The verb has no 

other forms, and these forms are very rare. 

Although they are standard, they are decidedly 

artificial. 

This verb should not be confused with want, 

or with won’t, which means “will not.” 

wood; forest; woods. A forest is an extensive 

wooded area, preserving some of its primitive 

wildness and usually having game or wild 

animals in it (This is the forest primeval, the 

murmuring pines and the hemlocks, The National 

Forests are among our most valuable 

possessions). In England forest is applied to an 

unenclosed tract, regardless of whether it has 

trees, used as a game preserve. The famous 

New Forest was not wholly wooded and there 

are deer forests in the Scottish Highland where 

there are few or no trees. 

Wood or woods describes a wooded tract 

smaller than a forest and resembling one, but 

less wild in character and nearer to civilization. 

Woods, when it means a grove of trees, 

usually takes a plural verb, as in the woods are 

full of them and there are woods near the house. 

But it is sometimes treated as a singular, as in 

there is a woods near the house. This is acceptable 

in the United States but not in Great 

Britain, where the singular form a wood is required, 

as in there is a wood near the house. In 

the United States the singular form, a wood, is 

a purely literary word. It suggests a romantic 

and poetic place utterly unlike any stand of 

trees in this country. The feeling that woods is 

singular is so strong in the United States that 

it has produced the adjective woodsy, as in 

woodsy and wild and lonesome. In Great 

Britain the adjective is always woody, as in a 

woody glen. 

wood for the trees. As a figurative description 

of someone who is so taken up with details that 

he cannot see or loses sight of the whole, to 

say that he can’t see the wood for the trees is 

to employ a clicht. It ha-s been in use as a 

proverb for over four hundred years and it is 

more than two hundred years since Swift listed 

it as a clichC. 

wooded; wooden; woodsy; woody. Wooded means 

covered with or abounding in woods or trees 

(Heavily wooded banks were an important feature 

of flood control). Wooden means consisting 

of or made of wood (The wooden steps of 

the back porch had been painted battleship 

gray). Used figuratively, wooden means stiff, 

ungainly, or awkward (A wooden Indian is 

wooden in every sense of the word. The recruit 

pave the captain a wooden salute). It may also 

561 word 

mean without spirit or animation (The only response 

to his encouragement was a wooden 

stare), or dull and stupid (These wooden-headed 

louts don’t seem able IO understand the simplest 

siatemenis!). There are several American idiomatic 

expressions containing wooden, such as 

the dreary, rustic jocularity, don’t lake any 

wooden nickels. Woodsy is an American word 

meaning of, like, suggestive of, or associated 

with the woods, sylvan (Ship Island region was 

as woodsy and tenantless as ever-Mark Twain). 

Woody has the special meanings of resembling 

wood (The center of the stalk was a thick, 

woody substance), or sounding as wood sounds 

when it is struck (The piano had a dull, woody 

tone). It shares with wooded the meaning of 

abounding in woods (Between the hills and the 

river there was an extensive woody area) but, 

unlike wooded, it is not qualified by an adverb 

(a heavily wooded area, a woody area). 

woof; warp; web; weft. All of these words refer 

to weaving. The warp is a set of yarns placed 

lengthwise in the loom. The yarns which travel 

from selvage to selvage in a loom, interlacing 

with the warp, are called collectively the woof 

or weft Sometimes woof is used more loosely 

in the sense of texture (There was an awful 

rainbow once in heaven:/ We know her woof, 

her texture; she is given/ In the dull catalogue 

of common things-Keats). 

Something formed as by weaving or interweaving 

of warp and woof is a web (Penelope’s 

web was a means of delaying the acceptance of 

a proposal). 

woolen; woollen; woolly. Woolen (or especially in 

England, woollen) means made or consisting of 

wool (The Western Isles of Scotland are famous 

for their woollen goods). Woolly may also mean 

consisting of wool or having the property or 

feeling or appearance of wool, but even in this 

sense the wool is understood to be attached to 

its producer or what would seem to be its producer, 

unlike woolen which refers to a detached 

material (My father gave me a woolly Shropshire 

lamb on my seventh birthday. In the most 

lucid brains we come upon nests of woolly 

caterpillars). Keats’s and silent was the flock 

in woolly fold is an exceptional use. Figuratively, 

woolly suggests blurred, imprecise (This 

woolly, maggotty metaphysics . . . The third 

drink made his speech woolly). In the United 

States the Old West was called, colloquially, 

wild and woolly because of its rough atmosphere. 

In England woolly is used colloquially 

as a noun to describe a sweater or other light 

outergarment of wool; in America it is used, or 

was when the object existed in the plural, to 

describe an undergarment of wool (Ten below! 

Boy, you’d better puf on your woollies). 

word of mouth. By word of mouth is a wordy 

way of saying “orally” or “verbally” or “he told 

me so.” It is redundant and stilted, and to be 

avoided. 

word’s as good as his bond. To say, as an assurance 

that someone can be relied on, that he will

WOdS 562 

keep his promises and fulfill his obligations, 

that his word is as good us his bond is to employ 

a wornout expression. Bond here means a written 

or signed agreement. 

words cannot describe and words fail are hackneyed 

as hyperbolic phrases of introduction. If 

taken literally, the rest should be silence. If not 

to be taken literally, they should be omitted and 

the speaker or writer get on as best he can with 

what words he can command. 

wore. See wear. 

work. The past tense is worked or wrought. The 

participle is also worked or wroughf. When this 

verb does not have an object, only the form 

worked may be used for the past tense or the 

participle, as in he worked all day. Wrought 

may be used when the verb has an object, as in 

he wrought happiness for many and see what 

God bath wrought, but even here it has a 

decidedlv bookish tone. Wrought is preferred 

as an adjective in some expressions,- such as 

wrought iron, but worked may also be used 

here. 

Work is sometimes used to mean “become,” 

and in that cake may be followed by an adjective 

describing what becomes, as in the hinge 

worked loose. When not used in this sense it 

may be followed by an adverb describing the 

working, as in the hinge worked loosely. Sea 

use. 

work (for book). See volume. 

worked to death has been worked to death. Let 

it rest in peace. 

workingman; working-man; working man; workman; 

workmen. Working man is a general and 

vague term. It simply describes any man who 

works. English working-man, American workfngman 

describe a man of the working class; 

more specifically, a man, skilled or unskilled, 

who earns his living at some manual or industrial 

work (When Jurgis had first come to the 

stockyards he had been as clean as any workfngman 

could well be). Workman means specifically 

a man employed or skilled in some 

form of manual, mechanical or industrial work 

(A workman’s compensation law was passed 

lute in the century). Used in the plural, it differs 

from workingmen in plainly implying some skill 

(I got me cunning workmen. The workmen 

always had their tools packed and were ready 

to quit on the stroke of four. We have had 

workmen in the house, papering, painting, plastering, 

tiling, sanding!). 

work one’s fingers to the bone. As an expression 

for working very hard, used commonly in pitying 

or self-pitying reproaches, to work one’s 

fingers to the bone is a cliche. Applied originally, 

in the nineteenth century, to seamstresses, 

it had a hyperbolic meaning that is now pretty 

well dissipated. 

works. In Great Britain factories and industrial 

shops are sometimes called works, as in the 

steelworks south of the town, and opinion is 

divided as to whether the word takes a singular 

or a plural verb when used in this sense. The 

problem does not arise in the United States 

where we use the word plant instead. Plant is 

clearly singular and takes a singular verb. 

world. See earth. 

world, the flesh, and the Devil. The world is the 

sum of worldly things, as opposed to spiritual 

matters. The flesh is human weakness with its 

susceptibility to the allure of worldly things. 

And the Devil is the tempter, always playing 

upon that susceptibility. The phrase is from 

The Book of Common Prayer. Used in any 

context but its original one, it is now a cliche, 

even when used humorously. 

world of good, world of troth, world of trouble, 

etc. World of is used for “a great deal of” in a 

number of phrases. Most of them are now 

hackneyed. 

world is mine oyster. When Ancient Pistol (in 

The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act II, scene 2, 

lines 3-4) said that the world’s mine oyster,/ 

Which I with sword will open, he coined a metaphor 

so ludicrous and at the same time so apt 

that it caught the popular fancy and became a 

saying and in time a cliche. It’s not quite so apt 

anymore. Artificial pearls are now superior to 

all but the very finest natural pearls and, as 

0. Henry observed, a sword is a far more suitable 

instrument than a typewriter for opening 

oysters. 

worldly. See earthen. 

worn. See wear. 

worn-out. See outworn. 

worse, worst. See bad. 

worship. See reverence. 

worth; worthy. These words are both adjectives 

and qualify nouns. Worth always follows the 

word it qualifies and is itself followed by an 

object. The object may be a noun, as in the book 

is worth ten dollars, or it may be the -ing form 

of a verb used with a passive meaning, as in 

the book is worth reading. 

The adjective worthy may stand before a 

noun, as in a worthy cause. It may be followed 

by an infinitive, as in he is worthy to take his 

place. The compound worthy of may be followed 

by a noun, as in worthy of his position, 

or by the -ing form of a verb, as in worthy of 

taking his place. 

worth one’s weight in gold. As a way of saying 

that something or someone is extremely valuable, 

usually spoken of someone who is not only 

efficient and industrious but exceedingly goodnatured 

and willing as well, it or he is worth its 

or his weight in gold is a cliche. When spoken 

of persons, it loses some of its metaphorical 

value from the fact that quite a few persons 

(specifically anyone who owns more than $lOO,- 

000 and weighs less than two hundred pounds) 

are actually “worth,” in the meaning of possessing 

that much wealth, their own weight in gold. 

wot. The past tense is wist. The participle is also 

wist. There was once a verb wit meaning know. 

The infinitive survives in zo wit and the -ing 

form in witting and wiffingly. It had a past tense 

wot. Since there is very little difference between 

once knowing and still knowing, wot came to 

be felt as a present tense. Later a new past tense

was made for it, wist. Exactly the same thing 

has happened with some other verbs, such as 

can and ought. Like these other verbs, war did 

not have an s in the third person singular, as is 

seen in the expression God wot. Except in this 

expression, woi is no longer natural English. 

When it is revived for its archaic effect, a false 

s often appears, as in he wots not of the danger. 

would. See will. 

wound. See wind. 

wove; woven. See weave. 

wrack; rack. Both wrack and rack are correct in 

the sense of ruin or destruction, especially in 

the phrase to go to wrack/rack and ruin. Except 

for that phrase, however, wrack, a cognate 

of wreck, is more general than rack, a variant 

of wrack. 

Rack, however, may be used in senses exclusively 

its own. It describes, for instance, a 

framework of bars, wires, or pegs, on which 

articles are arranged or deposited (There was 

a clothes rack just inside the door) or a spreading 

framework set on a wagon (As a boy he 

rode the hayrack to and from the fields). One 

of its best known meanings is an instrument 

formerly used for torturing persons by stretching 

the body. The terror of this particular instrument 

of torture caught the public imagination 

and the word, in consequence, appears in many 

figurative uses (I am on the rack until I hear 

from him). It is the figurative extension of this 

word as a verb that is used for a strain in mental 

effort (I’ve racked my brains for a solution 

but haven’t thought of a thing!). 

wrangle; wrangler. In England and America 

wrangle is to argue or dispute, especially in a 

noisy or angry manner (The radio breakfast 

program has as its chief characters u married 

couple who wrangle). However, in the idiom of 

the western United States, wrangfe also means 

to herd, to tend horses. Wrangler has the general 

meaning of one who wrangles or disputes 

and the special western United States meaning 

of one who wrangles horses. Little Joe, the 

wrangler, hero of a pathetic Western ballad, 

was neither disputatious nor scholarly; he just 

took care of the horses. At Cambridge University, 

in England, up until 1909, wrangler was 

the name given to one of those in the first class 

of honors in mathematics. The man first on the 

list was called senior wrangler, and the other 

first classmen were numbered in decreasing order 

of merit, as second wrangler, third wrangler. 

wrap. The past tense is wrapped or wrapt. The 

participle is also wrapped or wrapt. In the 

United States wrapped is generally preferred to 

wrapt. Both forms are used in Great Britain. 

wrapt; rapt. Wrapt is a little-used variant spelling 

of wmpped, the past and past participle of wrap, 

to wind, fold, or bind about (He carried an 

extra pair of shoes wrnpt in a newspaper. The 

mother then brought a mantle down and wrapt 

her in it). Rapt (etymologically akin to rupture) 

derives from a verb meaning to snatch or hurry 

away, to transport, ravish. It is now confined to 

ecstatic states of delight or contemplation in 

563 wrest 

which we have been carried outside of ourselves 

(Looks commercing with the skies/ Thy rapt 

soul sitting in thine eyes), or, more loosely, 

engrossed or absorbed (He found her in rapt 

contemplation of the necklace). 

wrath; wrathful; wrathy; wrath. Wrath is the 

noun meaning strong. stern, or fierce anger, 

deeply resentful indignation, ire (The wrath of 

God descended upon them); or vengeance or 

punishment, as the consequence of anger. Wrath 

is also used, though undesirably, as an archaic 

adjective meaning the same as wroth. 

Wrathful is the attributive adjective meaning 

full of wrath, very angry, ireful (Such wrathful 

words destroyed all hope of reconciliation), or 

characterized by or showing wrath (Heshot him 

u wruthfulglnnce). Wrathful, by itsverystrength, 

its emphasis on an excess and impetuosity of 

anger, is a word to be used carefully. It should 

not be used where angry will do. Wrathy, originally 

early nineteenth century and chiefly American, 

is an informal expression meaning wrathful 

or angry. It is (fortunately) falling into disuse. 

Wroth is a predicate adjective meaning angry, 

wrathful (Cain was very wroth, and his 

countenance fell). It is largely a literary word 

today. 

wreck is often used colloquially in America to 

describe a person who is seriously disorganized 

in one way or another (The ordeal made a physical 

and nervous wreck out of him). Wrecker 

and wrecking also have special meanings in 

American usage. In America a wrecker or a 

wrecking crew tears down a building; in England 

it is a housebreaking gang. In America a wrecking 

crew removes wreckage from railroad tracks, 

in England it is a breakdown gang. 

wrest; wrestle; wresting; wrestling. Wrestle and 

wrestling are related to, and derive from, wresf 

and wresting, yet their meanings must be distinguished. 

Wrest means to twist or turn, pull, jerk or 

force by a violent twist (He wrested the gun 

from him with u sudden motion), or to take 

away by force (England wrested much of eastern 

Canada from the French in the fighting that 

culminated with Montcalm’s defeat at Quebec), 

or to get by effort (He wrested a bare living 

from a barren soil). Wresting is the present participial 

form of wrest, meaning to extract or 

extort by twisting, pulling, turning. 

Wrestle, as an intransitive verb, means to 

engage in wrestling, or to contend, as in a struggle 

for mastery; to grapple. As a transitive verb, 

it means to contend with in wrestling, to force 

by or as if by wrestling (He wrestled the packing 

case to the corner of the storage room). 

In the western United States wrestle also means 

to throw an animal for the purpose of branding. 

Though one wrestles with physical objects, the 

word is used figuratively where a struggle a~ 

fierce as a physical struggle takes place (He 

wrestled with religious doubts all through the 

years at the seminary). Wrestling is the act of 

one who wrestles. It commonly describes an 

exercise or sport, subject to special rules, in

wring 564 

which two persons struggle hand to hand, each 

striving to throw or force the other to the 

ground. 

wring. The past tense is wrung. The participle is 

also wrung. 

write. The past tense is wrote. The participle is 

written. A past tense and participle writ were 

once literary English, as in we are persuaded 

that he writ the truth and one whose name was 

writ in water. This form is now archaic or 

dialectal. 

Write may be followed by a clause, as in she 

wrote she was coming, or by an infinitive, as in 

she wrote me to come. The form she wrote for 

me io come is condemned by some grammarians 

but is in general use in the United States. 

Write is frequently used without a true object, 

that is, without naming what is written, as 

in write me soon. This construction is standard 

usage in the United States but is considered 

illiterate by some British grammarians who 

claim that the preposition to must be used if 

the verb does not have a true object, as in write 

to me soon. 

writer. See man of letters. 

writer; the present writer; the author; I. Though 

these expressions are not downright incorrect, 

they are often superfluous. That is, an opinion 

which is obviously the author’s opinion need 

not be introduced by the preseni writer believes 

that . . . or if seems to the writer or the author 

mainfuins. Though such expressions may seem 

less egocentric, more modest, than I, actually I, 

if any identifying word is needed, is the word to 

use. It is straightforward and brief and avoids 

the implication of over-solemnity that sometimes 

lies in the use of the third person when 

alluding to oneself. 

written. See write. 

wrong; wrongly. Only the form wrong can be 

used to qualify a noun, as in the wrong answer. 

Only the form wrongly can be used immediately 

before a verb, as in the words were 

wrongly spelled. Either form may be used 

X. There are very few words in English which 

begin with the letter X. In the great Oxford English 

Dictionury the entire section under X takes 

up less space than the single word gel. The words 

that do begin with X are almost all scientific 

terms, consciously borrowed from Greek or 

made up to meet a special need. Two-thirds of 

them were coined in the nineteenth century. 

Because words beginning with X have been in 

the language such a short time and are used in 

such a restricted field, they are completely regular 

so far as usage goes and present no problems 

for the grammarian. 

X 

following a verb, as in the words were spelled 

wrong and the words were spelled wrongly. The 

form wrong is preferred to wrongly in this 

position. 

wrong side of the tracks. In many American towns 

the railroad tracks did at one time make a clear 

social demarcation and whoever first observed 

this and used it as a symbol of social position 

coined a good phrase. It was meaningful, 

pungent, penetrating, and evocative. But like 

many good phrases it has been overworked and 

is now as tedious as the endless sniggering of 

the Restoration wits at those who had the misfortune 

to live in the city of London instead 

of in the West End. Furthermore with the proliferation 

of our cities and the decline of at least 

the social importance of the railroads the phrase 

has lost much of its meaning. It is now a hackneyed 

anachronism. 

wrong tack. On the wrong tuck, as a term for 

pursuing a wrong course of inquiry or conduct, 

is a jaded expression. In its original nautical 

use, the tuck of a ship is her direction in relation 

to the position of her sails. When used of a progression 

on land, a tuck is one of the movements 

of a zigzag course. In no sense is it 

merely a synonym for direction. 

wrote. See write. 

wrought. There is an amusing passage in one of 

Robert Benchley’s essays in which he tells of 

his frenzied search for the present form of the 

verb of which wrought is the past participle. 

He thinks of wrught, wrouft, wraft and a few 

other strange combinations of letters and gives 

it up. And certainly anyone who tried to guess 

it from the analogy of other participles of the 

same sound would come to some queer conclusions. 

On the analogy of caught, it ought to 

be wrutch; on that of taught, wreath; on bought, 

it should be wruy; on thought, wrink; on fought, 

wright: on fruught, wreight. Actually, - as 

Mr. Benchley no doubt knew. it is the narticiule - . 

of the verb work. See work. 

wrung. See wring. 

Xmas is an abbreviation of Christmas. Here X represents 

the syllable Christ. This is not a modern, 

commercial invention. X has been used in this 

way in English, as in Xtiunity for Christianity, 

since at least the year 1100, and the form Xmns 

is found in print as early as 155 1. 

X-ray. In the United States this word is customarily 

written with a hyphen, probably because it 

became popular at a time when hyphens were 

popular. Similar scientific terms are usually 

written without the hyphen, as in X chromosome.

yclept; y-cleped. These are both participles and 

are the only surviving forms of an old verb 

clepe meaning call. One form is as good as the 

other and neither of them is good. The verb, 

already archaic, should be allowed to pass into 

oblivion and is included here only to complete 

the list of irregular verb forms found in English 

today. 

ye. The word ye is a special form of the pronoun 

you that is no longer used in natural English. 

(For more about the history of this word, see 

YOU; ye.1 

Many Americans believe that the word the 

was pronounced ye a few hundred years ago. 

This is based on a misunderstanding. Today, 

the letters th may represent either of two distinct 

sounds, both of which can be heard in the 

words this thing. At one time the first th sound, 

which is also heard in the, that, they, and so 

on, was represented in print by the letter y. 

Governor Bradford of Plymouth sometimes 

used this form in his writing and sometimes 

rh. For example, in speaking of a renegade Mr. 

Blackwell, he wrote: He declined from ye trueth 

wth Mr. Johnson & ye rest, and went with him 

when yey parted asunder in yt wofull maner. 

Bradford was not usually so consistent, and he 

also wrote: full litle did I thinke yt the downfall 

of ye Bishops . . . and they had done them 

no wrong, neither did yey fear them. But regardless 

of which symbol he used to represent 

the sound, he pronounced these words as we do. 

Current English, therefore, has a new adjective 

ye, which is pronounced like the old 

pronoun ye. It is used instead of the in the 

names of certain shops and restaurants, such as 

ye olde gifte shoppe, and should probably be 

called the “decorative the” or the “interesting 

the.” 

year in and year out, as a term for continually, 

or for a very long time, is hackneyed. 

yearn. This word may be followed by an infinitive, 

as in I yearn to hear from you, but not by 

the -ing form of a verb or by a clause. 

yellow dog. In the United States yellow dog is 

used figuratively to describe a contemptible, 

worthless or cowardly fellow. Yellow-dog contract 

refers to a contract of employment which 

provides that the employee promises not to join 

a labor union under pain of dismissal if he does. 

yellow journalism; yellow press. The use of sensational 

reporting and conspicuous displays as 

a means of attracting readers to a newspaper 

or journal is called in the United States yellow 

journalism (The story she was playing up was 

a natural for yellow journalism: a messy divorce 

case involving some of Arizona’s best people). 

565 Yet 

Y 

The term is said to have originated in the New 

York World (1895) with a cartoon in which 

the central figure, a child, was in a yellow dress. 

The chief purpose of this color printing-then 

a novelty-was to attract attention. The expression 

was borrowed by the English but 

slightly adapted to the yellow press. 

yeoman’s service. To say of one who or something 

that has performed a task or fulfilled a 

function efficiently and usefully that he or it has 

done yeoman’s service is to employ a cliche. 

yes man is an an American slang expression to 

describe one who registers unequivocal agreement 

with his superior, without consideration; 

a man who never takes an independent stand 

(A military staff conference is an excellent 

situation fur the encouragement of yes men. 

In Wakeman’s The Hucksters the hero is defeated 

when he realizes that he too has become 

ayesman). 

yet; already. These words are both adverbs of 

time. Yet may also be used as a conjunction. 

German-speaking people sometimes have difficulty 

distinguishing yef and already. Sometimes 

in desperation they use both words at once, as 

in he’s a sergeant already yet. But the words are 

not interchangeable and one cannot be used 

where the other is needed. 

Already shows that an action had occurred 

or was occurring at a particular time. It is used 

freely with verbs in the perfect or progressive 

tenses, but in literary English it is not used 

with a verb in the simple past, present, or future 

tense unless the verb itself names a continuing 

action. That is, one may say he already knew 

about it but not he already looked at it. A 

perfect or progressive tense is required, as in 

he has (or had) already looked at it or he was 

already looking at it. 

In the United States this rule is frequently 

disregarded in speaking of something in the 

past. Many educated people would say I already 

saw that movie, and sentences of this kind are 

therefore acceptable spoken English in this 

country. But the rule is not disregarded in 

speaking of something in the future. One can 

say tomorrow he will have seen it already but 

a sentence such as tomorrow he will see it 

already is not standard. 

Already should stand as close to the verb as 

possible. We do not ordinarily say he will have 

seen it tomorrow already. In a negative statement 

already must stand before the meaningful 

element in the verb phrase, as in he hasn’t 

already seen it. It may follow a negative verb 

in a question, as in hasn’t he seen it already?, 

or in an if clause, as in if he hasn’t seen it

Yiddish 566 

already, but not in a statement. He hasn’t seen 

it already is not literary English. The word yet 

is required here. 

Yet, used as an adverb of time, indicates an 

indefinite period preceding a particular moment. 

It encroaches on the meanings of still and 

already. Like these words, it cannot be used 

with a simple past, present, or future tense verb 

unless this is understood in a continuing or progressive 

sense. When used with a progressive 

tense verb in an affirmative sentence, yet is 

equivalent to still, as in he is thinking about it 

yet. In this sense yer is a bookish word and still 

is generally preferred. When used with a pro 

gressive tense verb in a negative sentence, yet 

is the counterpart of already. Unlike already, it 

may follow the verb in a negative statement, as 

in he isn’t thinking about it yet, as well as in 

a question or an if clause. When used with a 

perfect tense verb, yet is always the counterpart 

of already. It can be used in a negative or an 

affirmative question or if clause, and in a negative 

statement, such as he hasn’t seen it yet, but 

in an affirmative statement, such as he has seen 

it yet, it is meaningless. 

Yet may be used to qualify the comparative 

form of an adjective or adverb, as in louder yet. 

Here it has the same meaning as still. 

It may also be used as a connective or loose 

conjunction to introduce a contrast or contradiction. 

When used as a connective it stands 

immediately before the contrasting word or 

phrase, as in he is old yet energetic. Thissmay 

be a full sentence, as in yet I believe what he 

says. 

Yiddish; Hebrew. Yiddish is a language used by 

many Jews, but it is not linguistically related 

to the Hebrew language. Yiddish is actually a 

group of closely similar High German dialects, 

with vocabulary admixture from Hebrew and 

Slavic, written in Hebrew letters, spoken mainly 

by Jews in countries east of Germany and by 

Jewish emigrants from these regions, and now 

the official language of Biro-Bidjan, an autonomous 

Jewish region in the southeast part of the 

Soviet Union in Asia. Hebrew is the name of 

a Semitic language, the language of the ancient 

Hebrews, which although not a vernacular after 

100 B.C. was retained as the scholarly and liturgical 

language of the Jews and now is used as 

the language of Israelis. See also Hebrew; 

Israelite. 

yoke. When this word means a pair of draft 

animals, it has the same form in the singular 

and the plural, as in a yoke of oxen, five 

hundred yoke of oxen. Yoke cannot be treated 

as a numeral. It cannot be placed immediately 

before a following noun but must be joined to 

it by of. 

yonder may be used as an adjective, as in on 

yonder hill there lives a maiden, or as an adverb, 

as in but, as I live, yonder comes Moses. 

The word is archaic in either construction. 

Yorick. See Alas, poor Yorick! 

you; ye. At one time, normal everyday English 

had four related words, thou, thee, ye, and you, 

which corresponded to the four related words 

I, me, we, and us. Today, of the first group, 

only the one form you is in general use. 

In the thirteenth century the plurals ye and 

you were used in speaking to a single person, 

as a mark of respect. This is still the practice in 

many European languages. But in England this 

courtesy was gradually extended to everybody, 

even one’s own children, and the singular forms 

thee and thou disappeared entirely. (See thee; 

thou.) We are paying for this excessive politeness 

today by not having any way to distinguish 

between a singular and a plural you. For a time 

a plural verb was used in speaking to several 

people, as in you were there, and a singular 

verb, in speaking to only one person, as in you 

was there. But this distinction is no longer 

standard and yore is now always used with a 

plural verb. In Ireland the old ye is sometimes 

used to indicate a plural, but this is not standard 

English. In the Southern United States you all 

is an accepted and respectable plural of you. 

But in literary English the mural cannot be 

shown except -by adding some other word, as 

in you ladies, you people. 

Of the two plural forms, ye was the subjective 

pronoun comparable to I and you the objective 

pronoun comparable to me. The difference in 

use is seen in ye shall know the truth and the 

truth shall make you free. But by the year 1600, 

you was generally used for the subject as well 

as the object of a verb and ye disappeared from 

natural English. If grammar books had not 

become so popular a hundred years or so later, 

the same thing might have happened to the 

other subjective pronouns, I, we, he, and so on, 

and questions about case, such as when to use 

I and when to use me, would no longer exist. 

The pronoun you may also be used indefinitely 

in the sense of “one” or “anyone,” as in at 

that time you had to have property to vote. This 

is good, literary English. But the construction 

must be handled with care. If it is at all possible 

to apply the word you to oneself, somebody is 

going to do it, and general statements such as 

when you think how insignificant you are or 

when you have had too much whiskey are likely 

to be taken in the wrong way. 

When used as a term of abuse you may 

appear after the principal word as well as 

before it, as in you fool you, you traitor you. 

you took the (very) words (right) out of my mouth, 

as a way of saying that someone has anticipated 

you in expressing a thought or has said what 

you were about to say, is a cliche. 

young; youthful. Young is the general word for 

that which is undeveloped, immature, and in the 

process of growth (The young trees must be protected 

from the strong west winds. Bliss was it 

in that dawn to be alive,/ But to be young was 

very heaven!). Young may be applied not only 

to persons but to things and institutions (Young 

hares are called leverets. We’re living in a 

young country, don’t forget that!). Youthful 

has connotations suggesting the favorable 

characteristics of youth, such as vigor, enthusiasm, 

hopefulness, and freshness and physical 

grace (How do you keep your youthful figure?). 

Only the young are young, but we all long to 

be youthful.

young in heart. Usually applied to those among 

the elderly who are hopeful and good-natured 

and are interested in the affairs of others in a 

helpful way, young in heart is hackneyed. It’s 

really not very apt, for the hearts of the young 

are often tortured and timid and almost always 

self-concerned. 

your; yours. The form your is used to qualify a 

following noun, as in your uncle, your careful 

consideration. The form yours is used in any 

other construction, as in an uncle of yours, 

yours truly. Yours is also the form used in a 

double possessive where it is separated from its 

following noun by and, as in yours and your 

uncle’s opinion. Today this construction is generally 

avoided and your opinion and your uncle’s 

or your own and your dncle’s opinion is used 

instead. Neither word order shows clearly 

whether we are talking about one thing or two, 

but the old-fashioned form, yours and your 

uncle’s, suggests one thing possessed in common 

more strongly than the forms which use your. 

The word your, like the word you, may be 

used indefinitely in the sense of anyone’s or the, 

as in your gravest beast is the ass. 

Your means “pertaining to you.” It must not 

be confused with you’re, which means “you 

are.” 

In current English the word yours is never 

written with an apostrophe. 

your earliest convenience. As a term for “soon” 

or “when you can” or ‘Ias quickly as possible,” 

at your earliest convenience is hackneyed. 

youm. This word was once acceptable English but 



form today is yours. 

yourself; yourselves. Originally, the word self 

could be used as a singular or as a plural and 

yourself was the reflexive form of the plural 

pronoun you. The form yourselves did not 

appear until the sixteenth century. Since then, 

the word you has come to represent one person 

as well as more than one. Today we use the 

form yourself in speaking to one person and 

the form yourselves in speaking to more than 

one. 

Yourself and yourselves are sometimes used 

in place of the personal pronoun you, as in 

zany, for a fool, especially a rustic, exuberant 

fool, is archaic. It is all right to use it in historical 

contexts or where one deliberately seeks a 

rustic or antique flavor, or for humorous effect, 

or in any way at all so long as one is aware that 

it is out of fashion and bookish. 

zeugma. See syllepsis. 

zoom. To zoom is to drive an airplane suddenly 

and sharply upward at great speed for a short 

567 zoom 

Z 

yourself and your friends are invited. Thirty 

years ago this construction was frowned upon. 

But it provides a singular and a plural form 

for the word you and many people like it for 

this reason. It is in better standing today than 

it was thirty years ago, and, although it is not 

literary English, it can no longer be regarded 

as unacceptable. 

For the regular uses of yourself and yourselves, 

see reliexive pronouns. 

yous. Some grammarians feel that the word yous 

is an attempt to create a separate plural form 

for the word you, comparable to the Southerners’ 

you all. Presumably the word you would be 

used in speaking to one person and the word 

yous in speaking to more than one. This is a 

distinction which the language needs. But in 

New York City, a single person is often 

addressed as yous. In any case, no matter what 

the word means, it is not standard today. 

youth. When this word means a young person, it 

is a true singular and has a regular plural in s, 

as in one youth and two youths. 

The singular form may also be used with the 

article the as a group name, to mean all the 

young people in a given area. In this sense it 

takes a plural verb, as in the youth of this city 

are well behaved. But this is not a true plural 

and the word cannot be used with a numeral 

or a word implying number. In standard English 

we may speak of twenty youths but not of 

twenty youth or many youth. When used in 

this sense the word is distinctly literary. In 

normal speech we say young people or the 

young. For this reason, anyone using youth in 

this way should use it correctly. Otherwise he 

is distinguishing himself by his mistakes. 

When youth means the period in which one 

is young, it is a mass word and, traditionally, 

does not have a plural form. In literary English 

we say they knew each other in their youth. 

The plural form is sometimes heard, as in they 

knew each other in their youths. This is not 

literary English and is offensive to some people. 

But here the word youth is not being used 

pretentiously. In this sense it is part of normal 

speech. And the plural construction is 

heard too often not to be recognized as standard 

English. 

distance, as in regaining altitude, clearing an 

obstacle, signaling, and so on. It may be used 

transitively and intransitively (We zoomed unexpectedly. 

He zoomed his plane unexpectedly). 

It is incorrect to use it of a downward 

motion (as in Albert zoomed down the incline 

in two minutes f?at, seconds ahead of his nearest 

competitor).

A Dictionary of Cont..

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