"I once had a friend who, for some microscopic penumbra of heresy, was charged, in the words of his accuser, with 'as near an approach to the sin against the Holy Ghost as is practicable to human infirmity.' Similarly, on one view, the feeble potencies of philological turpitude seem to have exhibited their most consummate realization in engendering is being built. The supposed enormity perpetrated in its production, provided it had fallen within the sphere of ethics, would, at the least, have ranked, with its denunciators, as a brand-new exemplification of total depravity. But, after all, what incontestable defect in it has any one succeeded in demonstrating? Mr. White, in opposing to the expression objections based on an erroneous analysis, simply lays a phantom of his own evoking; and, so far as I am informed, other impugners of is being built have, absolutely, no argument whatever against it over and beyond their repugnance to novelty. Subjected to a little untroubled contemplation, it would, I am confident, have ceased long ago to be matter of controversy; but the dust of prejudice and passion, which so distempers the intellectual vision of theologians and politicians, is seen to make, with ruthless impartiality, no exception of the perspicacity of philologists.

"Prior to the evolution of is being built and was being built, we possessed no discriminate equivalents to ædificatur and ædificabatur; is built and was built, by which they were rendered, corresponding exactly to ædificatus est and ædificatus erat. Cum ædificaretur was to us the same as ædificabatur. On the wealth of the Greek in expressions of imperfect passive I need not dwell. With rare exceptions, the Romans were satisfied with the present-imperfect and the past-imperfect; and we, on the comparatively few occasions which present themselves for expressing other imperfects, shall be sure to have recourse to the old forms rather than to the new, or else to use periphrases.[21] The purists may, accordingly, dismiss their apprehensions, especially as the neoterists have, clearly, a keener horror of phraseological ungainliness than themselves. One may have no hesitation about saying 'the house is being built,' and may yet recoil from saying that 'it should have been being built last Christmas'; and the same person—just as, provided he did not feel a harshness, inadequacy, and ambiguity in the passive 'the house is building,' he would use the expression—will, more likely than not, elect is in preparation preferentially to is being prepared. If there are any who, in their zealotry for the congruous, choose to adhere to the new form in its entire range of exchangeability for the old, let it be hoped that they will find, in Mr. Marsh's speculative approbation of consistency, full amends for the discomfort of encountering smiles or frowns. At the same time, let them be mindful of the career of Mr. White, with his black flag and no quarter. The dead Polonius was, in Hamlet's phrase, at supper, 'not where he eats, but where he is eaten.' Shakespeare, to Mr. White's thinking, in this wise expressed himself at the best, and deserves not only admiration therefor, but to be imitated. 'While the ark was built,' 'while the ark was prepared,' writes Mr. White himself.[22] Shakespeare is commended for his ambiguous is eaten, though in eating or an eating would have been not only correct in his day, but, where they would have come in his sentence, univocal. With equal reason a man would be entitled to commendation for tearing his mutton-chops with his fingers, when he might cut them up with a knife and fork. 'Is eaten,' says Mr. White, 'does not mean has been eaten.' Very true; but a continuous unfinished passion—Polonius's still undergoing manducation, to speak Johnsonese—was in Shakespeare's mind; and his words describe a passion no longer in generation. The King of Denmark's lord chamberlain had no precedent in Herod, when 'he was eaten of worms'; the original, , yielding, but for its participle, 'he became worm-eaten.'

"Having now done with Mr. White, I am anxious, before taking leave of him, to record, with all emphasis, that it would be the grossest injustice to write of his elegant 'Life and Genius of Shakespeare,' a book which does credit to American literature, in the tone which I have found unavoidable in dealing with his 'Words and their Uses.'"

The student of English who has honestly weighed the arguments on both sides of the question, must, I believe, be of opinion that our language is the richer for having two forms for expressing the Progressive Passive. Further, he must, I believe, be of opinion that in very many cases he conforms to the most approved usage of our time by employing the old form; that, however, if he were to employ the old form in all cases, his meaning would sometimes be uncertain.

IT. Cobbett discourses of this little neuter pronoun in this wise: "The word it is the greatest troubler that I know of in language. It is so small and so convenient that few are careful enough in using it. Writers seldom spare this word. Whenever they are at a loss for either a nominative or an objective to their sentence, they, without any kind of ceremony, clap in an it. A very remarkable instance of this pressing of poor it into actual service, contrary to the laws of grammar and of sense, occurs in a piece of composition, where we might, with justice, insist on correctness. This piece is on the subject of grammar; it is a piece written by a Doctor of Divinity and read by him to students in grammar and language in an academy; and the very sentence that I am now about to quote is selected by the author of a grammar as testimony of high authority in favor of the excellence of his work. Surely, if correctness be ever to be expected, it must be in a case like this. I allude to two sentences in the 'Charge of the Reverend Doctor Abercrombie to the Senior Class of the Philadelphia Academy,' published in 1806; which sentences have been selected and published by Mr. Lindley Murray as a testimonial of the merits of his grammar; and which sentences are by Mr. Murray given to us in the following words: 'The unwearied exertions of this gentleman have done more toward elucidating the obscurities and embellishing the structure of our language than any other writer on the subject. Such a work has long been wanted, and from the success with which it is executed, can not be too highly appreciated.'

"As in the learned Doctor's opinion obscurities can be elucidated, and as in the same opinion Mr. Murray is an able hand at this kind of work, it would not be amiss were the grammarian to try his skill upon this article from the hand of his dignified eulogist; for here is, if one may use the expression, a constellation of obscurities. Our poor oppressed it, which we find forced into the Doctor's service in the second sentence, relates to 'such a work,' though this work is nothing that has an existence, notwithstanding it is said to be 'executed.' In the first sentence, the 'exertions' become, all of a sudden, a 'writer': the exertions have done more than 'any other writer'; for, mind you, it is not the gentleman that has done anything; it is 'the exertions' that have done what is said to be done. The word gentleman is in the possessive case, and has nothing to do with the action of the sentence. Let us give the sentence a turn, and the Doctor and the grammarian will hear how it will sound. 'This gentleman's exertions have done more than any other writer.' This is on a level with 'This gentleman's dog has killed more hares than any other sportsman.' No doubt Doctor Abercrombie meant to say, 'The exertions of this gentleman have done more than those of any other writer. Such a work as this gentleman's has long been wanted; his work, seeing the successful manner of its execution, can not be too highly commended.' Meant! No doubt at all of that! And when we hear a Hampshire ploughboy say, 'Poll Cherrycheek have giv'd a thick handkecher,' we know very well that he means to say, 'Poll Cherrycheek has given me this handkerchief'; and yet we are too apt to laugh at him and to call him ignorant; which is wrong, because he has no pretensions to a knowledge of grammar, and he may be very skillful as a ploughboy. However, we will not laugh at Doctor Abercrombie, whom I knew, many years ago, for a very kind and worthy man. But, if we may, in any case, be allowed to laugh at the ignorance of our fellow-creatures, that case certainly does arise when we see a professed grammarian, the author of voluminous precepts and examples on the subject of grammar, producing, in imitation of the possessors of valuable medical secrets, testimonials vouching for the efficacy of his literary panacea, and when, in those testimonials, we find most flagrant instances of bad grammar.

"However, my dear James, let this strong and striking instance of the misuse of the word it serve you in the way of caution. Never put an it upon paper without thinking well of what you are about. When I see many its in a page, I always tremble for the writer."

JEOPARDIZE. This is a modern word which we could easily do without, as it means neither more nor less than its venerable progenitor to jeopard, which is greatly preferred by all careful writers.

JUST GOING TO. Instead of "I am just going to go," it is better to say, "I am just about to go."

KIDS. "This is another vile contraction. Habit blinds people to the unseemliness of a term like this. How would it sound if one should speak of silk gloves as silks?"

KIND. See POLITE.

KNIGHTS TEMPLARS. The name of this ancient body has been adopted by a branch of the Masonic fraternity, but in a perverted form—Knights Templar; and this form is commonly seen in print, whether referring to the old knights or to their modern imitators. This doubtless is due to the erroneous impression that Templar is an adjective, and so can not take the plural form; while in fact it is a case of two nouns in apposition—a double designation—meaning Knights of the order of Templars. Hence the plural should be Knights Templars, and not Knights Templar. Members of the contemporaneous order of St. John of Jerusalem were commonly called Knights Hospitallers.

LADY. To use the term lady, whether in the singular or in the plural, simply to designate the sex, is in the worst possible taste. There is a kind of pin-feather gentility which seems to have a settled aversion to using the terms man and woman. Gentlemen and ladies establish their claims to being called such by their bearing, and not by arrogating to themselves, even indirectly, the titles. In England, the title lady is properly correlative to lord; but there, as in this country, it is used as a term of complaisance, and is appropriately applied to women whose lives are exemplary, and who have received that school and home education which enables them to appear to advantage in the better circles of society. Such expressions as "She is a fine lady, a clever lady, a well-dressed lady, a good lady, a modest lady, a charitable lady, an amiable lady, a handsome lady, a fascinating lady," and the like, are studiously avoided by persons of refinement. Ladies say, "we women, the women of America, women's apparel," and so on; vulgar women talk about "us ladies, the ladies of America, ladies' apparel," and so on. If a woman of culture and refinement—in short, a lady—is compelled from any cause soever to work in a store, she is quite content to be called a sales-woman; not so, however, with your young woman who, being in a store, is in a better position than ever before. She, Heaven bless her! boils with indignation if she is not denominated a sales-lady. Lady is often the proper term to use, and then it would be very improper to use any other; but it is very certain that the terms lady and gentleman are least used by those persons who are most worthy of being designated by them. With a nice discrimination worthy of special notice, one of our daily papers recently said: "Miss Jennie Halstead, daughter of the proprietor of the 'Cincinnati Commercial,' is one of the most brilliant young women in Ohio."

In a late number of the "London Queen" was the following: "The terms ladies and gentlemen become in themselves vulgarisms when misapplied, and the improper application of the wrong term at the wrong time makes all the difference in the world to ears polite. Thus, calling a man a gentleman when he should be called a man, or speaking of a man as a man when he should be spoken of as a gentleman; or alluding to a lady as a woman when she should be alluded to as a lady, or speaking of a woman as a lady when she should properly be termed a woman. Tact and a sense of the fitness of things decide these points, there being no fixed rule to go upon to determine when a man is a man or when he is a gentleman; and, although he is far oftener termed the one than the other, he does not thereby lose his attributes of a gentleman. In common parlance, a man is always a man to a man, and never a gentleman; to a woman, he is occasionally a man and occasionally a gentleman; but a man would far oftener term a woman a woman than he would term her a lady. When a man makes use of an adjective in speaking of a lady, he almost invariably calls her a woman. Thus, he would say, 'I met a rather agreeable woman at dinner last night'; but he would not say, 'I met an agreeable lady'; but he might say, 'A lady, a friend of mine, told me,' etc., when he would not say, 'A woman, a friend of mine, told me,' etc. Again, a man would say, 'Which of the ladies did you take in to dinner?' He would certainly not say, 'Which of the women,' etc.

"Speaking of people en masse, it would be to belong to a very advanced school to refer to them in conversation as 'men and women,' while it would be all but vulgar to style them 'ladies and gentlemen,' the compromise between the two being to speak of them as 'ladies and men.' Thus a lady would say, 'I have asked two or three ladies and several men'; she would not say, 'I have asked several men and women'; neither would she say, 'I have asked several ladies and gentlemen.' And, speaking of numbers, it would be very usual to say, 'There were a great many ladies, and but very few men present,' or, 'The ladies were in the majority, so few men being present.' Again, a lady would not say, 'I expect two or three men,' but she would say, 'I expect two or three gentlemen.' When people are on ceremony with each other [one another], they might, perhaps, in speaking of a man, call him a gentleman; but, otherwise, it would be more usual to speak of him as a man. Ladies, when speaking of each other [one another], usually employ the term woman in preference to that of lady. Thus they would say, 'She is a very good-natured woman,' 'What sort of a woman is she?' the term lady being entirely out of place under such circumstances. Again, the term young lady gives place as far as possible to the term girl, although it greatly depends upon the amount of intimacy existing as to which term is employed."

LANGUAGE. A note in Worcester's Dictionary says: "Language is a very general term, and is not strictly confined to utterance by words, as it is also expressed by the countenance, by the eyes, and by signs. Tongue refers especially to an original language; as, 'the Hebrew tongue.' The modern languages are derived from the original tongues." If this be correct, then he who speaks French, German, English, Spanish, and Italian, may properly say that he speaks five languages, but only one tongue.

LAY—LIE. Errors are frequent in the use of these two irregular verbs. Lay is often used for lie, and lie is sometimes used for lay. This confusion in their use is due in some measure, doubtless, to the circumstance that lay appears in both verbs, it being the imperfect tense of to lie. We say, "A mason lays bricks," "A ship lies at anchor," etc. "I must lie down"; "I must lay myself down"; "I must lay this book on the table"; "He lies on the grass"; "He lays his plans well"; "He lay on the grass"; "He laid it away"; "He has lain in bed long enough"; "He has laid up some money," "in a stock," "down the law"; "He is laying out the grounds"; "Ships lie at the wharf"; "Hens lay eggs"; "The ship lay at anchor"; "The hen laid an egg." It will be seen that lay always expresses transitive action, and that lie expresses rest.

"Here lies our sovereign lord, the king, Whose word no man relies on; He never says a foolish thing, Nor ever does a wise one."

—Written on the bedchamber door of Charles II, by the Earl of Rochester.

LEARN. This verb was long ago used as a synonym of teach, but in this sense it is now obsolete. To teach is to give instruction; to learn is to take instruction. "I will learn, if you will teach me." See TEACH.

LEAVE. There are grammarians who insist that this verb should not be used without an object, as, for example, it is used in such sentences as, "When do you leave?" "I leave to-morrow." The object of the verb—home, town, or whatever it may be—is, of course, understood; but this, say these gentlemen, is not permissible. On this point opinions will, I think, differ; they will, however, not differ with regard to the vulgarity of using leave in the sense of let; thus, "Leave me be"; "Leave it alone"; "Leave her be—don't bother her"; "Leave me see it."

LEND. See LOAN.

LENGTHY. This word is of comparatively recent origin, and, though it is said to be an Americanism, it is a good deal used in England. The most careful writers, however, both here and elsewhere, much prefer the word long: "a long discussion," "a long discourse," etc.

LENIENCY. Mr. Gould calls this word and lenience "two philological abortions." Lenity is undoubtedly the proper word to use, though both Webster and Worcester do recognize leniency and lenience.

LESS. This word is much used instead of fewer. Less relates to quantity; fewer to number. Instead of, "There were not less than twenty persons present," we should say, "There were not fewer than twenty persons present."

LESSER. This form of the comparative of little is accounted a corruption of less. It may, however, be used instead of less with propriety in verse, and also, in some cases, in prose. We may say, for example, "Of two evils choose the less," or "the lesser." The latter form, in sentences like this, is the more euphonious.

LIABLE. Richard Grant White, in inveighing against the misuse of this word, cites the example of a member from a rural district, who called out to a man whom he met in the village, where he was in the habit of making little purchases: "I say, mister, kin yer tell me whar I'd be li'ble to find some beans?" See, also, APT.

LIE. See LAY.

LIKE—AS. Both these words express similarity; like (adjective) comparing things, as (adverb) comparing action, existence, or quality. Like is followed by an object only, and does not admit of a verb in the same construction. As must be followed by a verb expressed or understood. We say, "He looks like his brother," or "He looks as his brother looks." "Do as I do," not "like I do." "You must speak as James does," not "like James does." "He died as he had lived, like a dog." "It is as blue as indigo"; i. e., "as indigo is."

LIKE, TO. See LOVE.

LIKELY. See APT.

LIT. This form of the past participle of the verb to light is now obsolete. "Have you lighted the fire?" "The gas is lighted." Het for heated is a similar, but much greater, vulgarism.

LOAN—LEND. There are those who contend that there is no such verb as to loan, although it has been found in our literature for more than three hundred years. Whether there is properly such a verb or not, it is quite certain that it is only those having a vulgar penchant for big words who will prefer it to its synonym lend. Better far to say "Lend me your umbrella" than "Loan me your umbrella."

LOCATE—SETTLE. The use of the verb to locate in the sense of to settle is said to be an Americanism. Although the dictionaries recognize to locate as a neuter verb, as such it is marked "rarely used," and, in the sense of to settle, it is among the vulgarisms that careful speakers and writers are studious to avoid. A man settles, not locates, in Nebraska. "Where do you intend to settle?" not locate. See, also, SETTLE.

LOGGERHEADS. "In the mean time France is at loggerheads internally."—"New York Herald," April 29, 1881. Loggerheads internally?!

LOOKS BEAUTIFULLY. It is sometimes interesting to note the difference between vulgar bad grammar and genteel bad grammar, or, more properly, between non-painstaking and painstaking bad grammar. The former uses, for example, adjectives instead of adverbs; the latter uses adverbs instead of adjectives. The former says, "This bonnet is trimmed shocking"; the latter says, "This bonnet looks shockingly." In the first sentence the epithet qualifies the verb is trimmed, and consequently should have its adverbial form—shockingly; in the second sentence the epithet qualifies the appearance—a noun—of the bonnet, and consequently should have its adjectival form—shocking. The second sentence means to say, "This bonnet presents a shocking appearance." The bonnet certainly does not really look; it is looked at, and to the looker its appearance is shocking. So we say, in like manner, of a person, that he or she looks sweet, or charming, or beautiful, or handsome, or horrid, or graceful, or timid, and so on, always using an adjective. "Miss Coghlan, as Lady Teazle, looked charmingly." The grammar of the "New York Herald" would not have been any more incorrect if it had said that Miss Coghlan looked gladly, or sadly, or madly, or delightedly, or pleasedly. A person may look sick or sickly, but in both cases the qualifying word is an adjective. The verbs to smell, to feel, to sound, and to appear are also found in sentences in which the qualifying word must be an adjective and not an adverb. We say, for example, "The rose smells sweet"; "The butter smells good, or bad, or fresh"; "I feel glad, or sad, or bad, or despondent, or annoyed, or nervous"; "This construction sounds harsh"; "How delightful the country appears!"

On the other hand, to look, to feel, to smell, to sound, and to appear are found in sentences where the qualifying word must be an adverb; thus, "He feels his loss keenly"; "The king looked graciously on her"; "I smell it faintly." We might also say, "He feels sad [adjective], because he feels his loss keenly" (adverb); "He appears well" (adverb).

The expression, "She seemed confusedly, or timidly," is not a whit more incorrect than "She looked beautifully, or charmingly." See ADJECTIVES.

LOVE—LIKE. Men who are at all careful in the selection of language to express their thoughts, and have not an undue leaning toward the superlative, love few things: their wives, their sweethearts, their kinsmen, truth, justice, and their country. Women, on the contrary, as a rule, love a multitude of things, and, among their loves, the thing they perhaps love most is—taffy.

LUGGAGE—BAGGAGE. The former of these words is generally used in England, the latter in America.

LUNCH. This word, when used as a substantive, may at the best be accounted an inelegant abbreviation of luncheon. The dictionaries barely recognize it. The proper phraseology to use is, "Have you lunched?" or, "Have you had your luncheon?" or, better, "Have you had luncheon?" as we may in most cases presuppose that the person addressed would hardly take anybody's else luncheon.

LUXURIOUS—LUXURIANT. The line is drawn much more sharply between these two words now than it was formerly. Luxurious was once used, to some extent at least, in the sense of rank growth, but now all careful writers and speakers use it in the sense of indulging or delighting in luxury. We talk of a luxurious table, a luxurious liver, luxurious ease, luxurious freedom. Luxuriant, on the other hand, is restricted to the sense of rank, or excessive, growth or production; thus, luxuriant weeds, luxuriant foliage or branches, luxuriant growth.

"Prune the luxuriant, the uncouth refine, But show no mercy to an empty line."—Pope.

MAD. Professor Richard A. Proctor, in a recent number of "The Gentleman's Magazine," says: "The word mad in America seems nearly always to mean angry. For mad, as we use the word, Americans say crazy. Herein they have manifestly impaired the language." Have they?

"Now, in faith, Gratiano, You give your wife too unkind a cause of grief; An 'twere, to me, I would be mad at it." —"Merchant of Venice."

"And being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities."—Acts xxvi, II.

MAKE A VISIT. The phrase "make a visit," according to Dr. Hall, whatever it once was, is no longer English.

MALE. See FEMALE.

MARRY. There has been some discussion, at one time and another, with regard to the use of this word. Is John Jones married to Sally Brown or with Sally Brown, or are they married to each other? Inasmuch as the woman loses her name in that of the man to whom she is wedded, and becomes a member of his family, not he of hers—inasmuch as, with few exceptions, it is her life that is merged in his—it would seem that, properly, Sally Brown is married to John Jones, and that this would be the proper way to make the announcement of their having been wedded, and not John Jones to Sally Brown.

There is also a difference of opinion as to whether the active or the passive form is preferable in referring to a person's wedded state. In speaking definitely of the act of marriage, the passive form is necessarily used with reference to either spouse. "John Jones was married to Sally Brown on Dec. 1, 1881"; not, "John Jones married Sally Brown" on such a date, for (unless they were Quakers) some third person married him to her and her to him. But, in speaking indefinitely of the fact of marriage, the active form is a matter of course. "Whom did John Jones marry?" "He married Sally Brown." "John Jones, when he had sown his wild oats, married [married himself, as the French say] and settled down." Got married is a vulgarism.

MAY. In the sense of can, may, in a negative clause, has become obsolete. "Though we may say a horse, we may not say a ox." The first may here is permissible; not so, however, the second, which should be can.

MEAT. At table, we ask for and offer beef, mutton, veal, steak, turkey, duck, etc., and do not ask for nor offer meat, which, to say the least, is inelegant. "Will you have [not, take] another piece of beef [not, of the beef]?" not, "Will you have another piece of meat?"

MEMORANDUM. The plural is memoranda, except when the singular means a book; then the plural is memorandums.

MERE. This word is not unfrequently misplaced, and sometimes, as in the following sentence, in consequence of being misplaced, it is changed to an adverb: "It is true of men as of God, that words merely meet with no response." What the writer evidently intended to say is, that mere words meet with no response.

METAPHOR. An implied comparison is called a metaphor; it is a more terse form of expression than the simile. Take, for example, this sentence from Spenser's "Philosophy of Style": "As, in passing through the crystal, beams of white light are decomposed into the colors of the rainbow; so, in traversing the soul of the poet, the colorless rays of truth are transformed into brightly-tinted poetry." Expressed in metaphors, this becomes: "The white light of truth, in traversing the many-sided, transparent soul of the poet, is refracted into iris-hued poetry."

Worcester's definition of a metaphor is: "A figure of speech founded on the resemblance which one object is supposed to bear, in some respect, to another, or a figure by which a word is transferred from a subject to which it properly belongs to another, in such a manner that a comparison is implied, though not formally expressed; a comparison or simile comprised in a word; as, 'Thy word is a lamp to my feet.'" A metaphor differs from a simile in being expressed without any sign of comparison; thus, "the silver moon" is a metaphor; "the moon is bright as silver" is a simile. Examples:

"But look, the morn, in russet mantle clad, Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill."

"Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased— Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow?"

"At length Erasmus Stemmed the wild torrent of a barbarous age, And drove those holy Vandals off the stage."

"Censure is the tax a man pays to the public for being eminent."

METONYMY. The rhetorical figure that puts the effect for the cause, the cause for the effect, the container for the thing contained, the sign, or symbol, for the thing signified, or the instrument for the agent, is called metonymy.

"One very common species of metonymy is, when the badge is put for the office. Thus we say the miter for the priesthood; the crown for royalty; for military occupation we say the sword; and for the literary professions, those especially of theology, law, and physic, the common expression is the gown."—Campbell.

Dr. Quackenbos, in his "Course of Composition and Rhetoric," says: "Metonymy is the exchange of names between things related. It is founded, not on resemblance, but on the relation of, 1. Cause and effect; as,'They have Moses and the prophets,' i. e., their writings; 'Gray hairs should be respected,' i. e., old age. 2. Progenitor and posterity; as, 'Hear, O Israel!' i. e., descendants of Israel. 3. Subject and attribute; as, 'Youth and beauty shall be laid in dust,' i. e., the young and beautiful. 4. Place and inhabitant; as, 'What land is so barbarous as to allow this injustice?' i. e., what people. 5. Container and thing contained; as, 'Our ships next opened fire,' i. e., our sailors. 6. Sign and thing signified; as, 'The scepter shall not depart from Judah,' i. e., kingly power. 7. Material and thing made of it; as, 'His steel gleamed on high,' i. e., his sword."

"Petitions having proved unsuccessful, it was determined to approach the throne more boldly."

MIDST, THE. See IN OUR MIDST.

MIND—CAPRICIOUS. "Lord Salisbury's mind is capricious."—"Tribune," April 3, 1881. See EQUANIMITY OF MIND.

MISPLACED CLAUSES. In writing and speaking, it is as important to give each clause its proper place as it is to place the words properly. The following are a few instances of misplaced clauses and adjuncts: "All these circumstances brought close to us a state of things which we never thought to have witnessed [to witness] in peaceful England. In the sister island, indeed, we had read of such horrors, but now they were brought home to our very household hearth."—Swift. Better: "We had read, indeed, of such horrors occurring in the sister island," etc.

"The savage people in many places in America, except the government of families, have no government at all, and live at this day in that savage manner as I have said before."—Hobbes. Better: "The savage people ... in America have no government at all, except the government of families," etc.

"I shall have a comedy for you, in a season or two at farthest, that I believe will be worth your acceptance."—Goldsmith. Bettered: "In a season or two at farthest, I shall have a comedy for you that I believe will be worth your acceptance."

Among the following examples of the wrong placing of words and clauses, there are some that are as amusing as they are instructive: "This orthography is regarded as normal in England." What the writer intended was, "in England as normal"—a very different thought. "The Normal School is a commodious building capable of accommodating three hundred students four stories high." "HOUSEKEEPER.—A highly respectable middle-aged Person who has been filling the above Situation with a gentleman for upwards of eleven years and who is now deceased is anxious to meet a similar one." "TO PIANO-FORTE MAKERS.—A lady keeping a first-class school requiring a good piano, is desirous of receiving a daughter of the above in exchange for the same." "The Moor, seizing a bolster boiling over with rage and jealousy, smothers her." "The Dying Zouave the most wonderful mechanical representation ever seen of the last breath of life being shot in the breast and life's blood leaving the wound." "Mr. T—— presents his compliments to Mr. H——, and I have got a hat that is not his, and, if he have a hat that is not yours, no doubt they are the expectant ones." See ONLY.

MISPLACED WORDS. "Of all the faults to be found in writing," says Cobbett, "this is one of the most common, and perhaps it leads to the greatest number of misconceptions. All the words may be the proper words to be used upon the occasion, and yet, by a misplacing of a part of them, the meaning may be wholly destroyed; and even made to be the contrary of what it ought to be."

"I asked the question with no other intention than to set the gentleman free from the necessity of silence, and to give him an opportunity of mingling on equal terms with a polite assembly from which, however uneasy, he could not then escape, by a kind introduction of the only subject on which I believed him to be able to speak with propriety."—Dr. Johnson.

"This," says Cobbett, "is a very bad sentence altogether. 'However uneasy' applies to assembly and not to gentleman. Only observe how easily this might have been avoided. 'From which he, however uneasy, could not then escape.' After this we have, 'he could not then escape, by a kind introduction.' We know what is meant; but the Doctor, with all his commas, leaves the sentence confused. Let us see whether we can not make it clear. 'I asked the question with no other intention than, by a kind introduction of the only subject on which I believed him to be able to speak with propriety, to set the gentleman free from the necessity of silence, and to give him an opportunity of mingling on equal terms with a polite assembly from which he, however uneasy, could not then escape.'"

"Reason is the glory of human nature, and one of the chief eminences whereby we are raised above our fellow-creatures, the brutes, in this lower world."—Doctor Watts' "Logic."

"I have before showed an error," Cobbett remarks, "in the first sentence of Doctor Watts' work. This is the second sentence. The words in this lower world are not words misplaced only; they are wholly unnecessary, and they do great harm; for they do these two things: first, they imply that there are brutes in the higher world; and, second, they excite a doubt whether we are raised above those brutes.

"I might greatly extend the number of my extracts from these authors; but here, I trust, are enough. I had noted down about two hundred errors in Dr. Johnson's 'Lives of the Poets'; but, afterward perceiving that he had revised and corrected 'The Rambler' with extraordinary care, I chose to make my extracts from that work rather than from the 'Lives of the Poets.'"

The position of the adverb should be as near as possible to the word it qualifies. Sometimes we place it before the auxiliary and sometimes after it, according to the thought we wish to express. The difference between "The fish should properly be broiled" and "The fish should be properly broiled" is apparent at a glance. "The colon may be properly used in the following cases": should be, "may properly be used." "This mode of expression rather suits a familiar than a grave style": should be, "suits a familiar rather than a grave style." "It is a frequent error in the writings even of some good authors": should be, "in the writings of even some good authors." "Both the circumstances of contingency and futurity are necessary": should be, "The circumstances of contingency and futurity are both necessary." "He has made charges ... which he has failed utterly to sustain."—"New York Tribune." Here it is uncertain at first sight which verb the adverb is intended to qualify; but the nature of the case makes it probable that the writer meant "has utterly failed to sustain."

MISTAKEN. "If I am not mistaken, you are in the wrong": say, "If I mistake not." "I tell you, you are mistaken." Here mistaken means, "You are wrong; you do not understand"; but it might be taken to mean, "I mistake you." For "you are mistaken," say, "you mistake." If, as Horace and Professor Davidson aver, usage in language makes right, then the grammarians ought long ago to have invented some theory upon which the locution you are mistaken could be defended. Until they do invent such a theory, it will be better to say you mistake, he mistakes, and so on; or you are, or he is—as the case may be—in error.

MORE PERFECT. Such expressions as, "the more perfect of the two," "the most perfect thing of the kind I have ever seen," "the most complete cooking-stove ever invented," and the like, can not be defended logically, as nothing can be more perfect than perfection, or more complete than completeness. Still such phrases are, and probably will continue to be, used by good writers.

MOST. "Everybody abuses this word," says Mr. Gould in his "Good English"; and then, in another paragraph, he adds: "If a man would cross out most wherever he can find it in any book in the English language, he would in almost every instance improve the style of the book." That this statement may appear within bounds, he gives many examples from good authors, some of which are the following: "a most profound silence"; "a most just idea"; "a most complete orator"; "this was most extraordinary"; "an object of most perfect esteem"; "a most extensive erudition"; "he gave it most liberally away"; "it is, most assuredly, not because I value his services least"; "would most seriously affect us"; "that such a system must most widely and most powerfully," etc.; "it is most effectually nailed to the counter"; "it is most undeniable that," etc.

This word is much, and very erroneously, used for almost. "He comes here most every day." The user of such a sentence as this means to say that he comes nearly every day, but he really says, if he says anything, that he comes more every day than he does every night. In such sentences almost, and not most, is the word to use.

MUTUAL. This word is much misused in the phrase "our mutual friend." Macaulay says: "Mutual friend is a low vulgarism for common friend." Mutual properly relates to two persons, and implies reciprocity of sentiment—sentiment, be it what it may, received and returned. Thus, we say properly, "John and James have a mutual affection, or a mutual aversion," i. e., they like or dislike each other; or, "John and James are mutually dependent," i. e., they are dependent on each other. In using the word mutual, care should be taken not to add the words for each other or on each other, the thought conveyed by these words being already expressed in the word mutual. "Dependent on each other" is the exact equivalent of "mutually dependent"; hence, saying that John and James are mutually dependent on each other is as redundant in form as it would be to say that the editors of "The Great Vilifier" are the biggest, greatest mud-slingers in America.

MYSELF. This form of the personal pronoun is properly used in the nominative case only where increased emphasis is aimed at.

"I had as lief not be as live to be In awe of such a thing as I myself."

"I will do it myself," "I saw it myself." It is, therefore, incorrect to say, "Mrs. Brown and myself were both very much pleased."

NAME. This word is sometimes improperly used for mention; thus, "I never named the matter to any one": should be, "I never mentioned the matter to any one."

NEIGHBORHOOD. See VICINITY.

NEITHER. See EITHER.

NEITHER—NOR. "He would neither give wine, nor oil, nor money."—Thackeray. The conjunction should be placed before the excluded object; "neither give" implies neither some other verb, a meaning not intended. Rearrange thus, taking all the common parts of the contracted sentences together: "He would give neither wine, nor oil, nor money." So, "She can neither help her beauty, nor her courage, nor her cruelty" (Thackeray), should be, "She can help neither," etc. "He had neither time to intercept nor to stop her" (Scott), should be, "He had time neither to intercept," etc. "Some neither can for wits nor critics pass" (Pope), should be, "Some can neither for wits nor critics pass."

NEVER. Grammarians differ with regard to the correctness of using never in such sentences as, "He is in error, though never so wise," "Charm he never so wisely." In sentences like these, to say the least, it is better, in common with the great majority of writers, to use ever.

NEW. This adjective is often misplaced. "He has a new suit of clothes and a new pair of gloves." It is not the suit and the pair that are new, but the clothes and the gloves.

NICE. Archdeacon Hare remarks of the use, or rather misuse, of this word: "That stupid vulgarism by which we use the word nice to denote almost every mode of approbation, for almost every variety of quality, and, from sheer poverty of thought, or fear of saying anything definite, wrap up everything indiscriminately in this characterless domino, speaking at the same breath of a nice cheese-cake, a nice tragedy, a nice sermon, a nice day, a nice country, as if a universal deluge of niaiserie—for nice seems originally to have been only niais—had whelmed the whole island." Nice is as good a word as any other in its place, but its place is not everywhere. We talk very properly about a nice distinction, a nice discrimination, a nice calculation, a nice point, and about a person's being nice, and over-nice, and the like; but we certainly ought not to talk about "Othello's" being a nice tragedy, about Salvini's being a nice actor, or New York bay's being a nice harbor.[23]

NICELY. The very quintessence of popinjay vulgarity is reached when nicely is made to do service for well, in this wise: "How do you do?" "Nicely." "How are you?" "Nicely."

NO. This word of negation is responded to by nor in sentences like this: "Let your meaning be obscure, and no grace of diction nor any music of well-turned sentences will make amends."

"Whether he is there or no." Supply the ellipsis, and we have, "Whether he is there or no there." Clearly, the word to use in sentences like this is not no, but not. And yet our best writers sometimes inadvertently use no with whether. Example: "But perhaps some people are quite indifferent whether or no it is said," etc.—Richard Grant White, in "Words and Their Uses," p. 84. Supply the ellipsis, and we have, "said or no said." In a little book entitled "Live and Learn," I find, "No less than fifty persons were there; No fewer," etc. In correcting one mistake, the writer himself makes one. It should be, "Not fewer," etc. If we ask, "There were fifty persons there, were there or were there not?" the reply clearly would be, "There were not fewer than fifty." "There was no one of them who would not have been proud," etc., should be, "There was not one of them."

NOT. The correlative of not, when it stands in the first member of a sentence, is nor or neither. "Not for thy ivory nor thy gold will I unbind thy chain." "I will not do it, neither shall you."

The wrong placing of not often gives rise to an imperfect negation; thus, "John and James were not there," means that John and James were not there in company. It does not exclude the presence of one of them. The negative should precede in this case: "Neither John nor James was there." "Our company was not present" (as a company, but some of us might have been), should be, "No member of our company was present."

NOT—BUT ONLY. "Errors frequently arise in the use of not—but only, to understand which we must attend to the force of the whole expression. 'He did not pretend to extirpate French music, but only to cultivate and civilize it.' Here the not is obviously misplaced. 'He pretended, or professed, not to extirpate.'"—Bain.

NOTORIOUS. Though this word can not be properly used in any but a bad sense, we sometimes see it used instead of noted, which may be used in either a good or a bad sense. Notorious characters are always persons to be shunned, whereas noted characters may or may not be persons to be shunned.

"This is the tax a man must pay for his virtues—they hold up a torch to his vices and render those frailties notorious in him which would pass without observation in another."—Lacon.

NOVICE. See AMATEUR.

NUMBER. It is not an uncommon thing for a pronoun in the plural number to be used in connection with an antecedent in the singular. At present, the following notice may be seen in some of our Broadway omnibuses: "Fifty dollars reward for the conviction of any person caught collecting or keeping fares given to them to deposit in the box." Should be, to him. "A person may be very near-sighted if they can not recognize an acquaintance ten feet off." Should be, if he.

The verb to be is often used in the singular instead of in the plural; thus, "There is several reasons why it would be better": say, are. "How many is there?" say, are. "There is four": say, are. "Was there many?" say, were. "No matter how many there was": say, were.

A verb should agree in number with its subject, and not with its predicate. We say, for example, "Death is the wages of sin," and "The wages of sin are death."

"When singular nouns connected by and are preceded by each, every, or no, the verb must be singular." We say, for example, "Each boy and each girl studies." "Every leaf, and every twig, and every drop of water teems with life." "No book and no paper was arranged."

Each being singular, a pronoun or verb to agree with it must also be singular; thus, "Let them depend each on his own exertions"; "Each city has its peculiar privileges"; "Everybody has a right to look after his own interest."

Errors are often the result of not repeating the verb; thus, "Its significance is as varied as the passions": correctly, "as are the passions." "The words are as incapable of analysis as the thing signified": correctly, "as is the thing signified."

OBSERVE. The dictionaries authorize the use of this word as a synonym of say and remark; as, for example, "What did you observe?" for "What did you say, or remark?" In this sense, however, it is better to leave observe to the exclusive use of those who delight in being fine.

O'CLOCK. "It is a quarter to ten o'clock." What does this statement mean, literally? We understand by it that it lacks a quarter of ten, i. e., of being ten; but it does not really mean that. Inasmuch as to means toward, it really means a quarter after nine. We should say, then, a quarter of, which means, literally, a quarter out of ten.

OF ALL OTHERS. "The vice of covetousness, of all others, enters deepest into the soul." This sentence says that covetousness is one of the other vices. A thing can not be another thing, nor can it be one of a number of other things. The sentence should be, "Of all the vices, covetousness enters deepest into the soul"; or, "The vice of covetousness, of all the vices, enters," etc.; or, "The vice of covetousness, above all others, enters," etc.

OF ANY. This phrase is often used when of all is meant; thus, "This is the largest of any I have seen." Should be, "the largest of all," etc.

OFF OF. In such sentences as, "Give me a yard off of this piece of calico," either the off or the of is vulgarly superfluous. The sentence would be correct with either one, but not with both of them. "The apples fell off of the tree": read, "fell off the tree."

OFTEN. This adverb is properly compared by changing its termination: often, oftener, oftenest. Why some writers use more and most to compare it, it is not easy to see; this mode of comparing it is certainly not euphonious.

OH—O. It is only the most careful writers who use these two interjections with proper discrimination. The distinction between them is said to be modern. Oh is simply an exclamation, and should always be followed by some mark of punctuation, usually by an exclamation point. "Oh! you are come at last." "Oh, help him, you sweet heavens!" "Oh, woe is me!" "Oh! I die, Horatio." O, in addition to being an exclamation, denotes a calling to or adjuration; thus, "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!" "O grave, where is thy victory?" "O heavenly powers, restore him!" "O shame! where is thy blush?"

OLDER—ELDER. "He is the older man of the two, and the oldest in the neighborhood." "He is the elder of the two sons, and the eldest of the family." "The elder son is heir to the estate; he is older than his brother by ten years."

ON TO. We get on a chair, on an omnibus, on a stump, and on a spree, and not on to.

ONE. Certain pronouns of demonstrative signification are called indefinite because they refer to no particular subject. This is one of them. If we were putting a supposition by way of argument or illustration, we might say, "Suppose I were to lose my way in a wood"; or, "Suppose you were to lose your way in a wood"; or, "Suppose one were to lose one's way in a wood." All these forms are used, but, as a rule, the last is to be preferred. The first verges on egotism, and the second makes free with another's person, whereas the third is indifferent. "If one's honesty were impeached, what should one do?" is more courtly than to take either one's self or the person addressed for the example.

One should be followed by one, and not by he. "The better acquainted one is with any kind of rhetorical trick, the less liable he is to be misled by it." Should be, "the less liable one is to be misled by it."

In the phrase, "any of the little ones," one is the numeral employed in the manner of a pronoun, by indicating something that has gone before, or, perhaps, has to come after. "I like peaches, but I must have a ripe one, or ripe ones."

Professor Bain says, in his "Composition Grammar":

"This pronoun continually lands writers in difficulties. English idiom requires that, when the pronoun has to be again referred to, it should be used itself a second time. The correct usage is shown by Pope: 'One may be ashamed to consume half one's days in bringing sense and rhyme together.' It would be against idiom to say 'half his days.'

"Still, the repetition of the pronoun is often felt to be heavy, and writers have recourse to various substitutions. Even an ear accustomed to the idiom can scarcely accept with unmixed pleasure this instance from Browning:

"'Alack! one lies oneself Even in the stating that one's end was truth, Truth only, if one states so much in words.'

"The representative 'I' or 'we' occasionally acts the part of 'one.' The following sentence presents a curious alternation of 'we' with 'one'—possibly not accidental (George Eliot): 'It's a desperately vexatious thing that, after all one's reflections and quiet determinations, we should be ruled by moods that one can't calculate on beforehand.' By the use of 'we' here, a more pointed reference is suggested, while the vagueness actually remains.

"Fenimore Cooper, like Scott, is not very particular; an example may be quoted: 'Modesty is a poor man's wealth; but, as we grow substantial in the world, patroon, one can afford to begin to speak truth of himself as well as of his neighbor.' Were Cooper a careful writer, we might persuade ourselves that he chose 'we' and 'one' with a purpose: 'we' might indicate that the speaker had himself and the patroon directly in his eye, although at the same time he wanted to put it generally; and 'one' might hint that modesty succeeded in getting the better of him. But 'himself' and 'his' would alone show that such speculations are too refined for the occasion.

"The form 'a man,' which was at one time common, seems to be reviving. In 'Adam Bede' we have, 'A man can never do anything at variance with his own nature.' We might substitute 'one.'

"'Men' was more frequent in good writing formerly than now. 'Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel.' 'Do men gather grapes of thorns?' Hume is fond of expressing a general subject by 'men.'

"'Small birds are much more exposed to the cold than large ones.' This usage is hardly 'indefinite'; and it needs no further exemplification."

ONLY. This word, when used as an adjective, is more frequently misplaced than any other word in the language. Indeed, I am confident that it is not correctly placed half the time, either in conversation or in writing. Thus, "In its pages, papers of sterling merit [only] will only appear" (Miss Braddon); "Things are getting dull down in Texas; they only shot [only] three men down there last week"; "I have only got [only] three." Only is sometimes improperly used for except or unless; thus, "The trains will not stop only when the bell rings." The meaning here is clearly "except when the bell rings."

Dr. Bain, in his "Higher English Grammar," speaking of the order of words, says:

"The word requiring most attention is only.

"According to the position of only, the same words may be made to express very different meanings.

"'He only lived for their sakes.' Here only must be held as qualifying 'lived for their sakes,' the emphasis being on lived, the word immediately adjoining. The meaning then is 'he lived,' but did not work, did not die, did not do any other thing for their sakes.

"'He lived only for their sakes.' Only now qualifies 'for their sakes,' and the sentence means he lived for this one reason, namely, for their sakes, and not for any other reason.

"'He lived for their sakes only.' The force of the word when placed at the end is peculiar. Then it often has a diminutive or disparaging signification. 'He lived for their sakes,' and not for any more worthy reason. 'He gave sixpence only,' is an insinuation that more was expected.

"By the use of alone, instead of only, other meanings are expressed. 'He alone lived for their sakes'; that is, he, and nobody else, did so. 'He lived for their sakes alone,' or, 'for the sake of them alone'; that is, not for the sake of any other persons. 'It was alone by the help of the Confederates that any such design could be carried out.' Better only.

"'When men grow virtuous in their old age, they only make a sacrifice to God of the devil's leavings.'—Pope. Here only is rightly placed. 'Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure,' should be, 'think of the past, only as its remembrance,' etc. 'As he did not leave his name, it was only known that a gentleman had called on business': it was known only. 'I can only refute the accusation by laying before you the whole': this would mean, 'the only thing I am able to do is to refute; I may not retaliate, or let it drop, I must refute it.' 'The negroes are to appear at church only in boots'; that is, when the negroes go to church they are to have no clothing but boots. 'The negroes are to appear only at church in boots' might mean that they are not to appear anywhere but at church, whether in boots or out of them. The proper arrangement would be to connect the adverbial adjunct, in boots, with its verb, appear, and to make only qualify at church and no more: 'the negroes are to appear in boots only at church.'"

It thus appears very plain that we should look well to our onlys.

OUGHT—SHOULD. These two words, though they both imply obligation, should not be used indiscriminately. Ought is the stronger term; what we ought to do, we are morally bound to do. We ought to be truthful and honest, and should be respectful to our elders and kind to our inferiors.

OVERFLOWN. Flown is the past participle of to fly, and flowed of to flow. As, therefore, a river does not fly over its banks, but flows over them, we should say of it that it has overflowed, and not that it has overflown.

OVERLY. This word is now used only by the unschooled.

OWING. See DUE.

PANTS. This abbreviation is not used by those who are careful in the choice of words. The purist does not use the word pantaloons even, but trousers. Pants are worn by gents who eat lunches and open wine, and trousers are worn by gentlemen who eat luncheons and order wine.

PARAPHERNALIA. This is a law term. In Roman law, it meant the goods which a woman brought to her husband besides her dowry. In English law, it means the goods which a woman is allowed to have after the death of her husband, besides her dower, consisting of her apparel and ornaments suitable to her rank. When used in speaking of the affairs of every-day life, it is generally misused.

PARLOR. This word, in the sense of drawing-room, according to Dr. Hall, except in the United States and some of the English colonies, is obsolete.

PARTAKE. This is a very fine word to use for eat; just the word for young women who hobble on French heels.

PARTIALLY—PARTLY. "It is only partially done." This use of the adverb partially is sanctioned by high authority, but that does not make it correct. A thing done in part is partly, not partially, done.

PARTICIPLES. When the present participle is used substantively, in sentences like the following, it is preceded by the definite article and followed by the preposition of. The omitting of the preposition is a common error. Thus, "Or, it is the drawing a conclusion which was before either unknown or dark," should be, "the drawing of a conclusion." "Prompted by the most extreme vanity, he persisted in the writing bad verses," should be, "in writing bad verses," or "in the writing of bad verses." "There is a misuse of the article a which is very common. It is the using it before the word most."—Moon. Most writers would have said "the using of it." Mr. Moon argues for his construction.

PARTICLES. "Nothing but study of the best writers and practice in composition will enable us to decide what are the prepositions and conjunctions that ought to go with certain verbs. The following examples illustrate some common blunders:

"'It was characterized with eloquence': read, 'by.'

"'A testimonial of the merits of his grammar': read, 'to.'

"'It was an example of the love to form comparisons': read, 'of forming.'

"'Repetition is always to be preferred before obscurity': read, 'to.'

"'He made an effort for meeting them': read, 'to meet.'

"'They have no other object but to come': read, 'other object than,' or omit 'other.'

"Two verbs are not unfrequently followed by a single preposition, which accords with one only; e. g., 'This duty is repeated and inculcated upon the reader.' 'Repeat upon' is nonsense; we must read 'is repeated to and inculcated upon.'"—Nichol's "English Composition," p. 39. We often see for used with the substantive sympathy; the best practice, however, uses with; thus, "Words can not express the deep sympathy I feel with you."—Queen Victoria.

PARTY. This is a very good word in its place, but it is very much out of its place when used—as it often is by the vulgar—where good taste would use the word person.

PATRONIZE. This word and its derivatives would be much less used by the American tradesman than they are, if he were better acquainted with their true meaning. Then he would solicit his neighbors' custom, not their patronage. A man can have no patrons without incurring obligations—without becoming a protégé; while a man may have customers innumerable, and, instead of placing himself under obligations to them, he may place them under obligations to him. Princes are the patrons of those tradesmen whom they allow to call themselves their purveyors; as, "John Smith, Haberdasher to H. R. H. the Prince of Wales." Here the Prince patronizes John Smith.

PELL-MELL. This adverb means mixed or mingled together; as, "Men, horses, chariots, crowded pell-mell." It can not properly be applied to an individual. To say, for example, "He rushed pell-mell down the stairs," is as incorrect as it would be to say, "He rushed down the stairs mixed together."

PER. This Latin preposition is a good deal used in English, as, for example, in such phrases as per day, per man, per pound, per ton, and so on. In all such cases it is better to use plain English, and say, a day, a man, a pound, a ton, etc. Per is correct before Latin nouns only; as, per annum, per diem, per cent., etc.

PERFORM. "She performs on the piano beautifully." In how much better taste it is to say simply, "She plays the piano well," or, more superlatively, "exceedingly well," or "admirably"! If we talk about performing on musical instruments, to be consistent, we should call those who perform, piano-performers, cornet-performers, violin-performers, and so on.

PERPETUALLY. This word is sometimes misused for continually. Dr. William Mathews, in his "Words, their Use and Abuse," says: "The Irish are perpetually using shall for will." Perpetual means never ceasing, continuing without intermission, uninterrupted; while continual means that which is constantly renewed and recurring with perhaps frequent stops and interruptions. As the Irish do something besides misuse shall, the Doctor should have said that they continually use shall for will. I might perhaps venture to intimate that perpetually is likewise misused in the following sentence, which I copy from the "London Queen," if I were not conscious that the monster who can write and print such a sentence would not hesitate to cable a thunderbolt at an offender on the slightest provocation. Judge, if my fears are groundless: "But some few people contract the ugly habit of making use of these expressions unconsciously and continuously, perpetually interlarding their conversation with them."

PERSON. See PARTY; also, INDIVIDUAL.

PERSONALTY. This word does not, as some persons think, mean the articles worn on one's person. It is properly a law term, and means personal property. "There is but one case on record of a peer of England leaving over $7,500,000 personalty."

PERSONIFICATION. That rhetorical figure which attributes sex, life, or action to inanimate objects, or ascribes to objects and brutes the acts and qualities of rational beings, is called personification or prosopopia.

"The mountains sing together, the hills rejoice and clap their hands." "The worm, aware of his intent, harangued him thus."

"See, Winter comes to rule the varied year, Sullen and sad with all his rising train."—Thomson.

"So saying, her rash hand, in evil hour, Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she ate! Earth felt the wound; and Nature from her seat, Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe, That all was lost."—Milton.

"War and Love are strange compeers. War sheds blood, and Love sheds tears; War has swords, and Love has darts; War breaks heads, and Love breaks hearts."

"Levity is often less foolish and gravity less wise than each of them appears."

"The English language, by reserving the distinction of gender for living beings that have sex, gives especial scope for personification. The highest form of personification should be used seldom, and only when justified by the presence of strong feeling."—Bain.

"Knowledge and wisdom, far from being one, Have ofttimes no connection. Knowledge dwells In heads replete with thoughts of other men; Wisdom in minds attentive to their own. Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; Wisdom is humble that he knows no more."—Cowper.

PHENOMENON. Plural, phenomena.

PLEAD. The imperfect tense and the perfect participle of the verb to plead are both pleaded and not plead. "He pleaded not guilty." "You should have pleaded your cause with more fervor."

PLENTY. In Worcester's Dictionary we find the following note: "Plenty is much used colloquially as an adjective, in the sense of plentiful, both in this country and in England; and this use is supported by respectable authorities, though it is condemned by various critics. Johnson says: 'It is used barbarously, I think, for plentiful'; and Dr. Campbell, in his 'Philosophy of Rhetoric,' says: 'Plenty for plentiful appears to me so gross a vulgarism that I should not have thought it worthy of a place here if I had not sometimes found it in works of considerable merit.'" We should say, then, that money is plentiful, and not that it is plenty.

PLEONASM. Redundancy or pleonasm is the use of more words than are necessary to express the thought clearly. "They returned back again to the same city from whence they came forth": the five words in italics are redundant or pleonastic. "The different departments of science and of art mutually reflect light on each other": either of the expressions in italics embodies the whole idea. "The universal opinion of all men" is a pleonastic expression often heard. "I wrote you a letter yesterday": here a letter is redundant.

Redundancy is sometimes permissible for the surer conveyance of meaning, for emphasis, and in the language of poetic embellishment.

POLITE. This word is much used by persons of doubtful culture, where those of the better sort use the word kind. We accept kind, not polite invitations; and, when any one has been obliging, we tell him that he has been kind; and, when an interviewing reporter tells us of his having met with a polite reception, we may be sure that the person by whom he has been received deserves well for his considerate kindness. "I thank you and Mrs. Pope for my kind reception."—Atterbury.

PORTION. This word is often incorrectly used for part. A portion is properly a part assigned, allotted, set aside for a special purpose; a share, a division. The verb to portion means to divide, to parcel, to endow. We ask, therefore, "In what part [not, in what portion] of the country, state, county, town, or street do you live?"—or, if we prefer grandiloquence to correctness, reside. In the sentence, "A large portion of the land is unfilled," the right word would be either part or proportion, according to the intention of the writer.

POSTED. A word very much and very inelegantly used for informed. Such expressions as, "I will post you," "I must post myself up," "If I had been better posted," and the like, are, at the best, but one remove from slang.

PREDICATE. This word is often very incorrectly used in the sense of to base; as, "He predicates his opinion on insufficient data." Then we sometimes hear people talk about predicating an action upon certain information or upon somebody's statement. To predicate means primarily to speak before, and has come to be properly used in the sense of assumed or believed to be the consequence of. Examples: "Contentment is predicated of virtue"; "Good health may be predicated of a good constitution." He who is not very sure that he uses the word correctly would do better not to use it at all.

PREJUDICE—PREPOSSESS. Both these words mean, to incline in one direction or the other for some reason not founded in justice; but by common consent prejudice has come to be used in an unfavorable sense, and prepossess in a favorable one. Thus, we say, "He is prejudiced against him," and "He is prepossessed in his favor." We sometimes hear the expression, "He is prejudiced in his favor," but this can not be accounted a good use of the word.

PREPOSITIONS. The errors made in the use of the prepositions are very numerous. "The indolent child is one who [that?] has a strong aversion from action of any sort."—Graham's "English Synonymes," p. 236. The prevailing and best modern usage is in favor of to instead of from after averse and aversion, and before the object. "Clearness ... enables the reader to see thoughts without noticing the language with which they are clothed."—Townsend's "Art of Speech." We clothe thoughts in language. "Shakespeare ... and the Bible are ... models for the English-speaking tongue."—Ibid. If this means models of English, then it should be of; but if it means models for English organs of speech to practice on, then it should be for; or if it means models to model English tongues after, then also it should be for. "If the resemblance is too faint, the mind is fatigued while attempting to trace the analogies." "Aristotle is in error while thus describing governments."—Ibid. Here we have two examples, not of the misuse of the preposition, but of the erroneous use of the adverb while instead of the preposition in. "For my part I can not think that Shelley's poetry, except by snatches and fragments, has the value of the good work of Wordsworth or Byron."—Matthew Arnold. Should be, "except in snatches." "Taxes with us are collected nearly [almost] solely from real and personal estate."—"Appletons' Journal." Taxes are levied on estates and collected from the owners.

"If I am not commended for the beauty of my works, I may hope to be pardoned for their brevity." Cobbett comments on this sentence as follows: "We may commend him for the beauty of his works, and we may pardon him for their brevity, if we deem the brevity a fault; but this is not what he means. He means that, at any rate, he shall have the merit of brevity. 'If I am not commended for the beauty of my works, I may hope to be pardoned on account of their brevity.' This is what the Doctor meant; but this would have marred a little the antithesis: it would have unsettled a little of the balance of that seesaw in which Dr. Johnson so much delighted, and which, falling into the hands of novel-writers and of members of Parliament, has, by moving unencumbered with any of the Doctor's reason or sense, lulled so many thousands asleep! Dr. Johnson created a race of writers and speakers. 'Mr. Speaker, that the state of the nation is very critical, all men will allow; but that it is wholly desperate, few will believe.' When you hear or see a sentence like this, be sure that the person who speaks or writes it has been reading Dr. Johnson, or some of his imitators. But, observe, these imitators go no further than the frame of the sentences. They, in general, take care not to imitate the Doctor in knowledge and reasoning."

The rhetoricians would have us avoid such forms of expression as, "The boy went to and asked the advice of his teacher"; "I called on and had a conversation with my brother."

Very often the preposition is not repeated in a sentence, when it should be. We say properly, "He comes from Ohio or from Indiana"; or, "He comes either from Ohio or Indiana."

PREPOSSESS. See PREJUDICE.

PRESENT—INTRODUCE. Few errors are more common, especially among those who are always straining to be fine, than that of using present, in the social world, instead of introduce. Present means to place in the presence of a superior; introduce, to bring to be acquainted. A person is presented at court, and on an official occasion to our President; but persons who are unknown to each other are introduced by a common acquaintance. And in these introductions, it is the younger who is introduced to the older; the lower to the higher in place or social position; the gentleman to the lady. A lady should say, as a rule, that Mr. Blank was introduced to her, not that she was introduced to Mr. Blank.

PRESUMPTIVE. This word is sometimes misused by the careless for presumptuous.

PREVENTIVE. A useless and unwarranted syllable is sometimes added to this word—preventative.

PREVIOUS. This adjective is much used in an adverbial sense; thus, "Previous to my return," etc. Until previous is recognized as an adverb, if we would speak grammatically, we must say, "Previously to my return." "Previously to my leaving England, I called on his lordship."

PROCURE. This is a word much used by people who strive to be fine. "Where did you get it?" with them is, "Where did you procure it?"

PROFANITY. The extent to which some men habitually interlard their talk with oaths is disgusting even to many who, on occasion, do not themselves hesitate to give expression to their feelings in oaths portly and unctuous. If these fellows could be made to know how offensive to decency they make themselves, they would, perhaps, be less profane.

PROMISE. This word is sometimes very improperly used for assure; thus, "I promise you I was very much astonished."

PRONOUNS OF THE FIRST PERSON. "The ordinary uses of 'I' and 'we,' as the singular and plural pronouns of the first person, would appear to be above all ambiguity, uncertainty, or dispute. Yet when we consider the force of the plural 'we,' we are met with a contradiction; for, as a rule, only one person can speak at the same time to the same audience. It is only by some exceptional arrangement, or some latitude or license of expression, that several persons can be conjoint speakers. For example, a plurality may sing together in chorus, and may join in the responses at church, or in the simultaneous repetition of the Lord's Prayer or the Creed. Again, one person may be the authorized spokesman in delivering a judgment or opinion held by a number of persons in common. Finally, in written compositions, the 'we' is not unsuitable, because a plurality of persons may append their names to a document.

"A speaker using 'we' may speak for himself and one or more others; commonly he stands forward as the representative of a class, more or less comprehensive. 'As soon as my companion and I had entered the field, we saw a man coming toward us'; 'we like our new curate'; 'you do us poets the greatest injustice'; 'we must see to the efficiency of our forces.' The widest use of the pronoun will be mentioned presently.

"'We' is used for 'I' in the decrees of persons in authority; as when King Lear says:

'Know that we have divided In three our kingdom.'

By the fiction of plurality a veil of modesty is thrown over the assumption of vast superiority over human beings generally. Or, 'we' may be regarded as an official form whereby the speaker personally is magnified or enabled to rise to the dignity of the occasion.

"The editorial 'we' is to be understood on the same principle. An author using 'we' appears as if he were not alone, but sharing with other persons the responsibility of his views.

"This representative position is at its utmost stretch in the practice of using 'we' for human beings generally; as in discoursing on the laws of human nature. The preacher, the novelist, or the philosopher, in dwelling upon the peculiarity of our common constitution, being himself an example of what he is speaking of, associates the rest of mankind with him, and speaks collectively by means of 'we.' 'We are weak and fallible'; 'we are of yesterday'; 'we are doomed to dissolution.' 'Here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.'

"It is not unfrequent to have in one sentence, or in close proximity, both the editorial and the representative meaning, the effect being ambiguity and confusion. 'Let us [the author] now consider why we [humanity generally] overrate distant good.' In such a case the author should fall back upon the singular for himself—'I will now consider—.' 'We [speaker] think we [himself and hearers together] should come to the conclusion.' Say, either 'I think,' or 'you would.'

"The following extract from Butler exemplifies a similar confusion: 'Suppose we [representative] are capable of happiness and of misery in degrees equally intense and extreme, yet we [rep.] are capable of the latter for a much longer time, beyond all comparison. We [change of subject to a limited class] see men in the tortures of pain—. Such is our [back to representative] make that anything may become the instrument of pain and sorrow to us.' The 'we' at the commencement of the second sentence—'We see men in the tortures'—could be advantageously changed to 'you,' or the passive construction could be substituted; the remaining we's would then be consistently representative.

"From the greater emphasis of singularity, energetic speakers and writers sometimes use 'I' as representative of mankind at large. Thus: 'The current impressions received through the senses are not voluntary in origin. What I see in walking is seen because I have an organ of vision.' The question of general moral obligation is forcibly stated by Paley in the individual form, 'Why am I obliged to keep my word?' It is sometimes well to confine the attention of the hearer or reader to his own relation to the matter under consideration, more especially in difficult or non-popular argument or exposition. The speaker, by using 'I,' does the action himself, or makes himself the example, the hearer being expected to put himself in the same position."—Bain's "Composition Grammar."

PRONOUNS OF THE SECOND PERSON. "Anomalous usages have sprung up in connection with these pronouns. The plural form has almost wholly superseded the singular; a usage more than five centuries old.[24]

"The motive is courtesy. The singling out of one person for address is supposed to be a liberty or an excess of familiarity; and the effect is softened or diluted by the fiction of taking in others. If our address is uncomplimentary, the sting is lessened by the plural form; and if the reverse, the shock to modesty is not so great. This is a refinement that was unknown to the ancient languages. The orators of Greece delighted in the strong, pointed, personal appeal implied in the singular 'thou.' In modern German, 'thou' (du) is the address of familiarity and intimacy; while the ordinary pronoun is the curiously indirect 'they' (Sie). On solemn occasions, we may revert to 'thou.' Cato, in his meditative soliloquy on reading Plato's views on the immortality of the soul before killing himself, says: 'Plato, thou reasonest well.' So in the Commandments, 'thou' addresses to each individual an unavoidable appeal: 'Thou shall not——.' But our ordinary means of making the personal appeal is, 'you, sir,' 'you, madam,' 'my Lord, you——,' etc.; we reserve 'thou' for the special case of addressing the Deity. The application of the motive of courtesy is here reversed; it would be irreverent to merge this vast personality in a promiscuous assemblage.

"'You' is not unfrequently employed, like 'we,' as a representative pronoun. The action is represented with great vividness, when the person or persons addressed may be put forward as the performers: 'There is such an echo among the old ruins, and vaults, that if you stamp a little louder than ordinary, you hear the sound repeated'; 'Some practice is required to see these animals in the thick forest, even when you hear them close by you.'

"There should not be a mixture of 'thou' and 'you' in the same passage. Thus, Thackeray (Adventures of Philip): 'So, as thy sun rises, friend, over the humble house-tops round about your home, shall you wake many and many a day to duty and labor.' So, Cooper (Water-Witch): 'Thou hast both master and mistress? You have told us of the latter, but we would know something of the former. Who is thy master?' Shakespeare, Scott, and others might also be quoted.

"'Ye' and 'you' were at one time strictly distinguished as different cases; 'ye' was nominative, 'you' objective (dative or accusative). But the Elizabethan dramatists confounded the forms irredeemably; and 'you' has gradually ousted 'ye' from ordinary use. 'Ye' is restricted to the expression of strong feeling, and in this employment occurs chiefly in the poets."—Bain's "Composition Grammar."

PROOF. This word is much and very improperly used for evidence, which is only the medium of proof, proof being the effect of evidence. "What evidence have you to offer in proof of the truth of your statement?" See also EVIDENCE.

PROPOSE—PURPOSE. Writers and speakers often fail to discriminate properly between the respective meanings of these two verbs. Propose, correctly used, means, to put forward or to offer for the consideration of others; hence, a proposal is a scheme or design offered for acceptance or consideration, a proposition. Purpose means, to intend, to design, to resolve; hence, a purpose is an intention, an aim, that which one sets before one's self. Examples: "What do you purpose doing in the matter?" "What do you propose that we shall do in the matter?" "I will do" means "I purpose doing, or to do." "I purpose to write a history of England from the accession of King James the Second down to a time which is within the memory of men still living."—Macaulay. It will be observed that Macaulay says, "I purpose to write" and not, "I purpose writing," using the verb in the infinitive rather than in the participial form. "On which he purposed to mount one of his little guns." See INFINITIVE.

PROPOSITION. This word is often used when proposal would be better, for the reason that proposal has but one meaning, and is shorter by one syllable. "He demonstrated the proposition of Euclid, and rejected the proposal of his friend."

PROSAIST. Dr. Hall is of opinion that this is a word we shall do well to encourage. It is used by good writers.

PROVEN. This form for the past participle of the verb to prove is said to be a Scotticism. It is not used by careful writers and speakers. The correct form is proved.

PROVIDING. The present participle of the verb to provide is sometimes vulgarly used for the conjunction provided, as in this sentence from the "London Queen": "Society may be congratulated, ... providing that," etc.

PROVOKE. See AGGRAVATE.

PUNCTUATION. The importance of punctuation can not be overestimated; it not only helps to make plain the meaning of what one writes, but it may prevent one's being misconstrued. Though no two writers could be found who punctuate just alike, still in the main those who pay attention to the art put in their stops in essentially the same manner. The difference that punctuation may make in the meaning of language is well illustrated by the following anecdote:

At Ramessa there lived a benevolent and hospitable prior, who caused these lines to be painted over his door:

"Be open evermore, O thou my door! To none be shut—to honest or to poor!"

In time the good prior was succeeded by a man as selfish as his predecessor was generous. The lines over the door of the priory were allowed to remain; one stop, however, was altered, which made them read thus:

"Be open evermore, O thou my door! To none—be shut to honest or to poor!"

He punctuates best who makes his punctuation contribute most to the clear expression of his thought; and that construction is best that has least need of being punctuated.

THE COMMA.—The chief difference in the punctuation of different writers is usually in their use of the comma, in regard to which there is a good deal of latitude; much is left to individual taste. Nowadays the best practice uses it sparingly. An idea of the extent to which opinions differ with regard to the use of the comma may be formed from the following excerpt from a paper prepared for private use:

"In the following examples, gathered from various sources—chiefly from standard books—the superfluous commas are inclosed in parentheses:

"1. 'It remains(,) perhaps(,) to be said(,) that, if any lesson at all(,) as to these delicate matters(,) is needed(,) in this period, it is not so much a lesson,' etc. 2. 'The obedience is not due to the power of a right authority, but to the spirit of fear, and(,) therefore(,) is(,) in reality(,) no obedience at all.' 3. 'The patriot disturbances in Canada ... awakened deep interest among the people of the United States(,) who lived adjacent to the frontier.' 4. 'Observers(,) who have recently investigated this point(,) do not all agree,' etc. 5. 'The wind did(,) in an instant(,) what man and steam together had failed to do in hours.' 6. 'All the cabin passengers(,) situated beyond the center of the boat(,) were saved.' 7. 'No other writer has depicted(,) with so much art or so much accuracy(,) the habits, the manners,' etc. 8. 'If it shall give satisfaction to those who have(,) in any way(,) befriended it, the author will feel,' etc. 9. 'Formed(,) or consisting of(,) clay.' 10. 'The subject [witchcraft] grew interesting; and(,) to examine Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Proctor, the deputy-governor(,) and five other magistrates(,) went to Salem.' 11. 'The Lusitanians(,) who had not left their home(,) rose as a man,' etc. 12. 'Vague reports ... had preceded him to Washington, and his Mississippi friends(,) who chanced to be at the capital(,) were not backward to make their boast of him.' 13. 'Our faith has acquired a new vigor(,) and a clearer vision.' 14. 'In 1819(,) he removed to Cambridge.' 15. 'Doré was born at Strasburg(,) in 1832, and labors,' etc. 16. 'We should never apply dry compresses, charpie, or wadding(,) to the wound.' 17. '—to stand idle, to look, act, or think(,) in a leisurely way.' 18. '—portraits taken from the farmers, schoolmasters, and peasantry(,) of the neighborhood.' 19. '—gladly welcomed painters of Flanders, Holland, and Spain(,) to their shores.'

"In all these cases, the clauses between or following the inclosed commas are so closely connected grammatically with the immediately preceding words or phrases, that they should be read without a perceptible pause, or with only a slight one for breath, without change of voice. Some of the commas would grossly pervert the meaning if strictly construed. Thus, from No. 3 it would appear that the people of the United States in general lived adjacent to the frontier; from No. 4, that all observers have recently investigated the point in question; from No. 6, that all the cabin passengers were so situated that they were saved, whereas it is meant that only a certain small proportion of them were saved; from No. 10 (Bancroft), that somebody whose name is accidentally omitted went to Salem 'to examine Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Proctor, the deputy-governor, and five other magistrates'; from No. 11, that none of the Lusitanians had left their home, whereas it was the slaughter by the Romans of a great number of them who had left their home that caused the rising.