authorities have given his comrades for revolutionary action among the
masses.--_Times._
The influences of that age, his open, kind, susceptible nature,
to say nothing of his highly untoward situation, made it
more than usually difficult for him to cast aside or rightly
subordinate.--CARLYLE.
That there is no comma between _facilities_ and _the excesses_ is no
defence, seeing how often commas go wrong; indeed the comma after _age_
in the second piece, which is strictly wrong, is a proof how little
reliance is to be placed on such signs.
50. MISPLACEMENT OF WORDS
Generous interpretation will generally get at a writer’s meaning; but
for him to rely on that is to appeal _ad misericordiam_. Appended to
the sentences, when necessary, is the result of supposing them to mean
what they say.
It is with grief and pain, that, _as admirers of the British
aristocracy_, we find ourselves obliged to admit the existence of so
many ill qualities in a person whose name is in Debrett.--THACKERAY.
(implies that admirers must admit this more than other people)
It is from this fate that the son of a commanding prime minister is
_at any rate_ preserved.--BAGEHOT. (implies that _preserved_ is a weak
word used instead of a stronger)
And even if we could suppose it to be our duty, it is not one which,
_as was shown in the last chapter_, we are practically competent to
perform.--BALFOUR.
The chairman said there was no sadder sight in the world than to
see women drunk, because they seemed to lose _complete_ control of
themselves. (implies that losing complete control leaves you with less
than if you lost incomplete control)
The soldiers are deeply chagrined at having had to give up positions,
_in obedience to orders_, which the Japanese could not take.--_Times._
Great and heroic men have existed, who had almost no other information
than by the printed page. I _only_ would say, that it needs a strong
head to bear that diet.--EMERSON. (implies that no one else would say
it)
Yes, the laziest of human beings, through the providence of God, _a
being, too, of rather inferior capacity_, acquires the written part of
a language so difficult that....--BORROW.
Right or wrong as his hypothesis may be, no one that knows him will
suspect that he himself had not seen it, and seen over it.... Neither,
_as we often hear_, is there any superhuman faculty required to follow
him.--CARLYLE. (implies that we often hear there is not)
This, we say to ourselves, may be all very true (for have we, _too_,
not browsed in the Dictionary of National Biography?); but why does
Tanner say it all, just at that moment, to....--_Times._ (implies
that others have refrained from browsing)
But in 1798 the Irish rising was crushed in a defeat of the insurgents
at Vinegar Hill; and Tippoo’s death in the storm of his own capital,
Seringapatam, _only_ saved him from witnessing the English conquest of
Mysore.--J. R. GREEN. (implies that that was all it saved him from)
51. AMBIGUOUS POSITION
In this matter judgement is required. A captious critic might find
examples on almost every page of almost any writer; but most of
them, though they may strictly be called ambiguous, would be quite
justifiable. On the other hand a careless writer can nearly always
plead, even for a bad offence, that an attentive reader would take
the thing the right way. That is no defence; a rather inattentive and
sleepy reader is the true test; if the run of the sentence is such that
he at first sight refers whatever phrase is in question to the wrong
government, then the ambiguity is to be condemned.
Louis XVIII, dying in 1824, was succeeded, as Charles X, by his
brother the Count d’Artois.--E. SANDERSON. (The sleepy reader,
assisted by memories of James the First and Sixth, concludes, though
not without surprise, which perhaps finally puts him on the right
track, that Louis XVIII of France was also Charles X of some other
country)
In 1830 Paris overthrew monarchy by divine right.--MORLEY. (_By divine
right_ looks so much more like an adverbial than an adjectival phrase
that the sleepy reader takes it with _overthrew_)
(From review of a book on ambidexterity) Two kinds of emphatic
type are used, and both are liberally sprinkled about the pages
on some principle which is not at all obvious. The practice may
have its merits, like ambidexterity, but it is generally eschewed
by good writers who know their business, although they are not
ambidextrous.--_Times._ (The balance of the sentence is extremely bad
if the _although_ clause is subordinated to _who_; and the sleepy
reader accordingly does not take it so, but with _is eschewed_, and so
makes nonsense)
It was a temper not only legal, but pedantic in its legality,
intolerant from its very sense of a moral order and law _of_ the
lawlessness and disorder of a personal tyranny.--J. R. GREEN.
The library over the porch of the church, which is large and handsome,
contains one thousand printed books.--R. CURZON. (A large and handsome
library, or porch, or church?)
Both these last are very unkind to the poor sleepy reader; it is true
that in one of them he is inexcusable if he goes wrong, but we should
for our own sakes give him as few chances of going wrong as possible.
Luck and dexterity always give more pleasure than intellect and
knowledge; because they fill up what they fall _on to_ the brim at
once, and people run to them with acclamation at the splash.--LANDOR.
(_On_ and _to_ so regularly belong together now, though they did
not in Landor’s time, that it is disconcerting to be asked to pause
between them)
52. AMBIGUOUS ENUMERATION
In comma’d enumerations, care should be taken not to insert appositions
that may be taken, even if only at first sight, for separate members.
Some high officials of the Headquarter Staff, including the officer
who is primus inter pares, the Director of Military Operations, and
the Director of Staff duties....--_Times._ (Two, or three, persons?
Probably two; but those who can be sure of this do not need the
descriptive clause, and those who need it cannot be sure)
Lord Curzon, Sir Edmond Elles, the present Military Member, and
the Civilian Members of Council traverse the most material of Lord
Kitchener’s statements of fact.--_Times._ (Is Sir E. Elles the
Military Member? No need to tell any one who knows; and any one who
does not know is not told)
I here wish to remark that Lord Dufferin first formed the Mobilization
Committee, of which the Commander-in-Chief is President, and the
Military Member, Secretary, Military Department, and the heads of
departments both at Army Headquarters and under the Government of
India, are members with the express intention of....--_Times._ (Is the
Military Member Secretary of the Mobilization Committee? Well, he may
be, but a certain amount of patience shows us that the sentence we are
reading does not tell us so)
53. ANTICS
A small selection must suffice. Straining after the dignified, the
unusual, the poignant, the high-flown, the picturesque, the striking,
often turns out badly. It is not worth while to attain any of these
aims at the cost of being unnatural.
1. Use of stiff, full-dress, literary, or out-of-the-way words.
And in no direction was the slightest concern _evinced_.--_Times._
The majority display _scant_ anxiety for news.--_Times._
... treating his characters on broader lines, occupying himself with
more elemental emotions and types, and forsaking altogether his
almost _meticulous_ analysis of motive and temperament.--_Westminster
Gazette._ (We recommend to this reviewer a more meticulous use of the
dictionary)
And most probably he is voted a fool for not doing as many men in
similar positions are doing--viz., making up for a lack of principle
by an abundance of _bawbees_ easily extracted from a large class of
contractors who are only too willing....--_Times._
It is Victor Hugo’s people, the motives on which they act, the means
they take to carry out their objects, their relations to one another,
that strike us as so _monumentally_ droll.--_Times._
Nothing definite has been decided upon as to the exact date of the
visits, the _venue_ of the visits, the....--_Times._
2. Pretentious circumlocution.
That life was brought to a close in November 1567, at an age,
probably, not far from _the one fixed by the sacred writer as the term
of human existence_.--PRESCOTT.
She skated extremely badly, but with an enjoyment that was almost
pathetic, _in consideration of the persistence of ‘frequent
fall’_.--E. F. BENSON.
The question of an extension of the Zemstvos to the southwest
provinces is believed to be under consideration. It is understood that
the visit of General Kleigels to St. Petersburg is _not unconnected
therewith_.--_Times._
3. Poetic phraseology, especially the Carlylese superlative. Almost any
page of Milton’s prose will show whence Carlyle had this; but it is
most offensive in ordinary modern writing.
A period when, as she puts it, men and women of fashion ‘tried not to
be themselves, yet never so successfully displayed _the naked hearts
of them_’.--_Times._
The last week in February was harnessing her seven bright steeds in
shining tandem in the silent courtyard of the time to be.--_The Lamp._
Our enveloping movements since some days prove successful, and
fiercest battle is now proceeding.--_Times._
The unhappy man persuades himself that he has in truth become a new
creature, of the wonderfullest symmetry.--CARLYLE.
4. Patronizing superiority expressed by describing simple things in
long words.
The skating-rink, where happy folk all day slide with set purpose on
the elusive material, and with great content perform mystic evolutions
of the most complicated order.--E. F. BENSON.
5. The determined picturesque.
Across the street blank shutters flung back the gaslight in cold
smears.--KIPLING.
The outflung white water at the foot of a homeward-bound Chinaman
not a hundred yards away, and her shadow-slashed rope-purfled sails
bulging sideways like insolent cheeks.--KIPLING.
An under-carry of grey woolly spindrift of a slaty colour flung
itself noiselessly in the opposite direction, a little above the tree
tops.--CROCKETT.
Then for a space the ground was more clayey, and a carpet of green
water-weeds were combed and waved by the woven ropes of water.--E. F.
BENSON.
At some distance off, in Winchester probably, which pricked the
blue haze of heat with dim spires, a church bell came muffled and
languid.--E. F. BENSON.
A carriage drive lay in long curves like a flicked whip lash,
surmounting terrace after terrace set with nugatory nudities.--E. F.
BENSON.
6. Recherché epithets.
Perhaps both Milton and Beethoven would live in our memories as
writers of idylls, had not a _brusque_ infirmity dreadfully shut them
off from their fellow men.--_Times._
The high _canorous_ note of the north-easter.--STEVENSON.
By specious and _clamant_ exceptions.--STEVENSON.
7. Formal antithesis or parallel. This particular form of artificiality
is perhaps too much out of fashion to be dangerous at present. The
great storehouse of it is in Macaulay.
He had neither the qualities which make dulness respectable, nor the
qualities which make libertinism attractive.--MACAULAY.
The first two kings of the House of Hanover had neither those
hereditary rights which have often supplied the place of merit, nor
those personal qualities which have often supplied the defect of
title.--MACAULAY.
But he was indolent and dissolute, and had early impaired a
fine estate with the dice-box, and a fine constitution with the
bottle.--MACAULAY.
The disclosure of the stores of Greek literature had wrought the
revolution of the Renascence. The disclosure of the older mass of
Hebrew literature wrought the revolution of the Reformation.--J. R.
GREEN.
8. Author’s self-consciousness.
‘You mean it is,’ she said--‘about Bertie’. Charlie made the noise
usually written ‘Pshaw’.--E. F. BENSON.
9. Intrusive smartness--another form of self-consciousness.
Round her lay piles of press notices, which stripped the American
variety of the English language bare of epithets.--E. F. BENSON.
Income-tax payers are always treated to the fine words which butter
no parsnips, and are always assured that it is really a danger to the
State to go on skinning them in time of peace to such an extent as to
leave little integument to remove in time of war.--_Times._
Yet in the relentless city, where no one may pause for a moment unless
he wishes to be left behind in the great universal race for gold which
begins as soon as a child can walk, and ceases not until he is long
past walking, the climbing of the thermometer into the nineties _is
an acrobatic feat which concerns the thermometer only_, and at the
junction of Sixth Avenue and Broadway there was no slackening in the
tides of the affairs of men.--E. F. BENSON.
54. MISCELLANEOUS TYPES OF JOURNALESE
Mr. Lionel Phillips maintained that it was impossible to introduce
white unskilled _labour_ on a large scale _as a payable proposition_
without lowering the position of the white man.--_Times._
How _labour_ can be a _proposition_, and how a _proposition_ can be
_payable_ it is not easy to say. The sentence seems to mean: ‘to
introduce ... labour on a large scale and make it pay’. This is what
comes of a fondness for abstracts.
They have not hitherto discovered the formula for the intelligent
use of our unrivalled resources for the _satisfaction of our
security_.--_Times._
This perhaps means: ‘They have not yet discovered how our unrivalled
resources may be made to ensure our safety’.
An attempt to efface the ill-effects of the Czar’s refusal to see the
workmen has been made _by_ the grant _of_ an interview _by_ the Czar
_at_ Tsarkoe Selo _to_ a body _of_ workmen officially selected to
represent the masses.--_Spectator._
The powerful and convincing article on the question of War Office
administration as it affects the Volunteers to be found in this
month’s National.--_Spectator._
The Russian Government is at last face to face with the greatest
crisis of the war, _in the shape of the fact that_ the Siberian
railway....--_Spectator._
No year passes now without evidence of the truth of the
statement that the work of government is becoming increasingly
difficult.--_Spectator._
It has taken a leading part in protesting against the Congo State’s
treatment of natives controlled by it, and in procuring the pressure
which the House of Commons has put upon our Government with a view to
international insistence on fulfilment of the obligations entered upon
by the Congo Government as regards native rights.--_Times._
The outcome of a desire to convince the Government of the expediency
of granting the return recently ordered by the House with regard to
the names, ....--_Times._
In default of information of the result of the deliberations which
it has been stated the Imperial Defence Committee have been engaged
in....--_Times._
The volunteer does not volunteer to be compelled to suffer long,
filthy, and neglected illnesses and too often death, yet such was
South Africa on a vast scale, and is inevitable in war under the
present official indifference.--_Times._
55. SOMEWHAT, &c.
Indulgence in qualifying adverbs, as _perhaps_, _possibly_, _probably_,
_rather_, _a little_, _somewhat_, amounts with English journalists
to a disease; the intemperate orgy of moderation is renewed every
morning. As _somewhat_ is rapidly swallowing up the rest, we shall
almost confine our attention to it; and it is useless to deprecate the
use without copious illustration. Examples will be classified under
headings, though these are not quite mutually exclusive.
1. _Somewhat_ clearly illogical.
A number of questions to the Prime Minister have been put upon the
paper with the object of eliciting information as to the personnel of
the proposed Royal Commission and the scope of their inquiry. These
are now _somewhat belated_ in view of the official announcement made
this morning.--_Times._ (The announcement contained both the list of
members and the full reference)
Thrills which gave him _rather a unique_ pleasure.--HUTTON.
Russian despatches are _somewhat inconsistent_, one of them stating
that there is no change in the position of the armies, while another
says that the Japanese advance continues.--_Times._
Being faint with hunger I was _somewhat in a listless condition_
bordering on stupor.--CORELLI.
In the light of these, it would be hard to say what full belatedness,
inconsistency, and listlessness may be.
2. _Somewhat_ with essentially emphatic words.
We may call a thing dirty, or filthy; if we choose the latter, we mean
to be emphatic; it is absurd to use the emphatic word and take away its
emphasis with _somewhat_, when we might use the gentler word by itself.
A member of the Legislative Council is allowed now to speak in
Dutch if he cannot express himself clearly in English; under the
proposed arrangement he will be able to decide for himself in which
medium he can express himself the more clearly. Surely a _somewhat
infinitesimal_ point.--_Times._
Thirdly, it is _rather agonizing_ at times to the
philologist.--_Times._
The distances at which the movements are being conducted receive a
_somewhat startling_ illustration from the statement that....--_Times._
Under these circumstances it is _somewhat extraordinary_ to endeavour
to save the Government from blame.--_Times._
In various evidently ‘well-informed’ journals the _somewhat amazing_
proposition is set up that....--_Times._
But unfortunately the word ‘duties’ got accidentally substituted
for ‘bounties’ in two places, and made the utterance _somewhat
unintelligible_ to the general reader.--_Times._
The songs are sung by students to the accompaniment of a _somewhat
agonizing_ band.--_Times._
There is a mysterious man-killing orchid, a great Eastern jewel of
State, and many other properties, some of them _a little well worn_,
suitable for the staging of a tale of mystery.--_Spectator._
Some of the instances in these two classes would be defended as
humorous under-statement. But if this hackneyed trick is an example of
the national humour, we had better cease making reflections on German
want of humour.
3. _Somewhat_ shyly announcing an epigrammatic or well-chosen phrase.
There is a very pretty problem awaiting the decision of Prince
Bülow, and one which is entirely worthy of his _somewhat acrobatic_
diplomacy.--_Times._
Gaston engaged in a controversy on the origin of evil, which
terminated by his _somewhat abruptly quitting his Alma
Mater_.--BEACONSFIELD.
Why even Tennyson became an amateur milkman to _somewhat conceal and
excuse the shame and degradation of writing verse_.--CORELLI.
The virtuous but _somewhat unpleasing_ type of the Roman
nation.--_Times._
The sight of these soldiers and sailors sitting round camp-fires in
the midst of the snow in fashionable thoroughfares, transforming the
city into an armed camp, is _somewhat weird_.--_Times._
While Mary was trying to decipher these _somewhat mystic_ lines.--S.
FERRIER.
4. _Somewhat_ conveying a sneer.
It is somewhat strange that any one connected with this institution
should be so unfamiliar with its regulations.--_Times._
... that the conclusion arrived at by the shortest route is
to be accepted--a somewhat extravagant doctrine, according to
which....--BALFOUR.
But very few points of general interest have been elicited in any
quarter by these somewhat academic reflections.--_Times._
This somewhat glowing advertisement of the new loan.--_Times._
5. The genuine _somewhat_, merely tame, timid, undecided, conciliatory,
or polite.
It is somewhat pitiful to see the efforts of a foreign State directed,
not to the pursuit of its own aims by legitimate means, but to the
gratification of personal hostility to a great public servant of
France.--_Times._
I am certain that the clergy themselves only too gladly acquiesce in
this somewhat illogical division of labour.--_Times._
This, no doubt, is what Professor Ray Lankester is driving at in his
somewhat intemperate onslaught.--Times.
The _rather mysterious_ visit of S. Tittoni, the Italian Foreign
Minister, to Germany.--_Times._
These are of _rather remarkable_ promise; the head shows an unusual
power of realizing character under a purely ideal conception.--_Times._
The _rather finely_ conceived statuette called ‘The Human Task’ by Mr.
Oliver Wheatley.--_Times._
It is somewhat the fashion to say that in these days....--_Times._
A letter from one whose learning and experience entitle him to be
heard, conceived, as I think, in a spirit of somewhat exaggerated
pessimism.--_Times._
The statement made by the writer is somewhat open to doubt.--_Times._
I have read with much interest the letters on the subject of
hush-money, especially as they account to me somewhat for the
difficulties I have experienced.--_Times._
It would be valuable if he would somewhat expand his ideas regarding
local defence by Volunteers.--_Times._
Sir,--I have been somewhat interested in the recent correspondence in
your columns.--_Times._
So many persons of undoubted integrity believe in ‘dowsing’ that he is
a somewhat rash man who summarily dismisses the matter.--_Times._
Sir Francis Bertie, whose dislike of unnecessary publicity is somewhat
pronounced.--_Times._
It is not too much to say that any one who hopes to write well had
better begin by abjuring _somewhat_ altogether.
We cannot tell whether this long list will have a dissuasive effect, or
will be referred to foolish individual prejudice against an unoffending
word. But on the first assumption we should like to add that a not
less dissuasive collection might easily be made of the intensifier
_distinctly_ than of the qualifier _somewhat_. The use meant is that
seen in:
The effect as the procession careers through the streets of Berlin is
described as distinctly interesting.
_Distinctly_ gives the patronizing interest, as _somewhat_ gives
the contemptuous indifference, with which a superior person is to
be conceived surveying life; and context too often reveals that the
superiority is imaginary.
56. CLUMSY PATCHING
When a writer detects a fault in what he has written or thought of
writing, his best course is to recast the whole sentence. The next best
is to leave it alone. The worst is to patch it in such a way that the
reader has his attention drawn, works out the original version, and
condemns his author for carelessness aggravated by too low an estimate
of his own intelligence.
Numerous allegations, too, were made of prejudiced treatment _measured
out against_ motorists by rural magistrates.--_Times._ (avoidance of
the jingle in _meted_ out to _motor_ists)
No crew proved to be of the very highest class; but this, perhaps,
_led the racing to be_ on the whole close and exciting.--_Times._
(avoidance of the jingle in led to the rac_ing_ be_ing_)
The Lord Mayor last night entertained the Judges _to_ a banquet at the
Mansion House.--_Times._ (avoidance of double _at_)
The occupants talked, inspected the cars _of one another_,
interchanged tales of....--_Times._ (avoidance, in grammatical
pusillanimity, of _one another’s cars_)
... who have only themselves in view _by_ breaking through
it.--RICHARDSON. (avoidance of double _in_)
He nodded, _as one who would say_, ‘I have already thought of
that’.--CROCKETT. (avoidance of the archaism, which however is the
only natural form, _as who should say_)
It is now practically certain that the crews of Nebogatoff’s squadron
were in a state of mutiny, and that this is the explanation _for_ the
surrender _of_ these vessels.--_Times._ (avoidance of double _of_)
And _for_ the first time _after_ twenty years the Whigs saw themselves
again in power.--J. R. GREEN. (Avoidance of double _for_; if _after_
had been originally intended, we should have had _at last_ instead of
_for the first time_)
And oppressive laws forced even these _few_ with _scant_ exceptions to
profess Protestantism.--J. R. GREEN. (To avoid the repetition of _few_
the affected word _scant_ has been admitted)
Given competition, any line would vie with the others in mirrors
and gilded furniture; but if there is none, why spend a penny? Not
a passenger the less will travel because the mode of transit is
_bestial_.--E. F. BENSON. (To avoid the overdone word _beastly_--which
however happens to be the right one here; _bestial_ describes
character or conduct)
There is, indeed, a kind of timorous atheism in the man who dares not
trust God to _render_ all efforts to interpret his Word--and what is
criticism but interpretation?--work together for good.--_Spectator._
(_Render_ is substituted for _make_ because _make efforts_ might
be taken as complete without the _work together_ that is due.
Unfortunately, _to render efforts work together_ is not even English
at all)
57. OMISSION OF THE CONJUNCTION ‘THAT’
This is quite legitimate, but often unpleasant. It is partly a matter
of idiom, as, _I presume you know_, but _I assume that you know_;
partly of avoiding false scent, as in the sixth example below, where
_scheme_ might be object to _discover_. In particular it is undesirable
to omit _that_ when a long clause or phrase intervenes between it and
the subject and verb it introduces, as in the first four examples.
And it is to be hoped, _as the tree-planting season has arrived_,
Stepney will now put its scheme in hand.--_Times._
Sir,--We notice _in a leading article in your issue to-day on
the subject of the carriage of Australian mails_ you imply that
the increased price demanded by the Orient Pacific Line was due
to....--_Times._
Lord Balfour ... moved that it is necessary, _before the
constituencies are asked to determine upon the desirability of such
conference_, they should be informed first....--_Times._
Lord Spencer held that it was impossible _with regard to a question
which had broken up the Government and disturbed the country_ they
could go into a conference which....--_Times._
If the Australian is to be convinced that is an unreasonable wish, it
will not be by arguments about taxation.--_Times._
I think he would discover the scheme unfolded and explained in them is
a perfectly intelligible and comprehensive one.--_Times._
It is not till He cometh the ideal will be seen.--_Times._
And it is only by faith the evils you mention as productive of war can
be cast out of our hearts.--_Times._
I do not wish it to be understood that I consider all those who
applied for work during the past two winters and who are now seeking
employment are impostors.--_Times._
I assume Turkey would require such a cash payment of at least
£500,000.--_Times._
Tawno leaped into the saddle, where he really looked like Gunnar of
Hlitharend, save and except the complexion of Gunnar was florid,
whereas that of Tawno was of nearly Mulatto darkness.--BORROW.
In some of these the motive is obvious, to avoid one _that_-clause
depending on another; the end was good, but the means bad; a more
thorough recasting was called for.
58. MEANINGLESS ‘WHILE’
_While_, originally temporal, has a legitimate use also in contrasts.
The further colourless use of it, whether with verb or with participle,
as a mere elegant variation for _and_ is very characteristic of
journalese, and much to be deprecated.
Of its value there can be no question. The editor’s article on
‘Constitutions’, for example, and that of Mr. W. Wyse on ‘Law’ both
well repay most careful study; _while_ when Sir R. Jebb writes
on ‘Literature’, Dr. Henry Jackson on ‘Philosophy’, or Professor
Waldstein on ‘Sculpture’, their contributions must be regarded as
authoritative.--_Spectator._
The fireman was killed on the spot, and the driver as well as the
guard of the passenger train was slightly injured; _while_ the up-line
was blocked for some time with débris from broken trucks of the goods
train.--_Times._
The deer on the island took some interest in the proceeding, while the
peacocks on the lawn screamed at the right time.--_Birmingham Daily
Post._
It cannot be contended that it is more profitable to convey a
passenger the twenty-four miles to Yarmouth for payment than to
accept the same payment without performing the service; _while_, if
the company wish to discourage the use of cheap week-end tickets, why
issue them at all?--_Times._
59. COMMERCIALISMS
Certain uses of _such_, _the same_, and other words, redolent of
commerce and the law, should be reserved for commercial and legal
contexts. _Anent_, which has been noticed in Part I, is a legalism of
this kind. In the Brontë instances quoted, a twang of flippancy will be
observed; the other writers are probably unconscious.
This gentleman’s state of mind was very harrowing, and I was glad when
he wound up his exposition of the same.--C. BRONTË.
The present was no occasion for showy array; my dun mist crape would
suffice, and I sought the same in the great oak wardrobe in the
dormitory.--C. BRONTË.
There are certain books that almost defy classification, and this
volume ... is one of such.--_Daily Telegraph._
I am pleased to read the correspondence in your paper, and hope that
good will be the result of the same.--_Daily Telegraph._
The man who has approached nearest to the teaching of the Master, and
carried the same to its logical and practical conclusion is General
Booth.--_Daily Telegraph._
Do I believe that by not having had the hands of a bishop laid upon my
head I cannot engage in the outward and visible commemoration of the
Lord’s Supper as not being fit to receive the same?--_Daily Telegraph._
But do the great majority of people let their belief in the hereafter
affect their conduct with regard to the same. I think not.--_Daily
Telegraph._
Let us hope, Sir, that it may be possible in your own interests to
continue the same till the subject has had a good innings.--_Daily
Telegraph._
I believe, and have believed since, a tiny child, made miserable by
the loss of a shilling, I prayed my Heavenly Father to help me to
recover the same.--_Daily Telegraph._
It is of course possible, in this connexion, that the Prayer Book is
responsible for ‘the same’.
If I am refused the Sacrament I do not believe that I shall have
less chance of entering the Kingdom of God than if I received such
Sacrament.--_Daily Telegraph._
But when it comes to us following his life and example, in all
its intricate details, all will, I think, agree that such is
impossible.--_Daily Telegraph._
An appeal to philanthropy is hardly necessary, the grounds for such
being so self-evident.--_Times._
... such a desire it should be the purpose of a Unionist Government
to foster; but such will not be attained under the present regime in
Dublin.--_Times._
... regaling themselves on half-pints at the said village
hostelries.--BORROW.
Having read with much interest the letters re ‘believe only’ now
appearing in the _Daily Telegraph_....--_Daily Telegraph._
He ruined himself and family by his continued experiments for the
benefit of the British nation.--_Times._
60. PET PHRASES
Vivid writers must be careful not to repeat any conspicuous phrase so
soon that a reader of ordinary memory has not had time to forget it
before it invites his attention again. Whatever its merits, to use it
twice (unless deliberately and with point) is much worse than never
to have thought of it. The pages below are those of Green’s _Short
History_ (1875).
The temper of the first [King George] was that of a gentleman usher.
p. 704.
Bute was a mere court favourite, with the abilities of a gentleman
usher. p. 742.
‘For weeks’, laughs Horace Walpole, ‘it rained gold boxes’. p. 729.
‘We are forced to ask every morning what victory there is’, laughed
Horace Walpole. p. 737.
The two following passages occur on pp. 6 and 81 of _The Bride of
Lammermoor_ (Standard Edition).
In short, Dick Tinto’s friends feared that he had acted like the
animal called the sloth, which, having eaten up the last green leaf
upon the tree where it has established itself, ends by tumbling down
from the top, and dying of inanition.
‘... but as for us, Caleb’s excuses become longer as his diet turns
more spare, and I fear we shall realise the stories they tell of
the sloth: we have almost eaten up the last green leaf on the plant,
and have nothing left for it but to drop from the tree and break our
necks.’
61. ‘ALSO’ AS CONJUNCTION; AND ‘&c.’
_Also_ is an adverb; the use of it as a conjunction is slovenly, if not
illiterate.
We are giving these explanations gently as friends, also patiently as
becomes neighbours.--_Times._
‘Special’ is a much overworked word, it being used to mean great in
degree, also peculiar in kind.--R. G. WHITE.
Mr. Sonnenschein’s volume will show by parallel passages Shakespeare’s
obligations to the ancients, also the obligations of modern writers to
Shakespeare.--_Times._
The use of _&c._, except in business communications and such contexts,
has often the same sort of illiterate effect. This is very common, but
one example must suffice.
There are others with faults of temper, &c., evident enough, beside
whom we live content, as if the air about them did us good.--C. BRONTË.
INDEX
_In this index all references are to pages. Small italics are used
for words and phrases; small roman type for subjects incidentally
mentioned; capitals for subjects expressly, even if not fully, treated._
A
_A-_, 41-2.
_A_ BETWEEN ADJECTIVE AND NOUN, 329-30.
ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTION, 115-6.
Absolute construction and stops, 222, 241-2, 265.
ABSTRACT WORDS, 4, 5-6.
ACCENT, SENTENCE, 296-8.
_Acquiesce to_, 164.
_Acte de malveillance_, 30.
Adjectival clause, 235.
ADJECTIVAL CLAUSE IN PUNCTUATION, 242-4.
ADVERB AND ADVERBIAL CLAUSE IN PUNCTUATION, 244-7.
Adverbial clause, 236.
_Adverse from_, 163.
_Aesthophysiology_, 23.
_Aggravate_, 59.
_Aggress_, 20.
_Aim to_, 132-3, 164.
AIRS AND GRACES, Cap. III.
_-al_, 22, 42.
_Albeit_, 17, 194, 196-7.
_Alit_, 39-40.
ALLITERATION, 292.
ALLUSION, 307-8.
_Alma mater_, 27.
_Almost quite_, 339.
_ALSO_, CONJ., AND _&C._, 360.
_Altogether_, 11.
Amateurs, 127, 194.
AMBIGUITY, 345-8.
Ambiguity, 88, 109, 117, 120, 127, 142, 144-5, 250, 264-5.
Ambiguity and punctuation, 264-5.
AMBIGUOUS ENUMERATION, 348.
AMBIGUOUS POSITION, 347-8.
_Amend_, n., 38-9.
AMERICANISMS, 23-6.
_A-moral_, 41-2.
_Amphitryon_, 174.
Anachronism in thought, 198, 200.
_And_, 233-4, 245.
_AND WHICH_, 85-93.
_AND WHO_, 85-93.
_Anent_, 3.
_Animatedly_, 47.
_Another story_, 175.
_Antagonize_, 4, 24, 26.
_Antecedentem scelestum_, 33.
ANTICS, 348-51.
Antithesis, 292, 350.
_Anyway_, 25.
_Appendicitis_, 19.
ARCHAISM, 193-200.
Archaism, 17, 83, 103, 137.
Archaism, positive and negative, 198-200.
ARCHAISM, SUSTAINED, 198-9.
_Argon_, 19.
_Arise_, 9.
_Arrière pensée_, 34.
_As also_, 189.
_As_ and _while_ clauses, slovenly, 189.
_AS_, CASE, 62-4.
_AS_ CLAUSE, CAUSAL, 298-300.
_As far as, that_, 168-70.
_As if_, 156-7.
_AS_, LIBERTIES WITH, 324-6.
_AS_, OMISSION OF, 324.
_As to_, 166-7.
_AS TO WHETHER_, 333-4.
_As who should say_, 325-6.
_At anyrate_, 280.
_At the letter_, 33.
_Aught_, 194, 197.
_Au pied de la lettre_, 32.
_Automedon_, 174.
AUXILIARIES, SPLIT, 342-3.
_Avail_, 321.
_Available_, 43.
_Averse from_, 162-3.
Avoidance, clumsy, 17, 74, 125, 179, 277, 355-6, 357.
_Await_, 9.
_Awful_, 49-50.
B
_Back-number_, 25.
_Back of_, 25.
Bagehot, 210-2.
BALANCE INVERSION, 182-7.
Balfour, 225, 249.
_Ballon d’essai_, 30.
_Banal_, 38-9.
_Banality_, 38-9.
_Bang in the eye_, 48.
Bastard enumeration, 251.
_BE_ AND _DO_, 330.
Beadnell, 219.
_Bedrock_, 51.
_Benefits of_, 165.
Besant, 198.
_Bethink_, 9.
_Bêtise_, 27.
_BETWEEN ... OR_, 328-9.
BETWEEN TWO STOOLS, 327-8.
_Between you and I_, 61.
_Bewilderedly_, 47.
_Bien entendu_, 27.
_Bike_, 49.
_Birrelling_, 51.
_Blooming_, 49-50.
_Boom_, 52.
Borrow, G., 13.
_Both ... as well as_, 313.
_Bounder_, 48, 50.
_Bow-street_, 277.
BRACHYLOGY, 326.
Brackets & double dashes, 272, 286.
BRACKETS AND STOPS, 270-1.
_Brisken_, 21.
_Briticism_, 43.
Brontë, C., 29, 358.
_Bureaucracy_, 46.
Burke, E., 111.
_BUT_, SUPERFLUOUS, 334.
C
_Cad_, 50.
_Camaraderie_, 27.
CARELESS REPETITION, 303-4.
Carlyle, 44, 349.
CASE, 60-4.
_Case_, 6.
CASE AFTER _as_ AND _than_, 62-4.
CASE, COMPOUND POSSESSIVE, 64.
CASE CONFUSION, 61-2.
Case in absolute construction, 115-6.
CASE IN APPOSITION, 60.
CASE OF COMPLEMENT, 60.
CASE OF RELATIVES, 93-4, 99-100.
CAUSAL _as_ CLAUSE, 298-300.
_Cela va sans dire_, 31.
_Chamade_, 29.
_Chasseur_, 27, 37.
_Cherchez la femme_, 35.
_Chic_, 51.
CIRCUMLOCUTION, 6.
Circumlocution, 165-70, 349.
_Claim_, 317-8.
_Climb down_, 51.
_Closure_, 23.
CLUMSY PATCHING, 355-6.
_Coastal_, 42.
COLLOQUIALISMS, 331.
COLON, 263-4.
Colon, changed usage of, 220, 222.
_Come into her life_, 215.
Comma before _that_, 236-7, 249-50.
COMMA BETWEEN INDEPENDENT SENTENCES, 254-7.
Comma, distinct functions, 221-2.
COMMA MISPLACED, 248-50.
COMMA, UNACCOUNTABLE, 262-3.
Commas, illogical, 241.
Commas, unnecessary, 232.
_Commercialisms_, 358-9.
Common case, 60.
COMMON PARTS, 314-6.
COMPARATIVES, 70-4.
_Complacent_, 10.
_Complaisant_, 10.
Compositors, 219, 230, 266, 273, 282.
COMPOUND PASSIVES, 319-21.
Compound possessive, 64, 122-3.
Compound verbs and inversion, 184-6.
Compound words, 20.
_Comprehensively_, 8.
_Comprise_, 12.
_Concision_, 18.
CONDITIONALS, 156-8.
CONDITIONALS, SUBJUNCTIVE, 157-8.
Conditionals, subjunctive, 192-3, 195.
CONFUSION WITH NEGATIVES, 321-3.
CONJUNCTIONS, COMPOUND, 165-70.
Conjunctions, coordinating and subordinating, 63, 255.
_Consequential_, 17.
_Consist of_ or _in_, 163-4.
_Content myself by_, 163.
_Contest_, vb, 12.
_Continuance_, 10.
_Continuation_, 10.
_Continuity_, 10.
CONTRADICTIONS IN TERMS, 339-41.
_Contumacity_, 45.
COORDINATION OF RELATIVES, 85-100.
COPULA, NUMBER, 65-7.
Corelli, 47.
_Cornering_, 51.
_Correctitude_, 21.
_Coûte que coûte_, 27-8.
Criterion of rightness, 3, 8, 41, 42, 165, 181, 347.
Crockett, 200.
_Cryptic_, 50.
_Cui bono?_, 35-6, 306.
D
_Dans cette galère_, 32.
DASHES, 266-75.
DASHES AND STOPS, 269-75.
DASHES, DEBATABLE QUESTIONS, 269-74.
DASHES, DOUBLE, 270-1.
DASHES, MISUSES, 274-5.
DASHES, TYPES, 267-9.
Dead metaphors, 201-9.
DECAPITABLE SENTENCES, 303.
DEFINING RELATIVES, 75-85.
Defining relatives in punctuation, 240-1, 242-4.
_Déjeuner_, 27.
_Démarche_, 30.
_Demean_, 16.
_Démenti_, 29-30.
DEMONSTRATIVE, NOUN, AND PARTICIPLE OR ADJECTIVE, 344-5.
_Depend upon it_, 213.
_Dependable_, 43.
_Deplacement_, 21.
_Deprecate_, 12.
_Depreciate_, 12.
De Quincey, 80.
_Desultory_, 18.
_Détente_, 30.
_Determinedly_, 47.
Differentiation, 10, 11, 46, 85.
_Different to_, 162.
_Dilemma_, 208.
DIPLOMATIC FRENCH, 29-30.
_Disagree from_, 163.
_Dishabille_, 37.
_Dispensable_, 43.
_Disposable_, 43.
_Distinction_, 38-9.
Distinction, 217, 319.
_Distinctly_, 355.
_Distinguished_, 38-9.
_Distrait_, 27.
_DO_ AS SUBSTITUTE VERB, 330.
Double dashes & brackets, 272, 286.
DOUBLE EMPHASIS, 341.
_Double event_, 51.
DOUBLE HARNESS, 311-4.
Doubtful gender, 67.
_Doubt that_, 158-60.
DOVETAILING, 33, 308-10.
E
_Each_, 68.
_-edly_, 47.
_E.g._, 311.
_Eirenicon_, 26.
_EITHER_, 69.
_Eke out_, 14-5.
ELEGANT VARIATION, 175-80.
Elegant variation, 30, 163, 211, 357.
Eliot, George, 171.
ELLIPSE IN SUBORDINATE CLAUSES, 317.
_Emblem_, vb, 5.
Emerson, 26, 43, 44, 217.
EMPHASIS, DOUBLE, 341.
EMPHATIC INVERSION, 190-1.
_Employé_, 36.
_Endowed by_, 164.
_English_, vb, 2.
_Enjoinder_, 43-4.
_Ennui_, 26, 37.
_Entente_, 29-30.
_Entourage_, 30.
ENUMERATION, 250-4.
ENUMERATION, AMBIGUOUS, 348.
_Envisage_, 7.
Epithets, recherché, 350.
_Epoch-making_, 31, 50.
_Equally as_, 332.
_Ere_, 2, 194, 196-7.
_Especial_, 11.
_Esprit d’escalier_, 32.
_ETC._, SLOVENLY, 360.
_Euchred_, 51.
_Eudaemometer_, 23.
_Euphemism_, 12.
EUPHONY, 291-304.
Euphony, 46-7, 102, 104, 122, 132, 326;
and punctuation, 245.
Euphony with relatives, 84.
_Euphuism_, 12.
_Evasion_, 11.
_Excepting_, 46.
EXCLAMATION AND QUESTION, 259-61.
EXCLAMATION MARK, 258-62.
EXCLAMATION MARK, INTERNAL, 261-2.
EXCLAMATORY INVERSION, 181-2.
EX-PARTICIPLES, 110-1.
_Experimentalize_, 46.
_Exploit_, vb, 51.
_Extemporaneous_, 45.
F
_Faits divers_, 28.
_Fall_ (autumn), 24.
FALSE SCENT, 345-6.
False scent, 93, 123-4, 246, 264-5, 274, 356.
_Fanfaronnade_, 29.
FAR-FETCHED WORDS, 4-5.
_Femininity_, 38.
Ferrier, S., 67.
Fielding, 215.
_Find fault to_, 164.
_Fix up_, 25.
Flexibility, 41, 120.
FLOOD-OF-TEARS-AND-SEDAN-CHAIR, 173.
_Floored_, 51.
_For_, 233-4, 245.
_For all it is worth_, 48.
_Forbid from_, 164.
_Forceful_, 21-2.
FOREIGN WORDS, 26-39.
FOREIGN WORDS, ADAPTATION OF, 37-9.
FOREIGN WORDS, BLUNDERS, 34-6.
FOREIGN WORDS TRANSLATED, 30-3.
_Foreword_, 2.
FORMATION AND ANALOGY, 41-3.
FORMATION BLUNDERS, 39-41.
FORMATION, UGLY, 46-7.
FRESH STARTS, 330-1.
_Frills_, 195.
_Frontal attack_, 51.
_Frontispiece_, 51-2.
Fudging in punctuation, 240-1.
FUSED PARTICIPLE, 117-25.
G
_Gallant_, 174.
_Galore_, 174.
_Ganymede_, 174.
_Gaucherie_, 27.
George Eliot, 171.
GERUND, 116-33.
GERUND AND INFINITIVE, 129-33.
GERUND AND PARTICIPLE, 107-10, 119.
GERUND AND POSSESSIVE, 116-25.
GERUND, COMPOUND SUBJECT, 123-4.
GERUND, OMISSION OF SUBJECT, 125-9.
_Get the boot_, 48.
_Globetrotter_, 51.
_Go Nap_, 51.
_Go one better_, 51.
GRAMMAR, 311-31.
GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION, 220-5, 235-63.
Green, J. R., 249, 359.
GROUP SYSTEM IN PUNCTUATION, 228-30.
H
_Half-world_, 31.
_Hebe_, 174.
_Hedge_, vb., 51.
He-or-she, 67.
_Hereof_, 196.
_He said_, 282.
_Homologate_, 7.
_Honey-coloured_, 25.
_Howbeit_, 17, 194, 197.
_However_, 265.
_How it pans out_, 51.
Hugo, 226.
HUMOUR, POLYSYLLABIC, 171-2.
HUMOUR, TYPES, 171-5.
Huxley, 225, 249.
Hybrid words, 41-2, 46.
HYPHENS, 275-80.
Hyphens, 42.
I
_Ideal_, 75.
Idiom, 53, 161, 356.
IDIOMS, MALTREATED, 336-8.
_I. e._, 311.
_IF AND WHEN_, 334-5.
_Ignorance crasse_, 29.
_I guess_, 24.
ILLEGITIMATE INFINITIVES, 317-8.
_Immanence_, 50.
_Immovability_, 46.
IMPERSONAL _one_, 328.
_Impliedly_, 47.
_Inasmuch as_, 166.
_Incentive_, 206.
Incongruity, 194.
_Incontinently_, 9.
Indirect question and punctuation, 238.
_Individual_, 52, 53-6.
INFINITIVE AND GERUND, 129-33.
INFINITIVE, OMISSION OF SUBJECT, 125-9.
INFINITIVE PERFECT, 154-6.
INFINITIVES, ILLEGITIMATE, 317-8.
INFINITIVE, SPLIT, 319.
_-ing_, 107-10.
_Initiative of_, 164.
_Innate_, 12.
_In nowise_, 280.
_Insensate_, 9.
_In so far as, that_, 168-70.
_Instil_, 12.
_Insuccess_, 21.
_Intellectuals_, 22-3.
_Intelligence_, 18.
_Intensate_, 44.
Intervening-noun error in number, 66-7.
_Intimism_, 38-9.
_Intimity_, 38.
INVERSION, 180-93.
Inversion and compound verbs, 184-6.
Inversion and emphasis, 182, 184.
INVERSION, BALANCE, 182-7.
INVERSION, EMPHATIC, 190-1.
INVERSION, EXCLAMATORY, 181-2.
Inversion in _as_ or _than_ clauses, 188-9.
Inversion in relative clauses, 188.
INVERSION IN SYNTACTIC CLAUSES, 187-9.
INVERSION, MISCELLANEOUS, 191-3.
INVERSION, NEGATIVE, 190-1.
_In view of_, 167-8.
_Inwardness_, 50, 52.
IRONY, 215-6.
_Irony_, 15.
_Irreparable_, 12.
Italics, 186.
Italics and irony, 216.
_It should seem_, 194.
_It’s me_, 61.
_It ... that_, 104-7.
_It were_, 195.
J
_Jehu_, 174.
JINGLES, 291-2.
Jonathan Wild, 215.
JOURNALESE, 351-2.
Journalese, 7, 352, 357.
_Judicial_, 8.
_Just_, 25.
K
Kipling 24-5, 175.
_Knock out_, 51.
L
Lamb, Charles, 193.
Lapsus calami, 21.
LATIN ABBREVIATIONS, &c., 311.
_Laughable_, 43.
Laxity, disappearance of, 108, 110-1.
Laxity in punctuation, 235, 244-7.
_Laze_, 51-2.
_Leading question_, 306-7.
_Legislature_, 10.
_Lie_ and _lay_, 40.
_Like_, 331.
_-like_, 278.
Literary critics’ words, 38-9.
LOGIC AND PUNCTUATION, 220-5.
Logic and rhetoric in punctuation, 252.
_Log-rolling_, 51.
LONG AND SHORT DERIVATIVES, 44-6.
Long sentences, 226, 300.
Long words, 349-50.
_Loquently_, 20.
_-ly_, 47, 291.
M
Macaulay, 350.
MALAPROPS, 8-18.
MALTREATED IDIOMS, 336-8.
Mannerism, 47, 190, 195, 210, 212, 217.
MEANING, 331-45.
MEANINGLESS _while_, 357-8.
_Me_, ethic, 199.
_Mercury_, 174.
Meredith, 198.
METAPHOR, 200-9.
Metaphor, live and dead, 201-9.
_Metaphysical_, 16.
_Meticulous_, 38-9, 349.
METRICAL PROSE, 295.
MISPLACEMENT OF WORDS, 346-7.
MISQUOTATION, 305-7.
Mixed metaphor, 203-9.
_Mob_, 49.
Monstrosity stops, 259, 283, 286-7, 290.
_Morale_, 34.
_More and more than ever_, 73.
_More easily imagined than described_, 213.
_More honoured in the breach_, 306.
_More than I can help_, 74.
_Most_, 75.
_Most of any_, 74-5.
_Mutual_, 56-8.
_My_ and _mine_, 40-1.
N
_Naïveté_, 37-8.
_Naivety_, 38.
Native words, 2, 37.
NEGATIVE CONFUSION, 321-3.
NEGATIVE INVERSION, 190-1.
Negatives, resolved and compound, 323.
_Négligé_, 26, 37.
_Negotiate_, 51-2.
_Neither_, 69.
_Neither ... or_, 313.
NEOLOGISMS, 18-23.
Neologisms, scientific, 23.
Newspaper style, 162, 178, 180, 226, 262, 266, 351-2.
_Nice_, 49.
_No_ and _none_, 41.
Noisiness, 202-3.
_Nom de guerre_, 34.
_Nom de plume_, 34.
Nonce-words, 19-20.
NON-DEFINING RELATIVES, 75-85.
_Non est_, 33.
Nouns and abstract expression, 5.
NOUNS OF MULTITUDE, 69.
Nouns used adjectivally, 42, 276.
NUMBER, 65-70.
NUMBER OF COPULA, 65-7.
O
_Oblivion to_, 165.
_Oblivious to_, 161.
_Observance_, 9.
_Œuvre_, 27-8.
_Of sorts_, 51.
_Oft_, 194.
_Oft-times_, 194.
_Ohne Hast ohne Rast_, 33.
_Old-fashioned enough to_, 213.
_Olfactory organ_, 171.
OMISSION OF _as_, 324.
OMISSION OF RELATIVES, 101-2.
Omission of relatives, 84.
OMISSION OF _that_, CONJ., 356-7.
_On a moment’s notice_, 164.
_One_, 67.
_ONE_, IMPERSONAL, 328.
_One’s_ and _his_, 328.
_One’s_ or _his_, 67.
_On your own_, 51.
_Oppositely_, 44.
_Orient_, vb., 31.
ORIGINALITY, CHEAP, 217-8.
Ornament, 35, 215.
Ostentation, 27, 31, 349.
_Our_ and _ours_, 40-1.
OVERLOADING, 343-4.
OVER-STOPPING, 231-4.
Over-stopping, 245, 262-3.
P
Parenthesis, 269, 270.
PARENTHESIS, 247-50.
PARENTHESIS IN RELATIVE CLAUSES, 94-5.
_Partially_, 45-6.
PARTICIPLE AND GERUND, 107-10, 119.
PARTICIPLES, 110-6.
PARTICIPLES ABSOLUTE, 115-6.
PARTICIPLES UNATTACHED, 112-5.
PARTICIPLES WITH _my_, &c., 111-2.
Passive monstrosities, 43.
PASSIVES, COMPOUND, 319-21.
PATCHING, CLUMSY, 355-6.
_Paulo-post future_, 17.
Pedantry, 34, 42, 64, 129, 162.
_Penchant_, 27.
_Perchance_, 4, 196.
PERFECT INFINITIVE, 154-6.
_Perfection_, vb., 44-5.
Period, 226.
_Perseverant_, 21-2.
Personification, 68.
_Perspicuity_, 8-9.
_Peter out_, 48.
PET PHRASES, 359-60.
_Phantasmagoria_, 35.
_Phase_, 5.
_Phenomenal_, 50.
_Philistine_, 50.
Picturesque, 350.
_Picturesquities_, 20.
_Placate_, 24, 26.
PLAYFUL REPETITION, 172-3.
_Play the game_, 51.
Pleonasm, v. Redundancies.
Poetic words, 3, 349.
Polysyllabic humour, 51, 54.
POLYSYLLABIC HUMOUR, 171-2.
_Pontificalibus_, 33.
Possessive, absolute, 40-1.
POSSESSIVE AND GERUND, 116-25.
POSSESSIVE, COMPOUND, 64.
Possessive, compound, 122-3.
_Possible_, 318.
Preciosity, 2.
_Predication_, 13.
_Prediction_, 13.
_Preface_, 2.
_Prefer_, 318.
Preposition at end of clause, 62, 84, 99.
PREPOSITIONS, 161-70.
PREPOSITIONS, COMPOUND, 165-70;
OMITTED, 165;
REPEATED, 293;
SUPERFLUOUS, 165.
_Pretend_, 318.
_Preventative_, 46.
_Probable_, 318.
_Procession_, 11.
_Promote_, 6.
Pronominal variation, 175.
Proportion, 300-3.
_Provided_, 13-4.
_Prudential_, 45.
_Psychological moment_, 50, 52.
PUNCTUATION, Cap. IV.
Punctuation and ambiguity, 264-5.
Punctuation and neatness, 284.
Punctuation and relatives, 78, 242-4.
PUNCTUATION, DIFFICULTIES, 219-24.
Punctuation, full and slight, 225.
Punctuation, group system, 228-31.
Punctuation in scientific and philosophic work, 225, 231.
PUNCTUATION, LOGIC, AND RHETORIC, 220-5.
PUNCTUATION, SPOT PLAGUE, 226-31.
Q
_Qua_, 29.
_Quand même_, 27.
QUESTION AND EXCLAMATION, 259-61.
QUESTION-MARK, INTERNAL, 261-62.
_Quieten_, 45
QUOTATION, 305-11.
Quotation, half-and-half, 237-8, 289.
QUOTATION MARKS, 280-90.
Quotation marks and irony, 216.
Quotation marks and slang, 48, 49, 50.
QUOTATION MARKS AND STOPS, 282-8.
Quotation marks misplaced, 288-9.
QUOTATION MARKS, SINGLE AND DOUBLE, 287-8.
Quotation marks, superfluous, 280-82.
QUOTATION, TRITE, 310-1.
Quotations cut up, 309-10.
R
_Racial_, 22-3, 42.
Railway names, 276-7.
_Raison d’être_, 26.
Reader, 2-3, 7, 36, 98, 210, 225, 228, 230, 231-3, 253, 268, 269,
280-1, 310, 347-8, 355.
Reading aloud, 296, 300.
Recasting, 64, 67, 120, 125, 177-8, 185, 226, 231, 232-3, 239, 241,
257, 284, 330, 355-6, 357.
_Recliner_, 20.
_Record_, adj., 51-2.
_Recrudescence_, 5, 15-6.
_Rectitudinous_, 20.
_Rédaction_, 27.
REDUNDANCIES, 332-3.
_Regard_, 324.
_Regenesis_, 20.
_Régime_, 36.
Relative and participle, 327.
Relative clauses and inversion, 188.
RELATIVE COORDINATION, 85-100.
RELATIVE, MISCELLANEOUS USES AND ABUSES, 96-107.
RELATIVE, OMISSION OF PREPOSITION, 102-3.
RELATIVE OMITTED, 101-2.
RELATIVES, 75-107.
Relatives and punctuation, 78, 242-4.
RELATIVES, CASE, 93-4, 99-100.
RELATIVES DEFINING AND NON-DEFINING, 75-85.
RELATIVES, PARENTHESIS, 94-5.
RELATIVES, SEQUENCE OF, 293-4.
_Reliable_, 42-3.
_Remindful_, 21.
REPETITION, 209-13.
REPETITION, CARELESS, 303-4.
REPETITION, PLAYFUL, 172-3.
_Requisition_, 11.
_Research_, 11.
_Resource_, 13.
_Reverend_, 8.
Rhetoric, 234, 236.
Rhetorical repetition, 209, 213.
RHETORIC AND PUNCTUATION, 220-5.
_Right along_, 25.
ROMANCE WORDS, 1, 3.
Royal pronoun, 178.
_Run the show_, 51.
S
_Said_ with inversion, 192.
_Same, the_, 358.
_Sans_, 27.
_Save_, 2-3, 196.
SAXON WORDS, 1, 2-3, 7.
_Scandalum magnatum_, 34.
_Schadenfreude_, 27-8.
Scott, 174.
_Seasonable_, 43.
Self-consciousness, 351.
Semicolon and independent sentences, 255.
SEMICOLON AND SUBORDINATE CLAUSES, 257-8.
Semicolon, distinct functions of, 222.
Sense and sound, 296.
_Sensibleness_, 44-5.
Sentence, 112, 254-5.
SENTENCE ACCENT, 296-8.
_SHALL_ AND _WILL_, 133-54.
_Shall_, archaic and literary, 137, 153, 194-5.
SHORT AND LONG WORDS, 6-7.
_Shrimp-pink_, 25.
_Sic_, 90, 311.
Signpost connexion, 183, 184.
_Since several days_, 32.
_Skilled_, 17.
SLANG, 47-53.
Slang and idiom, 53.
SLANG, VARIOUS ORIGINS, 49-51.
Slang with quotation marks, 48.
_Slating_, 51.
Smartness, 351.
Smollett, 111.
_So far as, that_, 168-70.
_SOMEWHAT_, &c., 352-5.
_Sordor_, 43.
Sound and sense, 296.
_Soupçon_, 27.
_Special_, 11.
Spencer, 193.
_Spirit of the staircase_, 32.
SPLIT AUXILIARIES, 342-3.
SPLIT INFINITIVE, 319.
SPOT-PLAGUE, 226-31.
_Standpoint_, 25.
_Stands to reason_, 213-4.
_Status quo_, 26.
_Stave off_, 206-7.
_Steep_ (slang), 48.
Sterne, 266.
Stevenson, 198-9.
Stops and tone symbols, 220, 285.
Street names, 276-7.
_Stronger_, adv., 40.
_Stumped_, 51.
STYLE, 348-end.
Styles, various, 7-8.
SUBJECT, &c., and VERB IN PUNCTUATION, 239-42.
Subjunctive, 154, 157-8.
Subjunctive conditionals, 195.
SUBSTANTIVAL CLAUSE IN PUNCTUATION, 235-8, 265.
_Such_, 358-9.
_Such who_, _which_, and _that_, 103-4.
_Summerly_, 20.
SUPERFLUOUS _but_ AND _though_, 334.
SUPERLATIVES, 74-5.
Superlatives, Carlylese, 349.
SUPERLATIVES WITHOUT _the_, 216-17.
_Super-sensitized_, 20.
Superstitions, 62, 99, 245, 266, 273, 319.
_Surprisedly_, 47.
SYNTAX, Cap. II.
T
_Tache_, 28.
_Tackle_, 51.
_Take a back seat_, 51.
_Take it lying down_, 51.
_Take my word for it_, 213.
TAUTOLOGY, 331-2.
Tautology, 56.
_Tear and wear_, 217-8.
_Telegram_, 19, 23.
Tell-tale errors, 21, 53, 56, 235, 254, 261, 308.
_Tête-à-tête_, 26.
Thackeray, 88, 198.
_THAN_, CASE, 62-4.
_Than whom_, 64.
_That_ and _which_, 242-3.
_THAT_ AND _WHICH_ (_WHO_), 80-5.
_THAT_ (CONJUNCTION), OMISSION OF, 356-7.
_THAT_ (RELATIVE) OF PERSONS, 83-4.
_That_ resumptive, 330-1.
_THAT_, SEQUENCE OF, 294-5.
_That’s him_, 60.
_The exception proves_, &c., 306.
_Their_, 67.
_THE MORE_, 70-4.
_The more_, 218.
_Thereanent_, 29, 194.
_Therefore_, 265.
_Thereto_, 196.
_Theretofore_, 196.
_The same_, 358.
_The ... that_ (resolved interrogative), 101.
_Thither_, 5, 196.
_Those interested_, 344-5.
_Those sort_, 331.
_THOUGH_ SUPERFLUOUS, 334.
_Thrasonical_, 50, 52.
_Tinker with_, 164.
_Today_, 280.
_To have ..._, 154-6.
_Tomorrow_, 280.
Tone symbols and stops, 285.
_To the foot of the letter_, 32.
_Transcendentally_, 10-11.
_Translate_, 2.
TRANSLATION OF FOREIGN WORDS, 30-3.
_Transpire_, 4, 16, 24.
TRITE PHRASES, 213-5.
TRITE QUOTATION, 310-1.
_Trow_, 194.
TRUISMS, 339-41.
_Trustedly_, 47.
_Trustfulness_, 9.
TYPES OF HUMOUR, 171-5.
U
_-ude_, 21.
_Unconscious to_, 161.
_Under dog_, 51.
UNDER-STOPPING, 234-5.
UNEQUAL YOKEFELLOWS, &c., 311-14.
_Unique_, 58-9, 339.
_Unquiet_, n., 21.
_Up to date_, 51.
V
Verbal noun, 108.
_Verberant_, 20.
_Vexedly_, 47.
_Vide_, 311.
_Vieille escrime_, 28.
_Vieilles perruques_, 28.
_Vieux jeu_, 28.
_Violence_, 11.
_Vividity_, 46-7.
VOCABULARY, Cap. I.
VOCABULARY, GENERAL RULES, 1-4.
Vocabulary, prose and poetry, 3.
Vulgarism, 103, 118.
VULGARISMS, 331.
W
_Waddle_, 25.
_Walking stick_, 276.
_War-famous_, 20.
WENS AND HYPERTROPHIED MEMBERS, 300-3.
_Were_, 157-8.
_What_, antecedent-relative, 100-1.
_What ever...?_, 331.
_Whatever...?_, 331.
_What_, relative and interrogative, 100-1.
_Whereof_, 196.
_While_ and _as_, clauses, slovenly 189.
_WHILE_, MEANINGLESS, 357-8.
_Whimsical_, 42.
_WHO_ AND _WHOM_, 61.
_Whole-hogging_, 51.
_WILL_ AND _SHALL_, 133-54.
_Will not do this thing_, 214.
_Wind-flower_, 4.
_Wire_, vb., 19.
_With a view to_, 167-8.
_With the view of_, 167, 168.
WORD-FORMATION, 37-47.
_World policy_, 51.
WORN-OUT HUMOROUS PHRASES, 173-5.
_Worthy_, 174, 214.
_Wot_, 194.
_Write you_, 165.
WRONG TURNING, 316.
Y
_Your_ and _yours_, 40-1.
_You shall find_, 194.
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Transcriber’s Notes
Missing and incorrect punctuation marks have been corrected without
note.
Inconsistencies that did not affect understanding were left as per the
original text.
Page 38: “call it _navity_” changed to “call it _naivety_”
Page 213: “aud flourishes in” changed to “and flourishes in”