

Till-: >TAM>.\m> DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



; -receded any person 



kind 



ents of (ieneral Sherman in the army 



-hinirton. ( 

 . . call the com>e 



of a man's life until the present moment A/.-- 

 irly as alurd a mi>u-e oi lang- 

 uage as can be compassed. >l of "What 

 do you know of bis ant< 



"Wna know of his previous life?" or 



i know o! " then- 



is sen>- 1 the purpose of 



Anticipate* 



place of expect, or foresee. (< means to 



go before, so as to preclude another: to get the 

 start of, or to gt ' 



ition. It is therefore misused 

 means it is dtitici'/xitxl that the time 

 rope will be lessened two days"; and in 

 ieath is hourly anticipated. It 'is cor- 

 I in " If not antli-i'iMiti-tl, I shall here- 

 iake an attempt at a mat:a/.ine paper on 

 : Point ": and in "Why should 

 we anticipate our sorrow-'.' "1 'is like those who 

 die for fear of death." " Were Greeley's move- 

 that it was anticipated (expected), 

 he would make? " 



Anxious is often used where desirous would 

 ilie meaning. Anxious means 

 full of anxiety; suffering from suspense or un- 

 certainty; concerned about the future. "I am 

 to get to Canada " should be "I am 

 not desirous," etc. " I am still more anxious to 

 ; live in New York" should be still more 

 desirous. 



Anyhow is permissible in conversation, 



though incompatible with dignified diction, in 



which such phrases as "in any event," "be that 



''at any rate" and the like, are to be 



prefer 



Appeals is used in this sentence instead 

 of draft*: "There are constant appeals upon 

 the resources of the government." 



Approach is sometimes improperly -used 

 in the sense of address, petition, appeal to; thus, 

 'The teachers have approached tne Educational 

 Department in some matters that concern their 



A pt i> often misii.-cd for ///.v///. and sometimes ' 

 . "What i- he a/>t( likely) to be doing?" 

 re shall I be apt (likely) to find him'.'" 

 o there you will be apt (liable) to get 

 into troi;i 



Aren't even in colloquial use is inadmis- 

 sible. Say are you not. I'll, I'm, etc., are good 

 form because they are contractions of the verb 

 onlv. 



As as ; So as. Use the former in affirma- 

 tive proposition-, ami the latter in negative 

 propositions. He is as tall as you are. Jle wa* 

 never so happy * now. 



Aside is sometimes misused for apart. 



Words have a potency of association aside 

 (apart) from their significance as representa- 

 tive S' 



As Though is often used for as if. In the 

 sentence, "The child looked as though her hair 

 had never been combed, " supply the elliptical 

 clause, and you will see the need of using if in 



Eif though. The child looked as (she would 

 ok) thouirh her hair, etc. The woman looks 

 would look) though (if) she were tired. 

 At. "They do things differently in (not tit) 

 the South." %_ 



At all is superfluous in such sentences as, 

 "She had no friends nt <i/l" ; "I do not want 

 any at all " ; " If she had any desire at all to see, 

 she would have waited." 



At Best. At Worst. These phrases re- 

 quire the article or a possessive pronoun used 

 in them. Always say, "I did the best I could," 

 etc. " He was at his worst." 



Audience is often used ill place of njurtn- 

 /<>r.s. The audience hears; the spectator* see; 

 therefore say "The spectators at the ball game," 

 not "the audience." The audience at the con- 

 cert, etc. 



Avenge and Revenge. We avenue the 

 wrong done to others, and revenge the wrong 

 done to ourselves. 



Avoid is often used in the place of prevent 

 or hinder, as "There shall be nothing lost if I can 

 avoid it." It should be " if I can prevent it." 



Awful is too frequently used as an inten- 

 sive. Avoid this use of it; e. g., I was awfully 

 i:lad to see you. 



A While Since. Should be a while ago. 



Bad Cold. Say a slight or a severe cold. 

 Colds are never good. 



Badly is inelegantly used for very much. 

 "I shall miss you very much," not "I shall miss 

 you badly." 



Balance means the excess of one thing over 

 another, and should be used in this sense only: 

 hence it is improper to talk about the balance 

 of the edition. In this case say rest or remainder. 

 You may speak of the balance of the account. 



Beastly. One may properly say "beastly 

 drunk" but not "beastly weather." 



Before is sometimes used in place of rather 

 than, as in "War before peace at that price" 

 should be "War rather than peace at that price." 



Between should be used only with refer- 

 ence to two of a kind. When more than two 

 are referred to, use among. "The candy was 

 divided between the two boys," or "among the 

 four children." 



When used to express contrast, the word may 

 be correctly used in speaking of more than two; 

 "True, the three boys are brothers, but there is 

 a great difference between them. 



Black Blacken. We black stoves and 

 blacken reputations. 



Blame it on is a vulgarism used in place 

 of accuses or suspects. " He blames it on his 

 brother," should be " He suspects or accuses his 

 brother." 



Both is often used in such sentences as " They 

 are both alike"; "They both ran away from 

 school," etc. Omit both from each sentence. 

 It is redundant in "He lost all his fruit both 

 plums, peaches, and pears." 



Bound. Should not be made to do service 

 for doomed, determined, resolved, certain or will 

 be compelled. "He is bound to do it" should be 

 "He is certain, resolved, or determined to do it." 

 " He is bound to fail," should be " He is doomed, 

 destined, or sure to fail." 



But is often misused. " I do not doubt but 



