LANGUAGE 



193 



he will be here " should read " doubt that." " I 

 should not wonder but he will succeed" should 

 read " wonder if." In " I have no doubt but that 

 he will go " suppress but. Change but to than in 

 " The mind no sooner entertains any proposition 

 but it presently hastens," etc. 



But is correctly used in " I have no fear but 

 that she will succeed," which means a very dif- 

 ferent thing from " I have no fear that she will 

 succeed." 



By should be with in "The room was filled 

 by ladies and children " ; also in " The ball ended 

 by a waltz." There is a difference of meaning 

 in thes- two sentences: "I know a man by the 

 name of Brown," and " I know a man of the 

 name of Brown." Which do you mean? 



Calamity means in an abstract sense source 

 of misery or of loss, but it is often misused to mean 

 loss. Calamities are causes, losses are results. 

 "The fire caused a great calamity" should read 

 "caused a great loss." It is correctly used in 

 " The falling of the building, which caused the 

 death of two firemen, was a great calamity." 



Calculate is wrongly used in "He calcu- 

 lates to get off to-morrow." "The sentence 

 should read "Expects, purposes, or intends to 

 get off." 



Caliber is often misused for order, as in 

 "His work is of a higher caliber than hers 

 !." 



Capable is often used in place of su.-eep- 

 tible. "We need more articles capable of illus- 

 tration" should read "susceptible of illustra- 

 tion." 



Condone is sometimes misused for com- 

 pensate and atone for. It means to pardon, to 

 forgive. "The abolition of the income tax more 

 than condones for the turmoil of an election" 

 should read "atones for," etc. 



Congregate Together. In "A large 

 number of people congregated together in the hall," 

 omit the word together, because to congregate, 

 unaided means to collect, or gather together. 



Consequence is sometimes used instead 

 of importance or moment; as, "They were all 

 persons of more or less consequence"', read, "of 

 more or less importance." "It is a matter of 

 no consequence": read, "of no moment." 



Consider means, to meditate, to deliberate, 

 to reflect, to revolve in the min<l; ami yet it i 

 to do service for think, suppose, and m/*m/. 

 Thus: " I ntnxiilir his course very unjust ifialile " 

 should n-ad "think his course." "I have :d\\ay- 

 considered it my duty, etc.," should read " thought 

 It mi/ tint >/." 



Conversationist. See Agricultii- 

 Co-operate Together, means co-oper- 

 ate or operate together, and < .m in.-:ni no more, 



which make- ii plain that the m or the together 

 e is a sujM-rfluity. 



Creditable ;; tued instead of 



credible. Say two credible witnesses, not credit- 

 able witnesses. Say I am credibly informed, 

 not ereditnbhi informed. 



Crush, ><l out. Hi-' rebellion was finally 

 I nut. Out of what? We may crush the 

 life out of a man. or cru-h a man to death, and 

 rru-h not crush out a rebellion. 



Dandy. Tin's adjective belongs p: 

 to the "gu their sole adjective 



He is a dandy man; The refreshments were 

 dandy ; The sunset was dandy. 



Dangerous is misused in the sentence 

 "He is dangerous," when we mean "He is sick." 

 Say*' He is not in danger," or" Not danaerously ill." 



Dearest. Do not begin a letter My 

 dearest John," unless he is the dearest of three 

 or more Johns with whom you are acquainted. 



Deceiving should not be used in place of 

 trying to deceive. It is when we do not suspect 

 deception tliat we are deceived. "He is de- 

 ceiving me " should read " He is trying to deceive 

 me." 



Deprecate means to endeavor to avert 

 by prayer; and so should not be used in the 

 sense of disapprove, censure, or condemn. Do 

 not say "He deprecates the whole proceeding." 



Desperately. Do not say "He was des- 

 perately wounded," but "badly wounded." 



Despite should not be, as it often is, pre- 

 ceeded 6y in, and followed by of. Say " Despite 

 all our efforts," not " In despite of all our efforts." 



Detect is often misused for distinguish, 

 recognize, discover, see. "I did not detect any- 

 thing wrong in his appearance," should be " I 

 did not discover anything wrong in his appear- 

 ance." " I could not detect any difference be- 

 tween them," should be "I could not see any 

 difference between them." 



Die with fro in . Man and brute die of, 

 and not with or from, fevers, old age, and so on. 



Differ Different. The pre{>ositions/rom 

 and with are both used with the verb differ, but 

 the weight of authority is on the side of using 

 from. Different to is sometimes used instead oT 

 different from ; but it is incorrect. Different than 

 is a Britishism which ought not to be adopted. 

 "She is different than you would expect her to 

 be" should be "different from what you would 

 expect her to be." 



Disremember is vulgarly used in the 

 sense of forget. 



Dock-- Wharf. A dry dock is'a place where 

 vessels are drawn out of tEfl water for repairs. 

 A wet dock is a place where vessels are kept alloat 

 at a certain level, while they are being loaded 

 or unloaded. A whnrf is a sort of quay ouilt by 

 the side of the water. Vessels lie at wharfs and 

 piers, not at docks. 



Don't. Tin's is the contraction for do not. 

 and not fordoes not: therefore do not say H- 

 don't -want it." 



Each other is properly applied to two 



only ; <>m annthcr must le used when the number 

 considered exceed* two. (livat author- :iddre-s 



tin 'iii-. -lv -> io one another. \. refer to only 



two authors. 



Effect Affect. Effect means to bring 

 about; as " To effect a reform." Affect means 

 to influence; as. His ideas will affect the char- 



l.l.'-.ttit. "Thi* i- a fine morning," not 



- is an elegant morning." 

 Emigrant Immigrant. 



words are not infrequently confounded. 

 grants are persons going out of the country; 

 'nf* are persons coming into the country. 

 r.mling of Si'in-m--x. 

 ing with prepo-it i<m-> are always more terse, 

 i.vs quite a- idi -mat ic. and al" i>> -impler, 



