356 



American English, 



BepubUcan- Sentinel, Dec. 7, 1882 (N"o. 1^,551), second page, second 

 column. 



Liable for likely. A vulgar error that sometimes creeps into good 

 company. I have noticed two instances in the New York Tribune — 

 one of them in an editorial. (" Guero is so hostile to the whites that 

 he is liable to cut loose at any moment Jan. 2, 1880. "The Navy 

 Department seems to have acted on the theory that the vessel is liable 

 to turn up where she is least expected Juno 17, 1881.) 



Mioiff news. Bartlett says this means false news. I have never 

 heard the word ; but a writer in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine for 

 October, 1877, says it is the preterite of the old English verb ming, to 

 mix — whence mingle — and means, not false, but confused, mingled, 

 mixed up. 



You imist not, as the reverse of you may. I am inclined to think 

 this is an Americanism, as I judge that the English generally say 

 **you may not" — in which, if so, they are certainly more logical than 

 we. "You must" means that an obligation rests upon you; there- 

 fore "you must not," ought to mean merely that there is no obliga- 

 tion. " You may," means that permission is granted, and therefore 

 when permission is withhold and the action prohibited, the phrase 

 ought to be "you may not," instead of the universal American prac- 

 tice of saying "you must not." 



Closely allied to this, is the incorrect use of can for may, where 

 there is no question of ability — which seems to be rather more 

 prevalent in this country than in England. A line on the face of 

 our postal-cards makes the absurd statement that "nothing but the 

 address can be placed on this side." The possessor of the card can 

 place there any number of words that there is ro(5m for, if he pleases. 

 What is meant is, of course, that nothing but the address may be 

 placed there; that is, it is forbidden to place there anything else, 

 under penalty of forfeiting the privilege of sending the card by 

 mail. The English newspaper wrappers have a similar notice, cor- 

 rectly worded : " This wrapper may only be used for newspapers, 

 or for such documents as are allowed to be sent at the book-rate." 



Ninepence — Twelve and a-half cents. Formerly used in New Eng- 

 land and Virginia. 



Pit — The stone of a fruit. " Mostly confined to New York State," 

 Bartlett says. I think the term is now common at the West, and 

 used to some extent in the South, at least in Alabama. 



Railroad Nomenclature. Bartlett gives a list of eighteen objects 

 pertaining to railroads, which have different names in the two 

 countries; but fails to note that the American buffer" is the 

 English "bumper," and the American "grade" the English "gra- 

 dient." 



Round-iip — An annual collection of cattle on the plains of the 

 West, for branding and other purposes. Not in the dictionaries. Per- 

 haps from Spanish rodear, to encompass, 



Sniitch — A very small quantity of anything. This word is noted 



