228. “We are going to take a holiday:” this word was originally spelled and pronounced holyday, being compounded of the two words holy (meaning “set apart”) and day. Custom, however, has changed the orthography from y to i, and made the first syllable rhyme with Poll.

229. “It was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means:” emphasize the second, not the first syllable.

230. “He is now settled in Worcester:” pronounce as if written Wooster. Gloucester and Leicester are pronounced Gloster and Lester. The termination cester or chester, occurring in the names of many English towns, is derived and corrupted from the Latin Castra, camps; and every town so named is supposed to have been the site of a camp of soldiers, during the possession of Britain by the Romans.

231. “Relatives and Relations:” both these words designate kinsfolk, and are in most instances used indiscriminately. Relatives, however, is by some deemed the more proper and elegant.

232. “What a long lirry he has to say!” This word should be pronounced and spelt lurry; its more general meaning is a “heap,” a “throng,” a “crowd,” but is often applied to a long dull speech.

233. “Diamonds are charcoals:” pronounce diamonds in three syllables.

234. “Honor to the patriot and the sage:” divide the syllables like pa-tri-ot, not pat-ri-ot. Irish rowdyism has been called “Pat-riot-ism.”

235. “Do you believe that he will receive my letter?” observe that in the former word the diphthong is ie, and in the latter ei. A convenient rule for the spelling of such words is the following: c takes ei after it; all other consonants are followed by ie:—as, deceive, reprieve.

236. “He is now confirmed in idiotcy:” say, idiocy; the t in idiot is dropped in forming the word.

237. “He raised the national standard:” pronounce the first two syllables like the word nation, never as if written nash-ion-al.

238. Principal and Principle: be careful to observe the distinction between these words. Principal signifies chief; principle, motive.

239. “He favors the Anti-Slavery reform:” pronounce Anti with a distinct sounding of the i; else the word becomes ante, which means not “against,” but “before,”—as “ante-deluvian,” signifying “before the Deluge.”

240. Cincinnati is often misspelled Cincinnatti. The name is derived from Cincinnatus, a celebrated Roman.

241. “Her dress was made of moiré antique:” moiré antique is an article of watered silk, very well known to the “shopping” sisterhood, but very frequently called “Murray Antique.”

242. “It was mentioned in a Californian newspaper:” say, California newspaper. No one says Philadelphian, or Chicagonian journal.

243. “The lecture was characterized as a brilliant performance:” accent the first, and not the second syllable.

244. “This is one of the traditions of St. Helena:” accent le, and not Hel.

245. “The boy was found by a washwoman:” say, washerwoman.

246. “St. John’s is about two days nearer England than Halifax.” [From an account, in a New-York newspaper, of the Submarine Telegraph Expedition, September, 1855.] Does it mean that St. John’s is nearer to England than Halifax is, or nearer to England than to Halifax?

247. “He wears a blue-spotted neck-handkerchief:” say, neckerchief, or, still better, neck-cloth, or cravat. The original word is kerchief, and not handkerchief, which is a kerchief for the hand.

248. “The city was illumined in honor of the victory:” better say, illuminated. Distinguish between the pronunciation of illumined and ill-omened.

249. “She has brought the cloze pins in a bag:” say, clothes’ pins.

250. “He met with luck:” say either “bad luck,” or “good luck;” luck primarily refers to simple “chance,” although its derivatives, lucky and luckily, imply only good fortune.

251. “The in-va-lid signed a deed, that was in-val-id:” pronounce the former “invalid” with the accent on the first syllable; the latter, with the accent on the second.

252. “The duke discharged his duty.” Be careful to give the slender, clear sound of u. Avoid saying dook and dooty, or doo for dew or due. Say flute, not floot; suit, not soot; mute, not moot. As well might you say bute for boot, or shute for shoot.

253. “Genealogy, geography, and geometry are words of Greek derivation:” beware of saying geneology, jography, and jometry, a very common practice.

254. “He made out the inventory:” place the accent in inventory on the syllable in, and never on ven.

255. “He deserves chastisement:” say, chas-tiz-ment, with the accent on chas, and never on tise.

256. “He threw the rind away:” never call rind, rine.

257. “His knowledge is very great:” always pronounce knowledge so as to rhyme with college, and never say know-ledge.

258. “They contributed to his maintenance:” pronounce maintenance with the accent on main, and never say maintainance.

259. “She wears a silk gown:” never say gownd.

260. “Maine is a maritime State:” pronounce the last syllable of maritime so as to rhyme with rim.

261. “They desisted from their design:” pronounce the former s in desisted with a soft sound, and always pronounce design as if written de-zine.

262. “They committed a heinous crime:” pronounce heinous as if spelled hay-nus; never call the word hee-nus or hain-yus.

263. “He hovered about the enemy:” pronounce hovered so as to rhyme with covered.

264. “He is a powerful ally:” never place the accent on al in ally, as many do.

265. “We have never been called, almost, to the consideration of the Apocalypse, without finding fresh reasons for our opinion.” [Such are the words of a very eminent reviewer.] He should have said, “We have scarcely ever been called,” or, “we have almost never.”

266. “He is very bigoted:” never spell the last word with double t, a very common mistake.

267. “The Weekly Tribune has a large circulation:” pronounce Tribune as if divided Trib-une, and not Try-bune.

268. “He said as how you was to do it:” say, he said that you were to do it.

269. Never say, “I acquiesce with you,” but, “I acquiesce in your proposal, in your opinion,” &c.

270. “He is a distinguished antiquarian:” say, antiquary. Antiquarian is an adjective; antiquary, a noun.

271. An injudicious disposition of a clause in a sentence frequently creates great merriment in the reading. In Goldsmith’s “History of England,” a book remarkable for its carelessness of style, we find the following extraordinary sentence, in one of the chapters of the reign of Queen Elizabeth: “This” [a communication to Mary Queen of Scots] “they effected by conveying their letters to her by means of a brewer that supplied the family with ale through a chink in the wall of her apartment.” A queer brewer that—to supply ale through a chink in the wall! How easy the alteration to make the passage clear! “This they effected by conveying their letters to her through a chink in the wall of her apartment, by means of a brewer that supplied the family with ale.”

272. “Lavater wrote on Physiognomy:” in the last word sound the g distinctly, as g is always pronounced before n, when it is not in the same syllable; as, indignity, &c.

273. “She is a very amiable girl:” pronounce girl as if written gurl; gal is a vulgarism; gehl or gul is an affectation of which many polite persons are guilty.

274. “He built a large granary:” do not pronounce granary so as to rhyme with tannery. Call the word grainary. Both pronunciations, however, are given by scholars.

275. Beware of using Oh! and O indiscriminately: Oh! is used to express the emotion of pain, sorrow, or surprise; as, “Oh! the exceeding grace of God.” O is used to express wishing, exclamation, or a direct address to a person; as,

“O mother, will the God above
Forgive my faults like thee?”

276. Be careful to sound distinctly the r in such words as farther, martyr, charter, murder, &c. Never say, fah-ther, mah-tyr, chah-ter and muh-der. On the other hand, avoid trilling the r, as mur-er-der, r'r'robber. It is altogether too tragical for common life.

277. “The Duke of Wellington was an Irishman, but knew nothing of the Irish language:” beware of saying Ierishman for Irishman, or Ierish for Irish; a very common mistake, which the “Know-Nothings” are quick to detect.

278. “He did it unbeknown to us:” say, unknown, &c.

279. “He lives in affluence, as he is in affluent circumstances:” beware of placing the accent in affluence and affluent on the syllable flu instead of on af, a very common error.

280. “If I say, ‘They retreated back,’ I use a word that is superfluous, as back is implied in the syllable re in retreated:” never place the accent on flu in superfluous, but always on per.

281. “In reading Paley’s ‘Evidences of Christianity,’ I unexpectedly lit on the passage I wanted:” say, met with the passage, &c.

282. A gentleman having selected a book from the library shelves of the Mechanics’ Institute, went to the librarian to have the volume registered under his name, and said, “I have taken the life of Julius Cæsar.” “I shall then,” responded the librarian, “charge the work to Mr. Brutus!” Be careful how you “take the lives” of distinguished men.

283. “He has a bayonet to his gun:” never say baggonet. This error is a peculiarity of the Wiltshire dialect, in England. In an old Wiltshire song the following stanza occurs:

“A hornet zet in a holler tree,
A proper spiteful twoad was he;
And merrily zung while he did zet,—
His sting as sharp as a baggonet.”

284. “Aunt Deborah is down with the rheumatiz:” say, rheumatism; this is one among the isms, though a very unpopular one.

285. “It is obligatory upon every honest man to go to the polls to-day:” accent lig, and not ga.

286. “On the contrary:” accent con, not tra. The old song takes up with a bad pronunciation, for the sake of a good rhyme:

“Mistress Mary,
Quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?”

287. “That is altogether above my bend:” say, out of my power.

288. “He has absquatulated, and taken the specie with him:” absconded is a more classical word.

289. “It’s eenamost time we had started:” say, almost.

290. “I haven’t ary one:” say, I have neither, or, I haven’t either.

291. “That man is in a bad box:” say, bad predicament, or bad situation.

292. It may be doubted whether to say of a man “that he barked up the wrong tree,” is a complimentary or elegant metaphor.

293. “I will retain two-thirds, and give you the balance:” say, remainder.

294. “I calculate to go by steam:” say, “I expect.”

295. Avoid using the phrase “I cave in,” for “I give up.” It savors of slang.

296. Do not say, “chicken fixings,” for “trifles,” or “extras,” connected with dress.

297. “He is a cute man:” this is an inelegant abbreviation of acute, and employed to mean smart. It may, however, be properly applied to Yankees!

298. “He dickered with him an hour:” say, “he bargained.” This is a word somewhat peculiar to New-York.

299. “Do don’t” is a vulgar usage of the Southern States, especially Georgia, for “do not.”

300. “He is done gone:” say, ruined.

301. “We had a dreadful fine time:” say, very, or exceedingly.

302. “It rains, and I want an umbrella the worst kind:” say, “I am greatly in want,” &c. An umbrella of the worst kind would not be likely to answer the best of purposes on a rainy day!

303. “The whole concern fizzled out:” say, proved a failure.

304. “As soon as I mentioned it to him, he flared up:” say, he became excited, or grew violent.

305. “The choir sang Old Hundred:” pronounce Hundred as written, and not Hunderd.

306. “The message was sent by his aid-de-camp:” pronounce as if written ade-de-kawng, avoiding, however, as much as possible a twang on the last syllable.

307. “My beard is long:” don’t say baird.

308. “The blacksmith blows the bellows:” pronounce as written, and not bellus.

309. “Let me help you to some catsup:” avoid saying ketchup.

310. “It is new China ware:” do not say, chaney ware; this latter article exists only in the traditions of old women.

311. “The combatants parted in good humor:” accent the first syllable—never the second.

312. “We poled the raft up the creek:” pronounce as if written krik.

313. “Then spake the warrior bold:” pronounce in two syllables, as war-yur, not war-ri-or.

314. In using the word venison, sound the i: venzun is a common, though not elegant pronunciation.

315. Tapestry is divided tap-es-try and not ta-pes-try.

316. “He is only a subaltern:” accent the first syllable of subaltern.

317. “The barge is at the quay:” pronounce quay, kay.

318. “The path over the meadow was queachy:” this word, meaning soft or boggy, is now obsolete, and cannot be used with propriety.

319. “He talks pulpitically:” this word, which some who copy Chesterfield persist in using, has never by any good authority been admitted into the language.

320. To peff, meaning to cough faintly (like a sheep), is hardly a useable word.

321. Be careful to distinguish between pencil, an instrument for writing, and pensile, meaning hanging down.

322. To yank is a vulgarism, meaning to twitch powerfully.

323. Avoid the slang phrase, “I used to could.” Say, “I could formerly.”

324. “She takes on about it greatly:” say, grieves.

325. “He staved off the case two days longer:” say, he put off, or delayed.

326. “He made a great splurge:” say, he made a blustering effort.

327. “I reckon it is going to rain:” say, I think, or expect. Reckon applies to calculation.

328. “The basket is pretty large:” avoid, if possible, the use of the word pretty out of its legitimate signification; the language abounds with substitutes more elegant.

329. “She weighs a plaguy sight:” say, a great deal.

330. “He made tracks at sundown:” say, he left, or escaped.

331. “He was compelled to fork over the cash:” say, to pay over.

332. “To flunk out” is a vulgar expression for to retire through fear; the most that can be tolerated is, to sneak out.

333. “When last observed, he was going at full chisel:” say, at the top of his speed.

334. “That bill is a counterfeit:” the last syllable is pronounced as if written fit, and not feet.

335. “I am very much obliged to you:” do not say obleeged.

336. The following sentence affords an example of three words of similar pronunciation, but different signification: “It is not easy to pare a pear with a pair of scissors.”

337. “The robber entered the dwelling, and secretly carried off the silver:” say, thief; a robber attacks violently, and commits his depredations by main force; a thief is one who uses secrecy and deception.

338. “Go and fetch me my riding-whip:” say, bring. Fetch means to go and bring; go and fetch is repetition.

339. To leave and to quit are often used as synonymous terms, though improperly; to leave implies a design of returning soon—to quit, an absence of a long time, or forever; as, in Shakespeare:—

“——the very rats
Instinctively had quit it.”—Tempest, i. 2.

“I shall leave my house for a month before next Autumn; but I shall not be obliged to quit it until after Christmas.”

340. Mute and dumb. A dumb man has not the power to speak; a mute man either does not choose, or is not allowed to speak. It is, therefore, more proper to say of a person who can neither hear nor speak, that he is “deaf and dumb,” than that he is a “deaf mute.”

341. Strong and robust. These words are frequently misused: a strong man is able to bear a heavy burden, but not necessarily for a long time; a robust man bears continual fatigue with ease; a strong man may be active and nimble; while an excess of muscular development, together with a clumsiness of action, exclude these qualities from the robust man:—

“Strong as a tower in hope, I cry Amen!”
Shakespeare, Richard II. i. 3.

“For one who, though of drooping mien, had yet
From nature’s kindliness received a frame
Robust as ever rural labor bred.”
Wordsworth, Excursion, VI.

342. “Isaac Newton invented the law of gravitation:” say, discovered. “Galileo discovered the telescope:” say, invented.

343. To hear and to listen have each distinct degrees of meaning. To hear implies no effort or particular attention. To listen implies some eagerness to hear. An old proverb says, “They that listen seldom hear any good of themselves.”

344. Ought and should both express obligation, but the latter is not so binding as the former. “Children ought to love their parents, and should be neat in their appearance.”

345. Alone and only are often misapplied. “He only could do it,” means that no other but himself could do it; “he alone could do it,” should mean that he, without the assistance of others, could do it.

346. “Please the pigs.”—(Old Proverb.) This is a corruption from “Please the pyx.” The pyx is the receptacle which contains the consecrated wafer on Romish altars; and the exclamation is equal to “Please God.” This corruption is as curious a one as that of “tawdry” from “’t Audrey,” or “at St. Audrey’s Fair,” famous for the sale of frippery—showy, cheap, and worthless.

347. “The partridge is a delightful bird:” do not say patridge. Also, do not say pasley for parsley.

348. “After this, let him hide his diminished head:” this common phrase is a poetical quotation from Milton, and is therefore proper to be used even when it does not literally express the idea:—

“At whose sight all the stars
Hide their diminished heads.”

349. “That bourne from whence no traveler returns.” How often are precisely these words spoken? They are improperly quoted from Shakespeare, in Hamlet, and correctly read as follows:—

“That undiscovered country, from whose bourne
No traveler returns.”

350. “Bring me my waistcoat:” pronounce as if written waste-coat, and not weskut. It should rhyme, as it did in an old ballad, with “laced coat.”

351. “Your bonnet to its right use.”—(Shakespeare:) never say bunnet.

352. “It is not cold enough to wear my gloves:” pronounce as if written gluvs, and to rhyme with loves. In “Fair Rosamond” the following illustrative stanza occurs:—

“He said he had his gloves from France:
The Queen said, ‘That can’t be:
If you go there for glove-making,
It is without the g.’”

353. “Egad! what great good luck!” This word is now inelegantly used, except in certain species of poetry, where it is introduced with much effect, as in the following distich:—

“All tragedies, egad! to me sound oddly;
I can no more be serious, than you godly.”

354. “The frigate is now in the Yellow Sea, or thereabouts:” say, thereabout. This term is a transposed combination of about there; there is no such word as thereabouts. The same may be said of hereabouts, and whereabouts.

355. “Whether he will or no:” say, not. The reason of this correction is clearly seen by supplying what is needed to complete the sense: Whether he will or will not.

356. “He looked at it first lengthways, then sideways:” say, lengthwise and sidewise. Also, say otherwise instead of otherways. A nobleman said to his fool, “I am wise, and you are otherwise.” “Yes,” replied his jester, “you are wise, and I am another wise.”

357. If you are a landlord, beware of incorrectly using such an expression as in the following: A landed proprietor went to a tenant with a view of increasing his rent, and said to him, “Neighbor, I am going to raise your rent.” “Thank you, sir,” was the reply, “for I am utterly unable to raise it myself.”

358. “Will you accept of this slight testimonial?” Omit of, which is superfluous, and weakens the sentence.

359. “He convinced his opponent by dint of good reasoning:” dint, meaning force or strength, is an obsolete word, and should not now be employed.

360. “The Danube empties into the Black Sea:” say, flows; to empty means to make vacant; no river can properly be called empty, until it is entirely dried up.

361. Such words as bamboozle, topsyturvy, helterskelter, hurlyburly, and pellmell are generally to be avoided. They answer, however, for familiar conversation.

362. Never say seraphims, for the plural of seraph, but seraphim; the same rule holds with cherubims. Cherubs and seraphs are proper plurals, suiting a familiar style of speaking or writing, while cherubim and seraphim are to be used only in more dignified and solemn discourse.

363. “There’s the books you wanted:” say, there are: avoid all abbreviations when they lead to a grammatical error, as in the present instance.

364. “This prisoner has, of all the gang, committed fewer misdemeanors:” say, fewest. We may say fewer than all, but we must say fewest of all.

365. “I esteem you more than the others:” this sentence is equivocal. Does it mean, “I esteem you more than I esteem the others,” or, “I esteem you more than the others esteem you?”

366. “The most eminent scholars will, on some points, differ among one another:” say, among themselves.

367. “He, from that moment, doubled his kindness and caresses of me:” say, “kindness for and caresses of me;” by omitting caresses we have, “He doubled his kindness of me,” which is not good English.

368. To differ from and to differ with: to differ from a man means to have an opinion different from his; to differ with a person signifies a quarrel or rupture.

369. “He barely escaped having one or two broken heads:” a man has but one head, let it be broken or whole. Say, “He once or twice barely escaped having a broken head.”

370. “Whenever I fall into that man’s conversation I am entertained and profited:” say, fall into conversation with that man.

371. “The lecturer spoke to several points:” say, “spoke on several points.” He spoke to his audience.

372. “I shall regard your strictures only so far as concerns my own errors:” say, concern; the phrase when filled out should read, “only so far as they concern my own errors.”

373. “I found him better than I expected to have found him:” say, to find him.

374. “I perceived that he was totally blind with half an eye:” say, “I perceived, with half an eye, that he was totally blind.” Otherwise, to a man totally blind you allot half an eye!

375. The word only is often wrongly placed in the sentence, and made to express an idea which is not designed to be conveyed. “Not only Chinese are superstitious,” implies that others besides the Chinese are superstitious. “Chinese are not only superstitious,” implies that in addition to being superstitious, they have some other characteristics. “Chinese not only are superstitious,” leaves room for something still further to be implied of the Chinese than superstition, and which is not necessarily the predicate of are; as, “Chinese not only are superstitious, but they persecute those who do not put faith in Confucius.”

376. Not the least and nothing less than, sometimes literally convey just the opposite of what is intended. “He has not the least excuse for going,” may mean that he has a great excuse, or none at all. “He seeks nothing less than worldly honor,” may signify that nothing inferior to worldly honor will satisfy his desire; or, on the other hand, it may mean that nothing is less sought by him than worldly honor. Such expressions, therefore, are to be used with caution, else they will mislead.

377. Care should be taken in the use of epithets. For instance, in the sentence, “A wise and good man should be respected,” the words wise and good may properly be applied to the same man; but if the sentence should be altered to read, “An old and young man,” it is obvious that both epithets could not relate to the same person.

378. Never say turkle soup, for turtle soup.

379. The word long should not now be employed to signify many. An example of this early usage is found in the Fifth Commandment, “that thy days may be long upon the land.” The following lines furnish an instance of the verb to lengthen, meaning to make many:—

“The best of all ways
To lengthen our days,
Is to take a few hours from the night, my lad.”

380. “They returned back again to the same city from whence they came forth:” omit the italicized words, which are redundant and inelegant.

381. “Have you any leisure upon your hands?” omit upon your hands,—not so much because anything after “leisure” is superfluous, in such a sentence, as because the idea of having leisure upon your hands is absurd.

382. “Seven lads were present, and he gave them all a book:” say, gave them each a book. All refers to a number of persons or things taken collectively, as one body; each refers to every individual, separately considered.

383. “Lend me your umberell:” say, umbrella. The former pronunciation, however, is allowed by poetic license, as in the following, adapted from Thomas Moore:—

“Oh, ever thus from childhood’s hour,
Has chilling fate upon me fell!
There always comes a soakin’ shower
When I hain’t got an umbrell.”

384. We lately met a grammarian, who had just made a tour through the mines, conjugating, or, rather, cogitating thus: “Positive, mine; comparative miner; superlative, minus!”

385. “Put not thy secret into the mouth of the Bosphorus, for it will betray it to the ears of the Black Sea.”—(Oriental Proverb.) Pronounce Bosphorus as if written Bosforus, and not Bos-porous.

386. Be careful to use the hyphen (-) correctly: it joins compound words, and words broken by the ending of a line. The use of the hyphen will appear more clearly from the following example: “many colored wings” means many wings which are colored; but “many-colored wings” means “wings of many colors.”

387. “I am afraid it will rain:” say, I fear. Afraid expresses terror; fear may mean only anxiety.

388. Never say o-fences for offences; pison for poison; co-lection for collection; voiolent for violent; kivver for cover; afeard for afraid; debbuty for deputy. The last three examples are very common.

389. “It is a mere cipher:” never spell cipher with a y.

390. “I was necessitated to do it:” a poor expression, and often made worse by necessiated being used: say, I was obliged, or compelled, to do it.

391. “Gibbon wrote the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire:” pronounce Rise, the noun, so as to rhyme with price; Rise, the verb, rhymes with prize.

392. “He joined his regiment last week:” never say, ridgiment for regiment.

393. “He bought a gimlet:” never spell the last word gimblet, as many do.

394. “He is a supporter of the Government:” beware of omitting the n in the second syllable of Government—a very common practice.

395. “Received this day of Mr. Brown ten dollars:” say, “Received this day from,” &c.

396. “Of whatever you get, endeavor to save something; and with all your getting, get wisdom:” carefully avoid saying git for get, and gitting for getting.

397. “So intent was he on the song he was singing, while he stood by the fire, that he did not perceive that his clothes were singeing.” Verbs ending with a single e, omit the e when the termination ing is added, as, give, giving; in singeing, however, the e must be retained, to prevent its being confounded with singing. The e must also be retained in dyeing, to distinguish it from dying.

398. The following sentences may be studied: “The dyer dyes daily, yet he dies not.” “The miner minds the minor mines.” “It is not meet to mete out such meat.” “He performed a great feat with his feet at the fête.” (Fête is pronounced fate.)

399. “Lower the sails, as the sky begins to lower:” pronounce low in the former so as to rhyme with mow, and low in the latter so as to rhyme with cow.

400. “There was a great row on Monday, in Tryon Row:” pronounce the former row so as to rhyme with cow—the latter row, so as to rhyme with mo.

401. “His surname is Clifford:” never spell the sur in “surname” sir, which shows an ignorance of its true derivation, which is from the Latin.

402. “The buildings are so old that they pay almost no rent now:” scarcely any rent, is better.

403. “His mamma sent him to a preparatory school:” mamma is often written with one m only, which is not, as may at first be supposed, in imitation of the French maman, but in sheer ignorance.

404. Active verbs often take a neuter sense; as, “The house is building:” here, is building is used in a neuter signification, because it has no object after it. By this rule are explained such sentences as, “Application is wanting;” “The Grammar is printing,” &c.

405. “He attackted me without the slightest provocation:” say, attacked.

406. “I called on him every day in the week successfully:” very common, but incorrect; say, successively.

407. “I fear I shall discommode you:” it is better to say, incommode.

408. “I can do it equally as well as he:” leave out equally, which is superfluous.

409. “We could not forbear from doing it:” leave out from, which is unnecessary; or say, refrain from.

410. “He was totally dependent of his father:” say, dependent on his father.

411. “They accused him for neglecting his duty:” say, of neglecting, &c.

412. “They have a great resemblance with each other:” say, to each other.

413. “I entirely dissent with him:” say, from him.

414. “He was made much on at the Springs:” say, made much of, &c.

415. “He is a man on whom you can confide:” say, in whom, &c.

416. “He was obliged to fly the country:” say, flee the country. A very common mistake.

417. “The snuffers wants mending:” say, want mending. No one would say, “My pantaloons is ripped.”

418. “His conduct admits of no apology:” omit of, which is quite unnecessary.

419. “A gent has been here inquiring for you:” a detestable, but very common expression; say, a gentleman has been, &c. Oliver Wendell Holmes hits off this liberty with language, in the following happy couplet:—

“The things called pants, in certain documents,
Were never made for gentlemen, but gents.”

420. “That was all along of you:” say, “That was all your fault.”

421. “You have no call to be angry with me:” say, no occasion, &c.

422. “Too free an indulgence in luxuries enervate and injure the system:” say, enervates and injures, &c. The plural, luxuries, standing directly before the verb, (which should be enervates, in the singular,) deceives the ear. Errors of this kind are very common, though a moment’s thought would correct them. The verb must agree with its subject in person and in number; if the noun is in the singular, the verb that belongs to it must also be in the singular.

423. “A father divided a portion of his property among his two children, and the remainder he distributed between the poor:” say, between his two children, and among the poor. Between is applicable to two only, among to three or more.

424. “Every child should obey their parents:” say, his parents. The pronoun must agree with the noun in number, &c.

425. “He is a person who I respect greatly:” say, whom. “Be careful who you trust:” whom you trust.

426. “Let me consider of this matter.” “The culprit dreaded to enter in the prison.” “The laborers were not allowed to want for anything.” Leave out the italicized words—the sense being complete without them.

427. Cupola is often pronounced cupalo; foliage, foilage; future, futur; nature, natur: all of which errors should be carefully avoided.

428. “’Ow ’appens it that Henglishmen so hoften misplace their haitches?” It is a cockneyism; and if you have fallen into the habit, it will require perhaps more perseverance than you imagine, to correct it.

429. Do you say wagabond or vagabond, winegar or vinegar, wery or very, valking or walking, vatchman or watchman? It is a local custom, but if you have any taint of it, don’t sing “Villikins and his Dinah.”

430. Providence, confidence, and similar words, are often pronounced Providunce, confidunce, &c., substituting unce for ence. So also, words ending in ance, as maintenance, sustenance, surveillance, are pronounced falsely maintenunce, sustenunce, &c.

431. Coming, going, according, &c., are often pronounced without the final g: speak them distinctly, and pronounce difficult words with de-lib-er-a-tion.

432. If you are a Yankee, you should (though, as a general thing, you will not) take special pains with your vowel sounds, that they be not formed through the nasal cavities. Don’t say heow, ceow, confeound, for how, cow, &c.

433. If you are a Western man, you are liable to give your vowel sounds too great breadth. You should not say bar for bear, hum for home, dawlar for dollar; and it is better to avoid using such expressions as I reckon, I guess, I calculate, too frequently.

434. “I am going a fishing:” be bold enough to be one among the foremost to break away from the bad habit of saying a fishing, a talking, a courting, &c. This custom, however, should be retained in quoting proverbs and wise sayings; these are better in proportion as they are older; for example: “Who goes a-borrowing, goes a-sorrowing.” The quaintness would be destroyed by saying simply borrowing and sorrowing.

435. Some people add a superfluous preposition at the end of a sentence—“More than you think for.” This is awkward.

436. “Then think on the friend who once welcomed it too,” &c. &c.: say, of.

437. Thou and thee are no longer used in spelling or writing, except by some of The Friends; but proverbial citations, originally expressed in that form, lose much of their beauty and force by alteration; as, “If thou seest thy house in flames, approach and warm thyself by it.” How greatly would a change of person tame the spirit of this fine proverb!

438. “By the street of ‘By-and-By,’ one arrives at the house of ‘Never.’” Do not say, By’mby.

439. Be careful to observe the two plurals of the following nouns:

440. Different shades of meaning may be expressed by slight variations in the position of the important words in a sentence. For example, “The Paradise Lost of Milton,” is not exactly the same in import as, “Milton’s Paradise Lost;” in the former, attention is called to the author—in the latter, to the poem.

441. In uniting the plural of one, two, three, do not use the apostrophe [’] as one’s, two’s, three’s. Good writers never conform to the latter mode. Wordsworth, who was remarkably particular, not only in the choice of his words but in their orthography, wrote:

“The sun has long been set,
The stars are out by twos and threes;
The little birds are piping yet
Among the bushes and the trees.”

442. “How’s yourself, this morning?” an exceedingly common, but very objectionable expression: say, “How are you;” &c.

443. “Wanted, two apprentices, who will be treated as one of the family:” great practical difficulty would be found in realizing such treatment! Say, “as members of the family.”

444. The following lines afford an instance of the ingenious uses to which the English language may be put:

“You sigh for a cipher, but I sigh for you;
Oh, sigh for no cipher, but oh, sigh for me;
Oh, let not my sigh for a cipher go,
But give sigh for sigh, for I sigh for you so!”

The above is more briefly expressed in the following manner:

“U O a O, but I O u,
Oh, O no O, but oh, O me;
Oh, let not my O a O go,
But give O O I O u so!”

445. Sometimes but is incorrectly substituted for that: as, “I have no doubt but he will be here to-night.” Sometimes for the conjunction if, as, “I shouldn’t wonder but that was the case.” And sometimes two conjunctions are used instead of one, as, “If that I have offended him,” “After that he had seen the parties,” &c. All this is very awkward and should be avoided.

446. “My hands are chopped:” say, chapped.

447. “This will serve as a preventative:” say, preventive.

448. “A nishe young man,” “What makesh you laugh?” “If he offendsh you, don’t speak to him,” “Ash you please,” “Not jush yet,” “We always passh your house in going to call on Missh Yatesh.” This is decided, unmitigated cockneyism, having its parallel in nothing except the broken English of the sons of Abraham, and to adopt it in conversation is certainly “not speaking like a Christian.”

449. Never say, “Cut it in half,” for this you cannot do unless you could annihilate one half. You may “cut it in two,” or “cut it in halves,” or “cut it through,” or “divide it,” but no human ability will enable you to cut it in half.

451. To lay and to lie.—To lay is an active or transitive verb, and must always have an object, expressed or understood. To lie (not meaning to tell a falsehood) is a neuter or intransitive, and therefore does not admit of an object. The only real difficulty arises from the fact, that the past tense of “lie,” when used without an auxiliary, is the same as the present of “lay.” But a little attention will obviate this. Nothing can be more erroneous than to say, “I shall go and lay down.” The question which naturally arises in the mind of the discriminating hearer is, “What are you going to lay down—money, carpets, plans, or what?” for, as a transitive verb is used, an object is wanted to complete the sense. The speaker means, that he himself is going to lie down. “My brother lays ill of a fever,” should be, “My brother lies,” &c.

452. Many people have an odd way of saying, “I expect,” when they mean only “I think,” or “I conclude;” as, “I expect my brother went to Richmond to-day,” “I expect those books were sent to Paris last year.” Expect can relate only to future time, and must be followed by a future tense, or a verb in the infinitive mood; as, “I expect my brother will go to Richmond to-day,” “I expect to find those books were sent to Paris last year.”

453. “A summer’s morning,” should be, A summer morning.

454. The vulgar speaker uses adjectives instead of adverbs, and says, “This letter is written shocking;” the genteel speaker uses adverbs instead of adjectives, and says, “This writing looks shockingly.”

455. “Nobody else but him,” should be, Nobody but him.

456. “That ain’t just,” should be, That is not just.

457. “He was killed by a cannon-ball,” should be, He was killed with a cannon-ball. He was killed by the cannoneer.

458. “A new pair of gloves,” should be, A pair of new gloves.

459. “Before I do that, I must first be paid,” should be, Before I do that, I must be paid.

460. A grammatical play upon the word that:

“Now that is a word which may often be joined,
For that that may be doubled is clear to the mind;
And that that that is right, is as plain to the view,
As that that that that we use is rightly used too;
And that that that that that line has in it, is right—
In accordance with grammar, is plain in our sight.”

461. “He will go from thence to-morrow.” The preposition “from” is included in these adverbs, therefore it becomes tautology in sense when prefixed to them.

462. “Equally as well,” is a very common expression, and a very incorrect one; the adverb of comparison, “as,” has no right in the sentence. “Equally well,” “Equally high,” “Equally dear,” should be the construction; and if a complement be necessary in the phrase, it should be preceded by the preposition “with,” as, “The wall was equally high with the former one,” “The goods at Smith’s are equally dear with those sold at the shop next door,” &c. “Equally the same” is tautology.

463. Some persons talk of “continuing on:” in what other direction would it be possible to continue?

464. “The satin measured twelve yards before I cut this piece off of it.” “The fruit was gathered off of that tree.” Omit of; or, omitting off of, insert from.

465. “He left his horse, and got on to a stage-coach,” “He jumped on to the floor,” “She laid it on to a dish,” “I threw it on to the fire.” Why use two prepositions where one would be quite as explicit, and far more elegant? Nobody would think of saying, “He came to New-York, for to go to the exhibition.”

466. “No other resource but this was allowed him:” say, “No other resource than this,” &c.

467. “I don’t know but what I shall go to White Plains to-morrow:” say, “I don’t know but that,” &c.

468. “One of those houses were sold last week,” “Each of the daughters are to have a separate share,” “Every tree in those plantations have been injured by the storm,” “Either of the children are at liberty to claim it.” Here it will be perceived that the pronouns “one,” “each,” “every,” “either,” are the true nominatives to the verbs; but the intervening noun in the plural number, in each sentence, deludes the ear; and the speaker, without reflection, renders the verb in the plural instead of the singular number.

469. “Many still die annually from the plague:” say, of the plague.

470. “He spoke contemptibly of him,” should be, He spoke contemptuously of him.

471. “Was you?” should be, Were you?

472. “This is the more perfect of the two:” say, More complete. Perfect rarely admits comparison.

473. Avoid all slang and vulgar words and phrases, as, Anyhow, Bating, Bran new, To blow up, Bother, Cut, Currying favor, Fork out, Half an eye, I am up to you, Kick up, Scrape, The Scratch, Walk into.

474. “Go over the bridge,” should be, Go across the bridge.

475. “I was some distance from home,” should be, I was at some distance from home.

476. “Is Mr. Smith in?” should be, Is Mr. Smith within?

477. “It is above a month since,” should be, It is more than a month since.

478. “Vegetables were plenty,” should be, Vegetables were plentiful.

479. “We both were very disappointed.” This is an incomplete expression: say, very much, or very greatly. No one would think of saying, “We both were very pleased.”

480. “It is I who is to receive the appointment:” say, who am to receive; who is in the first person, and the verb of which it is the subject must be in the same.

481. Never say biscake, for biscuit.

482. “Passengers are not requested to let down the chains, before the boat is fastened to the bridge.” [From a printed regulation on one of the New-York and Brooklyn ferry-boats.] The reading should be, “Passengers are requested not to let down the chains.”

483. “How will you swap jack-knives?” swap, although it is a word familiarly used in connection with “jack-knives,” is a term that cannot lay the least claim to elegance. Use some other of the many mercantile expressions to which trade has given rise.

484. “He’s put his nose to the grin-stone at an early age.” [A remark usually made by old ladies, suggested by the first marriage among their grandsons.] Say, grind-stone. A grin-stone implies a stone that “grins,” whereas, especially in this instance, the “nose” fulfills that office.

485. The importance of punctuating a written sentence is often neglected. Space does not permit the giving of rules on this subject, in this book. Business correspondence is generally blemished by many omissions of this character; for example, “Messrs G Longman & Co have recd a note from the Cor Sec Nat Shipwreck Soc informing them of the loss of one of their vessels off the N E Coast of S A at 8 P M on the 20 of Jan.” A clergyman, standing in his pulpit, was once handed a slip of paper, to be read in the hearing of the congregation, which was intended to convey the following notice: “A man going to sea, his wife desires the prayers of the church.” But the sentence was improperly punctuated, and he read, “A man going to see his wife, desires the prayers of the church!”

486. “The knave thereupon commenced rifling his friend’s (as he called him) pocket:” say, “The knave commenced rifling the pocket of his friend, as he facetiously called him.” The possessive case, and the word that governs it, must not be separated by an intervening clause.

487. “I owe thee a heavy debt of gratitude, and you will not permit me to repay it:” say, either “I owe you,” &c., preserving “and you will” in the second clause; or, “I owe thee,” and altering “and you will” into “and thou wilt.”

488. “Every lancer and every rifleman were at their post:” say, was at his post.

489. “I can lift as many pounds as he has:” add lifted.

490. Do not use to, the sign of the infinitive mood, for the infinitive itself. “I have not written to him, and I am not likely to,” should read, “I am not likely to write to him.”

491. The word agree is sometimes followed by the wrong preposition. We should say, agree with a person—to a proposition—upon a thing among ourselves.

492. We should say compare with, in respect of quality—compare to, for the sake of illustration.

493. We should say copy after a person—copy from a thing.

494. Between is properly applied only to two objects; among, to three or more. “A father divided a portion of his property between his two sons; the rest he distributed among the poor.”

495. In should not be used for into, after verbs denoting entrance. “Come in my parlor,” should read, “Come into my parlor.”

496. “We confide in, and have respect for, the good.” Such a form of expression is strained and awkward. It is better to say, “We confide in the good, and have respect for them,” or, “We trust and respect the good.”

497. “This veil of flesh parts the visible and the invisible world:” say, “parts the visible from the invisible.” It certainly is not meant that the veil of flesh parts (or divides) each of these worlds.

498. “Every leaf, every twig, every blade, every drop of water, teem with life:” say, teems.

499. “Dr. Prideaux used to relate that when he brought the manuscript of his Connection of the Old and the New Testaments to the publisher, he told him it was a dry subject, and that the printing could not be safely ventured upon unless he could enliven the work with a little humor.” The sense alone, and not the sentence, indicates to whom he and him respectively refer; such a form of expression is faulty, because it may lead to a violation of perspicuity, which is one of the most essential qualities of a good style.

500. The last direction which this little book will give, on the subject with which it has been occupied, is one that long ago was given in the greatest of books—“Let your conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ.” If obedience to this injunction may not guard him who heeds it against the commission of such mistakes as are numbered in this catalogue, it will not fail to lead him out of the way of errors more grievous and solemn.