Five Hundred Mistakes of Daily Occurrence in Speaking, Pronouncing, and Writing the English Language Part 10

_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. .h.i.ts off this liberty with language, in the following happy couplet:--

"The things called _pants_, in certain doc.u.ments, 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 p.r.o.noun 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 p.r.o.nounced _cupalo_; _foliage_, _foilage_; _future_, _futur_; _nature_, _natur_: all of which errors should be carefully avoided.

428. "'Ow 'appens it that _H_englishmen so _h_often misplace their _h_aitches?" It is a c.o.c.kneyism; and if you have fallen into the habit, it will require perhaps more perseverance than you imagine, to correct it.

429. Do you say _w_agabond or _v_agabond, _w_inegar or _v_inegar, _w_ery or _v_ery, _v_alking or _w_alking, _v_atchman or _w_atchman? It is a local custom, but if you have any taint of it, don't sing "_V_illikins and his Dinah."

430. Provid_ence_, confid_ence_, and similar words, are often p.r.o.nounced Provid_unce_, confid_unce_, &c., subst.i.tuting _unce_ for _ence_. So also, words ending in _ance_, as mainte_nance_, suste_nance_, SURVEIL_lance_, are p.r.o.nounced falsely mainten_unce_, susten_unce_, &c.

431. _Coming_, _going_, _according_, &c., are often p.r.o.nounced without the final _g_: speak them distinctly, and p.r.o.nounce 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 fis.h.i.+ng_:" be bold enough to be one among the foremost to break away from the bad habit of saying _a fis.h.i.+ng_, _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:

Singular. First Plural. Second Plural.

_Brother,_ _Brothers_ (of the same _Brethren_ (of the same parents), society).

_Die,_ _Dies_ (for coining), _Dice_ (for gaming).

_Index,_ _Indexes_ (tables of contents), _Indices_ (signs in algebra).

_Pea,_ _Peas_ (referring to a _Pease_ (referring to the limited number), whole species).

_Penny,_ _Pennies_ (coins), _Pence_ (the value).

_Cow,_ _Cows_ (a herd of cattle), _Kine_ (the species).

_Sow,_ _Sows_ (a litter), _Swine_ (the species).

_Genius,_ _Geniuses_ (men of genius), _Genii_ (imaginary spirits).

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: