Five Hundred Mistakes of Daily Occurrence in Speaking, Pronouncing, and Writing the English Language Part 5

179. "I am very wet, and must go and _change myself_:" say, _change my clothes_.

180. "He is taller _than me_:" say, _than I_.

181. "He is much better _than me_:" say, _than I_.

182. "You are stronger _than him_:" say, _than he_.

183. "That is the _moot_ point:" say, _disputed_ point. The other word is inelegant, and nearly obsolete.

184. "They are at _loggerheads_": this is an extremely unpoetical figure to express the mutual relations of two individuals who have an "honest difference;" say, at _variance_, or use some other form of expression. It might just as well be said, "They are at _tadpoles_!"

185. "He paid a _florin_ to the _florist_:" divide the syllables so as to p.r.o.nounce like _flor-in_ and _flo-rist_.

186. "His character is _undeniable_:" a very common expression: say, _unexceptionable_.

187. "Bring me the _lantern_:" never spell _lantern_--_lanthorn_.

188. "The room is twelve _foot_ long, and nine _foot_ broad:" say, twelve _feet_, nine _feet_.

189. "He is a _Highlander_:" never say, _Heelander_.

190. "He is _singular_, though _regular_ in his habits, and also very _particular_:" beware of leaving out the _u_ in _singular_, _regular_, and _particular_, which is a very common practice.

191. "They are detained _at_ France:" say, _in_ France.

192. "He lives _at_ New-York:" say, _in_ New-York.

193. "He is very _dry_" (meaning _thirsty_), is a very common and very improper word to use: say, _thirsty_.

194. "No _less_ than fifty persons were there:" say, _fewer_, &c. _Less_ refers to _quant.i.ty_; _fewer_ to _number_.

195. "_Such another_ victory, and we shall be ruined:" say, _Another such_ victory, &c.

196. "It is _some distance_, from our house:" say, _at some distance_, &c.

197. "I shall call _upon_ him:" say, _on_ him.

198. "Remove those _trestles_:" p.r.o.nounce _trestles_ exactly as written, only leaving out the _t_; never say _trussles_.

199. "He is much addicted to _raillery_:" in p.r.o.nouncing _raillery_, leave out the _i_; never say, _rail-le-ry_.

200. "He is a Doctor of _Medicine_:" p.r.o.nounce _medicine_ in _three_ syllables, NEVER in _two_.

201. "They told me to enter _in_:" leave out _in_, as it is implied in _enter_.

202. "His _strength_ is failing:" never say, _strenth_.

203. "Give me both _of_ those books:" leave out _of_.

204. "_Whenever_ I try to write well, I _always_ find I can do it:" leave out _always_, which is unnecessary and improper.

205. "He plunged _down_ into the stream:" leave out _down_.

206. "I never saw his _nephew_:" say, _nef-ew_; never _nev-u_, or _nevvey_.

207. "She is the _matron_:" say, _may-tron_, and not _mat-ron_.

208. "Give me _leave_ to tell you:" never say _lief_ for _leave_.

209. "The _height_ is considerable:" p.r.o.nounce _height_ so as to rhyme with _tight_; never _hate_ nor _heighth_. An instance occurs in "Paradise Lost" in which this word is spelled and p.r.o.nounced _highth_.

210. "Who has my _scissors_?" never call _scissors_, _sithers_.

211. "He has obtained a good _situation_:" p.r.o.nounce _situation_ as if written _sit-you-a-tion_, and do not say, _sitch-u-a-tion_.

212. "I had as _lief_ do it as not:" _lief_ means _willingly_, _gladly_, and is not to be confounded with _leave_, as in example No. 208.

213. "First _of all_ I shall give you a lesson in French, and last _of all_ in music:" omit _of all_ in both instances, as unnecessary.

214. "I shall have finished by the _latter_ end of the week:" leave out _latter_, which is superfluous.

215. "They sought him _throughout_ the _whole_ country:" leave out _whole_, which is implied in _throughout_.

216. "Iron sinks _down_ in water:" leave out _down_.

217. "A warrant was _issued out_ for his apprehension:" leave out the word _out_, which is implied in _issued_.

218. "If you inquire _for why_ I did so, I can give a very good reason:"

leave out _for_.

219. "I own that I did not come soon enough; but _because why_? I was detained:" leave out _because_.

220. "I _cannot by no means_ allow it:" say, _I can by no means_, &c.; or, _I cannot by any means_, &c.

221. "He _covered it over_:" leave out _over_.

222. "I bought _a new pair of shoes_:" say, _a pair of new shoes_.

223. "He _combined together_ these facts:" leave out _together_.

224. "My brother called on me, and we _both_ took a walk:" leave out _both_, which is unnecessary.

225. "Evil spirits are not occupied about the _dead corpses_ of bad men:"

leave out _dead_, which is altogether unnecessary, as it is _implied_ in the word _corpses_, "_corpse_" and "_dead body_" being strictly synonymous.

226. "He has gone to the _Lyceum_:" p.r.o.nounce _Lyceum_ with the accent on the second syllable, and not on the first.

227. "This is a picture of _Westminster Abbey_:" never say _Westminister_, as if there were two words, _West-minister_.