Five Hundred Mistakes of Daily Occurrence in Speaking, Pronouncing, and Writing the English Language Part 7

"O mother, will the G.o.d 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_ circ.u.mstances:"

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 pa.s.sage I wanted:" say, _met with_ the pa.s.sage, &c.

282. A gentleman having selected a book from the library shelves of the Mechanics' Inst.i.tute, went to the librarian to have the volume registered under his name, and said, "_I have taken the life of Julius Caesar_." "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 Wilts.h.i.+re dialect, in England. In an old Wilts.h.i.+re 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 p.r.o.nunciation, 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 cla.s.sical 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 _d.i.c.kered_ 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_:" p.r.o.nounce _Hundred_ as written, and not _Hunderd_.

306. "The message was sent by his _aid-de-camp_:" p.r.o.nounce as if written _ade-de-kawng_, avoiding, however, as much as possible a tw.a.n.g on the last syllable.

307. "My _beard_ is long:" don't say _baird_.

308. "The blacksmith blows the _bellows_:" p.r.o.nounce 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_:" p.r.o.nounce as if written _krik_.

313. "Then spake the _warrior_ bold:" p.r.o.nounce 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 p.r.o.nunciation.

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_:" p.r.o.nounce _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.