Write It Right Part 4

_Identified with_. "He is closely identified with the temperance movement." Say, connected.

_Ilk_ for _Kind_. "Men of that ilk." This Scotch word has a narrowly limited and specific meaning. It relates to an ancestral estate having the same name as the person spoken of. Macdonald of that ilk means, Macdonald of Macdonald. The phrase quoted above is without meaning.

_Illy_ for _Ill_. There is no such word as illy, for ill itself is an adverb.

_Imaginary Line_. The adjective is needless. Geometrically, every line is imaginary; its graphic representation is a mark. True the text-books say, draw a line, but in a mathematical sense the line already exists; the drawing only makes its course visible.

_In_ for _Into_. "He was put in jail." "He went in the house." A man may be in jail, or be in a house, but when the act of entrance--the movement of something from the outside to the inside of another thing--is related the correct word is into if the latter thing is named.

_Inaugurate_ for _Begin_, _Establish_, etc. Inauguration implies some degree of formality and ceremony.

_Inc.u.mbent_ for _Obligatory_. "It was inc.u.mbent upon me to relieve him." Infelicitous and work-worn. Say, It was my duty, or, if enamored of that particular metaphor, It lay upon me.

_Individual_. As a noun, this word means something that cannot be considered as divided, a unit. But it is incorrect to call a man, woman or child an individual, except with reference to mankind, to society or to a cla.s.s of persons. It will not do to say, "An individual stood in the street," when no mention nor allusion has been made, nor is going to be made, to some aggregate of individuals considered as a whole.

_Indorse_. See _Endorse_.

_Insane Asylum_. Obviously an asylum cannot be unsound in mind. Say, asylum for the insane.

_In Spite of_. In most instances it is better to say despite.

_Inside of_. Omit the preposition.

_Insignificant_ for _Trivial_, or _Small_. Insignificant means not signifying anything, and should be used only in contrast, expressed or implied, with something that is important for what it implies. The bear's tail may be insignificant to a naturalist tracing the animal's descent from an earlier species, but to the rest of us, not concerned with the matter, it is merely small.

_Insoluble_ for _Unsolvable_. Use the former word for material substances, the latter for problems.

_Inst._, _Prox._, _Ult._ These abbreviations of _instante mense_ (in the present month), _proximo mense_ (in the next month) and _ultimo mense_ (in the last month), are serviceable enough in commercial correspondence, but, like A.M., P.M. and many other contractions of Latin words, could profitably be spared from literature.

_Integrity_ for _Honesty_. The word means entireness, wholeness. It may be rightly used to affirm possession of all the virtues, that is, unity of moral character.

_Involve_ for _Entail_. "Proof of the charges will involve his dismissal." Not at all; it will entail it. To involve is, literally, to infold, not to bring about, nor cause to ensue. An unofficial investigation, for example, may involve character and reputation, but the ultimate consequence is entailed. A question, in the parliamentary sense, may involve a principle; its settlement one way or another may entail expense, or injury to interests. An act may involve one's honor and entail disgrace.

_It_ for _So_. "Going into the lion's cage is dangerous; you should not do it." Do so is the better expression, as a rule, for the word it is a p.r.o.noun, meaning a thing, or object, and therefore incapable of being done. Colloquially we may say do it, or do this, or do that, but in serious written discourse greater precision is desirable, and is better obtained, in most cases, by use of the adverb.

_Item_ for _Brief Article_. Commonly used of a narrative in a newspaper. Item connotes an aggregate of which it is a unit--one thing of many. Hence it suggests more than we may wish to direct attention to.

_Jackies_ for _Sailors_. Vulgar, and especially offensive to seamen.

_Jeopardize_ for _Imperil_, or _Endanger_. The correct word is jeopard, but in any case there is no need for anything so farfetched and stilted.

_Juncture_. Juncture means a joining, a junction; its use to signify a time, however critical a time, is absurd. "At this juncture the woman screamed." In reading that account of it we scream too.

_Just Exactly_. Nothing is gained in strength nor precision by this kind of pleonasm. Omit just.

_Juvenile_ for _Child_. This needless use of the adjective for the noun is probably supposed to be humorous, like "canine" for dog, "optic" for eye, "anatomy" for body, and the like. Happily the offense is not very common.

_Kind of a_ for _Kind of_. "He was that kind of a man." Say that kind of man. Man here is generic, and a genus comprises many kinds. But there cannot be more than one kind of one thing. _Kind of_ followed by an adjective, as, "kind of good," is almost too gross for censure.

_Landed Estate_ for _Property in Land_. Dreadful!

_Last_ and _Past_. "Last week." "The past week." Neither is accurate: a week cannot be the last if another is already begun; and all weeks except this one are past. Here two wrongs seem to make a right: we can say the week last past. But will we? I trow not.

_Later on_. On is redundant; say, later.

_Laundry_. Meaning a place where clothing is washed, this word cannot mean, also, clothing sent there to be washed.

_Lay_ (to place) for _Lie_ (to recline). "The s.h.i.+p lays on her side."

A more common error is made in the past tense, as, "He laid down on the gra.s.s." The confusion comes of the ident.i.ty of a present tense of the transitive verb to lay and the past tense of the intransitive verb to lie.

_Leading Question_. A leading question is not necessarily an important one; it is one that is so framed as to suggest, or lead to, the answer desired. Few others than lawyers use the term correctly.

_Lease_. To say of a man that he leases certain premises leaves it doubtful whether he is lessor or lessee. Being ambiguous, the word should be used with caution.

_Leave_ for _Go away_. "He left yesterday." Leave is a transitive verb; name the place of departure.

_Leave_ for _Let_. "Leave it alone." By this many persons mean, not that it is to be left in solitude, but that it is to be untouched, or unmolested.

_Lengthways_ for _Lengthwise_.

_Lengthy_. Usually said in disparagement of some wearisome discourse.

It is no better than breadthy, or thicknessy.

_Leniency_ for _Lenity_. The words are synonymous, but the latter is the better.

_Less_ for _Fewer_. "The regiment had less than five hundred men."

Less relates to quant.i.ty, fewer, to number.

_Limited_ for _Small_, _Inadequate_, etc. "The army's operations were confined to a limited area." "We had a limited supply of food." A large area and an adequate supply would also be limited. Everything that we know about is limited.

_Liable_ for _Likely_. "Man is liable to err." Man is not liable to err, but to error. Liable should be followed, not by an infinitive, but by a preposition.

_Like_ for _As_, or _As if_. "The matter is now like it was." "The house looked like it would fall."

_Likely_ for _Probably_. "He will likely be elected." If likely is thought the better word (and in most cases it is) put it this way: "It is likely that he will be elected," or, "He is likely to be elected."

_Line_ for _Kind_, or _Cla.s.s_. "This line of goods." Leave the word to "salesladies" and "salesgentlemen." "That line of business." Say, that business.

_Literally_ for _Figuratively_. "The stream was literally alive with fish." "His eloquence literally swept the audience from its feet." It is bad enough to exaggerate, but to affirm the truth of the exaggeration is intolerable.

_Loan_ for _Lend_. "I loaned him ten dollars." We lend, but the act of lending, or, less literally, the thing lent, is a loan.

_Locate_. "After many removals the family located at Smithville." Some dictionaries give locate as an intransitive verb having that meaning, but--well, dictionaries are funny.

_Lots_, or _a Lot_, for _Much_, or _Many_. "Lots of things." "A lot of talk."

_Love_ for _Like_. "I love to travel." "I love apples." Keep the stronger word for a stronger feeling.

_Lunch_ for _Luncheon_. But do not use luncheon as a verb.