The Verbalist Part 6

EVENTUATE. See EFFECTUATE.

EVERLASTINGLY. This adverb is misused in the South in a manner that is very apt to excite the risibility of one to whom the peculiar misuse is new. The writer recently visited the upper part of New York with a distinguished Southern poet and journalist. It was the gentleman's first ride over an elevated road. When we were fairly under way, in admiration of the rate of speed at which the cars were moving, he exclaimed, "Well, they do just _everlastingly_ shoot along, don't they!"

EVERY. This word, which means simply each or all taken separately, is of late years frequently made, by slipshod speakers, to do duty for perfect, entire, great, or all possible. Thus we have such expressions as _every_ pains, _every_ confidence, _every_ praise, _every_ charity, and so on. We also have such diction as, "_Every one_ has this in common"; meaning, "_All of us_ have this in common."

EVERY-DAY LATIN. _A fortiori_: with stronger reason. _A posteriori_: from the effect to the cause. _A priori_: from the cause to the effect.

_Bona fide_: in good faith; in reality. _Certiorari_: to be made more certain. _Ceteris paribus_: other circ.u.mstances being equal. _De facto_: in fact; in reality. _De jure_: in right; in law. _Ecce h.o.m.o_: behold the man. _Ergo_: therefore. _Et cetera_: and the rest; and so on.

_Excerpta_: extracts. _Exempli gratia_: by way of example; abbreviated, _e. g._, and _ex. gr._ _Ex officio_: by virtue of his office. _Ex parte_: on one side; an _ex parte_ statement is a statement on one side only. _Ibidem_: in the same place; abbreviated, _ibid._ _Idem_: the same. _Id est_: that is; abbreviated, _i. e._ _Imprimis_: in the first place. _In statu quo_: in the former state; just as it was. _In statu quo ante bellum_: in the same state as before the war. _In transitu_: in pa.s.sing. _Index expurgatorius_: a purifying index. _In extremis_: at the point of death. _In memoriam_: in memory. _Ipse dixit_: on his sole a.s.sertion. _Item_: also. _Labor omnia vincit_: labor overcomes every difficulty. _Locus sigilli_: the place of the seal. _Multum in parvo_: much in little. _Mutatis mutandis_: after making the necessary changes.

_Ne plus ultra_: nothing beyond; the utmost point. _Nolens volens_: willing or unwilling. _Nota bene_: mark well; take particular notice.

_Omnes_: all. _O tempora, O mores!_ O the times and the manners! _Otium c.u.m dignitate_: ease with dignity. _Otium sine dignitate_: ease without dignity. _Particeps criminis_: an accomplice. _Peccavi_: I have sinned.

_Per se_: by itself. _Prima facie_: on the first view or appearance; at first sight. _Pro bono publico_: for the public good. _Quid nunc_: what now? _Quid pro quo_: one thing for another; an equivalent. _Quondam_: formerly. _Rara avis_: a rare bird; a prodigy. _Resurgam_: I shall rise again. _Seriatim_: in order. _Sine die_: without specifying any particular day; to an indefinite time. _Sine qua non_: an indispensable condition. _Sui generis_: of its own kind. _Vade mec.u.m_: go with me.

_Verbatim_: word by word. _Versus_: against. _Vale_: fare-well. _Via_: by the way of. _Vice_: in the place of. _Vide_: see. _Vi et armis_: by main force. _Viva voce_: orally; by word of mouth. _Vox populi, vox Dei_: the voice of the people is the voice of G.o.d.

EVIDENCE--TESTIMONY. These words, though differing widely in meaning, are often used indiscriminately by careless speakers. _Evidence_ is that which _tends_ to convince; _testimony_ is that which is _intended_ to convince. In a judicial investigation, for example, there might be a great deal of _testimony_--a great deal of _testifying_--and very little _evidence_; and the _evidence_ might be quite the reverse of the _testimony_. See PROOF.

EXAGGERATION. "Weak minds, feeble writers and speakers delight in _superlatives_." See EFFORT WITHOUT EFFECT.

EXCEPT. "No one need apply _except_ he is thoroughly familiar with the business," should be, "No one need apply _unless_," etc.

EXCESSIVELY. That cla.s.s of persons who are never content with any form of expression that falls short of the superlative, frequently use _excessively_ when _exceedingly_ or even the little word _very_ would serve their turn better. They say, for example, that the weather is _excessively hot_, when they should content themselves with saying simply that the weather is _very warm_, or, if the word suits them better, _hot_. Intemperance in the use of language is as much to be censured as intemperance in anything else; like intemperance in other things, its effect is vulgarizing.

EXECUTE. This word means to follow out to the end, to carry into effect, to accomplish, to fulfill, to perform; as, to execute an order, to execute a purpose. And the dictionaries and almost universal usage say that it also means to put to death in conformity with a judicial sentence; as, to execute a criminal. Some of our careful speakers, however, maintain that the use of the word in this sense is indefensible. They say that _laws_ and _sentences_ are executed, but not _criminals_, and that their execution only rarely results in the death of the persons upon whom they are executed. In the hanging of a criminal, it is, then, not the criminal who is executed, but the law and the sentence. The criminal is _hanged_.

EXPECT. This verb always has reference to what is to come, never to what is past. We can not _expect_ backward. Instead, therefore, of saying, "I _expect_, you thought I would come to see you yesterday," we should say, "I _suppose_," etc.

EXPERIENCE. "We _experience_ great difficulty in getting him to take his medicine." The word _have_ ought to be big enough, in a sentence like this, for anybody. "We _experienced_ great hards.h.i.+ps." Better, "We _suffered_."

EXTEND. This verb, the primary meaning of which is to stretch out, is used, especially by lovers of big words, in connections where to give, to show, or to offer would be preferable. For example, it is certainly better to say, "They _showed_ me every courtesy," than "They _extended_ every courtesy to me." See EVERY.

FALSE GRAMMAR. Some examples of false grammar will show what every one is the better for knowing: that in literature nothing should be taken on trust; that errors of grammar even are found where we should least expect them. "I do not know whether the imputation _were_ just or not."--Emerson. "I proceeded to inquire if the 'extract' ... _were_ a veritable quotation."--Emerson. Should be _was_ in both cases. "How _sweet_ the moonlight sleeps!"--Townsend, "Art of Speech," vol. i, p.

114. Should be _sweetly_. "There is no question _but_ these arts ...

will greatly aid him," etc.--Ibid., p. 130. Should be _that_. "Nearly all who have been distinguished in literature or oratory have made ...

the generous confession that their attainments _have been_ reached through patient and laborious industry. They have declared that speaking and writing, though once difficult for them, _have become_ well-nigh recreations."--Ibid., p. 143. The _have been_ should be _were_, and the _have become_ should be _became_. "Many p.r.o.nominal adverbs are correlatives of _each other_."--Harkness's "New Latin Grammar," p. 147.

Should be _one another_. "Hot and cold springs, boiling springs, and quiet springs lie within a few feet of _each other_, but _none of them are properly geysers_."--Appletons' "Condensed Cyclopaedia," vol. ii, p.

414. Should be _one another_, and _not one of them is properly a geyser_. "How much better for you as seller and the nation as buyer ...

than to sink ... in cutting _one another's_ throats." Should be _each other's_. "A minister, noted for prolixity of style, was once preaching before the inmates of a lunatic asylum. In one of his ill.u.s.trations he painted a scene of a man condemned to be hung, but reprieved under the gallows." These two sentences are so faulty that the only way to mend them is to rewrite them. They are from a work that professes to teach the "art of speech." Mended: "A minister, noted for his prolixity, once _preached_ before the inmates of a lunatic asylum. By way of ill.u.s.tration he painted a scene in which a man, _who had been_ condemned to be _hanged_, _was_ reprieved under the gallows."

FEMALE. The terms _male_ and _female_ are not unfrequently used where good taste would suggest some other word. For example, we see over the doors of school-houses, "Entrance for males," "Entrance for females."

Now bucks and bulls are males as well as boys and men, and cows and sows are females as well as girls and women.

FETCH. See BRING.

FEWER. See LESS.

FINAL COMPLETION. If there were such a thing as a plurality or a series of completions, there would, of course, be such a thing as the _final_ completion; but, as every completion is final, to talk about a _final completion_ is as absurd as it would be to talk about a _final finality_.

FIRST RATE. There are people who object to this phrase, and yet it is well enough when properly placed, as it is, for example, in such a sentence as this: "He's a 'first cla.s.s' fellow, and I like him _first rate_; if I didn't, 'you bet' I'd just give him 'hail Columbia' for 'blowing' the thing all round town like the big fool that he is."

FIRSTLY. George Was.h.i.+ngton Moon says in defense of _firstly_: "I do not object to the occasional use of _first_ as an adverb; but, in sentences where it would be followed by _secondly_, _thirdly_, etc., I think that the adverbial form is preferable." To this, one of Mr. Moon's critics replies: "However desirable it may be to employ the word _firstly_ on certain occasions, the fact remains that the employment of it on any occasion is not the best usage." Webster inserts _firstly_, but remarks, "Improperly used for _first_."

FLEE--FLY. These verbs, though near of kin, are not interchangeable. For example, we can not say, "He _flew_ the city," "He _flew_ from his enemies," "He _flew_ at the approach of danger," _flew_ being the imperfect tense of _to fly_, which is properly used to express the action of birds on the wing, of kites, arrows, etc. The imperfect tense of _to flee_ is _fled_; hence, "He _fled_ the city," etc.

FORCIBLE-FEEBLE. This is a "novicy" kind of diction in which the would-be forcible writer defeats his object by the overuse of expletives. Examples: "And yet the _great_ centralization of wealth is one of the [great] evils of the day. All that Mr. ---- _utters_ [says]

upon this point is _forcible and_ just. This centralization is due to the _enormous_ reproductive power of capital, to the _immense_ advantage that _costly and complicated_ machinery gives to _great_ [large]

establishments, and to _the marked_ difference of personal force among men." The first _great_ is misplaced; the word _utters_ is misused; the second _great_ is ill-chosen. The other words in italics only enfeeble the sentence. Again: "In countries where _immense_ [large] estates exist, a breaking up of these _vast_ demesnes into _many_ minor freeholds would no doubt be a [of] _very_ great advantage." Subst.i.tute _large_ for _immense_, and take out _vast_, _many_, and _very_, and the language becomes much more forcible. Again: "The _very_ first effect of the ---- taxation plan would be destructive to the interests of this _great mult.i.tude_ [cla.s.s]; it would impoverish our _innumerable_ farmers, _it would_ confiscate the earnings of [our] _industrious_ tradesmen and artisans, _it would_ [and] paralyze the hopes of _struggling_ millions." What a waste of portly expletives is here! With them the sentence is high-flown and weak; take them out, and introduce the words inclosed in brackets, and it becomes simple and forcible.

FRIEND--ACQUAINTANCE. Some philosopher has said that he who has half a dozen friends in the course of his life may esteem himself fortunate; and yet, to judge from many people's talk, one would suppose they had friends by the score. No man knows whether he has any friends or not until he has "their adoption tried"; hence, he who is desirous to call things by their right names will, as a rule, use the word _acquaintance_ instead of _friend_. "Your friend" is a favorite and very objectionable way many people, especially young people, have of writing themselves at the bottom of their letters. In this way the obscure stripling protests himself the FRIEND of the first man in the land, and that, too, when he is, perhaps, a comparative stranger and asking a favor.

GALSOME. Here is a good, sonorous Anglo-Saxon word--meaning malignant, venomous, churlish--that has fallen into disuse.

GENTLEMAN. Few things are in worse taste than to use the term _gentleman_, whether in the singular or plural, to designate the s.e.x.

"If I was a _gentleman_," says Miss Snooks. "_Gentlemen_ have just as much curiosity as _ladies_," says Mrs. Jenkins. "_Gentlemen_ have so much more liberty than we _ladies_ have," says Mrs. Parvenue. Now, if these ladies were ladies, they would in each of these cases use the word _man_ instead of _gentleman_, and _woman_ instead of _lady_; further, Miss Snooks would say, "If I _were_." Well-bred men, men of culture and refinement--gentlemen, in short--use the terms _lady_ and _gentleman_ comparatively little, and they are especially careful not to call themselves _gentlemen_ when they can avoid it. A gentleman, for example, does not say, "I, with some _other_ gentlemen, went," etc.; he is careful to leave out the word _other_. The men who use these terms most, and especially those who lose no opportunity to proclaim themselves _gentlemen_, belong to that cla.s.s of men who c.o.c.k their hats on one side of their heads, and often wear them when and where gentlemen would remove them; who pride themselves on their familiarity with the latest slang; who proclaim their independence by showing the least possible consideration for others; who laugh long and loud at their own wit; who wear a profusion of cheap finery, such as outlandish watch-chains hooked in the lowest b.u.t.ton-hole of their vests, Brazilian diamonds in their s.h.i.+rt-bosoms, and big seal-rings on their little fingers; who use bad grammar and interlard their conversation with big oaths. In business correspondence Smith is addressed as _Sir_, while Smith & Brown are often addressed as _Gentlemen_--or, vulgarly, as _Gents_. Better, much, is it to address them as _Sirs_.

Since writing the foregoing, I have met with the following paragraph in the London publication, "All the Year Round": "Socially, the term 'gentleman' has become almost vulgar. It is certainly less employed by gentlemen than by inferior persons. The one speaks of 'a man I know,'

the other of 'a gentleman I know.' In the one case the gentleman is taken for granted, in the other it seems to need specification. Again, as regards the term 'lady.' It is quite in accordance with the usages of society to speak of your acquaintance the d.u.c.h.ess as 'a very nice person.' People who would say 'very nice lady' are not generally of a social cla.s.s which has much to do with d.u.c.h.esses; and if you speak of one of these as a 'person,' you will soon be made to feel your mistake."

GENTS. Of all vulgarisms, this is, perhaps, the most offensive. If we say _gents_, why not say _lades_?

GERUND. "'I have work _to do_,' 'there is no more _to say_,' are phrases where the verb is not in the common infinitive, but in the form of the _gerund_. 'He is the man _to do_ it, or _for doing_ it.' 'A house _to let_,' 'the course _to steer_ by,' 'a place _to lie_ in,' 'a thing _to be_ done,' 'a city _to take_ refuge in,' 'the means _to do_ ill deeds,'

are adjective gerunds; they may be expanded into clauses: 'a house that the owner lets or will let'; 'the course that we should steer by'; 'a thing that should be done'; 'a city wherein one may take refuge'; 'the means whereby ill deeds may be done.' When the _to_ ceased in the twelfth century to be a distinctive mark of the dative infinitive or gerund, _for_ was introduced to make the writer's intention clear. Hence the familiar form in 'what went ye out _for to see_?' 'they came _for to show_ him the temple.'"--Bain.

GET. In sentences expressing simple possession--as, "I have _got_ a book," "What has he _got_ there?" "Have you _got_ any news?" "They have _got_ a new house," etc.--_got_ is entirely superfluous, if not, as some writers contend, absolutely incorrect. Possession is completely expressed by _have_. "Foxes have holes; the birds of the air have nests"; not, "Foxes have _got_ holes; the birds of the air have _got_ nests." Formerly the imperfect tense of this verb was _gat_, which is now obsolete, and the perfect participle was _gotten_, which, some grammarians say, is growing obsolete. If this be true, there is no good reason for it. If we say _eaten_, _written_, _striven_, _forgotten_, why not say _gotten_, where this form of the participle is more euphonious--as it often is--than _got_?

GOODS. This term, like other terms used in trade, should be restricted to the vocabulary of commerce. Messrs. Arnold & Constable, in common with the Was.h.i.+ngton Market huckster, very properly speak of their wares as their _goods_; but Mrs. Arnold and Mrs. Constable should, and I doubt not do, speak of their gowns as being made of fine or coa.r.s.e _silk_, _cashmere_, _muslin_, or whatever the material may be.

GOULD AGAINST ALFORD. Mr. Edward S. Gould, in his review of Dean Alford's "Queen's English," remarks, on page 131 of his "Good English": "And now, as to the style[4] of the Dean's book, taken as a whole. He must be held responsible for every error in it; because, as has been shown, he has had full leisure for its revision.[5] The errors are, nevertheless, numerous; and the shortest way to exhibit them is[6] in tabular form." In several instances Mr. Gould would not have taken the Dean to task had he known English better. The following are a few of Mr.

Gould's corrections in which he is clearly in the right:

Paragraph

4. "Into _another_ land _than_"; should be, "into a land _other than_."

16. "We do not follow rule in spelling other words, but custom"; should be, "we do not follow _rule, but custom_, in spelling," etc.

18. "The distinction is observed in French, but _never appears_ to have been made," etc.; read, "_appears never_ to have been made."

61. "_Rather_ to aspirate more _than_ less"; should be, "to aspirate more _rather than_ less."

9. "It is said also _only_ to occur three times," etc.; read, "_occur only_ three times."

44. "This doubling _only takes place_ in a syllable," etc.; read, "_takes place only_."

142. "Which can _only_ be decided when those circ.u.mstances are known"; read, "_can be decided only_ when," etc.

166. "I will _only_ say that it produces," etc.; read, "I will _say only_," etc.

170. "It is said that this can _only_ be filled in thus"; read, "can be _filled in only_ thus."