Every-Day Errors of Speech Part 3

=Cupola=--ku'po-la, not ku-po-lo'.

D.

=Dahlia=--dal'ya or dal'-ya, not dal'ya.

=Dare not=, not da.r.s.e'nt.

=Data=--da'ta, not dat'a, is the plural of datum (da'tum).

=Debris=--da-bre', not de'bris nor da'bre.

Rubbish, ruins.

=Decade=--dek'ade, not de'kade nor de-kade'. Ten in number.

=Defalcate=--de-fal'kate, not de-fawl'kate.

=Defalcation=--de-fal-ka'shun not de-fawl-ka'shun.

Worcester gives def-al-ka'shun. No such word as _defalcater_ is seen.

=Deficit=--def'i-sit, not de-fi'sit nor de-fis'sit. A deficiency.

=Delusion=, not _illusion_, when deception occurs from want of knowledge of the world, ignorance of business or trade, or from lack of ac.u.men generally. Illusions are deceptions arising from a temporarily or permanently disordered imagination, or from phenomena occurring in nature: thus we speak of the illusions of fancy, of dreams, and of optical illusions. The mirage of the desert and the fata Morgana are instances of the latter.

=Demonstrative=--de-mon'stra-tive, not dem'on-stra-tive.

=Demonstrator=--dem'on-stra-tor, not de-mon'stra-tor.

Worcester allows the latter.

=Depot=--de-po' or de'po, not da'po, nor dep'po. Worcester sanctions de-po' only. I once had a friend, deceased now, of course, who called it de-pot'.

=Dereliction=--der-e-lik'shun, not der-e-lek'shun. A forsaking, abandonment.

=Deshabille=--des-a-bil', } =Dishabille=--dis-a-bil', } not des'ha-beel nor dis'ha-beel. The French is deshabille, p.r.o.nounced about like da-za-be-ya, without any particular accent. Some persons, in their vain efforts to get the peculiar liquid sound of the double l, sometimes used, distort the word terribly, p.r.o.nouncing it even as broad as dis-ha-beel'yuh.

=Desideratum=--de-sid-e-ra'tum, not de-sid-er-at'um; plural, de-sid-er-a'ta. Something particularly desired.

=Desperado=--des-per-a'do, not des-per-a'do.

=Dessert=--dez-zert', not dez'zert, nor des'sert: _dessert-spoon_ (dez-zert'-spoon).

=Die.= One dies _of_ a disease, not with it.

=Differ.= One differs with a person in opinion; one person or thing differs _from_ another in some quality.

=Disappointed.= One is disappointed _of_ a thing not obtained and _in_ a thing obtained. "He will be disappointed of his expectations."

=Discourse=--dis-kors', not dis'kors.

=Disputable=--dis'pu-ta-ble, not dis-pu'ta-ble.

=Disputant=--dis'pu-tant, not dis-pu'tant.

=Distich=--dis'tik, not dis'tich. Two poetic lines making sense.

=Docible=--dos'i-ble, not do'si-ble. Tractable; teachable.

=Docile=--dos'il, not do'sile.

=Dolorous=--dol'or-us, not do'lor-ous. =Dolorously= and =Dolorousness= are similarly accented; but =dolor= is p.r.o.nounced do'lor.

=Doubt.= "I do not doubt but that it is so," is a very common error. The meaning conveyed is just the opposite to that which the speaker intends. He declares in other words, that he has _no_ doubt _but_ a doubt that it is so; or he does not doubt that it is false. "I have no doubt but," and "there is no doubt but,"--are similar mistakes. The word "but" should be left out.

=Dough-face= means one that is easily molded to one's will, or readily changed in his views, and not a putty-faced or white-faced person.

=Dragomans=, not _dragomen_, is the plural of _dragoman_, an Eastern interpreter.

=Drama=--dra'ma or dra'ma, not dram'a. Worcester says dra'ma or dram'a.

=Dramatis Personae=--dram'a-tis per-so'ne, not dra-mat'is per'so-ne.

=Drank=, not _drunk_, is the imperfect tense of drink.

=Ducat=--duk'at, not du'kat.

E.

=Ear=--ear, not year. Persons frequently speak of the _year-ache_, and occasionally "_a year of corn_," may be heard.

=Ecce h.o.m.o=--ek'se ho'mo, not ek'ke ho'mo.

=Eider=--i'der, not e'der. _Eider-down_ and _eider-duck_.

=Elm= is p.r.o.nounced in one syllable and not el'lum.

=Elysian=--e-liz'i-an, not e-lis'sian. Worcester gives e-lizh'e-an.

=Embryo=--em'bry-o, not em-bry'o.

=Employe= (Fr. employe)--em-ploy-a' or ong-plwaw-ya', not employ'e or ong-ploy'a. Employee is not allowed.

=Encore=--ong-kor', not ong'kor nor en'kor.

=Eneid=--e-ne'id not e'ne-id. A poem of Virgil.

Worcester sanctions both methods of p.r.o.nunciation.

=Ennui=--ong-nwe', not ong'we. Worcester gives a much simpler p.r.o.nunciation, viz: an-we'.