The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-12-29
words and TheEr Uses. =,

\ series Of essays on the EnEiisl
language, past aad present, written
or the Galaxy magaZ ne by Richard
Grant White, year or two ago have
been republlShed by Sheldon * Co
ia a handsomely printed volume 81
over 4JO pages, under the above title
ihe authors purpose Is the cnnsidera
iinn Of tie Il EiIt use an The abuse o.
words and iI.Oms, with an occasional
examination Of their origin and theil
history" and most readers will bt
able 10 CLEAN some useful hints fol
themselves among its structures Oh
common errors, many Of which ART
interesting, as direct ng attention tC
inaccurate expressions often USED
without thought of their imprOpriety
For Instance:
AGGRAvATE: This word should
never be ein pl Iyed in reference [ per,
sOus, as it means merely TO add
weight t1-tI make an evil more up'
pressiye; injury is aggravat ID by IN
III {. 1t Is sometimes improperly uSeC
in the sense of iFTitdte, as 'I wa;
much aggravated by his conduct"
BALANCE, in the sense of rest, re-
mainder, residue remnant, is an ab
DminatiOn. Balance is met IphOr.
ically the difference between yOsideS
II an aecOunt-tIe Ie amount which i;
necessary make one equal to the
Ither. Yet we continually
near Of the balance of this or that
thing, even the balance Of n cOngre-
satiOn or of AN armyw
BOUNTIFUL is applicable only to pei
SONS. A giver may be bOuntful, but
lis gift cannot lit should be plentiful
Jr large. "a bOuntiful slice" IS alb
surd.
FETCH expresses q double motion
first from and then toward TIE
peaker;" it is exactly equivalent t
go and bring" and ought not t. be
used in the sense of bring alone.
CALCULATE, beside its sectional
misuse for think or suppose, is some
mes, in the paI t;cipal form calcula.
ted, put for likely or apt: THAT nom
nation is calculated t. injure Ie
Oal ty." 1t is calculated (designed) Il
10 no such thing, it may be likely t..
CITIZEN should not be used except
when the possession of political rights
* meant t. be implied. Newspaper
reporters have bad habit of bring
ing it out on all OCCASIONS, when per
'nn," Imam" or "by-Stander" would
Express their meaning much better
COUPLE applies t two things which
ire bound together or unit d in some
way. "a couple Ofapples" is iucOr-
eet-t1CO apples is what is meant.
DIRT means fi.th, and is not syn
lnymOus with eaIth or soil. Yet peu-
Die sometimes speak of a dit road OF
IT packing dirt arpund the rOuts OF
trees they are setting. They mean
.arth.
EXECUTE: When Il murder is hang
ed, his sentence is executed, the man
: not. A man cannot be executed
t'Iat il, followed out or performed.
EXPECT looks always to the future.
You cannot expect that anything has
lap2ened or is happening, but only
hat it will happen.
GET means to ObtIin. not t. possess.
''He has got all the numbers of the
Country Gentleman" "Have you got
GOOD mOlasses?u "They have QOt bad
mlnners" Why will people persist in
Introducing the word in such senten-
:es as these, where it is 50 evidently
'uperhuous?
"HELP MEET--An absurd use Oi
these two words, as if tlev together
were the name of one thipg-a wifi
- too commOn.n The sentence in
fenesis is: II will make him AN help
f for him." There is no such word as
helpInet {.
IIE-LAY: Persons not grossly ig-
lOraut sometimes say tIey will lay
meaning lie down, iat they have
aid [lain Su hour, or Iat the ham,
'ner is laying Glyingl by the tacks.
lie means t. Tecline; its past tense is
'dy-"I lay there all rat night" it.
Jait ciples are hing and LdiH. Lay
used Ofpresent timej means t. put
,nmething dOwn-One lays a carpet;
t. past tense is laid-"I laid it my
elf" its palticiples are laying and
'nid-''I was interrupted while laying
it, and it was not all laid till night"
LOVE rules the heart, not the stOm-
Ich. You lore your wife, or ought
70. but favorite articles Of foOd you
ike.
OBSERVE should not be used for sag
IS in the oft heard sentence, "WhuI
lid you ObserUe?"
SIT, often misprOnOuneed set, is Oc-
casionally written SO, but, it is to be
hoped, rarely.
TRANsPIRE, is constantly misappli-
ed for happen or pass. To transpire is
tO come out, t. be revealed, after hGU-
ing occurred in private.