Mexico weekly ledger., 1879-01-30
why Not Speak Properly


The careless, slipshod name in
which people who deem themselves
educated use common English words
in their everyday speech is scarcely
short OF amazing. If appearances de-
ceive in any particular, it is certainly
in this for If we were to infer the
degree Of culture possessed by the
men and women we meet daily from
the character of their verbal express
sion, we should set 1t, in most cases,
at a point much below their claims.
Every word in the English language
has its peculiar significance and ap-
plication, just as would be nationally
thought, and the cross uses and false
applications so common in ordinary
parlance are totally unwarranted.
Society has fallen into a vicious
habit in the use of terms, and it is
time that q strong effort was made to
eradicate it, if we would preserve the
English tongue in its purity and sim
plicity. The little volume 1.-THE Right
Word in the Right Place." and Mr..
r. G.. Whites larger book on Swords
and their Uses,'' are excellent mont
tors for popular reading, and show
clearly the errors we are constantly
C uniting without a though of their
glaring a~bsurdities.
"Aggravate. This word should
never be employed in reference to
persons, as it means merely to add
weight TOTO make evil more oppress-
i've I; injury is aggravated by insult.
1t Is sometimes improperly used in
the sense of initiate, as, Il was much
aggravated by his conduct
"Baldnce, in the sense of rest, re-
mainder, residue, remnant, is an
abomination. Balance is the differ
ence between two sides of an account
the amount OF which is necessary
to make n equal to the other. :. d
Yet we continually hear of the balance
of this or that thing; eve in the bal
ances of a congregational an army.
"Bountiful is applicable only to
persons. A giver may be bountiful,
but his gift cannot--it should be
plentiful, or large. "A bountiful
slice is absurd.
"Fetch expresses a double motion !;
first from and then toward the speak
er. 1t is exactly equivalent to go
and bring and ought not to be used
in the sense of bring alone.
"Calculdte, besides its sectional
misuse for think, or suppose, or sus-
pect, is sometimes in the principal
Observation-Disclosures for likely, or
apt; THAT nomination is calculated
to injure the party 1t is calculated
(designed) to dc no such thing, though
it may be likely to.
"Couple applies to two things which
are bound together or united in some
way. "A couple of apples is incor-
rect; two apples are meant.
"Dirt means filth, and is not syn
onymous with earth or soil. Yet
sometimes speak of q dirt road,
or of packing dirt around the roots of
trees they are setting. They mean
"Expect looks always to the future.
You cannot expect that anything has
happened or is happening, but only
it will happen.
sect means to obtain, not to pos
sess. He has got all the numbers of
the Christian Instructor Have you
got good molasses?' They have got
bad manners Why will people per-
sist in introducing the word in such
sentences as these, where it is SO evil
superfiuous?
"Help meet. An abusive use of
these two words, IS il they together
were the name ofone thing-a wife
is too common. The sentence in Gen.
esis Is, Il will make him q help meet
for him; that is, a help fit for him.
There is no such word as helpmeet.
"Lie-Lay. Persons not grossly
ignorant sometimes say they will lay
(meahing liel down, that they. have
laid (lain) an hour, or that the ham,
mer is laying (lying) by the tacks.
Lie means to recline; its past tense,
lay lay there all night; ; its parti.
ciples, lying and lain. Lay FUSED of
present time) means to put something
down-one lays a carpet; its past is
]"id-'I was interrupted while laying
j , and it was not laid until ulght.'
"LoUe rules the heart, not the
stomach. You love your wife, or
ought to; but favcrite articles offood
you like.
"Observe should not be used for
say, as in the oft-heard sentence
what did you Observer
"Sa, often mispronounced set, is
occasionally written so; but it is to
be hoped rarely"