Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1882-07-12
SELECT.
SELECT.
WORDS MISUSED.
Some That Should Never be
used and Others That are
Commonly Misplaced.

Commonly Misplaced.
In the category of words that should
never be used come first misformed
words as lit for lighted; plead as
the past participle of the verb 'to
plead instead of pleaded; proven fol
proved form now obsolete except in
the Scotch verdict of not proven.
These are what might be termed gram
ma.ical errors, but they are very com.
mon among those who pass for fair
writer's and educated men. Less
venial faults are the use ofsuch vulgar
isms as 'on to- for on or upon, which is
becoming increasingly frequent among
careless writers; and whose blood has
not run cold at reading advertisements
in our religious papers of baptismal
pants ?'-to be worn, we suppose, by
those reverend gents who minister
weekly in our midst, preach lengthy
sermons that 'enthuse' their hearers,
and are generally reputed to be 'relia-
ble' men whose acts will never jeop-
ardize' the good name of their focks,
albeit they sometimes have help
meet or he]pmate' or companion or
'lady'-that. is 10 say, a wife-whose
words and acts need to be judged with
great leniency' There at one fell
swoop' we have reprobated all but
three of the words and phrases, con-
demned by Mr.. Ayres, that we are
now considering No well-bred man
will ever speak of such a garment as
his pants. nor will he call his wife
anything but his wife. 'Helpmeet' is
a stupid word, as has often been point
ed out, and owes its existence to a
careless perversion of Genesis ii, lS,
Il will make him an helpmeet ii. e.,
suitable, 6t) for him, and 'helpnate' is
a still stupider perversion of 'helpmeet.'
If we are to say lengthy why not
'strengtby p and besides, our good old
friend long will answer every purpose.
We say 'leniency,' when lenity ex-
presses the same shade of meaning.
Why add 80 clumsy word as jeop-
ardize' to the language when leopard
is already there for the same purpose !?
Why use the Informed word reliable
(Which should be rely-upon-able, to
mean what is intended), when we have
trustworthy and credible? 'Enthuse'
is one of those horribly ill-informed
words whose mere pronunciation is
their condemnation, in the mind of one
who has enough acquaintance with the
history and genius of the language to
be qualified to express any opinion on
the subject, while lin our midst is
careless way of saying in the midst of
us, which is ineligible English.
The three other words that Mr..
Ayres would prescribe are 'preventa-
tive, clumsy and useless substitute
for preventive; graduate as an ac-
tive intransitive verb "a student does
not graduate from college; the college
graduates him. c., admits him to its
gradus; and the student therefore is
graduated); and mistaken in such
sentences as You are mistaken
(wben what the speaker means is,
you do not understand mel for You
mistake To Mr.. Ayres' list should
be added, we think, such non-English
words as anent, auditorium, bogus,
nonce, taboo, tapis such slangv words
as 'disgruntled,' which is q favorite
word in the politicians vocabulary, and
'resurrect, which is used as verb in
many q sermon such misformations
as gubernatorial' and 'post-graduate'-
how can one graduated from college
and thus made "a graduate ever be-
come postgraduate One should
write, "A graduates course of study
or a post-graduation course Of study
the former having the preference. We
assume that no reader of the Examiner
needs to be warned against any such
pedantic word as 'authoress' and
'poetess > such vulgarisms as crank
which the Guiteau trial has made so
common or such wrong-headed idiom
as different to- Of which some English
writer's are 80 fond. If they do need
any warning, we beg OF them to eschew
each and all Of those words. And we
are inclined TO add to the list donate
and donation which are at least un-
necessary while we have 80 many
words as give grant 'bestow,' pre-
SENT and their substantives, to ex-
press the some idea.
Words used in wrong senses fall
naturally into several classes, first
among which are the words sometimes
called reporters English words mis-
used because they are thought to
sound fine. Examples Of this misuse
Of words are u: Apprehend' when the
writer means merely think : 'condign'
in such q phrase as 'condign punish
ment,' when the writer means severe
punishment; Casualty for accident !;
predicate for declare, and the like.
Some writer's never can begin any
thing; they always 'inaugurate, or
initiate or at the very best com
mence' it i; if q speaker or singer il well
received by bis audience, he receives
IN ovation : If a man is kind-hearted
he il called n Humanitarian G. G., a
believer only in the human nature Of
Christi, which is TO attribute grave
heresy TO a man under pretext Of COM
plimenting him; and if one of this ilk
goes TO church, he always speaks OF it
as the sanctuary We exhort all who
read this article TO eschew these and
oil similar errors. Whatever you may
say in the freedom Of conversation,
when you take your pens use plain
words to express plain meanings. II
you mean granted, don't say accord
ed > If q speaker has talked for fifteen
minutes on subject, don't say that
be alluded to it, which means merely
TO touch and pass by topic; If you
mean think, don't say consider which
denotes the careful weighing of a
thing; don't say residence. for house,
individual for person, portion for
part, purchase for buy, and be chary
Of vicinity for neighborhood. In
uhart dnntt ha atilted