Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-10-05

Don't say hung when hanged is meant
Men, unfortunately, are sometimes hang
ed pictures are hung.
Don't say that anybody or anything i
gentoel. Don't use the word at all. Sa,
person is well Bred" or thing il
"tasteful."
Don't say transpire when you mean oc
cur. Transpire means to become known
ana heuce is enormously used in the sens,
of taking place.
Don't say yeh for yes don't initiate tn,
English ya-as. Don't respond to a rs
mark with prolonged explanatory snt
interrogativo ye-es. This is rank Yankee
ism.
Don't say don't for does not. Don't is
contraction OF do not, not of does not
Hence "he don't" is not permissibl,. Say
"Hc doesn't"
Don't say amt for isn't, and above all,
don't say taint. Say aren't for are not.
isn't for is not ahd although amt may
ny stretch be considered IN abbrevia-
ton OF cam not, " it is in better taste to
speak the words in full.
Don't say 81 done it," she done it, u
they done it," This is gross error, vet
1t is often made by people who ought to
Know better. II did it, che did it,"
:, they did it, is, it ought to be unneces-
= S"IN W say, tno correct form,
Don't say 81 seen," II saw" This er-
t ror IS commonly made by the same people
/ who say 81 done it." A similar error is.
., "lf he had went" instead of "If he had
, gone"
, Don't say 'It is him :" say at is he. ~
so, also, 1T is l." not at is me :" at is
they, not "It is them"
Don't say HE is older than me-" say
"He is older than l." II am taller than
he, not 81 am taller than him.
Don't say Charles and me are going
to church" The proper form il "Charles
aud l are going" etc.
DON'T say "Between you and l." By
an ingenious perversity. the same people
who INSIST i'll the instances We have cited.
upon using the objective case where the
nominative is called for, in this phrase re-
verse the proceeding. They should say,
'Between you and me-"
Don !, IN referring to person, say he
or she or him, but always mention the
name. "Mlrs. Smith thinks it will rain. ("
not she thinks it will rain" There are
men who continually refer to their wiz es
as she, and wives who have commonly no
oiher name than he for their hush ands.
This is.abominable.
Don't say lay for lie. 1t is true. Byron
committed this blunder-"There let him
lay but poets are not always safe guides.
Lay expresses transitive action lie ex-
presses rest. 81 will lie down = 81 will
lay it down.
Don't use them for those. "Them
boots, ''them bonnets," etc, is so gross
an error that we commonly hear it only
from the uneducated.
lsoAt say, 81 nm through" when you
ave announcing that you have finished
Dinner or breakfast. ''Arc you through ?"
asked an American of an Englishman
when seated at table. "Through p ex-
claimed the Englishmari, looking in an
alarmed way down to the floor and up to
the through what?"
Don't misuse the words lady and gen.
tlehan. Don't say "a nice lady" If you
must ,ise the word nice. say "a nice wo-
man. Don't say "a pleasant gentle
man man say An agreeable person." Say
.W;Aaf kinl. of man is hep" not "What
Nlnd Of gentleman If he ?" Say "She is
7 a good woman, not "a good lady," The
indiscriminate use of lady and gentleman
indicates want of culture These terms
should never be used when sex pure and
slmple is meant.
Dont'say 81 guess" for 81 think" or
IL expect for 81 suppose"
Ion use plenty as an adjective, but say
plentiful. So say the purists, although
oid @ writers frequently violated this rule
III reasons were rs plenty as blnckber-
ries, says Falstaff. II we obey the rule,
we must say ''money is plentiful" not
"money is plenty"
Don't use the word please too much.
Say, .,''Will you kindly oblige me-" or
something equivalent.
Don't fall into the habit OF repeating l
worn-out proverbs and over-used quota
tions. 1t becomes not little irritating
to nave to listen to one who ceaselessly
applies or misapplies threadbare stock
oi wise saws and stupid sayings.
Don't use fix in the sense Of putting in
order, setting to rights, etc. This is o
condemned Americanism. Fix means to
make last, to permanently set in place,
peculiarly all wrong.
Don't adopt the common habit of call.
ing everything funny that chances to be
little odd or strange Funny can only
be rightly used when the comlcal is
meant.
Don use mad for angry. This has.
been denounced as peculiarly ON Ameri-.
canistA, and it is an Americanism 30 for
as current usage goes but the word is.
employed in this sense in the New Testa-
ment it is occasionally found in old
Ehgiish authors, and, according to arti--
cles recently published in the London
.at"en9uW, it ID not uncommon in GER.
tain out-of-the-way places in England.
Don use plural pronoun when o sin-
gnlar is called for. every passenger
must show their ticket" illustrates a pre-
yalent error. Everybody put on thsir
hats is another instance. 1t should be.
Everybody put ON his hat"
Don't say "blame it on him." but Slid
| ply, 'blame him." The first form is eom- /
mon among the uneducated.
| Don't use got where it is unnece ssary-
81 have got an umbrella" is common
form OF speech, but got hero is needless,
and it is far from being pleasing word
II have book, not 81 have got book"
and 80 in all similar cases.
Don't use less for fewer in referring to
things Of numbers. Less should be ap-
piled to bulk only "less than bushel,
fewer than hundred" indicates the pro-
per distinction to be made in the use Of
the two words.
Don't use quantity for number. "a
quantity of wheat" is right enough, but
what are we to think Of the phrase, ~
quantity of people ?"
Don't use adjectives when adverbs are
required. Don't say, for Instance. This
pear Is uncommon good, but "This pear is
nnoommonly good" For rules on the use
: Of proverbs consult books on grammar.
, Don't say lawfully nice," lawfully
> pretty" etc and don't accumulate bad
grammar upon bad taste by saying lawful
. NICE" Use the word awful with sense
D OF its correct meaning.
Don't say ''loads of time" or "oceans of
s time" There is no meaning to these
: phrases Say 'ample time" or "time