The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1904-09-18
THE CORRECT USE OF WORDS.

The San Francisco Bulletin publishes the follow
ing excellent suggestions with reference 10 the cor
rect use of words:
If education doesn t teach man how to use WORDS
correctly, it teaches him little. Thought IS con-
viewed from one mind to another by words; and IN
order that there may be perfect meeting OF minds
among men-in order, that is, that the hearer OF
reader may take the exact meaning which the speaker
or writer intends to express is necessary that words
be used and understood rightly. If word means
one thing to speaker and another to his hearers,
they will fail to catch his thought or, rather, tney
viii attribute to him thought that is not his Many
times persons who are quite in accord with one an
other dispute because they mistake the meaning OF
words 1t should, therefore, as Herbert Spencer
said be matter Of conscience not to misuse words
Il should also be matter of conscience to resist mis-
use of them Especially" added Spancer, should
our own language be thus guarded. IT. as several
unbiased foreign judges hold, the English language
will be, and ought to be, the universal language 1t
becomes the more duty Of mankind to check Dad
habits of speech
Possibly no other yernacular tongue rs 50 greatly
misused by the commonaty as English The English
Is polyglot language raped from many sources, and
words imported from other languages, such as tine
Latin and Greek are very liable to acquire strange,
incorrect meanings, Take for instance, the word
ssexemplary. The true meaning Of exemplary
Il that which serves for an example. In the popular
mind. however exemplary" is a word OF general
approval Even when used in the sense OF serving
as an example, the example is presumed to be a
GOOD example, that is an example which ought to be
followed There is no good reason for thus narrow
ING the meaning of useful word A drunkard may
be as exemplary of drunkards as sober man OF
his kind Exemplary conduct may be very de-
spicable.
To precisian- and precisian is not always con-
temptible, though he is frequently contemptuous-
the ordinary newspaper gives offense constantly by
mususine words The term real estate," for ex-
ample is technical term of the lawyers and means
not land, but an interest in land When man sells
groceries he does not speak Of selling personal es-
tate WHY. then. when he sells land, does he de-
scribe the transaction as sale OF real estate!
Another word. commonly misllsed, is execute,
which is employed in the sense OF putting to death
by sentence of court A man is hanged or shot or
beheaded or killed with electricity 1t is not the
man but the sentence that is executed. Limited
means restricted to certain limits 1t does not mean
small or brief as in the phrases limited price or
'limited acquaintance" Replaced means put
back into the same place. book taken from
shelf may be replaced. But it is error to say that
Mayor Schmitz replaced Mayor Phelan, or that,
among the moderns, agnosticsm has replaced re-
lgon To replace is not the same as to dlsplace OF
to srpersede Superior means higher. 1t does not
mean able or yirtuous, as in the common phrase a
superior person" ''Transpire" literally means to
breathe through and is employed correctly, though
fguratively of anything that passes off insensiby
Perspiraton may transpire so may secret; but 1t
is absurd to saw that an event transpred when one
means that it occurred or took place. The news OF
concealed forgery may transpire long while after
the forgery was done Witness, which, however
is a Saxon word, means one who gives testimony
from personal knowledge One does not witness q
balloon in the air "Defalcate" is used in the news
papers as synonym for embezzle. Defalcate, how
ever means nothing more than to lop off or detract
from. defalcation may be an act Of honesty as well
as of theft One defalcates when he takes from a
sum of money an amount justly due to himself.
Of course the meanings Of words change from time
to time and what was incorrect in the19th century
may become correct in the 2Oth .'PeclniaryN once
meant wealthy in cattle Nice, in Chaueer's day
meant foolish or ignorant. Fond formerly meant