Chapter III: Part 3

FIRST RATE. There are people who object to this phrase, and yet it is well enough when properly placed, as it is, for example, in such a sentence as this: "He's a 'first class' fellow, and I like him _first rate_; if I didn't, 'you bet' I'd just give him 'hail Columbia' for 'blowing' the thing all round town like the big fool that he is."

FIRSTLY. George Washington Moon says in defense of _firstly_: "I do not object to the occasional use of _first_ as an adverb; but, in sentences where it would be followed by _secondly_, _thirdly_, etc., I think that the adverbial form is preferable." To this, one of Mr. Moon's critics replies: "However desirable it may be to employ the word _firstly_ on certain occasions, the fact remains that the employment of it on any occasion is not the best usage." Webster inserts _firstly_, but remarks, "Improperly used for _first_."

FLEE--FLY. These verbs, though near of kin, are not interchangeable. For example, we can not say, "He _flew_ the city," "He _flew_ from his enemies," "He _flew_ at the approach of danger," _flew_ being the imperfect tense of _to fly_, which is properly used to express the action of birds on the wing, of kites, arrows, etc. The imperfect tense of _to flee_ is _fled_; hence, "He _fled_ the city," etc.

FORCIBLE-FEEBLE. This is a "novicy" kind of diction in which the would-be forcible writer defeats his object by the overuse of expletives. Examples: "And yet the _great_ centralization of wealth is one of the [great] evils of the day. All that Mr. ---- _utters_ [says] upon this point is _forcible and_ just. This centralization is due to the _enormous_ reproductive power of capital, to the _immense_ advantage that _costly and complicated_ machinery gives to _great_ [large] establishments, and to _the marked_ difference of personal force among men." The first _great_ is misplaced; the word _utters_ is misused; the second _great_ is ill-chosen. The other words in italics only enfeeble the sentence. Again: "In countries where _immense_ [large] estates exist, a breaking up of these _vast_ demesnes into _many_ minor freeholds would no doubt be a [of] _very_ great advantage." Substitute _large_ for _immense_, and take out _vast_, _many_, and _very_, and the language becomes much more forcible. Again: "The _very_ first effect of the ---- taxation plan would be destructive to the interests of this _great multitude_ [class]; it would impoverish our _innumerable_ farmers, _it would_ confiscate the earnings of [our] _industrious_ tradesmen and artisans, _it would_ [and] paralyze the hopes of _struggling_ millions." What a waste of portly expletives is here! With them the sentence is high-flown and weak; take them out, and introduce the words inclosed in brackets, and it becomes simple and forcible.

FRIEND--ACQUAINTANCE. Some philosopher has said that he who has half a dozen friends in the course of his life may esteem himself fortunate; and yet, to judge from many people's talk, one would suppose they had friends by the score. No man knows whether he has any friends or not until he has "their adoption tried"; hence, he who is desirous to call things by their right names will, as a rule, use the word _acquaintance_ instead of _friend_. "Your friend" is a favorite and very objectionable way many people, especially young people, have of writing themselves at the bottom of their letters. In this way the obscure stripling protests himself the FRIEND of the first man in the land, and that, too, when he is, perhaps, a comparative stranger and asking a favor.

GALSOME. Here is a good, sonorous Anglo-Saxon word--meaning malignant, venomous, churlish--that has fallen into disuse.

GENTLEMAN. Few things are in worse taste than to use the term _gentleman_, whether in the singular or plural, to designate the sex. "If I was a _gentleman_," says Miss Snooks. "_Gentlemen_ have just as much curiosity as _ladies_," says Mrs. Jenkins. "_Gentlemen_ have so much more liberty than we _ladies_ have," says Mrs. Parvenue. Now, if these ladies were ladies, they would in each of these cases use the word _man_ instead of _gentleman_, and _woman_ instead of _lady_; further, Miss Snooks would say, "If I _were_." Well-bred men, men of culture and refinement--gentlemen, in short--use the terms _lady_ and _gentleman_ comparatively little, and they are especially careful not to call themselves _gentlemen_ when they can avoid it. A gentleman, for example, does not say, "I, with some _other_ gentlemen, went," etc.; he is careful to leave out the word _other_. The men who use these terms most, and especially those who lose no opportunity to proclaim themselves _gentlemen_, belong to that class of men who cock their hats on one side of their heads, and often wear them when and where gentlemen would remove them; who pride themselves on their familiarity with the latest slang; who proclaim their independence by showing the least possible consideration for others; who laugh long and loud at their own wit; who wear a profusion of cheap finery, such as outlandish watch-chains hooked in the lowest button-hole of their vests, Brazilian diamonds in their shirt-bosoms, and big seal-rings on their little fingers; who use bad grammar and interlard their conversation with big oaths. In business correspondence Smith is addressed as _Sir_, while Smith & Brown are often addressed as _Gentlemen_--or, vulgarly, as _Gents_. Better, much, is it to address them as _Sirs_.

Since writing the foregoing, I have met with the following paragraph in the London publication, "All the Year Round": "Socially, the term 'gentleman' has become almost vulgar. It is certainly less employed by gentlemen than by inferior persons. The one speaks of 'a man I know,' the other of 'a gentleman I know.' In the one case the gentleman is taken for granted, in the other it seems to need specification. Again, as regards the term 'lady.' It is quite in accordance with the usages of society to speak of your acquaintance the duchess as 'a very nice person.' People who would say 'very nice lady' are not generally of a social class which has much to do with duchesses; and if you speak of one of these as a 'person,' you will soon be made to feel your mistake."

GENTS. Of all vulgarisms, this is, perhaps, the most offensive. If we say _gents_, why not say _lades_?

GERUND. "'I have work _to do_,' 'there is no more _to say_,' are phrases where the verb is not in the common infinitive, but in the form of the _gerund_. 'He is the man _to do_ it, or _for doing_ it.' 'A house _to let_,' 'the course _to steer_ by,' 'a place _to lie_ in,' 'a thing _to be_ done,' 'a city _to take_ refuge in,' 'the means _to do_ ill deeds,' are adjective gerunds; they may be expanded into clauses: 'a house that the owner lets or will let'; 'the course that we should steer by'; 'a thing that should be done'; 'a city wherein one may take refuge'; 'the means whereby ill deeds may be done.' When the _to_ ceased in the twelfth century to be a distinctive mark of the dative infinitive or gerund, _for_ was introduced to make the writer's intention clear. Hence the familiar form in 'what went ye out _for to see_?' 'they came _for to show_ him the temple.'"--Bain.

GET. In sentences expressing simple possession--as, "I have _got_ a book," "What has he _got_ there?" "Have you _got_ any news?" "They have _got_ a new house," etc.--_got_ is entirely superfluous, if not, as some writers contend, absolutely incorrect. Possession is completely expressed by _have_. "Foxes have holes; the birds of the air have nests"; not, "Foxes have _got_ holes; the birds of the air have _got_ nests." Formerly the imperfect tense of this verb was _gat_, which is now obsolete, and the perfect participle was _gotten_, which, some grammarians say, is growing obsolete. If this be true, there is no good reason for it. If we say _eaten_, _written_, _striven_, _forgotten_, why not say _gotten_, where this form of the participle is more euphonious--as it often is--than _got_?

GOODS. This term, like other terms used in trade, should be restricted to the vocabulary of commerce. Messrs. Arnold & Constable, in common with the Washington Market huckster, very properly speak of their wares as their _goods_; but Mrs. Arnold and Mrs. Constable should, and I doubt not do, speak of their gowns as being made of fine or coarse _silk_, _cashmere_, _muslin_, or whatever the material may be.

GOULD AGAINST ALFORD. Mr. Edward S. Gould, in his review of Dean Alford's "Queen's English," remarks, on page 131 of his "Good English": "And now, as to the style[4] of the Dean's book, taken as a whole. He must be held responsible for every error in it; because, as has been shown, he has had full leisure for its revision.[5] The errors are, nevertheless, numerous; and the shortest way to exhibit them is[6] in tabular form." In several instances Mr. Gould would not have taken the Dean to task had he known English better. The following are a few of Mr. Gould's corrections in which he is clearly in the right:

Paragraph

4. "Into _another_ land _than_"; should be, "into a land _other than_."

16. "We do not follow rule in spelling other words, but custom"; should be, "we do not follow _rule, but custom_, in spelling," etc.

18. "The distinction is observed in French, but _never appears_ to have been made," etc.; read, "_appears never_ to have been made."

61. "_Rather_ to aspirate more _than_ less"; should be, "to aspirate more _rather than_ less."

9. "It is said also _only_ to occur three times," etc.; read, "_occur only_ three times."

44. "This doubling _only takes place_ in a syllable," etc.; read, "_takes place only_."

142. "Which can _only_ be decided when those circumstances are known"; read, "_can be decided only_ when," etc.

166. "I will _only_ say that it produces," etc.; read, "I will _say only_," etc.

170. "It is said that this can _only_ be filled in thus"; read, "can be _filled in only_ thus."

368. "I can _only_ deal with the complaint in a general way"; read, "_deal with the complaint only_," etc.

86. "_In_ so far as they are idiomatic," etc. What is the use of _in_?

171. "Try the experiment"; "_tried_ the experiment." Read, _make_ and _made_.

345. "It is _most_ generally used of that very sect," etc. Why _most_?

362. "The joining together two clauses with a third," etc.; read, "_of two_ clauses," etc.

GOWN. See DRESS.

GRADUATED. Students do not _graduate_; they _are_ graduated. Hence most writers nowadays say, "I _was_, he _was_, or they _were_ graduated"; and ask, "When _were_ you, or _was_ he, graduated?"

GRAMMATICAL ERRORS. "The correctness of the expression _grammatical errors_ has been disputed. 'How,' it has been asked, 'can an error be grammatical?' How, it may be replied, can we with propriety say, _grammatically incorrect_? Yet we can do so.

"No one will question the propriety of saying _grammatically correct_. Yet the expression is the acknowledgment of things _grammatically INcorrect_. Likewise the phrase _grammatical correctness_ implies the existence of _grammatical INcorrectness_. If, then, a sentence is _grammatically incorrect_, or, what is the same thing, has _grammatical incorrectness_, it includes a GRAMMATICAL ERROR. _Grammatically incorrect_ signifies INCORRECT WITH RELATION TO THE RULES OF GRAMMAR. _Grammatical errors_ signifies ERRORS WITH RELATION TO THE RULES OF GRAMMAR.

"They who ridicule the phrase _grammatical errors_, and substitute the phrase _errors in grammar_, make an egregious mistake. Can there, it may be asked with some show of reason, be an error in grammar? Why, grammar is a science founded in our nature, referable to our ideas of time, relation, method; imperfect, doubtless, as to the system by which it is represented; but surely we can speak of error in that which is error's criterion! All this is hypercritical, but hypercriticism must be met with its own weapons.

"Of the two expressions--_a grammatical error_, and _an error in grammar_--the former is preferable. If one's judgment can accept neither, one must relinquish the belief in the possibility of tersely expressing the idea of an offense against grammatical rules. Indeed, it would be difficult to express the idea even by circumlocution. Should some one say, 'This sentence is, according to the rules of grammar, incorrect.' 'What!' the hypercritic may exclaim, 'incorrect! and according to the rules of grammar!' 'This sentence, then,' the corrected person would reply, 'contains an error in grammar.' 'Nonsense!' the hypercritic may shout, 'grammar is a science; you may be wrong in its interpretation, but principles are immutable!'

"After this, it need scarcely be added that, grammatically, no one can make a mistake, that there can be no grammatical mistake, that there can be no bad grammar, and, consequently, no bad English; a very pleasant conclusion, which would save us a great amount of trouble if it did not lack the insignificant quality of being true."--"Vulgarisms and Other Errors of Speech."

GRATUITOUS. There are those who object to the use of this word in the sense of unfounded, unwarranted, unreasonable, untrue. Its use in this sense, however, has the sanction of abundant authority. "Weak and _gratuitous_ conjectures."--Porson. "A _gratuitous_ assumption."--Godwin. "The _gratuitous_ theory."--Southey. "A _gratuitous_ invention."--De Quincey. "But it is needless to dwell on the improbability of a hypothesis which has been shown to be altogether _gratuitous_."--Dr. Newman.

GROW. This verb originally meant to increase in size, but has normally come to be also used to express a change from one state or condition to another; as, to _grow_ dark, to _grow_ weak or strong, to _grow_ faint, etc. But it is doubtful whether what is large can properly be said to _grow_ small. In this sense, _become_ would seem to be the better word.

GUMS. See RUBBERS.

HAD HAVE. Nothing could be more incorrect than the bringing together of these two auxiliary verbs in this manner; and yet we occasionally find it in writers of repute. Instead of "Had I known it," "Had you seen it," "Had we been there," we hear, "Had I _have_ known it," "Had you _have_ seen it," "Had we _have_ been there."

HAD OUGHT. This is a vulgarism of the worst description, yet we hear people, who would be highly indignant if any one should intimate that they were not ladies and gentlemen, say, "He _had_ ought to go." A fitting reply would be, "Yes, I think he better had." _Ought_ says all that _had ought_ says.

HAD RATHER. This expression and _had better_ are much used, but, in the opinion of many, are indefensible. We hear them in such sentences as, "I _had_ rather not do it," "You _had_ better go home." "Now, what tense," it is asked, "is _had do_ and _had go_?" If we transpose the words thus, "You _had do_ better (to) go home," it becomes at once apparent, it is asserted, that the proper word to use in connection with _rather_ and _better_ is not _had_, but _would_; thus, "I _would_ rather not do it," "You _would_ better go home." Examples of this use of _had_ can be found in the writings of our best authors. For what Professor Bain has to say on this subject in his "Composition Grammar," see SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

HALF. "It might have been expressed in _one_ half the space." We see at a glance that _one_ here is superfluous.

HANGED--HUNG. The irregular form, _hung_, of the past participle of the verb _to hang_ is most used; but, when the word denotes suspension by the neck for the purpose of destroying life, the regular form, _hanged_, is always used by careful writers and speakers.

HASTE. See HURRY.

HEADING. See CAPTION.

HEALTHY--WHOLESOME. The first of these two words is often improperly used for the second; as, "Onions are a _healthy_ vegetable." A man, if he is in good health, is _healthy_; the food he eats, if it is not deleterious, is _wholesome_. A _healthy_ ox makes _wholesome_ food. We speak of _healthy_ surroundings, a _healthy_ climate, situation, employment, and of _wholesome_ food, advice, examples. _Healthful_ is generally used in the sense of conducive to health, virtue, morality; as, _healthful_ exercise, the _healthful_ spirit of the community--meaning that the spirit that prevails in the community is conducive to virtue and good morals.

HELPMATE. The dictionaries suggest that this word is a corruption of _help_ and _meet_, as we find these words used in Gen. ii, 18, "I will make him a help meet for him," and that the proper word is _helpmeet_. If, as is possible, the words in Genesis mean, "I will make him a help, meet [suitable] for him," then neither _helpmate_ nor _helpmeet_ has any _raison d'être_.

HIGHFALUTIN. This is a style of writing often called the freshman style. It is much indulged in by very young men, and by a class of older men who instinctively try to make up in clatter for what they lack in matter. Examples of this kind of writing are abundant in Professor L. T. Townsend's "Art of Speech," which, as examples, are all the better for not being of that exaggerated description sometimes met within the newspapers. Vol. i, p. 131: "Very often adverbs, prepositions, and relatives drift so far from their moorings as to lose themselves, or make attachments where they do not belong." Again, p. 135: "Every law of speech enforces the statement that there is no excuse for such inflated and defective style. [Such style!] To speak thus is treason in the realms and under the laws of language." Again, p. 175: "Cultivate figure-making habitudes. This is done by asking the spiritual import of every physical object seen; also by forming the habit of constantly metaphorizing. Knock at the door of anything met which interests, and ask, 'Who lives here?' The process is to look, then close the eyes, then look within." The blundering inanity of this kind of writing is equaled only by its bumptious grandiloquence. On p. 137 Dr. Townsend quotes this wholesome admonition from Coleridge: "If men would only say what they have to say in plain terms, how much more eloquent they would be!" As an example of reportorial highfalutin, I submit the following: "The spirit of departed day had joined communion with the myriad ghosts of centuries, and four full hours fled into eternity before the citizens of many parts of the town found out there was a freshet here at all."

HINTS. "Never write about any matter that you do not well understand. If you clearly understand all about your matter, you will never want thoughts, and thoughts instantly become words.

"One of the greatest of all faults in writing and in speaking is this: the using of many words to _say little_. In order to guard yourself against this fault, inquire what is the _substance_, or _amount_, of what you have said. Take a long speech of some talking Lord and put down upon paper what the amount of it is. You will most likely find that the _amount_ is very small; but at any rate, when you get it, you will then be able to examine it and to tell what it is worth. A very few examinations of the sort will so frighten you that you will be for ever after upon your guard against _talking a great deal_ and _saying little_."--Cobbett.

"Be simple, be unaffected, be honest in your speaking and writing. Never use a long word where a short one will do. Call a spade _a spade_, not a _well-known oblong instrument of manual husbandry_; let home be _home_, not a _residence_; a place a _place_, not a _locality_; and so of the rest. Where a short word will do, you always lose by using a long one. You lose in clearness; you lose in honest expression of your meaning; and, in the estimation of all men who are qualified to judge, you lose in reputation for ability. The only true way to shine, even in this false world, is to be modest and unassuming. Falsehood may be a very thick crust, but, in the course of time, truth will find a place to break through. Elegance of language may not be in the power of all of us; but simplicity and straightforwardness are. Write much as you would speak; speak as you think. If with your inferiors, speak no coarser than usual; if with your superiors, no finer. Be what you say; and, within the rules of prudence, say what you are."--Dean Alford.

"Go critically over what you have written, and strike out every word, phrase, and clause which it is found will leave the sentence neither less clear nor less forcible than it is without them."--Swinton.

"With all watchfulness, it is astonishing what slips are made, even by good writers, in the employment of an inappropriate word. In Gibbon's 'Rise and Fall,' the following instance occurs: 'Of nineteen tyrants who started up after the reign of Gallienus, there was not one who _enjoyed_ a life of peace or a natural _death_.' Alison, in his 'History of Europe,' writes: 'Two great sins--one of _omission_ and one of commission--have been _committed_ by the states of Europe in modern times.' And not long since a worthy Scotch minister, at the close of the services, intimated his intention of visiting some of his people as follows: 'I intend, during this week, to visit in Mr. M----'s district, and will on this occasion take the opportunity of _embracing_ all the servants in the district.' When worthies such as these offend, who shall call the bellman in question as he cries, 'Lost, a silver-handled silk lady's parasol'?

"The proper arrangement of words into sentences and paragraphs gives clearness and strength. To attain a clear and pithy style, it may be necessary to cut down, to rearrange, and to rewrite whole passages of an essay. Gibbon wrote his 'Memoirs' six times, and the first chapter of his 'History' three times. Beginners are always slow to prune or cast away any thought or expression which may have cost labor. They forget that brevity is no sign of thoughtlessness. Much consideration is needed to compress the details of any subject into small compass. Essences are more difficult to prepare, and therefore more valuable, than weak solutions. Pliny wrote to one of his friends, 'I have not time to write you a short letter, therefore I have written you a long one.' Apparent elaborateness is always distasteful and weak. Vividness and strength are the product of an easy command of those small trenchant Saxon monosyllables which abound in the English language."--"Leisure Hour."

"As a rule, the student will do well to banish for the present all thought of ornament or elegance, and to aim only at expressing himself plainly and clearly. The best ornament is always that which comes unsought. Let him not beat about the bush, but go straight to the point. Let him remember that what is written is meant to be read; that time is short; and that--other things being equal--the fewer words the better.... Repetition is a far less serious fault than obscurity. Young writers are often unduly afraid of repeating the same word, and require to be reminded that it is always better to use the right word over again than to replace it by a wrong one--and a word which is liable to be misunderstood is a wrong one. A frank repetition of a word has even sometimes a kind of charm--as bearing the stamp of _truth_, the foundation of all excellence of style."--Hall.

"A young writer is afraid to be simple; he has no faith in beauty unadorned, hence he crowds his sentences with superlatives. In his estimation, turgidity passes for eloquence, and simplicity is but another name for that which is weak and unmeaning."--George Washington Moon.

HONORABLE. See REVEREND.

HOW. "I have heard _how_ in Italy one is beset on all sides by beggars": read, "heard _that_." "I have heard _how_ some critics have been pacified with claret and a supper, and others laid asleep with soft notes of flattery."--Dr. Johnson. The _how_ in this sentence also should be _that_. _How_ means the _manner in which_. We may, therefore, say, "I have heard _how_ he went about it to circumvent you."

"And it is good judgment alone can dictate _how far_ to proceed in it and _when_ to stop." Cobbett comments on this sentence in this wise: "Dr. Watts is speaking here of writing. In such a case, an adverb, like _how far_, expressive of longitudinal space, introduces a _rhetorical figure_; for the plain meaning is, that judgment will dictate _how much to write on it_ and not _how far to proceed in it_. The figure, however, is very proper and much better than the literal words. But when a figure is _begun_ it should be carried on throughout, which is not the case here; for the Doctor begins with a figure of longitudinal space and ends with a figure of _time_. It should have been, _where_ to stop. Or, how _long_ to proceed in it and _when_ to stop. To tell a man _how far_ he is to go into the Western countries of America, and _when_ he is to stop, is a very different thing from telling him _how far_ he is to go and _where_ he is to stop. I have dwelt thus on this distinction for the purpose of putting you on the watch and guarding you against confounding figures. The less you use them the better, till you understand more about them."

HUMANITARIANISM. This word, in its original, theological sense, means the doctrine that denies the godhead of Jesus Christ, and avers that he was possessed of a human nature only; a _humanitarian_, therefore, in the theological sense, is one who believes this doctrine. The word and its derivatives are, however, nowadays, both in this country and in England, most used in a humane, philanthropic sense; thus, "The audience enthusiastically endorsed the _humanitarianism_ of his eloquent discourse."--Hatton.

HUNG. See HANGED.

HURRY. Though widely different in meaning, both the verb and the noun _hurry_ are continually used for _haste_ and _hasten_. _Hurry_ implies not only _haste_, but haste with confusion, flurry; while _haste_ implies only rapidity of action, an eager desire to make progress, and, unlike _hurry_, is not incompatible with deliberation and dignity. It is often wise to _hasten_ in the affairs of life; but, as it is never wise to proceed without forethought and method, it is never wise to _hurry_. Sensible people, then, may be often in _haste_, but are never in a _hurry_; and we tell others to _make haste_, and not to _hurry up_.

HYPERBOLE. The magnifying of things beyond their natural limits is called _hyperbole_. Language that signifies, literally, more than the exact truth, more than is really intended to be represented, by which a thing is represented greater or less, better or worse than it really is, is said to be _hyperbolical_. Hyperbole is exaggeration.

"Our common forms of compliment are almost all of them extravagant _hyperboles_."--Blair.

Some examples are the following:

"Rivers of blood and hills of slain."

"They were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions."

"The sky shrunk upward with unusual dread,
And trembling Tiber div'd beneath his bed."

"So frowned the mighty combatants, that hell
Grew darker at their frown."

"I saw their chief tall as a rock of ice; his spear the blasted fir; his shield the rising moon; he sat on the shore like a cloud of mist on a hill."

ICE-CREAM--ICE-WATER. As for ice-cream, there is no such thing, as ice-cream would be the product of frozen cream, i. e., cream made from ice by melting. What is called ice-cream is cream _iced_; hence, properly, _iced_ cream and not _ice_-cream. The product of melted ice is _ice_-water, whether it be cold or warm; but water made cold with ice is _iced_ water, and not _ice_-water.

IF. "I doubt _if_ this will ever reach you": say, "I doubt _whether_ this will ever reach you."

ILL. See SICK.

ILLY. It will astonish not a few to learn that there is no such word as _illy_. The form of the adverb, as well as of the adjective and the noun, is _ill_. A thing is _ill_ formed, or _ill_ done, or _ill_ made, or _ill_ constructed, or _ill_ put together.

"_Ill_ fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay."--Goldsmith.

IMMODEST. This adjective and its synonyms, _indecent_ and _indelicate_, are often used without proper discrimination being made in their respective meanings. _Indecency_ and _immodesty_ are opposed to morality: the former in externals, as dress, words, and looks; the latter in conduct and disposition. "_Indecency_," says Crabb, "may be a partial, _immodesty_ is a positive and entire breach of the moral law. _Indecency_ is less than _immodesty_, but more than _indelicacy_." It is _indecent_ for a man to marry again very soon after the death of his wife. It is _indelicate_ for any one to obtrude himself upon another's retirement. It is _indecent_ for women to expose their persons as do some whom we can not call _immodest_.

"Immodest words admit of no defense,
For want of decency is want of sense."
--Earl of Roscommon.

IMPROPRIETY. As a rhetorical term, defined as an error in using words in a sense different from their recognized signification.

IMPUTE. Non-painstaking writers not unfrequently use _impute_ instead of _ascribe_. "The numbers [of blunders] that have been _imputed_ to him are endless."--"Appletons' Journal." The use of _impute_ in this connection is by no means indefensible; still it would have been better to use _ascribe_.

IN OUR MIDST. The phrases _in our midst_ and _in their midst_ are generally supposed to be of recent introduction; and, though they have been used by some respectable writers, they nevertheless find no favor with those who study propriety in the use of language. To the phrase _in the midst_ no one objects. "Jesus came and stood in the midst." "There was a hut _in the midst_ of the forest."

IN RESPECT OF. "The deliberate introduction of incorrect forms, whether by the coinage of new or the revival of obsolete and inexpressive syntactical combinations, ought to be resisted even in trifles, especially where it leads to the confusion of distinct ideas. An example of this is the recent use of the adverbial phrases _in respect of_, _in regard of_, for _in_ or _with_ respect _to_, or regard _to_. This innovation is without any syntactical ground, and ought to be condemned and avoided as a mere grammatical crotchet."--George P. Marsh, "Lectures on the English Language," p. 660.

IN SO FAR AS. A phrase often met with, and in which the _in_ is superfluous. "A want of proper opportunity would suffice, _in_ so far as the want could be shown." "We are to act up to the extent of our knowledge; but, _in_ so far as our knowledge falls short," etc.

INAUGURATE. This word, which means to install in office with certain ceremonies, is made, by many lovers of big words, to do service for _begin_; but the sooner these rhetorical high-fliers stop _inaugurating_ and content themselves with simply _beginning_ the things they are called upon to do in the ordinary routine of daily life, the sooner they will cease to set a very bad example.

INDECENT. See IMMODEST.

INDEX EXPURGATORIUS. William Cullen Bryant, who was a careful student of English, while he was editor of the "New York Evening Post," sought to prevent the writers for that paper from using "over and above (for 'more than'); artiste (for 'artist'); aspirant; authoress; beat (for 'defeat'); bagging (for 'capturing'); balance (for 'remainder'); banquet (for 'dinner' or 'supper'); bogus; casket (for 'coffin'); claimed (for 'asserted'); collided; commence (for 'begin'); compete; cortége (for 'procession'); cotemporary (for 'contemporary'); couple (for 'two'); darky (for 'negro'); day before yesterday (for 'the day before yesterday'); début; decrease (as a verb); democracy (applied to a political party); develop (for 'expose'); devouring element (for 'fire'); donate; employé; enacted (for 'acted'); indorse (for 'approve'); en route; esq.; graduate (for 'is graduated'); gents (for 'gentlemen'); 'Hon.'; House (for 'House of Representatives'); humbug; inaugurate (for 'begin'); in our midst; item (for 'particle, extract, or paragraph'); is being done, and all passives of this form; jeopardize; jubilant (for 'rejoicing'); juvenile (for 'boy'); lady (for 'wife'); last (for 'latest'); lengthy (for 'long'); leniency (for 'lenity'); loafer; loan or loaned (for 'lend' or 'lent'); located; majority (relating to places or circumstances, for 'most'); Mrs. President, Mrs. Governor, Mrs. General, and all similar titles; mutual (for 'common'); official (for 'officer'); ovation; on yesterday; over his signature; pants (for 'pantaloons'); parties (for 'persons'); partially (for 'partly'); past two weeks (for 'last two weeks,' and all similar expressions relating to a definite time); poetess; portion (for 'part'); posted (for 'informed'); progress (for 'advance'); reliable (for 'trustworthy'); rendition (for 'performance'); repudiate (for 'reject' or 'disown'); retire (as an active verb); Rev. (for 'the Rev.'); rôle (for 'part'); roughs; rowdies; secesh; sensation (for 'noteworthy event'); standpoint (for 'point of view'); start, in the sense of setting out; state (for 'say'); taboo; talent (for 'talents' or 'ability'); talented; tapis; the deceased; war (for 'dispute' or 'disagreement')."

This index is offered here as a curiosity rather than as a guide, though in the main it might safely be used as such. No valid reason, however, can be urged for discouraging the use of several words in the list; the words aspirant, banquet, casket, compete, decrease, progress, start, talented, and deceased, for example.

INDICATIVE AND SUBJUNCTIVE. "'I _see_ the signal,' is unconditional; '_if_ I _see_ the signal,' is the same fact expressed in the form of a condition. The one form is said to be in the _indicative_ mood, the mood that simply _states or indicates_ the action; the other form is in the _subjunctive_, conditional, or conjunctive mood. There is sometimes a slight variation made in English, to show that an affirmation is made as a condition. The mood is called 'subjunctive,' because the affirmation _is subjoined to_ another affirmation: '_If I see the signal_, I will call out.'

"Such forms as 'I may see,' 'I can see,' have sometimes been considered as a variety of mood, to which the name 'Potential' is given. But this can not properly be maintained. There is no trace of any inflection corresponding to this meaning, as we find with the subjunctive. Moreover, such a mood would have itself to be subdivided into indicative and subjunctive forms: 'I may go,' 'if I may go.' And further, we might proceed to constitute other moods on the same analogy, as, for example, an obligatory mood--'I must go,' or 'I ought to go'; a mood of resolution--'I will go, you shall go'; a mood of gratification--'I am delighted to go'; of deprecation--'I am grieved to go.' The only difference in the two last instances is the use of the sign of the infinitive 'to,' which does not occur after 'may,' 'can,' 'must,' 'ought,' etc.; but that is not an essential difference. Some grammarians consider the form 'I do go' a separate mood, and term it the emphatic mood. But all the above objections apply to it likewise, as well as many others."--Bain. See SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

INDIVIDUAL. This word is often most improperly used for _person_; as, "The _individual_ I saw was not over forty"; "There were several _individuals_ on board that I had never seen before." _Individual_ means, etymologically, that which can not be divided, and is used, in speaking of things as well as of persons, to express unity. It is opposed to the whole, or that which is divisible into parts.

INDORSE. Careful writers generally discountenance the use of _indorse_ in the sense of _sanction_, _approve_, _applaud_. In this signification it is on the list of prohibited words in some of our newspaper offices. "The following rules are _indorsed_ by nearly all writers upon this subject."--Dr. Townsend. It is plain that the right word to use here is _approved_. "The public will heartily _indorse_ the sentiments uttered by the court."--New York "Evening Telegram." "The public will heartily _approve_ the sentiments _expressed_ by the court," is what the sentence should be.

INFINITIVE MOOD. When we can choose, it is generally better to use the verb in the infinitive than in the participial form. "Ability being in general the power _of doing_," etc. Say, _to do_. "I desire to reply ... to the proposal _of substituting_ a tax upon land values ... and _making_ this tax, as near [nearly] as may be, equal to rent," etc. Say, _to substitute_ and _to make_. "This quality is of prime importance when the chief object is _the imparting of_ knowledge." Say, _to impart_.

INITIATE. This is a pretentious word, which, with its derivatives, many persons--especially those who like to be grandiloquent--use, when homely English would serve their turn much better.

INNUMERABLE NUMBER. A repetitional expression to be avoided. We may say _innumerable_ times, or _numberless_ times, but we should not say an _innumerable number_ of times.

INTERROGATION. The rhetorical figure that asks a question in order to emphasize the reverse of what is asked is called _interrogation_; as, "Do we mean to submit to this measure? Do we mean to submit, and consent that we ourselves, our country and its rights, shall be trampled on?"

"Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?"

INTRODUCE. See PRESENT.

IRONY. That mode of speech in which what is meant is contrary to the literal meaning of the words--in which praise is bestowed when censure is intended--is called _irony_. Irony is a kind of delicate sarcasm or satire--raillery, mockery.

"In writings of humor, figures are sometimes used of so delicate a nature that it shall often happen that some people will see things in a direct contrary sense to what the author and the majority of the readers understand them: to such the most innocent _irony_ may appear irreligion."--Cambridge.

IRRITATE. See AGGRAVATE.

IS BEING BUILT. A tolerable idea of the state of the discussion regarding the propriety of using the locution _is being built_, and all like expressions, will, it is hoped, be obtained from the following extracts. The Rev. Peter Bullions, in his "Grammar of the English Language," says:

"There is properly _no passive_ form, in English, _corresponding to the progressive_ form in the _active_ voice, except where it is made by the participle _ing_, in a passive sense; thus, 'The house is building'; 'The garments are making'; 'Wheat is selling,' etc. An attempt has been made by some grammarians, of late, to banish such expressions from the language, though they have been used in all time past by the best writers, and to justify and defend a clumsy solecism, which has been recently introduced chiefly through the newspaper press, but which has gained such currency, and is becoming so familiar to the ear, that it seems likely to prevail, with all its uncouthness and deformity. I refer to such expressions as 'The house is being built'; 'The letter is being written'; 'The mine is being worked'; 'The news is being telegraphed,' etc., etc.

"This mode of expression _had no existence_ in the language till _within the last fifty years_.[7] This, indeed, would not make the expression wrong, were it otherwise unexceptionable; but its recent origin shows that it is not, as is pretended, a _necessary_ form.

"This form of expression, when analyzed, is found not to express what it is intended to express, and would be used only by such as are either ignorant of its import or are careless and loose in their use of language. To make this manifest, let it be considered, first, that there is _no progressive form_ of the verb _to be_, and no need of it; hence, there is no such expression in English as _is being_. Of course the expression '_is being_ built,' for example, is not a compound of _is being_ and _built_, but of _is_ and _being built_; that is, of the verb _to be_ and the _present participle passive_. Now, let it be observed that the only verbs in which the present participle passive expresses a continued action are those mentioned above as the first class, in which the regular passive form expresses a _continuance_ of the action; as, _is loved_, _is desired_, etc., and in which, of course, the form in question (_is being built_) is not required. Nobody would think of saying, 'He is being loved'; 'This result is being desired.'

"The use of this form is justified only by _condemning an established usage_ of the language; namely, the passive sense in some verbs of the participle in _ing_. In reference to this it is flippantly asked, 'What does the house build?' 'What does the letter write?' etc.--taking for granted, without attempting to prove, that the participle in _ing_ can not have a passive sense in any verb. The following are a few examples from writers of the best reputation, which this novelty would condemn: 'While the ceremony was performing.'--Tom. Brown. 'The court was then holding.'--Sir G. McKenzie. 'And still be doing, never done.'--Butler. 'The books are selling.'--Allen's 'Grammar.' 'To know nothing of what is transacting in the regions above us.'--Dr. Blair. 'The spot where this new and strange tragedy was acting.'--E. Everett. 'The fortress was building.'--Irving. 'An attempt is making in the English parliament.'--D. Webster. 'The church now erecting in the city of New York.'--'N. A. Review.' 'These things were transacting in England.'--Bancroft.

"This new doctrine is in _opposition_ to the almost _unanimous judgment_ of the _most distinguished grammarians_ and critics, who have considered the subject, and expressed their views concerning it. The following are a specimen: 'Expressions of this kind are condemned by some critics; but the usage is unquestionably of far better authority, and (according to my apprehension) in far better taste, than the more complex phraseology which some late writers adopt in its stead; as, "The books are now being sold."'--Goold Brown. 'As to the notion of introducing a new and more complex passive form of conjugation, as, "The bridge _is being built_," "The bridge _was being built_," and so forth, it is one of the most absurd and monstrous innovations ever thought of. "The work _is now being published_," is certainly no better English than, "The work _was being published_, _has been being published_, _had been being published_, _shall or will be being published_, _shall or will have been being published_," and so on through all the moods and tenses. What a language shall we have when our verbs are thus conjugated!'--Brown's 'Gr. of Eng. Gr.,' p. 361. De War observes: 'The participle in _ing_ is also passive in many instances; as, "The house is building," "I heard of a plan forming,"' etc.--Quoted in 'Frazee's Grammar,' p. 49. 'It would be an absurdity, indeed, to give up the only way we have of denoting the incomplete state of action by a passive form (viz., by the participle in _ing_ in the passive sense).'--Arnold's 'English Grammar,' p. 46. 'The present participle is often used passively; as, "The ship is building." The form of expression, _is being built_, _is being committed_, etc., is almost universally condemned by grammarians, but it is sometimes met with in respectable writers; it occurs most frequently in newspaper paragraphs and in hasty compositions. See Worcester's "Universal and Critical Dictionary."'--Weld's 'Grammar,' pp. 118 and 180. 'When we say, "The house is building," the advocates of the new theory ask, "Building what?" We might ask, in turn, when you say, "The field ploughs well,"--"Ploughs what?" "Wheat sells well,"--"Sells what?" If usage allows us to say, "Wheat sells at a dollar," in a sense that is not active, why may we not say, "Wheat is selling at a dollar," in a sense that is not active?'--Hart's 'Grammar,' p. 76. 'The prevailing practice of the best authors is in favor of the simple form; as, "The house is building."'--Wells' 'School Grammar,' p. 148. 'Several other expressions of this sort now and then occur, such as the newfangled and most uncouth solecism "_is being done_," for the good old English idiom "_is doing_"--an absurd periphrasis driving out a pointed and pithy turn of the English language.'--'N. A. Review,' quoted by Mr. Wells, p. 148. 'The phrase, "is being built," and others of a similar kind, have been for a few years insinuating themselves into our language; still they are not English.'--Harrison's 'Rise, Progress, and Present Structure of the English Language.' 'This mode of expression [the house is being built] is becoming quite common. It is liable, however, to several important objections. It appears formal and pedantic. It has not, as far as I know, the support of any respectable grammarian. The easy and natural expression is, "The house is building."'--Prof. J. W. Gibbs."

Mr. Richard Grant White, in his "Words and Their Uses," expresses his opinion of the locution _is being_ in this wise: "In bad eminence, at the head of those intruders in language which to many persons seem to be of established respectability, but the right of which to be at all is not fully admitted, stands out the form of speech _is being done_, or rather, _is being_, which, about seventy or eighty years ago, began to affront the eye, torment the ear, and assault the common sense of the speaker of plain and idiomatic English." Mr. White devotes thirty pages of his book to the discussion of the subject, and adduces evidence that is more than sufficient to convince those who are content with an _ex parte_ examination that "it can hardly be that such an incongruous and ridiculous form of speech as _is being done_ was contrived by a man who, by any stretch of the name, should be included among grammarians."

Mr. George P. Marsh, in his "Lectures on the English Language," says that the deviser of the locution in question was "some grammatical pretender," and that it is "an awkward neologism, which neither convenience, intelligibility, nor syntactical congruity demands."

To these gentlemen, and to those who are of their way of thinking with regard to _is being_, Dr. Fitzedward Hall replies at some length, in an article published in "Scribner's Monthly" for April, 1872. Dr. Hall writes:

"'All really well educated in the English tongue lament the many innovations introduced into our language from America; and I doubt if more than one of these novelties deserve acceptation. That one is, substituting a compound participle for an active verb used in a neuter signification: for instance, "The house is _being built_," instead of, "The house is _building_."' Such is the assertion and such is the opinion of some anonymous luminary,[8] who, for his liberality in welcoming a supposed Americanism, is somewhat in advance of the herd of his countrymen. Almost any popular expression which is considered as a novelty, a Briton is pretty certain to assume, off-hand, to have originated on our side of the Atlantic. Of the assertion I have quoted, no proof is offered; and there is little probability that its author had any to offer. 'Are being,' in the phrase 'are being thrown up,'[9] is spoken of in 'The North American Review'[10] as 'an outrage upon English idiom, "to be detested, abhorred, execrated, and given over to six thousand" penny-paper editors'; and the fact is, that phrases of the form here pointed at have hitherto enjoyed very much less favor with us than with the English.

"As lately as 1860, Dr. Worcester, referring to _is being built_, etc., while acknowledging that 'this new form has been used by some respectable writers,' speaks of it as having 'been introduced' 'within a few years.' Mr. Richard Grant White, by a most peculiar process of ratiocination, endeavors to prove that what Dr. Worcester calls 'this new form' came into existence just fifty-six years ago. He premises that in Jarvis's translation of 'Don Quixote,' published in 1742, there occurs 'were carrying,' and that this, in the edition of 1818, is sophisticated into 'were being carried.' 'This change,' continues our logician, 'and the appearance of _is being_ with a perfect participle in a very few books published between A. D. 1815 and 1820, indicate the former period as that of the origin of this phraseology, which, although more than half a century old, is still pronounced a novelty as well as a nuisance.'

"Who, in the next place, devised our modern imperfects passive? The question is not, originally, of my asking; but, as the learned are at open feud on the subject, it should not be passed by in silence. Its deviser is, more than likely, as undiscoverable as the name of the valiant antediluvian who first tasted an oyster. But the deductive character of the miscreant is another thing; and hereon there is a war between the philosophers. Mr. G. P. Marsh, as if he had actually spotted the wretched creature, passionately and categorically denounces him as 'some grammatical pretender.' 'But,' replies Mr. White, 'that it is the work of any grammarian is more than doubtful. Grammarians, with all their faults, do not deform language with fantastic solecisms, or even seek to enrich it with new and startling verbal combinations. They rather resist novelty, and devote themselves to formulating that which use has already established.' In the same page with this, Mr. White compliments the great unknown as 'some precise and feeble-minded soul,' and elsewhere calls him 'some pedantic writer of the last generation.' To add even one word toward a solution of the knotty point here indicated transcends, I confess, my utmost competence. It is painful to picture to one's self the agonizing emotions with which certain philologists would contemplate an authentic effigy of the Attila of speech who, by his _is being built_ or _is being done_, first offered violence to the whole circle of the proprieties. So far as I have observed, the first grammar that exhibits them is that of Mr. R. S. Skillern, M. A., the first edition of which was published at Gloucester in 1802. Robert Southey had not, on the 9th of October, 1795, been out of his minority quite two months when, evidently delivering himself in a way that had already become familiar enough, he wrote of 'a fellow whose uttermost upper grinder _is being torn out_ by the roots by a mutton-fisted barber.'[11] This is in a letter. But repeated instances of the same kind of expression are seen in Southey's graver writings. Thus, in his 'Colloquies,' etc.,[12] we read of 'such [nunneries] as at this time _are being reëstablished_.'

"'While my hand _was being drest_ by Mr. Young, I spoke for the first time,' wrote Coleridge, in March, 1797.

"Charles Lamb speaks of realities which '_are being acted_ before us,' and of 'a man who _is being strangled_.'

"Walter Savage Landor, in an imaginary conversation, represents Pitt as saying: 'The man who possesses them may read Swedenborg and Kant while he _is being tossed_ in a blanket.' Again: 'I have seen nobles, men and women, kneeling in the street before these bishops, when no ceremony of the Catholic Church _was being performed_.' Also, in a translation from Catullus: 'Some criminal _is being tried_ for murder.'

"Nor does Mr. De Quincey scruple at such English as 'made and _being made_,' 'the bride that _was being married_ to him,' and 'the shafts of Heaven _were_ even now _being forged_.' On one occasion he writes, 'Not done, not even (according to modern purism) _being done_'; as if 'purism' meant exactness, rather than the avoidance of neoterism.

"I need, surely, name no more, among the dead, who found _is being built_, or the like, acceptable. 'Simple-minded common people and those of culture were alike protected against it by their attachment to the idiom of their mother tongue, with which they felt it to be directly at variance.' So Mr. White informs us. But the writers whom I have quoted are formidable exceptions. Even Mr. White will scarcely deny to them the title of 'people of culture.'

"So much for offenders past repentance; and we all know that the sort of phraseology under consideration is daily becoming more and more common. The best written of the English reviews, magazines, and journals are perpetually marked by it; and some of the choicest of living English writers employ it freely. Among these, it is enough if I specify Bishop Wilberforce and Mr. Charles Reade.[13]