Write It Right by Ambrose Bierce (recommended ebook reader TXT) 📕

may nevertheless be a Negro or a Caucasian; but if he is not white nor black he belongs to some other race. See _Neither_.

_Ordinarily_ for _Usually_. Clumsy.

_Ovation_. In ancient Rome an ovation was an inferior triumph accorded to victors in minor wars or unimportant battle. Its character and limitations, like those of the triumph, were strictly defined by law and custom. An enthusiastic demonstration in honor of an American civilian is nothing like that, and should not be called by its name.

_Over_ for _About_, _In_, or _Concerning_. "Don't cry over spilt milk." "He rejoiced over his acquittal."

_Over_ for _More than_. "A sum of over ten thousand dollars." "Upward of ten thousand dollars" is equally objectionable.

_Over_ for _On_. "The policeman struck him over the head." If the blow was over the head it did not hit him.

_Over with_. "Let us have it over with." Omit with. A better expression is, Let us get done with it.

_Outside of_. Omit the preposition.

_Pair_ for _Pairs_. If a word has a good plural use each form in its place.

_Pants_ for _Trousers_. Abbreviated from pantaloons, which are no longer worn. Vulgar exceedingly.

_Partially_ for _Partly_. A dictionary word, to swell the book.

_Party_ for _Person_. "A party named Brown." The word, used in that sense, has the excuse that it is a word. Otherwise it is no better than "pants" and "gent." A person making an agreement, however, is a party to that agreement.

_Patron_ for _Customer_.

_Pay_ for _Give_, _Make_, etc. "He pays attention." "She paid a visit to Niagara." It is conceivable that one may owe attention or a visit to another person, but one cannot be indebted to a place.

_Pay_. "Laziness does not pay." "It does not pay to be uncivil." This use of the word is grossly commercial. Say, Indolence is unprofitable. There is no advantage in incivility.

_Peek_ for _Peep_. Seldom heard in England, though common here. "I peeked out through the curtain and saw him." That it is a variant of peep is seen in the child's word peek-a-boo, equivalent to bo-peep. Better use the senior word.

_Peculiar_ for _Odd_, or _Unusual_. Also sometimes used to denote distinction, or particularity. Properly a thing is peculiar only to another thing, of which it is characteristic, nothing else having it; as knowledge of the use of fire is peculiar to Man.

_People_ for _Persons_. "Three people were killed." "Many people are superstitious." People has retained its parity of meaning with the Latin _populus_, whence it comes, and the word is not properly used except to designate a population, or large fractions of it considered in the mass. To speak of any stated or small number of persons as people is incorrect.

_Per_. "Five dollars _per_ day." "Three _per_ hundred." Say, three dollars a day; three in a hundred. If you must use the Latin preposition use the Latin noun too: _per diem; per centum_.

_Perpetually_ for _Continually_. "The child is perpetually asking questions." What is done perpetually is done continually and forever.

_Phenomenal_ for _Extraordinary_, or _Surprising_. Everything that occurs is phenomenal, for all that we know about is phenomena, appearances. Of realities, noumena, we are ignorant.

_Plead_ (pronounced "pled") for _Pleaded_. "He plead guilty."

_Plenty_ for _Plentiful_. "Fish and fowl were plenty."

_Poetess_. A foolish word, like "authoress."

_Poetry_ for _Verse_. Not all verse is poetry; not all poetry is verse. Few persons can know, or hope to know, the one from the other, but he who has the humility to doubt (if such a one there be) should say verse if the composition is metrical.

_Point Blank_. "He fired at him point blank." This usually is intended to mean directly, or at short range. But point blank means the point at which the line of sight is crossed downward by the trajectory--the curve described by the missile.

_Poisonous_ for _Venomous_. Hemlock is poisonous, but a rattlesnake is venomous.

_Politics_. The word is not plural because it happens to end with s.

_Possess_ for _Have_. "To possess knowledge is to possess power." Possess is lacking in naturalness and unduly emphasizes the concept of ownership.

_Practically_ for _Virtually_. This error is very common. "It is practically conceded." "The decision was practically unanimous." "The panther and the cougar are practically the same animal." These and similar misapplications of the word are virtually without excuse.

_Predicate_ for _Found_, or _Base_. "I predicate my argument on universal experience." What is predicated of something is affirmed as an attribute of it, as omnipotence is predicated of the Deity.

_Prejudice_ for _Prepossession_. Literally, a prejudice is merely a prejudgment--a decision before evidence--and may be favorable or unfavorable, but it is so much more frequently used in the latter sense than in the former that clarity is better got by the other word for reasonless approval.

_Preparedness_ for _Readiness_. An awkward and needless word much used in discussion of national armaments, as, "Our preparedness for war."

_Preside_. "Professor Swackenhauer presided at the piano." "The deviled crab table was presided over by Mrs. Dooley." How would this sound? "The ginger pop stand was under the administration of President Woolwit, and Professor Sooffle presided at the flute."

_Pretend_ for _Profess_. "I do not pretend to be infallible." Of course not; one does not care to confess oneself a pretender. To pretend is to try to deceive; one may profess quite honestly.

_Preventative_ for _Preventive_. No such word as preventative.

_Previous_ for _Previously_. "The man died previous to receipt of the letter."

_Prior to_ for _Before_. Stilted.

_Propose_ for _Purpose_, or _Intend_. "I propose to go to Europe." A mere intention is not a proposal.

_Proposition_ for _Proposal_. "He made a proposition." In current slang almost anything is a proposition. A difficult enterprise is "a tough proposition," an agile wrestler, "a slippery proposition," and so forth.

_Proportions_ for _Dimensions_. "A rock of vast proportions." Proportions relate to form; dimensions to magnitude.

_Proven_ for _Proved_. Good Scotch, but bad English.

_Proverbial_ for _Familiar_. "The proverbial dog in the manger." The animal is not "proverbial" for it is not mentioned in a proverb, but in a fable.

_Quit_ for _Cease_, _Stop_. "Jones promises to quit drinking." In another sense, too, the word is commonly misused, as, "He has quit the town." Say, quitted.

_Quite_. "She is quite charming." If it is meant that she is entirely charming this is right, but usually the meaning intended to be conveyed is less than that--that she is rather, or somewhat, charming.

_Raise_ for _Bring up_, _Grow_, _Breed_, etc. In this country a word-of-all-work: "raise children," "raise wheat," "raise cattle." Children are brought up, grain, hay and vegetables are grown, animals and poultry are bred.

_Real_ for _Really_, or _Very_. "It is real good of him." "The weather was real cold."

_Realize_ for _Conceive_, or _Comprehend_. "I could not realize the situation." Writers caring for precision use this word in the sense of to make real, not to make seem real. A dream seems real, but is actually realized when made to come true.

_Recollect_ for _Remember_. To remember is to have in memory; to recollect is to recall what has escaped from memory. We remember automatically; in recollecting we make a conscious effort.

_Redeem_ for _Retrieve_. "He redeemed his good name." Redemption (Latin _redemptio_, from _re_ and _dimere_) is allied to ransom, and carries the sense of buying back; whereas to retrieve is merely to recover what was lost.

_Redound_ for _Conduce_. "A man's honesty redounds to his advantage." We make a better use of the word if we say of one (for example) who has squandered a fortune, that its loss redounds to his advantage, for the word denotes a fluctuation, as from seeming evil to actual good; as villification may direct attention to one's excellent character.

_Refused_. "He was refused a crown." It is the crown that was refused to him. See _Given_.

_Regular_ for _Natural_, or _Customary_. "Flattery of the people is the demagogue's regular means to political preferment." Regular properly relates to a rule (_regula_) more definite than the law of antecedent and consequent.

_Reliable_ for _Trusty_, or _Trustworthy_. A word not yet admitted to the vocabulary of the fastidious, but with a strong backing for the place.

_Remit_ for _Send_. "On receiving your bill I will remit the money." Remit does not mean that; it means give back, yield up, relinquish, etc. It means, also, to cancel, as in the phrase, the remission of sins.

_Rendition_ for _Interpretation_, or _Performance_. "The actor's rendition of the part was good." Rendition means a surrender, or a giving back.

_Reportorial_. A vile word, improperly made. It assumes the Latinized spelling, "reporter." The Romans had not the word, for they were, fortunately for them, without the thing.

_Repudiate_ for _Deny_. "He repudiated the accusation."

_Reside_ for _Live_. "They reside in Hohokus." Stilted.

_Residence_ for _Dwelling_, or _House._ See _Mansion_.

_Respect_ for _Way_, or _Matter_. "They were alike in that respect." The misuse comes of abbreviating: the sentence properly written might be, They were alike in respect of that--i.e., with regard to that. The word in the bad sense has even been pluralized: "In many respects it is admirable."

_Respective_. "They went to their respective homes." The adjective here (if an adjective is thought necessary) should be several. In the adverbial form the word is properly used in the sentence following: John and James are bright and dull, respectively. That is, John is bright and James dull.

_Responsible_. "The bad weather is responsible for much sickness." "His intemperance was responsible for his crime." Responsibility is not an attribute of anything but human beings, and few of these can respond, in damages or otherwise. Responsible is nearly synonymous with accountable and answerable, which, also, are frequently misused.

_Restive_ for _Restless_. These words have directly contrary meanings; the dictionaries' disallowance of their identity would be something to be thankful for, but that is a dream.

_Retire_ for _Go to Bed_. English of the "genteel" sort. See _Genteel_.

_Rev_. for _The Rev_. "Rev. Dr. Smith."

_Reverence_ for _Revere_.

_Ride_ for _Drive_. On horseback one does drive, and in a vehicle one does ride, but a distinction is needed here, as in England; so, here as there, we may profitably make it, riding in the saddle and driving in the carriage.

_Roomer_ for _Lodger_. See _Bedder_ and _Mealer_--if you can find them.

_Round_ for _About_. "They stood round." See _Around_.

_Ruination_ for _Ruin_. Questionably derived and problematically needful.

_Run_ for _Manage_, or _Conduct_. Vulgar--hardly better than slang.

_Say_ for _Voice_. "He had no say in determining the matter." Vulgar.

_Scholar_ for _Student_, or _Pupil_. A scholar is a person who is learned, not a person who is learning.

_Score_ for _Win_, _Obtain_, etc. "He scored an advantage over his opponent." To score is not to win a point, but to record it.

_Second-handed_ for _Second-hand_. There is no such word.

_Secure_ for _Procure_. "He secured a position as book-keeper." "The dwarf secured a stick and guarded the jewels that he had found." Then it was the jewels that were secured.

_Seldom ever_. A most absurd locution.

_Self-confessed_. "A self-confessed assassin." Self is superfluous: one's sins cannot be confessed by another.

_Sensation_ for _Emotion_. "The play caused a great sensation." "A sensational newspaper." A sensation is a physical feeling; an emotion, a mental. Doubtless the one usually accompanies the other, but the good writer will name the one that he has in mind, not the other. There are few errors more common