until, before. Until (or till) means to the time that; do not use it for before: 1. We will wait until you return. 2. Hardly a week passes by before the pupils feel benefited. (Not until'.) up. The adverb up is often used in the sense of completely, but it should not be used redundantly (§ 413): 1. To burn up; to eat up; to drink up. 2. To finish a letter; open a door. (Not'finish up', etc.) 3. To settle an account; to write a description. up to date. "This detestable phrase", says the Westminster Gazette. Avoid ' up to date' and such expressions as 'bank on' (= depend on) and 'take stock in' (= trust): 1. That book has just been revised. 2. This history extends to the present time. 3. The narrative has been brought down to the present. 4. Only the most modern appliances are used. 5. His machine is of the latest type. 6. This play is up to the present standard. used to. Do not omit the infinitive after used to; do not pronounce used to or use to yoōs'tŭ: He used to go. He used not (or, colloq., § 380, didn't use) to go. useless, worthless. Do not use 'no good' or 'no use' for good for nothing, useless, or worthless: 1. The old watch was worthless. (Not 'no good'.) 2. It was useless to ask him. (Not 'no use '.) valuable, valued. A thing (or person) is valuable which commands a good price or has considerable worth in any other respect; a person is valued who is highly regarded: 1. A valuable horse; a valuable invention; valuable advice. 2. A valued friend; our most valued fellow townsman. verbs. Do not use can for may (§ 184); will for shall (§ 178); would for should (§ 187). Do not make verbs at random; see handwritten. vex, irritate. Do not say 'rile' for vex, irritate, annoy, and the like: 1. He was vexed (irritated, disturbed) by the news. want, wish, desire. Want, used colloquially, may be followed by an infinitive, but not by a clause; wish or desire may be followed by either; do not say 'I want in ', 'I want out', and the like; want in the sense of ought to or should is colloquial: 1. They may want bread and water; she desired to go. 3. They desire her to remain (or that she remain, or that she should remain). 4. She wants (colloquial) to come in. (Not 'wants in '.) 5. You don't want to do that. (Colloquial.) was, were. Do not use was for were (§§ 335, 339): 1. If he was there, I did not see him. 2. If he were here, I should be glad. 3. If you were to go away, I should be sorry. (Not 'was'.) way. Do not use 'ways' for way; nor 'way' for away (see away); to denote manner, use in that way: 1. The river is a long way off. (Not 'ways'.) we, you, etc. Do not use 'one' for we, you, etc. See § гоб. weekly, biweekly, etc. The words weekly, semiweekly, biennial, triennial, and so on, have distinct meanings, and are good words. Biweekly is objectionable, because it may mean 'twice a week' or 'every two weeks'; use semiweekly in the first case, and semimonthly in the second. Similarly, triweekly may mean 'three times a week' or 'every three weeks'; unless the meaning is clear (as in 'semiweekly and triweekly newspapers ') use the longer expressions, 'three times a week', 'every three weeks'. well, good. Do not use 'good' for well (§ 239). when, where. Do not use as a definition a clause beginning with when or where (see because): 1. The interesting event of the day was the arrival of the mail. (Not 'was when the mail arrived '.) 2. A hospital is a place for the care of the sick and injured. (Or, 'is a place where the sick and injured are cared for'; but not 'is where the sick and injured are cared for '.) whereabouts. Whereabouts is singular (§ 205, 24). while. While means 'during the time that'; then it often has an adversative sense approaching although; do not use it for whereas or a mere and: 1. He studies while the rest of us sleep. 2. While we condemn the act, let us not condemn the man. 3. They claimed victory, whereas they were defeated. 4. The piano was in a corner of the room, and a lamp stood near it. (Not 'while '.) -wise, -ways. Use endwise, lengthwise, sidewise, etc., rather than 'endways', etc. with regard to, etc. Say 'in or with regard to', 'with reference to', 'with respect to'. See § 287. within. Do not use 'inside of' for within or in less than : He will be at home within a week. woman, woman's, etc. See §§ 149, 151. wonderful. Wonderful means astonishing, marvelous (§ 415); its general use for good, excellent, interesting, instructive, successful, beautiful, and the like should be avoided : I. A wonderful view; a wonderful piece of machinery. worst kind. Do not use the worst kind for greatly or much: would rather. Do not say 'would better'. See § 244 and N. write-up. 'Write-up', for account, description, or the like, is American journalistic cant. you were. Do not say 'you was' for you were. See §§ 59, 196. CHAPTER VII WORDS OFTEN MISPRONOUNCED A man's character is known from his conversation. - MENANDER. Such rackers of orthography, as to speak dout fine, when he should say doubt; det, when he should pronounce debt; debt, not det: he clepeth a calf cauf; half, hauf. - SHAKESPEARE. 418. Value of correct pronunciation. If we agree with the Greek poet Menander that a man's character is known from his conversation, ought we not to be particular not only about the choice and use of words, but about their pronunciation? Correct pronunciation, like correct grammar and graceful style, adds charm to any personality. 419. Common words mispronounced. Most of the words in § 423 are in common use. Most of them have but one correct pronunciation. Most of them are mispronounced every day. Some of the commonest of them are often mispronounced even by educated people. 420. Words varying in pronunciation. Some of the words in the list have two or more accepted pronunciations. These words are followed by W (Webster), or O (Oxford), or W-O (Webster-Oxford), to indicate that the pronunciation given is preferred in Webster's New International Dictionary, or in the Oxford English Dictionary, or in both these authorities, as representing the best present usage in the United States and the south of England. When these two authorities do not agree on the preferred pronunciation of a word, the pronunciation preferred by the one is usually the second choice of the other; thus the reader usually has before him the first and second choices of both these authorities. For example, illustrate is pronounced i-lŭs'trāt or il'us-trāt in Webster, and il'us-trāt or i-lus'trāt in the Oxford English Dictionary. The abbreviations a., n., v., adv., stand for adjective, noun, verb, adverb. 421. Typical words. The list contains certain typical words which are intended to be a guide in the pronunciation of similar words. For example, many words which have the sound of u in use are commonly pronounced as if they had the sound of oo in boot: tūne (pronounced tyoon; not toon); dew and new rime with few (not with 'do'). Words ending in a long o-sound (0) should not be pronounced as if they ended in ŭ: fõl'lōw, měad'ōw, win'dōw (not föl'ŭ, měad'ŭ, win'dů). Short e (e) should not be pronounced like u in up or in ûrn: gov'ern-ment (not gov'er-munt), A-měr'i-ca (not a-mûr'i-ca). 422. Words ending in ide, ine, ile. The pronunciation of the ending ide in chemical terms varies between id and id; but usage is decidedly in favor of id, especially in words of long standing. The pronunciation of ine is threefold, în, ēn, and in; in most words the Oxford English Dictionary gives in only, whereas Webster gives en as the usual pronunciation of chemists in the United States. The ending ile is usually pronounced il in British usage, and il in the United States (as, fer'tile, fer'tile; hos'tile, hos'tile). 423. Acquiring correct pronunciation; caution. To acquire the correct pronunciation of the words in the list below, pronounce each word aloud several times, with exaggerated stress on the accented syllable. Learn to write the words with their diacritical marks; this will help you to use the dictionary. Be careful not to add or omit letters or syllables, or to transpose them. For example, idea is pronounced i-dē'à (not ī'de-à or i-dē'ar); really is pronounced rē'al-i (not rē'li); casualties is pronounced kăzh'ū-al-tiz (not kăzh-ū-ăl'i-tiz). |