The Century Handbook of Writing Part 36

I lie down to sleep. I lay the book on the table.

I lay there yesterday. I laid it there yesterday.

I have lain here for hours. I have laid it there many times.

=_Like_ and _as_ or _as if_.= _Like_ is in good use as a preposition, and may be followed by a noun; _as_ is in good use as a conjunction, and may be followed by a clause. "He is tall like his father." "He is tall, as his father is." "It looks _as if_ (not _like_) it were going to rain."

=_Lose_ and _loose_.= _Lose_ means _to cease having_; _loose_ as a verb means _to set free_, and as an adjective, _free, not bound_.

=_Majority_ and _plurality_.= In a loose sense, _majority_ means the _greater part_. More strictly, it means the number by which votes cast for one candidate exceed those of the opposition. A _plurality_ is the excess of votes received by one candidate over his nearest compet.i.tor. In an election A receives 500 votes; B, 400 votes; and C, 300 votes. A has a plurality of 100, but no majority.

=_Practical_ and _practicable_.= _Practical_ means _not theoretical_; _practicable_ means _capable of being put into practice_. "A practical man." "The arrangement is practicable."

=_Princ.i.p.al_ and _principle_.= _Princ.i.p.al_ as an adjective means _chief_ or _leading_; _principle_ as a noun means a _general truth_. _Princ.i.p.al_ as a noun means a _sum of money_, or the _chief official of a school_.

=_Proof_ and _evidence_.= In a law court, _proof_ is _evidence sufficient to establish a fact_; _evidence_ is _whatever is brought forward in an attempt to establish a fact_. "The evidence against the prisoner was extensive, but hardly proof of his guilt." In ordinary speech, _proof_ is sometimes loosely used as a synonym for _evidence_.

=_Pseudo-_ and _quasi-_.= As a prefix, _pseudo-_ means _false_; _quasi-_ means literally _as if_, hence _seeming_, _so-called_.

"Phrenology is a pseudo-science." "A quasi-evolutionary doctrine."

=_Quiet_ and _quite_.= _Quiet_ is an adjective meaning _calm_, _not noisy_; _quite_ is an adverb meaning _entirely_.

=_Respectfully_ and _respectively_.= _Respectfully_ means _in a courteous manner_; _respectively_ means _in a way proper to each_. "Yours _respectfully_" (not _respectively_). "He handed the commissions to Gray and Hodgins respectively."

=_Rise_ and _raise_.= _Rise_ is an intransitive verb; _raise_ is a transitive verb. "I rise to go home." "I raise vegetables."

"I raise the stone from the ground."

=_Sit_ and _set_.= _Set_, a transitive verb, means _to cause to sit_. "He sets it in the corner and it sits there." The past tense of _sit_ is _sat_.

I sit down. I always set it in its place.

He sat in this very chair. I set it in its place yesterday.

He has sat there an hour. I have always set it just here.

=_Stationary_ and _stationery_.= _Stationary_ is an adjective meaning _fixed_; _stationery_ is a noun meaning _writing material_.

=_Statue_, _stature_, and _statute_.= _Statue_ means a _carved_ or _moulded figure_; _stature_ means _height_; _statute_ means a _law_.

Exercise:

1. Insert _affect_ or _effect_: Noise does not ---- my studying. It has little ---- on me. By the exercise of will power I was able to ---- a change.

2. Insert _healthy_ or _healthful_: New Mexico has a ---- climate, Graham bread is ----. You will be ---- if you take exercise.

3. Insert _later_ or _latter_: I will see you ----. Here are two plans: the former is complex; the ---- is simple. Sooner or ---- you will learn the rule.

4. Insert _less_ or _fewer_: They have ---- money than we; we have ---- pleasures than they. It seems to me there are ---- accidents.

5. Insert _princ.i.p.al_ or _principle_: The ---- part of a clock is the pendulum, which swings regularly, according to a ---- of science. My ---- reason for trusting him is that he is a man of ----. He is the ---- of the high school. The widow spends the interest on the money, but keeps the ---- intact.

=Glossary of Faulty Diction=

=68. Avoid faulty diction.=

=_Ad_= (for _advertis.e.m.e.nt_). Avoid in formal writing and speaking.

=_Ain't_.= Never correct. Say _I'm not_, _you_ [_we_, _they_]

_aren't_, _he_ [_she_, _it_] _isn't_.

=_All the farther_, _all the faster_.= Crude. Use _as far as_, _as fast as_, in such sentences as "This is all the farther I can go."

=_As_.= (a) Incorrect in the sense of _that_ or _whether_. "I don't know _whether_ (not _as_) I can tell you." "Not _that_ (not _as_) I know." (b) _As ... as_ are correlatives. _Than_ must not replace the second _as_. Right: "As good as or better than his neighbors." "As good as his neighbors, or better [than they]." See 57.

=_Auto_.= An abbreviation not desirable in formal writing.

=_Awful_.= Means _filling with awe_ or _filled with awe_. Do not use in the sense of _uncivil_, _serious_, or _ludicrous_, or (in the adverbial form) in the sense of _very_, _extremely_.

=_Balance_.= Incorrect when used in the sense of _remainder_.

=_Because_.= Not to be used for _the fact that_. "_The fact that_ (not _because_) he is absent is no reason why we should not proceed." See 5.

=_Between_.= Used of two persons or things. Not to be confused with _among_, which is used of more than two.

=_Blame on_.= A crudity for _put the blame on_ or _blame_.

Faulty: "Don't blame it on me." Better: "Don't blame me."

=_Borned_.= A monstrosity for _born_. "I was _born_ (not _borned_) in 1899."

=_Bursted_.= The past tense of _burst_ is the same as the present.

=_Bust_ or _busted_.= Vulgar for _burst_. Right: "The balloon burst." "The bank failed."

=_But what_.= _That_ is often preferable. "I do not doubt _that_ (not _but what_) he is honest."

=_Canine_.= An adjective. Not in good use as a noun.

=_Cannot help but_.= A confusion of _can but_ and _cannot help_.

"I can but believe you"; or "I cannot help believing you"; not "I cannot help but believe you." See 34.

=_Caused by_.= To be used only when it refers definitely to a noun. Wrong: "He was disappointed, caused by the lateness of the train." The noun _disappointment_ should be used instead of the verb _disappointed_. Then caused will have a definite reference. Right: "His disappointment was caused by the lateness of the train." See 23.

=_Claim_.= Means _to demand as a right_. Incorrect for _maintain_ or _a.s.sert_.

=_Considerable_.= An adjective, not an adverb. "He talked _considerably_ (not _considerable_) about it."

=_Could of_.= An illiterate form arising from slovenly p.r.o.nunciation. Use _could have_. Avoid also _may of_, _must of_, _would of_, etc.

=_Data_.= Plural. The singular (seldom used) is _datum_. Compare _stratum_, _strata_; _erratum_, _errata_.

=_Demean_.= Means _to conduct oneself_, not _to lower_ or _to degrade_.