varsity.

MISUSED NOUNS.[22]--Many errors in English consist in using words in
senses which are not authorized. Sometimes the use of a word in a wrong
sense makes the speaker's meaning obscure. Sometimes it makes him seem
ridiculous, as when a person of the writer's acquaintance told a friend to
clean an oil-painting by washing it in "torpid" water. In every case the
misuse of a word leaves an unpleasant impression on the mind of a
cultivated person, and, like all bad English, should be avoided as we
avoid bad manners. In the following definitions and exercises a few
nouns[23] are selected for study. The distinctions given are not always
observed by reputable authors, but they indicate the _tendency_ of the
best modern usage.

I. A RESEMBLANCE IN SENSE MISLEADS.[24]

HOUSE, HOME.--A _house_ is a building. _Home_ means one's habitual
abode, "the abiding place of the affections." It may or may not be in a
house, and it may include the surroundings of a house.

PERSON, PARTY.--A _person_ is an individual, a _party_ is a company
of persons, or, in legal usage, a person who is concerned in a contention
or agreement.

SERIES, SUCCESSION.--A _series_ is a succession of similar things
mutually related according to some law. _Succession_ is properly used of
several things following one after the other; it denotes order of
occurrence only, and does not imply any connection.

STATEMENT, ASSERTION.--A _statement_ is a formal setting forth of