Write It Right - A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults by Ambrose Bierce
page 12 of 59 (20%)
page 12 of 59 (20%)
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_Commence_ for _Begin_. This is not actually incorrect, but--well, it
is a matter of taste. _Commencement_ for _Termination_. A contribution to our noble tongue by its scholastic conservators, "commencement day" being their name for the last day of the collegiate year. It is ingeniously defended on the ground that on that day those on whom degrees are bestowed commence to hold them. Lovely! _Commit Suicide_. Instead of "He committed suicide," say, He killed himself, or, He took his life. For married we do not say "committed matrimony." Unfortunately most of us do say, "got married," which is almost as bad. For lack of a suitable verb we just sometimes say committed this or that, as in the instance of bigamy, for the verb to bigam is a blessing that is still in store for us. _Compare with_ for _Compare to_. "He had the immodesty to compare himself with Shakespeare." Nothing necessarily immodest in that. Comparison with may be for observing a difference; comparison to affirms a similarity. _Complected_. Anticipatory past participle of the verb "to complect." Let us wait for that. _Conclude_ for _Decide_. "I concluded to go to town." Having concluded a course of reasoning (implied) I decided to go to town. A decision is supposed to be made at the conclusion of a course of reasoning, but is not the conclusion itself. Conversely, the conclusion of a syllogism is not a decision, but an inference. |
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