Write It Right - A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults by Ambrose Bierce
page 43 of 59 (72%)
page 43 of 59 (72%)
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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. |
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