Write It Right - A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults by Ambrose Bierce
page 53 of 59 (89%)
page 53 of 59 (89%)
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inclusion and approval, have specifically defended this locution,
backing their example by their precept. Perhaps it is a question of taste; let us attend their cry and pass on. _Thrifty_ for _Thriving_. "A thrifty village." To thrive is an end; thrift is a means to that end. _Through_ for _Done_. "The lecturer is through talking." "I am through with it." Say, I have done with it. _To_. As part of an infinitive it should not be separated from the other part by an adverb, as, "to hastily think," for hastily to think, or, to think hastily. Condemnation of the split infinitive is now pretty general, but it is only recently that any one seems to have thought of it. Our forefathers and we elder writers of this generation used it freely and without shame--perhaps because it had not a name, and our crime could not be pointed out without too much explanation. _To_ for _At_. "We have been to church," "I was to the theater." One can go to a place, but one cannot be to it. _Total_. "The figures totaled 10,000." Say, The total of the figures was 10,000. _Transaction_ for _Action_, or _Incident_. "The policeman struck the man with his club, but the transaction was not reported." "The picking of a pocket is a criminal transaction." In a transaction two or more persons must have an active or assenting part; as, a business transaction, Transactions of the Geographical Society, etc. The Society's action would be better called Proceedings. |
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