for such and such an undertaking. Again, we are never to "retire" for
the night, but always to "go to bed." If, as is commonly alleged,
Americans say "retire" because they consider it indelicate to go to bed,
the feeling and the expression are alike foolish. But I do not believe
that either is at all common in America. On the other hand, one may
retire for the night without going to bed. In the case of ladies
especially, the interval between retiring and going to bed is reputed
to be far from inconsiderable. If, then, one really means "retired for
the night" and does _not_ definitely mean "went to bed," I see no crime
in employing the expression that conveys one's exact meaning. Finally
the _New York Press_ will not let us use the word "commence;" we must
always "begin." This is an excellent example of unreflecting or
half-reflecting purism. "Commence" is a very old word; it is used by the
best writers; it is easily pronounceable and not in the least
grandiloquent; indeed it has precisely the length and cadence of its
competitor. But somebody or other one day observed that it was Latin,
whereas "begin" was Saxon; and since then there has been a systematic
attempt, in several quarters, to hound the innocent and useful synonym
out of the language. Whence comes this rage for impoverishing our
tongue! The more synonyms we possess the better. Wherefore (by the way)
I for my part should not be too rigorous in excluding a forcible
Americanism merely because it happens to duplicate some word or
expression already current in England. The rich language is that which
possesses not only the necessaries of life but also an abundance of
superfluities.


FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote U: Mr. Andrew Lang says: "Plenty of other words are formed on