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originates with the calumniator; the slanderer is he that disseminates it.

As though for as if. "A most frequent and notable error is that of using 'as though' for 'as if' in complex sentences of a certain kind. An attempt to analyze such a sentence brings to light the elliptical clause that the construction always involves, and shows at once the defect. For example:

“The house looks as though it had never been painted.' 'The man moves as though he were tired.' 'He spoke as though he was offended.'

"In all these we quickly discover, on supplying the ellipsis between as and though, that this disjunctive conjunction either makes nonsense of the several statements or gives a different meaning from that intended.

"The house looks as it would look though it had never been painted.' 'The man moves as he would move though he were tired.' 'He spoke as he would speak though he was offended.'

"Substitute if for though, and the meaning in every case is at once clear. As if is always to be preferred to as though. The very nature of such statements declares their need of a copulative in the connecting word; the disjunctive is always an enemy to their meaning."-Anne Balderston. At." They do things differently in [not at] the South." He is not at [not to] home.

At all. "It is not strange, for my uncle is King of Denmark." Had Shakespeare written, "It is not at all strange," it is clear that his diction would have been much less forcible. "I do not wish for any at all"; "I saw no one at all"; "If he had any desire at all to see me, he would come where I am."

The at all in sentences like these is superfluous. Yet

there are instances in which the phrase is certainly a very convenient one, and seems to be unobjectionable. It is much used, and by good writers.

At auction. This expression is an Americanism; in England it is unknown. Johnson says the verb auction means, "to sell by auction "—i. e., by offering to the highest bidder.

Several prominent auctioneers in New York habitually announce the sale of pictures, statuary, and books "by auction."

At private sale is also peculiar to American English. The good-will and furniture of the house were disposed of by [not at] private sale.-N. Y. Times.

The elephant Emperor has been sold by auction in England for $500.-N. Y. Sun.

But we may buy at an auction and at a private sale, and things may be sold at an auction and at a private sale.

At best. Instead of at best and at worst, we should say at the best and at the worst. If we consider the adjectives as being used substantively, we see at a glance that the article is necessary; or, if we consider them as being used adjectively and supply the ellipsis-the noun we suppose them to qualify-we still see that the article is necessary. We always say, "I did the best I could," "You saw him at his best," "Let them do their worst," "I will do my best," etc.

At last. See AT LENGTH.

At least. This adverbial phrase is often misplaced. "The Romans understood liberty at least as well as we.' This must be interpreted to mean, 'The Romans understood liberty as well as we understand liberty.' The intended meaning is, 'that whatever things the Romans failed

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to understand, they understood liberty. To express this meaning we might put it thus: The Romans understood at least liberty as well as we do'; 'liberty, at least, the Romans understood as well as we do.' 'A tear, at least, is due to the unhappy'; 'at least a tear is due to the unhappy'; 'a tear is due at least to the unhappy'; 'a tear is due to the unhappy at least'—all express different meanings. 'This can not, often at least, be done'; 'this can not be done often, at least.' (1. 'It often happens that this can not be done.' 2. 'It does not often happen that this can be done." So, 'man is always capable of laughing'; 'man is capable of laughing always." "—Bain.

Audience. Often improperly used. An auditor is a person that listens; a spectator is one that looks. An auditorium is a place where people assemble to hear, to listen to something; a spectatorium is a place where people assemble to see, to look at something. Those that assemble in an auditorium are auditors, and constitute collect< ively an audience; those that assemble in a spectatorium are spectators. An audience, then, is an assemblage of hearers, not of spectators; yet we hear of the audience having been large at a prize fight, at a game of ball, at a boat race, and so on.

Authoress. With regard to the use of this and certain other words of like formation, Mr. Gould, in his "Good English," says: "Poet means simply a person who writes poetry, and author, in the sense under consideration, a person who writes poetry or prose-not a man who writes, but a person who writes. Nothing in either word indicates sex; and everybody knows that the functions of both poets and authors are common to both sexes. Hence, authoress and poetess are superfluous, And they are superfluous, also, in another respect-that they are very rarely used, indeed

they hardly can be used, independently of the name of the writer, as Mrs., or Miss, or a female Christian name. They are, besides, philological absurdities, because they are fabricated on the false assumption that their primaries indicate men. They are, moreover, liable to the charge of affectation and prettiness, to say nothing of pedantic pretension to accuracy.

"If the ess is to be permitted, there is no reason for excluding it from any noun that indicates a person; and the next editions of our dictionaries may be made complete by the addition of writress, officeress, manageress, superintendentess, secretaryess, treasureress, walkeress, talkeress, and so on to the end of the vocabulary."

On the other hand, there are those that think the use of authoress should be left to individual tastes. It can not be denied, however, that we could get on quite as well without it.

Avenge-Revenge. We avenge wrong done to others, and revenge wrong done to ourselves.

"With tears in her eyes she related the insult she had received, and entreated me to avenge her."

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'Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come,

Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius."

"The just avenger of his injured ancestors."

Avocation. Often misused for vocation. Our avocations are the things we do for the love of doing them; our vocations are the things we do for gain.

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'Every man should have two things: a vocation and an avocation. The number of Americans who [that] find their avocation in book-collecting has greatly increased within the last few years."

"Let your authorship be a pastime, not a trade; let it be your avocation, not your vocation."

"The tracing of resemblances among the objects and events of the world is a constant avocation of the human mind." See VOCATION.

Avoid. We often see this word, which means to shun, to keep away from, misused in the sense of prevent or hinder, thus :

it."

"There shall be no cause of complaint if I can avoid

Awful.

Persons with only a limited vocabulary at their command frequently use this word when some other word of a less repulsive mien would be chosen by persons of better taste and more culture.

A while since. An expression often heard but not correct. We should say, "A while ago." See SINCE.

Bad cold. Inasmuch as colds are never good, why say a bad cold? We may talk about slight colds and severe colds, but not about bad colds.

Badly. Sometimes inelegantly used for very much; thus, “I shall miss you badly,” “I have wanted to see you badly."

Baggage. See LUGGAGE.

Balance. This word is frequently and very erroneously used in the sense of rest, remainder. It properly means the excess of one thing over another, and in this sense, and in no other, should it be used. Hence it is improper to talk about the balance of the edition, of the evening, of the money, of the toasts, of the men, etc. In such cases the proper word to use is rest or remainder. Balance is properly used in speaking of accounts-the difference between the debits and the credits.

"It sold to them by the square foot land which [that] it had bought at acre prices, generally [usually] taking one third in cash and part of the miner's pay every month until

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