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continuation of a story in accordance with the beginning.”— Richard Grant White.

Euphemism. A description that describes in inoffensive language that that is of itself offensive, or a figure that uses agreeable phraseology when the literal would be offensive, is called a euphemism.

Everlastingly. This adverb is misused in the South in a manner that is very apt to excite the risibility of one to whom the peculiar misuse is new. The writer once visited the upper part of New York with a distinguished Southern poet and journalist. It was the gentleman's first ride over an elevated railway. When we were fairly under way, in admiration of the rate of speed at which the cars were moving, he exclaimed, "Well, they do just everlastingly shoot along!-don't they?"

Every. This word, which means simply each or all taken separately, is of late years frequently made by slipshod speakers to do duty for perfect, entire, great, or all possible. Thus we have such expressions as every pains, every confidence, every praise, every charity, and so on. We also have such diction as, Every one has this in common"; meaning, all of us have this in common.

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Every-day Latin. A fortiori: with stronger reason. A posteriori: from the effect to the cause. A priori: from the cause to the effect. Bona fide: in good faith; in reality. Certiorari: to be made more certain. Ceteris paribus : other circumstances being equal. De facto: in fact; in reality. De jure: in right; in law. Ecce homo: behold the man. Ergo: therefore. Et cetera: and the rest; and so on. Excerpta : extracts. Exempli gratia: by way of example; abbreviated, e. g. and ex. gr. Ex officio: by virtue of his office. Ex parte: on one side; an ex parte statement is a statement on one side only. Ibidem: in the

same place; abbreviated, ibid. Idem: the same. Id est: that is; abbreviated, i. e. Imprimis: in the first place. In statu quo: in the former state; just as it was. In statu quo ante bellum: in the same state as before the war. In transitu: in passing. Index expurgatorius: an expurgated index. In extremis: at the point of death. In memoriam : in memory. Ipse dixit: on his sole assertion. Item: also. Labor omnia vincit: labor overcomes every difficulty. Locus sigilli: the place of the seal. Multum in parvo: much in little. Mutatis mutandis: after making the necessary changes. Ne plus ultra: nothing beyond; the utmost point. Nolens volens willing or unwilling. Nota bene: mark well; take particular notice. Omnes: all. O tempora, O mores! O the times and the manners! Otium cum dignitate: ease with dignity. Otium sine dignitate: ease without dignity. Particeps criminis: an accomplice. Peccavi: I have sinned. Per se : by itself. Prima facie : on the first view or appearance; at first sight. Pro bono publico for the public good. Quid nunc: what now? Quid pro quo: one thing for another; an equivalent. Quondam: formerly. Rara avis: a rare bird; a prodigy. Resurgam: I shall rise again. Seriatim: in order. Sine die without specifying any particular day; to an indefinite time. Sine qua non: an indispensable condition. Sui generis: of its own kind. Vade mecum: go with me. Verbatim word by word. Versus: against. Vale: farewell. Via: by the way of. Vice: in the place of. Vide: see. Vi et armis: by main force. Viva voce: orally; by word of mouth. Vox populi, vox Dei: the voice of the people is the voice of God-which is very far from being

true.

Evidence-Testimony. These words, though differing widely in meaning, are often used indiscriminately by

careless speakers. Evidence is that that tends to convince; testimony is that that is intended to convince. In a judicial investigation, for example, there might be a great deal of testimony-a great deal of testifying—and very little evidence; and the evidence might be quite the reverse of the testimony. See PROOF.

Exaggeration.

"Weak minds and feeble writers and speakers delight in superlatives." See EFFORT WITHOUT EFFECT.

Except. Sometimes misused for unless, and occasionally for but.

"No one need apply except [unless] he is thoroughly familiar with the business."

"The shocking discovery has been made that the wreck of the Daniel Steinmann, and the consequent loss of over a hundred lives, would probably have been prevented except [but] for government red tape."

"The young lady is never allowed to ride or drive alone with a gentleman; neither is she allowed to walk upon [in] the street, visit any friend, nor to attend a public ball, except [unless] she is accompanied by some member of the family or [by] a trusted lady friend.”—Corr. Inter-Ocean.

"It has no literary merit, except [unless] the total absence of all pretension may pass for one." See UNLESS.

Excessively. That class of persons that are never content with any form of expression that falls short of the superlative, frequently use excessively when exceedingly, or even the little word very, would serve their turn better. They say, for example, that the weather is excessively hot, when they should content themselves with saying simply that the weather is very warm, or, if the word suits them better, hot.

Intemperance in the use of language is as much to be

censured as intemperance in anything else; like intemperance in other things, its effect is vulgarizing.

"The Princess Isabella, as well as her French husband, Comte d'Eu, used to be excessively [exceedingly] unpopular."-N. Y. Sun.

Excise laws. A good deal is heard about our excise laws, yet New York has no excise laws. Our excise laws, so called, are properly license laws.

An excise is a tax levied on domestic products; it is an internal revenue tax. The tax, for example, that the Federal Government levies on whisky and cigars is an excise tax.

New York has license laws and license commissioners, and properly they should be so called. Tax-collecting and license-granting are very different duties.

"No license for Macy's. The Excise Board says liquor can't [sha'n't] be sold there."-N. Y. Sun. Properly, the License Board.

Execute. This word means, to follow out to the end, to carry into effect, to accomplish, to fulfill, to perform; as, to execute an order, to execute a purpose. And the dictionaries and almost universal usage say that it also means, to put to death in conformity with a judicial sentence; as, to execute a criminal. Some careful speakers, however, maintain that the use of the word in this sense is indefensible. They say that laws and sentences are executed, but not criminals, and that their execution only rarely results in the death of the persons upon whom they are executed. In the hanging of a criminal, it is, then, not the criminal that is executed, but the law and the sentence. The criminal is hanged.

Expect. This verb always has reference to what is to come, never to what is past. We can not expect back

ward. Instead, therefore, of saying, “I expect you thought I would come to see you yesterday," we should say, “I suppose," etc.

Also sometimes incorrectly used for suspect. "I expect you know all about it." As, “I suspect you know," etc.

Experience. "We experience great difficulty in getting him to take his medicine." The word have should be big enough, in a sentence like this, for anybody. "We experienced great hardships." Better, "We suffered." Experiment. See TRY.

Explode. “All our present uses of explode, whether literal or figurative, have reference to bursting, and to bursting with noise; and it is for the most part forgotten, I should imagine, that these are all secondary and derived ; that to explode, originally an active verb, means, to drive off the stage with loud clapping of the hands; and that when one of our early writers speaks of an exploded heresy or an exploded opinion, his image is not drawn from something which [that], having burst, has perished so; but he would imply that it has been contemptuously driven off from the world's stage."-Trench.

Extend. This verb, the primary meaning of which is to stretch out, is used, especially by lovers of big words, in connections where to give, to show, or to offer would be preferable. For example, it is certainly better to say, They showed me every courtesy," than " They extended every courtesy to me." See EVERY.

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Fall. The use of this word, in the sense of autumn, is rare in Great Britain, and is there regarded as provincial. It is good old English nevertheless.

False Grammar. Some examples of false grammar will show what every one is the better for knowing: that, in literature, nothing should be taken on trust; that errors

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