Every-Day Errors of Speech Part 4

=Enquiry=--en-kwi'ry, not en'kwi-ry.

=Epsom Salt=, not Epsom _Salts_.

=Equable=--e'kwa-ble, not ek'wa-ble.

=Equally well=, etc., not equally _as_ well, etc.

=Espionage=--es'pe-on-aje or es'pe-on-azh, not es-pi'o-naje nor es-pe'on-azh.

=Esquimau=--es'ke-mo, not es'qui-maw: plural, =Esquimaux= (es'ke-moz), not es'ke-mawz nor es'ke-mo.

=Etagere=--et-a-zhar', not e-tazh'er-y nor at-tazh'i-a. Worcester's p.r.o.nunciation is a-ta-zhar'.

A piece of parlor furniture with shelves, used for placing small ornaments and fancy articles upon; a what-not.

=Excrescence=--ex-kres'sense not ex-kre'sense. A superfluous appendage: morbid outgrowth.

=Expect= has reference to the future only, and not to the present or past. "I _expect_ that you are wrong." "I _expect_ you were disappointed yesterday," are errors. There is an abundance of words that may be correctly used, as _suppose_, _suspect_, _imagine_, _believe_ and _think_.

=Expose= (Fr. expose)--eks-po-za', not ex-poz'. An exposition; statement.

=Exquisite=--eks'qui-zit, not eks-quiz'ite.

=Exquisitely= is accented on the first syllable also.

=Extant=--ex'tant not ex-tant'.

=Extol=--ex-tol', not ex-to'. =Extolled=, ex-told', etc.

F.

=Facet=--fas'set not fa-set'. A small surface or face; as one of the _facets_ of a diamond.

=Falchion=--fawl'chun, not fal'chi-on. A sword. Worcester sanctions fawl'shun, also.

=Falcon=--faw'kn, not fal-kon.

=Fang.= When applied to a tooth, _fang_ means the portion that is outside of the jaw. This name is often, even by dentists, erroneously given to the _root_ or part that is set into the jaw.

=Far=, not _fur_.

=Febrile=--fe'bril or feb'ril, not fe'brile.

Relating to fever.

=February=, as it is spelled, and not Feb'u-a-ry, as many say and write it.

=Feod=, =feodal=, =feodality=--fud, fud'al, and fu-dal'i-ty. Relating to a kind of tenure formerly existing in Europe, in which military services were rendered by the tenant as a consideration. =Feud=, =feudal=, =feudality=, is the orthography generally adopted now.

=Ferret.= A ferret is an animal of the weasel kind, used to drive rabbits out of their burrows, and not a species of dog.

=Fetid=--fet'id, not fe'tid.

=Fetor=--fe'tor, not fet'or.

=Finale=---fe-na'la, not fi'nale or fi-nal'ly.

=Finance=--fi-nans', not fi'-nans.

=Finances=--fi-nan'sez, not fi'nan-sez.

=Financier=--fin-an-seer', not fi-nan-seer'. =Financial=, and =financially=, have also the short i in the first syllable.

=Finis=--fi'nis, not fin'is.

=Firmament= means the expanse of the sky: the heavens. The meaning, solid foundation, is obsolete.

=Flannel=, not _flannen_.

=Florid=--flor'id, not flo'rid.

=Florin=--flor'in, not flo-rin. A piece of money.

=Florist=--flo'rist, not flor'ist.

=Forage=--for'aje, not fo'raje.

=Forceps=--for'seps, not for'seps. The word is spelled the same in both the singular and the plural numbers. Such mistakes as, "hand me a forcep," instead of "hand me a forceps," are very common. Strictly speaking, "a pair of forceps," ought, I suppose, to mean _two_ forceps; but like the expressions "a pair of scissors" and "a pair of stairs," the phrase has been in use so long that it must be tolerated.

=Forehead=--for'ed, not for'hed. Worcester allows either.

=Foreign=--for'in, not fur'in.

=Fortnight=--fort'nite, not fort'nite, fort'nit nor fort'nit. Worcester gives what is authorized above and fort'nit.

=Fortress=--for'tress, not for'tress.

=Fragile=--fraj'il, not fra'jil nor fra'jile.

=Fritter=, not _flitter_, is the name of a kind of fried cake.

=Frivolity=--fri-vol'i-ty, not friv'ol-ty.

=Frontier=--front'eer, not frunt'eer nor frun-teer'.

=Frontispiece=--front'is-pese, not frunt'is-pese.

=Fuchsia=--f.o.o.k'si-a, not fu'shi-a. Worcester gives the latter.

=Fuzz=, not _furze_, is the word to use, if used at all, when the embryo whiskers, or the downy surface of fruit, etc., are meant. Down is the more appropriate word. _Furze_ is the name of an evergreen shrub.