The Century Handbook of Writing Part 38

=_Proposition_.= Means a _thing proposed_. Do not use loosely, as in the sentence: "A berth on a Pullman is a good proposition during a railway journey at night." See 62.

=_Proven_.= Prefer _proved_.

=_Providing_.= Prefer _provided_ in such expressions as "I will vote for him _provided_ (not _providing_) he is a candidate."

=_Quite a_.= Colloquial in such expressions as _quite a while_, _quite a few_, _quite a number_.

=_Raise_.= _Rear_ or _bring up_ is preferable in speaking of children. "She _reared_ (not _raised_) seven children."

=_Rarely ever_.= Crude for _rarely_, _hardly ever_.

=_Real_.= Crude for _very_ or _really_. "She was _very_ (not _real_) intelligent." "He was _really_ (not _real_) brave."

=_Remember of_.= Not to be used for _remember_.

=_Right smart_ and _Right smart of_.= Extremely vulgar.

=_Same_.= No longer used as a p.r.o.noun except in legal doc.u.ments.

"He saw her drop the purse and restored _it_ (not _the same_) to her."

=_Scarcely_.= Not to be used with a negative. See 34.

=_Seldom ever_.= Crude for _seldom_, _hardly ever_.

=_Shall_.= Do not confuse with _will_. See 53.

=_Sight_.= _A sight_ or _a sight of_ is very crude for _many_, _much_, _a great deal of_. "_A great many_ (not _a sight_) of them."

=_So_.= Not incorrect, but loose, vague, and often unnecessary.

(a) As an intensive, the frequent use of _so_ has been christened "the feminine demonstrative." Hackneyed: "I was so surprised." Better: "I was much surprised." Or, "I was surprised." (b) As a connective, the frequent use of _so_ is a mark of amateurishness. See 36 Note.

=_Some_.= Not to be used as an adverb. "She was _somewhat_ (not _some_) better the next day." Wrong: "He studied some that night." Right: "He did some studying that night."

=_Somewheres_.= Very crude. Use _somewhere_.

=_Species_.= Has the same form in singular and plural. "He discovered a new _species_ (not _specie_) of sunflower."

=_Such_.= (a) To be completed by _that_, rather than by _so that_, when a result clause follows. "There was such a crowd _that_ (not _so that_) he did not find his friends." (b) To be completed by _as_, rather than by _that_, _who_, or _which_, when a relative clause follows. "I will accept such arrangements _as_ (not _that_) may be made." "He called upon such soldiers _as_ (not _who_) would volunteer for this service to step forward."

=_Superior than_.= Not in good use for _superior to_.

=_Sure_.= Avoid the crude adverbial use. "It _surely_ (not _sure_) was pleasant." In answer to the question, "Will you go?" either _sure_ or _surely_ is correct, though _surely_ is preferred. "[To be] sure." "[You may be] sure." "[I will]

surely [go]."

=_Suspicion_.= A noun. Never to be used as a verb.

=_Take and_.= Often unnecessary, sometimes crude. Redundant: "He took the ax and sharpened it." Better: "He sharpened the ax."

Crude: "He took and nailed up the box." Better: "He nailed up the box."

=_Tend_.= In the sense _to look after_, takes a direct object without an interposed _to_. _Attend_, however, is followed by _to_. "The milliner's a.s.sistant _tends_ (not _tends to_) the shop." "I shall _attend to your wants in a moment_."

=_That there_.= Do not use for _that_. "I want _that_ (not _that there_) box of berries."

=_Them_.= Not to be used as an adjective. "_Those_ (not _them_) boys."

=_There were_ or _There was_.= Avoid the unnecessary use. Crude: "There were seventeen senators voted for the bill." Better: "Seventeen senators voted for the bill."

=_These sort_, _These kind_.= Ungrammatical. See 51b.

=_This here_.= Do not use for _this_.

=_Those_.= Do not carelessly omit a relative clause after _those_. Faulty: "He is one of those talebearers." Better: "He is a talebearer." [Or] "He is one of those talebearers whom everybody dislikes."

=_Those kind_, _those sort_.= Ungrammatical. See 51b.

=_Till_.= Do not carelessly misuse for _when_: "I had scarcely strapped on my skates _when_ (not _till_) Henry fell through an air hole."

=_Transpire_.= Means _to give forth_ or _to become known_, not _to occur_. "The secret _transpired_." "The sale of the property _occurred_ (not _transpired_) last Thursday."

=_Try_.= A verb, not a noun.

=_Unique_.= Means _alone of its kind_, not _odd_ or _unusual_.

=_United States_.= Ordinarily preceded by _the_. "The United States raised a large army." (Not "United States raised a large army.")

=_Up_.= Do not needlessly insert after such verbs as _end_, _rest_, _settle_.

=_Used to could_.= Very crude. Say _used to be able_ or _once could_.

=_Very_.= Accompanied by _much_ when used with the past participle. "He was _very much_ (not _very_) pleased with his reception."

=_Want to_.= Not to be used in the sense of _should_, _had better_. "You _should_ (not _You want to_) keep in good physical condition."

=_Way_.= Not to be used for _away_. "Away (not _way_) down the street."

=_Ways_.= Not to be used for _way_ in referring to distance. "A little _way_ (not _ways_)."

=_When_.= (a) Not to be used for _that_ in such a sentence as "It was in the afternoon that the races began." (b) A _when_ clause is not to be used as a predicate noun. See 6.

=_Where_.= (a) Not to be used for _that_ in such a sentence as "I see in the paper that our team lost the game." (b) A _where_ clause is not to be used as a predicate noun. See 6.

=_Where at_.= Vulgar. "Where is he? (not _Where is he at_?)"

=_Which_.= Do not use for _who_ or _that_ in referring to persons. "The friends _who_ (not _which_) had loved him in his boyhood were still faithful to him."

=_Who_.= Do not use unnecessarily for _which_ or _that_ in referring to animals. Do not use the possessive form _whose_ for _of which_ unless the sentence is so turned as practically to require the subst.i.tution.

=_Will_.= Do not confuse with _shall_. See 53.