Conversation: It's Faults and It's Graces

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James Munroe, 1856 - Conversation - 152 pages

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Page 101 - Learning condemns beyond the reach of hope The careless lips that speak of soap for soap; Her edict exiles from her fair abode The clownish voice that utters road for road; Less stern to him, who calls his coat a coat, And steers his boat, believing it a boat, She pardoned one, our classic city's boast, Who said, at Cambridge, most instead of most, But knit her brows and stamped her angry foot To hear a Teacher call a root a root.
Page 54 - The hand that gave it still supplies The gracious light and heat; His truths upon the nations rise, They rise, but never set.
Page 96 - ... which more distinguishes a person of poor education from a person of a good one, than the pronunciation of the unaccented vowels. When vowels are under the accent, the best speakers and the lowest of the people, with very few exceptions, pronounce them in the same manner ; but the unaccented vowels in the mouths of the former, have a distinct, open and specific sound, while the latter often totally sink them, or change them into some other sound.
Page 118 - The king of Israel and the king of Judah •sat either of them on his throne : say each of them. Either signifies the one or the other, but not both. Each relates to two or more objects, and signifies both of the two, or every one of any number taken singly. Never say, " cither of the three," but '
Page 121 - Before the words heir, herb, honest, honor, and hour, and their compounds, instead of the article a, we make use of an, as the h is not sounded; likewise before words beginning with h, that are not accented on the first syllable : such as heroic, historical, hypothesis, &c., as, " an heroic action ;" " an historical work /" " an hypothesis that can scarcely be allowed.
Page 15 - WOLF so often when there was no wolf, that nobody would go to his relief when the wolf came. This habit has also a very bad moral bearing. Our words have a reflex influence upon our characters. Exaggerated speech makes one careless of the truth. The habit of using words without regard to their rightful meaning, often leads one to distort facts, to misreport conversations, and to magnify statements, in matters in which the literal truth is important to be told. You can never trust the testimony of...
Page 87 - This dress looks badly," because it is you that look, not the dress ; but you can say, " This dresses badly," because it is the dress that performs the act of fitting, either well or ill. There are some peculiar idioms which it would be better to avoid altogether, if possible, but if you feel compelled to use them, take them as they are ; you cannot prune and refine them by the rules of syntax, and to attempt to. do so shows ignorance as well as affectation.
Page 80 - I will give you another order," for the quality of the cloth is already determined ; the future will not alter it ; it may be good, it may be bad, but whatever it may be it already is ' therefore, as contingency only is implied, without futurity, it must be rendered in the indicative mood, "If this cloth is good,
Page 7 - A Word to the Wise; or, Hints on the Current Improprieties of Expression in Writing and Speaking.
Page 90 - Many of my readers will consider such a remark quite unnecessary in this volume ; but many others, who ought to know better, must stand self-condemned on reading it. 29. There is a false taste extant for the preposition " on " instead of " of" in songs, poetry, and many other situations in which there is still less excuse for borrowing the poetic license ; such as, " Wilt thou think on me, love ?" ' I will think on thee, love '?" " Then think on the friend who once welcomed it too,

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