ENGLISH UNDEFILED

Evening Star, Issue 20059, 27 December 1928, Page 1

ENGLISH UNDEFILED

LOOSE USE OF WORDS COMMON MISTAKES These lines are. not intended to criticise or to del'eud the so-called Australian accent, the alleged vice of which has been, like the report about iMark Twain, greatly exaggerated (write* •• U.K.,” in tfie ‘Melbourne Argus’). In a gentle manner it is suggested that wo get rid of a certain loose habit ol using words in a wrong sense, a custom that* the most careful speakers and writers are apt to follow unconsciously through force of example. When even AJr Arnold Bennett uses' the word “though” for “if” ordinary people may be excused for falling info fho same error. Nearly everybody learns a little French nowadays, so let us try to translate “as though.” It cannot be done; “ .coniine quoique ” or “ comma bion que ” would have no sense. “ Com me si ” is quite natural and easy, and is the only correct one tries to substitute “ although ” for “ though ” the absurdity is obvious. Such a phrase as “ he walks as if ho was tired ” is frequently heard, hut “he walks ns although be was tired” would so arrest attention that we should at once give the correct lonn, “ he walks as if he. was tired.” There is no word in English which may be of so many parts of speech as the word “that.”' In the phrase ‘-‘Hr. said that that that that that boy used is a demonstrative pronoun ” we find the iirst “that” a conjunction, the second a .demonstrative adjective, the third a noun, the lourth a relative pronoun, the fifth a demonstrative adjective. Every day people are wrongly making it an adverb when they say: “ | was that tired ” instead of “ I was so tired.” Less frequently one hears “if is that hmh.” which should he “ it is that'.' height.” Some -years ago if anybody said. “ that’s him ’ his inleilocator would iiiuuedi.'itcdy recull >.u memory the Jackdaw of Khoims when, “heedless of grammar, they all cried: ‘That’s him!” To-day the base coinage is current. Some compromise might be made concerning “ it is L In answer to the query Who is there? ” we might he permitted to say: “ it’s me.” A classmate of mine many years a«o, when the master asked who had done some silly business, replied very virtuously; “it was 1, sir. His ultra-correct grammar did not save him from a caning. The phrase sounds priggish. We flii uk Talleyrand was wrong when he said “that language was given to man to disguise his thoughts, 'the best speech is that which sincerely conveys one's moaning 'in a clear and graceful manner without drawing undue aitenlion to the mechanism of the language. . We can a Hard to defy the “split infinitive,” and Midi a rule as " never use a preposition to terminate a phrase.” How are you going to turn thisF ‘‘.lt is nothing to laugh at.” The. purists would have us say; “It is nolhing at which to laugh,” J anticipate a reply that “ langh-afc ” is a sort of compound verb. _ Be it so. Anvway, ' at ” is a preposition. The word “ anticipate ” in the preceding sentence reminds me of a Very nuicircsteomod and learned friend who constantly uses “ antieinate ” when he means “expect.” I believe flint some dictionaries give “anticipate” us a. quasi-synonym of “expect.” Writing near the frontier of China and having no dictionary, 1 cannot verily this statement, but if’the lexicographers adriiit a reciprocity between these two words they have made a concession to public usage, and a capitulation to their own conscience. 11 you expect trouble you anticipate it by taking measures to prevent it. If a lady drops her handkerchief yon anticipate her or her movement by quickly picking it up. Ton take it'before (ante-capio). The derivation is nearly always a guide, notwithstanding the Don who said that the story of sycophantes and the figs was a'figment. Why do people say “ different to ” instead of “different from”? , Some concession might be made/in such a phrase as “excuse my crossing in front of yon.” The idea of crossing does not seem to predominate absolutely dr to exclude me, so “excuse me crossing ” seems to be tolerable. I conclude with a sexagenarian’s .allusion to an Australian word, the native pronunciation of which is getting “ loss in the twilight of fable.” The word “ mia mia ” house was j pronounced “my my.’-i Where I live in fhe Far East the native name for'bouse is “ canya,” somewhat similar to “ gimvah.” They call our place Catiy:v jxjk T/oii. Did Australian natives com© here centuries ago bringing their names with them? Some authorities declare it possible. Immigration flowed from many sources.' We "read of a Chinese chief named Omani, and the dynasty Mac King held sway in certain regions of a vast territory. O’Donnell was killed by the Moi (wild tribes) in recent years. ■ This may seem a digression, but it serves to show bow names and other words will survive for centuries, and our grand heritage from Dan Chaucer’s “.Well of English nndefiled ’’ should be jealously preserved.