DOUBLING UP HAVE'S

Mark Twain in "A Tramp Abroad" wrote: "Harris said that if the best writer in the world once got the slovenly habit of 'doubling up his have's,' he could never get rid of it; that is to say, if a man gets the habit of saying 'I should have liked to have known more about it' instead of saying 'I should have liked to know more about it,' his disease is incurable."

. . . REFLECTOR OF EVERY HUMAN INTEREST . . . FRIEND OF EVERY RIGHTEOUS CAUSE . . . ENCOURAGER OF EVERY GENEROUS ACT.

NOTES

ADVERBS

Great liberty may be exercised in placing the adverb according to the emphasis desired. In general it should be placed near the word or phrase it modifies to express the thought most clearly. One should not say, Not only he spoke forcefully but eloquently; nor He was rather forceful than eloquent, but He was forceful rather than eloquent.

Note particularly that when the adverb is placed within the verb, it should regularly follow the first auxiliary. For example: This can truthfully be said, not This can be truthfully said; He will probably have set out by noon, not He will have probably, etc.; It has long been expected, not It has been long expected.

If the adverb is intended to modify the whole sentence, it very properly stands first, as, Decidedly, this is not true; Assuredly, he does not mean that. In such sentences the adverb really modifies some verb understood, as, I say decidedly this is not true.

Do not use this, that and some as adverbs. Never say this high, this long, that broad, that good, this much, that much, some better, some earlier. Say thus or so whenever tempted to use this or that in such connections, and use somewhat instead of some.

Do not say a man is dangerously ill; say alarmingly or critically. Never use illy; you might as well say welly.

After a negative use so in a comparison. This is as good as that, but This is not so good as that.

Say as far as, as long as, etc.; not so far as, so long as. Thus, As far as I know, this is true; As long as I stay here, you may use my book.

Use previously to, agreeably to, consistently with, etc., instead of the adjective forms, in such expressions as Previously to my arrival, he had been informed; We acted agreeably to the instructions.

Beware of only. Better not use it unless you are sure it is correctly placed. Observe the difference in the meaning here: I have only spoken to him. I have spoken only to him.

Don't use liable when you mean likely. A man is likely to park his automobile so he will be liable to arrest.

Don't use painfully cut and similar expressions. One is not pleasantly cut.

Occasionally means on occasion. So don't write very occasionally, but very seldom or infrequently.

Farther is used to denote distance; further in other senses, as, I told him further that I walked farther than he.

ADJECTIVES

Be sparing in the use of epithets and of adjectives and adverbs generally. Especially avoid the use of superlatives. Superlatives are seldom true. Rarely is a man the most remarkable man in the country in any particular; rarely is an accident the worst in the history of the city. Better understate than overstate; better err on the side of moderation than excess. William Cobbett says: "Some writers deal in expletives to a degree that tires the ear and offends the understanding. With them everything is excessively, or immensely, or extremely, or vastly, or surprisingly, or wonderfully, or abundantly, or the like. The notion of such writers is that these words give strength to what they are saying. This is a great error. Strength must be found in the thought or it will never be found in the words. Big sounding words, without thoughts corresponding, are effort without effect."

Be sure to remember that nee means born. It is of course impossible then to speak of Mrs. Doe, nee Mary Roe, as one is never born with a Christian name, but Mrs. Doe, nee Roe. And, of all things when a widow has remarried, do not write Mrs. Richard Roe, nee Mrs. John Doe.

Adjectives, if wisely used, give desirable color to a story. A thesaurus will brighten up a reporter's adjectival vocabulary. These are suggestions for possible substitutions of fresh words for more or less hackneyed words:

Prefer agreeable to nice, which means accurate; and long to lengthy.

Words like perfect and unique cannot be compared. Never write, more perfect, most perfect, most unique.

Eschew the word very. It seldom strengthens a sentence.

It is better to use such words as feline, bovine, canine, human as adjectives only.

Prefer several or many to a number of.

Healthy means possessing health, as, a healthy man. Healthful means conducive to health, as, healthful climate, surroundings, employment. Do not use healthful in speaking of food, but wholesome.

Parlous is archaic. Don't use the phrase in these parlous times. The word in good usage is perilous.

Nobody has explained the difference between actual photographs and photographs.

Awful means inspiring awe, fearful inspiring fear, and terrible inspiring terror.

Anxious implies anxiety. Say eager if you mean it.

The first meaning of hectic is habitual. The second meaning is fevered. It connotes heat more particularly than red.

Great care is needed in using these three words: livid, lurid and weird. Livid means primarily black and blue. It also means a grayish blue or lead color, as flesh by contusion. It doesn't mean anything else. Lurid means a pale yellow, ghastly pale, wan; figuratively it means gloomy or dismal, grimly terrible or sensational. When used in its first sense it is properly applicable to the yellow flames seen through smoke. It does not mean fiery red. In its figurative sense it can be used to describe a series of incidents calculated to shock or to stun by the enormity of them. Weird means primarily pertaining to witchcraft and is used in reference to the witches in "Macbeth." It also means unearthly, uncanny, eerie. A green light might be called weird. It must not be used to mean peculiar, as, She wore a weird hat.