Canon III.—When words become obsolete, or are never used, but in particular phrases, they should be repudiated; as they give the style an air of vulgarity and cant, when their general disuse renders them obscure. Of these “lief,” “dint,” “whit,” “moot,” “pro and con,” furnish examples; as, “I had as lief go,” “by dint of argument,” “not a whit better,” “a moot point,” “it was argued pro and con.” These phraseologies are vulgar, and savour too much of cant to be admitted in good writing.
Canon IV.—All words and phrases, which, analyzed grammatically, include a solecism, should be dismissed; as, “I had rather go.” The expression should be, “I would,” or “I’d rather go:” and from the latter, the solecism “I had go,” seems by mistake to have arisen, I’d being erroneously conceived to be contracted for I had, instead of a contraction for I would. This is the opinion of Campbell, and to this opinion I expressed my assent, in the former edition of this Treatise. I acknowledge, however, that it now appears to me not strictly correct; and that Webster has not questioned its accuracy on insufficient grounds. In the phrases adduced by Campbell, such as “I’d go,” “I’d rather stay,” we can readily perceive the probability that I’d is a contraction for “I would.” But in such expressions as “I had like to have been caught,” which occur not only in colloquial language, but also in authors of considerable name, it is impossible to admit Campbell’s explanation. I must observe also, that the phraseology, which he censures, occurs in some of our earliest writers, and is so frequently found in Pope and Swift, that one is tempted to infer, notwithstanding its solecistic appearance, that it is genuine English. It is difficult, however, nay, perhaps impossible, to reconcile it to analogy. Were I to offer conjecture on the subject, I should be inclined to say, that in such phrases as “I had go,” I had is, by a grammatical figure very common in English, put for I would have, or I would possess, and that the simple name of the act or state, by an ellipsis perhaps of the verbal sign, is subjoined, as the object wished, no regard being had to the completion of the action; in the same manner as we say, I would have gone, when we wish the action perfected. But by whatever authority this phraseology may be recommended, and in whatever way it may be reconciled to the rules of syntax, it has so much the appearance of solecism, that I decidedly prefer with Campbell the unexceptional form of expression, I would. The phrase I had like appears to me utterly irreconcilable with any principle of analogy.
Canon V.—All expressions, which, according to the established rules of the language, either have no meaning, or involve a contradiction, or, according to the fair construction of the words, convey a meaning different from the intention of the speaker, should be dismissed. Thus, when a person says, “he sings a good song,” the words strictly imply that “the song is good,” whereas the speaker means to say, “he sings well.” In like manner, when it is said, “this is the best part he acts,” the sentence, according to the strict interpretation of the words, expresses an opinion, not of his manner of acting, but of the part or character which he acts. It should be, “he acts this part best,” or “this is the part which he acts best.” “He plays a good fiddle,” for “he plays well on the fiddle,” is, for the same reason, objectionable.
Of expressions involving a contradiction, the following will serve as an example. “There were four ladies in company, every one prettier than another.” This is impossible. If A was prettier than B, B must have been less pretty than A; but by the expression every one was prettier than another, therefore B was also prettier than A. Such absurdities as this ought surely to be banished from every language[136].
Of those, which have little or no meaning, Campbell has given us examples, “currying favour,” “having a month’s mind,” “shooting at rovers.” Such modes of expression, he justly calls trash, the disgrace of any language.
These canons I have extracted from “Campbell on Rhetoric,” a book which I would recommend to the reader’s attentive perusal.
I proceed to observe, that to write any language with grammatical purity, implies these three things:
1st. That the words be all of that language.
2ndly. That they be construed and arranged, according to the rules of syntax in that language.
3rdly. That they be employed in that sense, which usage has annexed to them.