limited: Often erroneously used for small, scant, slight, and other words of like meaning; as, “He had a limited (slight) acquaintance with Milton”; “Sold at the limited (low or reduced) price of one dollar”; “His pecuniary means were likely to remain quite limited”—admissible if suggesting the reverse of unlimited wealth, otherwise small or narrow.
lineament, liniment: The lineament is the outline or contour of a body or figure, especially the face. Liniment is a medicated liquid, sometimes oily, which is applied to the skin by rubbing as for the relief of pain. Exercise care in spelling these words.
lip: A very vulgar substitute for “impudence.”
lit in the sense of lighted is not used by careful speakers. Do not say “Who lit (but ‘who lighted’) the gas?”
lit on: A common error for “come across,” “met with,” which should be discountenanced. Do not say “I lit on the quotation by accident”; say, rather, “I came across the quotation.” Nor “I lit on him at the fair.” One does not light on people whom one meets.
little. Compare [FEW].
loan, lend: One may raise (put an end to) a loan by paying both principal and interest, and another may lend money to do so. The use of loan as a verb, meaning, “to grant the loan of or lend, as ships, money, linen, provisions, etc.,” dates from the year 1200 and is accepted as good English. Some purists, however, characterize it colloquial.
lobster: A slang term used originally to designate a British soldier, probably, in the phrase boiled lobster, from his red coat: now applied indiscriminately to gullible persons, perhaps on account of the reputed gullibility of the British soldier.
lonely, solitary: These two words must not be confounded, for their meaning is not exactly the same, although the Latin solitarius is derived from solus, alone. Solitary indicates no more than absence of life or society; lonely suggests the idea of being forsaken or isolated. A solitary person is not of necessity lonely, even though he take a solitary walk in a lonely place. A man is not lonely if he is good company to himself.
look: In the intransitive sense of “seem,” this verb should be followed by an adjective, not an adverb. Thus, “he looks kind (not kindly).” It is otherwise in the sense of “exercising the sense of sight.” Here the adverb is used to the exclusion of the adjective. “He looks kindly (not kind) upon the fallen foe.” Actions are qualified by adverbs, but adjectives qualify what one is or seems to be.