‘To assist,’ meaning to do a service, is good English; but in the sense of ‘to be present,’ it is French, and not English. We may ‘assist’ a man in his work, or by giving him advice, &c., but we cannot properly write that some one ‘assisted’ at a supper, if we mean that he was one of the guests.
To ‘arrive’ is another of the French words adopted in English whose sense must not be stretched beyond its legitimate bounds. When it signifies ‘to come to,’ it is properly applied; but in the sense of ‘to happen,’ it is not English. We may say, ‘Our friends are arrived;’ but we must not ask, ‘What has arrived?’ if we mean ‘What has happened?’
The verb ‘to accord’ is constantly used for ‘to give,’ or ‘to grant,’ probably because it has two syllables instead of one. ‘To accord with’ is properly used in the sense of ‘to agree,’ or ‘to suit,’ as:—‘This arrangement “accords” with my views;’ but to say that ‘he “accorded” his friends the use of his library,’ would be a wrong application of the word. In the phrase, ‘according with,’ the word is a participle; in ‘according to,’ it is a preposition.
The mistake made in the word ‘allude’ is in using it for ‘to mention’ or ‘to state.’ ‘To allude’ properly means merely to hint at, or suggest; and it should never be used in the other sense. This, again, seems to arise from the idea that it is not so common a word as the others, and it is therefore adopted—as if the object of writing should be to confuse and puzzle the reader!
Now and then, however, we meet with words which retain their first favourable acceptation, and have not been degraded to a lower sense. Some few, indeed, have been ennobled, i.e. raised from a comparatively humble meaning to a higher dignity. In the first of these classes we may place the verb ‘to reward;’ and we are labouring under a certain difficulty in consequence of its being confined to the one meaning. We very much want a word which would signify a just return for ill deeds; for, though we use the noun ‘retribution’ for this purpose, the verb ‘to retribute’ is not in common use. The verb ‘to reward’ is always used in a favourable sense. We can hardly say that ‘a felon was rewarded for his crimes.’ We speak of the ‘rewards’ of goodness or virtue, but not of the ‘rewards’ of wickedness or immorality.
Of those words which have been elevated in meaning, we may mention ‘angel,’ ‘martyr,’ and ‘Paradise;’ all three referring to religious matters. These are all of Greek origin. ‘Angel,’ from ἄγγελος, was at first merely ‘a messenger;’ but it is now used only in a higher sense—‘a messenger of God.’ We certainly should not think of calling an errand-boy ‘an angel.’ ‘Martyr,’ from μάρτυρος, a witness, is now applied only to one who by his death bore witness to the truth of Christianity. A witness who gives evidence in a trial cannot now be called a martyr. Again, ‘Paradise,’ from παράδεισος, has been raised from the ordinary sense of ‘garden’ to that of Garden of Eden, or place of bliss. Cases of this sort are, however, comparatively rare.
[CHAPTER V.]
PLAY UPON WORDS.
There are, in all languages, certain words which may be called equivocal. Such are either those which are spelled exactly alike and have different meanings, or are spelled differently and yet have the same pronunciation. In most of these cases the two terms have no necessary connection with each other, though it has probably puzzled many a reader that the same word should have such a variety of meanings so distinctly different from each other. This phenomenon may be accounted for in English by the condition of our language, especially its mixed nature. English draws words from a multiplicity of sources. It frequently happens that several distinctly different forms of foreign words fall into one and the same form when incorporated into English, each of them retaining its original signification. This may explain how the word ‘light’ may mean something that burns bright, and may also have the sense of ‘not heavy.’ In the first case, it is derived from the Anglo-Saxon verb ‘leohtan;’ but, as an adjective, it comes from the Saxon ‘liht,’ whence also is derived the verb ‘to light’ (or ‘to alight’), i.e. to come down gently. The verb ‘to lighten,’ in an electrical sense, is connected with the first meaning; but ‘to lighten,’ meaning to make less heavy, is from the second.