Exercise:

  1. Insert affect or effect: Noise does not —— my studying. It has little —— on me. By the exercise of will power I was able to —— a change.
  2. Insert healthy or healthful: New Mexico has a —— climate, Graham bread is ——. You will be —— if you take exercise.
  3. Insert later or latter: I will see you ——. Here are two plans: the former is complex; the —— is simple. Sooner or —— you will learn the rule.
  4. Insert less or fewer: They have —— money than we; we have —— pleasures than they. It seems to me there are —— accidents.
  5. Insert principal or principle: The —— part of a clock is the pendulum, which swings regularly, according to a —— of science. My —— reason for trusting him is that he is a man of ——. He is the —— of the high school. The widow spends the interest on the money, but keeps the —— intact.
[Glossary of Faulty Diction]

68. Avoid faulty diction.

Ad(for advertisement). Avoid in formal writing and speaking. Ain't.Never correct. Say I'm not, you [we, they] aren't, he [she, it] isn't. All the farther, all the faster.Crude. Use as far as, as fast as, in such sentences as "This is all the farther I can go." As.(a) Incorrect in the sense of that or whether. "I don't know whether (not as) I can tell you." "Not that (not as) I know." (b) As ... as are correlatives. Than must not replace the second as. Right: "As good as or better than his neighbors." "As good as his neighbors, or better [than they]." See [57]. Auto.An abbreviation not desirable in formal writing. Awful.Means filling with awe or filled with awe. Do not use in the sense of uncivil, serious, or ludicrous, or (in the adverbial form) in the sense of very, extremely. Balance.Incorrect when used in the sense of remainder. Because.Not to be used for the fact that. "The fact that (not because) he is absent is no reason why we should not proceed." See [5]. Between.Used of two persons or things. Not to be confused with among, which is used of more than two. Blame on.A crudity for put the blame on or blame. Faulty: "Don't blame it on me." Better: "Don't blame me." Borned.A monstrosity for born. "I was born (not borned) in 1899." Bursted.The past tense of burst is the same as the present. Bust or busted.Vulgar for burst. Right: "The balloon burst." "The bank failed." But what.That is often preferable. "I do not doubt that (not but what) he is honest." Canine.An adjective. Not in good use as a noun. Cannot help but.A confusion of can but and cannot help. "I can but believe you"; or "I cannot help believing you"; not "I cannot help but believe you." See [34]. Caused by.To be used only when it refers definitely to a noun. Wrong: "He was disappointed, caused by the lateness of the train." The noun disappointment should be used instead of the verb disappointed. Then caused will have a definite reference. Right: "His disappointment was caused by the lateness of the train." See [23]. Claim.Means to demand as a right. Incorrect for maintain or assert. Considerable.An adjective, not an adverb. "He talked considerably (not considerable) about it." Could of.An illiterate form arising from slovenly pronunciation. Use could have. Avoid also may of, must of, would of, etc. Data.Plural. The singular (seldom used) is datum. Compare stratum, strata; erratum, errata. Demean.Means to conduct oneself, not to lower or to degrade. Different than.Different from is to be preferred. Than is a conjunction. The idea of separation implied in different calls for a preposition, rather than a word of comparison. Disremember.Not in good use. Done.A gross error when used as the past tense of do, or as an adverb meaning already. "I did it (not I done it)." "I've already (not done) got my lessons." Don't.A contraction for do not; never to be used for does not. The contraction of does not is doesn't. See [51d]. Drownded.Vulgar for drowned. Due to.To be used only when it refers definitely to a noun. Faulty: "He refused the offer, due to his father's opposition." Right: "His refusal of the offer was due to his father's opposition." The noun refusal should be used instead of the verb refused. Then due will have a definite reference. See [5]. Enthuse.Not in good use. Etc.An abbreviation for the Latin et cetera, meaning and other [things]. Et means and. And etc. is therefore grossly incorrect. Do not write ect. Expect.Means to look forward to. Hardly correct in the sense of suppose. Fine.Use cautiously as an adjective, and not at all as an adverb. Seek the exact word. See [62]. Former.Means the first or first named of two. Not to be used when more than two have been named. The corresponding word is latter. For to.Incorrect for to. "I want you (not for you) to listen carefully." "He made up his mind to (not for to) accept." Gent.A vulgar abbreviation of gentleman. Good.An adjective, not an adverb. Wrong: "He did good in mathematics." Right: "He did well in mathematics." "He did good work in mathematics." Gotten.An old form now usually replaced by got except in such expressions as ill-gotten gains. Guess.Expresses conjecture. Not to be used in formal composition for think, suppose, or expect. Had of.Illiterate. "I wish I had known (not had of known) about it." Had ought.A vulgarism. "He ought (not had ought) to have resigned." "We oughtn't (not hadn't ought) to make this error." Hardly.Not to be used with a negative. See [34]. Home.Do not use when you mean simply house. Human or humans.Not in good use as a noun. Say human being. Right: "The house was not fit for human beings (not humans) to live in." If.Do not use for whether. "I can't say whether (not if) the laundry will be finished today." In.Often misused for into. "He jumped into (not in) the pond." It's.Means it is; not to be written for the possessive its. Kind of.(a) Should not modify adjectives or verbs. "He was somewhat (not kind of) lean." "She partly suspected (not She kind of suspected) what was going on." (b) When using with a noun, do not follow by a. "That kind of man"; not "That kind of a man." Like.To be followed by a substantive; never by a substantive and a verb. "He ran like a deer." "Do as (not like) I do." "She felt as if (not like) she was going to faint." Like is a preposition; as is a conjunction. Literally.Do not use where you plainly do not mean it, as in the sentence, "I was literally tickled to death." Loan.Lend is in better use as a verb. Locate.Do not use for settle or establish oneself. Lose out.Not used in formal writing. Say lose. Lots of.A mercantile term which has a dubious colloquial standing. Not in good literary use for many or much. Might of.A vulgarism for might have. Most.Do not use for almost. "Almost (not most) all." Myself.Intensive or reflexive; do not use when the simple personal pronoun would suffice. "I saw them myself." "Some friends and I (not myself) went walking." Neither.Used with nor, and not with or. "Neither the man whom his associates had suspected nor (not or) the one whom the police had arrested was the criminal." "She could neither paint a good picture nor (not or) play the violin well." Nice.Means delicate or precise. Nice is used in a loose colloquial way to indicate general approval, but should not be so used in formal writing. Right: "He displayed nice judgment." "We had a pleasant (not nice) time." See [62]. Nowhere near.Vulgar for not nearly. Nowheres.Vulgar. O and Oh.O is used with a noun in direct address; it is not separated from the noun by any marks of punctuation. Oh is used as an interjection; it is followed by a comma or an exclamation point. "Hear, O king, what thy servants would say." "Oh, dear!" Of.Do not use for have in such combinations as should have, may have, ought to have. Off of.On, upon, or some equivalent expression is usually preferable. Ought to of.A vulgarism for ought to have. Over with.Crude for over. Pants.Trousers is the approved term in literary usage. Pants (from pantaloons) has found some degree of colloquial and commercial acceptance. Party.Not to be used for person, except in legal phrases. Phone.A contraction not employed in formal writing. Say telephone. Plenty.A noun; not in good use as an adjective or an adverb. "He had plenty of (not plenty) resources." "He had resources in plenty (not resources plenty)." Proposition.Means a thing proposed. Do not use loosely, as in the sentence: "A berth on a Pullman is a good proposition during a railway journey at night." See [62]. Proven.Prefer proved. Providing.Prefer provided in such expressions as "I will vote for him provided (not providing) he is a candidate." Quite a.Colloquial in such expressions as quite a while, quite a few, quite a number. Raise.Rear or bring up is preferable in speaking of children. "She reared (not raised) seven children." Rarely ever.Crude for rarely, hardly ever. Real.Crude for very or really. "She was very (not real) intelligent." "He was really (not real) brave." Remember of.Not to be used for remember. Right smart and Right smart of.Extremely vulgar. Same.No longer used as a pronoun except in legal documents. "He saw her drop the purse and restored it (not the same) to her." Scarcely.Not to be used with a negative. See [34]. Seldom ever.Crude for seldom, hardly ever. Shall.Do not confuse with will. See [53]. Sight.A sight or a sight of is very crude for many, much, a great deal of. "A great many (not a sight) of them." So.Not incorrect, but loose, vague, and often unnecessary. (a) As an intensive, the frequent use of so has been christened "the feminine demonstrative." Hackneyed: "I was so surprised." Better: "I was much surprised." Or, "I was surprised." (b) As a connective, the frequent use of so is a mark of amateurishness. See [36 Note]. Some.Not to be used as an adverb. "She was somewhat (not some) better the next day." Wrong: "He studied some that night." Right: "He did some studying that night." Somewheres.Very crude. Use somewhere. Species.Has the same form in singular and plural. "He discovered a new species (not specie) of sunflower." Such.(a) To be completed by that, rather than by so that, when a result clause follows. "There was such a crowd that (not so that) he did not find his friends." (b) To be completed by as, rather than by that, who, or which, when a relative clause follows. "I will accept such arrangements as (not that) may be made." "He called upon such soldiers as (not who) would volunteer for this service to step forward." Superior than.Not in good use for superior to. Sure.Avoid the crude adverbial use. "It surely (not sure) was pleasant." In answer to the question, "Will you go?" either sure or surely is correct, though surely is preferred. "[To be] sure." "[You may be] sure." "[I will] surely [go]." Suspicion.A noun. Never to be used as a verb. Take and.Often unnecessary, sometimes crude. Redundant: "He took the ax and sharpened it." Better: "He sharpened the ax." Crude: "He took and nailed up the box." Better: "He nailed up the box." Tend.In the sense to look after, takes a direct object without an interposed to. Attend, however, is followed by to. "The milliner's assistant tends (not tends to) the shop." "I shall attend to your wants in a moment." That there.Do not use for that. "I want that (not that there) box of berries." Them.Not to be used as an adjective. "Those (not them) boys." There were or There was.Avoid the unnecessary use. Crude: "There were seventeen senators voted for the bill." Better: "Seventeen senators voted for the bill." These sort, These kind.Ungrammatical. See [51b]. This here.Do not use for this. Those.Do not carelessly omit a relative clause after those. Faulty: "He is one of those talebearers." Better: "He is a talebearer." [Or] "He is one of those talebearers whom everybody dislikes." Those kind, those sort.Ungrammatical. See [51b]. Till.Do not carelessly misuse for when: "I had scarcely strapped on my skates when (not till) Henry fell through an air hole." Transpire.Means to give forth or to become known, not to occur. "The secret transpired." "The sale of the property occurred (not transpired) last Thursday." Try.A verb, not a noun. Unique.Means alone of its kind, not odd or unusual. United States.Ordinarily preceded by the. "The United States raised a large army." (Not "United States raised a large army.") Up.Do not needlessly insert after such verbs as end, rest, settle. Used to could.Very crude. Say used to be able or once could. Very.Accompanied by much when used with the past participle. "He was very much (not very) pleased with his reception." Want to.Not to be used in the sense of should, had better. "You should (not You want to) keep in good physical condition." Way.Not to be used for away. "Away (not way) down the street." Ways.Not to be used for way in referring to distance. "A little way (not ways)." When.(a) Not to be used for that in such a sentence as "It was in the afternoon that the races began." (b) A when clause is not to be used as a predicate noun. See [6]. Where.(a) Not to be used for that in such a sentence as "I see in the paper that our team lost the game." (b) A where clause is not to be used as a predicate noun. See [6]. Where at.Vulgar. "Where is he? (not Where is he at?)" Which.Do not use for who or that in referring to persons. "The friends who (not which) had loved him in his boyhood were still faithful to him." Who.Do not use unnecessarily for which or that in referring to animals. Do not use the possessive form whose for of which unless the sentence is so turned as practically to require the substitution. Will.Do not confuse with shall. See [53]. Win out.Not used in formal writing or speaking. Woods.Not ordinarily to be used as singular. "A wood (not A woods)." Would have.Do not use for had in if clauses. "If you had (not would have) spoken boldly, he would have granted your request." Would of.A vulgarism for would have. You was.Use You were in both singular and plural. Yourself.Intensive or reflexive; do not use when the personal pronoun would suffice. "You (not Yourself) and your family must come."

Exercise:

  1. Be sure the gun works alright. I was already when you came.
  2. He talked considerable, but I couldn't scarcely remember what all he said.
  3. I never suspicioned that John could of been guilty of forging his father's note. It don't seem hardly possible.
  4. The island was not inhabited by humans. It was different than any place I ever remember of. One sailor and myself climbed a sand hill, but we couldn't see any signs of life anywheres.
  5. Hawkeye walked a ways into a woods. He was a right smart at ease, for he had Kildeer with him.
[69. EXERCISE IN DICTION]
[A. Wordiness]

Strike out all that is superfluous, and make the following sentences simple and exact.