360. “The Danube empties into the Black Sea:” say, flows; to empty means to make vacant; no river can properly be called empty, until it is entirely dried up.
361. Such words as bamboozle, topsyturvy, helterskelter, hurlyburly, and pellmell are generally to be avoided. They answer, however, for familiar conversation.
362. Never say seraphims, for the plural of seraph, but seraphim; the same rule holds with cherubims. Cherubs and seraphs are proper plurals, suiting a familiar style of speaking or writing, while cherubim and seraphim are to be used only in more dignified and solemn discourse.
363. “There’s the books you wanted:” say, there are: avoid all abbreviations when they lead to a grammatical error, as in the present instance.
364. “This prisoner has, of all the gang, committed fewer misdemeanors:” say, fewest. We may say fewer than all, but we must say fewest of all.
365. “I esteem you more than the others:” this sentence is equivocal. Does it mean, “I esteem you more than I esteem the others,” or, “I esteem you more than the others esteem you?”
366. “The most eminent scholars will, on some points, differ among one another:” say, among themselves.
367. “He, from that moment, doubled his kindness and caresses of me:” say, “kindness for and caresses of me;” by omitting caresses we have, “He doubled his kindness of me,” which is not good English.
368. To differ from and to differ with: to differ from a man means to have an opinion different from his; to differ with a person signifies a quarrel or rupture.
369. “He barely escaped having one or two broken heads:” a man has but one head, let it be broken or whole. Say, “He once or twice barely escaped having a broken head.”