“The best of all ways
To lengthen our days,
Is to take a few hours from the night, my lad.”
380. “They returned back again to the same city from whence they came forth:” omit the italicized words, which are redundant and inelegant.
381. “Have you any leisure upon your hands?” omit upon your hands,—not so much because anything after “leisure” is superfluous, in such a sentence, as because the idea of having leisure upon your hands is absurd.
382. “Seven lads were present, and he gave them all a book:” say, gave them each a book. All refers to a number of persons or things taken collectively, as one body; each refers to every individual, separately considered.
383. “Lend me your umberell:” say, umbrella. The former pronunciation, however, is allowed by poetic license, as in the following, adapted from Thomas Moore:—
“Oh, ever thus from childhood’s hour,
Has chilling fate upon me fell!
There always comes a soakin’ shower
When I hain’t got an umbrell.”
384. We lately met a grammarian, who had just made a tour through the mines, conjugating, or, rather, cogitating thus: “Positive, mine; comparative miner; superlative, minus!”
385. “Put not thy secret into the mouth of the Bosphorus, for it will betray it to the ears of the Black Sea.”—(Oriental Proverb.) Pronounce Bosphorus as if written Bosforus, and not Bos-porous.
386. Be careful to use the hyphen (-) correctly: it joins compound words, and words broken by the ending of a line. The use of the hyphen will appear more clearly from the following example: “many colored wings” means many wings which are colored; but “many-colored wings” means “wings of many colors.”
387. “I am afraid it will rain:” say, I fear. Afraid expresses terror; fear may mean only anxiety.