Words; Their Use and Abuse

by William Mathews

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[INDEX.]

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A.
abdicate and desert, [282].
abominable, [392].
accord, [467].
a confirmed invalid, [455].
Addington, nicknamed by Sheridan, [361].
Adullamites, [362].
agriculturalist, [445].
alert, [395].
Alexander, Addison, D.D., his lines on small words, [157].
alligator, [387].
all of them, [459].
all right, [72].
almost, [464].
alms, [419].
alone, [448].
American orators, their diffuseness, [179-181];
their exaggeration, [185].
Americans, spendthrifts of language, [179];
their exaggeration, [184], [187].
Amphibolous sentences, [291].
and, [285].
anecdote, [378].
Animals, cannot generalize, or designate things by signs, [1-2].
an innumerable number, [465].
animosity, [384].
antecedents, [430].
anyhow, [446].
apology, [271].
apple-pie order, [402].
appreciates, [455].
Aristotle, on frigidity of style, [117].
Armstrong, [338].
Arnold, Dr. Thomas, on the styles of historians, [65], [66].
artesian, [408].
artillery, [379].
assassin, [396].
astonish, [376].
atom, [320].
at all, [449].
atte, at, [331].
attraction, [84].
avocation, [448].
B.
Bacon, Lord, his command of language, [10];
on the power of words, [84], [85].
Bailey, Samuel, on Berkeley’s theory of vision, [16].
balance, [116], [448].
Balzac, on the witchery of words, [85].
banister, [437].
bankrupt, [387].
Barrow, Isaac, D.D., his word-coinings, [433].
bedlam, [418].
belfry, [416].
Bentley, Richard, D.D., [236], [241].
berg, [32].
bib, [404].
bid, [470].
bishop, [415].
bit, [387].
bitter end, the, [403].
blackguards, [378].
blanket, [409].
blue-stocking, [390].
blunderbuss, [397].
Boileau, quoted, [111], [214].
Bolingbroke, Lord, his attention to his style, [441].
bombast, [379].
bonhomme, [71].
booby, [396].
bosh, [397].
Botany, its nomenclature, [89].
boudoir, [400].
bound, [455].
Bowen, Prof. Francis, on a fallacy of Darwin’s, [277];
on second causes, [270].
bran-new, [414].
brat, [383].
bravery, [377].
Brown, John, his moderation of language, [191].
Browne, Sir Thomas, on scholars, [6].
Buckle, on the dialect of English scholars, [241].
buffoon, [389].
Bulwer, Lytton, on the power of words, [93];
on children’s names, [324].
bumper, [394].
Bunsen, on poetry, [248].
Burr, Aaron, saying of, [182].
but, [445].
but that, [449].
by-laws, [395].
Byron, Lord, on Keats’s death, [90];
his denunciation of the English Language, [133], [134];
his use of monosyllables, [152], [153];
his subscription for Greece, [160];
on the inadequacy of language, [212].
C.
Cæsar, [335].
caitiff, [379].
caloric, [293].
canard, [391].
Canning, George, his command of words, [18];
extract from, [200].
canon, cannon, [396].
Cant, political, [168];
ethical, [169];
Seneca’s, [169];
religious, [170-173];
Spurgeon on, [172];
in art, [176];
etymology of the word, [389], [390].
caption, [467].
Capuchin, [355].
carat, [405].
Carbo, anecdote of, [29].
Carlyle, Thomas, satirized by an auctioneer, [120].
carnival, [458].
caucus, [401].
causeway, [419].
ceiling, [417].
celebrity, [451].
chaffer, [385].
chagrin, [396].
Chalmers, Thomas, D.D., on John Foster, [27];
his dispute with Stuart, [264].
Charles V, saying of, [177].
Chatham, Lord, his study of words, [17];
his words, [52], [53];
his speeches, [182].
cheat, [398].
Chesterfield, Lord, anecdote of, [128];
his efforts to improve his language, [440].
chevalier d’industrie, [95].
Choate, Rufus, on the diction suitable to lawyers, [18];
his prodigality of words, [187].
Christian, [356], [357].
Cicero, his choice of words, [29];
his word-coining, [105].
civilization, [274].
Clarendon, Lord, his solecisms, [438].
cleave, [421].
Climate, its effects on language, [243], [244].
Cobbett, William, his mastery of narration and invective, [236];
his nicknames of Peel, Stanley, and others, [352].
cock, [244].
Coke, Sir Edward, his characterization of Raleigh, [53].
Coleridge, Hartley N., his characterization of the Greek and Latin languages, [74];
his lines on speech, [193].
Coleridge, S. T., on Shakespeare’s language, [7];
his witchery of phrase, [9];
on the study of the Bible, [115];
on religious cant, [171];
his word-coinings, [432], [433];
on Youth and Age, [256].
Collins, William, lines from, [152].
Combe, Dr. Andrew, on Cowper’s and Wilberforce’s letters, [165].
commerce, [114].
Common Improprieties of Speech, [424-477].
community, [468].
compulsory, [275].
concede, [381].
condign, [464].
conduct, [454].
constable, [404].
convene, [449].
Conversation, religious defined, [172].
convivium, [75].
Cooper, Sir Astley, anecdote of, [72].
coquet, [380].
corporeal, [446].
corpse, [380].
Corwin, Thomas, Gov., [132].
Council of Basle, [263].
country-dance, [415].
couple, [463].
Courier, P. L., on abusive epithets, [279].
court, [405], [406].
Couthon, [168].
Cowper, William, his translation of Homer, [36];
his poetry, [165];
his letters, [165].
craft, [383].
Craik, Prof., on the revivification of human speech, [57].
crawfish, [416].
creative, [290], [291].
Crockett, David, anecdote of, [15].
Crowe, W., lines from, [252].
crushed out, [449].
cunning, [384].
cur, [405].
Curiosities of Language, [367-423].
curmudgeon, [397].
Curran, his encounter with a fish-woman, [365].
Currer Bell, her “Villette” criticised, [126].
Cuvier, anecdote of, [15].
D.
dandelion, [415].
dangerous, [461].
Dante, his language, [9].
dare, [470].
Darwin, Charles, his fallacious use of “tend,” [277].
deceiving, [452].
decimated, [115].
deduction, [445].
defalcation, [385].
delinquents, [347].
De Maistre, Count Joseph, on Locke, [276];
on Pagan ideas of holiness and sin, [81].
De Medicis, Catherine, sayings of, [178].
Demosthenes, his choice of words, [28], [29];
his speeches, [181], [182];
his ignorance of foreign tongues, and study of Thucydides, [239].
demure, [383].
De Quincey, his mastery of words, [12];
on translation, [32];
on the word “humbug,” [81], [82];
on Cardinal Mezzofanti, [178];
on the French language of passion, [189];
on the choice of Saxon or Romanic words, [195], [196], [201];
on the inadequacy of language, [212];
on the style of women’s letters, [240], [241];
saying of, [319];
on improprieties of speech, [439].
Denmark, capture of her fleet by the British, [304], [305].
Desbrosses, on Roman hereditary names, [327].
dexterity, [388].
“Dick Swiveller style,” [164].
differ with, different to, [446].
directly, [456].
Disraeli, Benjamin, quoted, [263].
distinguish, [470].
do, [467].
doing good, [307-309].
dollar, [404].
Domenech, the Abbé, on the language of savages, [24], [25].
Dominicans, [355].
don’t, [451].
dormouse, [416].
“Double Procession.” the, controversy concerning it, [262].
doubt, [447].
drive, [469].
Dryden, John, his scientific language, [10];
his translation of the “Æneid,” [36];
his version of “Paradise Lost,” [37], [38];
his modernization of Chaucer, [37];
lines from, [251];
Willmott on his versification, [253].
dun, [408], [431].
dunce, [386], [387].
Du Ponceau, on the inadequacy of language, [212].
Dyer, lines from his “Ruins of Rome,” [249].
E.
Easter, [406].
education, [280-282].
effluvium, [457].
egregious, [401].
either, [452], [453].
either alternative, [460].
electricity, [293].
Eloquence, uses simple language, [124], [125].
Emerson, R. W., on Montaigne’s words, [10];
on Shakespeare’s suggestiveness, [55];
on oratory, [123].
English Bible, richness of its vocabulary, [204];
F. W. Faber on, [204].
English Language, few of its words in common use, [51], [58];
its copiousness, [132-138];
decried by Charles V, Madame de Stael and Byron, [133];
Addison and Waller on, [134];
its composite character, [135], [136];
its irregularities, [137];
illustrations of its monosyllabic character, [147-157];
its capabilities, [214], [215].
English Literature, its looseness of diction, [425].
English race, its intolerance of restraints, [425].
Ennius, saying of, [177].
enthuse, [467].
equally as well, [456].
equanimity of mind, [451].
Erskine, Lord, his mastery of English, [236].
ether, [293].
Etymological knowledge, its value in the use of words, [231-234].
Etymology, rules of, [413];
errors based on, [285-289].
Euripides, on character, [54].
every, [464].
evidence, [449].
Exaggeration of language, [184-193];
F. W. Robinson on, [191].
except, [463].
excessively, [452].
exchequer, [406].
exorbitant, [381].
experience, [266], [267].
Expletives, [90], [91].
extend, [463].
F.
faint, [388].
Fallacies in Words, [257-322].
farce, [392].
farther, [456].
fast, [420].
fatherland, [429].
Federalist, [347].
fellow, [386].
fellow countrymen, [470].
female, [114].
final completion, [450].
Fitz, witz, and sky, [329].
folks, [468].
Fortescue, [337].
Foster, John, on the words of a man of genius, [6];
on eloquence, [122].
Fox, C. J., on Pitt’s words, [26];
his eloquence, [52].
Frank, [407].
Franklin, Dr. Benjamin, his style, [236].
Freeman, Dr. E. A., on the English Language, [118].
freemason, [415].
French Academy, the, [431].
French language, its lack of words for “bribe,” “sober,” “listener,” “home,” etc., [70-72].
French Literature, its method and lucidity, [426].
Frenchmen, their distaste for foreign words, [126], [127].
from thence, from whence, [454].
Frondeurs, [350].
frontispiece, [414].
Fuller, Dr. Thomas, on the Italian and Swiss languages, [76];
on high-flown language, [129];
on “ah!” and “ha!” 143;
on the schoolmen, [317];
his etymologies, [414];
his story of John Cuts, [339].
fur, [95].
G.
Garrick, David, saying of, [146].
Gautier, Theophile, his study of words, [19].
gêne, [71].
gentleman, [97-99].
George I, of England, [166].
Gesticulation, its expressiveness, [19-21].
gibberish, [394], [408].
Gibbon, Edward, his historical insinuations and suppressions, [292].
girl, [378].
go ahead, [72].
Goethe, saying of, [34];
lines from, [215];
on study of foreign tongues, [229];
a poor linguist, [238].
Goldsmith, Oliver, his solecisms, [438], [439].
gooseberry, [414].
gossip, [385].
Gothic, [84].
Greek and Latin, contrasted, [74];
a knowledge of them not necessary to the command of English, [229-241];
their value for culture, [230], [231].
Greek, its subtle distinctions, [34].
Greek words, Roman affectation for, [127].
Greeks, their perversions of words, [96];
their ignorance of grammar and etymology, [238].
greet, greeting, [456].
Gregory VII, Pope, [167].
Guelphs and Ghibellines, [358].
gutted, [430].
gypsies, [418].
H.
haberdasher, [397].
hack, [405].
had have, [435], [450].
had ought, [450].
Halifax, Lord, on trimming, [359].
Hall, Robert, D.D., anecdotes of, [26], [173];
on his aping of Johnson, [281];
on Saxon-English, [205].
Halleck, Fitz-Greene, his anecdote of a Scotch girl, [129].
Hamilton, Alexander, his legal arguments, [182].
Hamilton, “Single Speech,” [360].

Hamilton, Sir William, on certain philosophical terms, [285].
Handel, saying of, [133].
handkerchief, [404].
harden, [301], [302].
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, on the spells in words, [47].
hawk, [398].
Haydon, anecdote of, [85].
Hazlitt, William, on words, [4];
his “Tiddy-doll” story, [364].
helter-skelter, [388].
Herder, his nickname of Goethe, [348].
hermetically, [409].
Higginson, T. W., on words, [4], [46].
hip, hip, hurrah! 388.
Historians, their characters shown by their styles, [65].
hoax, [397].
Hobbes, his language, [316];
on words, [316], [317].
hocuspocus, [396].
Hollinshed, his “Chronicles” quoted, [286].
Homer, his “winged words,” [5];
his onomatopœia, [254].
“Homoousians” and “Homoiusians,” [262].
homo, [320].
honnêteté, [71].
Horne Tooke, saying of, [155].
horrent, [375].
hospital, [313].
host, [405].
how, [456].
Huguenot, [393], [394].
humble-pie, [398].
humbug, [82], [395].
Hume, David, [98], [99];
his argument against miracles, [265-270];
his history of England, [292];
on the term “delinquents,” [347].
humility, [81].
hung, [470].
hypocrite, [402].
I.
idiot, [383].
I have got, [445].
imagination, [234].
imbecile, [396].
imbroglio, [115].
Imitation, in literature, [218], [222].
imp, [383].
impertinent, [271].
in, [470].
inaugurate, [114].
incomprehensible, [272].
incorrect orthography, [456].
indices, [463].
individual, [109].
ing, [334].
in our midst, [452].
instances, [377].
Interjections, [141-146];
Horne Tooke on, [141];
Max Müller on, [143];
Whitefield’s, [146];
Shakespeare’s, [146];
Greek and Latin, [147].
intoxicated, [116], [117].
inveterate, [423].
is, [466].
island, [414].
Italian language, [76];
its debasement, [76-79].
its, [430].
it were, [447].
J.
jacket, [409].
Jansenists, their disputes with the Jesuits, [261].
Jeffrey, Francis, his artificial style, [119];
anecdote of, [119].
jeopardize, [461].
Jerusalem artichoke, [415].
Johnson, Dr. Samuel, his grandiose style, [156];
anecdote of, [112];
his Johnsonese dialect, [112], [113];
satirized by Dr. Wolcott, [113];
sayings of, [123], [168];
his spoken and written language contrasted, [206], [207];
his advice on style, [215];
on imitative harmony, [255];
on Mrs. Barbauld’s name, [343];
his care of his speech, [441];
improprieties in his “Rambler,” [442];
his nickname of a fish-woman, [365].
Johnson, Edward, M. D., on “right,” [287].
jolly, [375].
Joubert, on Rousseau’s words, [10];
his verbal economy, [183].
jour, [247].
K.
Keats, John, his love of fine phrases, [18].
kennel, [402].
kidnap, [398].
kin, [334].
King, T. Starr, on the mystery of style, [30].
knave, [384].
L.
lady, [391].
landed proprietor, [84], [273].
Landor, W. S., on fine words, [111];
lines from, [154].
Language, its value to man, [2], [3], [21];
its power, [5], [6];
not indispensable to thought and its expression, [19-21];
elaborated by successive generations, [21];
abbreviates the processes and preserves the results of thought, [22], [23];
its educational value, [23];
the limit of thought, [23];
of savages, [24], [25];
not the dress of thought, [35];
unity of language essential to national unity, [47], [48], [50];
gains by time and culture, [56];
no new additions to, [56];
formed out of twenty elementary sounds, [60];
an index to individual character, [62-67];
an index to national character, [67-82];
how enriched and impoverished, [67], [68];
debasement of the Italian, [68-70];
the Greek and the Latin characterized, [73-75];
reveals the climate of a country, [75], [76];
the Italian contrasted with the Swiss, [76];
its influence on opinion, [83];
its lubricity, [95];
mischiefs caused by its debasement, [101];
barbarized by fineries of style, [122];
of art and science, [129-131];
expressiveness of the English, [132-138];
transcendental, [210];
inadequate for the expression of thought, [211];
obscure caused by obscurity of thought, [214], [215];
its virtues moral, [221];
its suggestive power, [222];
Goldwin Smith on, [222];
its magical effects, [224], [225];
stamped with local influences, [243], [244];
an imperfect vehicle of thought, [317];
Emerson on, [369];
contains the history of nations, [370];
mirrors the tastes, customs and opinions of a people, [374];
of savages, [410-412];
over-nicety in its use, [427];
is living and organic, [428];
is ever growing, [428];
defies all shackles, [429];
Henry Rogers on, [433];
how to use it well, [440].
Languages, of conquered peoples not easily extirpated, [48-50];
the study of foreign, [50], [239].
Lavoisier, his chemical terminology, [15].
least, [454].
leave, [458].
Les Gueulx, [357].
less, [446].
let, [420].
Lewes, G. H., on frankness, [158].
lie, lay, [447].
lieutenant, [414].
light, [14], [302].
like I did, [447].
likewise, [448].
Lincoln, Abraham, anecdote of, [363].
Literature, effete, [163].
Locke, John, his “Essay on the Human Understanding,” [276].
London, [312], [313].
looks beautifully, [457].
£. s. d., [387].
Louis XIV, [167].
Lower, Mark A., quoted, [329];
anecdotes by, [330], [333];
on the origin of certain historical names, [337], [338].
lust, [385].
Luttrell, Henry, lines by, [167].
luxury, [295-298].
M.
Macaulay, T. B., on Milton’s words, [7], [8];
on Dryden’s, [10];
on Johnson’s language, [206];
his eulogy on Saxon-English, [206];
quoted, [84], [240];
on disputes in Parliament concerning James II and William, [282].
Macready, W. C., his elocution, [53].
malignants, [347].
manumit, [402].
Marsh, Prof. G. T., on Demosthenes, [29];
on the Italian language, [69], [70];
on Goethe as a linguist, [238].
Martineau, James, D.D., on words, [103].
martinet, [409].
Materialism, derives no support from language, [288], [289].
maudlin, [408].
megrim, [419].
menial, [382].
Methodist, [355].
Mezzofanti, Cardinal, [177], [178].
Michaelis, J. D., remarks of, [79].
Mill, J. S., on the misuse of certain words, [273].
Miller, Hugh, his style, [238].
Milton, the suggestiveness of his verse, [7], [8];
Macaulay on his words, [7], [8];
his versification, [9];
his necromantic power over language, [9];
his use of monosyllables, [151];
his use of words in their etymological sense, [233], [375], [376];
his prose style, [241];
extracts from his “Paradise Lost,” [250], [251], [252], [254];
from “Il Penseroso” and “L’Allegro,” [253].
Mirabeau, his words, [3].
miscreant, [380].
mistaken, [421].
money, [259].
mongrel, [405].
monomania, [94].
Monosyllables, their potency in life and literature, [140];
how constructed in English, [148];
their number in English, [156].
Montaigne, on verbal definitions and explanations, [310].
Montgomery, James, on Milton’s versification, [8], [9].
Moon-Alford controversy, the, [424].
Moore, Thomas, anecdote of, [27];
verses of, [153];
saying of, [240].
more perfect, [465].
Morris, Gouverneur, anecdote by, [87], [88].
Motley, J. L., on “The Beggars,” [357].
mountebank, [388].
Müller, Max, on “The Supernatural,” and “To Know and To Believe,” [264];
on etymology, [413].
murder, [303], [304].
muriatic acid, [293].
musket, [232], [248].
mussulmen, [469].
mutual, [462].
myself, [458].
mystery, [406].
N.
Names, of children, [323-325], [343], [344];
of things, once names of persons, [408];
of places—how corrupted, [417], [418].
Names of Men, [323-344];
how regarded by the Jews and the Romans, [43], [45];
their suggestiveness, [325];
all originally significant, [326];
Roman, [327];
surnames, [328];
Saxon, [334];
obsolete words preserved in, [332];
ending in er, [332];
ending in ward, [332];
derived from offices, [332];
disguised, denoting mean occupations, [333];
from personal qualities, [334];
Puritan, [334];
derived from oaths, [334];
indicating personal blemishes or moral obliquities, [335], [336];
some changes of, [336], [339];
“Erasmus” and “Melanchthon,” [336];
corruption of, [336], [337];
queer conjunctions of, [339];
that harmonize with, or are antagonistic to, their owners’ occupations, [339-341];
puns upon, [341-343];
not mere labels, [346];
Goethe on, [346];
their influence on their wearers, [346].
Napier, extract from his History of the Peninsular War, [201].
Napoleon, his love of glory, [64], [65];
his hypocrisy, [168];
his style, [222];
on epithets, [350].
naturalist, [378].
nature and art, [298].
nature and law of nature, [269], [270].
nervous, [420].
never, [453].
Newman, Prof. J. H., verses by, [174].
nice, [394], [461].
Nicknames, [345-366];
their influence in controversy, [346];
Goethe on, [346], [348];
of Van Buren, Tyler, Gen. Scott and Bonaparte, [348], [349];
why effective, [350], [351];
theological, [351];
loving, [351];
Cobbett’s skill in, [351], [352];
Carlyle’s, [352];
meaningless, [352];
their origin, [352-354];
felicitous, [354];
fondness
of the Italians for them, [354], [359];
memorable English, [360-363];
originally complimentary, [363];
Southey’s “Doctor Dove” on, [364].
no, [455].
none, [457].
notwithstanding, [470].
numerous, [470].
O.
ock, [334].
O’Connell, Daniel, his “Lax Weir” case, [16];
his stock phrases, [168].
off of, [465].
oh!, [142].
old, [280].
older, [468].
O, Mac, and Ap, [328], [329], [330].
Onomatopes, [242-256];
objections to the theory of, [245-247];
why they vary in different languages, [246];
their expressiveness, [248], [255];
abound in poetry, [248];
examples of in English poetry, [249-254];
Homer’s, Virgil’s and Aristophanes’s, [254];
Dr. Johnson on, [255];
no rules for their choice, [255].
on to, [467].
opposite and contrary, [284].
or, [285].
Oratory, an important law of, [190].
originality, [290].
ostracize, [371].
ovation, [117].
overflow, [468].
owl, [399].
oxygen, [293].
P.
pagan, [371], [372].
palace, [405].
palfrey, [405].
palsy, [419].
Pambos, anecdote of, [174].
pander, [409].
pantaloon, [398].
pantheist, [276].
paradise, [382].
paraphernalia, [464].
parasite, [399].
parliament, [272].
parlor, [400].
parson, [385].
partake, [437].
parts, [380].
party, [451].
Pascal, quoted, [111].
pasquinade, [409].
Patkul, and Charles XII., [167].
pensive, [394].
people, [465].
person, [283], [397].
personalty, [467].
pet, [396].
petrels, [396].
Phidias, saying of, [223].
Philologists, their dangers, [412].
Phillips, his “World of Words,” [429].
Pinkney, William, his study of words, [17], [18].
Pitt, Christopher, lines by, [250].
plagiarism, [400].
Plantagenet, [338].
plenty, [445].
Poetry, English, of the 18th century, [163-165].
policy, [414].
Political economists, their disputes,

[259], [260].
poltroon, [392].
pontiff, [406].
Pope, Alexander, his translation of Homer, [35], [36];
saying of, [53];
his use of small words, [139];
his circumlocutions, [165];
lines from, [249], [252].
Popes, their management of theological controversies, [263].
porpoise, [416].
post, [420].
Practical men, and theorists, [305], [307].
Preachers, their use of philosophical words, [109], [110].
predicate, [451].
premier, [358].
prevent, [378].
preventative, [461].
previous, [445].
priest, [263].
Proctor, Adelaide, on words, [2], [104].
property, [390].
proposition, [455].
proven, [455].
punctual, [379].
puny, [407].
Puritan, [359].
Q.
quaker, [359].
quandary, [388].
quantity, [458].
quamquam, [289].
quinsy, [419].
Quirites, [85].
quite, [457].
quiz, [393].
R.
raising the rent, [471].
rascal, [378].
raven, [398].
reasons, [97].
recommend, [446].
regeneration, [382].
relevant, [381].
rendition, [463].
resent, [384].
restive, [458].
retaliate, [384], [423].
revolt, [448].
rhinoceros, [320].
right, [287], [310], [398].
ringleader, [232].
rip, [422].
Robertson, Rev. F. W., on calumny, [91], [92];
on talk without deeds, [173];
on the use of superlatives, [174], [175], [191], [192].
Robinson, “Boot-jack,” [360].
rodomontade, [410].
Romanic words in English, [197-201].
Romans, the, degeneracy of their language, [75];
their ideas of virtue and vice, [81];
had no idea of sin, [81].
Roscius, the Roman actor, [19].
rosemary, [415].
Rossini, saying of, [176].
rostrum, [405].
Roundhead, [360].
Rump, the, [360].
S.
sagacious, [378].
Sainte-Beuve, C. A., on Napoleon’s style, [222].
salary, [398].
salmon, [405].
Salutation, its forms an index to national character, [77-79].
same, [290].
sandwich, [409].
sarcasm, [399].
saunterer, [409].
Savages, no ethical nomenclatures in their languages, [80];
their poverty of language, [24], [25].
Saxon-English, its merits and defects, [196-197], [201-208];
the basis of the language, [208];
its witchery, [208];
its obsolete pictorial words, [201];
Robert Hall on, [205];
Macaulay on, [206];
its freedom from equivocation, [278].
Saxon Words, or Romanic?, [194-209].
scarcely, [468].
Scarlett, Sir James, on brevity in jury addresses, [182].
Schiller, on the study of foreign languages, [239].
Scholarship, the error of modern, [178].
schooner, [399], [400].
Science, influence of its names and phrases, [89].
scrupulous, [400].
second causes, [270].
secret, [376].
Secret of Apt Words, the, [210-241].
Selden, John, saying of, [56].
seldom, or never, [454].
selfishness, [81], [279].
Seneca, his moral discourses, [169];
his wealth, [169], [170];
his crimes, [170].
seraphim, [465].
servant, [400].
servitude, [274].
setting-room, [464].
sexton, [388].
shacklebone, [372].
Shakespeare, his words, [7];
suggestiveness of his diction, [54], [55];
not a classical scholar, [235];
quoted, [254].
shall, will, [471-477].
Sharp, Dr., saying of, [173].
Shenstone, on melody of style, [255].
Shibboleths, their influence with the people, [87-89].
shoot, [416].
Siddons, Mrs., on one of Haydon’s pictures, [85].
Sidney, Sir Philip, on the ballad of “Chevy Chase,” [224];
saying of, [441].
signing one’s name, [404].
silhouettes, [408].
silly, [382].
simple, [385].
simplicity, [299].
sincere, [367].
sit, sat, [454].
slave, [400].
Small Words, [139-157];
when necessary, [156];
their potency, [140];
abound in English, [147].
Smith, [331].
Smith, Prof. Goldwin, on language, [222].
Smith, Sydney, saying of, [26];
his word-coinings, [433];
on Sir James Macintosh’s style, [118], [119];
his solecisms, [442].
snob, [395].
Solecisms, in eminent writers, [434], [437], [438], [442-444].
solidarity, [430].
Some Abuses of Words, [177-193].
somerset, [417].
son, [327], [333].
sophist, [271].
South, Robert, D. D., on verbal magic, [94], [275];
extract from, [184].
Spaniards, their love for long names, [127], [128], [339].
“Spasmodic School” of Poetry, [362].
specialty, [461].
species, [300].
speculation, [383].
spencer, [409].
Spencer, Herbert, on Saxon-English, [154].
Spenser, his “Abode of Sleep,” [249].
spoonsful, [468].
Spurgeon, Rev. C. H., on religious cant, [172].
squatter, [430].
squirrel, [399].
Stanhope, Lady Hester, [319].
Stanley, Lord, on Saxon words, [194], [195].
starvation, [360].
stentorian, [410].
stipulation, [387].
stopping, [462].
Story, Judge Joseph, anecdote told by, [312].
Story, W. W., quoted, [199].
stranger, [403].
strong, [302].
Style, the most vital element of literary immortality, [30];
Gibbon’s and Hume’s, [30];
Starr King on its mystery, [30];
an index to character, [65];
intensity of, [192];
the transcendental, [210];
how to form a good, [215], [216], [222], [225];
no model, [217];
varieties of, [219];
Joubert on, [220], [221];
the kind demanded to-day, [220];
not to be cultivated for its own sake, [221];
images the writer’s nature, [221];
Ruskin on, [221];
a question concerning it, [224];
perspicuity its first law, [225];
should be vivid, [225].
succeed, [469].
succession powder, [96].
such, [456].
suffrage, [406].
sunstroke, [293].
supercilious, [400].
superior, [457].
supplement, [456].
surname, [415].
Swinburne, A. C., his command of words, [11].
sycophant, [399].
Synonyms, [26].
T.
tabby, [399].
tale, [375].
Tartar, [469].
tawdry, [409].
Taylor, “Chicken,” [362].
Taylor, Henry, on the writers of the 17th century, [13-14].
Taylor, Jeremy, his latinistic style, [233].
team, [313-316].
telescope, [430].
tend, [276].
Tennyson, his command of words, [11];
his use of onomatopœia, [251], [252];
on words, [212].
terrier, [405].
that of, [470].
the above, [450].
the church, [262], [263].
the masses, [452].
theory, [305].
then, [450].
Theological disputes, [260-264].
thing, [380].
Thomson, James, his list of obsolete words, [57].
Thought, difficulty of expressing it, [211].
thrall, thraldom, [403].
tidy, [379].
toad-eater, [389].
to a degree, [456].
to allude, [459], [460].
to curry favor, [418].
to extremely maltreat, [467].
Tooke, Horne, on “truth,” [286], [287].
topsy-turvy, [388].
Tory, [355].
Townsend, Lady, on Whitefield, [173].
Translations, their inadequacy, [31-43];
of the New Testament, [32-34];
of the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey,” [35], [36];
of Horace, [38];
blunders in, [39-41].
transpire, [470].
treacle, [419].
tribulation, [399].
trifling minutiæ, [462].
trivial, [392].
True Blue, [407].
truth, [286], [289].
try, [451].
try and, [469].
two good ones, [471].
tyrant, [271].
U.
ugly, [466].
underhanded, [461].
unity, [283].
upon, [14].
Usage, a presumptive test of purity of speech, [434];
of old writers, [435].
usury, [380].
utopian, [88], [410].
V.
vagabond, [384].
ventilate, [470].
villain, [382].
violation of nature, [267].
Virgil, his “Æneid,” [28];
his onomatopœia, [254].
virtual representation, [265].
Vocabularies, of different men and callings, [66], [67].
Vocal Organs, the, their adaptation to the atmosphere, [60].
volcano, [409].
W.
Walton, Izaak, his style, [236].
was, [471].
watched him do it, [457].
we, [161], [162].
wealth, [390].
wearies, [446].
Webster, Daniel, his study of words, [17];
the impressiveness of his words, [52];
his early speeches bombastic, [124];
his use of plain words, [124];
his temperance of language, [192].
Wellington, on his “duty,” [64].
Whately, Archbishop, his simplicity in preaching, [123].
whether, [453].
Whipple, E. P., on the words of Chaucer, Edwards, and Barrow, [54];
on the suggestiveness of Shakespeare’s diction, [54], [55];
on the styles of Sydney Smith, Bacon, Locke, etc., [219], [220];
his style, [237];
his knowledge of English literature, [237].
Whitney, W. D., quoted, [234].
Whittington and his cat, [417].
whole, entire, complete, total, [460], [469].
William, [326].
Willmott, Rev. Robert A., on Dryden’s and Pope’s versification, [253].
window, [404].
wiseacre, [414].
wit, [380].
Wolcott, Dr., his lines on Johnson, [113].
woman, [391].
women, their language, [240].
Words, their significance, [1-61];
their range and power, [2], [46];
are things, [3];
Mirabeau on, [3];
Hazlitt on, [3];
more enduring than sculpture or painting, [4], [5];
Homer’s, [5];
the incarnation of thought, [6];
Milton’s, [7-9];
Montgomery on Milton’s, [8], [9];
Bacon’s, [10];
Dryden’s, [10];
Montaigne’s, [10];
Rousseau’s, [10];
Coleridge’s, [10];
Tennyson’s, [11];
Swinburne’s, [11];
De Quincey’s mastery of them, [12];
of the 17th century writers, [13];
difficulty of defining, [14-16];
Daniel Webster’s study of, [17];
Lord Chatham’s study of, [17];
William Pinkney’s study of, [17];
Theophile Gautier’s fondness for picturesque, [19];
comprehensive, [23];
their use a test of culture, [25], [26];
should fit close to the thought, [26];
never strictly synonymous, [26];
Wm. Pitt’s use of, [96];
Robert Hall’s use of, [26];
John Foster’s scrutiny of, [27];
Thomas Moore’s use of, [27];
how used by the ancient writers, [27-30];
Demosthenes’s choice of, [28], [29];
Cicero’s use of, [29];
Cowper on, [34];
their necromantic power, [34], [35];
how regarded by the ancients, [43-45];
use of in “the black art,” [45];
T. W. Higginson on, [46];
Prof. Maurice on, [46];
Hawthorne on their spells, [47];
their meaning and force depend upon the man who uses them, [50-56];
E. P. Whipple on the transfiguration of common, [54];
suggestiveness of Shakespeare’s, [54], [55];
media for the emission of character, [55], [56];
no new ones can be invented, [56], [57];
difficulty of restoring obsolete, [57];
their significance disclosed by life, [59], [60];
their morality, [62-104];
an index to character, [62-104];
their power over the popular imagination, [82];
test of thought, [82];
embalm mistaken opinions, [84];
Bacon on their power, [84];
Balzac on their witchery, [85];
South on the enchantment of popular ones, [85], [86], [87];
illustrations of their power, [86], [87];
their influence in theology, [88], [89];
their influence in science, [89];
their influence upon authors, [90];
employed as expletives, [90];
calumnious, [92];
their power in politics, [93];
Bulwer on their influence, [93];
their perversions by the Greeks and Romans, [96];
used to gloss over vices, [99], [100];
auctioneers’ use of, [100];
criminality of their corruptors, [101], [102];
James Martineau on, [103];

a startling fact about them, [104];
grand, [105-138];
the mania for big, [106-108];
St. Paul on, [109];
the simplest best, [124];
the affectation of foreign, [125], [126];
uncouthness of scientific, [130], [131];
small, [139-157];
conventional, [158], [160], [172];
used without meaning, [162-176];
lose their significance by handling, [170], [171], [190];
some abuses of, [177-193];
the secret of apt, [210-241];
only symbols, [213];
their arrangement on the battle-fields of thought, [226], [228];
onomatopœic, [242-256];
phonetic corruption of, [247];
fallacies in, [257-322];
effect of equivocal in theology, [257-264];
and in philosophy, [264];
their changes of meaning, [271];
dictionary definitions of, [275];
“rabble-charming,” [275];
question-begging, [279];
derivative and primitive, [280];
mere hieroglyphics, [288];
shadow forth more than they express, [289];
their insinuations of error, [292];
in legal instruments, [311];
their ambiguity in statutes, [311], [312];
express only the relations of things, [317];
imperfect signs of our conceptions, [317], [318], [321];
convey different ideas to different minds, [318], [319], [320];
denote but part of an object, [320];
their power in the French revolution, [349], [350];
fascination of their study, [367], [368];
concentrated poems, [369];
knowledge embodied in, [371];
Arab in English, [371];
changes in their meaning, [374-382];
their degradation, [382-397];
common with curious derivations, [387-412];
of illusive etymology, [412-420];
causes of their corruption, [412];
Anglicizing of foreign, [412];
their contradictory meanings, [420-423];
origin of new, [428];
legitimate once denounced, [429];
coined by poets, [432];
advantages of their accurate use, [436-440];
the use of pet, [444];
the coining of, [425], [432-434].
Words without meaning, [158-176].
Wordsworth, lines from, [251].
Wotton, Sir Henry, his definition of an ambassador, [166].
Y.
Youth and Age, Coleridge’s lines on, [256].
Z.
zero, [419].

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE