ANTENNA

more complicated & perhaps not otherwise expressible in one word :But the President was afraid to antagonize Senator Aldrich & the other leaders of the Stand-pat Republicans./Rather than antagonize the two New England Senators on whom the woollen manufacturers were leaning, he signed a re-enactment of the notorious Schedule K./The_Reciprocity Bill was passed; but by pressing it through Congress President Taft antagonized both the Standpatters & the Insurgent Republicans./ Hulme, with his militarist impulse in thought, had a rare gift for forcing people to dissent from him; no one could more successfully antagonize from a lecture-platform an audience assembled with the most docile intentions./We are heartily in favour of doing nothing to antagonize the princes & chiefs of India./Tenderness to Germany would not have conciliated that country & would have antagonized our Allies./The Government will seek to employ its majority to carry out a home programme that will antagonize the electors./It assumes infallibility & warns off critics in a tone of determination sufficient to antagonize the man who approaches its findings with an open mind. In some of these estrange would pass, but in most it would be unsuitable.

antenna. Pl. -nae.

antepenult. See TECHNICAL TERMS. Anthony is spelt with & pronounced without h.

anthropoid. Either anthro'poid or ǎ'nthropoid is legitimate; see FALSE

QUANTITY.

anthropophagi. See GREEK G. anticipate. 1. 4. makes -pable;

see -ABLE 1.

2. Unidiomatic use. Exhibitions of feeling were, of course, anticipated to take place on Monday./This book, which, we repeat, might have been anticipated to contain a manifesto of the aims of the young intellectuals of America, proves to be.../A noteworthy act, which may be anticipated to have far-reaching effects in the

future of the Balkan situation. The OED has nine separately numbered definitions, & 35 quotations, for anticipate. None of the definitions, & none of the quotations, suggest the possibility of such a use as is seen in all the above newspaper extracts; the writers have thought their sentences with the homely expect, which would have served perfectly, & then written them with the FORMAL WORD anticipate ; ANALOGY has duped them into supposing that since it vaguely resembles expect in sense it must be capable of the same construction.

anticlimax. See TECHNICAL TERMS. antiphlogistine &c. See GREEK G. antipodes. Pronounce ǎnti'podēz. Though antipode is said still to exist as a singular (Selfishness is the very antipode of self-love), the modern idiom is to use the plural form only, treating it as a singular when it means thing diametrically opposite (The antipodes of selfishness is selflove).

antiquarian. Both this & antiquary were formerly used as adjectives & nouns. Now that antiquary has been restricted to the noun use, & antiquarian has become chiefly adjectival, the absolute restriction of the latter to the adjective use seems very desirable.

ANTI-SAXONISM. There are, indeed, no anti-Saxonists, properly speaking; that is to say, antiSaxonism is not, like its verbal counterpart Saxonism, a creed; but, if it is not a creed, it is a propensity & a practice that goes far to account for the follies of Saxonism, & is here named on that ground. Happenings & forewords & forebears & birdlore & wheelman & betterment are almost justified as a revulsion from the turgid taste that finds satisfaction in transpire & materialize & eventuate, optimism & mentality, idiosyncrasy & psychological moment, proposition & protagonist, in connexion with & with reference to. All

ANTISTROPHE

of these are now in constant use, & often misuse; that the meaning of many of them is vague is a recommendation to one kind of writer as saving him the trouble of choosing between more precise synonyms, & to one kind of reader as a guarantee that clear thought is not going to be required of him; a further account of the attraction of such words will be found in LOVE OF THE LONG WORD. Others are chosen not because they are, like these, in constant use, but because they are not; to say nomenclature instead of name, replica for copy, premier for first, major for greater, evince for show, malnutrition for underfeeding, prior to for before, is AVOIDANCE OF THE OBVIOUS; & PEDANTIC HUMOUR suggests gulosity, cacophonous, osculatory, sartorial, & cachinnation.

Anti-Saxonism, then, is here used as a name for the frame of mind that turns away not so much from the etymologically English vocabulary as from the homely or the simple or the clear; it may perhaps have been observed that the word given above as preferable to replica was copy, which is no more Saxon than replica ; it is more English, for all that, just as ridiculous is more English than risible. Readers who would like to study the effect of yielding to the practice will find quotations under nearly all the words that have been given as specimens, in their separate articles; & for others half a dozen are here collected, most of them containing rather a misuse than a mere use of the word concerned :— But he had the most tremendous optimism in the future triumph of his cause./Pleasing & original also are the landscapes in which vegetation is given the meticulous significance reminiscent of the douanier Rousseau./In the Small Rodent House, the Echidna was busy sucking up his milk supper through his long bill, oblivious to the eavesdroppers./Neither France nor Great Britain could indulge in such an eventuality at the present juncture./The 6s. increase

in the price of coal may not materialize after all.

antistrophe, antithesis. See TECH

NICAL TERMS.

antitype. See TYPE.

anxious. The objections made to it in the sense eager (to hear, improve, go, &c.) as a modernism, & in the sense calculated to cause anxiety (It is a very a. business; You will find her an a. charge) as an archaism, are negligible; both are natural developments, the first is almost universally current, & the second is still not infrequent.

any. 1. Compounds. Anybody, anything, anyhow, anywhere, anywhen, anywhither, are always single words; so also the adverb anywise (but in any wise); for anyone, any one, see ONE; any way is best written as two words (I cannot manage it any way) except perhaps when it means at all events, however that may be, at any rate (Any way, or Anyway, I can endure it no longer); at any rate, not at anyrate.

2. He is the most generous man of anyone I know.

This common idiom, which looks illogical (of all I know being the logical form) is no doubt defensible as a development or survival of the archaic type Caesar, the greatest traveller, of a prince, that had ever been. Of there means in the way of, & we should now write for instead of it. But that sense of of being preserved in this idiom alone, the idiom itself is not likely long to resist the modern dislike of the illogical. It therefore seems desirable to avoid such things as :-Edward Prince of Wales is the eighteenth who has borne that title, the most illustrious, perhaps, of any heirapparent in the world (more illustrious than that of any)./The Standard Oil Company is credited with having the largest Eastern trade of any American enterprise (of all American enterprises; or a larger trade than any other).

aorist. See TECHNICAL TERMS.

PUZZLES, & -ED & 'D, for some points concerning its use ; &, for the sense in rhetoric, TECHNICAL TERMS.

appal(1). The double 1 is better; see -LL-, -L-, 3. In any case -lled &c., see -LL-, -L-, 1.

a(p)panage. Either form will do ; appa- is perhaps commoner in general, & apa- in learned, use.

apparent(ly). 1. Either pronunciation (-arent, -ǎrent) is legitimate; see FALSE QUANTITY. 2. For commas before & after apparently, see

of understand(ing), the ap- forms denote the getting hold or grasping, & the com- forms the having hold or full possession, of what is understood. What is beyond my apprehension I have no cognizance of; what is beyond my comprehension I am merely incapable of fully understanding. To apprehend a thing imperfectly is to have not reached a clear notion of it; comprehend it imperfectly is almost a contradiction in terms. I apprehend that A is B advances an admittedly fallible view; I comprehend that A is B states a presumably indisputable fact.

to

apt, liable. Followed by to with the infinitive in the senses having an unfortunate tendency (apt), exposed to a risk (liable), the words are so near in meaning that one of them (liable) is often wrongly used for the other. It may perhaps be laid down that apt is the right word except when the infinitive expresses not merely an evil, but an evil that is one to the subject. This is so, & therefore liable is right, in :-We are 1. to be overheard (being overheard is an evil to us); Matinée-hat wearers are 1. to be insulted; The goods are 1. to suffer. It is not so, & therefore apt is the only word, in :-Curses are a. to come home to roost (the evil is not to the curses, but to the curser); Damage is a. to be done; Matinée hats are a. to cause ill

AQUARIUM

temper; Difficulties are a. to occur; Lovers' vows are a. to be broken. It is usually not so, & therefore apt is usually the right word, in :—He is a. to promise more than he can perform (but liable, if the evil suggested is the shame he feels); Cast iron is a. to break (but liable, if we are sorry for the iron & not for its owner).

Since liable is apt to encroach, & apt is liable to suffer neglect, the best advice is never to use l. till a. has been considered & rejected.

aquarium. Pl. -ums, -a; see -UM. Arab, Arabian, Arabic. With exceptions for a phrase or two, such as gum arabic, the three adjectives are now differentiated, Arab meaning of the Arabs, Arabian of Arabia, & Arabic of the language or writing or literature of the Arabs. So we have an Arab horse, child, girl, chief, sheikh; Arab courage, fanatics, fatalism, traditions, philosophy; the Arabian gulf, desert, fauna & flora; Arabian gales; the Arabic numerals; an Arabic word; Arabic writing, literature. Arab & Arabian can sometimes be used indifferently; thus an Arab village is one inhabited by Arabs; if it happens to be in Arabia it is also an Arabian village, & may be called by either name; the Arab war is one with Arabs; the Arabian war is one in Arabia; & the two may be one. Also Arabian may still be used instead of Arab of what belongs to or goes back to the past, as Arabian records, monuments, philosophy, conquests.

arbitrate makes-trable; see -ABLE 1. arbo(u)r. Keep the -u-; but see -OUR & -OR.

arch, adj. For meaning see

JOCOSE.

arch-, arche-, archi-. Though the prefix arch- (chief &c.) is pronounced arch in all words except archangel & its derivatives, the longer forms are always pronounced arki: so archbishop (-ch-), but archiepiscopal (-k-); archdeacon (-ch-), but archidiaconal (-k-). The ch is hard in archetype, archimandrite, Archimedes, architectonic, architrave.

ARCHAISM. A certain number of words through the book are referred to this article, & such reference, where nothing more is said, is intended to give warning that the word is dangerous except in the hands of an experienced writer who can trust his sense of congruity; archaic words thrust into a commonplace context to redeem its ordinariness are an abomination. More detailed remarks will be found in the general articles INCONGRUOUS VOCABULARY, REVIVALS, SUBJUNCPartiTIVES, & WARDOUR STREET. cular words under which the question of archaism is discussed are fast, burthen, chide, choler(ic), conanent, arride, aught, bounden, breakfident (n.), derringdo, except (conj.), fall (autumn), forebears, forenoon, gotten, howbeit, parlous, perchance, sandblind, save (prep.), subtle, surcease; & a few specimens of those for which the mere reference described above has been thought sufficient are albeit, bashaw, belike, betwixt, broider(y), certes, damsel, fortune (vb), peradventure, quoth(a), & whit.

archipelago. Pl. -os; see -0(e)s 7. ardo(u)r. Keep the -u-; but see -OUR & -OR.

area.

For synonyms see FIELD.

The

are, is. When one of these is required between a subject & a complement that differ in number (these things. . . a scandal), the verb must follow the number of the subject (are, not is, a scandal). wages of sin is death is an archaism; we do not now say his wages is, but are, a pound a week; & we do not say a pound are, but is, his wages; when, as here, subject & complement can change places without alteration of sense, so that it may be doubted which is which, the verb must agree with what precedes, & not with what follows; when, however, the undoubted subject happens, as in a question, to follow, the verb agrees with it, as But what proof are, not is, these facts of your theory?. In

only sense in which the singular is idiomatic (either arm=cavalry or infantry; each arm cavalry, infantry, & artillery) is made tolerable, perhaps, by suggesting the other arm & being interpreted as branch of the service (cf. the secular arm).

army & navy. This, the familiar order, is rightly corrected in toasts, public speeches, & the like, into Navy & Army; but where precedence is not in question it is both needless & impossible to get the correction accepted.

around is, in British use, a disappearing variant of round. It is still the normal form in certain combinations, as a. & about, (the air) a. & above (us), all a. (are signs of decay); & it can be used without being noticeable in a few of the senses of round, as seated a. the table, diffuses cheerfulness a. her, spread destruction a. But it is hardly possible to say winter comes a., all the year a., win one a., send the hat a., a room hung a. with pictures, travel a. the world, show one a. American usage is quite different; among the examples in an American dictionary are the following impossibilities for an Englishman :-He went through, but I ran a.; IIe turned a.; The earth turns a. on its axis; Go a. to the post office; The church a. the corner; Loaf a. the city.

arouse. The relation of this to rouse is much like that of arise to rise; that is, rouse is almost always preferred to it in the literal sense & with a person or animal as object. A. is chiefly used with the senses call into existence, occasion, & with such abstracts as suspicion, fears, cupidity, passions, as object of the active or subject of the passive :This at once aroused my suspicions; Not Cupidity is easily aroused.

1 shook his arm, but failed to a. him.

arpeggio. Pl. -os; see -o(e)s 4. arrant makes -est; see -ER & -EST, 4. arride. See ARCHAISM. Its modern vogue is no doubt attributable to Charles Lamb.