Bad English Exposed: a Series of Criticisms on the Errors and Inconsistencies of Lindley Murray and Other GrammariansHatchard, 1876 - 227 pages |
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Page ii
... writing the English language with accuracy .'- The Times . ' The name of Mr. Washington Moon is well known in this country and in America as an able writer and critic on the English language ; and we are constrained to look upon his con ...
... writing the English language with accuracy .'- The Times . ' The name of Mr. Washington Moon is well known in this country and in America as an able writer and critic on the English language ; and we are constrained to look upon his con ...
Page 5
... written thus : - " Many sen- " tences are miserably mangled , and the force of " the emphasis is totally lost " . Again , on page 497 , I read as follows : - " Where a riddle is not intended , it is always a fault 66 66 66 66 " in ...
... written thus : - " Many sen- " tences are miserably mangled , and the force of " the emphasis is totally lost " . Again , on page 497 , I read as follows : - " Where a riddle is not intended , it is always a fault 66 66 66 66 " in ...
Page 12
... written ; our words may be arranged thus : - " The rules should properly be " written " . But if we wish to say , not that it is proper that they should be written ; but , that they should be written in a proper manner ; then we must ...
... written ; our words may be arranged thus : - " The rules should properly be " written " . But if we wish to say , not that it is proper that they should be written ; but , that they should be written in a proper manner ; then we must ...
Page 14
... writing , where a man speaks to the eye and " not to the ear , he ought to be more accurate ; " and so to connect those adverbs with the words " which they qualify , as to put his meaning out " of doubt upon the first inspection ...
... writing , where a man speaks to the eye and " not to the ear , he ought to be more accurate ; " and so to connect those adverbs with the words " which they qualify , as to put his meaning out " of doubt upon the first inspection ...
Page 21
... written thus : - " But we have , as before observed , duplicates of " each , agreeing in movement , though differing " in measure , and making [ not and which make ' ] " different impressions . on the ear ; an opulence Lindley Murray ...
... written thus : - " But we have , as before observed , duplicates of " each , agreeing in movement , though differing " in measure , and making [ not and which make ' ] " different impressions . on the ear ; an opulence Lindley Murray ...
Common terms and phrases
adjective admit adverb BAD ENGLISH EXPOSED better cæsura cism clause composition condemns conjunction connected consider consonant convey correct criticism Dean Alford Dean of Canterbury Dean's English edition ellipsis employed English dictionary known English Grammars English language etymologies example fault following sentence foregoing frequently Gould says Gould's Good English Grammar of English grammarians guage imperfect tense indicative mood instance Lindley Murray says Lindley Murray's errors Lindley Murray's sentence little word Marsh matter meaning misuse mood Moon Moon's nations nominative nouns objects omitted operations and affections opinion orthography participles passage perfect person phrase plural possessive preposition pronoun proper properly propriety Queen's English quotation quoted reader refer relative pronoun remarks repetition respect Round Table signification singular sound speak spoken strange subjunctive mood superficial superlative tautology tense thing tion Trinity College Van Diemen's Land verb vocabulary Webster Webster's Dictionary write written wrong
Popular passages
Page 215 - Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee. 19 Will he esteem thy riches? no, not gold, nor all the forces of strength.
Page 139 - ... progress of the plague"! Surely, Mr. Gould must have been trying to emulate the Irishman who, at a public meeting, rose in a state of great excitement, and .said ; — " Gentlemen, the apple "of discord has been thrown into our midst; " and if it be not nipped in the bud, it will burst "into a conflagration which will deluge the "world!
Page 30 - It is difficult, in some cases, to distinguish between an interrogative and exclamatory sentence ; but a sentence, in which any wonder or admiration is expressed, and no answer either expected or implied, may be always properly terminated by a note of exclamation : as, " How much vanity in the pursuits of men !" "Who can sufficiently express the goodness of our Creator!
Page 44 - After we came to anchor, they put me on shore, where I was welcomed by all my friends, who received me with the greatest kindness.
Page 71 - Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan ; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.
Page 154 - ... hounds, to good naturedly " race for the lead " to a gap with his equal, with a sporting dealer, or Tom Oliver ; but a king shaking his horse and cramming him through a bullfinch side by side with Mr. Mason, would have something in it rather novel, and I think somewhat indecorous. It may be said that " what is worth doing at all is worth doing well...
Page 19 - Of this rule there are many violations to be met with ; a few of which may be sufficient to put the learner on his guard. " Each of the sexes should keep within its particular bounds, and content themselves with the advantages of their particular districts:" better thus: "The sexes should keep within their particular bounds,
Page 26 - Authors sometimes plead the difficulty of their subject as an excuse for the want of perspicuity. But the excuse can rarely, if ever, be admitted. For whatever a man conceives clearly, that, it is in his power, if he will be at the trouble, to put into distinct propositions, or to express clearly to others: and upon no subject ought any man to write, where he cannot think clearly.
Page 37 - The perfect tense, and the imperfect tense, both denote a thing that is past ; but the former denotes it in such a manner, that there is still actually remaining some part of the time to slide away, wherein we declare the thing has been done ; whereas the imperfect denotes the thing or action past, in such a manner, that nothing remains of that time in which it was done. If...
Page xvi - The Structure of Language is extremely artificial; and there are few sciences in which a deeper or more refined logic is employed, than in grammar. It is apt to be slighted by superficial thinkers, as belonging to those rudiments of knowledge, which were inculcated upon us in our earliest youth. But what was then inculcated before we could comprehend its principlesi would abundantly repay our study in maturer years ; and to the ignorance of it, must be attributed many of those fundamental defects...