Write It Right | Page 6

failed to note the hour." That implies that he tried to note it, but did not succeed.
Failure carries always the sense of endeavor; when there has been no endeavor there is no
failure. A falling stone cannot fail to strike you, for it does not try; but a marksman firing
at you may fail to hit you; and I hope he always will.
Favor for Resemble. "The child favors its father."
Feel of for Feel. "The doctor felt of the patient's head." "Smell of" and "taste of" are
incorrect too.
Feminine for Female. "A feminine member of the club." Feminine refers, not to sex
proper, but to gender, which may be defined as the sex of words. The same is true of
masculine.
Fetch for Bring. Fetching includes, not only bringing, but going to get--going for and
returning with. You may bring what you did not go for.
Finances for Wealth, or Pecuniary Resources.
Financial for Pecuniary. "His financial reward"; "he is financially responsible," and so
forth.
Firstly. If this word could mean anything it would mean firstlike, whatever that might

mean. The ordinal numbers should have no adverbial form: "firstly," "secondly," and the
rest are words without meaning.
Fix. This is, in America, a word-of-all-work, most frequently meaning repair, or prepare.
Do not so use it.
Forebears for Ancestors. The word is sometimes spelled forbears, a worse spelling than
the other, but not much. If used at all it should be spelled forebeers, for it means those
who have been before. A forebe-er is one who fore-was. Considered in any way, it is a
senseless word.
Forecasted. For this abominable word we are indebted to the weather bureau--at least it
was not sent upon us until that affliction was with us. Let us hope that it may some day be
losted from the language.
Former and Latter. Indicating the first and the second of things previously named, these
words are unobjectionable if not too far removed from the names that they stand for. If
they are they confuse, for the reader has to look back to the names. Use them sparingly.
Funeral Obsequies. Tautological. Say, obsequies; the word is now used in none but a
funereal sense.
Fully for Definitively, or Finally. "After many preliminary examinations he was fully
committed for trial." The adverb is meaningless: a defendant is never partly committed
for trial. This is a solecism to which lawyers are addicted. And sometimes they have been
heard to say "fullied."
Funds for Money. "He was out of funds." Funds are not money in general, but sums of
money or credit available for particular purposes.
Furnish for Provide, or Supply. "Taxation furnished the money." A pauper may furnish a
house if some one will provide the furniture, or the money to buy it. "His flight furnishes
a presumption of guilt." It supplies it.
Generally for Usually. "The winds are generally high." "A fool is generally vain." This
misuse of the word appears to come of abbreviating: Generally speaking, the weather is
bad. A fool, to speak generally, is vain.
Gent for Gentleman. Vulgar exceedingly.
Genteel. This word, meaning polite, or well mannered, was once in better repute than it is
now, and its noun, gentility, is still not infrequently found in the work of good writers.
Genteel is most often used by those who write, as the Scotchman of the anecdote
joked--wi' deeficulty.
Gentleman. It is not possible to teach the correct use of this overworked word: one must
be bred to it. Everybody knows that it is not synonymous with man, but among the
"genteel" and those ambitious to be thought "genteel" it is commonly so used in discourse

too formal for the word "gent." To use the word gentleman correctly, be one.
Genuine for Authentic, or _Veritable._ "A genuine document," "a genuine surprise," and
the like.
Given. "The soldier was given a rifle." What was given is the rifle, not the soldier. "The
house was given a coat (coating) of paint." Nothing can be "given" anything.
Goatee. In this country goatee is frequently used for a tuft of beard on the point of the
chin--what is sometimes called "an imperial," apparently because the late Emperor
Napoleon III wore his beard so. His Majesty the Goat is graciously pleased to wear his
beneath the chin.
Got Married for Married. If this is correct we should say, also, "got dead" for died; one
expression is as good as the other.
Gotten for Got. This has gone out of good use, though in such compounded words as
begotten and misbegotten it persists respectably.
Graduated for Was Graduated.
Gratuitous for Unwarranted. "A gratuitous assertion." Gratuitous means without cost.
Grueling. Used chiefly by newspaper reporters; as, "He was subjected to a grueling
cross-examination." "It was grueling weather." Probably a corruption of grilling.