Incredible, absolute adjective, 264.
Incurable, absolute adjective, 264.
Indefinite relative pronouns, use of
shall and will with, 170.
Indelible, absolute adjective, 264.
Indention of paragraphs, 343.
Independent of, 314.
Indexes, indices, 56.

Indian, North American, words from
the, 10, 385.

Indicative or subjunctive mood, 192-
199.

Indices, indexes, 56
Indignation, or anger, 385.

Indispensable, absolute adjective, 264.
Inferior, as noun, 105.

Infinitive, position of adverbs with,

292-295.

Instigate, 88.

Instigator, 88.
Instil into, 315.

Institution, misused, 99.
Instructress, 68.

Instrument, for piano, 397.
Intangible, absolute adjective, 264.
Intend, takes present infinitive, 189.
Intense, overworked, 381.
Intensive use of pronouns, 113–115.
Interior, as noun, 105.

Interjection, punctuation after, 25.
Interminable, absolute adjective, 264
Interrogation, figure of speech, 522.
Interrogation-point, use of, 24, 25, 33.
Interrogative sentences. See Shall or
will, Should or would.

Interruption, marked by dash, 28, 33.
Into, for in to, 311.

or in, 309-311.

Intolerable, absolute adjective, 264.
Invariable, absolute adjective, 264.
Inveigh against, 315.
Invent, or discover, 93.
Invention, or discovery, 93.
Inventions, require new names, 386.
Investigate, or inquire, 226.
Invitation, forms for notes of, 39-42.
Invite, as noun, 103.
Involve, or include, 226.
Involve in, 315.

Inwit, for conscience, 15.
Irony, defined, 517.

Irreparable, absolute adjective, 264.
Irreproachable, absolute adjective, 264.
Irrevocable, absolute adjective, 264.
Irritate, or aggravate, 219.
Irving, Washington, 125, 233, 364,
377 n., 386, 466, 470, 490.
Isn't, for is not, 143.
-ist, nouns in, 69.

It, or its, before a gerund, 120.
It is me, 109 n.

Italian, words from the, 63, 385.
Its, or it, before a gerund, 120.
or it's, 107.

Jackson, Andrew, 206.

James, Henry, 47, 157, 172, 174, 175,
177, 196.

Jerrold, Douglas, 121.
Jewess, 68.

Johnson, Samuel, 13, 14, 201, 232, 257
294, 386, 405-406, 464.
Jolly, overworked, 381.
Jug, or pitcher, 11.

Jump up, 298.

Junius, 410, 464.

Keats, John, 19, 115, 397.

Laid, for lay, 147.
Lamh, Charles, 467.

Landor, W. S., 112, 166, 169.

Language, sources of life in a, 379.
Last, or latest, 273.

or latter, 263.

Late, as adverb, 260.
Later on, 298.

Latest, or last, 273.

Latin, ablative absolute in, 483.

words from the, 10, 63-65, 385.

Latin idioms, to be avoided in English
writing, 393-394, 482-485.

Latin plurals, 63-65.
Latter, for last, 263.

or other, 434-435.

Laundry, as verb, 235.

Lava, origin of, 385.
Law's delay, 50.

Lay, or lie, 147.

principal parts of, 147.
Layman, plural of, 54.

Lead, principal parts of, 153.
Learn, for teach, 144.
Leave, for let, 144.
Le Conte, Joseph, 232.

Legal dialect, 11, 13.

Legislature, 386.

Lend, or loan, 234.

Lengthy, or long, 286.

Less, fewer, or smaller, 279.

or figurative, 401-409.
with figurative, 411.

Literary language, 382, 385, 410.
Literature, defined by Newman, 494.
Littérateur, for man of letters, 392.
Liven up, for enliven, 144.
Living words, 382-383.
Loan, or lend, 234.
Locate, misused, 231.
Long, or lengthy, 286.

Long and the short of it, the, 16.
Long sentences, compared with short,
364-373.

Long words, compared with short,
384-390, 410, 448.

Longfellow, H. W., 18, 115, 145 n.,
256, 408.

Look (verb), adjective or adverb with,
259.

29.

Letter-writing, 35-43.

familiar letters, 35-38.

formal letters, 38-43.

Lewes, G. H., 196, 197.
Liable, likely, or apt, 268.
Lie, or lay, 147.

principal parts of, 147.
Lieutenant-colonel, plural of, 55.

177, 213, 387-388, 404, 405.

Lucidity in expression, defined, 413.
Luff, to, 11.

Luggage, or baggage, 12.

Lurid, overworked, 381.

Luxuriant, or luxurious, 273-274.

-ly, repetition of adverbs in, 471.
Lyric poetry, defined, 528.
Lytton, Lord, 244.

Macaulay, Lord, 14, 88, 170, 176, 202 n.,
222, 233, 255, 286, 294, 329, 345-346,
386, 410 n., 435, 464, 466 n., 467.

Machinist, 69.

Mad, or angry, 286.

Might and main, with, 15.
Might better, 16.

Migrate from and to, 314.
Milton, John, 18, 20, 21, 100, 112, 114,
232, 256, 369, 386.

Maize, or corn, 11.

Minto, William, 376 n.
Minus, 13.

Misplaced adverbs, 291-292, 465.
See Order, Position.

Miss, plural of, 56.

or bulk, 93.

or plurality, 93.

singular or plural, 204.

Make mention of, 304-305.

Mal de mer, for seasickness, 10.

Man after man, treated as singular,
135.

Man-clerk, plural of, 55.
Man-of-war, plural of, 55.
Man-servant, plural of, 55.

Manifestly, apparently, or evidently,
285.

Manner of things, all, 256.
Mannerism in writing, 411.
Many, or much, 279.
Marchioness, 68.
Martyr to, 315.

Massachusetts, Statutes of, 34 n., 169.
Materialist, 69.

Materialize, misused, 230-231.
Mathematics, singular or plural, 59.
Mathematics, dialect of, 13.

Mauvais sujet, for worthless fellow,392.
Maximum, plural of, 65.
May, or can, 154-158.

Me, or I, 109, 110.

Means, singular or plural, 58.

Meantime, for in the meantime, 455.

Measles, singular or plural, 58.

Medium, plural of, 65.

Megaphone, 386.

Men, possessive of, 45.

Misuse, of adjectives and adverbs,
266-289.

of conjunctions, 327-337.
of nouns, 71-102.

of prepositions, 305–317.
of pronouns, 107-138.
of verbs, 211–234.

Mob, from mobile vulgus, 13, 70,

385.

Mother-in-law, plural of, 55.

Moue, for grimace, 392.

Mr., plural of, 56.

Mrs., in address, 40 n.

in signature, 41.

plural of, 56.

Much, or many, 279.

with so, too, very, 281.

Meredith, George, 467.

Messrs., 40, 56.

Metaphor, defined, 402-403.
in a single word, 403.
kept up, 403-404.
Metonymy, defined, 521.
Metre, 524, 528-533.
Middle, or centre, 92.
Midst, in our, 50.

Might, or could, 154-158.

Mucilage, or gum, 11.

Multitude, singular or plural, 204.

Mumps, singular or plural, 58.

Murderess, 68.

Mussulman, plural of, 54.

Must, 158.

Mutual, for common, 278.

Mutually, redundant, 297.

Myself, for I myself, I, 113, 114.

Narration, form of discourse, 502-507
or narrative, 79.

Nasty, overworked. 381.

318 n.

collective, 125, 204-205, 256.
figurative or literal, 401-409.
in -ess, 68.

in -ics, 59.

in -ist, 69.

in s, possessive of, 45-46.
misused, 71-102.
obscure, 435.

of foreign origin, 62–68.

plural, same form as singular, 56.
plural or singular, 58-62.
plurals, peculiar, 54-57.
plurals, two, 56, 62-66.
possessive of, 44-54.
would-be, 102-106.

Novel, or new, 286.

Now, as adjective, 290.

Nowhere near, for not nearly, 255.
Nowheres, for nowhere, 252.

Nuance, for shade, 392.

Number, or quantity, or amount, 93-

94.

singular or plural, 204.

470, 494 495.

News, singular, 58.

Newspapers, American, 19, 61, 101, 206.
English, 21, 102, 170, 206, 215, 232,
234 n.

influence on language, 386-387.
See "Nation," Spectator."

99.66

Nice, overworked, 380-381.

Night's lodging, 50.

No one, his with, 132.

or neither, 122.

No use, for of no use, 322.
Nobody else, possessive of, 47.
Nom de guerre, for pseudonym, 392.
Nom de plume, for pseudonym, 392.
Nominative case, or objective, of pro-
nouns, 108-112.

None, both singular and plural, 136.
Nor, correlative of neither, 250, 330,

of pronouns, 135-138.

of verbs, 199-210.

of verbs with collective nouns, 204-
205.

Number of words, as affecting clear-
ness, 438-441.

as affecting ease, 485-487.
as affecting force, 454-458.
Nuptials, plural, 58.

Oasis, plural of, 64.

Objective case, or nominative, of pro-
nouns, 108-112.

or possessive, of nouns and pro-
nouns, 46, 49, 50-52.
Objective genitive, 50–51.
Obscurity, from change in point of
view, 359-361, 425-427.

from general incoherence, 429-430.
from lack of connection between
sentence and sentence, 356-359.
from misplaced phrases or clauses,
443-445.

from misplaced words, 441-443.
from misuse of nouns, pronouns,

or other parts of speech, 431-
438.

from omission of words or phrases,
139-140, 238, 249-250, 300, 323,
339-340, 438-441.

from redundancy, 438, 485.

in use of adjectives and participles,
423-425.

See Clearness.

Observance, or observation, 73.

fined, 9.

used less than new ones, 15.
Odds, singular or plural, 58.
Of, after gerunds, 247-248, 323.
misused, 311-312.

objective case with, or possessive,
46, 49, 50-52.
omitted, 322, 323.
redundant, 304, 320.

Of her own accord, 50.

Of which, or whose, 127-128, 129
Off, redundant, 298.
Off of, 320.
Ogress, 68.

Old, or aged, ancient, 385.

Old Norse, words from the, 385.
Old style English, 387-390.

Oliphant, Mrs., 35, 136 n., 166, 168, 172,
176, 216, 403, 490.

Omission, of adjectives and adverbs,
300-301.

of articles, 249-251.

of conjunctions, 339-340.
of prepositions, 321-324.
of pronouns, 139–141.

of punctuation from title-pages and
superscriptions of letters, 25, 31.
of verbs, 238-240.

of words necessary to clearness,
438-441.

of words necessary to ease, 486.
Omnibus, 9, 10.

Omnipotent, absolute adjective, 264.
Omnipresent, absolute adjective, 264.
Omniscient, absolute adjective, 264.
On, as adverb, 318.
misused, 304, 312.
or from, 309.

redundant, 298, 319, 320.

On our account, 50.

On the point, or at the point, 312.

On to, for on or to, 318.
Once, as conjunction, 337.

erst or whilom for, 10.

One, or a, 245.

or former, 434-435.

or the one, 121.

repetition of, 132.

One another, or each other, 123.

One's, or his, 132.

One-time, as adjective, 290.

Only, or alone, 261.

in double negatives, 301-302.
position of, 291.

redundant, 297.

Onomatopoeia, defined, 521.
Onto. See On to.

as verb, misused, 139.
Open or close punctuation, 24.
Open up, 298.

Opening, of familiar letters, 37-38.
of formal letters, 40.
Optimist, 69.

Optional, as noun, 104.

Or, correlative of either, 330, 443.
or and, 327.

or nor, 330-331.

singular subjects joined by, 135, 203
Oral, or verbal, 287.

Orate, to, 235.

Order, in description, 500-502.

in exposition, 509-510.

Order of words, as affecting clearness,
441-446.

as affecting ease, 488-493.
as affecting force, 458-469.
English or foreign, 482-485.
natural, the best, 376, 491.
See Position.

Ordinary, or average, 285.
Organism, or organization, 80.
Origin of words, 10, 384-385.
Originate in, 315.

Other, or latter, 434 435.
or otherwise, 260-261.
redundant, 297.

with comparatives and superla
tives, 263, 278, 295-296, 300.
Ottoman, plural of, 54.

Ought, should in sense of, 178.

with didn't, had, hadn't, 142.
Our, or us, before a gerund, 119.
Out, redundant, 298.

Out of harm's way, 50.

Out of, redundant, 320.

Out of kilter, 13.

Overworked words, 380-381.

Oxford English Dictionary, 13 n., 14 n.,
16 n., 21 n.,
63 n., 68 n., 69 n.,

56 n.,

58 n.,

59 n.,

72 n.,

79 n.,

87 n., 98 n., 103, 107 n., 128 n.,
147 n., 212 n., 215 n., 216 n., 221
n., 226 n., 227 n., 229 and n., 230,
234 n., 242 n., 267 n., 279 n., 290
n., 308 n., 310 n.

Pack, for carry, 11.
Pailful, plural of, 54.

Pains, singular or plural, 58.
Palpable, or visible, 286.

Pan out, 11.

Panacea, plural of, 64.

Pants, for pantaloons, 70.
Parable, defined, 519.

393.

defined, 343.