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Page xxviii
... instances at least ) that Dr. Alford is wrong in the ex ca- thedra judgments he pronounces as to certain popular forms of speech , but demonstrates that the Dean's whole papers are specimens of slip- shod writing , and abound with ...
... instances at least ) that Dr. Alford is wrong in the ex ca- thedra judgments he pronounces as to certain popular forms of speech , but demonstrates that the Dean's whole papers are specimens of slip- shod writing , and abound with ...
Page xxxii
... instance of going out to shear , and coming home shorn . For our own part , we would rather have submitted to a month's stone- breaking than have called down upon ourselves such withering sarcasms and incisive irony as Dr. Alford's ...
... instance of going out to shear , and coming home shorn . For our own part , we would rather have submitted to a month's stone- breaking than have called down upon ourselves such withering sarcasms and incisive irony as Dr. Alford's ...
Page xli
... instance , with all gentlemanly courtesy , Mr. Moon would not , probably , have appeared in print . As it is , while we cannot altogether ex- tenuate the tone of Mr. Moon's second letter , we are compelled to say that Dean Alford's ...
... instance , with all gentlemanly courtesy , Mr. Moon would not , probably , have appeared in print . As it is , while we cannot altogether ex- tenuate the tone of Mr. Moon's second letter , we are compelled to say that Dean Alford's ...
Page 11
... instance of this " Composi- You say , slightest kind of faulty arrangement . 66 66 out the compunc- The great enemies to understanding tion . anything printed in our language are " the commas . And these are inserted by " the ...
... instance of this " Composi- You say , slightest kind of faulty arrangement . 66 66 out the compunc- The great enemies to understanding tion . anything printed in our language are " the commas . And these are inserted by " the ...
Page 23
... instances of bad arrangement , says , “ In structive << 66 all the above instances there is what " may be justly termed a constructive ambiguity ; that is , the words are so disposed in point of order , as to render " them really ...
... instances of bad arrangement , says , “ In structive << 66 all the above instances there is what " may be justly termed a constructive ambiguity ; that is , the words are so disposed in point of order , as to render " them really ...
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Common terms and phrases
adjective adverb ambiguity appear Archdeacon Hare authority believe Bible cat jumped clause clergy coarsely than usual comma composition compound words condemned construction correct correctly covetous criticism Dean Alford Dean of Canterbury DEAN'S ENGLISH deep rut dictionaries Doctor of Divinity Edinburgh Review edition ellipsis English language English version error example fact fault former letter give govern an accusative grammar grammarians guage Henry Alford honour instance law of position lecture Lindley Murray lish Lord Kames lose his mother matter meaning mistakes Moon's rule never notice noun object obscure occurs opinion orthography papers paragraph persons perspicuity phrase Plea poems pronouns pronunciation proper names Queen's English quoted readers remarks Review Samaria Scripture second essay sense sentence slang speak specimen spelling spoken struction style substantive sure teaching tence tenour things thought tion treated usage verb violation volume WASHINGTON MOON write
Popular passages
Page 148 - Still more majestic shalt thou rise, More dreadful from each foreign stroke; As the loud blast, that tears the skies, Serves but to root thy native oak.
Page 7 - Thy habitation from eternity ! 0 dread and silent mount ! I gazed upon thee, Till thou, still present to the bodily sense, Didst vanish from my thought ; entranced in prayer 1 worshipped the Invisible alone.
Page 145 - And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
Page 78 - He prayeth best who loveth best All things both great and small ; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all.
Page 166 - What are we to think of the question whether "than" does or does not govern the accusative case? "than I", "than me", which is right? My readers will probably answer without hesitation the former. But is the latter so certainly wrong? We are accustomed to hear it stigmatised as being so; but I think, erroneously. Milton writes ('Paradise Lost' II, 299) — "Which when Beelzebub perceived, than whom, Satan except, none higher sat.
Page 28 - But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed. 24 And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted, and killed it...
Page 102 - ... for, let the words of a country be in part unhandsome and offensive in themselves, in part debased by wear and wrongly uttered, and what do they declare, but, by no light indication, that the inhabitants of that country are an indolent, idly-yawning race, with minds already long prepared for any amount of servility ? On the other hand, we have never heard that any empire, any state, did not at least flourish in a middling degree as long as its own liking and care for its language lasted.
Page 6 - ... beginning to prevail, and evince its danger by exposing its contrariety to law. Of similar benefit, though in a different sphere, are grammar and criticism. In language, the grammarian is properly the compiler of the digest ; and the verbal critic, the man who seasonably notifies the abuses that are creeping in. Both tend to facilitate the study of the tongue to strangers, and to render natives more perfect in the knowledge of it, to advance general use into universal, and to give a greater stability,...
Page 4 - On the contrary, from its conformity to these, and from that alone, it derives all its authority and value. For, what is the grammar of any language? It is no other than a collection of general observations methodically digested, and comprising all the modes previously and independently established, by which the significations, derivations, and combinations of words in that language are ascertained. It...
Page 147 - Not peace. These words are spoken by the poet in his own person; very improperly: they would have suited the character of any fallen angel: but the reporter of the occurrence ought not to have delivered such a sentence. V. 299. Which when Beelzebub perceived (than whom, Satan except, none higher sat) with grave Aspect he rose, and in his rising seemed A pillar of state. Deep on his front engraven Deliberation sat and public care; And princely counsel in his face yet shone Majestic, though in ruin:...