"He states he is going fishing to-morrow." States is too formal a word, and should be used only of some important assertion. "He says he is going," etc.

Stop, Stay

To stop is to cease moving. "At what hotel do you stop" should be "At what hotel do you stay." "When you come to the city stay with me," not stop with me.

Subtile, Subtle

Subtile means thin, fine, rare, delicate; subtle means sly, artful, cunning, elusive. "More subtile web Arachne cannot spin." "He had to contend with a subtle foe."

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Summons

He was summonsed to appear before the judge" should be "He was summoned to appear," etc.

Tasty

Often used in colloquial speech when tasteful would be better. Tastily for tastefully is still worse.

Team

Properly this word relates only to the horses, and does not include the carriage.

Those kind, These sort

"It is unpleasant to have to associate with those kind of people."

"These sort of sheep are the most profitable." Kind and sort are nouns of the singular number; these and those are plural, and, according to the laws of grammar, the adjective and noun must agree in number. The corrected sentences will read: "It is unpleasant to have to associate with this kind of people." "This sort of sheep is the most profitable." The fault arises by associating in the mind the adjectives these and those with the nouns sheep and people, which nouns are more prominent in the mind than the nouns kind and sort. If the ear is not satisfied, the sentences may readily be recast; as, "It is unpleasant to have to associate with people of that kind." "Sheep of this sort are the most profitable."

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Transpire, Happen

This word, from trans, across, through, and spirare, to breathe, means, physiologically, to pass off in the form of vapor or insensible perspiration, or, botanically, to evaporate from living cells. Its general meaning is to become known, to escape from secrecy.

It is frequently employed in the sense of to occur, to come to pass, but this use is condemned by the best critics in England and America.

"The proceedings of the secret session of the council soon transpired." This sentence illustrates the true meaning of the word.

Make, Manufacture

These words may, in some cases, be used interchangeably, but make has much the wider range of meanings. The following story, related by Eli Perkins, will illustrate this fact:

I was talking one day with Mr. Depew, President of the New York Central Railroad, about demand and supply. I said the price of any commodity is always controlled by the demand and supply.

"Not always, Eli," said Depew; "demand and supply don't always govern prices. Business tact sometimes governs them."

"When," I asked, "did an instance ever occur when the price did not depend on demand and supply?"

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"Well," said Mr. Depew, "the other day I stepped up to a German butcher, and, out of curiosity, asked:

"'What's the price of sausages?'

"'Dwenty cends a bound,' he said.

"'You asked twenty-five this morning,' I replied.

"'Yah; dot vas ven I had some. Now I ain't got none, I sell him for dwenty cents. Dot makes a repudation for selling cheab, und I don't lose noddings.'

"You see," said Mr. Depew, laughing, "I didn't want any sausage and the man didn't have any; no demand and no supply, and still the price of sausage went down five cents."

"Well, there are strange things in this world," I said. "Now, take the words manufacture and make. I always thought that both words meant the same thing."

"Why, they do, Eli," said Mr. Depew.

"Not always," I said.

"Now, when could they have a different meaning?"

"Why, this morning I came down from Albany on a Central car manufactured to carry fifty passengers, but it was made to carry seventy-two people."

"Yes, I dare say; but we'll now talk about the Behring Sea question."

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Truth, Veracity

"The veracity of his statement is doubted." The sentence should be, "The truth of his statement is doubted," or "In making that statement his veracity is doubted." Veracity is applied to the person; truth to the thing.

Try the experiment

"They are trying the experiment of running railroad trains by electricity." This should be, "They are making the experiment," etc.

The word experiment contains the idea of trial, hence, to try the experiment is to try the trial.

Little piece

"I will go with you a little piece." A short distance or a part of the way would be more appropriate.

Every confidence

"I have every confidence in his ability to succeed." Confidence is a unit; every implies several units considered separately. "I have the greatest confidence in his ability to succeed" is correct.

Ugly

This word properly applies to the appearance of a person or thing, hence such expressions as "He has an ugly temper," "This is an ugly customer," "That was an ugly rumor," etc., although common in colloquial discourse, should be avoided in dignified address.