The word couple is often incorrectly used in the sense of several; as, a couple of horses, mules, birds, trees, houses, etc. The use of the word couple is not only limited to two, but to two that may be coupled or yoked together. A man and wife are spoken of as a couple. We speak of a span of horses, a yoke of oxen, a brace of ducks, a pair of gloves.

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Directly, Immediately, As soon as

A faulty English use of the above words has found some favor in the United States. "Directly the whistle blew the workmen left the shop."

Say "As soon as the whistle blew," etc. "Immediately he closed his speech his opponent rose to reply." Say "When" or "As soon as he closed his speech," etc.

Directly denotes without any delay; immediately implies without any interposition of other occupation.

Agreeably disappointed

When our hopes are blasted, our plans balked, our expectations defeated, our intentions thwarted, we are disappointed. We prefer the agreeable to the disagreeable, and plan and labor to secure it. When our plans fail we are disappointed, but not agreeably disappointed. If the new conditions, which are not of our seeking, prove agreeable, it is only after the sense of disappointment has vanished.

Allude to, Refer to, Mention

The word allude is often incorrectly used. Allusion is the by-play of language. It means to hint at by remote suggestions, to speak of figuratively or sportively.

Whatever is directly mentioned, or spoken of, or described, cannot be said to be alluded to. The terms

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differ in degree, the first being the weakest. An allusion is an indirect reference.

Among the rest

"Mary sat on the beach among the rest." Say "with the rest."

Peruse

This is one of those high-sounding terms too often employed when read would be much better.

Emigrants, Immigrants

These words are sometimes confounded. "Did you see the emigrants on the 'Indiana,' which arrived this morning?" "Did the immigrants go directly to Italy?" Exchange the italicized words in the two sentences and they will be correctly used.

Somewheres

The terminal s should be omitted in such words as anywheres, somewheres, nowheres, anyways, hereabouts, thereabouts, whereabouts.

In such cases as "Whereabouts did you find him?" and "We knew his whereabouts," the s is properly retained.

Apart, Aside

"May I see you apart from the others?" It should be, "May I see you privately" or "aside"?

Fire, Throw

We fire a gun, but throw a stone. To fire a stone, fire him out of the house, fire him out of our employ, may

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be graphic ways of presenting the thought, but good writers never use them and good speakers should avoid them.

The First, Single

"I have not found the first objection to his candidacy." Say "a single objection," or "no objection."

First two

Such has been the strong desire to continue to use forms of expression that we have long used that not a little time and effort have been expended in the endeavor to make the wrong appear right. It is an accepted fact, however, that a large majority of the best speakers and writers now say the first two, the last five, etc., rather than the two first, the five last.

Future, Subsequent

The word future is sometimes used instead of subsequent; as, "Until he was eighteen years old his conduct was marked by cruelty and malice, but his future life was characterized by kindness and generosity."

Future looks forward from the present, and not from some point of time in the past.

Gent's pants

"Gent's pants scoured and pressed." Business signs and business advertisements are responsible for many vulgarisms. Never say gent's nor pants. Even pantaloons is not so good a word as trousers.

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Sit, Set

Few words afford a more fertile field for grammatical blundering than the verbs sit and set. The important fact to remember in the use of the words is that sit, in modern usage, is an intransitive verb, and does not take an object, while set, which means to place in position, is transitive, and requires an object to complete its meaning. You cannot sit a thing, but you do set or place a thing.

The verb sit undergoes a slight change with the change of tense or time. "I sit at the window today." "I sat at the window yesterday." "I have sat at the window daily for many years." "Sitting at the window, I saw the storm arise." "Having sat at his table, I can testify to his hospitality."

The transitive verb set undergoes no tense changes. "See me set this vase on the table." "He set his seal to the paper yesterday." "Jones will not set the world on fire with his writings." "Having set my affairs in order, I returned home." "I sit down." "I sat down." "I set him down."

There are many intransitive uses of the verb set; as, "The sun sets,"

"The tide sets toward the south," "The fruit has set," "He set out for Boston."

There is a difference of opinion as to whether we should say "The coat sets well" or "The coat sits well," with the greater weight in favor of sits. "The

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hen sits on her eggs." "She is a sitting hen." When the verb is used reflexively use set and not sat; as, "I set me down beside her," not "I sat me down beside her."

Anyhow

This word can scarcely be regarded as elegant, and should not be used except in colloquial style.