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.

Gratuituous 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.

Gubernatorial. Eschew it; it is not English, it is needless and bombastic. Leave it to those who call a political office a “chair.” “Gubernatorial chair” is good enough for them. So is hanging.

H

Had Better for Would Better. This is not defensible as an idiom, as those who always used it before their attention was directed to it take the trouble to point out. It comes of such contractions as he’d for he would, I’d for I would. These clipped words are erroneously restored as “he had,” “I had.” So we have such monstrosities as “He had better beware,” “I had better go.”

Hail for Come. “He hails from Chicago.” This is sea speech, and comes from the custom of hailing passing ships. It will not do for serious discourse.

Have Got for Have. “I have got a good horse” directs attention rather to the act of getting than to the state of having, and represents the capture as recently completed.

Head over Heels. A transposition of words hardly less surprising than (to the person most concerned) the mischance that it fails to describe. What is meant is heels over head.

Healthy for Wholesome. “A healthy climate.” “A healthy occupation.” Only a living thing can be healthy.

Helpmeet for Helpmate. In Genesis Adam’s wife is called “an help meet for him,” that is, fit for him. The ridiculous word appears to have had no other origin.

Hereafter for Henceforth. Hereafter means at some time in the future; henceforth, always in the future. The penitent who promises to be good hereafter commits himself to the performance of a single good act, not to a course of good conduct.

Honeymoon. Moon here means month, so it is incorrect to say “a week’s honeymoon,” or, “Their honeymoon lasted a year.”

Horseflesh for Horses. A singularly senseless and disagreeable word which, when used, as it commonly is, with reference to hippophilism, savors rather more of the spit than of the spirit.

Humans as a Noun. We have no single word having the general yet limited meaning that this is sometimes used to express—a meaning corresponding to that of the word animals, as the word men would if it included women and children. But there is time enough to use two words.

Hung for Hanged. A bell, or a curtain, is hung, but a man is hanged. Hung is the junior form of the participle, and is now used for everything but man. Perhaps it is our reverence for the custom of hanging men that sacredly preserves the elder form—as some, even, of the most zealous American spelling reformers still respect the u in Saviour.

Hurry for Haste and Hasten. To hurry is to hasten in a more or less disorderly manner. Hurry is misused, also, in another sense: “There is no hurry”—meaning, There is no reason for haste.

Hurt for Harm. “It does no hurt.” To be hurt is to feel pain, but one may be harmed without knowing it. To spank a child, or flout a fool, hurts without harming.

I

Idea for Thought, Purpose, Expectation, etc. “I had no idea that it was so cold.” “When he went abroad it was with no idea of remaining.”

Identified with. “He is closely identified with the temperance movement.” Say, connected.

Ilk for Kind. “Men of that ilk.” This Scotch word has a narrowly limited and specific meaning. It relates to an ancestral estate having the same name as the person spoken of. Macdonald of that ilk means, Macdonald of Macdonald. The phrase quoted above is without meaning.

Illy for Ill. There is no such word as illy, for ill itself is an adverb.

Imaginary Line. The adjective is needless. Geometrically, every line is imaginary; its graphic representation is a mark. True the text-books say, draw a line, but in a mathematical sense the line already exists; the drawing only makes its course visible.

In for Into. “He was put in jail.” “He went in the house.” A man may be in jail, or be in a house, but when the act of entrance—the movement of something from the outside to the inside of another thing—is related the correct word is into if the latter thing is named.

Inaugurate for Begin, Establish, etc. Inauguration implies some degree of formality and ceremony.

Incumbent for Obligatory. “It was incumbent upon me to relieve him.” Infelicitous and work-worn. Say, It was my duty, or, if enamored of that particular metaphor, It lay upon me.