Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/221

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Errors in English
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take

such another. Compare another such.

sucker for "sponger" or "parasite" is slang of the lowest type and should be avoided by all persons of refinement.

summons: You summon a person to court upon a summons. There is properly no such verb as summons, the colloquial use of the term being altogether unjustifiable.

superior. Compare inferior

sure: Often misused for "surely" in the sense of "certainly." Do not say "Sure I'm going"; say, rather, "I'm surely going."

surprise. Compare astonish.

sympathize with, sympathy for: The verb sympathize takes only with; the noun sympathy, in its secondary sense of "commiseration," is often properly followed by for. We have sympathy with one's aspirations, for his distress; the sound man has sympathy for the wounded; the wounded man has sympathy with his fellow sufferers.

sympathy. Compare pity.


T

take: Often incorrectly used for have, especially in extending hospitality, in such a sentence as "What will you take?"

take on for grieve, scold, etc., like carry on for behave sportively may both be tolerated as colloqui-

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