Selective Tendencies, etc.
phorically true; but how about the legal possibilities with their endless vexations?
The growth and the elasticity of a living language make it difficult to lay down precise rules for the use of words. The expansion of a language must conform somewhat to reason, to the logic of growth. It will not do to be too dogmatic in the treating of literal meanings whilst they are under the sway of evolutionary principles. Take the word accident, for example. “An injury may be and often is, the result of an accident; but injury and accident are two words far from identical in meaning.”[1] That is true; yet we are justified by good usage in speaking of certain unpleasant and unfortunate occurrences, causing injury by chance, as accidents.
“Anticipate, ‘to take beforehand, …to take first possession of, or to take before the proper time,’ is not a synonym of expect, foresee. A man may anticipate his sweetheart in fulfilling some dear wish of hers, even
- ↑ The Worth of Words. (Bell.)
191
