A.
Abacus-ab´a-kus, not a-bak´us.
Abdomen-ab-do´men, not ab´do-men.
Acclimate-ak-kli´mate, not ak´kli-mate.
Acclimated is also accented on the second syllable.
Acclimatization-ak-kli-mat-i-za´shun, not ak-kli´ma-ti-za-shun.
Adult-a-dult´, not ad´ult.
Aerated-a´er-a-ted, not a´re-a-ted. "Areated bread" is a mistake that is frequently made.
Ailantus-a-lan´tus, not a-lan´thus; at-lan´tus is a still worse error.
Albumen-al-bu´men, not al´bu-men.
Alder-awl´der, not al´der; it is the name of a tree and does not mean the ordinary elder.
Alike. It is sufficient to say that two persons or things are alike, not both alike. The word associated with alike is just as unnecessary as it is with resemble and equal in the following sentences: "These two men both resemble each other." "These two sums are both equal."
Allopathy-al-lop´a-thy, not al´lo-path-y.
Allopathist is similarly accented.
Alpaca-al-pak´a, not al-la-pak´a.
Altercate-al´ter-kate, not awl´ter-kate.
Amenable-a-me´na-ble, not a-men´a-ble.
Among. A thing is divided among many and between two.
Amour-a-moor´, not am´-more nor a´moor.
Angry. Say angry with a person and at a thing.
Animalcula is the plural of animalculum; there is no such word as animalculo. Animalcule (singular) and animalcules (plural), are proper words; the former is pronounced an-i-mal´kule and the latter an-i-mal´kulz.
Antarctic-ant-ärk´tik, not ant-är´tik.
Antepenult-an-te-pe-nult´, not an-te-pe´nult.
Apex-a´pex, not ap´ex.
Apparatus-ap-pa-ra´tus, not ap-pa-rat´us.
Aquaria, not aquariums, is the plural of aquarium.
Arabic-ar´a-bik, not a-rab´ik, a-ra´bik, nor ar´a-bak; which errors are very common, especially in the compound word gum-arabic.
Arbitrary is often incorrectly pronounced as if spelled ar-bi-ta-ry.
Archangel-ärk-an´jel, not ärch-an´jel.
Archbishop-ärch-bish´op, not ärk-bish´op.
Archipelago-ärk-i-pel´a-go, not ärch-i-pel´a-go.
Architect-är´ki-tect, not är´chi-tect.
Archives-är´kivez, not är´chivez, nor är´kevez.
Arctic-ärk´tik, not är´tik.
Arid-ar´id, not a´rid.
Aroma-a-ro´ma, not ar´o-ma.
At should not be used when it has no possible connection with the other words of a sentence; as, "Where are you living at?"
At all, not a tall.
Attacked, not attackted.
Auction-awk´shun, not ok´shun.
Ay or Aye, meaning yes, and aye, an affirmative vote, are pronounced äi and not i nor a.
Aye, meaning forever, always (used chiefly in poetry), is pronounced a not i nor äi.
B.
Bade-bad, not bade.
Badinage-bad´in-äzh, not bad´in-aje. Worcester gives the same pronunciation, but places the accent on the last syllable.
Balance. There are two common errors connected with this word. One is to write it ballance: the other is to use it in the sense of remainder, rest, etc.; as, the balance of the day, the balance of the people. Balance means properly "the excess on one side, or what added to the other makes equality." The corrupt use of the word, as above mentioned, is laid down as a vulgarism.
Bantam, not banty.
Bellows-bel´lus, not bel´loz. The plural is the same as the singular.
Besom-be´zum, not be´sum. A broom.
Betroth-be-troth, not be-troth. Betrothed, Betrothal, etc., are similarly pronounced.
Blacking, not blackening for boots and shoes.
Blouse-blowz, not blowss.
Bologna-bo-lon´ya, not bo-lo´na. Bologna sausage, Bologna phial, etc.
Bona fide-bo´na-fi´de, not bo´na-fide nor bon´a-fide.
Booth. The th is sounded as in the preposition with, not as in both.
Bouquet-boo-ka´ or booo´ka, not bo-ka´.
Bourgeois, meaning a kind of type, is pronounced bür-jois´, not like the following word:
Bourgeois, a citizen, pronounced boor-zhwaw´.
Brand-new, not bran-new. Although the latter adjective is much used, it is evidently a corruption of the former. An article in its newness may be bright like a brand of fire, or the brand of the manufacturer may remain intact, but there is certainly no bran about it.
Breeches-britch´ez, not as spelled.
Bretzel, not pretzel. A brittle German cake.
Brilliant. A diamond of the finest cut, with its faces and facets so arranged as to secure the greatest degree of brilliancy-whence the name. The name to many conveys the idea of paste, or imitation. A rose diamond may be just as pure, but its depth does not permit it to be made a brilliant of without a much greater loss of substance.
Brougham-broom or broo´am, not bro´am nor brow´am. A kind of carriage.
Burst, Burst and Bursting, not bust, busted and busting.
C.
Calculate is often inappropriately used in lieu of believe, suppose, expect, etc., as in the following sentences: "I calculate you are my friend;" "I calculate the report is true." Still worse than this passive misuse is that active one of using the word in some such sense as this: "Doctor, I know that you are a man of great intelligence and I have unlimited confidence in your honor and ability; but I must say that I think the course of treatment pursued by you during this epidemic, is calculated to increase the mortality among your patients." How inconsistent with the encomium is the dreadful accusation just following! As if the Doctor had sat down and calculated how he could cause injury rather than benefit. Calculate means to ascertain by means of figures or to study what means must be used to secure a certain result. A person may make a speech, write a book, or do anything else calculated to do good, or more rarely, evil, but the intention to accomplish the object spoken of must be present, before the word can be properly used.
Calliope-kal-li´o-pe, not kal´li-ope.
Calvary, not cavalry, when the place of our Saviour's crucifixion is meant.
Camelopard-ka-mel´o-pärd or kam´el-o-pärd, not kam-el-leop´ard.
Cantatrice-kan-ta-tre´che, not kan´ta-treess.
Canon-kan´yun, not kan´nun. A deep gorge or ravine. Spelled also Canyon, pronounced kän-yon´ or kan´yon.
Capoch-ka-pootsh´, not ka-poch´. Capouch is another orthography.
Caption in the sense of the heading of a discourse, chapter, page, etc., is not sanctioned by good writers.
Carminative-kär-min´a-tive, not kär´mi-na-tive.
Casualty-kazh´u-al-ty, not kaz-u-al´i-ty.
Cater-cornered-ka´ter-cor-nered, not kat´ty-cor-nered. Not down, thus compounded in Webster, but his pronunciation of the separate words is as given. Worcester gives the word as above and defines it as an adjective-diagonal. It is generally used though, I believe, as an adverb; as, "the piano stands cater-cornered" (diagonally). It is regarded as an inelegant word, diagonal and diagonally being preferred: though it is probable that this opinion has been caused by the abominable pronunciations catty and kitty cornered.
Catalpa-ka-tal´pa, not ka-tawl´pa.
Catch, Catching-katch and katching, not ketch and ketching.
Catholic means liberal, general, not bigoted, and not Roman Catholic, unless specially so applied.
Caucasian-kaw-ka´sian,not kaw-kazh´ian, kaw-kash´ian, kaw-kaz´ian nor kaw-kass´ian.
Cayenne-ka-en´, not ki-en´.
Chaps-chops, not chaps. The jaws. Chops is also correct orthography.
Chasten-chas´en, not chas´en. Chastened, chastening, etc., have also the long a.
Chew, not chaw. The latter word either as a verb or noun is now considered quite vulgar.
Chid, not chi´ded, is the imperfect tense of chide.
Chimera-ki-me´ra, not chi-me´ra, nor ki-me´ra.
Chivalric-shiv´al-rik, not shiv-al´rik. Worcester allows the latter.
Chivalrous-shiv´al-rus, not shiv-al´rus. Worcester gives chiv´al-rus also.
Chivalry-shiv´al-ry, not chiv´al-ry. Worcester sanctions both.
Cicerone-che-che-ro´ne or sis-e-ro´ne, not sis´e-rone. A guide.
Citrate-sit´rate, not si´trate. "Citrate of magnesia."
Climbed, not clomb (klum). One climbs up but does not climb down.
Cochineal-koch´i-neel, not ko´chi-neel nor ko´ki-neel.
Cocoa (ko´ko) is not made from the cocoa-nut or tree, but...
