Part 28

SIMILE. In rhetoric, a direct and formal comparison is called a simile. It is generally denoted by like, as, or so; as,

"I have ventured, Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, These many summers in a sea of glory."

"Thy smile is as the dawn of vernal day."--Shakespeare.

"As, down in the sunless retreats of the ocean, Sweet flow'rets are springing no mortal can see; So, deep in my bosom, the prayer of devotion, Unheard by the world, rises silent to thee."--Moore.

"'Tis with our judgments as with our watches; none Go just alike, yet each believes his own."--Pope.

"Grace abused brings forth the foulest deeds, As richest soil the most luxuriant weeds."--Cowper.

"As no roads are so rough as those that have just been mended, so no sinners are so intolerant as those who have just turned saints."--"Lacon."

SIN. See CRIME.

SINCE--AGO. Dr. Johnson says of these two adverbs: "Reckoning time toward the present, we use since; as, 'It is a year since it happened': reckoning from the present, we use ago; as, 'It is a year ago.' This is not, perhaps, always observed."

Dr. Johnson's rule will hardly suffice as a sure guide. Since is often used for ago, but ago never for since. Ago is derived from the participle agone, while since comes from a preposition. We say properly, "not long" or "some time ago [agone]." Since requires a verbal clause after it; as, "Since I saw you"; "Since he was here."

SING. Of the two forms--sang and sung--for the imperfect tense of the verb to sing, the former--sang--is to be preferred.

SIT. See SET.

SLANG. The slang that is heard among respectable people is made up of genuine words, to which an arbitrary meaning is given. It is always low, generally coarse, and not unfrequently foolish. With the exception of cant, there is nothing that is more to be shunned. We sometimes meet with persons of considerable culture who interlard their talk with slang expressions, but it is safe to assert that they are always persons of coarse natures.

SMART. See CLEVER.

SMELL OF. See TASTE OF.

SO. See AS; SUCH; THAT.

SO MUCH SO. "The shipments by the coast steamers are very large, so much so [large?] as to tax the capacity of the different lines."--"Telegram," September 19, 1881. The sentence should be, "The shipments by the coast steamers are very large, so large as to tax," etc.

SOLECISM. In rhetoric, a solecism is defined as an offense against the rules of grammar by the use of words in a wrong construction; false syntax.

"Modern grammarians designate by solecism any word or expression which does not agree with the established usage of writing or speaking. But, as customs change, that which at one time is considered a solecism may at another be regarded as correct language. A solecism, therefore, differs from a barbarism, inasmuch as the latter consists in the use of a word or expression which is altogether contrary to the spirit of the language, and can, properly speaking, never become established as correct language."--"Penny Cyclopædia." See, also, BARBARISM.

SOME. This word is not unfrequently misused for somewhat; thus, "She is some better to-day." It is likewise often misused for about; thus, "I think it is some ten miles from here": read, "about ten miles from here."

SPECIALTY. This form has within a recent period been generally substituted for speciality. There is no apparent reason, however, why the i should be dropped, since it is required by the etymology of the word, and is retained in nearly all other words of the same formation.

SPECIOUS FALLACY. A fallacy is a sophism, a logical artifice, a deceitful or false appearance; while specious means having the appearance of truth, plausible. Hence we see that the very essence of a fallacy is its speciousness. We may very properly say that a fallacy is more or less specious, but we can not properly say that a fallacy is specious, since without speciousness we can have no fallacies.

SPLENDID. This poor word is used by the gentler sex to qualify well-nigh everything that has their approval, from a sugar-plum to the national capitol. In fact, splendid and awful seem to be about the only adjectives some of our superlative young women have in their vocabularies.

STANDPOINT. This is a word to which many students of English seriously object, and among them are the editors of some of our daily papers, who do not allow it to appear in their columns. The phrase to which no one objects is, point of view.

STATE. This word, which properly means to make known specifically, to explain particularly, is often misused for say. When say says all one wants to say, why use a more pretentious word?

STOP. "Where are you stopping?" "At the Metropolitan." The proper word to use here is staying. To stop means to cease to go forward, to leave off; and to stay means to abide, to tarry, to dwell, to sojourn. We stay, not stop, at home, at a hotel, or with a friend, as the case may be.

STORM. Many persons indulge in a careless use of this word, using it when they mean to say simply that it rains or snows. To a storm a violent commotion of the atmosphere is indispensable. A very high wind constitutes a storm, though it be dry.

STRAIGHTWAY. Here is a good Anglo-Saxon word of two syllables whose place, without any good reason, is being usurped by the Latin word immediately, of five syllables.