her hand, avoid _trilling_ the _r_, as
_mur-er-der_, _r'r'robber_. It is altogether too tragical for common life.

277. "The Duke of Wellington was an _Irishman_, but knew nothing of the
_Irish_ language:" beware of saying _Ierishman_ for _Irishman_, or
_Ierish_ for _Irish_; a very common mistake, which the "Know-Nothings" are
quick to detect.

278. "He did it _unbeknown_ to us:" say, _unknown_, &c.

279. "He lives in _affluence_, as he is in _affluent_ circumstances:"
beware of placing the accent in _affluence_ and _affluent_ on the syllable
_flu_ instead of on _af_, a very common error.

280. "If I say, 'They retreated _back_,' I use a word that is
_superfluous_, as _back_ is implied in the syllable _re_ in _retreated_:"
never place the accent on _flu_ in _superfluous_, but always on _per_.

281. "In reading Paley's 'Evidences of Christianity,' I unexpectedly _lit
on_ the passage I wanted:" say, _met with_ the passage, &c.

282. A gentleman having selected a book from the library shelves of the
Mechanics' Institute, went to the librarian to have the volume registered
under his name, and said, "_I have taken the life of Julius Caesar_." "I
shall then," responded the librarian, "charge the work to Mr. Brutus!" Be
careful how you "take the lives" of distinguished men.

283. "He has a _bayonet_ to his gun:" never say _baggonet_. This error is
a peculiarity of the Wiltshire dialect, in England. In an old Wiltshire
song the following stanza occurs:

"A hornet zet in a holler tree,
A proper spiteful twoad was he;
And merrily zung while he did zet,--
His sting as sharp as a _baggonet_."

284. "Aunt Deborah is down with the _rheumatiz_:" say, _rheumatism_; this
is one among the _isms_, though a very unpopular one.

285. "It is _obligatory_ upon every honest man to go to the polls to-day:"
accent _lig_, and not _ga_.

286. "On the _contrary_:" accent _con_, not _tra_. The old song takes up
with a bad pronunciation, for the sake of a good rhyme:

"Mistress Mary,
Quite _contrary_,
How does your garden grow?"

287. "That is altogether _above my bend_:" say, _out of my power_.

288. "He has _absquatulated_, and taken the specie with him:" _absconded_
is a more classical word.

289. "It's _eenamost_ time we had started:" say, _almost_.

290. "_I haven't ary one_:" say, _I have neither_, or, _I haven't either_.

291. "That man is in a _bad box_:" say, _bad predicament_, or bad
_situation_.