over the meadow was _queachy_:" this word, meaning _soft_
or _boggy_, is now obsolete, and cannot be used with propriety.

319. "He talks _pulpitically_:" this word, which some who copy
Chesterfield persist in using, has never by any good authority been
admitted into the language.

320. To _peff_, meaning to _cough faintly_ (like a sheep), is hardly a
useable word.

321. Be careful to distinguish between _pencil_, an instrument for
writing, and _pensile_, meaning _hanging down_.

322. _To yank_ is a vulgarism, meaning _to twitch powerfully_.

323. Avoid the slang phrase, "_I used to could_." Say, "_I could
formerly_."

324. "She _takes on_ about it greatly:" say, _grieves_.

325. "He _staved off_ the case two days longer:" say, he _put off_, or
_delayed_.

326. "He made a great _splurge_:" say, he made a _blustering effort_.

327. "I _reckon_ it is going to rain:" say, I _think_, or _expect_.
_Reckon_ applies to _calculation_.

328. "The basket is _pretty large_:" avoid, if possible, the use of the
word _pretty_ out of its legitimate signification; the language abounds
with substitutes more elegant.

329. "She weighs a _plaguy sight_:" say, _a great deal_.

330. "He _made tracks_ at sundown:" say, _he left_, or _escaped_.

331. "He was compelled to _fork over the cash_:" say, _to pay over_.

332. "_To flunk out_" is a vulgar expression for _to retire through fear_;
the most that can be tolerated is, _to sneak out_.

333. "When last observed, he was _going at full chisel_:" say, _at the top
of his speed_.

334. "That bill is a _counterfeit_:" the last syllable is pronounced as if
written _fit_, and not _feet_.

335. "I am very much _obliged_ to you:" do not say _obleeged_.

336. The following sentence affords an example of three words of similar
pronunciation, but different signification: "It is not easy to _pare_ a
_pear_ with a _pair_ of scissors."

337. "The _robber_ entered the dwelling, and secretly carried off the
silver:" say, _thief_; a _robber_ attacks violently, and commits his
depredations by main force; a _thief_ is one who uses secrecy and
deception.

338. "Go and _fetch_ me my riding-whip:" say, _bring_. _Fetch_ means to
_go and bring_; _go and fetch_ is repetition.

339. _To leave_ and _to quit_ are often used as synonymous terms, though
improperly; _to leave_ implies a design of returning soon--_to quit_, an
absence of a long time, or forever; as, in Shakespeare:--

"