diminished head_:" this common phrase
is a poetical quotation from Milton, and is therefore proper to be used
even when it does not _literally_ express the idea:--

"At whose sight all the stars
Hide their _diminished heads_."

349. "That bourne from whence no traveler returns." How often are
precisely these words spoken? They are improperly quoted from Shakespeare,
in Hamlet, and correctly read as follows:--

"That undiscovered country, from whose bourne
No traveler returns."

350. "Bring me my _waistcoat_:" pronounce as if written _waste-coat_, and
not _weskut_. It should rhyme, as it did in an old ballad, with "_laced
coat_."

351. "Your _bonnet_ to its right use."--(_Shakespeare:_) never say
_bunnet_.

352. "It is not cold enough to wear my _gloves_:" pronounce as if written
_gluvs_, and to rhyme with _loves_. In "Fair Rosamond" the following
illustrative stanza occurs:--

"He said he had his _gloves_ from France:
The Queen said, 'That can't be:
If you go there for _glove-making_,
It is without the _g_.'"

353. "_Egad!_ what great good luck!" This word is now inelegantly used,
except in certain species of poetry, where it is introduced with much
effect, as in the following distich:--

"All tragedies, _egad!_ to me sound oddly;
I can no more be serious, than you godly."

354. "The frigate is now in the Yellow Sea, or _thereabouts_:" say,
_thereabout_. This term is a transposed combination of _about there_;
there is no such word as _thereabouts_. The same may be said of
_hereabouts_, and _whereabouts_.

355. "Whether he will or _no_:" say, _not_. The reason of this correction
is clearly seen by supplying what is needed to complete the sense: Whether
he will or _will not_.

356. "He looked at it first _lengthways_, then _sideways_:" say,
_lengthwise_ and _sidewise_. Also, say _otherwise_ instead of _otherways_.
A nobleman said to his fool, "I am _wise_, and you are _otherwise_."
"Yes," replied his jester, "you are _wise_, and I am _another wise_."

357. If you are a landlord, beware of incorrectly using such an expression
as in the following: A landed proprietor went to a tenant with a view of
increasing his rent, and said to him, "Neighbor, I am going to _raise your
rent_." "Thank you, sir," was the reply, "for I am utterly unable to
_raise it myself_."

358. "Will you _accept_ of this slight testimonial?" Omit _of_, which is
superfluous, and weakens the sentence.

359. "