and_ for _Try to_. "I will try and see him." This plainly says
that my effort to see him will succeed--which I cannot know and do not
wish to affirm. "Please try and come." This colloquial slovenliness of
speech is almost universal in this country, but freedom of speech is
one of our most precious possessions.

_Ugly_ for _Ill-natured_, _Quarrelsome_. What is ugly is the temper,
or disposition, not the person having it.

_Under-handed_ and _Under-handedly_ for _Under-hand._ See
_Off-handed._

_Unique_. "This is very unique." "The most unique house in the city."
There are no degrees of uniqueness: a thing is unique if there is not
another like it. The word has nothing to do with oddity, strangeness,
nor picturesqueness.

_United States_ as a Singular Noun. "The United States is for peace."
The fact that we are in some ways one nation has nothing to do with
it; it is enough to know that the word States is plural--if not, what
is State? It would be pretty hard on a foreigner skilled in the
English tongue if he could not venture to use our national name
without having made a study of the history of our Constitution and
political institutions. Grammar has not a speaking acquaintance with
politics, and patriotic pride is not schoolmaster to syntax.

_Unkempt_ for _Disordered_, _Untidy_, etc. Unkempt means uncombed, and
can properly be said of nothing but the hair.

_Use_ for _Treat_. "The inmates were badly used." "They use him
harshly."

_Utter_ for _Absolute_, _Entire_, etc. Utter has a damnatory
signification and is to be used of evil things only. It is correct to
say utter misery, but not "utter happiness;" utterly bad, but not
"utterly good."

_Various_ for _Several_. "Various kinds of men." Kinds are various of
course, for they vary--that is what makes them kinds. Use various only
when, in speaking of a number of things, you wish to direct attention
to their variety--their difference, one from another. "The dividend
was distributed among the various stockholders." The stockholders
vary, as do all persons, but that is irrelevant and was not in mind.
"Various persons have spoken to me of you." Their variation is
unimportant; what is meant is that there was a small indefinite number
of them; that is, several.

_Ventilate_ for _Express, Disclose_, etc. "The statesman ventilated
his views." A disagreeable and dog-eared figure of speech.

_Verbal_ for _Oral_. All language is verbal, whether spoken or
written, bu