llowing:

Right: They are as follows: [Or] They are the following:

Faulty: He tried, but of no avail.

Right: He tried, but to no avail. [Or] He tried, but his effort
was of no avail.

Faulty: There is no honor to be on this committee.

Right: It is no honor to be on this committee. [Or] There is no
honor in being on this committee.

Faulty: Sparks from the chimney caught the house on fire.

Right: Sparks from the chimney set the house on fire. [Or] The
house caught fire from the sparks from the chimney.

Note.--The double negative and kindred expressions (_not hardly_, _not
scarcely_, etc.) are an especially gross form of mixed construction.

Wrong: He isn't no better now than he was then. [Logically, not
no better means _better_. The two negatives cancel each other
and leave an affirmative.]

Right: He isn't any better now than he was then. [Or] He is no
better now than he was then.

Wrong: She couldn't see her friend nowhere.

Right: She couldn't see her friend anywhere. [Or] She could see
her friend nowhere.

Wrong: We couldn't hardly see through the mist.

Right: We could hardly see through the mist. [Or] We couldn't
see well through the mist.

Exercise:

1. He doesn't come here no more.

2. I cannot help but make this error.

3. I remember scarcely nothing of the occurrence.

4. I would not remain there only a few days.

5. John would not do this under no circumstances.

=Mixed Imagery=

=35. Avoid phrases which may call up conflicting mental images. When
using metaphor, simile, etc., carry one figure of speech through,
instead of shifting to another, or dropping suddenly back into literal
speech.=

Crude: The Republicans have gained a foothold in the heart of
the cotton belt.

Right: The Republicans have gained a foothold in the South.

Crude: He traveled a rough road and climbed with his burden the
ladder of success, where he is a glowing example and guide to
other men. [The suggestion which a reader with a sense of humor
may get is, that a man starts out as a traveler, suddenly
becomes a hod-carrier, and is then transformed into a bonfire
or a lighthouse.]

Right: He traveled a rough road, but found success. Other men
followed in his steps.

Incongruous: Spring came scattering flow