Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/129

Rh think of asking for ice tea or ice milk, but these idioms are so firmly established that it is doubtful if they will ever be changed.

idea. Compare.

ie, ei: The rule governing the use of these letters in spelling is commonly expressed "I before E except after C." Therefore, remember believe is correct, not "beleive"; receive and not "recieve"; brief, and not "breif"; reprieve, not "repreive"; retrieve, not "retreive."

if, or: Do not say "seldom or ever," say, rather, "seldom if ever," or "seldom or never."

'''if. whether:' Sometimes if is incorrectly used for whether''. It is used correctly when supposition or condition is implied; whether, chiefly when an alternative is suggested or presented. "If he sends the money I shall then decide whether or not I will go."

ill: says: The use of ill and sick differs in the two great English-speaking countries. Ill is used in both lands alike, but the preferred sense of sick in England is that of "sick at the stomach, nauseated," while in the United States the two words are freely interchangeable. Still Tennyson and other good writers freely use sick in the sense of ill. The tendency of modern usage is to remand ill and well (referring to condition of health) to the predicate. We say "A person who 113