Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/151

 mad: Used for "angry" by the careless or the indifferent. A colloquialism not in vogue among persons who use refined diction. Mad may, however, be used correctly to designate a condition of overmastering emotion, intense excitement, or infatuation due to grief, terror, or jealousy; as mad with grief; mad with terror. Formerly used correctly as a synonym for "angry" it is now used only colloquially in this sense. Mad, in the present day, denotes a species of insanity.

main guy: A vulgar phrase derived from circus cant in which it designates the chief guy-rope as of a tent. It is commonly used to designate the manager of an establishment, or the person in charge of an undertaking.

make: Often used incorrectly for "earn." Do not say "How much does he make a week?" Say, rather, "How much does he earn a week?"

man. Compare.

manifest. Compare.

manner born, to the: A phrase often incorrectly written to the manor from a faulty knowledge of its meaning—familiar with something from birth, or born to the use or manner of the thing or subject referred to.

marine, maritime, naval, nautical: There are distinctions among these words. Marine and maritime, from the Latin mare, the sea, signify belonging to the sea; naval, from the Latin navis, a ship, signifies 