Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/166

nor notorious is justified by the highest authority. "Did you buy melons?" "There were none in the market." "Did you bring me a letter?" "There was none in your box." "None of the three cases have been received" is correct. In illustrating this point the gives the following quotation: "Mind says one, soul says another, brain or matter says a third, but none of these are right." And says, "In the preceding quotation the 'are,' altho ungrammatical, connects 'right' with any one of the persons named—not with any one of the things named. If is be substituted for 'are,' 'right' may be as reasonably connected with 'mind,' 'soul,' or 'brain' as with the persons (or classes of persons) spoken of." None used with a plural verb is found repeatedly in such English classics as the works of Bacon and Shakespeare, as well as in the Authorized Version of the Bible.

nor, or: Discriminate carefully between these words when using them after no and not. In such a sentence as "He has no cash or credit," the word "credit" is used as an alternative for "cash," and merely, though perhaps redundantly, to amplify the thought. But if one says "He has no cash nor credit" the meaning is very different, and implies he is without both, "credit" being here considered as an additional asset. In more involved statements the distinction may be of great importance. "Will or disposition," "power 150