Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/176

 termination—flown used commonly by the illiterate is the past participle of fly. Although flown originally meant "flooded" the word in the sense is now obsolete.

over, not over: Opposed by some writers when used as equivalent to more than, not more than, but defensible as having a tinge of metaphor suggestive of overflowing quantity or overtopping height and having the support of literary usage.

overshoes. Compare.

over with: Avoid as incorrect all such sentences as, "When the game was over with, we enjoyed a cold collation." Here the word "with" is redundant.

owing. Compare.

own: Some critics object to the use of this word in the sense of confess, but it is sanctioned by literary usage and dates from the seventeenth century. To own up, or to, in the sense of "to make a full confession" or "to admit unreservedly when challenged" is a colloquialism.

  pack: A word sometimes misapplied especially in speaking of a number of persons; as, "the whole pack." It is correctly used when applied to dogs or wolves, hence, from the latter application, also to any band of men leagued together for evil purposes; as, "a pack of thieves ": sometimes, also, correctly styled a gang.

pain. Compare. 