Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/179

 partially should not be used for "partly," as, having the meaning "with unjust favoritism," it may be misunderstood.

party, person: Except in legal terminology, person is preferable; party means, in general, an entertainment. In the legal sense, party is a person (or body of persons collectively) who (or which) takes a certain specified part in a legal transaction, as "A. B., the party of the first part." From this application of the term, the word has been loosely extended to mean person. Do not say "A certain party, etc., but "A certain person"; party in such a connection is a vulgarism.

pathos. Compare.

patrons should not be used for "customers." A patron is one who fosters a person or thing; a customer is one who deals regularly at one establishment.

peach: Used in the sense of "beauty," possibly from the delicate and downy skin of the fruit, is a playful though undesirable expression used commonly by young men and boys, especially in referring to women; as, "Isn't she a peach!" Lexicographers do not recognize this usage of the word.

peculiarly impressive: A phrase heard sometimes for "singularly" or "strikingly impressive"; but the word is from the Latin peculiaris, "one's own," and it is in this respect that the individuality enters the case. What belongs exclusively to a person is peculiarly his; 163