Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/202

 a horse, on the ground that it formerly meant "stubborn, balky, refusing to go." On this subject Fitzedward Hall ("False Philology," p. 97) says: "The ordinary sense of the word has always been 'unruly,' 'intractable,' 'refractory.' Proofs are subjoined from Lord Brooks, Dr. Featly, Fuller, Milton, Jeremy Collins, Samuel Richardson, Burke, Coleridge, Mr. De Quincey and Landor. As concerns a horse, however, if he resists an attempt to keep him quiet, he shows himself restive."

reticule, ridicule: Two words widely different in meaning but liable to confusion when spoken hurriedly. A reticule is a bag-like receptacle used by ladies for carrying such articles as embroidery, needlework, etc.; ridicule is speech or behavior intended to convey contempt and excite laughter; wit, as of the pen or pencil, that provokes contemptuous laughter.

reverend, reverent: These words are sometimes confounded. The one is objective and descriptive of the feeling with which a person is regarded; the other is subjective and descriptive of the feeling within a person. In explanation of the difference, Dean Alford offers the following instance: "Dean Swift might be Very Reverend by common courtesy, but he was certainly not very reverent in his conduct or in his writings."

Reverend, abbreviated Rev. as a title, should, like Honorable, be preceded by the definite article, the 186