Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/211

Rh semi-occasionally: A meaningless expression for "once in a while" which is decidedly preferable.

sensation should not be used for "noteworthy event."

sensual, sensuous: These are not synonymous terms. A sensual man is one who is given to the inordinate indulgence of his animal appetites; a sensuous one is one who has a warm appreciation for the beautiful and is keenly alive to sense-affecting influences.

separate: One of a class of words which are persistently misspelled. Note that it contains only two "e's", one in its first syllable and one in its last; and that "a" forms its second syllable.

serial. Compare.

session. Compare.

set, sit: According to strict grammatical rule, sit when referring to posture is always an active intransitive, and set an active transitive. "To sit on eggs" has been characterized as colloquial English, but is sanctioned by the translators of the King James version of the Bible. "As the partridge sitteth on eggs and hatcheth them not" (Jer. xvii. 11). Shakespeare wrote "Birds sit brooding in the snow" (L. L. L. act v. sc. 2). On a poultry-farm the farmhand sets the hen but the hen sits.

settle: Do not speak of settling a bill unless there is some matter in dispute concerning it that requires