Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/219

Rh off on your way down by car" are colloquial but objectionable expressions. The latter clearly means "step off and call in" and would be met by a simple "call in." Stop implies finality, and should therefore never be used in the sense of a temporary stay. The true meaning of the word stop was well understood by the man who did not invite his professed friend to visit him: "If you come at any time within ten miles of my house, just stop."—, Words, Their Use and Abuse, ch. xiv. p. 359.

straight, strait: Exercise care in spelling these words. That which is straight lies evenly between any two of its points or passes from one point to another by direct course; not curved. A strait is a narrow channel connecting two seas. In the plural, strait denotes a difficult or restricted condition; distress or perplexity.

street: According to law, land includes all above and all below. Thus a house on the land or a gold mine beneath is covered by the word land, and its possessor is entitled to both one and the other. In the same way a street includes the houses there built; and it is therefore not strictly correct to speak of a certain house as being on a certain street: it is in the street and is part of it. Compare.

stricken: As a past participle of strike, archaic in England, except when there is an implication in it of misfortune; as, "He was stricken with paralysis." In the United States stricken, in general application,