Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/228

threatening to-morrow "This much I know" denotes a limitation in the extent of knowledge which is not restricted by "this I know."

threatening. Compare.

three first, the: Incorrect for the first three: one may, however, correctly use three first if referring to a race, or the like, in which three of the competitors run a dead heat. Compare.

through: An undesirable colloquialism for "at an end"; "finished"; generally applied to speakers who have completed an address, or to diners who have finished a meal. Both applications are marks of ill-breeding and border on vulgarity.

tickled to death: An absurd phrase used to express "greatly pleased."

till: In some parts of the United States oddly misused for by; as, "I'll be there till [by] ten o'clock."

time: Avoid such an incongruity as "Heaps of time." "Plenty of time," or "time enough" are to be preferred.

timely. Compare.

tinker's dam: A colloquialism for something worthless, used usually in the phrase "Not worth a tinker's dam." Avoided in polite society.

tiny little: The use of words as mere intensives should be avoided, for by judicious selection a single word can probably be found which is capable of conveying the precise sense desired. To speak of a "tiny