Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/229

Rh little watch" or "a great big house," indicates a deplorable poverty of vocabulary. It is true that Shakespeare spoke of "the most unkindest cut of all"; but he made use of intensives only when the unusual circumstances of the case required them.

tired, to make one: A colloquialism for "to weary," or "reduce the patience of" as by absurd stories or silly conversation: a commonplace expression good to avoid.

to: Beware of using the preposition to when at is intended. A common error of this sort is instanced by "He was to school this morning." Possibly the error is made rather in the verb than the preposition, though the influencing cause of error in the uneducated does not always admit of certainty. We suggest, therefore, that the verb "to be" is used unintentionally for "to go," and that the sentence is perhaps intended to read "he went to school this morning." Compare ;.

togged out or up: An undesirable and vulgar expression for "well-dressed" or "attired in clothes that may attract attention."

to-morrow: This word is often used with different tenses, the question being raised as to whether it should be "to-morrow is Christmas day" or "tomorrow will be Christmas day." Both forms are correct. But, generally, in using this word, the supposition is that to-morrow has not arrived at the time of