Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/88

 therefore say "either you or I is right," but "you or I are right." It is, however, questionable whether usage bears with him.

elder, eldest; older, oldest: Discriminate carefully between these terms. Elder and eldest are correctly applied only to persons and usually only to persons in the same family, as, "his elder brother." Older and oldest are used of persons or things without any restriction, "the oldest inhabitant"; "the older road is now closed."

elegant: Often misused for pleasant. Elegant refers to qualities of refinement, grace, taste or polish. One may say "an elegant gown"; "an elegant outfit"; but not "an elegant time " nor "an elegant view."

else: E. S. Gould and certain other critics take exception to a possessive use of this word, upon which the former says "A comparatively modern and a superlatively ridiculous custom has been introduced by putting not the noun but the adjective, else, in the possessive case. &hellip; Else, in the way it is used, means besides &hellip; [one] might as well say somebody besides's, etc. The proper construction of the several phrases is somebody's else, nobody's else."

On this subject the says: "The expressions some one else, any one else, every one else, somebody else, which are in good usage, are treated as substantive phrases and have the possessive inflection upon else; as, somebody else's  72