Page:The American Language.djvu/276

260 cheque grey chequered inflexion connexion jewellery dreamt leapt faggot premises (in logic) forgather waggon forgo

It will be noted that gaol, tyre, storey, kerb, asphalte, annexe, ostler, mollusc and pyjamas are not listed, nor are the words ending in -re. These and their like constitute the English con- tribution to the compromise. Two other great American book presses, that of the Macmillan Company and that of the J. S. Gushing Company, add gaol and storey to the list, and also behove, briar, drily, enquire, gaiety, gipsy, instal, judgement, lac- quey, moustache, nought, pigmy, postillion, reflexion, shily, slily, staunch and verandah. Here they go too far, for, as we have seen, the English themselves have begun to abandon briar, en- quire and judgement. Moreover, lacquey is going out over there, and gipsy is not English, but American. The Riverside Press, even in books intended only for America, prefers certain Eng- lish forms, among them, anaemia, axe, mediaeval, mould, plough, programme and quartette, but in compensation it stands by such typical Americanisms as caliber, calk, center, cozy, defense, fore- gather, gray, hemorrhage, luster, maneuver, mustache, theater and woolen. The Government Printing Office at Washington follows Webster's New International Dictionary, which sup- ports most of the innovations of Webster himself. This dic- tionary is the authority in perhaps a majority of American printing offices, with the Standard and the Century supporting it. The latter two also follow Webster, notably in his -er end-