e the horsehide ramble out into center garden_.

Blanket expressions used as substitutes for thinking:
_corking_, _stunning_, _ain't it fierce?_, _can you beat it?_,
_going some_, _just so I get by with it_.

The use of the last-named type is most to be regretted. It leads to a
mental habit of phonographic repetition, with no resort to independent
thinking. If a man really desires to use slang, let him invent new
expressions every day, and make them fit the specific occasion.

Exercise:

1. I disremember what sort of an outfit he wore.

2. Helen's as light-complected a girl as you'll run across, I
calculate.

3. His ad brought a first-rate gent to hold down the job.

4. Thompson hasn't stability, or it seems like it. He ain't got
no gumption. He's too easy enthused.

5. The grub was to of cost us two bits, but we didn't have the
dough. We gets outside the food, and when the cashier ain't
lookin', we runs out the door and beats it.

=Words Often Confused in Meaning=

=67. Do not confuse or interchange the meanings of the following words:=

=_Accept_ and _except_.= _Accept_ means _to receive_; _except_ as
a verb means _to exclude_ and as a preposition means _with the
exception of_.

=_Affect_ and _effect_.= _Affect_ is not used as a noun; _effect_
as a noun means _result_. As verbs, _affect_ means _to
influence in part_; _effect_ means _to accomplish totally_.
"His story affected me deeply." "The Russians effected a
revolution." _Affect_ also has a special meaning _to feign_.
"She had an affected manner."

=_Allusion_ and _illusion_.= _Allusion_ means _a reference_;
_illusion_ means a _deceptive appearance_. "A Biblical
allusion." "An optical illusion."

=_Already_ and _all ready_.= _Already_ means _by this time_ or
_beforehand_; _all ready_ means _wholly ready_. "I have already
invited him." "Dinner is all ready." "We are all ready for
dinner."

=_Altogether_ and _all together_.= _Altogether_ means _wholly_,
_entirely_; _all together_ means _collectively, in a group_.
"He is altogether honest." "The King sent the people all
together into exile."

=_Can_ and _may_.= _Can_ means _to be able_; _may_ means _to have
permission_. _Can_ for _may_ has a certain colloquial standing,
but is condemned by literary usage.

=_Em